​Today in Math the students continued to work with numbers to the millions place. Tomorrow we are going to be moving on to representing numbers. We will be practicing representing numbers in pictures, with base 10 blocks, in expanded form, in standard form, and using words. 

In Science we began an experiment exploring the temperature of our classroom. We already know that warm air rises and cool air falls because of the changes in density as air heats up (becomes less dense) and cools down (becomes more dense). So, how does this impact the temperature indoors. Each group placed a thermometer around our classroom. Tomorrow we will be checking them. Some are near the ceiling, others near the door or windows, and one close to the floor. Can we see that warm air rises and cool air falls by studying our classroom temperature?

I was away this afternoon, however, the students worked in their Writer's Notebooks and then worked on an Art for Kids Hub tutorial on drawing beta fish. There is a reason why we were looking at beta fish today. Ask your students! 

Thank you to our class photographer, Noor, for taking some pictures of our experiment today.

Agenda
Weekly Homework: Sept. 24-27th 

Language Arts:
​- Read 20 minutes (track in your Agenda)

Social Studies: 
- Capitals Quiz (October 2nd)

Math:
Science:
French:
Health:
Art:
PEAK: Thursday
Other: 

Terry Fox Walk - Wednesday
​Book Orders - Thursday
Picture Day - October 3rd

Running Club - Mondays, 3:15-4:15 pm
Boys' Volleyball - Mondays/Thursdays, 3:15-4:15 pm
Girls' Volleyball - Tuesdays/Wednesdays, 3:15-4:15 pm

Please see the following email that was sent home to parents/guardians this evening:

Good evening,

For those parents/guardians who have not yet had the opportunity to speak to me in person, let me quickly introduce myself. My name is Ashley Barrington and I am teaching the Grade 5 classroom at Christina Gordon Public School this year. Usually, I send a general email home each week about upcoming events, activities, homework, etc. I also update our classroom website (www.ashleybarrington.com) on a daily basis. This is the easiest place for parents/guardians to access day-to-day information about our classroom. Parents can also reach me by email (ashley.barrington@fmpsd.ab.ca) or phone (587-276-2017) with questions or concerns. Usually email is the easiest way to contact me, as it can be difficult to receive phone calls during our school day. Parents/guardians can also use email/phone to set up one-on-one meetings with me throughout the school year; you do not have to wait until our three-way-conferences (parent teacher conferences). Now that the students and I have settled into our daily routines, these emails will be sent home on a more regular basis. 

First, students will be bringing home weekly homework assignments. These assignments will be given out on the first school day of each week (typically Monday). Assignments are based on lessons and concepts that we have already covered in class. These homework assignments are good way for students to practice what we have learned and for parents/guardians to see what topics we have covered. Generally, besides our assigned 20 minutes of reading each night, this will be the only daily homework that students are asked to complete. Having students receive homework at the beginning of the week is a good way to help students to learn to prioritize, put first-things-first, and plan their week accordingly. Students may also be asked to review for quizzes, tests, etc. that will be scheduled in the student agenda in advance and will be asked to complete a monthly Book Talk. Our first Book Talk will be going home next week, at the beginning of October, and will not have to be presented until the end of the month. The students and I will review this assignment and expectations together next week. Generally, students will not be asked to bring home classwork to complete. Time will be provided at school for students to finish any incomplete classwork. If a student is asked to complete classwork at home for homework, it is generally due to a behavioural issue (eg. not remaining on task). If this is the case, a note/email will be sent home with a brief explanation as to why the classwork was not able to be completed in class. Attached is a copy of this week's weekly homework assignment. This assignment (printed on blue paper) was sent home this afternoon in the student agenda. Homework assignments can always be found on the classroom website under Blog/Agenda. 

Second, Christina Gordon is very excited to share with parents/guardians information on our many extracurricular activities that will take place during the 2018/19 school year for students. Attached is a chart that Mr. Thorne shared last week. It contains a glimpse of the many teams, clubs, and activities planned for the upcoming school year. Please keep in mind that there may be changes or additions throughout the year. Students will be made aware of these activities as they roll out, usually through our in-school morning announcements or through communication with their classes. In most cases, students will bring home permission slips for activities they have expressed interest in. The days, weeks, and times will vary from event to event. Currently, Grade 5 students are able to participate in Broadcasting and Running Club (Mondays after school). Permission forms were sent home today with interested students in regards to Grade 5/6 Boys' and Girls' Volleyball, beginning next week (Boys- Mon./Thurs., Girls - Tues./Wed.). Upcoming Grade 5 activities to watch out for: Tech and Trades Club, CG Recyclers, and CG Cares Club. 

