Saturday, 5 December 2009
Our Fieldtrip to the Art Museum
We had a fabulous day out on Thursday, to the Llang Llang Art Museum in the south of the city. Students had a fun-filled day of activities planned: Kite designing, making and painting; batik making and ceramics. Plus a MacDonald's lunch! We don't have a MacDonald's up here in the North, so it was a real treat for many of the students!
Students came home with two self-created beautiful kites each, and we have to wait a week for their ceramics and batik samples to be delivered.
We had so much fun!
When we arrived back at school, 5B were so excited by their kites that I let them run wild in the playground to see if they could get them to fly. It was brilliant!
Thanks, Mrs. Mitchell for organising our special day out.
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Growing Plants with Acid Rain
Our Science unit this semester has been 'Pollution'. We have learned all about Land, Air, Water, Noise & Light Pollution and the consequences each of the forms have on our planet. Students have been so excited, as every lesson I've tried to incorporate a practical experiment or investigation for them to work on. The photos above are of our experiment that has continued over 10 days. Each group planted grass seeds in 3 tubs of soil. Then, watered one tub with tap water, of pH 7, one tub with full acid water and one tub of water with 1/2 tap water and 1/2 Acid water.
The effects can be seen above. The first one is obviously the tap water. The middle one is the acid water.
So, acid rain has a frightening effect on our planet - not only can it dissolve buildings, statues etc, it has a ghastly effect on the rate of growth and quality of our plant life.
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Happy Birthday Thara & Kay-Li!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Reading Groups
We have started levelled reading groups as part of our reading programme, and 5B students now spend every other morning reading and discussing novels within their gorups. Eagh group is reading a different novel, and students are working hard at confidence building, speech, discussion and reflection skills.
Students can choose to sit anywhere they like in their groups; hence one group who have chosen to sit under their work-tables!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Saturday, 14 November 2009
Multi-Cultural Week
Don't they look fabulous in all their nations' finery? I was so proud of them in Multi-Cultural week - they all dressed up in the required costumes each day to end the week in their own country's national dress. They also played amazingly in the Multi-Cultural performance night on 'The Gamelan'. What great musicians they are!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Halloween Pumpkins
The week of Halloween was spent carrying out a lot of 'spooky' activities, including learning about the history of Halloween and the rituals involved, ghost stories, writing news articles about strange phenomena, carving pumpkins and decorating Halloween cookies.
I think it's so important for the students to celebrate or acknowledge each culture's traditions.
First hand knowledge and experience leads to acceptance and understanding.
That's why we have celebrated and will celebrate Ramadan, Eid, Diwali, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Valentines, Chinese New Year, Easter, and anything else that may come up between now and June!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Recycled Goods
The photo above are pots/bowls that the students made out of recycled paper. They are actually, incredibly strong! The kids loved doing this project as part of their 'Pollution' science unit of work.
The unit is very exciting and the students have been doing some amazing experiments.
So far, we have:
1) classified and measured the amount of trash found on the NJIS campus per day
2) worked out how long it would take our class to fill up with trash.
3) Devised products made from recycled goods.
4) Collected water from different samples (canals, rainwater, taps, fountains,. puddles, gutters) and measured the acidity of the water as well as filtrated it to make cleaner, clearer looking water.
Next week, we will be testing for acid rain in our rainwater and looking at how acid rain affects living things. (including growing plants in acid rain water). Very exciting!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Eager Beavers
I have lots to update you on, (our fantastic Science unit packed full with exciting experiments, as well as Halloween activities and Multi Cultural Week), but meanwhile, I thought I'd post this photo of how keen they are to be in school!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Monday, 19 October 2009
Weekly Preview: Week Beginning Monday 19th October
Beginning Monday 19th October
Math
Unit II Introduction to Algebra Data & Graphing
Chap. 6: Algebra & Multiplication
· Order of Operations
· Functions
· Using Multiplication Properties
· The Distributive property
· Chapter 5 & 6 Test
Novel Study: Maniac Magee
Part II Chapters 33 - 40
- How does religion tie into the story of Maniac Magee
- What was his main reason for running away from home
- What do you think happened in the ‘lost year’ of Maniac’s life
Ghost Stories
Read and tell a selection of Ghost Stories
Vocabulary/Spelling
· Vocabulary: Pollution
Natural resources; pollution; ecosystem; biodegradable; sanitary landfills; incinerators; recycle; chemicals; groundwater; quality; renewable resource; nonrenewable resources; reclamation
Grammar
Unit 3 Verbs
- Revising Strategies: Sentence Fluency Writing With Verbs
- Subject-Verb Agreement
- Agreement with be and have
- Contractions with not
Writing
News Report Writing
Halloween Report Activity
- Continue to create and publish a ‘Spooky’ class newspaper.
