December Update

It has been a very busy time here in Portable 13 over the past month, and we haven't had much time to blog.

In Language, we did a lot of work around the concept of citizenship in literature, summarizing, and searching for big ideas in books.  We also did a novel study, and presented personal book talks.

In Math, we did mini units on analysing graphs, and then characterizing angles and triangles.

In Social Studies, we have been studying citizenship, and steps to becoming citizens.  We have been creating our own civilization with its own steps to citizenship, and we wrote our own oath of citizenship.  We have also formed government committees, which we will work on to build our civilization.

In French, we learned the names of animals, studied the verbs etre and avoir, prepositions of place, and we looked up adjectives to describe people and animals.

Students are currently working on 3 major projects:  for French, they are designing a zoo with 10 animals and 5 descriptions; for Language, students researched a famous Canadian, used several organizers to help them pre-write, and now must write up the biography.  They wrote paragraphs, self-edited, and peer-edited.  They must now publish a good copy of their work.  In Math, they are designing our civilization, Weslandia, using the triangles they learned.  They must include the 6 different triangles, and identify and measure the triangles and angles.  They must also discuss the difference between the things they NEEDED in their civilization, and the things they WANTED, and why that is different.  Students have rubrics and checklists and expectations, and know exactly what they have to do to be successful.

Although we worked a LOT in class on these projects, and students should have had enough time to finish, many students did not complete these projects.  It is expected that these will be handed in on the first day back at school on January 9.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday, and Happy New Year!  I truly enjoy teaching your children!

Ms. Bordonaro

60 Mins Kids Club

So there is this club that is called "60 Mins Kids Club", and it's about staying healthy. They send you messages about what to do to stay healthy. First, though, you have to sign in from their website http://www.60minskidsclub.com/. Please help your children sign up and complete the activity. When you sign in, there is a tracker, and if you get the most points when you complete it, you get a prize.



By Student Bloggers

Welcome Ms.Leung

Yestereday, we started to have a teacher candidate. Her name is Ms. Leung. She is from Queen's University. Ms.Leung came here because she wants to become a teacher. Yesterday Ms.Leung brought her Me Bag, and told as about herself. She has been in lots of countries. She has benn to Paris, Italy, Switszerland, and London. She enjoys dancing, reading, and watching movies.

Student Bloggers

The lady in the box

Today Ms.Bordonaro read a book called "The Lady in the Box". It's about this old lady that is poor and homeless, and there are two girls who want to help her. So they provide food and clothes for the old lady. After Ms.Bordonaro was done the book, she told us to compare it to another book called "Lily and the Paperman", because both books dealt with the issue of homelessness, and being a good citizen.

We were using several reading strategies to do this comparison:  making connections, inferring, visualizing, and questioning.

These two books really made us think about this issue.

Medical students

In our class we had medical students that came to visit us.The medical students are learning to be doctors and they told us about doctors and what they do. They showed us how to use a stethoscope. We had a really fun time today.

Photos, photos, photos!

Today was the one, the only,  PICTURE DAY !!!
All the kids dressed fabulously nice. Even though it took 1 hour, we got it done.  It took 1 hour because it was so busy, but mostly because the power kept failing. All the classes had to do it on the same day. Man it was tough!! Gosh we got really tired, but luckily, we had to do no work when we got back, since it was so close to lunch!  We are sure we will all look wonderful when we get our pictures!

by Student bloggers

September and October curriculum

During the month of September, we spent a lot of time getting to know one another, establishing routines, and doing some testing to determine students' strengths and needs.

In Language, we have been discussing narratives (ask your child what this means), doing the CASI assessment (students will be writing down their scores in their agendas, but I keep their tests on file), adding words to their vocabulary, learning about adverbs, participating in guided reading groups with me, and beginning our Writer's Notebooks programme.  Coming up:  novel study, book talks, editing, biography.

For Math, we focussed on reading, writing, representing, and ordering big numbers, addition and subtraction of large numbers, 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication, and long division.  Students have recently completed a test, and should be receiving these back this week to be brought home and signed.  Coming up:  patterning and graphing.

During Social Studies, we looked at the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, responsibilities, voting and elections, and we had our own mock election after studying some of the issues and what local politicians had to say.  We even wrote songs/chants/cheers about the politicians.  Coming up:  citizenship, levels of government.

In French, we completed a unit on sports, and students did writing and presentations to express their like or dislike of certain sports.  We studied the verb "aimer" (to like), and put sentences together both orally and in writing.  Next, our Queen's teacher candidate is teaching a unit on clothing.

In Visual Arts, we have been having fun with lines.  Ask your child about our Bugs on Rugs, and our Bedhead art.  Next:  colour.

It's been a busy time!

Reading

Students should be reading at home for at lease 30 minutes a night.  Right now, I have asked the students to be reading a novel (chapter book) that is an appropriate level for them.  This novel should be finished by October 31.  During that week, we will be doing book talks where they will be sharing their book with classmates by discussing setting, characters, problems, solutions, and giving a recommendation.

Happy Reading!

Ms. B

Writer's Notebooks

Hey Parents!

You should have noticed that your children are bringing home hard-covered notebooks that we call "Writer's Notebooks".  This year students are becoming "real" writers, and keeping their thoughts, ideas, and drafts in a writer's notebooks.  This is an integral part of their homework.  They should be writing at least 3 different entries in their notebooks during the week, and handing it in on a specific day (the day is written on the inside cover of their book). 

Sometimes I give them a topic, but sometimes they must write independently.  They can share their writing with you, but PLEASE do not help them, change their work, or edit their work.  These are all things we will do in class, as part of the programme.

There are two sections in the book:  an "I" section where they do writing about themselves, and the other section where they would write about the outside world.  They have created a web in each section to help them in choosing topics about which to write.

The most important aspect of this programme is for them to read the feedback I give them when I read their writing each week.  I tell them what they are doing well, what they need to improve and how they can do that, and perhaps I will suggest topics for them.

Students who follow the programme properly (writing 3 times a week, handing in their book, using teacher feedback), improve their writing significantly over the course of the year.

Happy Writing!

Ms. B

Science Centre

The Science Centre:  it was an amazing feild trip, except for the part where we had to walk there and back, plus the hour- long speech. It could have taken one person to say it was fire prevention week kickoff.  But all in all it was a fun trip. We got to look at all different exhibits. Then we got free pizza and apple juice.We couldn't get seconds, although one class got seconds.  Man they were lucky! We got these slappy bands and fire hats. We kept snapping the bands, until our teacher went berserk.

Voting in our class

 Voting, you would think it's only for adults, but boy you would be wrong. Kids can vote too. Voting is everywhere:  people vote for work, roles in movies etc.  Our class had our own election. We were voting for some of the real candidates like Kathleen Wynne, Ahmed Khalid , and Andrea Mandel-Campbell. The winner was Kathleen Wynne by a huge lanslide, both in our class and in the real provinicial election.                

Sep. gone Oct. comes

   In September, on the first day of school, we played the Name Game so we would get to know each other well. Everybody was pretty nervous. Everyone thought that this is probably the day I  should've stayed home instead of going to school. But by the end of the week, we all were familiar with each other and no longer nervous. That is if all the girls and the boys separated from each other.

Oct. I have one word to say about the Science Centre.Wow!

Student written post

Welcome!

Hi students and parents from Portable 13.

This blog has been set up so we can tell others about what's happening in our classroom.  Every few days, students will get a chance to practise their writing skills by posting on our blog.

We will tell you about upcoming events, assignments, homework, and what exciting activities we have been doing in class.  Join the journey that is Grade 5.