Dec. 1 - Dec. 14th

Students have been working on further developing their research skills this month and we began by investigating the practice of yoga.  Yoga can play a key role in growing healthy brains and bodies.  Students were given a posture to research and then worked to replicate this through both artistic and physical means.

We also finished our final Sky Science Inquiry Projects.  Students chose a topic that they wanted to learn more about and then brainstormed 5 'Juicy' questions they wanted to research.  We then shared our amazing work with our 5/6 classes.  They topics were varied and some really interesting questions were answered.

Social Studies Study Guide

Municipal Government - Calgary

• Headed by a Mayor
• Made up of Councilors (voted in my the people)

Responsibilities include:

• Senior's facilities
• Public Transportation
• Fire protection
• Streets and Roads
• Libraries
• Waste disposal
• Animal Control
• Fire Protection

Vocabulary:

Revenue: Money that is collected by the government, mostly through taxes

Expenditures:  Money that is spent by the government to provide essential services

Bylaw: Rules voted on and implemented by the local government

Provincial Government: Alberta

• Headed by a Premier
• Housed in Edmonton, AB
• Made up of the Lieutenant Governor, Premier, Cabinet and Legislative Assembly
• Vote on Bills (like laws)

Vocabulary:

Constituents: Members of the community represented by their MLA

MLA:  Member of the Legislative Assembly

Opposition: Party Members who are not part of the part in majority rule

November

It has been a very busy month in Room 20!   In light of Remembrance Day students read two books by the same author and it was our first experience this year with the genre of historical fiction.  Students made predictions and then after reading we compared the two books. 

We also started a new read aloud, The Girl Who Owned A City by O.T. Nelson and have been learning about the fictional plague that left a world with only children under the age of 12!  We brainstormed characteristics of great leaders and talked about whether Lisa fits these criteria.

The Calgary Olympic Bid Plebiscite was a huge issue in Room 20 and we had a very lively debate.  Students worked as City Councillors to convince their fellow colleagues whether or not they thought the bid should go forward.  The debate was incredibly lively and successful starting with a 50-50 split with the 'No' Councillors swaying the vote 7 to 22!   We have also been learning about the three levels of government in Canada, specifically the provincial and municipal ones.  Students have learned about their different responsibilities as well as the ways that they are organized. 

In math we have been working towards sharing and explaining our mathematical thinking.  We developed a checklist of criteria and then put it to the test with a Lego Problem.  

Oct. 29 - Nov. 2

We have begun looking at interpreting graphs this week and are working to establish some success criteria.  So far we have decided that a graph needs to have the following:

• A title
• Labeled X and Y axis
• Scale
• Legend

Next week we will dig into what a legend is and when we use it for graphing.

Students worked with water color paint this week and we created some interesting pumpkin art using our knowledge of color. 

We continue to develop our persuasive writing skills this week looking into the Nov. 13th Olympic Plebiscite.  Students began to research the issue and will participate in a debate next week trying to convince their colleague whether or not they should vote for the games.  

Oct. 22 - Oct. 26

We continued to investigate what exactly is "A Whole" this week working to convert fractions from mixed to improper fractions.  The idea that there could be more then one whole worked to help us challenge some misconceptions.

Please note that the only beverage allowed in Room 20 is now water!  We have talked a lot about the amazing benefits of drinking water and are working towards our goal of drinking 8 cups a day.  We have established a 'hydration station' in our classroom to house our water bottles safely away from electronics and our own work as well as a great reason to get up and get a much needed body break.

We also completed our mixed media water art project.  It was a huge mess and we loved it!


We were able to finish our class read aloud Spaced Out by Stuart Gibbs and worked to create our own book covers for the novel.  Students had to think about what the main events were and what would in fact make us want to pick up a book and read it.

October 15 - October 19

This week we began to learn about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and what it means for us as Canadians.  We researched the different rights and came up with definitions for what they represent.  Using our new understanding students worked to develop our own charter for Room 20.

In Numeracy we have been looking at the concept of a whole and worked with math manipulatives such as fraction circles and fraction strips to test our understanding.  We worked to find equivalent fractions as well as starting to compare fractions with same and different numerators and denominators.   We have begun to capture our new math vocabulary on our Math Word Wall.  In the upcoming week we will be working to develop our own set of rules when comparing fractions. 

Oct. 1 - Oct. 12

Orange Shirt Day on October 1st was a very emotional and impactful day in Room 20.  We read the book When I was Eight by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton which describes some of the harrowing stories experienced by some of Canada's Aboriginal peoples.  Students then reflected on this story asking what we can learn about residential schools from Olemaun's story and how it made us feel.

Our Writer's Checklist was re-introduced this week and we have been challenged to make sure that every piece of writing we complete meets these criteria before we show it to Mrs. Storrier or a peer.  We have also started to make lists of 'Juicy Words' that we know so that our writing can be more interesting to read and write!  So many amazing words in english language!

In numeracy we have continued to use our Talk Moves to share our thinking.  Students worked to represent decimals in many ways and we can now show them as a fraction, base ten blocks, words, money and expanded form.

September

It was a very busy start to the school year in Room 20!

Students have continued their work on Growth Mindset from last year reading The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires and sharing their learning with their Grade 1/2 buddies.  We discussed how we will sometimes feel stuck and frustrated (Fixed Mindset) but can use our personal strategies or seek help from others to get back on track to a Growth Mindset.  Students then worked to brainstorm goals with their "I can't ________ yet" statements and complemented them with their strategies or how they would work towards these goals.  We brainstormed ideas on how to keep our brains strong and healthy and things that we can do to grow them.  Such ideas included drinking lots of water, asking lots of questions, persistence, physical activity and
lots of rest.

We launched our inquiry into Space Science and were tasked by NASA to investigate other planets for humans to settle on.  Our first step was to investigate what other planets are in fact in our galaxy and then we worked to persuade our co-astronauts why we thought ours was the best choice.  Our Read-aloud Space Case by Stuart Gibbs has taught us that living on the moon is not always as exciting or wonderful as it sounds.












Lastly we continued to develop our photography skills from last year borrowing our schools incredible new cameras and looking to capture the world around us from Room 20s point of view.  We were blessed with an absolutely gorgeous day and captured some incredible images.

Donations are pouring in!

Thank you to everyone who has already donated!  We will continue to accept donations until June 1st.

This week we finished our read aloud Wishtree and responded to some of our favorite quotes from the book.

Some of the quotes are as follows:

-"Different languages, different food, different customs.  That's our neighborhood: wild and tangled and colorful.  Like the best kind of garden"

-"Hollow are proof that something bad can become something good with enough time and care and hope"

-"It's a great gift indeed to love who you are"

-"Days have a way of slipping past like raindrops in a river"

-"Making others feel safe is a fine way to spend your days"

-"But sometimes things happen that aren't so good.  When they occur, I've learned that there's not much you can do except stand tall and reach deep"

-"Friendship doesn't have to be hard.  That sometimes we let the world make it hard"

We Need Your Help!

The grade 5/6s are collecting the following items for the Drop-in Center.

Toiletries 

o   Razors

o   Shampoo

o   Sun screen

o   Tums/Vitamin C

o   Tylenol/Advil

o   Non-alcoholic wipes

Food Items

o   Coffee

o   Sugar and Coffee Creamer

Clothing

o   Mens work boots

o   Mens bottoms (jeans, shorts, sweats)

o   Mens and Womens socks (new or used)

o   Ball caps

Electronics

o   Computers new and used

o   TVs, printers, phones

Other

o   Water bottles

o   Sunglasses

o   Blankets (new and used)

o   Full sized towels (new and used)