Dear Parents,
Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the winter break and benefited from quality family time. Thank you for the class treats, gifts and warm wishes for the season. I hope that the students are well rested and ready to get back into the working routine.
One of my New Year’s resolution is to increase student and home communication with the use of our class communication books. Students are given time daily to write items (homework, reminders, and events) in their student planner. Students are asked to write down all items applicable to them, even if they are done assignments, they put a check mark beside the item. The incentive of weekly draws help in building more consistency for the use of the planners for students who are consistently losing, forgetting, or choosing not to use their student planners. Each day that a student has written in their planner and had a parent initial, they then can enter their name for a draw. At the end of the week, students can pick from an assortment of small prizes for their accomplishment of the week. Please inquire daily with your child about seeing and signing the dayplanner. This helps to increase daily communication, good routine and structure for the students, and to help students achieve personal accountability for their own school participation. Please feel free to check and bookmark the classroom blog:
January is a good time for setting goals, both personal and academic, for 2016. We will be starting newunits in Social Studies, Gym, Science, and Health. We will continue with building on language arts themes of the reading comprehension strands through the novel study of The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell.
I have told students in advance that I will be away in Mexico from January 9-January 15th. This week there will not be daily blog updates but students should still be filling out pertinent information in their student planners. Kyle Jantzen will be covering the class this week. All the students have met Mr. Jantzen previously so I think this transition will go quite smoothly.
Each year the Saskatoon Blades invites all the grade 4’s and 5’s of Saskatoon to participate in “The Team Up For Respect”. There are quizzes, an activity booklet (usually a free ticket to attend another Blades game) music and of course an opportunity to watch our Saskatoon Blades vs another team. The rationale behind this is to promote team work, respect for others, and inclusion. Students will need to pack a bag lunch and water for this day because it falls over lunch hour. This wonderful event is Monday, January 30 9:30-2:30 at the Sasktel Center (formerly known as the Credit Union Center).
Calendar events for January 2017:
Monday January 4 -school resumes
Friday January 20 -Island of the Blue Dolphins vocabulary quiz
hot lunch day & hat theme day
Friday, January 27 -PD day no school for students
Monday, January 30 -Blades game “Team Up For Respect”
all day (bring water bottle, lunch, etc)
Thursday, February 2 -addition/ subtraction math test
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns, or if you want to set up some meeting time:
Language Arts: Exploring Reading Comprehension Strands
-Novel study: Island of the Blue Dolphinsresponding to literature through response journals, exploring new vocabulary (continue with dictionary skills), reading comprehension strands (visualization, connections, main idea, and synthesizing) and culminating class activities
-reading comprehension activities: retelling, responding through connections, and analyzing literary features
-Island of the Blue Dolphins project: exploring theme, characterization, setting, plot, mood etc. writing project
-visual representation piece: choice of visual aid to support writing (diorama, cube,mini-book etc)
-students will co-generate a rubric for self and peer assessment of the writing project
Math:
Addition & Subtraction (Grade 4)
-demonstrate an understanding of addition of whole numbers with answers to 10 000 and their corresponding subtractions of 3 and 4-digit numerals
-using strategies for adding and subtracting numbers: estimating sums and differences, using base ten blocks visuals, regrouping, and solving problems
Addition & Subtraction of decimals(Grade 5)
-using models, pictures, and base ten blocks to represent the determination of the sum or difference of two decimal numbers, explain the model, and record the process symbolically
-show estimation to determine the position of the decimal point in a sum or difference
-explain how understanding place value is necessary in calculating sums and differences of decimals
Science: Properties and Changes in Materials:
-exploring the characteristics and physical properties of materials in solid, liquid, and gaseous states of matter
-investigating how reversible and non-reversible changes, including changes of state, alter materials through hands on experiments and documenting observations in lab reports
Social Studies: Dynamic Relationships (Grade 4)
-identify the characteristics of the unique geographic regions in Saskatchewan (significant water bodies, landscapes, landmarks and settlements).
Social Studies: Resources and Wealth (Grade 5)
-identifying the main resources and industries in Canada and differentiating between renewable resources (e.g., forests, fish, water) and non-renewable resources (e.g., oil, minerals)
-research project on Canadian resources, the effects of economy and environmental factors
Health: Healthy Body &Understanding, Skills, and Confidences
-peer dynamics and forms of bullying
-media influences on self image
Physical Education:
-fitness: building strength endurance and cardiovascular