Thank you everyone! Please let me know if there are any questions or concerns in regards to any of the above, 

- Ashley Barrington, Grade 5 Teacher, Christina Gordon Public School

Agenda
Weekly Homework: Sept. 24-27th 

Language Arts:
​- Read 20 minutes (track in your Agenda)

Social Studies: 
- Capitals Quiz (October 2nd)

Math:
Science:
French:
Health:
Art:
PEAK: Thursday
Other: 

Terry Fox Walk Pledges - Tuesday
Terry Fox Walk - Wednesday
​Book Orders - Thursday
Picture Day - October 3rd

Running Club - Mondays, 3:15-4:15 pm
Boys' Volleyball - Mondays/Thursdays, 3:15-4:15 pm
Girls' Volleyball - Tuesdays/Wednesdays, 3:15-4:15 pm

Agenda
Language Arts:
​- Read 20 minutes (track in your Agenda)

Social Studies: 
- Capitals Quiz (Monday)

Math:
Science:
French:
Health:
Art:
PEAK: Monday
Other: 

Terry Fox Walk Pledges - Tuesday
Terry Fox Walk - Wednesday
​Book Orders - Thursday
Picture Day - October 3rd

Running Club - Mondays, 3:15-4:15 pm

Today in Math we continued to review and practice our place value skills. Today we moved on to practicing working with numbers up to one million. Using base ten block we compared one to a million. Many of us were shocked at just how big one million is. Did you know that if we tried to build a millions cube with base ten blocks, it would be a cubic metre? We will continue to practice working with numbers to one million in future classes. 

We have an upcoming quiz in Social Studies (Monday) on the provinces/territories and their capitals. Today the students and I reviewed both. We labelled both on a map as a class. We listened to and sang along with some of the songs that we have heard in class. Students also worked in teams of 2-3 to play the "All About Canada" games from Sheppard Software on our Chromebooks. All of these resources, as well as a copy of the quiz are available under "Mapping" on the "Grade 5 -- Social Studies" page. Please help your student review and be prepared for our quiz on Monday. There is also a map of Canada that include provinces, territories, and capitals at the back of each student Agenda. 

In French today, we reviewed the numbers from 0-31. 
​

We discussed many of the patterns that students can use to help them recognize and recall numbers. We also sang along to a number of songs that can help us to review our numbers. They are all included on a playlist under "French." We will continue to review numbers in upcoming classes. We also got moving with this fun DPA activity:
​ 

In Art today, the students and I discussed some of the patterns that occur naturally in nature. In fact, there are 5 main patterns that you can see if you look closely: spiral, meander, explosion, packing, and branching. Together we brainstormed some examples. My favourite was thinking of a palm tree as an example of an explosion pattern. Check out some more examples in the video below:
​

We are going to be working on a piece of artwork inspired by Andy Warhol to represent these patterns in upcoming classes. 

Agenda
Weekly Homework: Sept. 17-21st

Language Arts:
​- Read 20 minutes (track in your Agenda)

Social Studies: 
- Capitals Quiz (Monday)

Math:
Science:
French:
Health:
Art:
PEAK: Monday
Other: 

Friyay Popcorn Sales - Friday (bring $2)
Running Club Permission Forms - due Friday
Terry Fox Walk - September 25th
Picture Day - October 3rd

Running Club - Mondays, 3:15-4:15 pm

​Agenda
Weekly Homework: Sept. 17-21st

Language Arts:
​- Read 20 minutes (track in your Agenda)

Social Studies: 
- Capitals Quiz (Monday)

Math:
Science:
French:
Health:
Art:
PEAK: Thursday
Other: 

Friyay Popcorn Sales - Friday (bring $2)
Running Club Permission Forms - due Friday
Terry Fox Walk - September 25th
Picture Day - October 3rd

Running Club - Mondays, 3:15-4:15 pm

Today we had our first fire drill of the school year. I was very impressed with the students in our classroom. We discussed our fire drill procedures at length before the drill, however, the students still did a wonderful job of taking the fire drill seriously. Everyone lined up quickly and quietly. Everyone followed the line leader in a straight and quiet line. Once outside, we were able to take attendance and let the office know that we were all together and all safe. Thank you everyone for being so respectful today. It really helps to practice and it was wonderful to see all of you taking it so seriously. 

