Ms. Bordonaro's absence

Hello Students and Parents of 5B:

I just wanted to remind students and tell parents that I will be away Friday, December 16 - Wednesday, December 21 and then again the afternoon of December 23.

My daughter is having some major surgery, and will require me to be with her to take care of her.  I have explained to students, and they can share that information.

While I am away, Ms. Paton will be here in my place.  She has been here for me before, and knows the class.  I know she will do a great job with the students.

Thank you for your understanding, and I hope you will send Sabrina healing vibes.

Ms. Bordonaro

Parent/Teacher Interviews

It was such a pleasure to meet with so many parents last week.  How wonderful to have so much support from you!

I loved hearing that your children enjoy school, and that they talk about what they've done in class.

I look forward to the rest of the year with this wonderful group.

Please continue to support your child's education.

Sincerely,

Ms. Bordonaro

Apologies

Hello students and parents of Rm. 204:

I am so sorry I haven't updated the blog recently.  I have had 2 members of my family pass away over the last week, and I have just been trying to cope.

I will try to update the blog in the next few days.

Thank you for your understanding!

Ms. Bordonaro

Busy Times

It was wonderful to see so many parents last week at the Curriculum Afternoon.  I hope that everyone felt that the experience was worthwhile, and you got all the information you needed.

Progress Reports will be going home on November 15th, and interviews will be that same week.  I will be sending home forms shortly to book a time.

Last Thursday, we had an exciting trip to the Mattamy Centre to watch Ryerson play against University of Toronto in women's hockey.  We all had a great time, and students were well behaved.  There was a lot of action on the ice (Ryerson won!), and there were activities such as face painting and science experiments just outside the arena.  During one of the intermissions, we were treated to a figure skating show combined with Science!!!  Ask you child to describe it.

This past Monday, students had their best smiles for picture day.  In a couple of weeks, order forms will be sent home for you to decide if you'd like to order photos.

For the last few weeks, we've had the pleasure of having Ms. Glebe, our teacher candidate from Queen's University, in our classroom teaching and helping.  Friday is Ms. Glebe's last day with us, as she will be starting in a Gr. 3 class next week.  Ms. Glebe has been wonderful, and we will miss her very much.

There will be many notices going home over the next few weeks.  Please ask your children to take things out of their backpacks and show them to you.

Thank you again for your continued support of your child's learning.

Sincerely,

Ms. Bordonaro

We're in October!

The beginning of the year was a bit confusing with the Grade 5 classes being reorganized, but we are all settled in now.

We spent a while getting to know each other by listening to Me Bag presentations and Name Art presentations.  We've played games and had discussions so that we feel like a classroom community. I think we are all feeling comfortable with each other, and we have a very lovely class.

On Tuesday, we welcome a Queen's Teacher Candidate to our class for 3 weeks.  Her name is Ms. Glebe, and she will be learning what it's like to teach a Grade 5 class.  She will teach large group lessons, work with small groups, and may work one-on-one with students.  It will be so nice to have her here.

You will hear soon about Curriculum afternoons.  This is an opportunity to come into the classroom, meet the teacher, hear about our routines and curriculum, and get your child to show you around. Remember, this is not a parent-teacher interview.  Those will come in November, and if I have concerns about your child, I will contact you before then.

We've had a great start!  I hope the year continues like that!

Sincerely,

Ms. Bordonaro

STEM Challenge

Students were challenged to make the tallest possible tower that stands on its own, using only pipe cleaners and foil. Here are the towers in the middle of the process. Some were more successful than others. Ask your child why!! 

Here are the completed towers. Only two stood on their own! Explain!

Welcome to another exciting year!

Hello parents and students of Room 204:

Welcome to another year of school!  You are in your last year here at Thorncliffe Park P.S., and I hope that it will be fantastic.  I am enjoying getting to know the students, and they seem eager and enthusiastic.  We have already had some engaging and thoughtful discussions.  I look forward to growing and learning together.

This year, I will be teaching your child most subjects:  Language, Math, Social Studies, Science, Gym/Health, Music/Drama/Dance, Art.  They will have Ms. Manishevitz for French and Ms. Williams will teach them a strand of Language: Media Literacy.

