It's hard to believe that there are only a few weeks left of term 1! The students have been working hard over the past couple of weeks. I so enjoyed meeting with you last week to chat about your child's progress so far this year. Thank you for making the time to come in or to have a phone conversation.
Math: We wrapped up decimals (though we will revisit them throughout the year) and have moved on to addition/subtraction. We started with a small assessment which will help guide my teaching of this unit. We continue to work on our basic multiplication facts as well.
Spelling: New words went home on Monday and our next spelling test will take place on Monday, November 17.
Social Studies: Most students have wrapped up their research/note taking on their Indigenous group of Canada. Now we are writing small paragraphs for each section of our brochure (food, travel, tools etc.). There is a large focus here on constructing detailed sentences and remembering to include appropriate punctuation and capitals. Next week we will begin to look at first contact and the effect that European explorers had on the Indigenous peoples of Canada.
Art: Check our the "photo gallery" tab to see our winter art card art displayed at school - it made a beautiful bulletin board.
Gym: We enjoy playing different dodgeball and throwing games during buddy gym with Mrs. Shaw's class. We have also been playing 4-corner soccer.
Winter Donations: Once again, our school is taking part in an initiative to collect items for families in need. Our division has been asked to collect these items:
1) Boxed cake/muffin mix
2) Toothpaste
These will be collected from November 24 - December 5. Toothpaste will be given to the "Warm a Soul" organization which supports families in Greater Victoria. The food items will be donated to the local food bank.
Halloween - on a Friday?! Win!
We enjoyed a fun day on Halloween which included a whole-school costume parade, a safety chat with our school police liaison officer, and a Halloween freeze dance in the gym with our little buddies.
Spelling: Spelling test will be on Monday, November 3. There will be NO new spelling words this week. We have 2 field trips and 2 early dismissals AND grade 4s are finishing up the final section of the FSAs so there wont be time to facilitate new words and practice them. Look for new words coming home on Monday, November 10.
Social Studies: Students began researching their chosen Indigenous group this week. We are specifically looking at things like clothing, food, tools, shelter, and travel. We also went over the criteria and rubric for their final brochure project.
Parent-Teacher Interviews: I look forward to meeting you this week at our scheduled time. Can't make Wed/Thurs work? Please reach out and we can schedule something that works with both of our schedules. I will have your child's work waiting for you in the hallway on a table. If you're early for our meeting, please feel free to look through their term 1 work while you wait for me to come get you.
Field Trips: On Tuesday we will go swimming at Panorama. Vending machines will be off limits. Please do not send your child with money for the vending machine. Your child should come with their swim suit and a towel and be ready to have fun at the pool!
On Wednesday Mrs. V is taking the class to Sandown Centre for Regenerative Agriculture. Your child may get dirty on this farm field trip (especially if it is raining). Please make sure they're dressed appropriately (rain boots, a jacket, warm clothes etc.) Students will have a quick snack break during this trip, so a small "pocket snack" is a good idea.
Reach out if you have any questions about our 2 trips this week.
Halloween Candy: Yum! Yes, your child can definitey bring treats in their lunch. Please refrain from sending hard candy (lolipops, jolly ranchers etc). These aren't safe on the playground or in the gym and they take forever to finish. Thank you for your attention to this!
Happy Halloween!
Another short week, but lots of learning to be done!
Math: We began decimals this week looking specifically at tenths. Yesterday we wrote numbers as decimals and fractions. We also looked at how we could draw tenths. Students are working on a "Tenths Booklet" at the moment.
Spelling: New words went home on Tuesday. This week we sorted our words, used them in sentences and then each group had a small activity to complete today. The spelling test for this group of words will take place on Monday morning.
Expectations in the Intermediate Grades: Yesterday morning Mrs. Ko facilitated an intermediate-wide assembly. There have been some behaviours that have been popping up over the last few weeks that needed to be addressed. We talked about safe/fair play on the playground, speaking respectfully to peers and adults, and appropriate behaviour in the classroom. Please have a chat with your child about our Brentwood Beliefs (which include: Taking care of ourselves, Taking care of each other, and Taking care of this place).
Social Studies: Students had a chance to look through our Indigenous Peoples of Canada "textbook" and choose an Indigenous group that they would like to study. On Monday, students will start their research to learn about how this group lived, the tools they used, food they ate etc. We are looking at these Indigenous groups pre-European contact. Later this year we will look at the effects that the Europeans had on the lives of the Indigenous people in what is now Canada.
Art: Take a look at the "photo gallery" to see some of the art we created this week. It was quite the process with many steps (zentangles, cutting and pasting, creating stencils etc). The goal of this art project was to play with different shapes and patterns to create a beautiful fall art piece. I was impressed with how they turned out!