In Math, the students received their Mathletics usernames and passwords. Mathletics is an online program that students can use at school or at home to practice a variety of Math concepts. In the "Learn" section, students are working on lessons, activities, and tests that correspond to the Alberta Program of Studies. In "Play" students can visit a variety of different areas. Some involve problem solving to solve mysteries or to explore the universe. There are songs ("Times Tables Toons") to practice multiplication. The most popular choice for many students is "Live Math" which allows students to work on increasing their Math fluency (understanding and recall of basic facts) while competing with other students around the world, school, or classroom. We will use Mathletics in school to practice or to complete tasks that I will assign students that correspond with our lessons. I also use Mathletics to assess students on their progress throughout the year. Students are always welcome and are encouraged to use Mathletics at home as often as possible. It is a wonderful way to practice and students can be working at work at their own level, at their own pace. 

In Science today, we conducted an experiment. We wanted to compare changes in air temperature to changes in ground temperature. What we found was that air temperature changes much more quickly than the ground temperature changed. It warmed up much quicker but also cooled down much quicker. Tomorrow we will be discussing our results (we measured the results throughout the entire day) and how they might help us to predict daily temperatures.

In Language Arts today, students continued to work in their Writer's Notebooks. Today we added a "Treasure Map" as well as a "Memory Hand" page. Not all students have completed all pages. We will allow time for all students to catch up this week before we move on. 

Agenda
Weekly Homework: Sept. 17-21st

Language Arts:
​- Read 20 minutes (track in your Agenda)

Social Studies: 
- Capitals Quiz (Monday)

Math:
Science:
French:
Health:
Art:
PEAK: Thursday
Other: 

Friyay Popcorn Sales - Friday (bring $2)
Running Club Permission Forms - due Friday
Terry Fox Walk - September 25th
Picture Day - October 3rd

Running Club - Mondays, 3:15-4:15 pm

Agenda
Weekly Homework: Sept. 17-21st

Language Arts:
​- Read 20 minutes (track in your Agenda)

Social Studies: 
- Capitals Quiz (Monday)

Math:
Science:
French:
Health:
Art:
PEAK: Thursday
Other: 
​- Return Additional Information Handout (Rachelle, Ibrahim)

Friyay Popcorn Sales - Friday (bring $2)
Running Club Permission Forms - due Friday
Terry Fox Walk - September 25th

Running Club - Mondays, 3:15-4:15 pm

In Math today, we continued to review place value. We are learning about numbers to the hundred thousands place and the relationships between the place value places. Students need to have an understanding that each place value place is 10x bigger than the place before it. For example:

There are ten 10's in 100.
There are ten 100's in 1000.
There are ten 1000's in 10 000.

Today we did some problem solving using what we have learned so far. One of the questions students were asked to consider was, "Would you rather have one hundred $10 bills or tn $1000 bills?" Using money is a good way to find a real-world connection to what we are learning. Simply moving one place value place over can greatly change the value of the numbers you are working with. 

In Science today, we reviewed what we have currently learned about weather, climate, and seasons. After our review, we began to consider how the daily movement of the sun can affect daily air temperatures and the weather. To do so, we had to review how the sun moves, something covered in Grade 4 Light and Shadows. We watched the following video for a quick review of how the sun moves:
​

After reviewing the path of the sun across the sky each day, students were asked to consider how they think this could affect daily temperature, considering what we have learned about direct and indirect light from our previous lessons. Here is a diagram that includes our predictions for the warmest and coolest times of day:
​

The class has predicted that 6:00 am (just before sunrise) will have the coolest temperatures as there has been no sunlight throughout the night. The class has predicted that 12:00 pm (midday) will have the warmest temperatures as the sun is at its highest point, meaning that the earth receives the most direct sunlight at this time of day. On Monday, we are going to be conducting an experiment to test our predictions. One thing we haven't taken into consideration is the earth itself. We know how direct sunlight can impact the temperature but can the earth's surface impact air temperature? We will let you know after our experiment whether or not 12:00 pm (midday) is the warmest time of  day. 

Today we continued to learn about how to tell time in French. Students reviewed how to structure an answer to the question: Quel temps est-il? (What time is it?). Students have learned that to respond to this question we begin with "Il est..." followed by the French number (ex. huit) and then heures (meaning hours). So, to say, "It is eight o'clock" we would say, "Il est huit heures." This changes when you need to indicated how many minutes have passed. Again, you begin with "Il est..." and the French number (ex. huit) and heures (meaning hours) and then you use the correct French number for the number of minutes past the hour that you are discussing. For example, to say, "It is 8:16," you would say, "Il est huit heures seize." There are exceptions to this such as any time ending in 15 (et quart), 30 (et demi), or 45 (moins le quart) as well as noon (midi) and midnight (minuit). You can also use morning (matin), afternoon (après-midi), and evening (soir) to help indicate the time of day you are referring to. Before students begin practicing forming their own sentences using the above, we are going to pause and review our numbers from 0-20, 20-50, 50-70, and then 70-100 first. Having a strong understanding of numbers will help students to be more successful in telling time. 