Script Writing
- In groups of 4, write a ‘spooky Halloween’ script
- Practice for Acting Out
- Look at current ‘environmental’ news articles. Discuss structures.
- Publishing ‘spooky’ Halloween news report
SCIENCE
Pollution
Land Pollution
- The Problem Of Waste
· Chemical Pollution
· Changing The Land
Activities
- Recycling Paper
Air Pollution
- Natural Air Pollution
- Burning fuels
- Cleaning the air
Activities
· Particle Debris
Fun/Social/Homeroom
· Morning Meeting – Each day 7.45am – 8.15am
· 21 to 22nd Oct – 12 noon dismissal / Parent Teacher Conferences
Diwali Celebration
On Friday, we celebrated the Hindu Festival 'Diwali' - 'The Festival Of Lights'. The day began with a telling of a famous Hindu story - 'Rama & Sita' which the students then reenacted in their own dramatisations, followed by an art project: decorating their footprints to welcome the Goddess Lakshmi - the Goddess of Fortune - into our lives, and then Vivan shared some very special (and very yummy) Diwali sweets with us all!
The day ended with us lighting sparklers in the playground - brought in very kindly by Atreya.
There are four students out of the sixteen who are Hindu, so we thought it only right to honour their traditions, just as we honour Ramadan and Eid for the Muslims and Christmas for the Christians.
Understanding just a little from each others' cultures and beliefs make us a much more accepting and understanding group of people.
It is also a whole lot of fun!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Monday, 12 October 2009
Healthy Habits Breakfast & Read In
Last week was 'Healthy Habits Week' and to end the week, 5B decided to host a 'Perfect Breakfast' buffet in the classroom before the special 'Read In' programme.
The food was wonderful and almost everyone brought very yummy food in to share!
Each table set up their own buffet and produced menus and place cards and then we all sat down and shared a wonderful feast together!
This was followed by a grand showing of the new movie 'Up' in the theatre along with all the other Lower school students, then a whole day was devoted to the joys of reading in the classroom.
The day ended with our bi-annual read-in, where students visit four different classrooms to listen to short stories read aloud by different teachers.
We all had a wonderful day!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Weekly Preview: Week Beginning Monday 12th October
Math
Unit II Introduction to Algebra Data & Graphing
Chap. 5: Algebra & Addition
• Addition properties
• End of chapter test & variables
Chap. 6: Algebra & Multiplication
• Write & evaluate expressions
• Order of Operations
• Functions
Reading
Novel Study: Maniac Magee
Part II Chapters 26 - 32
• How does religion tie into the story of Maniac Magee
• What was his main reason for running away from home
• What do you think happened in the ‘lost year’ of Maniac’s life
Newspaper Reports
• Read a selection of different front pages to recognize structure of Report Writing
Ghost Stories
Read and tell a selection of Ghost Stories
Spelling/ Vocabulary
• Vocabulary: Pollution
Natural resources; pollution; ecosystem; biodegradable; sanitary landfills; incinerators; recycle; chemicals; groundwater; quality; renewable resource; nonrenewable resources; reclamation
Grammar
Unit 3 Verbs
• Revising Strategies: Sentence Fluency Writing With Verbs
• Subject-Verb Agreement
• Agreement with be and have
• Contractions with not
Writing
News Report Writing
• Journalism brainstorm
• Finding a good story
• Discuss sequence and style
• Following a structure: 5W’s and H
• Headlines; sub heading; topic sentences; reporting style; quotations; photographs;
• Look at current ‘environmental’ news articles. Discuss structures.
• Publishing ‘spooky’ Halloween news report
• Create a ‘spooky’ class newspaper.
Halloween Report Activity
• Pre-writing & drafting reports
• Publishing ‘spooky’ Halloween news report
• Continue to create and publish a ‘Spooky’ class newspaper.
Social Studies
CARAVANS/Geography
• Complete the simulation
Award Ceremony
Science
Pollution
• What is Pollution?
Land Pollution
• The Problem Of Waste
• Chemical Pollution
• Changing The Land
Activities
• A Lot of Litter
• Trash In your Class
• Recycling Paper
Fun/Social/Homeroom
• Morning Meeting – Each day 7.45am – 8.15am
• Friday 9th ESLR Grade 4 Assembly
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Healthy Habits Week
Dear Parents,
It is Healthy Habits week here at NJIS and all students in 5B have been discussing the importance of eating well-rounded, healthy meals.