Don't forget to sign up for a parent-teacher interview! I look forward to speaking with you about your child's progress so far this year (link below!)
It's hard to believe we are nearly finished with October! Things have been busy this month at school.
FSAs: We continue to work on these. There are 8 parts (4 sessions in the computer lab and 4 in-class sessions in booklets). Grade 4s have completed about half of the sessions so far.
Social Studies: We are nearly finished identifying the Indigenous groups across Canada. This week, students will choose a group to research and study.
Math: This week we will start decimals. We wrapped up expanded form, standard from, and written form last week.
Tree Planting: Mrs. V has spearheaded a fantastic opportunity for the school. This Wednesday students will get a chance to plant a tree/plant on our school grounds (near the primary playground). These plants and trees will create a wonderful space for future students. We will be out digging in the dirt for a short while on Wednesday, so appropriate footwear is needed.
Spelling: Last week students studied their new spelling words. Hopefully you saw a coloured spelling sheet come home with your child last Tuesday. Monday will be our first official spelling test. I only quiz them on 12 words. New words will go home on Tuesday, October 21. This is a no pressure spelling program. We study the words Tues-Fri every week so if you don't have time to practice at home, that's okay!
Halloween: Students are allowed to wear their costumes to school on Friday, October 31. Please no masks or weapons. It's best if "accessories" can stay home as there is a chance they get lost/damaged. A reminder that we do have 4 and 5 year olds at the school, so if your child's costume is quite scary/gory perhaps it's best to leave it at home (or modify in some way). It was wonderful to see so many students at the Halloween Dance on Friday. It was a great turn out!
Parent/Teacher Interviews: Please check the email from me for information on signing up for parent-teacher interviews. Or click the button below to access the schedule and sign up. I look forward to meeting with you!
Bike Training: Please see my email from today about bike training which will take place next Tuesday and Thursday.
Social Studies: Today we began labelling a map of Canada. Next week we will identify the different Indigenous groups that live in our country. Eventually, students will choose a group to further research. They will complete a brochure assignment on their chosen group.
Spelling: This week we slowly walked through the steps of our spelling program. There will be a small test on Tuesday (mostly just to practice what this looks like). A new list will be sent home with your child on Tuesday.
FSAs: Grade 4s are currently writing the FSAs. They have had a couple blocks in the computer lab. Over the next couple of weeks we will be completing the 2 written portions of the assessment. Much of our schedule will be disrupted this month as the deadline from the ministry is the end of October. The students have shown great flexibility with this!
Math: We continue to work on standard form and written form of numbers. Next week we will work on expanded form before introducing decimals. We have also been practicing our basic multiplication facts a few times a week. You can help at home by practicing some of these (Grade 4s can be practicing 0s, 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10 times tables. Grade 5s can practice those as well as their 3s and 4s).
Reminders:
Library Book exchange - Tuesday
Gym - Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Music - Wednesday, Thursday
French - Tuesday, Friday
Orange Shirt Day: The entire school walked over to HEL,HILEȼ Park where we listened to a drumming song by Mr. Norris. That afternoon we enjoyed some time with our little buddies where we helped them colour/read a booklet about Orange Shirt Day.
Art: We have been hard at work on our art for this year's Art Cards. Stay tuned next month for information on how to order items with your child's beautiful art on them.
Fire Hall Field Trip: We are excited to go to the Fire Hall on Wednesday. Please make sure your child is wearing appropriate footwear as we will be walking up to the hall rain or shine. There are also a few stations that will take place outside - so a jacket or sweater may also be needed. It's a wonderful field trip and we look forward to learning all about fire safety, which will include a few hands-on stations.
Gum: At the beginning of the year the students were told that they were allowed to chew gum as long as they continued to respect our learning environment - meaning I did not want to find gum wrappers around the room or gum stuck to things. Unfortunately this week I have found both (gross!). The students know that gum is no longer allowed in our room until trust is built up again - they'll need to show me they are able to "take care of this place" (one of our classroom rules) before I allow gum back in. Please remind your child to not bring gum to school. Thank you for your support with this - I am not interested in scraping chewed gum off the floor.
Spelling: Spelling groups will start on Tuesday. Students will bring home a spelling list next week. Our first spelling test will take place Tuesday, October 14 (typically, tests will be on Mondays but next Monday is a holiday). We will be working with these new words this week, but they are also welcome to practice them at home if you have time:)
Staff enjoyed an all-day conference up at Claremont on Monday this week. Our shortened week together was still full of learning and fun! This week we enjoyed the Terry Fox run on Thursday as well as our second SENCOTEN class.
Math: We have continued to work on Place Value. We are working on larger numbers which often causes students to mis-name the different place values. Grade 5s are working up to the millions place and grade 4s are working up to hundred thousands.
