For the month of December, 'Word Study' will focus on the following seasonal words:
Advent, angel, announcement, Bethlehem, candle, celebrate, Christmas, decorate, decorations, holiday, Jesus, Joseph, Mary, miracle, prepare, present, sacred, sleigh, stocking, togetherness, tradition, vacation, worship, wrapping, wreath
Grade 4 Words (‘cher’ pattern, sight words and academic vocabulary):
plenty, bureau, plateau, field, sketch, richer, voucher, pitcher, catcher, earthquake, tremor, fault,
Grade 5 Words (words with altered sounds, sight words and academic vocabulary):
secretary, gopher, practice, archery, straight, comet, statement, galaxy, universe, commercial, financial, process,exchange, oxygen, respiratory,
Wow! Today we enjoyed participating virtually in the 'Saidat Show' presentation. What an amazing experience it was! Saidat exudes such positive energy. She had us up out of our seats and learning a dance, shouting at the top of our lungs and participating in a variety of educational exercises. Saidat's message was inspirational and taught us so much. One thing we learned is that a 'worldview' is a collection of ideas that each of us has about the world in which we live. Our individual worldview is shaped by our personal experiences. It is important that we challenge our worldview and try to avoid stereotyping others because this will only limit our thinking rather than promote openmindedness and inclusion. Saidat taught us three important life lessons: LOOK! LISTEN! LEARN! We need to listen with our hearts, pay attention to the world around us and try to avoid judgements and stereotypes. If we try to do this it will help us to maintin open hearts and minds. It will also help us to learn more about others and the wonderful world in which we live which promotes inclusion. She reminded us that the beauty of the world in which we live is that it is diverse. Diversity is a fact....but inclusion requires individual action! In one exercise she split the students up into two groups and asked them to shout out all the things they know about their teacher (me - eek!). The scorekeeper had to listen only to the spokesperson in the group which was challenging as everyone on the team was shouting out ideas at the same time! Each team kept score. We repeated the exercise two more times....share everything they know about our school and then lastly, about current events in the world. When it was all done, she asked us to consider our ideas. Were we really sharing FACTS about the topic or just things we think we know? How can we learn to LOOK, LISTEN and LEARN so that we can better distinguish between fact and fiction? What was the challenge of listening to just the spokesperson when everyone was shouting out ideas at the same time? In the end, we learned that we need to drown out the 'noise' that sometimes clouds our judgement and really try to listen carefully to what others are saying.
Today was 'Cultural Day' and a day for all of us to show our pride in our family heritage and culture. Many of us wore attire that represents the cultural hertitage(s) with which we identify. I proudly wore my Irish cableknit sweater to represent my Irish heritage. Students wore various pieces of clothing to show their cultural and heritage ties to many countries including: Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Scotland, Canada, Eritrea, Iraq and Venezuala!
I cannot think of a better way to kick off 'Kindness Week/Spirit Week' at St. Augustine School than by sharing food with those less fortunate. Look at all of our food donations after just one day!
To kick off 'Kindness Week' we made a 'y' chart about what kindness looks like, feels like and sounds like. We also read the book the 'Giving Tree' by Shel Silverstein. We talked about how acts of kindness and generosity make us feel good about ourselves and promote inner peace and happiness! We concluded that it is always better to give than receive (just like the Tree in the book) because sharing our time, gifts, talents, kind words, resources, etc., brings happiness to others and make us FEEL good about ourselves as a result.....and that is reason enough to be kind!
Grade 4 Words (‘le’ words, sight words and academic vocabulary):
lettuce, squash, carrot, crumble, puzzle, ankle, freckle, knuckle, dimple, imitate , prey, predator
Grade 5 Words (‘shun’ words, sight words and academic vocabulary):
remarkable, application, vanish, saucer, politician, information, recession, concession, deception, production, reduction, loyal, renewable, vertical, panel
Next week is Spirit & Kindness Week at St. Augustine School. Each day will have a special theme and we are asking for daily donations of non-perishable food items for our 'Yes We Can' food drive that will support the local food bank. Please note that if your child is participating in the spirit days, they only need to wear their uniform on Monday. If your child chooses not to participate, then they must wear their uniform.
