Dear 5R families,
You are invited by Katy and Mandy, 5R’s class parents, to our class’ first Coffee Morning. The first event will take place on Wednesday, September 14 from 9am at Schoenegg. Coffee with a view!
For some people it’s just another day, but for others Photo Day is a big deal. Regardless of which describes you, it’s good to be prepared. This year 5R will be having our photo days as follows:
Individual Photos: Wednesday, August 31
Group Photo: Friday, Sept 2
Now, what am I going to wear…?
One other note… Please remember to collect and bring, or send in your materials for your Writer’s Notebook. Want the details? Click here.
Thank you all for joining us on Monday night. For those who were there, and those who weren’t able to make it, I’ve included the presentation shared. Much of it was really visual “cue cards” for what I hoped to speak about, but some important links are contained as well. I really enjoyed sharing the vision of Grade 5 with you, and am more than happy to answer any questions I can.
Warm regards, Jamie
Dear 5R families,
Well… We’ve got our iPads! In order to use a wide range of media this year, and access video content, every student will also need to bring to school and keep a pair of personal headphones. These will be stored in the classroom through the year and will return home in June. Any headphones will do, except the “earbud” variety. Unfortunately, as we’ve all experienced, they can just get too tangled too easily to be functional for our purposes. If your headphones have a case, please send it as well. Otherwise, a re-sealable zip-lock style bag will do. Thanks for your support!
What is math all about?
There is a myth that there are people who are “math people” and others who just aren’t “math people”. This sort of dangerous thinking has a history of convincing millions that they just aren’t good at math, and that, is that. Most people, when they say someone “isn’t good at math” mean that that person doesn’t calculate operational answers quickly, or accurately. Most of us have been taught that that is what math is all about. Memorizing a series of steps to solve a problem, and get the known, correct answer. Luckily, all of these ideas have been proven to be not only dangerous, but wrong.
Fluency and computational accuracy are part of math, no doubt. They’re as much part of math as spelling and grammar are part of writing. In a way, they are the spelling and grammar of math. But they aren’t the language, they aren’t the poetry, and they are far, far from all that makes a mathematician. No one would seriously argue that spelling and grammar are the most important parts of writing. They’re just the easiest place for us to notice inaccuracies.
So… What makes for a mathematician?
This year in grade five we’re going to work on building the behaviours that are so key for skilled mathematicians. Computational fluency and accuracy are part of this (you do need to learn your times tables!), but what else? What other strengths do we need to build to become capable mathematicians?
To begin thinking about this, in the first week, each student has drawn and labeled a picture of what they imagine, when they think of a mathematician. We’ve seen lab coats, glasses and a whole lot of men.
Now, to push our thinking we’re going to try a problem where computational fluency isn’t going to solve things easily, or right away. We’re going to try The Locker Problem.
Note: If you watch the video be sure to stop it where indicated (around 1:56) to try to solve it yourself! Keep trying, and remember: We can do hard things.
Next week your child will begin collecting and developing writing ideas in a notebook in Writer’s Workshop. During writing workshop we will explore many different genres of writing and study the craft of well-known authors to improve our own writing skills. All students have been given their own writer’s notebook, but I would like your child to personalize his or her notebook to generate a greater sense of ownership. This notebook will be the place where creative ideas, personal feelings, and new characters will be created and developed throughout the year. You won’t believe the growth your child will make this year as a writer! It will be fun for you to browse through your child’s notebook as the year goes on to observe the constant progress.
The idea is that we design our notebooks to be an inspiration of stories for us. To best serve this purpose, we can decorate them with images of meaningful people, places and moments of our lives. Please begin to collect meaningful and inspiring items such as:
Photos (They will be cut and pasted on the notebook, so you may want to make copies of the photos)
Souvenirs (tickets from special events, pictures from brochures, etc.)
Magazine Pictures (Students can cut out fun pictures from magazines of animals, favorite foods, favorite celebrities, meaningful words, etc.)
Quotes (inspiring words about writing or other topics)
Scrapbook Materials (stickers, decorative paper, stamps, etc.)
Be Creative! (Bring anything else that you can think of!)
Please remind your child to choose the materials he or she will use to decorate the writer’s notebook and bring the materials to school in an envelope or folder by Friday, August 26.
See the presentation below for some ideas!
What a fantastic first day!
From the moment they entered the room today, the 5R students began to bring the classroom to life. A round of Welcome Back Bingo got everyone speaking with old and new friends, then we organized ourselves with our lockers.
After recess we ventured over to the new Makerspace Art Studio for our biweekly two-hour art session, and got to meet our two visual art teachers, Mr P and Dr A. After lunch I shared a letter I’d written to the class in June, and had been unable to send, and students all had a chance to reply. Finally, Frau George came to us for a first German session, and led a class with photo interpretation and poster-making, while she worked with students to assess their German levels.
After a quick end of the day game, students received their schedules and we went to the lockers to collect our belongings and head home. A very full, and very successful first day!
Please enjoy the below photos!
