Good Afternoon Everyone :)
This week was short but sweet. We have been busy discovering new ideas and getting outside to experience and see first hand of some of the concepts we learn. In Science, we have tapped into a few new areas such as botany and reflecting on our experiment of mixing various liquids with the compound baking soda! We are excited to be conducting more experiments involving safe chemical reactions :) In Math, we are building on our division skills and diving into fractions and decimals. Students are learning the relationship between the three concepts and hoping to attempt some trickier math problems revolving around these topics. We have also been deepening our mathematical reasoning skills and learning to provide an explanation of how we got our answer and why we think it is correct. On Tuesday, we had a special guest in our classroom from the Calgary Humane Society. This educator taught us about conservation and the 3Rs we do for the environment we live in. Ask your child about what these 3Rs represent! On Thursday, we went on a field study to Valley View Park. It was a cold walk but we managed. We stopped at an outdoor workout gym to test out the equipment and make connections to how Simple Machines work. We also played Prey versus Predator at the park to stay warm! This game is an introduction to Wetlands and Ecosystems. Stay posted for more in-depth learning around this topic. Field trip forms for Nosehill Park went home yesterday. Please return these promptly! This will be an all day event with involves your child being outside. Please dress appropriately for this. Please ensure students have a jacket, snow pants, sweater, toque, mittens, boots and any other necessary pieces of clothing for this unique outdoor learning experience. Upcoming important dates for February/March: - Monday February 26th - Artist in Residence Begins - Tuesday February 27th - NLC reps coming in to talk with all 4/5's -Monday March 5th - National Geographic Live! - Tuesday March 6th - Nosehill Park Field Study - Thursday March 8th - Outdoor School Parent Meeting (Mandatory for all Grade 5 parents only) Have a fantastic weekend everyone!!
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Good Afternoon All,
Sorry it's been a while since I have last updated. I haven't been feeling well so please pardon the tardiness. Science: We're working on a few topics right now. Grade 5s are looking at mixtures and other chemistry related concepts. We are learning about reversible versus irreversible changes. We are also zoning in on different properties of solids, liquids and gases. Grade 4s are studying plants and their parts. We will be looking at making scientific sketches and researching about how plants reproduce and pass on seeds. Mathematics: We are diving into division and have learned two strategies: guess/estimation and traditional. We are learning to do 3-digits by 1-digit division questions as well as 4-digits by 2-digits problems. A mnemonic that helps us is "Does McDonald's Sell Burgers with Relish?" Students use this to remember the steps of division - Divide, Multiple, Subtract, Bring Down and Repeat or Reminder! We will be moving forward with fractions and decimals. Please encourage students to continually practice these skills and to ensure that they are applying these mathematical concepts to solve problems. Literacy: With literacy tasks, we are continuing to write scientific reports and observations. We are also doing a lot of reflecting with our discovery learning in Exploration. We are reflecting on the concepts learned and deciphering what ideas we still need to learn. Asides from these assignments, we are learning to edit our work for punctuation, content and grammar. Social Studies: We are exploring the Land of Alberta and Canada. We are also exploring the natural resources that are found in Alberta and throughout Canada. We are hoping to develop a commercial to invite visitors to come visit Alberta and Canada!! Exploration: Ask students about what this learning time is! A time to explore their passions and interest of various scientific concepts! Field Studies: We went to the Studio Bell & National Music Centre. We learned about natural sounds, pitches and frequencies. We were even lucky enough to make our own instruments out of simple materials. Some students have been so excited about this that they carried forward their learning in Exploration Time to create mallets that work better for metal xylophones. Thank you to our amazing volunteers that came with us! Thank you to Aatif's Dad (who came with us last minute!), Alinda's Dad and Jasmine's Dad :) You guys are so so wonderful!! Our Upcoming Field Studies: February 20th Calgary Humane Society in School Presentation February 22nd Valley View Park (Community Walk) February 27th Niitsitipi Learning Center Guests in School Presentation/TREC Education in School Presentation March 5th National Geographic Live - A Wild Life Please remind students to dress for the weather as some days are warmer/colder than others. We're excited to continue our learning! There will be no school Thursday February 15th and Friday February 16th. This will be Teacher Convention Time and teacher's will be taking on the role of the student, learning and developing professionally. Monday February 19th is off due to Family Day! I will see everyone on Tuesday February 20th :) |