Today in 5th grade we...

- Watched students from Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, and Grade 7 make student council speeches. Great job Ben and Andrew!!! You spoke properly and confident in front of the entire school!!!

- Worked on the vocabulary from a Journeys story. 

- Were introduced to Chapter 2 of our Social Studies text. We explored how early humans lived and survived, as well as reviewed chronological order, and how to read a timeline.

- Added a multiplication tool to our interactive math journals. 

Homework:
Math - Finish the left page of your multiplication tool (What I Learned + Proof + Reflection)
Social Studies - Work on Chapter 1 study guide (Due Sept 3rd)

Today in 5th grade we...

- Had our first spelling test of the year...they did great!! Please remember to help them fix their mistakes and sign the test. 

- Learned some new vocabulary related to elections. 

- Practiced our reading stamina for the last day before we learn the second part of our Daily 5. 

- Took our Chapter 2 math test. 

- Learned about tools that scientists use. 

Homework:
Language - Vocab: Lesson 2
Reading - Use the given passage to complete a reading response
Social Studies - Work on study guide, due: Sept 3rd

Just a heads up, the mosquito company didn't come today, they will come next Friday instead. Sorry about the change! 

Today in 5th grade we...

- Came up with vivid verbs to use in academic writing instead of using "eat", "slide", "shout". and "throw"

- Solved Algebraic problems after figuring out which information is missing and which information is needed. 

- Work on our Social Studies - Chapter 1 study guide. 

- Conducted a controlled experiment about how high balls bounce on different surfaces. 

Homework: 
Math - Workbook p. 13
Language - Spelling tests tomorrow. This spelling test will be taken from the 10 words we learned last Friday during our Vocabulary lesson.
Social Studies - Finish study guide by next Thursday - SEPT 3rd 
Other - Fix Science test mistakes and return it signed by a parent

Today in 5th grade we...

- Learned what makes a verb a "vivid verb". We then came up with lists of vivid verbs that can replace our dead verbs when completing a piece of academic writing. 

- Had our first Dance class of the year. (Please feel free to contact me to learn more about this teacher). 

- Wrote our Unit 1, lesssos 1 - 3 test. 

- Finished making and posting our campaign posters. Up next are the speeches! 

Homework:
Reading - Journeys workbook p. 27
Math - Workbook p. 12

Today in 5th grade we...

- Learned how to make our sentences more interesting by eliminating "dead verbs" such as the be verb and -ing verbs, and instead used strong verbs in their place. 

- Read using all six reading strategies we have learned so far. 

- Reviewed adding and subtracting greater numbers, and problem solved with greater numbers. 

- Wrote our Chapter one Social Studies test. 

- Discussed different ways to show the results of an experience (ex. bar graph, line graph, etc)

Homework:
Math - workbook p. 11
Science - textbook p. 37 - 38
Science - Lesson 1 - 3 test tomorrow

Today in 5th grade...

- Discussed how to choose to read good fit books/just right books/ 

- Explored the relationship between history and geography. 

- Learned how to read physical maps, climate maps, population maps, and road maps. 

- Reviewed operations. 

- Continued working on the campaign posters 

Homework: 
Math - Finish left side of journal p. 3 
Social Studies - Textbook p. 17 # 2a, 3a, 3b 
Social Studies - Study for Chapter 1 test 

Here are some 5th graders working on posters. Looking great guys! 

Please be aware that I made a mistake on Friday's blog post. I said that our Social Studies test on Tuesday would be on Chapter 2. It should have said Chapter 1. Sorry about that! 

Today in 5th grade we...

- Learned new vocabulary words that will help us to complete the rest of our vocabulary workbook. 

- Started our unit on algebraic expressions. 

- Continued to discuss how to conduct investigations. 

Homework: 
Language - Vocabulary p. 5 - 6 (including Writing Extended Responses) 
Math - Workbook p. 8 

Coming up next week:
- Science test on lessons 1 - 3 on Wednesday 8/26
- Social Studies tests on chapter 1 next Tuesday 8/25

Please feel free to drop into my classroom tomorrow between 8:30 and 9:30 if you have any questions about what we will be studying this year. If you will not be here tomorrow we can chat later about it :) 

Today in 5th grade we...

- Chose verbs that should no longer be used in academic writing. 

- Review place value and completed our Chapter 1 test. 

- Examined why we study geography, and how it is related to history. 

- Discussed different scientific questions, and decided which type of investigations would be best to use when trying to answer certain questions.

- Created posters for Ben and Andrew's campaign for student council. 

Homework: 
Math - Complete the left page of page 2 in our Interactive Math Journal
                - Rewrite the standard in your own words
                - Write what you learned 
                - Give proof that you understand
                - Write a reflection
* this entry should take up almost the entire page 

Reminders:
- This Saturday there is a parent/teacher meet and greet. If you would like to learn a little bit about what your child will be learning in Grade 5 this year please attend from 8:30 - 11:00. You will have a chance to listen to the homeroom teacher, the specialty teachers, and the administration about this year's plans. 
- Remind your children that they can only wear their sports day shirt during PE class, and the rest of the day they must wear their proper gym uniform. 

