Place Value Manipulatives

This week the students had an opportunity to work with place value pockets (Thank you, Kim Sutton!) and a place value chart to model large numbers.  Below is a picture of the tools used.

To find other items by Kim Sutton go to:  http://www.creativemathematics.com/learn/

Cave Art With Homemade Paint

Last Friday the class used homemade paint made from mostly natural ingredients to create cave paintings of Ice Age animals.  This art lesson fits in well with our unit on Canada's First Peoples.  Below you will see a picture of our classroom cave with wooly mammoths, giant elk, bears, wooly rhinoceroses, horses, giant beavers, oxen, and smilodons displayed in the cave, a couple of pictures of the process, and a few close-ups of the individual student pieces.

Our Class Cave

The first step was to draw a picture of the animal on brown paper.

After drawing, the students crumpled their papers to make it look more rock-like and then they began to paint.  Each student also painted one hand and made a hand print beside the animal painting as a signature.  Once the paint was dry, the students used black charcoal to outline the animals and define some of the features.

Horse

Sabre Tooth Tiger

Oxen

Giant Elk

Horse

Fall Landscapes in Acrylic

In our last art class the students had the opportunity to paint very colourful fall landscapes using acrylic paint.  The idea for the project comes from one of the Usborne art books.  The following are some of the students' pieces.  Beautiful!

Keyboarding in Grade 5

This year the grade 5 students will be learning how to properly do keyboarding.  We will be using the website typingclub.com.  A link to the site can be found on the sidebar.  Using this site, the students can practice at school and at home.  The requirement for the end of grade 5 is that the students complete to the end of lesson 70 with a 95% accuracy and a wpm of 30 or more.

It is also important that the students practice proper keyboarding posture and procedure so that their keyboarding tests, which we do periodically to see where they are at, go as well as possible.  The following is a list of expectations:

• feet flat on the floor
• sitting up straight
• elbows down by our sides (not too far forward or back)
• fingers on the home row
• fingers curled nicely as if playing piano (wrists should not be resting on the counter)
• keyboard should be covered to prevent looking at the keys
• eyes should be on the screen, not looking down

Perfect Posture

Homemade Paint Needed for Art on Friday

This Friday, the class will be creating cave art paintings of Ice Age animals using homemade paints. For this project, each student has been assigned a homemade paint recipe to make and bring in on Friday. The following is a list of the recipes and which students should bring each.  Experiment a bit.  Some of the paints are very thin.  Perhaps boiling with a little bit of cornstarch will thicken the paint a little?...Thanks, parents, for helping out with this project!

Purple Colour - 5G Students #1, 2, 3
1/4 cup of blueberry paint made from fresh or frozen blueberries pressed through a strainer.
(no chunks)

Red Colour - 5G Students #4, 5
1/4 cup of paint created by boiling red cabbage in a small amount of water.  It should be as concentrated as possible.

Dark Red Colour - 5G Students #6, 7, 8
1/4 cup of paint created by boiling beetroot in a small amount of water.  It should be as concentrated as possible.

White Colour - 5G Students #9, 10
1/4 cup of natural paint created from crushed white chalk in a little bit of water.  It should be nice and thick.

Yellow Ochre Colour - 5G Students #11, 12
1/4 cup of natural paint created from ground mustard in a little bit of water.  It should be thick - not too runny.

Black Colour -  5G Students #13, 14
1/4 cup of natural paint created from ground charcoal in a little bit of water.  It should be thick - not too runny.

Green Colour - 5G Students #15, 16, 17
1/4 cup of paint created from condensed milk with many drops of green food colouring.

Bright Yellow Colour - 5G Students #18, 19, 20, 21
The yolk of a large egg mixed with 1/2 tsp of water and many drops of yellow food colouring.

Finding Information Through Artifacts

Today, following a discussion on different ways historians find out information about the past, each table group was given a bag containing the pieces of an artifact (a smashed painted pot from the Dollar Store) and a roll of duct tape.  The group's task was to re-construct the artifact, using the duct tape on the inside of the pot so as not to cover any of the markings on the exterior of the pot that might give clues about the people who made the object.

Once the object was assembled, the group had to answer two questions.  The first question was what do the materials and workmanship tell you about the people who made the object or the place where they lived?  The second question was what do the markings, paintings or carvings on the pot tell you about the people who made the object or the place where they lived?

The following are a few photos from the activity.

Each group started with a pile of pieces.

The group then worked together to re-construct the object.

One of the re-constructed pots.

Group shot of the re-constructed pots.

This was a great team building activity, it was great for the kinaesthetic learners, and it was a good activating activity for the beginning of our unit on Canada's First Peoples.

Watercolour Fall Leaves

Our first art project is complete and hanging in the hall outside the classroom.  The students used watercolours to create colourful fall leaves.  A few student samples have been included with this post. Please be sure to drop by to see all of the pieces created by the students!

Personal Best Tests (re-post)

Basic facts are calculations that we should all be able to do very quickly in our heads.  To help with learning and instilling these facts in our memories, 5G will be doing weekly Personal Best Tests (PB's) in multiplication and division to the 12 times table.  For the tests, the students are given 132 basic facts.  They are given ten minutes to do as many of them as they can with the greatest accuracy.  They achieve a personal best if they do the same number of questions in less time than previously or if they get more questions correct.  Their goal is to get better each time, thus, setting a new personal best!

In the first term, the questions are listed in their number families in order.  In second term, the questions are listed in their number families in mixed order.  And, in third term, all of the questions are mixed.

I encourage the students to work on their basic facts at home or in the car on the way to school, whenever they can fit it in, to increase their speed and accuracy with basic facts.

Welcome Letter and Information About 5G 2014-2015

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

Welcome to the 5G Class of 2014-2015

Philippians 2:1-11

Welcome Students and Parents of 5G - 2014/2015!

It is that time of year again...the dew (which will soon turn to frost) is on the car windshield each morning, the leaves on the trees are starting to turn those beautiful colours...and fall off, and there are many anxious bellies anticipating the events of the next ten months.  The daughter of a teacher, a student, and now a teacher myself, I have been doing back to school time my entire life.

This blog will be used to post everything that you need to know for the 5G classroom.  For the students, it may look like daily homework and links to assignments to be completed or links to websites and tools.  For the parents, it may look like messages, reminders and updates regarding classroom events and/or volunteer opportunities.  The blog will also highlight some of the projects and activities that we have done in class.  Please refer to this blog often and feel free to comment and ask questions.

Please note that any paper copies of forms from the school that your child receives will still come home with him/her.  I will mention on the homework calendar that the forms have been sent.  

I am looking forward to getting to know all of you.  Parents, please feel free to drop in and see what we are doing in the classroom.