Word Study Quiz Results & Green Reading Logs

From this point onward, the Word Study books will NOT be sent home each Friday. Instead they will be sent home at the end of each month. I am spending too much time trying to collect all the books each week and we need the books to be at school for Word Study activities! Also, just a reminder that the Green Reading Duotangs are due this coming Thursday, November 1st. Thank you.

The Writing Process & Story Writing

We have begun story writing in grade 4/5! At the beginning of last week, I showed the students a picture of a puppy who had torn apart a roll of toilet paper. We discussed what the puppy might have been thinking, why it tore apart the paper, what the owners would think if they discovered the mess the puppy had made, etc, Then I told them that I decided to write a mini story about the torn up toilet paper from the perspective of the puppy. I imagined that the puppy was angry to be left alone all day, bored, trying to send a message and communicate it's feelings, etc., Then I showed them two different photos. One of a polar bear with it's paws up against a truck window, and the other of a group of geese - one of whom, has dived off the edge of an waterside cliff. They chose which story prompt to use for their own story writing. Once they had chosen their story prompt, they then had to choose which perspective they wished to write from (either the mother goose who saw her gosling dive off a cliff, the gosling who dove off the cliff, the polar bear with it's paws up against the truck window or the person sitting inside the truck). We began our writing by using story planners in order to map out all of the elements of the story (setting, problem, plot action/events, conclusion/resolution of problem). Most students have already completed their first draft of writing. Next steps are revising and editing our rough drafts (reading them to make sure they make sense, checking for consistent tense and voice, editing for spelling and punctuation, etc.). The final step in the writing process will be publishing. So far, the stories are looking great. I think we have a lot of budding creative authors in grade 4/5! 

Progress Reports & Parent Teacher Interviews

The Progress Report will be sent home on Tuesday, October 30th, 2018. Interviews will be held on Thursday, November 1st.  Please remember to complete and return, the bottom portion of the pink interview sheet which was sent home today with your child. I am looking forward to discussing your child's progress with you next week!

Spirit Week for Students October 29th-November 2nd

As part of our 'United Way' Fundraiser, there will be a 'Spirit Week' for students from October 29th-November 2nd. The suggested donation is $5.00 per student for the whole week! Here are some of the scheduled 'Spirit Week' activities:

Monday, October 29th = Crazy Hat &/or Hair  Day

Tuesday, October 30th = Class Colour Day. Our
class colour is RED!

Wednesday, October 31st = Orange & Black Day

Thursday, November 1st = Gum Day

Friday, November 2nd = PJ Day

Writing Focus in Language Arts

We are exploring various forms of narrative writing. Over the past couple of weeks, the students have been producing personal recount writing using the format taught in class (orientation sentence which introduces the topic of the recount, organizing word such as first, then next, finally, etc., and then a personal comment to wrap up the recount). We have been honing our editing skills by rereading our writing in order to detect errors in verb tense, punctuation, capitals, spelling and any missing linking words that connect ideas. I have been encouraging students to use the classroom dictionaries to correct misspelled words. Next, we will be exploring the writing process (planning, drafting, editing, revising, final draft) and writing fictional stories. We will be using story organizers to plan our stories and create first drafts.

  

Prodigy Math

Students have been given new 'Prodigy Math' accounts and passwords. Math Prodigy is a gamified presentation of math curriculum which enables your child to practice his/her math skills and have fun at the same time!  It is an extra tool available to you and your child to help them build their overall math competency, confidence and skills. There is a link under 'Helpful Resources' to the 'Prodigy Math' website and your child should be able to log himself/herself onto the program. Login sheets will be sent home with your child by the end of this week so that you can explore this resource at home!

Exploring with Patterns!

We are currently exploring patterns in grade 4/5! 

Grade 4 Learning Goals: 

-Describe how a repeating pattern continues and create repeating patterns.

-Describe how growing patterns continue, and create growing patterns.

-Describe how shrinking patterns continue, and create shrinking patterns

-Accurately follow a pattern rule and make predictions based on that rule.

-Propose a pattern rule that describes a given pattern and make 

 predictions based on that rule.

Grade 5 Learning Goals:

-Describe and extend patterns and relate numerical patterns to 

 shape patterns.

-Represent a pattern using tables of values.

-Represent a pattern with a pattern rule.

Picture Day This Friday October 19th!

Math Quiz Next Friday, October 12th

The students will have a small math quiz next Friday. Here are the concepts that the
students should review at home in order to prepare for the quiz:

Grade 4's:

-Representing, comparing and ordering  whole numbers up to the 10,000 place value in

Standard Form (i.e. 4694), with Base Ten Blocks, Expanded Form (i.e. 4000+600+90+4)
and Words (i.e. four thousand, six hundred, ninety-four)

-Rounding numbers to the nearest 10, 100, 1000 (i.e. in the number 4694 - the 1000
place value is indicated so this number would be rounded to 5000)

-Comparing numbers using the greater than and less than symbols
(i.e. Greater than: 4694 >4600, Less Than: 4600<4694) and order whole
numbers from least to greatest/greatest to least

Grade 5's:

-Representing, comparing and ordering  whole numbers up to the
100,000 place value in Standard Form (i.e. 124 694), with Base Ten Blocks,
Expanded Form (i.e. 100 000 +20 000+4000+600+90+4) and
Words (i.e. one hundred twenty four thousand, six hundred ninety-four)

-Rounding 6 digit numbers to the nearest 10, 100, 1000, 10 000 & 100 000

(i.e. in the number 124 694, the 1000 place value is indicated so this number
would be rounded to 125 000)

-Comparing numbers using the greater than and less than symbols (i.e. Greater
than: 124 694 >124 600, Less Than: 124 600 < 124 694) and order whole numbers
from least to greatest/greatest to least

October 1st- October 4th

We have a busy week here at St. Augustine School!

Monday - Milk Program begins
               - Orange Shirt Day
Wednesday - Terry Fox Run. Please remember to send in your pledges!
Thursday - Pizza Day begins
                 -Thanksgiving Mass at 11:00 a.m. All parents are welcome!
                - Rain Date for Terry Fox Run
Friday - PD Day! No School!

We are currently participating in a school-wide food drive in support of the Ottawa Food Bank and their tornado relief efforts. The food drive goes from October 1st-October 10th. Here is a list of their most needed items:

Baby Diapers,Baby Food & Formula,Canned Fish & Meat,Canned Vegetables & Fruit,Cereal (Whole Grains),Dry Pasta (Whole Grain) & Sauce,Legumes (Canned or Dried),Peanut Butter,Rice (brown),Crackers,Large cans/containers of juice,Fruit cups and juice boxes (size suitable for school/camp lunches),Canned flaked meat (chicken, ham, or turkey),Canned carrots, canned green & yellow beans