Well we survived another Halloween and I was pleased to see that the class wasn’t wired beyond belief from all the sugar they had over the weekend. That could be a coincidence or a result of more vicious methods - such as their parents raiding the bounty - either way, I was okay with it. I know that personally, when I was growing up, my dad explained that he is/was the tax man and that for safety reasons, he had to eat all the Rocket candies and O’Henry bars - seemed legit at the time. I have uploaded pictures from Halloween and so I encourage you all to check out the awesome costumes as well as some evidence from the Great Pumpkin Gutting of 2015.

We have Parent/Teacher conferences once again this month (November 19 & 20) and I look forward to chatting with you all again about the wild world of Grade 5. As always, please take a minute to read on below about what we’ve been up to as well as what we have coming up in the next few weeks.

Math - Basic Facts & Place Value

Having finished our review of the Place Value System as well as how we read and write large numbers, we have now moved on to a brief unit on estimation. In framing this unit, we focus on taking various numbers and rounding them so as to make it simple enough for us to use mental math to give ourselves an “about” answer. Specifically, we have students using either Front-End Estimation or Back-End Estimation/Rounding (aka Compatible Numbers & Benchmark Estimation - isn’t it great how we have fifteen different names for the exact same thing?? - not confusing at all). Here’s a very quick explanation:

1. Front-End: we literally only use the first digit, putting all other digits to zero. Ex: 6 795 becomes 6 000.

2. Back-End/Compatible Numbers/Rounding: we round to a number that makes sense or that makes things easier - so that may be to the nearest ten, hundred, thousand - all depending on the situation. Ex: 6 795 become  6 800 or 7 000 or 6 700.

Basic facts continue to be strongly encouraged for all students, with almost all students experiencing growth. Continued practise is critical as this translates to success in all areas of mathematics. Looking ahead, I encourage you all to review the various algorithms for operations with your child as this will be a constant emphasis going forward. On the Math Resources page, I have included video explanations of all operations, with accompanying practise sheets to apply these skills.

Social Studies - World Wars and Remembrance Day

With the Remembrance Day assembly rapidly approaching, all grade 5 students are busily working on various projects and presentations. As a grade, the students will be performing John McCrae’s ‘In Flanders Fields’. We have been talking to the students about the different ideas contained within the poem as well as relating a brief history of Lt. Col. John McCrae’s life. Furthermore, students have been working on developing an appreciation of the significance of this day of remembrance - being conscious of both past and present conflicts.

Our Remembrance Day assembly will be Tuesday, November 10th at 10:45am. Please join us if you can. Grade 5 students should wear white tops and black or dark bottoms. If your child has a guides/Brownies, Cubs or Scouts uniform please encourage them to wear this uniform on Tuesday. Donations will be accepted for poppies. There is no school on November 11.

The Grade 5s are also spearheading the Veterans Food Bank drive to support veterans that have come on hard times. For more information as well as details on requested items, please refer to the Veterans Food Bank FAQ & Fact Sheet. To once again prove that we’re the best class, as well as to encourage participation, we have challenged Ms. Day’s class to see who can bring in more items. Non-perishable donations are being accepted now and will end on November 13. Needless to say, GAME ON!

Science - Chemistry

With Wetland Ecosystems finished we will be moving on to Classroom Chemistry next week - with our guest instructor Walter White coming to help us out. Our initial focus will be on understanding and working with the two main types of Mixtures - homogeneous and heterogeneous. Please feel free to check out the Classroom Chemistry Web Links, the Unit SLE''s and Vocabulary. Once Walter White has covered the basics, and established that he is, in fact, the one who knocks, students will review the Scientific Method/Experimental Procedure and then grow and create their own crystal. More info will be sent home as we get closer to this but you should all look forward to your mad scientist’s creation coming home soon. From there, we will explore different concepts with a focus on the separation of mixtures, followed by a look at the states of matter (liquids, solids & gases) and the identification of acids & bases.

Language Arts - Wonder Novel Study

We are continuing our class novel study of R. J. Palacio’s “Wonder” and have gotten to know its main character, August Pullman, really well. We’re enjoying seeing everything that’s happened from all the different perspectives of each character as well as looking at all the different pop culture references that Palacio includes in the story. I have uploaded some resources to the Language Arts Resources page such as character information, a trailer for the book, info on the author as well as a link to The Daily Wonder App - the free companion app to the book.

As a grade, we have also chosen to kick off our own Choose Kind Classroom Challenge. Please follow the previous link for more information.

Good Read Book List - October Edition

As the students continue to explore different books, we have also continued our creation of the monthly Good Read Book List. Follow the previous link to find the October Edition of the Good Read Book List. Enjoy.

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Alright, I’ll leave it there but also want to thank those parents that volunteered to help with the pumpkin carving on Thursday - it honestly could not have happened without you all. It was awesome and more importantly, it was messy, which only made it more awesomer (yes, awesomer).