Today in 5th grade we...

- Practiced "back up and reread" as a reading strategy. 

- Discussed "dead words" that we should no longer use in academic writing. 

- Worked on ordering, comparing, and estimating decimals. 

- Explored the way that scientists plan and execute an experiment by creating our own. 

Homework: 
Reading - Workbook p. 15
Math - Workbook p. 7

Today in 5th grade we...

- Celebrated the start of the school year by participating in our welcoming mass.

- Completed our first interactive math journal lesson about place value decimals.

- Pretended we were archaeologists by studying "artifacts", categorizing them, and making observations and inferences about where they came from and how they were used. 

- Explored how scientists learn about the natural world by making an origami weather predictor and comparing it with scientifically measured weather predictions. 

- Signed our classroom constitution. 

Homework: 
Math - Workbook p. 6 
Social Studies - Write a paragraph comparing the difference between a historian and an archaeologists (textbook p. 11 #5)  

 Here are some pictures of our class participating as the choir and alter servers. 

Here are some students preparing their decimal tool.

Here are the 5th graders showing me they know how to place decimal numbers in their correct columns.

Here are some students categorizing their artifacts. 

Here are two groups presenting their observations and inferences about their artifacts. 

Here are some students creating and using their origami weather predictor. 

Today in 5th grade we...

- Listened for interested words to add to our vocabulary while reading during Daily 5.

- Discussed the importance of studying history, and why being open minded and aware of other culture's history can help create peace on Earth. 

- Introduced our Interactive Math Journals and set up our Table of Contents. 

Homework: 
Math - Workbook p. 5 + Chapter 1 quiz on Thursday 
Social Studies - Textbook p. 11 #1a, 1b, and 1c

Here are Minnie, Leann, and Andrew working hard at setting up their Interactive Math Journals 

Today in 5th grade we...

- Learned how to cross check and double check difficult words when reading. 

- Ordered, compared and estimated large numbers. 

- Discussed meteorologists and how they conduct investigations. 

- Voted for who we would like to represent our class on student council. 

Homework: 
Math - Workbook p. 4
Reading - Read for at least 30 minutes and answer this question 'Compare two characters in your story. Write AT LEAST 5 similarities and differences.  

Today in 5th grade we....

- Worked on place values through to 1 billion. 

- Learned the similarities and differences between historians and archaeologists. 

- Discussed different kinds of scientists and what kind of questions lead their investigations. 

- Practiced checking for understanding while reading to self. 

As mentioned today in class please remind your child to come to school dressed in anything they want! This is our first civvies (civilian dress) day at DISK. (Please don't forget to bring your PE clothes to change into). 

The last reminder I have is for the students to think about who they would like to nominate to be their class representative (as well as the school treasurer) for student council. The voting will take place tomorrow during ECA. 

Homework: 
Reading - Journeys workbook p. 3
Math - Workbook p. 3

Here are Leon and Belinda explaining their thoughts to the class

Today in 5th grade we...

- Learned 3 ways to read a book and worked on our reading stamina.

- Learned how to use exponents. 

- Discussed science investigations. 

Homework:
Math - Workbook p. 2

Here's to a smooth second day of school! 

Today in 5th grade we...

- Had our 13 students represent the 13 colonies that once made up the United States and worked together in creating a class constitution. 

- Had our first lesson for the Daily 5 reading program; we learned how to choose a good-fit book.

- Started thinking like scientists by coming up with science based questions. 

- Introduced ourselves to our new Social Studies textbook. 

- Took a math pretest to see how much we know about our unit of place values and different forms of writing numbers. 

Homework:
Math - Workbook p. 1 
Science - Write the definitions for the lesson 1 vocabulary 

Amy, Anne, and Terry working on the class constitution

Leann, Andrew, and Leon working on the class constitution

Welcome to the 5th grade! 

I hope that you had a fabulous summer vacation and are ready to learn! I am very excited to have another chance to work with you, and more importantly teach your children. I can't wait to learn with the fifth grade students and create an amazing year together. 

In order to start the year off properly, students will need to have some resources to help facilitate their learning. Please gather the following supplies and bring them to school by then end of the week.

• A pencil case with pencils, a pencil sharpener, erasers, a long ruler, and a pair of scissors

• Crayons, markers, coloring pencils and glue for class use 
Apart from the students’ pencil cases and notebooks, I would like to have the students share the stationary that will be needed in class to encourage community cleanliness and mutual responsibility. I will take the students’ collected stationary and divide them into communal kits. These items do not need to be labeled.

• Tissue paper for class use

• A dry erase marker and eraser (any dark colour)

• A water bottle

• A 6-pocket accordion-type folder (for filing student work) 

• Three fiction books, and three non-fiction books (both story books with pictures and novels) which will be used to help build our class library (this is an optional and more books are always welcome!)

• Six (6) A-4 notebooks (one for each major subject and ECA) 

• A healthy snack and water (no junk food, chocolate bars, or soft drinks, please)

Here's to the start of a fantastic year!!!