Summer Fun websites

Here is a list of some websites you can visit this summer that deal with the grade 5 curriculum for next year. Remember to get outside and have some fun and discovery time this summer! (Summer to-do list to follow)

Websites:

Math:

http://www.coolmath4kids.com/

-          games involving numeration, patterning and algebra

http://www.kidsnumbers.com/

-          games

http://www.gamequarium.com/data.html

- graphing

http://www.mathplayground.com/MTV/mathtv15.html

-          algebra problems solving

http://www.ixl.com/math/grade/fourth/

http://www.ixl.com/math/grade/fifth/

-          basic math concepts

http://www.funbrain.com/measure/

-          measurement games (centimeters)

http://www.math.com/parents/helpyourkids.html

http://www.mathatube.com/

-          at home help for parents and kids

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/brochure/earlymath/

- Ontario government documents for parents

Science:

http://www.kidport.com/grade5/Science/BodyBones.htm

-          grade 5 Human Body

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/

http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com/weather-games/

-          weather (grade 5 strand) information and some games

http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/

-          fun science for kids

Language:

http://www.gamequarium.com/languagearts.htm

-          links to many vocabulary, parts of speech and reading games at various levels

http://www.funbrain.com/grammar/

-          grammar games

http://www.kidsspell.com/

http://www.spellingbeethegame.com/

- spelling games

http://thestorystarter.com/scribble.html

-          how many words can you make in 5 min?

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/vocabulary_games.html

- vocabulary games

http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/o/pointofviewl.cfm

-          point of view

http://www.eduplace.com/tales/

-          create your own story

http://www.readingmatrix.com/directory/pages/

-          links to readings with questions that go with them – divided up by grade levels or subject area – reading comprehension

http://www.teacherneedhelp.com/students/testdir.htm

-          reading comprehension tests

General:

http://www.kidsdiscover.com/

-          website that contains a list of  titles in different subject areas, as well as free resources for teachers and interactive games for kids. It has been given awards and Kids Discover Magazine has been published since 1991

http://www.slimekids.com/games/typing-games/

http://www.funtotype.com/typinggames/

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/keyboarding_games.html

- typing games

http://www.teachingyourchild.org.uk/

-          offers advice and a range of activities for literacy, numeracy, behavioral issues and social and emotional well-being.

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/

-          links to grade or subject area pdf formats of the updated Ontario curriculum documents

There are lots and lots more fun AND education sites to visit as well, but remember to get outside to play and discover!!!!

Check out sites below for some ideas! http://pinterest.com/boutiquecafe/kids-summer-to-do-list/

http://www.parenting.com/article/fun-things-to-do-summer

A splunking we will go!

What everyone has been waiting for . . . the classtrip!

We will be going to the Bonnechere Caves on Friday, June 22nd. I had originally planned the 19th, but that day is the roller coaster testing (where students get to try out designs by the grade 8s in the gym) and I didn't want the kids to miss that. Letters will be going home tomorrow and are due back with payment by Wednesday June 20th. The cost is $10 for admission, and the bus cost has been covered. The caves are a perfect place as they fit with the grade 4 rocks and minerals unit in science, and also we can make a connection to our novel study, The City of Ember, as they were living underground!
Check out the Bonnechere Caves at: http://www.bonnecherecaves.com/

In math, we are currently going over all the areas that we need some extra practice in, mainly in Number Sense and Numeration, by looking at decimals, fractions, multiplication and division as well as problem solving and reasoning. There will be a PRIME assessment tomorrow that will be used to see student growth through the phases to pass on to next year teachers.

In Language, we have finished up our Literature Circle groups with the culminating activity of making huge scrapbook pages that represent our novels. Also, we have finished the diaries we had been working on which were when we took the point of view of an animal and kept a journal of the days events.

In science, we are still looking at Habitats, with a focus on endangered species and how we can help preserve and protect wild life.

In gym, we are getting a great cardio workout by developing skipping routines. Check out some fancy skipping at the links below.

Canada team at the world skipping championship:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azG-GjZkIEE&feature=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

Jump Rope for Heart Team:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ivwt6kaYvg&feature=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

Australia's Got Talent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAZE7sGjqoA&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

Also, check out the Jump Rope for Heart page for kids and parents:
http://www.jumpropeforheart.ca/

Finally, spelling workbooks due and quiz on Friday!

Healthy Living

Today, we looked at the effects of smoking and ways to say no to peer presure. We created comic strips to show different non-smoking messages. We found out that it is very difficult to quite smoking once you are addicted, so it is a better idea to just never start in the first place!

PBS kids site about tobacco/smoking facts

http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/body/smoking/article2.html

Bonko's Body Quiz
http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/games/smoking_flash.html

Choose your path series of videos about drug abuse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JIo-PL1vAo&feature=plcp&context=C474caabVDvjVQa1PpcFMPqSfcnHMywUBtKSsapjtrifov-B2s03U%3D&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

Also, we have started looking at probability in math and this will be our last math strand for this year to cover, then we will be going back over number sense and numeration as the fractions and division really was tricky for many students.

