Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to write a story, of the student's choice, in the homework writing journal. Some story ideas from the class were to write a story about Remembrance Day or our class trip on the TTC bus (fiction or non-fiction). A math worksheet reviewing two-dimensional geometry (attributes of polygons) was also sent home with the children on Friday. Because of the P.A. Day next Friday, this homework is due on Thursday, November 15th.

Important Dates:

November 13 - Progress Reports go home
November 15 (evening) and November 16 (am) - Parent-Teacher Interviews (no classes on Nov. 16th)
December 7 - P. A. Day - no classes on this day
December 21 - Last day of classes for 2012
December 22 - January 6 - Winter holidays
January 7 - First day of classes for 2013

News for November 9

News for November 9

This week was very busy in Room 5! We even had time to plant an amarylis bulb, to watch how it grows.

In math, we continued the geometry unit by looking at attributes of two-dimensional shapes. The students learned about the three types of angles. A right angles is "where horizontal line meets a vertical line" (as found in squares and rectangles). An acute angle is smaller than a right angle and an obtuse angle is larger than a right angle. Regular shapes have all the sides of the same length. Congruent figures are the same size and the same shape. The students learned about ancient Chinese puzzles called tangrams. In each tangram set there are 7 shapes and each shape is called a tan. The children practiced solving tangram puzzles, designed their own tangrams and even had a tangram-solving competition! (The top four students were: Angela, Nandana, Etienne and Marina.)

In guided reading, the groups continued to learn about urban and rural communities. This week they read and talked about housing and getting around these two different kind of communities. The class also learned the direction words north, south, east and west.

In computers, the students explored geometry games at: http://www.kidsmathgamesonline.com/ .

Our sock puppet joke videos, a literacy/oral communication project, was finished this week. Here is the video:



The children worked hard to finish their research projects on animal and man-made structures. They wrote all the facts as sentences and wrote them on the posters. The posters they created are now on display in the west stairwell outside of our classroom. Next week, the students will present what they learned to the class.

The students had a chance to have a private ride on a TTC bus! Fritz the bus driver answered all the students' questions and told the class what it's like to be a bus driver. He also brought a lot of TTC magnets, pins and paper models for all the students. It was a lot of fun! Thanks to school parent Wendy Chong-Engell for organizing this trip for us.

The grades 3 to 8 classes also attended an assembly on internet safety this week.

As part of our Remembrance Day discussions, the students reviewed how to make paper cranes and how to make perfect squares from standard rectangle paper. The class performed the song they learned, by singing and by signing in ASL, at the Remembrance Day assembly on Friday. Our principal, Mrs. Farrelly, came by our class to tell the children what a wonderful job they did.

Books read aloud this week:

Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown (finished)
Three Pigs, One Wolf and Seven Magic Shapes by Grace Maccarone
Sadako (and the thousand paper cranes) by Eleanor Coerr

Learning American Sign Language with Room 5 - Episode 9

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to write a book review on a book of the student's choice and to complete a math (geometry) activity. This homework was sent home on Friday and is due on Friday, November 9th.

Important Dates:

November 8 - TTC bus trip around the neighbourhood
November 11 - Remembrance Day Assembly - our class will perform a song
November 13 - Progress reports go home
November 15 (evening) and November 16 (am) - Parent/Teacher interviews

There was a lice check this week for all the students in the school. Please be aware that there are several active cases of lice in the school. Please check your child's head regularly. For more information please go to: http://www.headlice.org/

HOW TO FOLD A PAPER CRANE

News for November 2

News for November 2

The end of October saw the class celebrating Halloween and welcoming the month of November. We are now officially at 43 days of school with 144 days of school left to go. (We like to count things in Room 5!)
For Halloween, we read fiction and non-fiction books aloud. The children learned how to make caramel apples. Then they used what they have learned about procedural writing to write instructions (basically, write a recipe) on how to make this Halloween treat. The annual Halloween parade happened in the afternoon and the students' costumes were wonderful! If you look closely at the photo above, there is a rare picture of Ms. R (dressed as Domo)!

