Book Talks

This week, we presented our Book Talk projects. Some people made dioramas, book trailers, book jackets, and identity bags. We heard 21 awesome presentations. In case we want to read one of the books we heard, a list of the titles and authors is below.

We took home our Evaluations today to share.

	Book	Author
Gaby	Mystery of the Maya	RA Montgomery
Ina	The Treasure of the Sea	Thea Stilton
Charlotte	Moth flights Vision	Erin Hunter
Jorja	Charlotte's Web	EB White
Peyton	Fish in a Tree	Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Desiree	Dawn of the Clans: Warriors the Sun Trials	Erin Hunter
Isla	Blare cooks up a Plan	Jennifer Castle
Owen	George's Marvelous Medicine	Roald Dahl
Isana	Chomp	Carl Hiaasen
Nikita	Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief	Rick Riordan
Priya	The People of Sparks	Jeanne DuPrau
Abby	The Last Human	Lee Bacon
Keanen	20 000 Leagues Under the Sea	Jules Verne
Silas	Silver Eyes	Scott Cawthorn
Taylor	Heidi Heckelbeck and the Cookie Cutter	Wanda Coven
Sophia	The Darkness of Darkhold	Jeanne Du Prau
Dhyana	A Tale of Magic	Chris Colfer
Jasper	The Mark of Athena	Rick Riordan
James	The TV Kid	Betsy Byars
Bianca	Crenshaw	Katherine Applegate
Jaxton	Moby Dick	Herman Melville

Multiplication Memory

We are reviewing Multiplication. We practiced drawing groups and arrays to match a multiplication equation (number sentence). We played games of Multiplication Memory to practice.

To find a set you need four things: the equation, the array, the picture, and the word sentence.

We made our own set of Multiplication Memory cards to take home for practice!

Playing the game!

Making our own!

Collaboration Techniques

In preparation for our big Animation project, we are learning different strategies for collaborating.

Cooperating = getting along with our team members
Collaborating = creating an idea together

The first technique we learned was the "Place Mat" strategy. This is where each person puts down their own ideas in their own place mat. Then, each person shares. Then, you put ideas you all agree on in the middle place mat.

The second technique we learned was the "First I thought, Now I think..." Each group was trying to plan a gym class (3 games). Each person wrote down their three favourite games that they'd like to play. Then, each group member shared. Then, you think about what you heard, and you change your idea or add in other ideas that you heard. Then, you share your new idea with everyone else. You keep going around the circle until you agree on the 3 games.

"We're doing this because we have a partner animation project coming up. The animations need to be BOTH people's ideas, not just one." ~ Bianca
"We're learning how to collaborate because our partners will be picked for us. We'll have to work together and agree." ~ Desiree
"We're doing this so that we can cooperate with our partners even if they're not our best friends." ~ Owen
"We're doing this so that we can collaborate ideas when we do our animation project without fighting and so we have more time to do it because animations take a long time." ~ Sophia
"We're doing this so that we can cooperate AND collaborate with our partners to get both of our ideas in there." ~ Abigail
"I learned that cooperating is very useful so that you don't argue with your partner." ~ Nikita
"I liked the place mat activity because you made up an animal that doesn't exist and it was fun. Then we made up an animal with all four ideas." ~ Priya
"I liked the activity because at first we got to do our own ideas, then at the end we got to combine our ideas to see what it makes." ~ Isla
"I liked how cooperating is easier than fighting over ideas." ~ Chloe

Six Room Poetry Follow-Up

Last week, we had a visit from Ms Kelsey from Mustard Seed School (click here to see the post). She taught us a journalling technique called "Six Room Poetry."

You need to divide your paper into six sections. Each has a subtitle: Image, Light, Sound, Questions, Feelings, Theme.

We climbed up the hill and each found our own person spot. We looked around to see what we'd see for Images. We tried to be creative and as descriptive as possible.

Then, we chose our favourite lines and put them together in a poem.

We had to rearrange lines so that they were connected or had a theme.

"I loved how all of the class was very descriptive in their words, especially with how they felt. I also liked being outside and feeling peace in nature." ~ Desiree
"We started practising this because we're going to do this type of poetry when we go to Mustard Seed School in February." ~ D
"I liked how we could make it as creative as we wanted to. We could look around in a peaceful place and make juicy sentences." ~ Sophia
"I developed my grammar skills in this activity when I had a conference with Ms Elder." ~ Jaxton
"I liked being outside and noticing different noises." ~ Ina

Here are two samples of our work. It was very hard to choose!

It is ever so devastating that traffic bursts your creativity

Are the trees trying determinedly to talk to me?

Big birds exclaim, “Caw caw,” like a crow

And teeny, little chickadees say, “chick a dee dee dee.”