On Monday, we realized that some students in 5B were not eating breakfast at all before coming to school! Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day and I hope that from our discussions, all students will try to eat something healthy in the morning from now on.
Students were then placed in groups of 5 and together, they devised ‘The Perfect Breakfast Menu’.
On Friday 9th October morning, from 7:30 – 8:00 am, as a fun activity, we are hoping to hold our very own ‘Perfect Breakfast Buffet’. In their groups, students have already decided what food they will bring to share with their classmates. They have made decorative menus and place cards and will tell us why their breakfast foods are healthy. We will gather together, talk about the foods and then enjoy eating a healthy, nutrient filled breakfast to get us started for the day!
Thank you so much for your wonderful support,
More About Breakfast
- Breakfast should include a variety of different
- Foods/beverages from each of the five food groups
- Breakfast is one of the most important meals to eat during the day.
- Breakfast foods and beverages give you the energy and nutrition you need to run, jump, play, think and learn.
- Eating breakfast helps you to grow and to be strong.
- Tasting a variety of foods/beverages can be fun and helps you to try and enjoy a variety of different foods/beverages; how much of them you have, and how often you have them for breakfast is important.
Generally, the recommendations for each food group include:
Grains: Make at least half your grains whole grains.
Vegetables: Vary your veggies – try to choose vegetables from several subgroups (orange vegetables, dark green vegetables, etc.) each day.
Fruits: Focus on fruits – eat a variety of fruits.
Milk: Get your calcium-rich foods – choose fat-free or low fat most often.
Meat & Beans: Go lean with protein – choose lean meat and poultry. Vary your choices
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Monday, 5 October 2009
Weekly Preview: Week Beginning Monday 5th October
5B Week At A Peek
Week Beginning Monday 5th October
Math
· Unit II Introduction to Algebra Data & Graphing
- Chap. 5: Algebra & Addition
· Expressions & variables
· Write equations
· Solve equations
Novel Study: Maniac Magee
Part II Chapters 22- 30
- Why does Maniac not understand prejudice at the beginning?
- How does he come to terms with what he experiences in Two Mills on the East and West side of town?
Wonders – A Journey Round the World
Read Animal Wonders
- The Lemming
- The Condor
- The Locust
- Chimpanzee
Read Dr Doolittle story
Vocabulary/Spelling
· Manic Magee Vocabulary: contortions, finicky, blemish, infamous, scraggly, cunning, testimony
Unit 2 Nouns
- Revising Strategies: Sentence Fluency Writing with Nouns
- Revising Strategies: Vocabulary Using Exact Nouns
Unit 3 Verbs
- Action Verbs
- Direct Objects
Writing
The Writing Process Workshop
Unit 8 Writing A Personal Narrative
- The Writing Process: Revising Strategies Elaborating: Details
Explorer/Adventure Narrative
o Go over narrative and extend and elaborate
o Edit, proofread and publish work.
Wonders – A Journey Round The World
Animal Wonders Activities
Healthy Habits Week: Produce a Breakfast Buffet menu using the 5 food types.
Social Studies
Geography – Map Skills
· Map Skills Continued: What’s Your trade; The Right One; Green Mountain Comparison; Alasks Wert & Dry; Color My World;
CARAVANS/Geography
· ‘Caravans’ Simulation Country Research & Final Oral Reports new countries (
· Begin to compete the simulation
Fun/Social/Homeroom
· Morning Meeting – Each day 7.45am – 8.15am
· Healthy Habits week.
ISA Testing Tuesday & wednesday
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Batik Beauties
Only three students from 5B dressed in Batik, but don't they look gorgeous?!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Monday, 28 September 2009
Weekly Preview: Week Beginning Monday 28th September
5B Week At A Peek
Week Beginning Monday 28th September
Chapter 4: Add + Sub Decimals
- Round Decimals
- Est. Decimal Sum + Differences
- Add + Sub Decimals
- Zeros in Subtraction
- Problem Solving Skills
Reading
Novel Study: Maniac Magee
Chapters 16 - 21
- Compare and Contrast Characters
- Fictional+ Non-fictional
- Realistic Events
- Super heroic events
Wonders – A Journey Round the World
Read Animal Wonders
- The Lemming
- The Condor
- The Locust
- Chimpanzee
- Read Dr Doolittle story
Vocabulary/Spelling
· Maniac Magee: Social Norms and aberrations
· Legends, legacy, Tall Tales
Unit 2 Nouns
- Singular & Plural Nouns
- More plural Nouns
- Singular Possessive Nouns
- Plural Possessive Nouns
Writing
The Writing Process Workshop
Unit 8 Writing a Personal Narrative
- Writing with Voice
- Good endings
- Revising A Personal Narrative
Explorer/Adventure Narrative
o Writing an Adventure narrative
o Complete with a successful ending
Non-Fiction Report
Travel Brochure
(Linked to Caravans)
Wonders – A Journey Round the World
Animal Wonders Activities
- Classification - Select an unusual animal (i.e. the colugo, emu, okapi, and wombat) and investigate them and prepare a brief report about their characteristics, habitat, food source and country.
