This Week in School: October 18 - 22

 We started this week by examining a new infographic in Media.  This week our infographic provided information about education around the world:

We also started a read aloud of The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.

For our weekly book discussion, we read What do you do With a Problem? by Kobi Yamada.

In Literacy, we also continued writing our biographies and autobiographies.  Students have had time to brainstorm and collect information about their subjects, and should be working on using that information to write their first draft in class.

This week the students began their read aloud presentations.  It has been great to hear them reading different stories with fluency and expression.  These presentations will continue over the next couple of weeks.  The schedule for presentations can be found in the Google Classroom.

Our Math unit on Graphing continued this week with students learning about creating and reading intervals in graphs, and about measures of central tendency in data (i.e., mean, median and mode).  Next week we will be wrapping up this unit and preparing for a unit test which will likely take place the following week.

We are also working on wrapping up our Social Studies unit.  After spending several weeks researching the Canadian government's response to various national and international issues, students have begun evaluating these actions.  Next week they will share their findings and evaluations with their peers.

In Gym, students began working with their groups to develop and practice a fitness routine that they will eventually be presenting to the class.  

In Health, students learned how to use calorie counts provided on restaurant menus to make healthier choices when dining out. 

It was great to see the fabulous and creative pictures and designs students came up with for our leaf art activity this week!

Spirit Day Tomorrow!

SPIRIT DAY - Thursday October 20th, 2021 

LGBTQ youth disproportionately face bullying and harassment because of their identities. Each year, millions go purple for Spirit Day to support LGBTQ youth in a united stand against bullying. Pledging to “go purple" on Spirit Day is a way for everyone — global and local brands and companies, world leaders, celebrities, neighbors, parents, classmates, and friends — to visibly show solidarity with youth.

This Week In School: October 12 - 15

This week we read the story After the Fall by Dan Santat.  We continued to work on our discussion skills, and it was great to see a few more students gaining the confidence to participate!

We also continued working on our biographies and autobiographies, and practicing our picture book read aloud presentations.

In Math students learned about reading and creating misleading graphs.  They also learned about conducting surveys and practiced their skills in using Google Sheets to create graphs.

In Social Studies, students examined cause and consequence while investigating their chosen national and international issues.

We began a new unit on fitness in Gym.  The students learned about different elements of fitness and began working on improving their own fitness levels.  Over the next few weeks, students will be working in small groups to develop fitness routines.

The students enjoyed creating zentangle pumpkins in Art this week.  Next week we will be creating pictures using leaves found outside.  Students have each been given a ziplock bag to collect leaves at home and/or on the school yard.

  

This Week in School: October 4 - 8

 In Literacy this week, we read the story An A From Ms. Kellar by Patricia Polacco.  We also worked on our discussion skills as we talked about the story.

We continued evaluating infographics as well.  First students evaluated a new infographic, and then they compared it with the infographic we looked at last week.

Students have also begun preparing for their first public speaking performance.  They will be reading a picture book of their choosing to the class.  Students will have time to practice in class, but are encouraged to practice at home as well.  This will help them with fluency and expression in their presentation.  

On Friday, students began working on their first big writing project: biographies and autobiographies!  The Grade Fives will be writing autobiographies, while the Grade Sixes will be writing biographies.  Students should have shared the writing assignment expectations with parents this week.

In Math, we began a new unit in Graphing!  Students learned about populations, sampling techniques, and different kinds of data.  They also practiced reading different kinds of graphs, including broken line graphs, bar graphs, double bar graphs, stacked bar graphs, and histograms.  Over the next couple of weeks we will continue learning about how to create and read different types of graphs.

The students began researching their chosen national and international issues.  This week they first developed some questions about their chosen issue, and then began reading through the information provided to them to determine if they would be able to answer their questions.  They also evaluated the significance of various details related to the issue they are investigating.

On Wednesday, we painted our rocks for our rock art installation.  Once the rocks have been sealed with a shellac, they will be placed outside.  We hope they will help spread positivity to our community!

On Thursday, we started another little art project all about ourselves.  Students are creating self-portraits to show who they are behind their masks.  They will soon be displayed in the school.

The students enjoyed playing a new game called "Crazy Chefs" outside for Gym this week.  We are also starting up a new unit all about fitness.

We hope everyone enjoys a wonderful long weekend...Happy Thanksgiving!

Painting Project Ahead!

 

On Wednesday October 6th we are planning to start painting our rocks that we began designing during our last Art period.  While the paint we are using SHOULD wash out of any clothing, it is still recommended that students do not dress in their favourite outfits for this activity.  Consider having your child wear or bring some older clothing for Art on Wednesday.

This Week in School: September 27 - October 1

 This week we started learning about infographics in Media.  The students learned what infographics are, what they are used for, and began reading and evaluating infographics.  

Here is the first infographic they evaluated:

In honour of the first Truth and Reconciliation day, we read Stolen Words by Melanie Florence.  We discussed what it meant to have your words "stolen,"  why the events of the past might still be painful today, and how important it is for us to know about residential schools.

We also read about the recent discoveries of undocumented graves at various residential schools, and what we can do to help indigenous community heal.

This year we will be working on our public speaking skills.  On Friday students read about why this skills is so important and completed a reflection on their skills and feelings about public speaking at this time, as well as what we can do to improve.  Stay tuned for information about different activities we will be doing to work on those skills, and hopefully develop more positive feelings about public speaking for those that are feeling quite hesitant right now.

In Math, we continued practicing how to round numbers and then finished up our Place Value unit with a short test.  Next week we will begin a new unit on graphing.

Our Social Students unit on Canadian government and interactions with the global community continued with students learning a little bit about Syrian refugees.  We are learning as a class about this issue as students prepare to begin their own investigations into various national and international issues.  This week students worked on using videos, texts, and infographics to find answers to their questions, and practiced using their critical thinking skills to determine significance.

In Health, students learned about reading food labels and practiced comparing different food labels to determine which snack might be a better choice.

On Wednesday, students participated in the Terry Fox Run.  A huge thank you to our leaders who worked with Ms. Connolly to organize the run, and to all those who donated to this very worthy cause!