Happy Holidays & Optional Homework!

With the Winter Holidays coming up, school board policy dictates that we don’t assign formal homework. However, I highly encourage students to spend 10-15 minutes a day reading and reviewing their multiplication facts (up to 9x9), if they don’t have them memorized. Here are a few online games that your child can use to help them practice their basic facts:

http://www.multiplication.com/games

After the break, we will spend be exploring area of rectangles (where students will need to multiply), reviewing the unit, and ending the week with a unit test on measurement. As usual, I’ll be running the extra math help session on Tuesday after-school. Students can also create online comic strips using their Bitstrip accounts or continue exploring the Hour of Code tutorials.

I hope you and your family with a have a safe and fun Holiday Break!

Bitstrips (online comics)

As an assessment and evaluation of our learning about the Canadian government, students will be creating an online comic strip to show what they have learned. They can assess the Bitstrips for School website at:
www.bitstripsforschools.com/login

The classroom code is: 5F(2014).
Students have been asked to log-in, create their own password and make their avatar. If they have time, they can introduce themselves in a short comic strip.

We went over how to log in today, but here are the instructions again (scroll down pass the teacher portion):
http://help.bitstripsforschools.com/knowledgebase/articles/100042-logging-your-students-in-for-the-first-time

Students are expected to complete the Social Studies assignment in class with their partners , and should not be working on them at home. However, they can create any comic strips they wish (as long as they are appropriate, as per our discussion on digitial citizenship) at home. They can also spend time creating characters at home, as long as they are not working on their government comic strip.

December 15-19, 2014

Reading: Novel Study – Search for Delicious, Stone Fox
Writing: Descriptive Writing con’t
Math: Measurement – multiplying/dividing by 10, 100, 1000, unit conversions (cm to m, km to m), perimeter & area using grids (quiz this week on units)
Science (Ms. Halliwell): Energy
Social Studies: Government & Citizenship – Bitstrips (assessment piece)
French (Ms. Bordonaro): Adjectives & Avoir (to have)
Music/Drama/Dance (Mr. Kotyk): Holiday Songs
Visual Art: Finishing Landscapes
Phys. Ed (Mr. Mouratidis): Volleyball

December 8-12, 2014

Reading: Novel Study – Search for Delicious, Stone Fox
Writing: Descriptive Writing con’t
Math: Measurement – units, multiplying/dividing by 10, 100, 1000
Science (Ms. Halliwell): Energy
Social Studies: Government & Citizenship – Provincial Government, Field Trip to Queen’s Park
French (Ms. Bordonaro): Adjectives & Avoir (to have)
Music/Drama/Dance (Mr. Kotyk): TBA
Visual Art: Finishing Landscapes
Phys. Ed (Mr. Mouratidis): Volleyball

Hour of Code (Dec. 12)

We live in a world surrounded by technology. And we know that whatever field our students choose to go into as adults, their ability to succeed will increasingly hinge on understanding how technology works. But only a tiny fraction of us are learning computer science, and fewer students are studying it than a decade ago.

That’s why our some of the classes at Thorncliffe Park Public School is joining in on the largest education event in history: The Hour of Code. During Computer Science Education Week (Dec. 8-14), our students will be amongst over 2 million worldwide spending one hour learning the basics. On Friday (12th), students will be introduced to simple concepts in computer science (e.g., what is code, writing instructions, logic, IF...THEN functions) through tutorials featuring Angry Birds, Penguins from the Madagascar movie, Anna & Elsa from Frozen and other interesting characters.

We will only be devoting 1 period (50 minutes) to the event in class. Students who are interested are encouraged to continue exploring the tutorial and “online courses” after the event. You can find more information about the event at www.hourofcode.org/ca. Please feel free to spread the word about the event!

December 1-4, 2014

Reading: Mysteries – review, quiz this week
Writing: Descriptive Writing – Mystery Objects
Math: Data Management – review, test this week
Science (Ms. Halliwell): Energy
Social Studies: Government & Citizenship – Passing a Bill
French (Ms. Bordonaro): Adjectives & Avoir (to have)
Music/Drama/Dance (Mr. Kotyk): Scale
Visual Art: N/A
Phys. Ed (Mr. Mouratidis): Volleyball

November 24-28, 2014

Reading: Mysteries – Guided Reading
Writing: Descriptive Writing – Using our 5 Senses to generate details
Math: Data Management – interpreting data, quiz this week on making graphs, starting the culminating task
Science (Ms. Halliwell): Energy - Launch
Social Studies: Government & Citizenship – Parliament of Canada review
French (Ms. Bordonaro): French songs
Music/Drama (Mr. Kotyk): TBA
Visual Art: Perspective – finishing atmospheric perspective landscapes
Phys. Ed (Mr. Mouratidis): TBA

