Measurement Unit

We have begun a new measurement unit in grade 4/5! We will be working through this unit throughout January and into February. Understanding of measurement concepts is essential to our daily lives because of its practicality and real world application. We use the clock to meet the obligations of daily life, keep appointments, maintain schedules, etc. Money is necessary to take care of all of the 'business' of life such as banking and shopping. Capacity, mass and volume are essential concepts in cooking! Work in the Measurement strand of the curriculum is closely connected with Number Sense and Numeration (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, estimation, etc.) 

Grade 4 Measurement Unit Learning Goals (Time, Money, Capacity and Mass): 
-Explore the relationships among different units of time and extend analogue clock reading skills to tell time to the nearest minute.
-Develop a concept of how long time intervals are by selecting activities, and estimating and measuring their duration to the nearest minute.
-Develop the skill of finding elapsed time in hours and minutes by making schedules and identifying the start and finish time of activities.
-Estimate, count money and make change through the use of play money, words, pictures, tables, etc. -Refine their sense of the litre and millilitre by estimating and measuring the capacities of various containers.
-Enhance their familiarity with the standard units of mass, the gram and the kilogram) by estimating and finding the masses of commonplace objects.

Grade 5 Measurement Unit Learning Goals (Time, Money, Capacity, Mass and Volume):
-Estimate and measure time intervals to the nearest second and record the time in standard notation (SI notation)
-Explore the relationship between time and distance (speed)
-Estimate and count money and learn various strategies for making change
-Further develop understanding of the millilitre and litre, reflect upon estimates of capacity and make reasonable predictions based on observations
-Make predictions and then measure and order a various of solids by volume using centimetre cubes
-Explore the connection between volume and capacity (using centimetre cubes & solid objects) by measuring the displacement of water
-Predict the volume of solids and make conversions between millilitres and cubic centimetres
-Measure, estimate and compere mass in milligrams, grams and kilograms.

A Few Reminders...

Just a few reminders for the days to come:

-Next Tuesday there will  be an Advent Liturgy to celebrate the 3rd week of Advent. It will take place from 11:00-11:30 a.m. in the gym. All parents/families are welcome to attend. Some of our students will be reading at the liturg. If your child has been asked to read, please ensure they practice the reading that they will receive on Friday. 
-Wednesday, December 19th is our Christmas Concert at 1:00 p.m in the gymnasium. Students need to wear Christmas colours to school that day but NOT antlers or hats that light up. Should your child wear these, they will need to remain turned off during the performance.

Mini Research Project - Christmas Around the World

We have been researching Christmas traditions around the world in grade 4/5. Students have been working hard to create a 'Google Slide' presentation about their country (we picked the countries randomly using Class Dojo) which they will present to the class (see the paper copy of the success criteria that was sent home last week). This has been a school-based project, however, for homework, students need gather an artifact or symbol that relates to Christmas in their country (i.e. a special food, a type of ornament, etc.) by WEDNESDAY NEXT WEEK. Obviously, if your child chooses to bring in a food item as their symbol, it must be a non-perishable item.Copies of the success criteria both for the google slide project, oral presentation and project rubric, can be accessed from home via the student portal and their drives, however, they are not to do any work on the project from home other than to gather their artifact/symbol. Hopefully, we will be ready to start presenting projects by Wednesday/Thursday next week.

Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson - Cup Song Practice REVISED POST

We have decided to modify the CUP SONG to SLEIGH RIDE for the upcoming Christmas concert..
We have simplified PART A so that it is 'CLAP CLAP BUMBLEBEE, CLAP - UP-DOWN.' Students do this 8x for PART A. All other parts are the same. 
Above is a link to the music we are using for the performance.
We are no longer watching the instructional video to practice. Instead we are using this ANCHOR CHART along with the music above:

Word Study in December: Christmas Themed Words

Throughout December we will be reviewing Christmas
themed vocabulary. The words that are in BOLD will
be in this week’s word study quiz and the remainder
will be in next week’s quiz. There will be NO QUIZ
on Friday December 21st.

Advent angels announcement
Bethlehem candles celebrate
chimney Christmas decorations
eggnog elves festive
goodwill greetings Holiday
Jesus Joseph Mary
miracle mistletoe pageant
poinsettia presents reindeer
sacred sleigh stocking
togetherness tradition vacation
worship wrapping paper wreath

Home Practice of Basic Math Facts

We have been practicing our multiplication facts in class by doing timed drills (2's up to 9's). Students should already be proficient at solving 0's, 1's and 10's multiplication facts. Proficiency of basic math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) is essential for your child. They need to be able to solve facts quickly and accurately so that they can apply their knowledge to more difficult and higher level, problem solving activities in ALL areas of mathematics. I strongly suggest that students practice their basic facts at home in order to improve speed, accuracy and recall! There are many activity sheets that can be easily downloaded from the internet for practice at home.

Math Focus Update

We have launched a new 'Data Management' math unit! The focus of the unit will be on 'Collecting and Organizing Data.' Over the next few weeks this will be our main focus in math. We will also continue to practice multiplication facts, engage in problem solving activities and solve algebraic equations (missing number questions, questions with multiple operations/steps and including solving equations in parenthesis). 

Grade 4 Learning Goals for the Data Management unit are:
-Create and interpret stem and leaf plots
-Create and interpret double bar graphs
-Compare two data displays by making inferences
-Understand how to figure out a median and what a median tells about a set of data

Grade 5 Learning Goals for the Data Management unit are:
-Conduct a survey, organize, display, and analyze results, and consider the
  effectiveness of the methods used.
-Consider data collection methods such as the type of question asked and issues
  related to bias in order to collect representative data in a survey
-Use broke-line graphs to show trends when one variable is discrete
-Use a thermometer to measure temperature and calculate temperature change
  using both primary data and secondary data