September 3, 2014
Dear Parents:
Welcome to a new school year! I am excited about this year and all of its possibilities and opportunities. Most of all I am excited about working with your children to help them become devoted followers of Jesus Christ, insightful thinkers, discerning decision makers, and compassionate community members!
Attendance
We encourage our students to be on time for school. The students do have an activity (bell activity) to complete between 8:20 and 8:30. Those who are not here during that time miss the opportunity to begin the assignment. It would then need to be completed during the day. Students who enter the class after the 8:30 a.m. bell will be marked late.
Following is a brief outline of the various subject areas.
Language Arts
Listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing and representing are all essential skills used to achieve the five general learning outcomes for English language arts including exploring thoughts, ideas, feelings and experiences; comprehending and responding personally and critically to oral, print and other media texts; managing ideas and information; enhancing the clarity and artistry of communication; and celebrating and building community. The learning outcomes are not taught in isolation and they frequently overlap. There will be many opportunities for us to integrate language arts skills as we explore and research the science and social studies topics and participate in math and Bible activities.
Throughout the year themes related to social studies and science topics will connect students to a variety of non-fiction and fiction stories, novels, and other texts. Reading strategies are modelled, taught and practiced in a variety of ways. Whole class shared novels, small group guided reading, individual reading and literature circles are some of the activities students will be involved in.
Writing skills will be modelled and practiced in a variety of ways. The Six Trait Writing model is one method used to assess and teach writing skills.
The spelling program we use is called Words Their Way. This is a developmentally driven, hands-on instructional approach to word study, phonics, vocabulary and spelling. Students will be assessed and grouped according to the spelling skills they need. The students will be given a set of words which they will use to sort and manipulate in a variety of ways over a one week period. A copy of the base words will go home every week. There will be an assessment of those skills on Friday of most weeks.
Math
Math concepts will be introduced using many manipulative materials and the students will be involved in solving problems as we cover the following four strands of the mathematics curriculum.
Patterns and Relations
Number (number concepts and number operations)
Shape and Space (measurement, 3-D objects and 2-D shapes, transformations)
Statistics and Probability (data analysis, chance and uncertainty)
It is essential for the students to know their basic math facts for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. We will be reviewing them throughout the year via personal best tests, but we encourage you to reinforce this at home too.
The students are required to keep up with their daily work and corrections.
Science
Our Science program this year will consist of 4 main units of study. They are:
Forces and Simple Machines
Properties of and changes in Substances
Maintaining a healthy body
Weather
The school science fair will be held in March. All grade 5 students participate in the science fair. We will help the students with ideas and strategies and time frames. More information will be sent home at a later date.
Social Studies
We will be using the grade 5 social studies curriculum: People and Stories of Canada to 1867. The students will be introduced to the use of a textbook for this subject that will cover the following four clusters:
First Peoples
Early Europeans (1600-1763)
Fur Trade
From British Colony to Confederation
Bible
In Bible this year we are studying the books of Genesis and John. The students are challenged to memorize several verses each month. These will be shared with the students at the beginning of each month. It is also a privilege to integrate the truths of God’s word throughout our daily activities. Our hope is that we will develop a closer relationship with God and a greater love for those around us.
Art
Art class will usually be on Fridays unless we are trying to finish a project that has a timeline. I have been known to have some fairly messy art projects. Therefore, I suggest that the students not wear their best school clothes on these days or bring a painting smock (old large shirt) to be kept in their gym bags.
Homework
Homework will consist of home reading, spelling study and basic facts practice if needed. Sometimes students may need to collect items to be brought to school as well. It is my goal to have the students complete all of their work in class time to alleviate the pressure on busy schedules. This being said, if a student is not using his/her class time wisely, work may need to be completed at home. In this case, I will email home to let you know what needs to be completed.
Communication
Communication between the home and the school is an essential component of a child’s education. Grade 5 students and parents at Linden Christian School will have access to a classroom blog this year to keep track of assignments, activities, websites and online tools. Please feel free to comment and ask questions on the blog. The 5G blog can be found at mrsgibbons5g.blogspot.ca. If questions and comments are of a more personal nature, the best way to contact me is via email at tgibbons@lindenchristian.org or feel free to make an appointment or just drop by the classroom.
To further facilitate communication we will maintain a parent class email group for important information and reminders. Please contact Kathy Berard at kberard@lindenchristian.org if you would like to add an additional email addresses to the contact listed on your registration package. In the past, some families have found it beneficial for email to go to both parents. We can accommodate only two addresses.
Student Devices
Your child has been asked to provide a device to use at school this year. We will be integrating the use of technology into many subjects in many different ways. We will be using and creating on many online tools and exploring many websites. We will be using Google Apps for Education for our writing process, presentation needs and more.
All of the students will have an email address. This email address is to be used solely for educational purposes. It is not to be linked to any personal sites such as Twitter or Facebook.
Although it is very important that the students do not share their usernames and passwords with others, we do encourage you, as parents, to ask your child to share his/her username and password with you so that you can see the work your child has been producing and to help us monitor his/her use as per the technology agreement that you signed.
The ethics of digital citizenship will be taught and at all times the privacy and protection of our students will be considered and maintained.
Chapel
The grade 5/6 Chapel is on day 6 at 12:30 pm. You are most welcome to join us at that time.
Compassion Project
This year our grade five class will be participating in an exciting project. The class has a relationship with nine Compassion Canada children from around the world due to Mr. Mark Loewen who provides the funding. The students will be writing letters, praying for, and encouraging the sponsored children. We hope you will partner with us in praying at home for each of the children as well. At the end of the year, opportunity will be given to transfer the sponsorship of each of the Compassion children to your family if you so choose. This provides the opportunity for the 5G class to add more children to our group of nine and the opportunity for your child to continue the relationship begun in grade 5.
Volunteers
I welcome volunteers in the classroom. There are always things for you to do, even just supervising the students while they eat their lunch for 20 minutes. If you are interested in volunteering in any way, please email me.
I look forward to getting to know your children and meeting you. I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to teach your child in a Christian setting and know how important this responsibility is. I value your prayers and communication as we partner in the academic, emotional and spiritual growth of your child.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Teresa Gibbons
