Who Are These Freaks?

Who are these creepy creatures? Help me out here. Really. Help me...

Give it up for the Small Intestine

We had a terrific trip to the Ontario Science Centre's Body Worlds exhibit today. Once again, the weather was damp, but our parade was not rained upon. The exhibit was enlightening and our class really took the time to look closely at the various parts of the human organ system and ask thoughtful questions. We all learned a great deal. Once again, I was impressed with the behaviour of our class throughout the entire excursion. Thanks to Quenten's dad, Jonathan's mom, Ethan's mom, and Megan's mom (who bravely brought her four-month-old in a stroller!) for joining us on the adventure and making it possible to get close to 30 students on a TTC bus.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the exhibit, but I took some pictures of our class making models of the digestive system this afternoon. You'll find the photos on the newly designed Room 204 Student Blog (linked at sidebar). Here's a sneak peak:

Student Blog Redesign

Thanks to Phoebe and Natasha for the elegant redesign of the student blog, which was completed during Library today. I'm going to ask them to take some pictures of our class over the next few days and have them post the photos, along with captions. Eventually, we will be Podcasting and you will have the opportunity to hear your children discussing literature, etc.

In a couple of weeks, I'll ask two different students to redesign the student blog again.

E. Hawkins

Bus Fare-Thee Well

Please send a loonie in with your child to cover the cost of transportation to the Science Centre on Wednesday. I'm going to buy the tickets tomorrow.

Thank you,

E. Hawkins

Here's more retro Halloweeny fun.

This Week in Creepy Room 204

Hello,

This week is shaping up to be a fun, busy week. We have a field trip to the Science Centre, Grace's father is coming in this week to lead a workshop on the digestive system, and Friday afternoon, we'll be making Mexican Day of the Dead crafts and having a Halloween party. Your child is welcome to change into a costume at lunch time. The school has asked that no masks be worn (to avoid accidents on staircases, etc.), and that children do not come with huge swords/guns, replicas of deadly blunderbusses, etc. Otherwise, feel free to be creative and have fun. I'll be bringing in munchies, but you are welcome to send in peanut/nun-free snacks for the class if you would like.

Here's what we are working on this week:

Language:

Reading - Guided reading: Students will read and respond to non-fiction texts and poetry.

Writing - Students will read and write horror fiction and gothic poetry. * Students who have not completed their final draft of personal narratives will have to find time during the day or after school to complete this piece of writing. I may be asking some students to stay back after 3:30 to complete their work. We need to move on.

Oral/Media: Students will look at movie posters and begin designing their posters for Where the Wild Things Are. Next week they will present it to the class.

Math: Hopefully we will complete Patterning this week, so that we can move to Data Management. As a school, we are working on problem solving (across the various strands of Math). I will discuss the Math achievement chart with students and together we will create a rubric in grade 5 -friendly language. I will be sending home one or two Math problems for students to work on.

Science: We will wrap up the digestive system this week. I was out at several workshops last week and so we weren't able to do the gross digestive system activity I had planned. We will do it this week!

Social Studies: Provincial Government. I hope to have the Social Studies quiz on Thursday afternoon. Students will complete their study notes Monday afternoon.

Homework:

1. Weekly Math - problem solving

2. Math Basics duotang (more division)

3. Home Reading Journal entry: Students will compare the story of Where the Wild Things Are, to the film. I will send home a Venn Diagram and students will take the information from it and write a paragraph or two in the HRJ comparing the two. For the students who did not see the film, they should write an entry (two or three paragraphs) describing how they might turn Where the Wild Things Are into a film. Think about what you would leave in from the book, what you'd leave out, and what you would add.

4. Social Studies: Students will create the good copy of their Canadian Coat of Arms shield. They will bring home their mock up shield and make a final copy of a shield that brings together symbols of Canadian objects and images. Please encourage your child to do this work with little to no parent/sibling help. It's not an art assignment, so it need not look like it could hang in the AGO. Students will write an explanation of their choice of symbols in class.

Core English Corner - English in Room 210

Bonjour!

This week in Room 210.

We will continue working on storyboarding. For homework, students will create thumbnail sketches of the most important scenes from the book, Where the Wild Things Are. They may add scenes too. Instructions will be provided in class. Students will aim to complete the first draft of their personal narratives. If time permits, students will write gothic poems.

*Don't forget - homework goes home on Mondays and is returned on Fridays.

Thank you,

E. Hawkins

Where the Wild Things Are

Just a note to thank the boys and girls for being such a great audience today during the screening of Where the Wild Things Are. It was a cold, wet walk to the cinema, but we were all in great spirits and the behaviour of our class was exemplary. Thanks also to Mrs. Roberts who helped out. Earlier in the week, I read Sendak's book to the class and everyone created a storyboard of scenes they would include in a film version if they were to direct it. Today, the children completed their storyboards and wrote explanations of their scene choices. We will be looking at movie posters next week and students will design their own posters for Where the Wild Things Are. Some fantastic thinking is going on. Keep up the great work!

Ms. Hawkins

Power4Bones Rides Again

Hello,

We were set to use Mr. Church's Power4Bones kit from last year, but the computer access codes were no longer valid. The good news is that I've ordered another kit, which should arrive in two weeks. This means we can still engage in this excellent program about bone health. The icing on the cake is that we still get to keep the contents of the original box - therefore, double the amount of prizes to hand out. Sweet!

We're all set for an excellent time at the movies tomorrow morning. Thanks again to Ms. Brathwaite and Ginny for making it happen. Come dressed for the weather. It could be a long, wet walk. Thanks again to the parent helpers. We couldn't do this without your support.

E. Hawkins

Yipee!