Agenda
Language Arts:
​- Read 20 minutes (track in your Agenda)
Math:
Science:
Social Studies:
French:
Health:
Art:
PEAK: Monday
Other: 
​- Return Additional Information Handout (Rachelle, Ibrahim)

Broadcasting Leadership Applications - due Monday
Friyay Popcorn Sales - Friday, Sept. 21st (bring $2)
Running Club Permission Forms - due September 21st
Terry Fox Walk - September 25th

Running Club - Mondays, 3:15-4:15 pm

Today we introduced Mindfulness to our classroom. In our classroom, we will be practicing Mindfulness every day. We do this in a variety of ways. The first is the establishment of our daily practice. Each day, after "Oh, Canada," announcements, etc. we take 3-4 minutes to get ready for the day. We practice breathing and focusing for the day ahead. This is our daily practice. This practice will change throughout the year, but this is what we will be starting with:

Sit in a comfortable position. Close your eyes or look down.

Pay close attention to your breathing. Feel air come in through your nose, then fill your chest and your belly. Calmly and slowly, let the breath leave your belly, then your chest, and finally your nose.

Keep your shoulders dropped and relaxed. Think about the air coming into your body and the air going out.

Bring your attention back to your breath, if your mind tries to think about other things. 

Notice your stomach rising and falling. Let your belly be soft and relaxed. 

Open your eyes slowly and take a slow, deep breath.

Learning to centre ourselves helps us to quiet our minds and to get ready to learn. This practice can be used several times a day, especially if we are struggling with transitions, and students are encouraged to do it on their own if needed. Our daily practice helps to set the tone and gets everyone in a state of mind in which we can all participate purposefully and thoughtfully. 

We will also be using other Mindfulness techniques and strategies throughout the year. For example, just last week we did a breathing exercise before writing a Math quiz. Or doing some yoga to refocus ourselves during a difficult transition. We will also be learning about why we use Mindfulness in our upcoming Health classes, though we have already begun talking about it in class. Ask your student if they can remember what their amygdala ("guard dog"), hippocampus ("wise old owl" or "schema"), or prefrontal cortex does ("the boss") and how mindfulness can help!

​Agenda
Language Arts:
​- Read 20 minutes (track in your Agenda)
Math:
Science:
Social Studies:
French:
Health:
Art:
PEAK: Wednesday
Other: 
​- Return Additional Information Handout (Rachelle, Ibrahim)

Welcome Back BBQ - September 12th, 5:30-7:30 pm

In Math today, we reviewed some place value concepts. The students and I watched the following video: 
​

Then we worked through some examples together as a class. We reviewed the place value places to the millions place, as well as writing numbers in expanded form. We will continue to review and practice our place value in upcoming classes, as well as comparing and ordering numbers. 

Today in Science, we continued to look at weather and climate. Today we specifically focused on the seasons? Why do we have different seasons. In part, it has to do with the amount of direct sunlight a region receives. As the earth orbits around the sun, tilted on its axis, it receives sunlight. During our summer, the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun. This means it receives more direct sunlight. In the winter, the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, receiving indirect sunlight. This is why you generally have longer, warmer days during the summer and cooler, shorter days during the winter. We were able to demonstrate this dispersion of light using flashlights. Students shone a flashlight directly onto their desk, noticing how bright the light was. Then students moved the flashlight so that the light hit their desks at an angle. We were able to see the light spread out and become less bright. Want to learn more about the seasons? Check out the following video:
​

In Social Studies/Language Arts today, we looked at a current event. We read a magazine article (we will be practicing reading both fiction/non-fiction texts throughout the year) called, "Snowguard: Inuk Superhero." This article introduced us to one of Marvel's newest superhero, a teenage girl named Amka from Nunavut who is able to shapeshift. After reading the article together students answered some true/false questions about the text. Students were asked to reread the text, highlighting the answers to the true/false questions. We will be practicing gathering direct evidence from text sources throughout the year. We will using this article in future Language Arts classes in the upcoming weeks.

Agenda
Language Arts:
​- Read 20 minutes (track in your Agenda)
Math:
Science:
Social Studies:
French:
Health:
Art:
Other: 
- Return GAFE Permission Forms (Owen)
​- Return Additional Information Handout (Rachelle, Ibrahim)

Welcome Back BBQ - September 12th, 5:30-7:30 pm