Welcome to week number three!
Like the last one, this week promises to be filled with great learning and fun! Our priority is to stay rested and healthy so that we can do our best learning. We will be having conversations in class this week about how this is the time of year when we all start getting colds etc. from the adjustment back into the school year, and we will be encouraging each other to take care of our bodies by staying hydrated (keep bringing those filled water bottles), by getting adequate sleep, exercise, and having great eating habits.
Agendas:
This week we will focus on agenda usage. ALL students will be expected to:
a) Write their agenda items daily (handwriting is strongly encouraged).
b) Take the agenda home and have it signed/initialled by a parent --once
each item has been addressed/completed.
c) Return the agenda to school each day for writing first thing in the
morning.
d) Hand in the agenda to be checked on Fridays.
*Students who do this daily and are successful for the entire week
will be given a scholar dollar at the end of the week!
Meet the Staff Night
*Thank you to everyone who came out to 'meet the teacher' and checked out our learning space. It was great to see you all and I am very excited to be working with you this year!
*Thank you to everyone who signed up to bring snacks to our celebrations taking place throughout the school year. You people are awesome; the list is almost full! We are looking for someone to bring fruit for Valentine’s Day and for the last day of school. Please let me know if you didn’t have a chance to add your name and I’ll put you down for something! Of course, you don't have to be signed up in order to send something, we just want to be sure the basics are covered. A reminder of who signed up for what will be posted on the blog when we get closer to each celebration.
Toonies for Terry
*As
is tradition, we will be collecting Toonies for Terry to support The Terry Fox
Foundation (there will be a jar on Ms. Bourassa’s desk for this purpose). Mike
Mountain Horse has a goal of $3,000.00. That’s approximately two toonies/student, though
any amount big or small is welcome. Thank you for helping keep Terry’s dream alive.
*Join us on our walk to and around
Nicholas Sheran Lake on Friday September 21st if you can. We will
leave around 8:50.
*Students: Our school is
known for having a special spirit, let’s show it by being great ambassadors of
MMH during the walk. Let’s be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes and MMH
gear on Friday as we guide our learning buddies and keep them safe during the
walk!
Yay! A Leadership Opportunity:
We have many occasions over the course of our year to demonstrate our leadership abilities as grade five students. One such activity will begin next week as we serve as student helpers in the classrooms of grade one, two, and three students during the eating portion of the lunch break (our class does it on Wednesdays only). Student partners will go eat their lunches with their assigned grade one, two or grade three classes and be available to help in whatever way they can (opening packages, reminding students to stay focused on eating, helping tidy etc.). Our classroom is full of wonderful leaders, what a great opportunity to help the younger people in our school!
**Our First Field Trip!
Your student may be bringing home an application form for a public library card (if they don’t already have their own). If you are in favor, please fill out the form and return it to school on or before Friday so that your child can obtain his/her own card (no cost) to borrow items from the public library!
On the afternoon of Wednesday, September 26th, our class will be walking over to the Crossings Branch Library. We will have a tour, learn about how the library is organized and what is available to use or borrow. In addition, we may borrow up to two books on that day (these will need to be returned independently, please keep in mind that the Bookmobile has traditionally stopped near our school every Monday afternoon—new schedule is not available).
**Parents: we would LOVE to have an extra supervisor or two join us on our walk to and from the library. If you are available and willing, please let Ms. B. know as soon as possible! ThanksJ.
A comment about our stretching exercises/yoga:
Unfortunately, we don’t always have the gymnasium available to us for Phys. Ed. classes and on some of those occasions, we will take our physical activity time to stretch out our bodies and ready our brains for great thinking. In many years of teaching, this has proven very beneficial for students and their learning. Please know that the yoga poses we do are for the purposes of stretching and focusing on our breathing only, there are no spiritual or religious practices or intentions involved. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I aim to let students know the day prior, so they may come prepared. Students should wear clothes that allow for stretching and if they have their own mats and would like to bring them, they are encouraged to do so!
Sneak
Peek at the Week:
Language Arts:
What is a homophone? Well, many would say that homophones are the reason English is one of the most difficult languages to learn! Encarta dictionary states:
A homophone is a word that is pronounced in the same way as one or more other words but is different in meaning and sometimes spelling, as are "hair" and "hare."
Our 100 most commonly used words includes many homophones. This week we will work to demystify the ‘They’re, their, there’ issue with creating sentences such as:
They’re playing with their dog over there by the tree.
We will continue to take a look at a few more from our list like you’re and your as well as to, two, and too, etc. and will take our first try at mastering the top 100 words on Thursday. Study, study my friends!
We will continue a more formal practice of 'Handwriting Without Tears' this week and will begin reviewing strategies of strong readers with our novel, Frindle!
Math:
Last week we reviewed addition, subtraction, and multiplication strategies. From this review, and from previous years teaching grade five, I’ve learned that we need to spend quite a bit more time on our multiplication strategies! I believe our class is up for the challenge of improving these facts, so while we want students practicing all multiplication facts, we will give special focus to ‘mastering’ one at a time (one each night). We can eliminate the easier facts from too much further practise (0, 1, 2, 5 and 10 times tables) and will begin by attacking the 3’s, 4’s and 6 times table facts this week. I am requesting/ strongly suggesting/desperately hoping that students spend a MINIMUM of 15 minutes each night reviewing and practising their facts. This could be done in a variety of ways: websites, flashcards, games, or simply spending time with 'frustrating facts' and developing strategies for memory to make them 'friendly facts'. For example, 8 x 7 = 56 always seems to be a tougher one. Students could spend some time creating meaning around this equation: "I notice that 8 and 7 are only one digit apart, and so are 5 and 6! (5,6,7,8)" Or for 9 x 8 = 72: "I know that 10 eights = 80, so I need to take one 8 away from 80 and that will get me 72." This also works for 12 x 8; "I know that 10 x 8 = 80, and 2 x 8 = 16, so I add 80 + 16 = 96!"
Students have been checking out sites and are encouraged to showcase their finds in class. A few old favourites include:
Study Jams: Multiplication
Multiplication.com
I am encouraging students to continue asking themselves: “What am I doing to help myself get better at math facts?” Thank you, parents for supporting your child at home by encouraging their practice or by spending time directly helping them to review facts. Every little bit helps!
We will jump into our first math unit: Statistics and Probability this week, and by the end of our week your scholar should be able to:
*explain the difference between first-hand and second-hand data
* formulate a question that can best be answered using first-hand data, and explain why
* formulate a question that can best be answered using second-hand data, and explain why
* find examples of second-hand data
Social Studies:
We will open our study of Canada by finding out what students already know about our great country...and the world! Students will also be preparing for and giving a 1-minute presentation of 'My Special Place in Canada' on Wednesday. Though we will review expectations for the presentation in class, I've included the guidelines here in order to help students get set for success.
Guidelines for informal oral
presentation:
1) Pick any location in Canada. It may be a spot you’ve visited, somewhere a relative or a special friend lives or a place to which you would like to travel someday.
2) Be prepared to:
a) name the place,
b) locate it on the big map of Canada and
c) explain why it is special to you!
3) Students may choose to enhance their one -minute presentation with a picture or other souvenir/significant object.
French:
Bonjour les amis et bienvenue a la classe francais! /;{
Last week students discussed viewpoints about why learning a second language is important. This week we will start through our review of concepts learned last year such as l'alphabet, les nombres, et les jours de la semaine!
Let’s
have a super week!
