October+Parent+Letter

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Dear Parents,

The first months of school are over and we are now into the real class routine. To help you become more familiar with what your child is doing at school, I have provided an outline of what we will be covering the next month or so. I have also added some important dates and general information.

**__Language Arts __**

Students will read independently, share favorite passages, raise questions about their book, express personal reactions, and talk about literary elements. They will do this in their literary circles.
 * __Readers’ Workshop __** (RWS)

After fall break there will be guided reading groups working on a novel with the class teacher and/or a parent. Students in this group (3-5 people) will have a more structured reading time focusing on reading strategies, vocabulary development and story analysis.

Learning Outcomes The Student…
 * Writes letters to show their thinking about their reading
 * Shows awareness that literature is open to a range of interpretations
 * Understands that words can evoke mental images
 * Recognizes and understands figurative language (e.g. similes and idioms)
 * Understands that character development happens in a text.
 * Reads independently with fluency and expression
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Independently selects the appropriate reading strategy for the purpose of the activity

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">At Home: Please refer to the Readers’ Workshop letter handed out at the Open House. It gives many ideas of how you can help your child with reading at home. There is also a copy on the grade 5 site of the Portal.

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Students will learn to write like professional writers, working independently at their desks and sharing their writing with the class. In addition, they will be encouraged to listen to other people’s stories, make positive comments and make suggestions to improve a friend’s writing.
 * __<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Writers’ Workshop __**<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;"> (WWS) – Adventure/action Stories

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Learning Outcomes <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">The student…
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Plots and plans stories
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Develops believable characters
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Gives characters struggles and motivations
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Shows vs. tells about characters and settings
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Develops the heart of the story
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Develops leads and endings
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Uses short, quick sentences to build suspense during action scenes
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Edits with various lenses
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Uses appropriate paragraphing
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Uses appropriate punctuation and grammar

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">At the end of our unit, our class will publish a grade 5B class anthology that will include their stories, original illustrations, “about the author” sections and endorsements from peers. Stay tuned!

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">At Home: Read action/adventure stories or short stories to your child. Have your child write about and describe exciting experiences in a diary. Discuss the difference between the action scenes and the rest of the story.

**__<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Math __** <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Students learn and practice new math concepts at school through problem solving and games. They are then required to do extra work at home to solidify what has been taught at school.
 * __<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Multiplying and Dividing Whole Numbers __**

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Learning Outcomes <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">The student …
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Finds basic multiplication facts to 81 and the related division facts
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Applies appropriate mental, written or calculator strategies to solve multiplication and division problems
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Recognizes and uses different notations to indicate division
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Records remainders as fractions or decimals, where appropriate
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Multiplies three or more-digit numbers by one-digit numbers using mental or written strategies
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Multiplies three or four-digit numbers by two-digit numbers using the extended form (long multiplication)
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Divides a number with three or more digits by a single-digit divisor using mental or written strategies
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Uses mental strategies to multiply or divide a number by 100 or a multiple of 10
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Finds solutions to questions involving mixed operations
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Determines whether a number is prime or composite by finding the number of factors

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">At Home: Students need to make sure their homework is completed and can do extra practice using IXL (skills F1 à <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">F14, H1 à <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">H9, K1 à <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">K2). There are also some other sites they can try if they feel like doing something different.

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">[]

**__<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">International Primary Curriculum __** <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Students will learn all about rivers - parts of a river, major rivers in the world, water purification, and bridges. We are very lucky again this year to have Mr. Fewtrell (engineer) come in to present five special sessions on bridge building to the students. He will also be at the bridge building contest, which takes place at our sleepover on November 18th.
 * __<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Go With The Flow – Rivers __**

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">As you already know, we have started this unit and focused on Geography and Society. We have about nine weeks left. During the rest of the unit we will be focusing on Science, History and Technology.

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">You child has been given a Nile River project. Part of the project is to learn about Ancient Egypt. We are also using this project as a vehicle to teach research skills. Your child will be going through the research steps that will not only help him/her with the IPC units in elementary school, but also high school and onward. <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">In Science, We’ll Be Finding Out: <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">In Technology, We’ll Be Finding Out:
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Where water comes from
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">How to grow a stalactite
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">How to clean water
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">How water can be used to make power
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">How bridges are built and then putting what we have learned into practice with ‘the great bridge- building challenge'

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">In History, We’ll Be Finding Out:
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">About the importance of the River Nile in every aspect of life in Ancient Egypt

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">At Home: Have students discuss their lessons at home. They can also access websites to find out more information about rivers in the specific subject areas.

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Monday, October 16 – 20 Autumn Break – No School <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Thursday, October 27th 8:30-9:15 Elementary Assembly (showcasing grade 1) <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Thursday, October 27th 12:30 – 1:15 Grade 4 and 5 Nile River Gallery Walk <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Friday, November 18th Bridge Building and Sleep Over <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Friday, January 21st 14:45-15:25 Parent Coffee Morning (parents become students)
 * __<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Important Dates __**


 * __<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">General Info __**
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Children have been told that there is a no boyfriend/girlfriend policy in grade 5
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Nile projects are due Monday October 24th (includes project and research folder)
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Major projects and most homework will now be posted on the class Wiki as well as written in the agenda (ais5b.wikispaces.com).

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">If you have any questions or comments, please contact me by e-mail, phone or of course in person.

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sincerely,

<span style="font-family: Calibri,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sten Coppin