Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Today we: received a letter from our friend in Surrey, BC; Iram! We are now part of the "Great Canadian Mail Race" and will now be writing letters to grade 5 classes all over Canada. The race winner will be the first student to receive a letter back from their mysterious pen pal! We are excited to write to some of our friends around Canada, or here in the city, and see who gets their response first! 

Since we had indoor recess today, we chose to stir up the classroom a bit and rearrange everything! Say hello to our new layout:

Students were given the chance to pick their own seating - this is temporary! I am allowing them the chance to earn their choice seating based on appropriate behavior. So far it has been a very noisy day so there may be some seating changes in a couple days to promote better focus. 

In math, we did a drill on 8x facts and then practiced long division and 3-digit multiplication in our table groups. This was the last day to practice - tomorrow there will be a test. Make sure you're helping your kids practice, by grade 5 they should know their timetable charts. After that, students were given chromebooks to write their letters around Canada. 

Luckily the weather warmed up enough to have outdoor lunch recess, which was really needed for this energetic bunch. 

The Jumbies read aloud is progressing along with chapter 11 today. We shared and then wrote new predictions. Things are getting very exciting as the plot unveils! Ask your child to tell you what the chapter was about.

The rest of the afternoon was spent outside. We joined the other 2 grade 5 classes for a science experiment. We observed 2 situations, a 9-volt battery being attached to alligator clips and a string of steel wool, and rubbing the battery on a bundle of steel wool. Students predicted what they thought would happen and then wrote down what really happened. A bit anti-climatic but it was made better by the awesome capture the flag game outside to end the day. 

Remember Parent-Teacher Conferences are tomorrow and Friday - be sure to sign up! 

 

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

 Today we: practiced math using word problems instead of equations. Trying to extract the equation from the word choices helped to connect literacy to the math skills, for example "how many is left" is a subtraction question. 

We also discussed strategies for mental math with our basic math facts. We did a 5 minute drill on 12's for multiplication, and students confessed this was the hardest fact of all of them. We shared ideas on strategies and some we came up with are: counting on from 11x, adding 2 facts we know (10x and 2x), and lining them up in the step by step for multi-digit. We will continue practicing our long division and multi-digit multiplication before our test on Thursday! 

Students who completed their math practice early were given time on prodigy to keep practicing their math skills with friends. 

After lunch, students had music and P.E. taking up the majority of the afternoon. 

The final presentations were done to end the day, and we are now ready to move onto some new social studies topics! 

Remember to send your children to school with proper winter attire (boots, hats, coats, and mittens). Many students were without jackets yesterday, and we cannot always count on indoor recess. Better to be over-prepared than under-prepared! 

Monday, March 7, 2022

 Today we: started off with our literacy routine - Phonics and then Word Work. Students are progressing well in their groups and are becoming more independent as the weeks go on. 

In math, we continue to practice long division and multiplying 2-digit numbers for our test on Thursday. Small groups spread out with "experts" in each pairing to help a classmate practice more. Some are confident in the order of the steps, while others have no need to look at their multiplication charts. The more we practice - the more it sticks! 

After lunch, the students had music. They watched an Irish film and did an Irish jig/dance. 

We did a brief reflection of our social projects as they have been marked and returned. Students wrote about what they learned from the process, why they think it is important to learn it, and what they could have done better looking back. 

The day ended with P.E. and they played a game called Whacky Stick. Teams had to capture a variety of sized sports balls from a partially closed off area using their hockey handling skills. Each type of ball was worth a different amount of points based on how hard it is to handle it with a stick. 

Please remember to sign up for Parent-Teacher Conferences! Check out the images below for some amazing examples of the visual journal pages on Canada's regions! 

Friday, March 4, 2022

 Today we: followed our usual morning routine - phonics, word work, and then Literacy Block. As we do on every Friday, we made new groups for Literacy Block, chose new clean-up chores for the end of day, and our helpers for the next week will be Layla and Haily. 

Literacy block has changed slightly - instead of doing word work from our usual daily program, students are given word ladders to practice their spelling and defining new words. 