In language we are continuing with Literature Circles and will be doing a final projects on each groups novel next week which will look like giant scrapbook pages.
Also, students are working on making their diaries of animals, which tie in with writing and habitat studies in science.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Yes, we still need to do school work!

I know that now that the warm weather is here, we all can just taste summer just around the corner ... but we are still in school and there will still be learning going on, right up until the very last day! So come prepared to class to work and have fun!

Here is what we are working on this week:

In language we are starting to look at the format and features of a diary or jounal. We will reading "Diary of a Fly" as our read aloud, and most student have read this before, or another diary from this series. Then, to tie in with our habitat unit, students will be writing a diary of a chosen animal themselves.

Spelling (time related) - workbook and quiz: Friday

In math, we are working on finishing up measurement by taking a quick look at time.
Our math learning goals are:
I will be able to tell time on an analog clock to the nearest minute
I will be able to determine elasped time

Success Criteria:
- I know how many seconds in a minute, minutes in an hour, hours in a day, days in a week, days in each month, weeks in a year, months in a year, years in a decade, years in a century and years in a millenium.
-  I can can read an analog and digital clock
- I can estimate elapsed time
- I can read and create time line

We have done some fun activities with this unit, including designing watch concepts and we will be making personal timelines as well (which will tie in with language when we look at autobiographies)

Below are some sites that have some activities involving time

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/earlymath/clock_shoot.htm

http://www.thatquiz.org/tq-g/math/time/

interactive clock:
http://www.time-for-time.com/swf/myclox.swf

clock timeline
http://www.teacherled.com/resources/elapsedtime/elapsetimelineload.html


We are continuing with Habitats in science and made a food web outside today with ourselves and some yarn. This way, it was easy to see how everything is connected together and if one organism in an ecosystem or habitat is effected, many others are effected as a result.  We are also continuing to look at movie clips about animal life as well.

Some extra information:

build an online habitat
http://www.switcheroozoo.com/games/habitatgame.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/8_9/habitats.shtml

check out this clips to build your own habitats at home! watch in order (they are not long)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lUsCFDAS4M&list=PL66088158FF933E91&index=1&feature=plpp_video&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3noXhWAM28&list=PL66088158FF933E91&index=2&feature=plpp_video&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnOxQPyiMpo&feature=relmfu&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT5mFr4ojgA&feature=relmfu&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNf3gVgEiBE&feature=relmfu&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKVmkaw4e34&feature=relmfu&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0EjNAEXMuw&feature=relmfu&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

Oh what a tangled web . . .

We have started our habitat unit in science. We have watched some clips about animal adaptations, as all animals have many things that help them adapt, to be able to live in their own habitats. Some animals have physical adaptations, and some animals perform behavioural adaptations. Below are some links to videos about animal adaptations.

Next week we will be focusing on the transfer of energy, food chains and food webs. Below are some links where you can create your own food chains and food webs:

carnivors, herbivors and producers in different habitats
http://www.gould.edu.au/foodwebs/kids_web.htm

for this one, just scroll down and click on "Create a Food Web"
http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodchains.htm

Our Learning Goal is:

We will be able to understand how plants and animals live together in habitats and how human effect habitats.

The success criteria for this goal:
- we will be able to use appropriate vocabulary: (habitat, population, community, adaptation, food chain, food web, producer, consumer, decomposer, scavenger, carnivors, herbivors, omnivors and population capacity, endangered, extinction)
- we will be able to discuss adapatations that animals have to help them live in their habitats - both physical and behavioural
- we will be able to demonstrate and understanding of food chains and webs and how energy is transferred
- we will be able to describe ways that humans are dependent on natural habitats and how we effect them
- we will be able to use scientific inquiry and research skills to investigate positive and negative impacts of human interactions with natural habitats, including reasons for extinction

Tomorrow in math we will be having our measurement test on mass, volume and capacity. This was a straight forward unit and all seem to crasp the concepts very well. Next week will be the re-test for the division test that has been sent home to be signed. Next, we will be looking at probability.

Remember to practice your multiplication tables at home!

In language, we have started Literature Circles and the novels for discussion in the groups have been assigned and given out. Students will be reading these books for the next 3 weeks and meet twice a week to conference about the reading and to complete their jobs, such as summarizer, discussion leader, word wizzard etc. This will end with a culminating task. We are still looking at parts of speech and have finished learning about alliteration.


Hope everyone has a great long weekend!

It's been a while!

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you in "Blog-land". Sorry about the lack of posts in the last couple of weeks - but let's get back on track! I was able to catch up with most of you last week at the Open House!

This week, we are finishing up looking at reading poetry. We have made inferences about poems, made connections with poems, evaluated poems and created visualizations. Also, small groups presented poetry readings for their oral communication. We will be starting into small group/independent novel studies for the rest of the year, ending with a fun project!

