February 9th, 2018

It's been a long, but great week. If there are any parents that did not get to attend our Three Way Conferences but still wanted to meet with me about their students progress, please call or email the school and we will set up an appointment. I am available most days after school but could even meet before school if that is what worked best. 

Today in Math, the Grade 5 students have started to work on multiplying multi-digit numbers. While we are still using our "break apart" strategy (also called partial products), students are beginning to practice the steps for shorter and longer multiplication. Check out the videos below:
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This strategy is often the most helpful to students moving forward into higher grades such as Gr. 6 and Gr. 7, so please make sure that students review and practice at home. We will be working on this strategy all next week.

The Gr. 4 students are also working on a "break apart" strategy, however, they are using one-digit numbers. Take the following example:

In the example above, the student is trying to solve 7 x 8 = __. However, they are unsure of their 7x tables. But, they know their 5x and 2x tables. Since 5 + 2 = 7, you can break 7 x 8 = __ into (5 x 8 = __) + (2 x 8 = __). We know that 5 x 8 = 40 and that 2 x 8 = 16, so we can add the products 40 + 16 to solve 7 x 8 = 56. In order to be able to use this strategy, it is important that students master a variety of facts. Keep practicing all your facts at home! Your 3x and 6x tables quiz will be Thursday next week. 

Today we worked on our second entry into the Energize Oil Country Challenge. This challenge was to get active and energized during the winter. We were going to film ourselves snow painting, but the weather this week has had other plans for us. Today we came up with some clever solutions. 
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We also found out today that Christina Gordon was selected by Alberta Health Services as the 2018 recipient of the Hooray for Health Challenge. In fact, Christina Gordon had 91 entries! There were a number from our classroom, including: healthy halloween snacks, smoothie making, mindfulness, etc. Many of those examples would not have been possible without our amazing families. Thank you to everyone who contributed food, snacks, blenders, etc. throughout the year. We do have another healthy celebration coming up... Valentine's Day. I have asked students to make sure if they bring Valentine's to school, to please bring a card for everyone. There are 23 students in total in our classroom. We are also going to be having pyjama day and watching "The Secret of NIMH" that day. This was decided because: 1. We are almost finished reading "The Secret of NIMH," 2. And so that even students who don't celebrate Valentine's Day can participate in our celebration. We are also going to be making a Community Fruit Salad. Students can bring in 1-2 pieces of pre-sliced (if possible) fruit. Then we will each use the fruit to make our own fruit salad. I will be sending home an email with a sign-up sheet shortly, as we have done in the past. 

We were also able to get outside for our annual Winter Walk this afternoon. It was nice to be outdoors after being trapped inside for so long! Hopefully the weather continues to warm up. 

Agenda
Language Arts:
- Read 20 minutes

Math:
- Multiplication Fact Practice (3x, 6x)
- Grade 4: pgs. 42-43
- Grade 5: pg. 94 #1, 2

Science:
- Classroom Science Fair (March 7th)
- School Science Fair (March 14th)

Health:
- PEAK (Monday)

Other:
- Tech & Trades: Grades 4-6, Mondays, 3:15-4:15 pm
- Choir: Grades 3/4, Tuesdays, 3:15-4:15 pm
- Guitar Club: Grades 5/6, Thursdays, 3:15-4:15 pm
- Girls Basketball: Grades 5/6, Mondays/Thursdays, 3:15-4:15 pm
- Boys Basketball: Grades 5/6, Tuesdays, 3:15-4:15 pm
- Cooking Club: Grades 3/4, Mondays, 3:15-4:00 pm
​- Sharpen the Saw Club: Grades 5/6, Wednesdays, 3:15-4:15 pm
- CG Recyclers: Grades 4-6, Day 2, Lunch/Recess
- Chess Club: Grades 4-6, Day 3, Lunch Recess
- Hot Lunches, order at christinagordon.hotlunches.net 
- Reward Day: Snow Painting, Monday, February 12th?
- Valentine's Family Dance: February 13th, 5:30-7:00 pm
- Valentine's Day Celebration: February 14th
- Destination Conservation: February 15th