November 17-21, 2014

Reading: Mysteries – The Garage Sale Mystery (Ch. 1 & 2), continuing to make predictions and make connections during Shared Reading sessions
Writing: Descriptive Writing – Launch, 5 Senses
Math: Data Management – bar graphs, histogram, line graphs
Science (Ms. Halliwell): Body Systems – culminating web; Science Centre trip Wednesday
Social Studies: Government & Citizenship – Parliament of Canada (e.g., The Crown, House of Commons, Senate and different roles within each part)
French (Ms. Bordonaro): :Parts of the Body
Music/Drama (Mr. Kotyk): TBA
Visual Art: Perspective – atmospheric perspective landscapes
Phys. Ed (Mr. Mouratidis): TBA

November 10-13, 2014

Reading: Mysteries – shared reading
Writing: Personal Narratives – publishing
Math: Data Management – discrete vs. Continuous data, bar graphs and histographs, intervals
Science (Ms. Halliwell): Body Systems – culminating web
Social Studies: Government & Citizenship – Federal elections
French (Ms. Bordonaro): Seasons, weather, months
Music/Drama (Mr. Kotyk): TBA
Visual Art: Perspective – atmospheric perspective landscapes
Phys. Ed (Mr. Mouratidis): Hockey (outdoor – please dress warmly!)

Data Management Homework

Looking at our class’ data

1) How many students did we survey?
2) What is the range of shoe sizes?
3) What is the median shoe size?
4) What is the mean/average shoe size?
5) Is there a mode? What is it?
6) The range, median, mean and mode are different ways to describe a set of data. Which one do you think best describes this set data? Why?
7) If we added Ms. Kwong’s size 9 shoes, how would the mean, mode, median and range change?

Progress Reports & Parent-Teacher Interviews

Progress Reports will be coming home next week (Nov. 12th), and I’d like to meet with all parents/guardians to discuss your child’s progress. At the Curriculum Afternoon event several weeks ago, some of you signed up for an interview time. At that time, I’d offered afterschool slots (3:30-5:30) during the week, Thursday evening and Friday morning. Unfortunately, I have to move the evening session to Wednesday due to scheduling conflicts (instead of Thursday evening).

I’m going to be sending a letter home today to ask for your preferences again (you can also download the form here). There were only 1 or 2 parents who had signed up for the Thursday evening slot, and I hope Wednesday evening will work for them as well. Please return the form with your child as soon as possible, so that I can create a schedule and confirm interview times for everyone. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and I will try my best to accommodate everyone’s busy schedule.

November 3-7, 2014

Reading: Mysteries – characteristics of the genre, story maps
Writing: Personal Narratives – revising, editing & publishing
Math: Data Management – describing sets of data using mean, median, mode & range
Science (Ms. Halliwell): Body Systems – digestive system
Social Studies: Government & Citizenship – Federal government: parliamentary system (political parties); TPPSLand elections
French (Ms. Bordonaro): Seasons, weather, months
Music/Drama (Mr. Kotyk): scale
Visual Art: Perspective – atmospheric perspective landscapes
Phys. Ed (Mr. Mouratidis): Hockey (outdoor – please dress warmly!)

Outdoor Phys. Ed.

Our class will be having Gym classes OUTDOORS for the next 4 weeks, focusing on hockey. Please make sure students are dressed appropriately for the weather. As the weather cools down, hats, mittens, scarves and boots will be needed for the extended period of being outdoors.

October 27-31, 2014

Reading: Mysteries - introduction
Writing: Personal Narratives – final piece
Math: Addition & Subtraction – review, test on Tuesday; Data Management - introduction
Science (Ms. Halliwell): Organ Systems
Social Studies: Government & Citizenship – Federal Government (ridings & parties)
French (Ms. Bordonaro): months, seasons, adjectives
Music/Drama (Mr. Kotyk): Ostinato, through vocal and instrumental music
Visual Art: Colour Theory – 100 Hue (Colour) Challenge continued, colour wheel, complementary colours
Phys. Ed (Mr. Mouratidis): TBA

Social Studies - Elections Research (optional)

As part of our Social Studies unit on Canadian Government and Citizenship, and to prepare students to our upcoming Student Vote election, we have been researching Ward 26’s Councillor Candidates in class.

Unfortunately, we’ve run out of class time and did have a chance to research the different mayoral candidates. I’ve encourage students to do some research at home, if they have some extra time. They can use campaign materials that have been delivered to their homes or campaign websites to find information. The websites for the 3 forerunners are:

Oliver Chow - http://www.oliviachow.ca
Doug Ford – http://dougford.ca/
John Tory - http://www.johntory.ca/home/

There are a total of 65 candidates running for the mayor’s office. Students who are interested in researching some of the other candidates can find their names at this link:

http://app.toronto.ca/vote/searchCandidateByOfficeType.do?criteria.officeType=1

In class, we used a graphic organizer to record our notes and information. Here is copy of that graphic organizer:

http://goo.gl/0mXM5e

We will be holding our Student Election on Friday, October 24th (in Social Studies class). Try and do your research before then, so that you can be an informed voter!

