I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful Sunday afternoon!  It is nice to see the sun finally come out!  I am definitely looking forward to the nicer weather this week!  We had a great week in the Grade 5 classroom!  Here’s a rundown of what we did this week.

Math:  continued working on place value – specifically showing numbers up to one million in written, expanded and picture form.  We have been identifying the place and value of digits in large numbers and next week will work at ordering, comparing and rounding numbers.

Language Arts:  We are continuing to work on reading comprehension strategies and are using mentor texts (picture books) to study strong sentences.  We will be using mentor texts throughout the year to learn grammar, strong sentence structure and then building our own  sentences based on the ones we are studying.  Next week we will be working on our first writing unit, personal narrative writing.

Science:  We are finishing up our mini unit on Growth Mindset and beginning to look at BC’s natural resources.  We will be spending time in the garden and learning about sustainable agriculture practices.

Social Studies:  We looked at Canada’s newest Geoparks and started a mapping activity to go with this.  Students filled in a map of Canada and will soon be starting a unit on government.

Bible:  We have started a unit on Our Identity in Christ.  We started talking about what makes us unique.  Our next lesson will look at verses in the Bible to determine  who Christ says we are.

Some other information for you…

Class Economy:  Thank you so much for the class economy donations!  The kids had a very fun time on Friday – paying their rent, collecting their salaries and then listening to a ‘teacher/mom lecture’ on the realities of life – we can’t now spend all of our money at the store.  We have to save for big items (real life), save for unforeseen circumstances (forgetting to do our homework) etc.  They had LOTS of fun shopping and spending ‘some’ of the money in their wallets.

Chapel:  This Wednesday we had our first ‘chapel’ in the classrooms.  I decided to show the class the amazing Kids Church video that City Life has put together.  The theme that is being worked through is The Fruit of the Spirit – and this week it was focusing on peace – letting go of our worries and anxieties.  In this crazy time we are living in, I thought it was the PERFECT lesson for the class.  They really enjoyed it too!

Bible Memory Verse:  In the Bible Memory tab I have the first two Bible Memory Verses that we will be working on.  I will photocopy these and hand them out to the students so they can bring them home to study.  We will say or write our BMV’s on Friday.  The verse below is due on Friday, October 2nd.

Memory verse- Psalm 100:2   Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

Candy:  I would like to ask that students not bring candy to school as the added sugar is not conducive to learning. I do occasionally give out sour keys and we have class store once a month.  Other than that, I would like candy to be eaten at home.  Thanks for your understanding.

Orange Shirt Day on Wednesday, September 30th:   Please make sure your student is wearing an orange shirt in this day to acknowledge the treatment of Indigenous people in Residential Schools in Canada. Wearing orange shows we acknowledge this past wrong and move forward in reconciliation.

Upcoming Dates:

Sept. 30 – Orange Shirt Day

Oct. 2 – Knights Day

Oct. 9 – Knights Day

Oct. 12 – Thanksgiving

Oct. 16 – Knights Day

Oct. 23 – PD Day

October 26th – Pumpkin Math

Oct. 30 – Knights Day

Here are a few photos of chapel and class economy & store for you to enjoy…

This Friday we will be having our first classroom store.  Students will get paid for doing their jobs, pay rent for their desk, and have an opportunity to purchase items from the school store.  I have purchased a few things and have items left over from last year but am in need of small candy-type items.  If you would be able to purchase a bag of small individually wrapped halloween candies (or bring anything else) before Friday it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Good afternoon!  We have made it though the first full week of school!  It has been a great week and we have certainly gotten into the swing of things here in the Grade 5 classroom.  Below is a quick breakdown of what we have been working on this week.

Math – place value introduction and building numbers with base 10 blocks.

Language Arts – close reading activities that focus on ways to be an effective reader.  We also had Flashlight Friday (pictures below).

Science – reviewing the scientific method through skittle and mnm experiments (pictures below).  We also started learning about the brain.