Social Studies Quiz Postponed

Friday's Social Studies quiz on Canadian Government has been postponed until next week. I have been out at a lot of workshops and meetings this week and I feel like I need to spend more time with the class reviewing. We'll also be at the movies Friday morning, so it will be a catching up day.

* All parents who volunteered to come to the Science Centre are welcome to come. It is $9.00 per adult.

Thank you for your help.

E. Hawkins

Dracula Helps With Division

I am the Count! And I'm not afraid of long division!

We reviewed long division in class today and all three Math Basics homework duotang groups went home with division practice sheets. I can see that there is a wide range of understanding in our class when it comes to long division. Several students who are confidently dividing multi-digit numbers told me that they work on long division at home. One student bought an inexpensive workbook and worked her way through it over the summer with parent-support. We will continue reviewing long division in class, but I strongly urge you to give your child as much one-on-one support as possible, until this skill is mastered. Students often get confused about the steps involved. This will become easier in time.

In class we used this memory trick to help us remember the steps in long division:

Dracula Must Suck Blood

Divide

Multiply

Subtract

Bring Down

Here are some websites that also may be of use.

http://www.coolmath4kids.com/long-division/long-division-lesson-1.html

http://www.mathsisfun.com/long_division2.html

Canadian Please

This may not help you on your Social Studies quiz, but you may get some ideas for your Canadian Coat of Arms. (No Celine Dion please!) LOL - Ms. Hawkins See below for This Week in Room 204.

This Week in Room 204

* Please get your school photo orders in ASAP. I believe tomorrow is the deadline. Also, please bring in your two field trip permission forms ASAP. When it rains, it pours.

Here's what we're working on this week:

Reading/Oral: Last week, our focus was locating the main idea in a text. This week we will work on summarizing. Students will be writing their CASI reading assessment this week. We will also be reading more poems by Langston Hughes. Students will select one poem by Hughes and discuss why they are drawn to that particular poem.

Writing: Completing personal narratives, neighbourhood poems, and letters to Langston. I'd like to move into creative writing before Halloween, so some students will have to work hard to complete their writing in class.

Media Literacy: Storyboarding and caption writing. We will look at some examples of storyboards. Students will have the opportunity to write captions. If time permits, students will create a storyboard of Where the Wild Things Are before we see the film this Friday.

Math: We are working on Patterning and problem solving (combined). There will be a Patterning quiz on Friday, based on what we've learned so far. Help your child by reviewing what a patterning rule is. They must say where the pattern begins, what kind of pattern it is (increasing, decreasing, or repeating), and how much it increases or decreases by each time. For example: 37, 42, 47, 52, 57... This pattern starts at 37 and increases by five each time.

Science: The Digestive System cont. Look forward to some goopy experiments and a gross question of the week (the kids thought it up, not me!). Students who were not tested orally last Friday, can talk about the parts of the cell on Monday.

Social Studies: We still need to complete the municipal government. I hope to begin provincial government this week. * This Friday, there will be a short quiz on Canadian government. Students must know the following: The name of the Toronto mayor, the name of the Ontario Premier, the name of the Prime Minister of Canada. They must also know the names of the main federal parties and which political party the Ontario premier and prime minister are affiliated with. There will also be some questions related to the municipal government. We will create a study sheet in class Monday afternoon. Tell you child about Toronto/Scarborough before amalgamation. They were very interested to learn that Scarborough once had its own mayor.

Homework:

1. Home Reading Journal - Students will write a letter to either a character in the book they are reading at home or the author if he or she is reading non-fiction.

Math sheet - Patterning.

Math Basics - long division

Science - digestive system worksheet.

*Study for Social Studies quiz. See details in Social Studies section above.

** Remember that according to the TDSB Homework Policy, students should be given no more than 10 minutes per grade of homework each evening. This work may take more than 50 minutes if it's all done on Thursday evening. Spread the work out over four days and it will be more manageable.

If you suspect your child has conjunctivitis "pink eye," please

do not send him or her to school. See your doctor and follow treatment until it has cleared up.

Conjunctivitis spreads easily in an environment such as a classroom.

I think that's it for now. Have a great week. If you haven't already done so, scroll down the page to see the wonderful bone models your children made last week. They will label them this week.

Wild Thing - I Think I Love You!

As you must know by now, students were surprised today with the news that the Junior grades at Clairlea will be going on a walking field trip next Friday to Where the Wild Things Are - Spike Jonze's retelling of the Maurice Sendak picture book classic. Please return the excursion permission form as soon as possible (as well as our Science Centre field trip form). The children cheered today when they found out they were going to see this film. There will be a follow-up media-related assignment for our class. It's all curricular! Thanks to Mrs. Brathwaite for organizing this multi-class event.

Never Lose Anything Again.. in Theory

Hello,

The kindergarten teachers at my son's school are on a mission to have labels put on everything - and for good reason. They let families know about Mabel's Labels, a company that makes labels for just about everything. They even make stationery. Mabel's Labels is affiliated with Massey Centre, an agency that provides programs and services for pregnant and parenting teens. My husband just ordered 50 iron-on labels for $21.00. No more missing Cars jacket - we hope.

If you are interested in finding out more, go to http://www.mabel.ca/?a=masseycentre

E. Hawkins

Dem Bones

We marched in this morning to "Twist and Shout." Love that morning music. Thanks Ms. Park.

Later in the day, students used their hand-drawn diagrams of bones to help them create models made of dough and sponge.

No, it's not a Milk Bone.

Is that a femur?

Bone marrow and cancellous bone on a compact bone bun. Hold the relish.

Funny bones.

Ahh, memories of grade five.

When it was all over, we went outside for Daily Physical Activity and had a wicked game of Toilet Tag. My JK son told me I had to play it with my class.

Waiting patiently to be flushed.

"My education is not going down the drain! It's just a game. Really."

"Hello. Is anybody there? Please flush me."