October 20-24, 2014

Reading: Biographies – guided reading groups; comprehension strategies and summarizing
Writing: Personal Narratives – review last week’s mini-lessons, using interesting leads and hooks
Math: Subtraction Strategies, Word problems (multi-step) involving addition & subtraction
Science (Ms. Halliwell): Organ Systems
Social Studies: Government & Citizenship –Upcoming Election: issues facing our city, candidates & their platforms
French (Ms. Bordonaro): TBA
Music/Drama/Dance (Mr. Kotyk): TBA
Visual Art: Colour Theory – 100 Hue (Colour) Challenge con’t
Phys. Ed (Mr. Mouratidis): TBA

October 14-17, 2014

Reading: Biographies – guided reading groups; focusing predicting, pausing & checking & connecting strategies
Writing: Personal Narratives – Buildings narrative step by step & Conferencing
Math: Subtraction Strategies – partial subtraction, compensation & traditional algorithm
Science (Ms. Halliwell): Organ Systems
Social Studies: Government & Citizenship – Municipal Government & Upcoming Election; Field Trip to City Hall on Friday
French (Ms. Bordonaro): -er verbs
Music/Drama (Mr. Kotyk): TBA
Visual Art: Colour Theory – 100 Hue (Colour) Challenge
Phys. Ed (Mr. Mouratidis): TBA

October 6-10, 2014

Reading: Biographies
Writing: Personal Narratives - Qualities of a good personal narrative (focused, detailed)
Math: Mental Adding STrategies review, Mental Subtraction strategies (quiz this week)
Science (Ms. Halliwell): Body Organ Systems
Social Studies: Government & Citizenship - Municipal Government
Music/Drama/Dance (Mr. Kotyk): Rhythm & Beats
French (Ms. Bordonaro): -er verbs
Visual Art: Colour Theory
Phys. Ed (Mr. Mouratidis): TBA

Expanded Form

This week in math, we're studying place value.  We're looking at whole numbers (up to 100,000) and exploring what they mean and how to represent them.

Yesterday, we briefly discussed Expanded Form.  Expanded form shows a number as an "addition statement" of the values in the ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, etc. columns.

56,235    =    50,000 + 6,000 + 200 + 30 + 5
(Standard               (Expanded Form)
  Form)

Homework question:  When do you think Expanded Form will be used or be helpful in math?  Write your answer (2-3 sentences) in your Math Notebook.  You may also want to give an example of when Expanded Form may be used.

Extra Practice:  If you'd like a review on Expanded Form, try this online game - Place Value Pirates:
http://www.math4children.com/Grade2/games/Place_value_plank_game/
The game only shows numbers up to 1,000, but it's a good review.

September 15-19, 2014

Reading: Literature Genre overview, CASI
Writing: Personal Narratives - Strategies to generate ideas for writing
Math: Place Value - ways to represent numbers
Science (Ms. Halliwell): Questions & Types of Scientists
Social Studies: Government & Citizenship - Canada’s 3 Levels of Government and their responsibilities
Music/Drama/Dance (Mr. Kotyk): Rhythm & Beats
French (Ms. Bordonaro): TBA
Visual Art: Name Collage - using perspective, lines & shading to create the illusion of depth
Phys. Ed (Mr. Mouratidis): TBA

Hot & Humid in September?

It seems like summer arrived late this year! As I’m sure your child told you, our classroom has been VERY hot the past few days. The weather forecast is calling for even hotter and more humid weather tomorrow (30 degrees, feeling like 40 degrees with the humidex).

On these days, it’s especially important that students bring their water bottles. We have 2-3 fans in the classroom, but it can get very hot and one way for students to avoid heat exhaustion is to stay hydrated. By having a water bottle, students can take frequent sips of water without major disruption to their learning/work. Also, this will allow them to avoid the long line ups at the water fountains.

On humid days, it may also be helpful to send a small towel along with your child. Some students found some relief by wiping their faces/arms with a damp towel or splashing water on their faces, after recesses and lunch this week. However, we are quickly running out of paper towel and need to keep the floor around our sink dry. Having students use a small towel will help with these problems.

With the winter quickly approaching, I shouldn't really complain about the heat! However, we want the students to be safe, and as comfortable as possible (so that they can concentrate and learn)!

All About Me Share

Learning Goal:  We are making short presentations (30-60 sec) about ourselves to practice our public speaking and listening skills.

Success Criteria:
As a presenter...
- speak in a clear, loud voice so that audience can hear you
- speak slowly enough for the audience to understand your  message
- use 3 objects as visual aid
- message prepared in advance (e.g., practice/rehearse at home, knows what to say)
As the audience...
- listen attentive (not talking to someone else, eyes on speaker, ask relevant questions)

Welcome to our class blog!

Hi parents, guardians and students!

Welcome to our class blog!  We've had a great start to our school year and I'm excited about the learning we're going to do this year.  To help keep everyone informed, I will be keeping this blog to let parents and guardians know what's going on in our classroom.  Each week, you will find the topics being covered in our classes, in addition to that week's Spelling words.  I also hope to have "reporters" who will write about the events and activities happening in our class.

I believe that parent involvement and open communication are key to helping students reach their best potential.  My hope is that this blog will be one of several channels of communication between families and myself.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to jot a note in the student agenda or give me a call (the school phone number is found on the 1st page of the student agenda).

It has been a pleasure meeting each of your children, and I hope to get chance to meet all the parents/guardians soon too!

Cheers,
Mrs. Kwong