March 11-15, 2024

Learning Outcomes

Science

-Recognize and appreciate the potential dangers involved in using sources of electrical currents

-Identify example applications of electrical devices in the school and home environment, and classify the kinds of uses. Categories of electrical use may include such things as: heating, lighting, communicating, moving, computing.

What Did Students Do?

Students continued with their exploration of electricity this week. They used Watt meters to measure the amount of watts being used by various devices such as a hair dryer, computer being charged, electric pencil sharpener, lamp, and walkie talkie.  Students first estimated what watts each one would use and then completed the tests with the watt meters.  

Through watching videos about electricity and using our activities from Green Calgary, we had the opportunity to discover how electrons move along a wire to create a circuit.  Students worked together to create a circuit with electrons.  Each student held a foam "Electron."  They learned that the electrons can't move without an energy source.  Once we added a "Battery" they were able to make their electrons move.  We then added an electric lightbulb and a "Switch" to show an open and closed circuit and discover how switches turn electricity on and off.  This week we will make actual circuits using batteries and bulbs, using the information we learned from our activity.  

We then created electromagnets using wire, a battery, and a large nail.  Students wound their wires tightly around the nail and then connected the ends of the wire to the D Battery.  They used electrical tape to attach the wires.  Some of our groups were successful in making their magnets and in being able to pick up small paper clips. Other groups struggled to get their wires tight enough and did not get the results they wanted.  We will revisit this experiment later in our unit on electricity and magnetism.  

Math

In math we completed our unit on area, perimeter, and measurement.  We are now in the process of assessing their knowledge on the concepts that were covered.  Moving forward we will be introducing division and investigating divisibility by natural numbers to 10.  

ELAL

All students should now be finished their Journey writing. This week they will take time to go over their writing using their COPS checklist.  They will also be using their story writing rubric to assess their writing and choose one area to make improvements in.  We hope you will take a moment to read your child's story and to look at the writing "Journey" we have taken through writing these stories.  Students will carry the skills learned through this process into future independent writing tasks.

We continue to read our small group novels and are hoping to finish these by mid April. 

Social Studies 

We will complete our learning about Indigenous groups in Canada pre-contact this week.  After the break we will explore the fur trade in Canada.  

Ask Your Child About:

-Our practice lockdown on Friday - great work grade 5s! 

-Basketball skills learned this week - we will play some games this week

-Our electricity activities

-Their Maker Space story they are working on 

-Where they are at with their Journey writing

Upcoming Events

March 21^st – Parent Teacher Conferences – 4:00 – 7:30   

March 22^nd – Parent Teacher Conferences – 8:00 – 1:00   No school for students
March 23^rd – April 2^nd – Spring Break   

    Mar 4- 8

Learning Outcomes

Science

-Recognize and appreciate the potential dangers involved in using sources of electrical currents

-Identify example applications of electrical devices in the school and home environment, and classify the kinds of uses. Categories of electrical use may include such things as: heating, lighting, communicating, moving, computing.

What Did Students Do?

This week, students began learning about electricity. One of the first things we discussed was electricity safety. We emphasized that electric currents can be very powerful and with that comes potential dangers in using and interacting with electricity. We will continue to remind students never to experiment with household appliances throughout our Science unit. At school, we will use small batteries to support our learning.

Students were invited to begin investigating the concept of watts through the use of an Edu-Kit from Green Calgary. Do you know about Green Calgary? Green Calgary supports Calgarians to live a more sustainable lifestyle. 

    -Image from Green Calgary Website

Students were so excited to begin this Science work! In this activity, students had a set of cards with pictures of common household appliances - both small and large. Within their small groups, they were tasked with estimating the amount of watts the appliance used within an hour. Students then arranged the appliances in order of least watts used to most watts used. The actual watt usage was revealed and students were so surprised! We had great conversations around energy usage, which appliance they use most often at home, which appliances they could use less often and which appliances they could live without. 

For their second activity, students used watt meters to measure household appliances. They categorized each appliance into the following types: heating, lighting, communicating, moving, computing.

Ask Your Child About:

-our walking field trip to Nickle School to see the Renaissance Fair

-our work with the vertical workspaces to explore the connection between area and perimeter

-ringette in PE 

Upcoming Events 

March 12^th – Fun Lunch  

March 13^th – School Council Meeting – Gr. 6 to share Teacher Report  
March 14^th – Nickle Open House – 6:30 – 8:00    

March 21^st – Parent Teacher Conferences – 4:00 – 7:30   

March 22^nd – Parent Teacher Conferences – 8:00 – 1:00   
March 23^rd – April 2^nd – Spring Break   

 

  

    Feb 26 - Mar 1

Learning Outcomes

Literacy 

Apply creative thinking processes to enhance personal expression and artistry.

Analyze mentor texts to determine how word choice can influence the purpose or audience of a text.

Create text that uses plot, characterization, dialogue, and figurative language to entertain an audience.

Create expressive descriptions by selecting vocabulary to convey mood or sensory images.

What Did Students Do?

This week, students explored the concept of mood in writing. They learned how authors craft a sense of mood through the use of imagery through details connected to their five senses, effective word choice and setting. They worked towards identifying these elements in exemplars. Then, they began to apply these skills and strategies in their own Journey writing. Students chose a mood such as calm and happy to show readers through their story writing. As we move forward, students will have the opportunity to continue to practice how to create mood in their writing.  

Here are some student samples of how they've developed a sense of mood in their Journey writing:

- Dana finished her sketch and it turned out to be a magical carpet.Dana hopped on the magical carpet soared through the bright orange sunset.The city was so peaceful in the morning sunset.Dana Flipped around on the carpet jumping into soft pillowy clouds.

-Samantha looked back at the cage behind her as she flew through the air. The sky was filled with soft pinks, oranges and blues as her magic carpet soared above the tiny people below her. In front of her the fluttering creature led the way through the sunlit sky, through the clouds they floated. It was like they were covered with puffy cot and candy. Samantha held on tightly as the carpet swayed and swerved

Upcoming Events

 

March 8^th – Walking Field Trip to Nickle School

March 13th – School Council Meeting – Gr. 6 to share Teacher Report  March 14th – Nickle Open House – 6:30 – 8:00