Monday - CRAZY Hat or Hair Day
Tuesday - Bullying Awareness & Prevention Day - WEAR PINK!!!!
Wednesday - Cultural Day - Be proud of your heritage! Wear something that represents your family's culture!
Thursday - Mix -Match Day - wear the craziest combinations of clothing you can think of (no uniform needed that day).
Friday - Pajama Day - Dress in PJ's or something super comfy....please leave your stuffy friends at home!
In the Number strand there is a continued focus on memorizing our multiplication facts and related division facts in both grades 4 and 5. In grade 4, the expectation is facts up to 10 x 10 and the related division facts In grade 5, the expectation is facts up to 12 x 12 and the related division facts. Students need to continue to practice these skills as part of their daily homework at home on their own (please see my previous post that contains lots of information about how you may support your child with this at home).
In grade 5 we have also been learning how to use area models to solve multi-digit multiplication questions. Information was posted to the Hapara workspace which explains how to do this but by now, all grade 5 students should have brought home the worksheet that explains this strategy. We will continue to practice using this strategy at school.
In grade 4 we have been using our mental math strategies to calculate numbers by the powers of ten (x 10, x100, x1000, x10 000).
Last week we began a new Geometry math units in grades 4 and 5! We will be working through our current unit over the next 2-3 weeks.
2D Shapes and 3D Figures (Grade 4): Our first lesson was all about the properties and attributes of quadrilaterals such as equal sides, parallel sides, symmetry, types of angles, number of right angles (an angle that measures exactly 90 degrees), diagonals, etc. We reviewed the names of common quadrilaterals (e.g. kite, rhombus, square, rectangle, parallelogram, trapezoid) and how we can identify and sort various quadrilaterals by their properties. In lesson two we will learn how to sort 3-D figures such as prisms and pyramids based on their faces, vertices and edges. In lesson three we will be learning about skeleton models of 3D shapes. A skeleton of a figure is a representation that shows the figure's edges joining at the vertices but does not include the figure's faces. In our last lesson we will be looking at net models which are flattened versions of 3D fugures. Nets are made by cutting along the edges of the figure and then unfolding and laying the figure flat. Nets are often used in everyday life to store bulky items like boxes and many nets have tabs in order to help assemble them. Examining nets makes it super easy to see exactly what faces make up a 3D figure.
Polygons (Grade 5): In our first lesson we learned that polygons are 2D shapes with only straight sides. We looked at two classifications of polygons: regular and irregular. In regular polygons all of the inside angles and all of the side lengths are the same (e.g.square, equilateral triangle, etc.). Irregular polygons do not have side lengths and inside angles that are the same (e.g. an isosceles triangle, rectangle, etc.). We also talked about how we can classify polygons as convex or concave. In convex shapes all of the vertices point out (e.g. a rectangle). In concave shapes at least one vertex poins inward (e.g. a star shape). In lesson two we will be learning how to construct triangles using a ruler and a protractor and also using Miras. We will learn how to use protractors to measure angles. We will spend some time learning how to contruct triangles when provided specific side lengths or angles. In our third lesson students will learn about acute angles (and angle that measures less than 90 degrees), obtuse angles (an angle that measures greater than 90 degrees) and right angles (an angle that measrues exactly 90 degrees) and how to classify triangles based on these angle classifications. In our final lesson, we will be learning how to classsify triangles by side length relationships. Students will learn about equilateral triangles (all inside angles and side lengths are equal), isosceles triangles (two inside angles and two side lengths are equal), scalene triangles (no equal inside angles or side lengths are equal).
This week will be a REVIEW WEEK of weeks #5-7! There will be no Word Study Quiz this week.
Grade 4 Words (sight words, al/el words and academic vocabulary):
extend, vowel, portal, tunnel, against, channel, oval, towel, chapel, compatible, sequence, determine
Grade 5 Words ('shun' words and academic vocabulary):
February, discard, freight, vocabulary, aware, trouble, situation, description, prescription, subscription, fashion, introduction, divisible, factor, composite
