Thursday, June 8, 2022

Today we: made a lovely little booklet of Thank You cards for Ms. Grace who visits our class for support every morning. She really appreciated the gift. 

We did two labs in science today! First, students used red and blue litmus paper to determine whether our liquids are an acid, or a base. We tested regular water, colored water, vinegar, lemon juice, soapy water, tea, and baking soda mixed with water. They recorded their results in a chart glued into their visual journal before they started the second lab. We are going to make crystals by using a petri dish and evaporating a salt and water solution to see how it forms crystals when it dries. 

In the afternoon, we did some practice on the cubic centimeter and cubic meter. We introduced quadrilaterals and had some conversations about shapes before we turned it over to social. They had some independent time to complete their History of Canada diary entry, read the next set of pages in the textbook with a partner, and if they finish all of it, to practice math on Prodigy. 

Check below for some important messages. See you tomorrow NLS families! 

Are you leaving NLS next year and you haven't let us know yet?

If you will NOT be at Northern Lights School, and you HAVE NOT yet told us, can you please reply to this email as soon as possible.   Our planning for next year continues and having the most accurate number of students is essential. If you are staying at NLS, please disregard this email.   If you are leaving NLS but you already let me know, please disregard this email. Thanks so much!

Interested in helping to name the new North High School?

We require a parent / guardian from Northern Lights School to be part of the naming committee for the new North High School being built in Coventry Hills.  When it is open, the school will serve many North Calgary communities, including Coventry Hills and Harvest Hills. The committee will meet starting in the fall and there will be approximately three meetings to attend. Each meeting will less than an hour and will be booked flexibly to accommodate for everyone’s schedules.  The people on the committee cannot be employees of the CBE. If you are interested, please email Mrs. Brinson as soon as possible so she can provide your name and email to the Area 3 Education Director to have you added to the committee. Thanks!

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

 Today we: had to rearrange the seating plan multiple times. The students are getting more and more restless every day as summer vacation approaches. 

In poetry, we looked at the limerick and how it was made in the 1800s. Limerick is a town in Ireland, but no one knows why the poem was named this. After seeing some examples from various eras, we played with words to make one of our own. Select students contributed a rhyming word, or a piece of the sentence, to make our own 5-line limerick:

Papa made a soup that was tasty,

It was rather dry and pasty. 

A little salt would make it a snack,

But Papa would give me a smack, 

So I ran away quite hasty.

I should point out that the word snack was inserted only because the activity took longer than expected and the students were still trying to make up lines when snack time started. We came up with the word smack to rhyme with snack before the context was added. Everyone found it very humorous, and while it is not polite to smack anyone, this limerick was far better than the one they were trying to make about poo. As I said, it is a restless time of year! 

In science, we experimented with making gas in a bag. Students took a non-latex glove and added vinegar and baking soda to it. They close the open end of the glove to watch the gas formed by the chemical reaction which made the glove fill with air like a balloon. We tried a few experiments with more baking soda and saw how much air we could fill, and tried to see when it would bubble over using a beaker over the sink.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

 Today we: finished learning what all of the figurative language types are and practiced spotting them in a poem. Personification and similes were the easiest ones to find. 

In math we did some practice work using blocks to calculate volume by exploring length, width and height. Students worked in partners or table groups to come up with rectangle prisms that would equal less than 20 cm3 or more than 100 cm3. 

In the afternoon, we read some of The City of Ember. Lina's grandmother passed away in the book, and students were quite shocked and sad. They were able to make connections that the lack of medicine in a town running out of supplies can have consequences. 

In science, we had a beaker full of water that had pollutants in it. Students were tasked with coming up with a system for removing the pollutants, but also separating each material as well. They got very creative in their diagrams and connected a lot of the filtration methods we have been practicing. 

Monday, June 5, 2022

 Today we: began a new unit in Language Arts on Poetry. We started the unit with a discussion of figurative language and some examples. Students wrote the definitions down and then shared some of their own examples of each one. We made a chart on the back wall white board to reference throughout the unit. Tomorrow we will finish the list and then read a poem to spot the different types. 

