DO THE HALLOWEEN HUSTLE!!

What a great week! How the students kept so focused with the looming excitement of Halloween on Friday really surprised me! What a dedicated group of learners! Our primary focus this week has been preparing for tri-conferences next week, reflecting on our targets and setting goals for the coming months.
So let's look at what we've been doing and what is coming up...

LANGUAGE ARTS:
We're not as far along in The Birchbark House as I would like to be at this point but we're going to do an intensive push next week to get caught up! The students continue to look forward to hearing about Omakayas's next adventure. I even introduced the sequels to the class and their anxious to have me read them already!
As I'd mentioned in my last post, there is no book report for November as we will be doing Literature Circles after we have completed our novel study. For the moment, the students are asked to find a novel (of interest to them) to read and respond to in their Reading Logs until they begin reading their assigned novel for Lit Circles.

MATHEMATICS:
As we set our targets in Math for the winter, the mastery of our multiplication facts became our prime focus! Hopefully, you have all received the letter, personalized flashcards and "At Home Multiplication" booklet that addresses our target. The booklet must be completed by all the students and returned to me by the end of November. Try to do a little bit everyday to reap the benefits of the continuous and rote practice which will really help to embed those facts in their long term memory.
We are also continuing with our Number Sense unit and working towards numbers to the "hundred thousands" place.

SOCIAL STUDIES:
Using a graphic organizer, the students reviewed their understanding of the Land Bridge Theory and created some interesting analogies of the theory to the Chunnel in Europe and the Confederation bridge connecting P.E.I to Canada!
Next week we will continue to review this idea and the students will be assessed on their understanding with a quiz on Thursday, Nov.6th.

SCIENCE:
There was a lot of "Snap,Crackle,Pop!" in the classroom this week as we began our cereal study! Our primary focus was to learn how to read the nutrition information labels on food items. The students were taught a basic understanding of what the different terms meant on a package of food (ie. fat, protein, sugars, calories, serving size, etc.). On Wednesday, we began to look at the labels on the cereal boxes that the students brought to class (Thank you so much!). Next week, we will be analyzing the various cereals to see which cereals really ARE a better choice to maintain a healthy body. We will also have some fun creating our own unique cereal! We are getting close to the end of this unit. Look for a unit test the following week!!

FRENCH:
Our unit on "L'ecole" is almost finished as well! Right now the students are creating a "Je vois..." page for a class "I Spy" book of classroom objects (en francais of course!). They have been completing most of this in class. The final due date for this assignment is Wednesday, November 5th! After this assignment, the students will be preparing for a quiz on this unit.

OTHER:

• If you are ever cruising the hallways of LM, be sure to check out our "Scary, Scary Night" gallery wall across from the library in the Early Years wing! They look remarkably similar to Van Gogh's original design.
• We had a lot of fun with our gingerbread haunted houses, food skeletons and jellybean math on Friday! A big thank you to all the parents and students for donating your veggies and fruit. Another big thank you to the parent volunteers who were able to come in and assist with our haunted house constructions...it was a sticky job but somebody had to do it!
• UNICEF donations are being accepted until Thursday, Nov.6th if you are still wanting to make a donation.
• PICTURE RETAKES are scheduled for MONDAY, NOV.3RD! Please bring in your proofs to the photographer if you are wishing to have a retake done.
• Tri-conference appointment times should be coming home on Monday if you did not receive one on Friday. I look forward to seeing everyone next week as we sit down and work together to make grade 5 the most successful and productive year possible for your child!
• On Monday and Tuesday of next week, I will be attending a two day workshop at the Manitoba Education, Citizen and Youth department that involves an intensive study of the new Literacy with ICT curriculum (integrating technology into our students' learning). I will still be in full attendance at tri-conferences...don't start without ME!

Have a spooky weekend! Happy haunting!

Mrs. Eby