Social Studies: Students worked hard this week on a map of eastern Canada. We looked at the route that Terry Fox ran from Newfoundland to Ontario. Students located, labelled, and coloured the provinces and cities where Terry Fox ran his Marathon of Hope.
Orange Shirt Day: Orange Shirt Day will be recognized at school on Monday, September 29. We will be walking over to the park across the street at 1:00 (note the time change as originally we were supposed to go at 10:40) where Lance Norris will perform a drumming song for us. We look forward to renewing our commitment to truth and reconciliation.
Computers: This week we visited the computer lab. Students were able to log in with new passwords. Each student currently has a Mathletics account - we are hoping this will be renewed in November, but are waiting on funding. Once I hear it has been approved for funding, I'll send home a username and password with each student so, if they wish, they can continue doing math facts at home.
After speaking with a grade 6 teacher from Bayside, it was noted to us that many of the grade 6 students felt unprepared for the amount of typing and computer work that was required from some classes in middle school. My goal this year is to have students feeling confident in using Google Drive and Google Classroom, as well as having knowledge around formatting documents properly.
Spelling: Our spelling program will begin on Tuesday, October 7th. Look for a spelling list in your child's bag that day!
It was a busy week in Division 12 again. We have had fun getting to know each other and settling into our routines. I enjoyed meeting many of you this week at our Open House! Were you unable to make it, but still want to pop in? My class is an open door! Contact me and we can set up a time for you to visit. Parent-Teacher Interviews will take place during the first week of November and I look forward to seeing you again at that time.
Library: Library Book Exchange began this week. Our book exchange day is Tuesdays. Students are able to take out 2 books. Please remind your child to bring their library books back to school on Tuesday.
Little Buddies: This afternoon we got to meet our little buddies. We did a "get to know you" activity together. Our next meeting with them will be on Monday, September 29 where we will talk about Orange Shirt Day.
Social Studies: Thank you for sending me a picture of your child doing something out in nature on our local lands. Our Land Acknowledgements are looking wonderful.
Terry Fox Run: The Terry Fox Run will take place on Thursday, September 25. This week we did some reading about Terry Fox and on Tuesday we will look at and label a map of Canada noting the route he took on his run.
Clubs: A soccer meeting was held today for grade 4 and 5 students. If your child was unable to make the meeting, please have them check in with Mrs. Shaw. Lunch monitoring will begin on Tuesday. We had many students in division 12 interested in taking on this responsibility! Grade 5 leadership (run by myself and Mrs. Blackie) also held a meeting today. Leadership kids will meet again on Wednesday to get brainstorming on what they want the year to look like!
Looking forward to next week!
We had an exciting first full week together! We have spent a lot of time getting to know each other and reviewing classroom routines and expectations. The students have enjoyed a few "Team Challenges" as well. These are designed to help them get to know new students as they work together towards completing a "challenge".
Math: Students are working on completing a "Me by the Numbers" activity which you will see up on our bulletin board at our Open House next Wednesday. I also introduced the class to how I review our basic multiplication facts weekly. Next week will begin with a quick math assessment so that I am able to best deliver the math curriculum this year. Our first unit will be Place Value.
Social Studies: I begin every year with students writing their own Land/Territorial Acknowledgement. Land Acknowledgements are a regular part of our lives as we work towards reconciliation with the Indigenous people whose land we live on. This week we brainstormed what we love about our local lands - from the animals we see, to the food the land provides us, to simply the beauty of the peninsula.
Gym: We have gym on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Sometimes we will "buddy gym" with Mrs. Shaw's grade 4/5 class where we play a large group game. This week we enjoyed playing Skittles, Fireball, and Sacrifice. Another part of the Physical and Health Education Curriculum is learning about Healthy Living. Mrs. V will be working with the students on Wednesdays as they learn about making healthy choices in their lives (healthy foods, healthy activities, and healthy relationships etc).
Language Arts: This week we read the picture book "One Word for Kids" and students chose their "Word of the Year". It will be a word that they will (hopefully) live by and focus on. There were many fabulous words chosen including "DETERMINED", "JOY", "POSITIVE" and "EXPLORE". Ask your child what their Word of the Year is!
Spelling: You will see spelling listed on our class schedule. Our class spelling program will begin in October. This gives me time to assess the students and create working groups. Stay tuned for more information on spelling.
Buddies: Our Little Buddy class will be Mrs. Barnes/Mrs. Gill's grade 1 class. We look forward to meeting our Little Buddies on Friday, September19. Fun Fact: did you know Mrs. Gill is Mrs. Sargent's cousin?
We have also been working on creating art to help decorate our classroom! We look forward to showing you our classroom on Wednesday!