In Language, we are also looking at parts of speech such as common and proper nouns, action verbs and verb tenses, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions and conjunctions
Below are some sites to help you learn these:

Games
Try: Rats: Nouns and Verbs
http://www.gamequarium.com/partsofspeech.html

Blast from the past: Schoolhouse Rock clips!!!
Nouns: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pFEiDd9nuY&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active
Verbs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MfeH0ZXEVs&feature=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active
Adverbs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDwXHTcodNg&feature=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active
Adjectives: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbgZfQNBFS0&feature=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

Mad Libs!
http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/games/mad_libs/
http://www.eduplace.com/tales/

Also, we are working hard at making connections. When we read, we can make a connection to ourselves, to another piece of text, or to the world (like the moral of the story, or a big idea). When writing a reading or listening response, it is the connections that we can make that really bump up our marks!

In terms of media literacty, we will be looking at magazine ads and comercials and what techniques they use to get people to buy their products. This will tie in with substance abuse in health as well.

In Math, we have taken a break from looking at division problems and have started into Measurement. Our goal is to be able to estimate, measure, record and compare:

Mass - g or kg

Volume - units cubed (^3)

Capacity - mL or L

Try and find some items at home that tell you their mass or capacity on the packaging.
Everyone seems to be learning this quickly and there will be a quiz to check in on Wednesday and then the final test sometime next week. After this, we will look at time, probability and finally work a bit more with fractions and decimals again.

Our wonderful Medieval Times unit is almost all wrapped up today, ending with the unit test. I think I could teach this unit all year, there is so much to cover and so much interesting history from this time. Everyone seems to really enjoy all of the activities that we participated in, especially the feast! Thanks to all who brought in food and costumes!

We will be ending the year by looking at the science unit of Habitats. During this, students will have the chance to research and report on an animal of their choice and its habitat.

The Open House was a huge success and I was able to say hello again to many friends and family. The flash mob was very nice to watch and everyone said how much they enjoyed watching it. Also the new play structure is up and running - I've never seen anything like it! We are trying to take advantage of the nice weather and this wonderful new play structure by going outside and playing on it during our gym time. This also means there are no lines and no crowding like there can be a recess.
We will be finishing up our medieval tournament in gym by having a knighting ceremony and awarding prizes. The knight school activities that students planned looked at fitness and safety. Next we will be looking at growth and development.

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day weekend and everyone is looking forward to the May long weekend coming up!



Feast Time!

Coming up on Friday is the Medieval Feast! Students should dress or bring clothes that are suitable for someone during this time period. Also, many have offered to bring in an item of food to be shared with everyone. Notes have gone home with students regarding their choices, but this may change when parents have an input as well. Don't worry if you are unable to contribute, there will be lots of food to go around. I will be bringing in chicken wings, almond milk, non-alcoholic wine, cups, and music. We hope to create a great memory for students with this activity. Friday is also sub day, so those of you who ordered, save room! Also, make sure you pack something to eat incase your taste is different from the lords and ladies of the Middle ages. We don't want anyone going hungry!
Below are some links to costume ideas and recipes from the middle ages if you'd like to explore this further.

costume ideas:
no sew knight:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5464826_make-sew-knight-costume-child.html
pillow case Knight costume
http://www.ziggityzoom.com/activity/make-knight-outfit
really cool crown:
http://www.firstpalette.com/Craft_themes/World/medievalcrown/medievalcrown.html
printable crown templates:
http://www.firstpalette.com/tool_box/printables/princesscrown.html
Medieval clothing:
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/clothing.html

food ideas:
information and links
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/feasts.html

ideas of what they ate in the middle ages
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/middleages/medievalfeast.htm

easy Medieval recipes (maybe try at home sometime!)
http://www.medievalcookery.com/recipes/indexesy.html
for the adventerous:
http://cookit.e2bn.org/historycookbook/27-315-normans-medieval-Food-facts.html

Medieval Recipes (lemon salad found here)
http://www.bitwise.net/~ken-bill/med-p1.htm

In reading we are looking at poetry features as well as practicing reading and listening to poetry. This goes well with writing with Mrs. Hill where we are writing poems.
Below are some great poetry links for kids. Pick a poem you really like (or a few) and perform a poetry reading for people at home!

funny poems
http://www.poetry4kids.com/

kids classic poems
http://www.storyit.com/Classics/JustPoems/index.htm

poems for kids
http://www.angelfire.com/md/byme/pocket/poetry1.html

poetry forms
http://www.kathimitchell.com/poemtypes.html

Tomorrow we are having a guest speaker from the Health Unit come and talk to our class about dental hygiene. Everyone loves a nice smile!

We are collecting castle building materials for next week.

No spelling this week.

We started working more on division in math as our Geometry unit is complete, many did very well. Good job everyone.

Next, we will be looking at measuring volume.

Our Medieval Tournament in gym continues.