Fine Arts Performance

Fantastic job last night, everybody!

The Fine Arts performance was wonderful - it was a really great way to end the year.

Well done to everyone - you sang your hearts out, and played your instruments with confidence and real talent. I'm so proud of you!

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Holiday Sing-Along Success!

Well done to all the lower school students at today's Holiday Sing A Long.

In my completely unbiased opinion, I thought the Grade 4/5 choir was the best! I took a video of you so will try to upload it onto this post this weekend.

Today's assembly was a great way to get into the Holiday spirit. We even had a wonderful surprise visit from Santa (a la Mr Duncan!) who helped give out yummy treats from our school's PAFA. Thanks parents!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

December Newsletter

Dear Parents,
Only one week to go before we all have a very well deserved rest. The students have been busily finishing up a variety of projects and assignments. Allow me to share what your children have been doing these past few weeks!

Language Arts
Our major focus this past month has been to examine Children’s stories: looking at the various elements that make up a story; what makes the stories successful; author techniques; and illustrative skills to name a few. We attempted to write our own short Thanksgiving Stories using repetition in our writing. These were incredibly successful and the students had a wonderful morning sharing their books with each other. They are currently on display in our classroom, but when they get sent home, please take the time to look at them – they are very honest and uplifting little books.
Our next task has been to examine picture books and after a very inspiring ‘Visit with An Author’, (thanks to Corien Oranje,) the students have been busy creating and designing children’s large picture books that are based around the theme of endangered animals (linking in with the work we have been doing in science).

In reading, students have been continuing with their work on monitoring comprehension and merging their thinking, working with a whole array of non-fiction texts, examining their features and purpose. The students have also, of course, been reading and evaluating children’s books and continue with their independent reading at home and in the classroom.

Math
In Math, we have come to the end of our Data & Graphing unit. Students have learned how to choose reasonable scales and intervals to show data and have learned how to make and read a variety of graphs, such as: line graphs, circle graphs, bar graphs, histograms and stem & leaf plots. All the students have shown expertise in this unit - it has been most encouraging, as this can sometimes be a difficult unit to grasp.
We will be starting our next unit, ‘Multiplying Whole Numbers & Decimals’ when we return after our Christmas vacation.

Science
Students have come to the end of their Life Science Unit, which looked at ecosystems, biomes, endangerment and extinction and environmental issues. Students produced some excellent endangered animal poster projects and biome mobiles and are currently competing in groups to create the cheapest, environmentally-friendly road system in a ‘Rainbow Bay’ simulation.

Fun & Special Events
The classroom looks amazing at the moment – it is full of the beautiful display work the students have produced this month as well as ‘the Christmas Spirit! The students helped to decorate the Christmas tree I brought in for them to enjoy and every morning we have sung Christmas carols in preparation for our Holiday Sing-along Assembly. Students have also been busy searching through their toys at home to bring in gifts for children less fortunate than themselves.
Starting Monday 15th, our class begins our ‘Secret Santa’ – each day we will be receiving clues from our Secret Santa as to their identity and then On Friday 19th, at a gift giving, they will be revealed! How exciting!

Events to look forward to:
December 12th - Holiday Sing-along Assembly 10am
December 17th - Fine arts Evening 7pm
December 19th – Whole School House Aquatic Festival
December 19th –Half day: school finishes at 11.30pm for Christmas Vacation
January 12th – School resumes

The students have accomplished so much during this first half of the year – I am so proud of each and every one. And I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of you parents for supporting and encouraging your children to be the best they can be.

I hope all of you have a wonderful and relaxing Christmas, and look forward to seeing you all again in the New Year! For those of planning to travel this holiday, I wish you safe and pleasant journeys.

Kind regards,

Kathryn Beck
Grade 5B Teacher


“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Sssshhhh... It's A Secret!

www.arundelfire.com

Secret Santa

On Friday, 5B students will draw out another student's name (or Mrs Beck's name) from the class. This means that they will be that person's Secret Santa.