In writing, the students learned about how to write comics. For example, how to write a clear "speech bubble". They used this writing style to create comics to tell jokes. These comics are now part of a class book. Also this week, we received a letter back from Gillian O'Reilly, the editor of Canadian Children's Book News, thanking our class for the letters they wrote about the book "Counting On Fall". She wrote that the information the students gave her, was extremely helpful.

The students made little films using their sock puppets. Working with a partner, they created opening and closing credits for their joke shows. This video will be posted on Monday as one student was away on Friday.

In math, the children finished the numeracy unit by reviewing 2- and 3-digit addition and subtraction with regrouping and then writing a final unit test. The students began the unit on geometry by reviewing the basic two-dimensional shapes. They discovered that the most difficult shape to find in the classroom is the pentagon and the easiest shape to find is the rectangle.

In computers, the students had a chance to play some Halloween games:
http://www.thekidzpage.com/halloween_games/index.html

The class began to discuss Remembrance Day and why it is observed in Canada. The students learned how to sing (and sign in ASL) a song that the class will be performing at the assembly next week. The children learned how to fold paper peace cranes using what they know about geometric shapes to help them remember the folding steps.

The class visited their kindergarten reading buddies this week in Room 101. They helped their friends do some writing and make some bookmarks.

Books read aloud this week:

Halloween by Molly Aloian
Happy Haunting, Amelia Bedelia! by Herman Parish
The Tailypo by  Joann Gladstone
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown


Learning ASL with Room 5 - Episode 8

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to write a story in the homework writing journal about hockey, since the whole school went to the University of Toronto vs. Ryerson hockey game on Thursday. The story could be non-fiction (e.g., a report on our field trip) or fiction (e.g., the magic hockey stick). Also, a worksheet on two-digit addition and subtraction is to be completed. This homework is due on Friday, November 2nd.

The progress reports will go home on November 13th. Parent Interviews are on Thursday, November 15 in the afternoon and evening and Friday, November 16th in the morning.

News for October 26

News for October 26

It was a very busy week at school with a special event on each day. On Monday, the students went to an assembly to hear Paul Rosen talk about perseverance. Mr. Rosen was a hockey player who, due  to an accident, lost part of his right leg. He went on to be the goalie for Canada's paraolympic sledge hockey team that won a gold medal. On Tuesday, the students and staff duct-taped Ms. Farrelly to the wall of the gym as a fundraiser for cancer research. On Wednesday, it was picture day at school and our class and each student had his/her photo taken. On Thursday, the whole school went for the entire school day, to Varsity arena to see the University of Toronto hockey team play against the team from Ryerson University. On Friday, we had a recognition assembly celebrating our monthly focus on responsibility.

In class the students finished their "How To Make A Pillow" posters with their written instructions and photos. These are now on display on the bulletin board in the hall outside of our classroom. The children also practiced their editing skills on pre-written passages to help them with the editing of their own work. Later in the week, the students created sock puppets and wrote a "character sketch" about the creature they made.

In math the students continued to practice their mental math strategies and place value blocks strategies for solving two-digit addition and subtraction with regrouping. Later in the week, they learned the standard pencil and paper algorithm and how it relates to place value.

Our integrated research project (science/structures and social studies/maps) got underway with the students learning how to create an effective poster and how to use stencil letters to create a clear title.Later in the week the students began their research by learning how to use encyclopedias. 

In the computer lab, the students visited the site, 

http://www.math-play.com/soccer-math-adding-two-digit-whole-numbers/adding-two-digit-numbers.html to practice math skills.

Books read aloud this week:

Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe (chapter book - now finished)

What? Cried Granny by Kate Lum

Learning ASL with Room 5 - Episode 7

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is for each student to interview his/her mother and/or father to learn more about them. Each child received an interview sheet on which to record the answers. A math sheet with word problems was also sent home on Friday. This homework is due on Friday, October 26th.

Important dates:

October 22 - Paul Rosen - Canadian Para-Olympic Hockey Player visits our school for an assembly
October 23 - Stick It To The Principal - a event to raise money for cancer research
October 24 - Photo Day
October 25 - Hockey Day - permission forms were sent home on Thursday
November 13 - Progress Reports are sent home
November 15 (evening) and November 16 (morning) - Parent-Teacher interviews