Queen's Park
The students of Ms. Bordonaro's, Ms. Kwong's, and Ms. Halliwell's classes visited Queen's Park on Monday, December 8. We did a scavenger hunt of the outside grounds, saw a bit of the inside of the building, and sat in on Question Period. Ask your child what he/she thought of question period. After question period, students discussed what they saw with the tour guide. We then had a special guest come to have photos taken: Premier Kathleen Wynne!!!! She answered questions and stood with the students for a photo. Our students were well-behaved and asked great questions. It helped them understand what they've learned in class about the provincial government.
Hour of Code
On Friday, December 12th, students in 5C, 5F and 5G joined 70 million students around the world (in 128 countries) to take part in the largest education event in history: Hour of Code. Students worked through tutorials to explore different coding/programming concepts. They wrote instructions (code), used loops and if-then logic to create input for a program that moved an animated character.
We only devoted one 50-minute period to the event. Students have been given the website and passwords to log onto the Hour of Code website at home (the link for 5C is: http://studio.code.org/sections/RWBJOI). Students who are interested can continue exploring the tutorial and “online courses”. You can also find out more information about the program at: www.hourofcode.org/ca.
Bitstrip:
As an assessment and evaluation of our learning about the Canadian government, students will be creating an online comic strip to show what they have learned in Social Studies. They can access the Bistrips for School website at:
The classroom code is: 5C(2014).
Students will asked to log-in, create their own password and make their avatar. If they have time, they can introduce themselves in a short comic strip.
We went over how to log in class, but here are the instructions if they want a review:
Students are expected to complete the Social Studies assignment in class with their partners , and should not be working on them at home. However, they can create any comic strips they wish (as long as they are appropriate, as per our discussion on digital citizenship) at home. They can also spend time creating characters at home or do additional research, as long as they are not working on their government comic strip.
Holiday Assembly
On Wednesday, December 17, students gathered with other grades to watch performances and sing famous holiday songs. It was wonderful to see all the students singing and dancing together about the different holidays and winter activities at this time of year. Once again we got to see Premier Kathleen Wynne, as she came to enjoy the music with us!
Energy Workshop
On Thursday, December 18, students participated in a workshop by TREC about energy conservation and wind turbines. They learned about different forms of energy, and then did experiments to test wind turbine blades. Students will be participating in a design challenge where they design and build an efficient wind turbine. In May, we will go to the Kids Energy Festival where they will see their wind turbines on display and participate in more workshops. It was an interesting and active afternoon of learning. Ask your child about their favourite part of the workshop.
Happy Holidays
I hope everyone has a restful and relaxing holiday. Take time to enjoy each other. Get outside in the fresh air. Read some books. Talk. Come back in the New Year ready to tackle new learning. I have truly enjoyed teaching your children the past four months, and I look forward to the rest of the year.
