Hard to argue with these fall nights. You’ve got Northern Lights, cool evenings and sun on your face in the morning. Also, you did it, you survived Halloween and while I know you’re all likely still enjoying the spoils of your childs Trick or Treating, I was hoping to peal your attention away for a few moments to pass along the November update. It’s a busy month and we’ve lots going on so here’s a quick run down of what to expect.

Important Dates

Thursday, November 11 - No School for all students (Remembrance Day)

Friday, November 12 - No School (CBE PD Day)

Thursday, November 18 - Jersey Day

Friday, November 26 - No School (CBE PD Day) 

Language Arts

We are almost finished part 1 of “Wonder” and are excited to begin part 2. Even though many of the students have already read the book, they have really enjoyed hearing it again. The themes in the book provide rich discussion each day and we are looking forward to watching the movie once we are done!

In writing, students have been focusing on persuasive writing as well as descriptive writing. When possible, we try to integrate our writing efforts in other areas. For example, last week students wrote up a realtor listing for a haunted house and the finished results were legitimately terrifying and gruesome! The details, the descriptions and the imagery used were fantastic and truly represented the best writing from each student I’ve seen all year. I loved it.

Math

We have just finished up our rounding and estimation unit, as well as comparing and ordering numbers up to millions. With this finished we are about to begin our unit on data analysis which has us looking at surveys, data and ways to display information using bar graphs or other charts. 

The students also completed their November fact frenzy last week and should have brought them home for you to sign and review. If you are noticing gaps in any of the four operations, please take a little bit of time each night to practice. Their estimation tests will be returned soon to them and will then  come home for your signature and review.

Science

We are working our way through our unit on Weather. We have been exploring the different types of clouds and so I would encourage you to ask your child the different types the next time you see some clouds in the sky. Mr. Duppereault, Ms. Stapleton’s student teacher, led the students in a great lesson where they represented the different types of clouds using nothing other than cotton balls. From there we will be exploring the different types of weather instruments, how storms are formed as well as understand how weather forecasts are made (as well as what those bizarre symbols on the maps mean). For all related information, students can explore the Weather Resources as well as the Weather Watch Web Links.

Social Studies

For the month of November, our writing efforts will incorporate elements from Social Studies as we continue to learn about Canada’s war efforts and the experiences of the men and women who have served our country. We had a box filled with WWI artifacts from the Canadian War Museum that allowed us to hold history in our hands as well as allow students to build a tangible connection to the wars. Mrs. Fernandez Maldonado, our student teacher, has led the students in the creation of some incredible oil pastel poppies as part of our work on Remembrance Day. Students will be writing their own “letters from the front” where they will take the perspective of a soldier, nurse, or medic on the front lines and trenches of WW1, writing a letter home to his/her family. In support of this work, we made use of the following resources which make for great discussion and exploration:

• Over the Top - Interactive experience from the Canadian War Museum in which students are in the trenches and must make choices as a soldier with hopes to survive.
• Letters Home from Soldiers - From the Canadian Letters and Images Project. Actual letter from soldiers serving over seas from all wars Canadians have participated in. There is also a section where famous Canadians read some letters aloud.
• Remembrance Day & World Wars - This is the dedicated section on the Social Studies Resources page for all things Remembrance Day. 

I will leave it there for now and will update you all with more specific details for things as they come up. Have a great week.

Sincerely,

Daniel Polsky
Grade 5 Teacher | Learning Leader
Fish Creek School | cbe.ab.ca
t| 403-777-6400 f| 403-777-6409
twitter @mr_polsky
instagram @mr.polsky