Current Events – learning about food forests in Canada.  Students spent  time in the school garden (pictures below)

Social Studies – discussed what we know about Canada’s resources and physical features.  Spent time looking at Canada on Google maps to see all the amazing parts of creation that exist in our country.

In addition we spent a lot of time this week practicing essential group work skills as working with others is a lifelong skill that all of us can improve upon.  We took time this week to continue looking at core competencies and will be setting SMART goals this week.

A few things coming up…

Terry Fox Run – our class will be participating in The Terry Fox Run on Friday, September 25th.  We would ask that students bring a ‘toonie for Terry’.  This money will be donated to the Terry Fox Foundation.

Gearing up for Rainy Weather – as the rainy season will soon be upon us, we ask that students come prepared to be outside in the rain.  Sending a rain jacket or umbrella will be helpful as we are encouraged to get students outside where possible.  We will continue spending time in the garden this fall so appropriate outerwear will be necessary.

Upcoming Dates:

Friday, September 25th Terry Fox Run

Friday, September 25th Knights Day

Monday, September 28th Pro D Day (no school for students)

Wednesday, September 30th Orange Shirt Day

We have lots of pictures for you to enjoy!

Good evening!  I wanted to send a quick reminder that students have photos tomorrow.  Knight’s Day will resume next Friday.

Thank you!

We have officially finished the first week of school!  Ms. Miller and I want to let you know how THRILLED we are to be teaching this amazing group of students!  This week was full of get to know you activities, Math (that used candies – say what?), lessons that focused on how to effectively work in a group, fun art projects and reviewing what core competencies are.  Phew!  That’s a lot for the first week of school!

I will be sending weekly posts home, usually on Friday or Saturday.  In these posts I will try my best to add pictures of your kids in action!  I will let you know what we have been learning as well as important information about our classroom or upcoming events.  At the end of each post I will also include the school calendar for next several weeks.

Here we go…

School Supplies – thank you for sending these on the first day of school.  If you didn’t quite get everything in this week, please ensure that you send it next week with your child.  All supplies are kept separate this year so I will notify you when certain supplies are getting low.

Health Check – Ms. Miller and I are asking the students every morning if they have done their health check.  It is really important that health checks are done at home each morning.  Thank you!

After School Pick Up – Just a friendly reminder to pick up your children as close to 2:55 as possible.  As the playground is closed after school, we are waiting outside with the class until all students have gone home.  Thank you for your understanding!

Class Economy – there has been quite a buzz in the classroom about our classroom economy.  Students have applied for, and received their first classroom job.  They will start earning money and hopefully not incur any fines this month.  At the end of the month students will pay $500 rent for their desk as well as receive their monthly salary.  With their profits, students have an opportunity to purchase items from a classroom store.  We would love donations from parents to help run this store.  I have purchased some things to get us started but this will not sustain us through the year.  A couple of chocolate bars, Halloween candy, unwanted toys from home, etc. make excellent store items.

Individual Student Photos – these are happening on Friday, September 18th.  Please have students wear their uniform next Friday (instead of Knight’s wear).

Upcoming Dates:

Friday, September 18th – Student photos

Sept. 18 – Individual Photos

Sept. 25 – Knights Day

Sept. 28 – Pro D Day

Sept. 30 – Orange Shirt Day

Here are a few photos from our week…enjoy!

Good evening!  I wanted to send a quick reminder that we have Knight’s Day every Friday this year!  Students can wear casual bottoms and a Knight’s shirt tomorrow!

Thank you!

Welcome to Mrs. Goosen and Ms. Miller’s Grade 5 class blog.  We are so excited to be starting a new year with you and look forward to getting to know you and your families.

On the first day of school a letter will be sent home for parents.  It will be one of the last paper newsletters that you will see.  All class information, notifications, assignments, important dates, etc will be posted here during the year.

Please subscribe to our blog (on the right hand side bar) so that you will receive an e-mail when we make a new post.  Looking forward to a great year together!

Thought we’d share some pictures of our families!  Enjoy!