Sunday, December 3, 2017

Week 17

TWiG5This Week iGrade 5
 Welcome to week 17 of learning, exploring & having fun!!!

REMINDERS

-Early release day on Monday: Students will be dismissed at 11:30am- there will not be any hot lunch.
-Field Trip: There is a field trip coming up- please check email for details.
-5G Assembly on Tuesday, Dec. 5th... as always, all are welcome to attend!!
-Hour of Code: Students are encouraged to participate in the 'Hour of Code' (computer programming). Instructors are available in the IT labs during all recesses to assist and teach!

Winter Celebrations (message from the office)
We are planning for the last day of school before winter break, which includes a house event, winter parties and culminating in a winter assembly at the end of the day, we hope you will all be here to join in the fun! If you can’t, we would appreciate knowing if you are planning to take your child/ren away at an earlier date. Please inform your classroom teacher.

Pass the Parcel Activity (message from Service Learning)

Dear Parents,

As a part of the Service Learning Office activities for the Elementary school and with the cooperation of the Students Council team, we will start a Warm Clothing Drive and Toy Drive to be donated to Stabl Antar Dreams School. The collection of the donations will begin on Wednesday, December 6th, 2017. Elementary school students will have boxes for donations in their classrooms.  Middle and High school students will be able to donate in the boxes at Eagle Plaza (The front gate).

On the day of the Winter Celebration (December 21, 2017) there will be different stations to clean, fix, sort and wrap the donated items. Parents are welcomed to help with these tasks at the different stations during this day. Please check the full plan of the day here:  Winter Celebration Community Service Plan. Please follow our announcements and updates on the CACN, Newsletters and Tuesday's morning assemblies.  Thank you for your continued support of CAC and helping others stay warm this winter. 

Guidance News 
How to Be a Helpful Bystander – Acts of Compassion 

Students are hearing stories about courageous, helpful bystanders and practicing various ways to be a helpful bystander in real-life scenarios.  A helpful bystander takes action when they witness someone being hurt by others. It only takes ONE helpful bystander to stop teasing and there are several direct and indirect ways a person can help. We will have lots of discussions about the role of the bystander and the power of this role in either:

- Ignoring the mean behavior and allowing it to continue, or
- taking action, speaking up and stopping the mean behavior. 

They will role-play various scenarios in which they will use their words and/or actions in a way that is helpful and compassionate. Students will learn 3 ways to help someone else, which include:
Report – tell a trusted adult
Refuse – say something (using assertive words and body language)
Support – go to the person who was hurt, sit by him or her and ask if they are okay.


Curriculum Corner

Reading & Writing Integrated Informational Unit

Students have been practicing finding places worth stopping and jotting about as they read informational books. Some ideas that were discussed are:
-When we learn new information
-When we are going to burst with curiosity
-When we come across new words
-When we make new connections
-When we come to the end of a section
Students know how important it is that they are jotting about their reading and are checking to see if they are understanding the information. Closing the book after reading a section and asking yourself, 'what could I teach someone about what I just read?' is a great strategy to check for understanding.
We are also getting close to having everyone finalize their topics that they will write about for their informational books. Choosing a topic that we are passionate in is a must! Choosing a topic with a variety of resources is also a determining factor as well as checking to see that our topics are not too big nor too small. 

Writers ask themselves some tough questions when they are choosing a topic for information writing. They ask:

1. Do I care about this topic? What am I eager, fascinated, inspired, indignant, or dedicated about to explore, learn and become an expert voice in?
2. What about this topic is important?

3. Do I know enough right now to imagine a possible table of contents?
4. Do I know one or two resources I can use to begin gathering information?

Ms. Hebba teaching us about Lucid Press- the format we will use to publish our informational books. 
This week, Ms. Fitzgerald will also be visiting us to support with citations and research skills. 

Math Workshop


Students will write the end-of-module assessment for Module 3 on Sunday, Dec. 17th. This week, students use the number line when adding and subtracting fractions greater than or equal to 1.  The number line helps students see that fractions are analogous to whole numbers.  The number line makes it clear that numbers on the left are smaller than numbers on the right, which leads to an understanding of integers in Grade 6.  Using this tool, students recognize and manipulate fractions in relation to larger whole numbers and to each other.  For example, “Between which two whole numbers does the sum of 

134 and 535 lie?”
This leads to an understanding of and skill with solving more complex problems often embedded within multi-step word problems:
Cristina and Matt’s goal is to collect a total of 312 gallons of sap from the maple trees. Cristina collected 134 gallons. Matt collected 535 gallons. By how much did they beat their goal?
134 + 535 - 312=3+3×54×5+3×45×4-1×102×10
  =3+1520+1220-1020
  =31720
Cristina and Matt beat their goal by 31720 gallons.
Word problems are a part of every lesson.  Students are encouraged to utilize tape diagrams, which facilitate analysis of the same part–whole relationships they have worked with since Grade 1.


Science Inquiry
Last week, students spent time thinking about the essential question of the unit along with the vocabulary words. Students collaborated on a shared google slide deck where they each researched and wrote about one of our target vocabulary words. This is shared with the students on their drive and they are encouraged to access it and review the vocabulary. We also tried a new-to-us technology (Pear Deck) during a lesson to present new information in an interactive and engaging way. 
This week, we will look deeper at the types of adaptations animals and plants display in order to survive in their environments.  By participating in a fun 'thumb' activity, students will see first hand how having an opposable thumb is advantageous to us humans. We will also watch a video on adaptations and practice some note-taking using boxes and bullets. 

Circle Solutions & Core Value Books
This month, we continue to look at COMPASSION. Students will bring home our Core Value books to read and discuss with their parents.  We kindly ask that the books are returned the following day so that the next student can bring it home. 
During circle solutions, we will extend our focus on the act of giving to help those less fortunate than us. This is a great lead up to the pass the parcel activity that students will participate in. Some classes will also continue to focus on having a Growth Mindset. 

Your partners in education,

LeeAnn Kasal   lkasal@cacegypt.org
Bonnie Greene barmstronggreene@cacegypt.org
Jonathan O'Sullivan josullivan@cacegypt.org
Caitlin Johnson cjohnson@cacegypt.org



No comments:

Post a Comment