Curriculum Newsletter
- for Reporting Period 3 -
(March 2009 - June 2009)

 

Term 2 Review:  Physical Education: During this reporting period in Physical Education the students participated in the Dance, Hockey and Gymnastics units.  From the beginning of December through to the end of February, effort and a positive attitude were of primary importance regarding the evaluation for the March report card. Music: This term students have learned songs in French and English for the December concert.  They answered the question “What is opera?” by listening to the children’s opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors”  (G.C. Menotti), and by preparing for Calgary Opera’s “The Barber of Barrhead” by learning about the composer Rossini and listening to excerpts from the “Barber of Seville”. They answered the question “What is Musical Theatre?” by preparing for Alberta Opera’s Musical Theatre adaptation of “Little Red Riding Hood”, learning a song and discussing the classic version of the story.  They prepared for the Būcherons visit and French week by singing French songs.  Students were evaluated on: their interest in and appreciation of music, ability to play various percussion instruments accurately with good technique, ability to play a five-note song on the xylophone and the recorder.  S.S.: In this reporting period, your child's marks were based on the following: 1) Group presentations after researching a geographic region of Canada and reflecting on how landforms, climate, bodies of water and natural resources affect life in the region. 2) Early explorers to Canada:  why they came, what they discovered, the impact of their explorations on First Nations' peoples and early settlers, by researching, discussing, taking notes, viewing and presentations to the class. 3) Early settlers to Canada: the Acadians, the Habitants and the British. 4) In addition to their group's presentations, your child's marks were based on their notes in their duo tangs: effort, completion and neatness. The effort mark includes participation in class discussions about current events, and answering occasional, brief homework questions. In Social Studies we use maps, posters, texts, pictures, photos, encyclopaedias, the Internet, documentaries and personal stories and experiences to enhance our understanding of the topics being studied. Our field trip to the Glenbow Museum was a valuable introduction to our study of life in early Canada.  Science: During the month of December, students completed the electricity portion of grade 5 science with the unit, Mechanisms Using Electricity in which they made burglar alarms comprised of circuits that they, themselves, designed.  The culminating activity for the electricity units was the designing and building (and repairing!) of model cars that were tested in the school’s gymnasium during our 5th annual Model Car Rally.  The months of January and February saw students learning about the properties and interactions of some safe to handle household liquids and solids in the Classroom Chemistry unit.  They tested a variety of materials to see what happens when substances are mixed together: what dissolves, what reacts and what remains unaffected.  They discovered that when a solid material dissolves, it can be recovered as a crystal by evaporating the liquid.  They also learned that when two materials react to form a new material, the original materials cannot be recovered.  As an example of a chemical reaction, students learned to produce carbon dioxide gas and show that this gas differs from ordinary air.  Math: The units of Division, Number Theory, Geometry 1 and 2 were studied over the past 3 months.  The P.O.T.W. reflected our units of study.  Students generally worked well in maintaining their notebooks.  L.A.: Students engaged in a variety of activities that were chosen in order to develop their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.  These activities included but were not limited to: P.A.R.I.S., Q.R., journal entries, video viewing, studying nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs, singing songs, using our PD/S books, agenda messages (conventions), Hatchet novel study and poster-making.  Art: Painting (My Initials Primary-Secondary colours project), using pencil crayon in the My Triangles project and the development of art techniques used to embellish our daily work (hachures, font, misting, etc.).  Health: Students focused on achieving good peer relations and communicated strategies, likes and dislikes through conferencing and large group discussions.

 

Language Arts:

 

Reading: As part of our year round reading program, students will engage in (daily) quiet reading and in peer reading (oral reading with a peer when two or three students share the reading of a common book).

 

Writing: We will be involved in various writing projects (poetry, compositions, journal writing, reflections, factual text, etc.) with both peer and teacher feedback.  Different topics will continue to be explored using a variety of writer's tools such as the 5 SENSES, the 5 Ws + H, dictionaries, thesauruses, our friends: nouns, verbs and the ever-descriptive adjectives and adverbs.

 

Novel Study: During this term students will be engaged in a variety of language arts activities (including oral reading, listening, writing, vocabulary building, representing, presenting, etc.) as they explore the work of an author who is to be determined during the course of the third term.

 

Poetry: During this third term the students in room 8 will investigate a variety of forms of poetry.  Our class’ culminating activity will be for the students to compile an anthology of their own collected works.

 

Grammar: We will review our study of the parts of speech: NOUNS, VERBS, ADJECTIVES and ADVERBS while producing and editing our creative and factual writing.

 

Spelling: Spelling will continue to be addressed as students will maintain a record of their mistakes in their personal speller.  Spelling continues to be an important part of our writing program and will be strengthened through our editing process and daily in our agendas.

 

French Language Arts:

 

This term we will complete the unit on My Elementary School prior to beginning units on Animals, Clothing and Home.

 

Math: Students will be covering the following math concepts and units during the next three months:

 

Place Value (to 100 000)        Rounding (to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000)                Ratios

 

Dictation                                 Estimation                                                                  Fractions

 

Decimals                                 Problem Solving                                                         Patterns

 

Graphing

 

Science:

 

Weather Watch: Students will start learning about weather phenomena and the methods used for weather study.  They will learn to measure temperatures, wind speed and direction, the amounts of rain and snow and the amount of cloud cover.  In studying causes and patterns of air movements, they will learn about the effects of uneven heating and cooling and discover the same patterns of air movement in indoor environments as are found out-of-doors.  They will also learn about human actions that can affect weather and climate and study the design and testing of clothing used as protection against the weather.

 

Wetland Ecosystems: Students will learn about what constitutes a wetland: its physical makeup, fragility, history, impact on society, its role in the water cycle, drainage, conservation, its inhabitants and their interactions and roles, groups/agencies protecting wetlands, etc.  Students will also have the opportunity to visit Fish Creek Provincial Park during a field trip to participate in activities and to expand their understanding regarding wetlands.

 

Social Studies: (taught by Mrs. Sparrow - You can contact her at 777-8480 x3004.)

 

In the next reporting period, we will be looking more closely at the ways of life of Aboriginal peoples in Canada and the relationship between the people and the land. This will be followed by the stories of immigrants and the contributions of diverse cultural groups to the evolution of Canada. We will explore how changes in society can affect identity.

 

Art:

 

Art will be continually integrated in a variety of core subjects as techniques (shading, hachure lines, balance, washes, etc.) are taught using a variety of media (may include plastercine, water colour, graphite, charcoal, recycled/re-used paper, cardstock, etc.).

 

Music: (Taught by Mme Newman)

 

SKILLS AND CONCEPTS MARCH – JUNE 2009:

Students will review previously taught skills. They will invent short melodies using the voice, the recorder and other classroom instruments. (preparing for Let’s Create an Opera –2009/10), and begin the ukulele.

 

P.E.: (taught by Mr. Ashton, Mr. Roberts and Mrs. Sparrow)

 

         P.E.: During the final reporting period the students will participate in Games, T-Ball, and Track and Field units.  Skill set development, team-work, and sportsmanship including the continued promotion of the benefits of daily physical activity are central themes.

 

 

Grant Myers

Grade Five Teacher, Room 13