In math, we explored more about volume by counting the number of 1 cm cubes that it takes to make objects in the classroom, like a pencil case or a visual journal. We talked about how the unit is cm3 because there are 3 measurements to multiply in a 3D shape. It was great to see the students remembering their multiplication facts. 

In social, we read about the Inuit in the Arctic region and took some notes. After reading some City of Ember, the class went to Music and P.E. and returned for a review on our Solution to Recover lab using a google form on the Chromebooks. 

See below for a photo of our completed Door Decoration for Literacy Week! All of the students worked so hard on their cut-outs and the study material they created for the tables. 

Friday, June 3, 2022

 Happy FriYay everyone! 

Today we: started the day with some crafts. Students cut things out for our door decorating contest and then they played literacy and math games before heading to P.E. for some badminton. 

After gym, the kids usually have snack, but today was a special day! We had our whole school read out. Since we already returned our books to the learning commons, we used this time to read aloud some more of City of Ember - hopefully we can finish it in time! The students listened while they enjoyed their snacks and then got an extra 10 minutes to play revenge tag to burn off some energy. 

Back in the class, we did a science experiment for our Weather Watch unit. We tested the temperature in various areas of the room with a thermometer. Students made a table in their visual journals and wrote down the areas (window, floor, ceiling, in sun and in darkness). We first predicted what we though the temperature would be, then placed the thermometer in the spot and timed it one minute before reading what the actual temperature was. Some predictions were spot on, and some were very different! We discussed how heat rises, and seasons can affect the temperature of the window. 

The day ended with 30 minutes of free time/chromebooks because nothing needed finishing! They managed to tidy the classroom and clean up just in time for the bell. 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 

Thursday, June 2, 2022

 Today we: changed up the morning to just literacy games, math games, and partner reading. Being "Dress like your favorite book character" day for Literacy Week, we had many students dressed up, and I was amazed to see the amount of Harry Potter fans! I was dressed as Cho Chang, a Hogwarts student from Ravenclaw, and I brought some of my Harry Potter books from home, so the class enjoyed some partner reading with some extras from my collection. 

In math, we explored more on volume by looking at shapes we could make with cubes. They were challenged with seeing if they could make different objects using the same amount of blocks. This is preparing them for understanding the concept of squared. 

After lunch the class has music and P.E., but between those, we did a little more for our door decorating! After the Wellness Event tonight, we can finally start displaying our super amazing ideas, so stay tuned for tomorrow's blog pictures! 

Tomorrow, the entire school will be doing a "Read Out" where we go outside to read our books in the lovely June weather at the same time. Since we returned our library books, we will likely be reading The City of Ember as a class outside. 

For those of you coming to the Wellness Event tonight, I hope you have a wonderful time! See you tomorrow Grade Five. 

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Happy June!!! The end is in sight! 

Today we: had our final CAFE reading and Literacy Block times. We returned our books to the Learning Commons so Ms. Barrowcliff could tally up all of the unreturned books for collections. The CAFE journals and reading response journals will be marked for the end of the year.

In math, we explored more about liters and compared it to milliliters. We discussed what things would be measured using either unit, and used some student's water bottles for visual demonstration. Students did a few practice questions and then we did some social reading on the North West Mounted Police with notes. 

After lunch, we read more of City of Ember - the 5 minute timer to get prepared seems to be very effective. We are close to half way through, so fingers crossed we can finish it before the end of the year. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing another science experiment on water tension. Through four different exercises, students were able to see how the particles of water attract to one another enough to create a dome over the top of the surface, and can float flat, dry objects if placed gently. We also saw that rubbing alcohol and dish soap do not have the same effect. They recorded some observations and definitions in their visual journals before cleaning up for the end of the day. 

There is another wellness event for parents to come to the school and look around, so be sure to check out Mrs. Swaroop's bulletin board as she has displayed some of the chemistry work we have been doing. 

See you tomorrow!