The fun starts on Monday 15th December.
Each day the Santas will secretly leave a clue for their ‘child’.
On Friday, they will place a gift for their ‘child’ under the Christmas tree up to the value of 20,000 RP.
On Friday morning, we will all sit on the carpet, try to guess who our Santas are and then receive the gifts.

Instructions for 5B
On Monday: Leave a difficult clue as to who you are and perhaps a candy or chocolate etc for your ‘child’ to enjoy.
On Tuesday: Leave a slightly easier clue and a candy/chocolate.
On Wednesday: Leave an easier clue and a candy/chocolate.
On Thursday: Leave an easier clue and a candy/chocolate.
On Friday: Leave a wrapped and gift tagged present under the tree.

Your clues could be funny, could be rhymes, jokes, puzzles, crosswords, word searches, fun riddles etc that give a hint about who you are. Each day they might get easier or every day another part of the puzzle is solved so that at least by the end of the week, your child has an idea who you could be.
i.e.: Rose are red, violets are blue, my name has the letter b in it, and the letter K too.

You will have to think of inventive ways of leaving your clues for your ‘child’ to find. They must not see you leaving the clues or it will spoil the fun.
You should not tell anyone in the class or another class who you are Secret Santa to.
Have fun!





“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Visit With An Author A Complete Success!

5B and 5R were truly privileged today to have had a visit from famous Dutch children's author, Corien Oranje.

http://www.corienoranje.nl/

Mrs. Oranje, suitcase in hand carrying a whole array of writing tips in the form of objects, presented us with an inspiring and engaging workshop, telling us about her life as an author. She wowed us with some of the premises of the stories she'd written, about the writing and editing process, how she comes up with ideas, and what it’s like to be an author.

We were all fascinated with her real-life experiences, like her visits to prisons and disaster areas (Aceh after the Tsunami) and how she uses simple devices like newspaper articles to get ideas for amazing stories. She did such a great job at explaining where and how she gets her inspiration for her stories and she was definitely able to provide valuable inspiration for the students, as not only did they line up for autographs, they talked enthusiastically about children's stories for much of the day after her visit. We hope Mrs Oranje might be able to come back and work with us again soon.

Thank you, Corien Oranje! Your visit was absolutely thrilling - the children enjoyed your visit so much. Even I am now inspired to go away and write a book myself! (If only I could find some time!)

Awards Ceremony

Attached are some photos of all our amazing 5B students who won awards last Friday. Congratulations to each and every one of you. I'm so proud of you all.

And if you didn't make it this time, push yourself a little harder and you WILL be successful. Either way, I can honestly say that I think you are all stars.

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown

Weekly Preview Dec 1st - Dec 5th

Weekly Preview

Week beginning December 1st

Maths
Chapter 8: Make Graphs
· Choose a Reasonable Scale
· Make graphs
· Graph ordered pairs
· Make line graphs + histograms
· Choose the appropriate graph
Assessment Chapter 8

Reading
Heinemann Activate & Connect
Merge Your thinking With New Learning
Read and think about new information

Group reading – children’s story books

Kindergarten Buddies
Students to read to Kindergarten students once per week.

Vocabulary & Spelling
Biome Vocabulary

Writing
Language and Usage
· Singular possessive nouns
· Plural possessive nouns

Writing Children’s Stories
Writing linking in with Biome Narrative and Christmas theme - A Day in the Life of an Animal to include: habitat, food chain, niche, climate in easy language.

Visit from a children’s author - Corien Mak

Science
Rainbow Bay
Groups compete to create the cheapest, environmentally-friendly road system
· Form groups & assign roles
· Design roadway system
· Elect common council members
· Biodiversity: Everything counts

Fun & Special Events
Decorate the Christmas Tree
Decorate the classroom in Holiday style!
Rehearse for the Holiday Singalong on the 12th
Rehearse for the Fine arts Evening on the 17th

“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown