Weekly Update Grade 4/5 October 12th

Dear Parents, 

I hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving long weekend. The weather was beautiful! 

Thank you to all parents who were able to join us last Thursday for our Thanksgiving liturgy. Many of our grade 4/5 students were readers and they did an excellent job! 

Check out the Padlet that our class created last week about what they are thankful for: https://padlet.com/ruth_stratford/dq4c0h5labavqzo

This week there will be no new 'Word Study' words. It is a 'Review Week' with a focus on reviewing the words from week one through four.  In Language class this week the students will begin their 'Best Part of Me' writing activity. We will begin the activity by sharing the read aloud: 'The Best Part of Me' by Wendy Ewald. Then the students will work with partners to photograph their favourite body part and do a follow up writing activity explaining why they love that body part so much.  

In Math class we will be wrapping up the angles unit this week. Grade 4's are learning all about the properties of rectangles and grade 5's are currently learning to construct and measure angles using a protractor and a ruler. Looking ahead we will be moving onto locations and transformations as well as patterning. We continue to explore various number concepts such as the forms of numbers, multi-digit addition with carrying ,place value related concepts, etc.    

A note about students requesting plastic spoons/forks: Going forward we will NOT be providing students with plastic utensils to eat food items in their lunches. We practice BOOMERANG lunches at St. Augustine with a focus on reducing waste (plastic spoons are also a single-use plastic item which cannot be recycled). Encourage your child to check their lunches themselves each morning to make sure they have everything they need.  Perhaps have a dedicated spoon that 'lives' in their lunch bags. Just to reiterate - Madame D'Aoust and myself will NOT be providing plastic utensils going forward. 

A reminder that this coming Friday, October 15th is picture day! 

Have a great week, everyone!

Weekly Update From Grade 4/5 - October 4th

Dear Parents/Guardians, 

Last week we had a very busy week at St. Augustine School. It was 'Treaty Recognition and Awareness Week.' We paid extra special attention to learning about the Residential School System and the diverse experiences of our Indigenous Canadians through guest speakers, stories and mini-history lessons. Together as a class we generated our class promise which we wrote up on an orange t-shirt and all signed: 

'St. Augustine's Gr. 4/5 Immersion class promises to continue to learn about Indigenous history, culture and traditions.  We promise to keep the conversation going throughout the year!'

Today in Language class, we finished our second last 'symbol' presentation. Only one more student to go!  We have learned so much about each other throughout these presentations. The symbols were all very meaningful and special and generated many interesting questions, comments and connections. Activities such as this help to build and strengthen our Grade 4/5 Immersion classroom family! 

A reminder to continue to support your child with their reading at home. Students should be completing forms for the '30 Book Challenge' on their own from home.  Our current class total is 29 books!  Whoo hoo!

A few students have expressed that they are having difficulty logging onto Hapara from home. All of the students are able to log in successfully from school and they all know their passwords.  Remember the new email domain for students (Firstname.Lastname@stu.ocsb.ca). Please write a note in your child's agenda if they are having difficulty logging into Hapara from home as it is very important that they are able to do so!  

Your child has new 'Word Study' words this week and will have their word study quiz on Thursday rather than Friday this week. IF YOUR CHILD IS ABSENT TODAY, PLEASE MAKE SURE THEY WRITE THESE WORDS IN THEIR AGENDAS. Here are the words: 

Grade 4 Words (al/il pattern):

• twelve, today, during, metaphor, simile, proposal, dental, gerbil, nasal, postal, hemisphere, population

Grade 5 Words (Suffix - ible):

• surprise, hesitate, tenant, exactly, remain, breathe, succeed, horrible, tangible, gullible, possible, invisible, specific, ancient, cliff

Last week the 'Hammerheads Cohort' got together and participated in a full block of S.T.E.M. activities. Some of the activities proved to be very challenging for the students but they persevered and tried their best. Perhaps ask your child about the recipe card challenge (How can you fit your body through a recipe card using only a pair of scissors, one card and keeping the recipe card in one place?), the 'Parachute Man' challenge or the LEGO brain teaser challenge. These are just three of the activities that they participated in!  

In Math Class this week we will continue to explore our angles unit, participate in SEL math lessons and daily number talks. 

A reminder that this coming Friday is a PD day for all OCSB students and Monday is a statuatory holiday.  

Wishing all of you a 'Happy Thanksgiving' this coming weekend! 

A Few Housekeeping Items...

      Hello, Grade 4/5 Families!

• Thank you to all families who continue to contribute items toward our 'Lenten Food Drive.'  So far our class has collected 91 items and over 3/4 of the class has participated!
• Our grade 4/5 immersion class received the MOST votes schoolwide for the  STUDENT CHOICE MARCH BREAK DAY which will take place on Monday, March 15th. Here's what this means:

        Students are invited to wear comfy clothes all day (which means no uniform). We will         have a morning of extra gym/outdoor time AND an afternoon of tech. We have                been calling it B.Y.O.T day (bring your own tech day). If students do not have their            own tech to bring, the school can provide a Chromebook. And, the best part of our            day is that our day involves NO SCHOOL WORK. 

• Mrs. OBrien has asked us to relay the following message to the parents of students who drop off and/or pick up their child(ren):                                                                                                                          Please park at the St. Pius Parking lot and walk over to St. Augustine. 
  
  
  Please do not park in the St. Augustine School parking lot unless you have a handicapped sticker, or have special circumstances and have spoken to Mrs. OBrien.
  
  
  We totally understand that parking away from the school is not convenient, however, Arnot Road has become increasingly unsafe and we are trying to prevent any injury to students or parents, as well as avoid any car accidents. 
  
  
  With the quantity of cars lining the street on both sides, more parents picking children up this year, more people having to socially distance, children crossing the streets, limited space for our buses and cars to drive, etc., we hope you understand why we are asking parents and caregivers to park at St. Pius.

St. Augustine School Lenten Project 2021

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11MrtgeotQ_BzY8h_YaPDayRxTz5DMJw1wZcNVNPPmS8/edit

Update from Grade 4/5

Our first week of school went really well. The students got back into the swing of things surprisingly quickly. This week we also received a new member of our classroom and we are so happy to have him with us in grade 4/5! 

In Math we are starting a new unit on Data Management.  Grade 4's will be learning to create, read and interpret a variety of graphs including 'stem and leaf plots. The focus on grade 5 will be on interpreting data from various types of graphs and determining the mean.  More details about the focus of these units can be found in their student math workspaces in Hapara. 

Please continue to have your child practice their numeracy skills at home each evening by spending time on Mathletics through their student portals and/or competing extra practice worksheets that can be downloaded from the web (see the links on the left side of the blog page).

In Language we are going to start e-penpals with the residents of the Ravines Retirement Residence. I have been in contact with the social coordintor at the Ravines to set this initiative up. Students will learn how to properly write a friendly letter and practice these skills through this e-penpal initiative.  It will also be a wonderful opportunity to foster community connections. To address privacy concerns, all correspondence will be vetted through my work email account and students will only utilize their first names. 

We continue to receive new words each week. As part of their daily routine, students are asked to review these words by writing them out, using them verbally in sentences, etc.  Again, the weekly words can be found in the student language workspace in Hapara. 

We are doing very well with the '30 Book Challenge.'  If we keep up at this pace, we will have no difficulty reaching our goal of 570 books by the end of May. We are currently at just over 260 books!!

Just a reminder that we will not be able to exchange Valentine's Day cards this year due to Covid-19 restrictions. 

Welcome Back!

 It was so great to have the students back in school today! It has been way too long and I think we all felt better just being together.  We are easing back into school-based routines which will take some getting used to this week (e.g. agenda routine, getting dressed for recess, socially distancing, etc.).  Despite the chilly weather, it was warm enough for the students to go outside first recess. I think they enjoyed that. They are recommending that students wear masks outside so please send in extra masks with your child each day. We have updated our '30 Book Challenge' tracking thermometer - we are already at 250 books!!! Whoo hoo! 

This Week is Mental Health Week!

 

Curriculum Update

Math  

Each day we begin our math class with either a number talk or a 3-Act Task. Both the Number Talks and 3-Act Tasks help to develop a multitude of skills such as numeracy, mental math calculations, estimating, critical thinking and reasoning.  They also allow us a chance to hear the ideas and mathematical reasoning of others which is a great way to stretch our math brains. 

Our focus in math last week was perimeter. This week we continue with the Measurement strand but our focus is area.  All of information about this unit is also in the Math section of the Hapara Workspace (in their grade specific folders). I strongly suggest that you ask your child to give you a tour of their Hapara Workspace so that you have an idea what they are using each day. It would also give you a chance to see all of the useful information and tools (e.g. the virtual math manipulatives resource) that are posted there. Each math theme/topic in the workspace is colour coordinated so that it is easier for the students to to navigate (this week the cards are all minty green). It's a small thing but I think it makes it a little easier for them to navigate.   

The Area Unit has been divided up into 4 lessons.  A summary of key learning goals, ideas and definitions, is included on each daily work sheet for students to revisit as they are working through their tasks following lessons. 

Grade 4 Lesson Topics and Learning Goals: 

Lesson #1 - Estimating and Measuring Area: The learning goal of this lesson is to estimate and measure area using a variety of tools and units. Lesson #2 Comparing Perimeter to Area: The Learning Goal of this lesson is to recognize how the meaning of perimeter and area differ. Also, to explain how comparing the values for the perimeter and area of a shape provides information about what the shape looks like.Lesson #3  One Area, Multiple Shapes : The learning goal of this lesson is to recognizse that shapes can have the same area but look quite different.Lesson #4  The Area of a Rectangle: The Learning Goal of this lesson is to recognize relationships among the lengths, widths, and areas of rectangles.

Grade 5 Lesson Topics and Learning Goals: 

Lesson #1: Estimating and Measuring Area = Learning goal is to apply the concept of area to estimate and measure polygonal areas. Lesson #2: Creating Shapes with the Same Area = Learning goal is to identify and apply the independence of area measures and shape. Lesson #3: Relating Area to Lengths & Widths of Rectangles = Learning goal is to develop and apply the formula for the area of a rectangle.Lesson #4: One Area, Multiple Shapes = Learning goal is to predict how changing the shape of a polygon without changing its area might affect its perimeter.

Language:

Two to three times a week we have a sharing circle or a class debate. Yesterday I divided the class into four groups and we used break-out rooms to come up with our ideas about the debate topic which was: Should there be more recess time in a regular school day?  I presented pro's and con's of each side of the debate and then each group was assigned a position to take (otherwise we know what most kids would say). They used their time in the  breakout rooms to come up with their summary of their groups reasons for whichever side they were asked to defend. Each group was appointed a spokesperson. This seemed to work quite well. I popped in for a visit to each breakout room and they were all focused on the task-at-hand. 

Each day I ask the students for their '30 Book Challenge' results. I am tracking these on paper and will update our tracking chart once we return to the classroom. The students are doing quite well with this challenge and I've been  encouraging them to keep it up!  

We are over halfway through our class novel 'Wonder.' Daily reading is part of our routine and I continue to align the chapters I read each day with Madame D'Aoust who is reading it to them in French. 

We continue to receive new Word Study words each week. There is a document of Word Study activities assigned each Monday which must be completed by the end of the week. For now we are not having a  Word Study quiz each Friday although we did play a Kahoot last week which does provide me with some feedback about their understanding. 

At the end of last week students completed their 'Book Creator' writing assignment all about their goals for 2021. All week students have been presenting their books to the class. Everyone will have presented their books by the end of this week. 

Reflecting On This Past Week!

We have come to the end of week #2 of online learning. We seem to have a good routine in place. Again, I am pleased with how punctual, respectful and responsible the students have been. I want to thank all the parents for supporting their children at home while they balance the demands of jobs, children learning from home, etc.  As a mum of three kids who are participating in online school from home (and a wifte to a grade 2 teacher who is teaching from our basement!), I completely understand the challenges of these unprecedented times. 

During our morning discussion today, I asked the students to reflect on something they felt was successful about online learning this week (or that they liked) as well as something that would make online/virtual school better. 

Here are some of the positives that the students shared: 

not wearing masks, sleeping in, spending more time at home with their families, not having to rush out the door early, not having to take the bus to school, wearing whatever they want as opposed to the uniform, using tech applications and getting better at using tech and spending time with their pets

Here are some things that they shared would make online/virtual school better: 

if we could use virtual reality applications, if there weren't so many tech glitches at home, if we had more recess and break times, less time on the computer, more 'break-out' rooms,  if everyone had printers so that they could print up work and complete it on paper instead of the computer, if there were less interruptions from siblings. 

Math Focus - Measurement

During the week of January 11th,  we will be launching a new linear measurement unit in both Grades 4 and 5.  The focus will be length and perimeter. Following virtual lessons each day, students visit their Hapara workspace on the student portal in order to complete their individual task.  There are also helpful resources in the workspaces for them to access.  If you haven't seen your child's student portal maybe ask them to give you a tour and show you the Hapara workspace.  For each lesson, I will include an overview of the learning concepts in the student worksheets so that you may support your child in their learning. 

You may need to help your child gather the necessary tools at home for this unit such as a ruler, metre stick or measuring tape.  There may be additional materials needed such as toothpicks, string or straws needed throughout the unit.  It is up to your child to read the instructions on the activity card carefully but they may need help gather necessary materials. In their math folders in Hapara I have also included a resource called 'Math Manipulatives.' This may be prove very useful for your child during remote learning. 

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions! 

Word Study - Week #11 Jan. 11th-Jan 15th

Grade 4 Words (12): 

'sher' pattern, academic vocabulary

split, half, totally, finally, locally, fresher, usher, crusher, balance, arithmetic, parentheses, bracket, percent

Grade 5 Words (15): 

altered sound ('tial'), academic vocabulary

suppose, coast, noodle, autumn, lizard, ambulance, torrential, essential, impartial, influential, palatial, residential, turtle, symbol, brace

Our First Week Back to Virtual School!

What a week it has been! After a rocky start with some Board-wide tecnhology difficulties on Tuesday morning, I think we are finally getting into the swing of things.  As you are all aware, remote learning will continue for two more weeks. At this point (and things could always change) the students are expected back in school on Monday, January 25th.  I am really hoping that we will all be together at St. Augustine School on that day, but if I have learned anything in this past year it is the importance of flexibility!   

I have been very impressed with the students this past week and I told them all this yesterday.  They are being courteous and trying their very best.  Students are showing up on time, dressed and ready for their school day, muting their microphones and being attentive, following my directions, participating in breakout room discussions and answering questions. It's been wonderful. I feel like we have all been on a journey of resilience together and I truly proud of this wonderful group of students and thankful for your continued parental support.  

Next week we will be starting a new unit in math on linear measurement. We will resume our weekly spelling words/activities and continue to hone our writing skills through various activities. I will also be doing some reading comprehension activities. More details will follow in an upcoming post about classroom learning goals.