Here's what we are up to:
Band Concert
Congratulations! What
an amazing performance Monday evening.
The music not only showed an incredible amount of student growth from
the beginning of the year, it also warmed the soul. Well done everyone!
Pi Day
Pi is a beautiful number that compares the perimeter of a
circle (circumference) to its diameter.
The unbelievable thing about Pi is that it is a number that continues to
an infinite number of digits past the decimal but it never repeats. Crazy!
Pi day is typically March 14th (3.14), however, we will be
celebrating this curious and mind-boggling math concept this Friday, June 10th. Better late than never.
Students have already learnt the basics of Pi. On Friday they will be competing in several
circle, sphere and memorization challenges (how many digits of pi do you know?)
as we further dive into the wonderful world of math in celebration. Feel free to send your child to school with
pie. It wouldn’t be pie day without it!
Final OH
This week will be our last OH. Students may choose any role for the
day. The focus will be on body-movement,
limiting fillers and capturing audience interest. It’s been a wonderful ride so far. I look forward to seeing students’ OH finale.
Field Trip Finale
We will all be going to FortWhyte on June 20th for
one last field trip Hoorah. Students
will have the chance to work together, develop their friendships and explore their
natural environment as we play Predator-Prey, make our own lunch over a roaring
fire and learn some outdoor survival skills.
It should be a fun-filled and exciting day. We are looking for a few parent
volunteers. If spending a day outside in
the summer is something you enjoy, come join us at FortWhyte.
Project Runway
Students will be spending the last week and a bit of school
preparing a sustainability, art and design project. Students will work in teams to learn about
our ecological footprint, research information about recyclable materials,
build an outfit out of those materials and finally, present their outfit in a
fashion-show extravaganza that will end the year. Students have already started collecting
their recyclables. Please collect what you
can at home so that everyone has the resources they need when we begin (June 22nd).
Math
We have completed our Geometry unit. Students have explored and measured angles,
shapes, perimeter, area and volume.
Our new unit is an introduction to algebra through patterns
and relations. Students will learn to
pair a mathematical formula to a pattern sequence that they see. In addition, students will discover how to
graph the pattern in order to see the type of relationship two variables have
with each-other. Sound complex? No worries.
Students are already half-way there and flying through. Ask your son or daughter to give you an
example of how patterns and relations work.
Science
We are now in the midst of our Biodiversity unit. Our Field Trip to Oak Hammock marsh was a
great success. There was an incredible
amount of diversity for us to see – pelicans, ground squirrels, battling
red-wing black birds, many plants and invertebrates and even snail eggs!
Students are continuing to explore the variety that exists
in the natural world and how we organize this diversity.
Before the start of Project Runway, we will be taking
advantage of the great weather by going outside to do a bug hunt for one
afternoon and an invertebrate hunt for a second afternoon. Students will use their knowledge of dichotomous
keys and animal adaptation to organize and explore the biodiversity right in
our school yard.
Social Studies
Students are starting a research and video project on a
period of time in Canadian History.
Students are tasked with asking their own questions about a topic and
then researching to find the answers.
Once they become experts, they will be building three minute-heritage
videos to share their expertise with the rest of the class. Some topics include: The construction of the Canadian Pacific
Railroad, Woman’s suffrage and the creation of the RCMP.
ELA
We have now mastered recognizing 17 different literary
devices such as: metaphor, simile, personification, tension, onomatopoeia,
atmosphere, parody etc…
Students are now in the midst of applying their new-found
knowledge by creating their very own radio-play just like the good ole’ days
before television. These radio plays
will be outlets for creativity and team-work but they will also be filled to
the brim with literary devices.
French
Students are all reading novels based on the famous Noémi
series. Noémi is a young girl who has
many adventures with her grand-mother Mme. Lumbago. Together they solve mysteries, uncover secrets
about their past and grow together as a family.
Students are each reading their own unique Noémi novel and will be
building a book report to share their reading with the rest of the class. Instead of doing a standard book report, students
will be making the report out of a cereal box to add creativity and excitement
to the project. This is an at home
project that is due June 13th.
We will also be starting a French read-aloud called “Le phantôme
d’Anya”. It is a graphic novel about a
girl at school fighting peer-pressure, stereotype and other common issues for
students as they progress through school.
We will be using this novel for our health unit as well as we explore
what to do about these issues.