The chinook arch has blessed us for warmer weather

I am joyful

Nature is so beautifully loveable in peace

Nature is also lovable when

A jack rabbit apocalypse comes

The wind quietly blows into my ear

And bounces off my ear drum whispering “whooooo”.

~ Desiree

The trees are so tall they’re holding up the sky

I can see the birds fly

I can see the snow glow

I can hear the wind blow

It’s cloudy with some sun

Everyone’s having fun

I see the rink lights

Especially when it comes to night

When I lay down, the light blinds my eyes

I can hear guys

It’s very cold

And the sky is bold

~ Sophia 

Word Study

Here is the focus for this week's word study groups. You can help reinforce these concepts if you're reading aloud together and you see a word that follows the spelling pattern seen below. Check with your child to know which group they're in (they named the groups themselves!).

Troublemakers - endings (-s/es; -ing, -ed) Ex: stop becomes stopping
Red Foxes - short and long a sounds Ex: flag; pail; save
No Namers - prefixes (in-; un-; mis-; dis-) Ex: happy becomes unhappy, meaning the opposite of

Homeless Mind Map

As we continue to prepare for Mustard Seed School, we have had many discussions about the reasons people become homeless. We understand that it is a complex/complicated issue that is not solved simply by someone getting a job.

Last week, we made a Mind Map of Homelessness. We brainstormed all of the different reasons someone might become homeless, then we connected them to show how it can become a downward spiral.

In partners, we then looked at different case studies and mapped what happened to those people (ex: someone who lost a spouse, might be overcome with grief and turn to substance abuse as a way to numb the pain. That could lead to them losing their job, which means they won't be able to pay their rent and they might get evicted).

In February, we'll be working in partners to create an animation about homelessness that we'll share at the Spring Celebration in April.

Adding/Subtracting Games

We've been building a list in class over the last couple of weeks of easy Adding and Subtracting games we could play at home:

Nim 1-2
Lay out 10 counters (could be anything!). Take turns picking up either one or two objects. The person who picks up the last cube loses. Challenge yourself to figure out how to win this game every time...there is a trick! We played this game in partners but you could play in a group of three.

1-2-3
Take turns saying out loud the numbers 1-10. In this game, you can choose to say either one, two, or three numbers. Whoever has to say 10 loses. We played this game in a big group in a circle. You can make it more interesting by playing with team members who you're also trying to "save" from getting out.


Math Square Puzzles
Find the missing number. These are easy to create on your own. :)

Place Value Mix-Up
Everyone gets 6 small pieces of paper or sticky notes (we play with laminated squares that we can reuse). Roll the die and write the numeral on one of your squares. Pass the die to your partner and they roll. After all 6 rolls, rearrange your squares so that you are adding two 3-digit numbers. Whomever gets the highest sum wins!

To make the game more challenging, say that whomever gets a sum closest to ____ wins. This will cause students to use estimation strategies or guess-and-check to find the best answer.

To play as a Subtraction game, subtract two 3-digit numbers to see who can get the closest to 0.

Don't Break the Bank
Click here to find the rules.
It's very similar to the Place Value mix-up game but you don't get to rearrange the numbers.

Police Presentation

On Thursday, we had a presentation by Constable Mark, the police officer designated to Ramsay School. He taught us all about the tools in his toolbelt and let us ask him questions about being a police officer.

Then, we did an activity called "Bounce." We listed our strengths and talked about our support networks. He showed us that we're better together and how our strengths + our support team help us become a better community. We'll be seeing Constable Mark again in March during our school lockdown and then for another presentation about Emotional Intelligence in May.

Reminder: Cross-Country Skiing

Reminder: We are Cross-Country skiing Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday next week (Jan 20-22). Please ensure your child comes prepared in appropriate outdoor clothing (snowpants, hat, mitts, scarf). We will be outside for 50 minutes for our lesson. Skis will be provided.

Reminder: We will also have our last Book Talk work time on Monday. Please help your child be successful during this time by ensuring they have materials and a plan of what they will use this time for.

Chinook Wishes

We are learning about Weather this year in Science. Throughout the year, we have been talking about chinooks and noticing cloud patterns. Today, we painted chinook cloud patterns using the Rule of Thirds we have previously learned about. We are hoping our artwork brings a chinook to Calgary soon! :)

Sleep Resources

Good Morning Parents,

On Friday last week, the Grade 5's attended a presentation with the Grade 5/6 class on sleep put on by our school nurse. Here are the resources she passed along in case you're interested:

http://sleepforkids.org/html/tp.html

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/children-teens-sleep

https://theconversation.com/regular-bed-times-as-important-for-kids-as-getting-enough-sleep-19396

https://keltymentalhealth.ca/resources?field_resource_tax_challenges_target_id=207&field_resource_tax_groups_target_id=All&field_resource_language_target_id=44&field_resource_type_value=All

https://myhealth.alberta.ca/health/pages/conditions.aspx?Hwid=abh0127