In P.E., students played a competitive game of bowling with hockey sticks! Mr. Newton was extra creative and had the students practice their hockey shooting, but instead of into nets, he had bowling pins they were supposed to knock over. Some students acted as a goalie by guarding the bowling pins and the students came back fanning themselves from the heat they worked up! 

After snack, we read a book called One. This was a book about colors being similar to feelings, and how the color red can be very aggressive. We had a talk about pushing buttons and trying to be more powerful by being aggressive, and this is the way bullies can act. It just takes One person to stand up to a bully, and that we are stronger in numbers. 

The book created a great discussion, and students really had a lot of connections. We did a quick writing exercise where everyone wrote their feelings or a memory or a picture. This was intended to be a mental health strategy, not for marks, so some students were given permission to tear their paper and throw it out as a cathartic way to release their feelings. At this age, they are only just beginning their journey into conflicts, managing emotions, learning to manage their behaviors - the best we can do is provide the tools to do so. This exercise was the most engaged I have seen them all week!  

Since they earned 10 minecraft points, we ended the day with the computers. I hosted a world so they could interact together. Some chose to go onto Prodigy math games instead, and others worked on their interest projects. 

Reminder - parent teacher conference slots are now open for booking. Conferences are Thursday, March 10 from 4:30-8pm, and Friday, March 11, from 9:00am-1pm. If you would like to discuss your child's report card, or just have a chance to meet and talk with me, please book one 15-minute time slot. 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Thursday, March 3, 2022

 Today we: had our final block of time dedicated to catching up on social projects. 

In math, we did our 5 minute drill on 4's and I'm seeing everyone get better and better each day. They will be pros in no time! We reviewed multiplying 2-digit numbers and took some time in our table groups to practice the procedures in multiplication and long division. 

Some students got to change their seating today based on their learning needs in the classroom. They also earned 7 Minecraft points for using strategies to stay in the green zone during learning times. 

After lunch, we shared our predictions for the Jumbies next chapter and then read it. It was great to see how many predictions were spot on! We wrote another prediction before moving on to social presentations. 

The final Canadian Regions presentations were done this afternoon, and we are prepared to begin a new topic next week! 

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

 Today we: continued work on long division with some small group practice and a few extra EA's to circulate and help with the procedures and operations. We did a math drill on 2's and the entire class has made exponential progress on their multiplication facts! 

Before lunch, students were given extra time again to catch up on their current social and LA projects. Many managed to complete their Canadian Regions slideshows and practice presenting for the afternoon. Those who were done got some time on prodigy to practice their long division and 2-digit multiplication. There will be a test at the end of next week for these procedures so we will be practicing them daily until then. 

After lunch we watched some of the students present their slideshows. I was very pleased to see more support and kindness from the class as an audience, they had many positive things to share about each presentation that lifted the presenters up. 

We had a short discussion about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. We discussed what their conflict was about, how it originated, and watched a few videos about the relationship between the two countries. 

The day ended with P.E. and the students played a relay race of hockey shooting into nets. They reviewed how to hold a hockey stick and how to pass. We learned today that having a contest for the most points was not the most motivating way to get students engaged. They were very tired by the end of the day. 

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

 Today we: had a much better focus on our literacy routine this morning! Some students explored a word ladder to work on their spelling and explore word meanings. 

In math, we did the 5-minute drill on 9's and discussed a strategy to find multiples of 9. If you hold both palms up, and count from the left to the finger of the multiple you are finding, then put the finger down - the number of fingers on the left side is your tens and the number on the right side are the ones. For example, if you want to find 9x7, go to the 7th finger, put it down, and you will have 6 on the left and 3 on the right - the answer is 63. 

We practiced some long division through step-by-step examples and broke off into groups to use team work to solve the worksheets. We followed this with some more catch-up time for social and visual journal assignments. 

After lunch, we read a chapter of the Jumbies book and wrote predictions. This task took a very long time as the class was extra wiggly and chatty today! Sad to say, but no Minecraft points were earned today. The day ended with more prep time before some more social presentations.