To communicate with me, the best way is to write a note in your child's agenda. The school has agendas available for $5 or you can provide your own. It is important that they have something at school with them every day in order to jot down homework or reminders.

I will be posting on this blog what is happening in class, but ask your child specific questions about activities. I know from experience that if you ask, "How was school?", they will say "Fine", and walk  away. So, ask your child about:

. Books we've read: Name Jar and David Goes to School
. Figure Me Out Math
. Name Math
. Name Art
. Letter to Ms. B
. We Are All Connected
. Name Game
. Drama Games (Zip, Zap, Zop, Name Actions)
. Reading response possibilities
. A Great Classmate activity
. TRIBES agreements

You can click on the other pages in this blog to see reminders, upcoming events, homework, links to educational websites, what's happening in class this week.

Days 1-5 students have Language/Social Studies and Math in the afternoon, and other subjects in the morning (French, Science, Gym, Music).  On Days 6-10, it is the reverse: Language and Math in the morning, and other subjects in the afternoon.  Students have Gym on Days 1, 3, 6 and 7, and they must have proper, indoor running shoes in order to participate.

Homework will mostly be work that is not finished in class, but students should be reading AT LEAST 20 minutes per day, and I will be introducing a writing programme where they must write their own topics independently at home at least 2 times per week. There will also be weekly challenges and writing prompts on this blog.

I hope that we will we have a fun, exciting, engaging year together, and I look forward to you supporting your child's learning.

Sincerely,

Ms. Bordonaro

It's March!!!!

Wow!  First term reports went out, the long weekend passed, and we're getting close to March Break!

We are more than halfway through the year, and your children are heading towards Middle School soon!

I have had a lot of students forgetting to complete assignments or to hand them in.  Work is getting harder, assignments are longer.  Please remind your children how important it is to work hard, and get ready for Middle School.

We have had the pleasure of having our Queen's Teacher Candidate, Miss Snider, working with your children the past two weeks.  She is here until March Break.  She is teaching units on patterning in Math, and informational text, especially Biography, in Language.

Ask your students about the wind turbines they created, and how well they worked.  See if they can tell you all about our novel study "Loser".  Have them tell you about their ad campaign.

I'm sure we're all looking forward to the March Break!  It starts Monday, March 14 and goes until Friday, March 18.  School resumes Monday, March 21.

Thank you for your continued support of your children.

Ms. Bordonaro

Enjoy a long weekend!

Hello!

This is just a reminder that there is no school for students on Friday, February 12 and Monday, February 15.  Friday is a PA Day where teachers will be interviewing parents that have been contacted.  Monday is Family Day.

I hope you take the time this weekend to spend some time together, and enjoy each other's company. Family is so important, and our children grow up so fast!!!

Next week, we will have another Teacher Candidate from Queen's University joining our class to learn about teaching Grade 5, and to do some teaching.  Her name is Ms. Snider, and I know everyone will make her feel welcome.

We have been working very hard the last couple of weeks, but there is still a LOT to do, especially now that we are in Term 2.  Your children will soon be finished at Thorncliffe, and will head off to middle school.  There is still so much for them to learn and prepare.  Please talk to them about how important the next few months are, and how learning should be fun, but they should also put in their best effort.

Thank you for your continued support of your child's education.

Ms. Bordonaro

Blog is updated again

Hello parents and students of Room 204:

I'm sorry that I haven't updated the blog in a while.  Not many people are reading it.  This is a bit of a test.  If you read the blog this week, please have your child tell me that either you or they read it.

It has been a busy month.  We finished up a lot of units, finished culminating tasks, and did some quizzes.  We also had a trip to Queen's Park.

First term report cards come out soon, but we have a LOT to do in second term.

Students should remember that in a few months, Grade 5 will be over, and they will be going off to middle school.  That means that they need to be on their best behaviour at all times, and should be doing their best work at all times in order to prepare for this major transition.

Thank you for continuing to support your child in their education.

Ms. Bordonaro