- Communication - Explain methods of communicating with all living creatures (Dr. Doolittle). List how these are similar to scientists working with chimpanzees today.
Social Studies
Geography – Map Skills
- Map Skills Continued: What A Crowd; Reading The Picts; population Statistics Map; Keeping Tabs; Bursting At The Seams; Aloha, Green Acres; Give Me The Picture; For Land’s Sake!
CARAVANS/Geography
· ‘Caravans’ Simulation Country Research & Oral Reports new countries (
Fun/Social/Homeroom
· Morning Meeting – Each day 7.45am – 8.15am
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Oodles of fun at Snow Bay!
And fun we did have!
We fought through wave pools, floated on the lazy typhoon rivers, were scared silly on the toilet flush slides (eeeek!) and thrown all over the place on the fast slide flumes (Mrs Skiman Jones and I were tossed upside down and wrong side up on this ride - not a pretty sight!).
A GRRRRRRRRREEEEAAAAAATTTT day out!
Poor Mei Lin missed our trip as she was poorly - we missed YOU, Mei Lin! Get better soon!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Friday, 4 September 2009
Weekly Preview: Week Beginning Monday 7th September
5B Week At A Peek
Week Beginning Monday 7th September
Math
Unit 1: Whole Numbers & Decimals
Chap. 2:
· Compare & Order Decimals
Chapter 1 & 2 Test
Chap. 3:
· Round Whole Numbers
· Estimating Sums & Differences
· Add & Subtract Whole Numbers
Reading
· DRA Reading Testing Continues
· Independent Reading
· Class Novel – Manic Magee –Chapter 1 – 7 Activities
Grammar
Unit 2:
Nouns – What is a Noun?;
Common & proper Nouns;
Revising Strategies: Sentence Fluency & Writing with Nouns
Writing
Activities linked to ‘Manic Magee’ Lessons: Challenging Assumptions; Linking to Today: Racial Prejudice.
·
· Completing ‘I Am’ poems
· ‘The Person I Admire Most’ report writing compositions
Social Studies
Map Skills Continued:
Straight Lines in South America;
American Waterfalls;
Guatemalan Search;
American Squares;
Oh, Balderdash!;
Canadian Style Coordinates.
Caravans’ Simulation
Country Research & Oral Reports – (Rwanda, Austria & Yemen)
Fun/Social
· Morning Meeting – Each day 7.45am – 8.15am
· Vacation Slide Show Assembly: September 11th 10:30am
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Trivia Of The Week 24/08/09
1) What do 'The Big Dipper' 'Orion' and 'Hercules' have in common?
2) From which countries are the following foods seen in local menus?
a) Paneer
b) Burrito
c) Sashimi
3) Name four of Michael Jackson's siblings.
4) Where in the body would you find the following?
a) Insulin
b) Hammer
c) Epiglottis
5) Give an example of each of the follwing:
a) A homophone
b) A similie
c) A palindrome
Answers to last week's Trivia (18/08/09)
1)a) Italy b)Iceland c) Kenya 2) The Sound Of Music 3) a) C.S. Lewis b) J.K. Rowling c) Jim Bennet 4) a) Susilo Bambang YUDHOYONO b) Gordon Brown c) Barrak Obama
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Sunday, 30 August 2009
The Best Part Of Me
In the prewriting process, students chose a part of their body that they felt was beautiful/fascinating/interesting or simply the 'best' part of them and have been drafting, redrafting, editing, proofreading and publishing poems to go alongside a photograph of their 'favourite' part of them.
I will post a slide show of the final published work when we complete it next week. The photo above is a collage of all the 'best parts' of 5B!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Friday, 28 August 2009
Mei Lin's Birthday Cake
Today, Mei Lin's mum prepared a birthday cake for us to share in honour of Mei Lin's 10th Birthday! It was very yummy!
We shared it during our 'morning meeting': a time we have every day where we get a chance to greet each other; take part in a group activity; share something with each other and deliver messages.
Today's focus of the meeting was, of course, 'Birthdays': Our best, our worst and our most memorable.
The 'sharing' part of the morning meeting is a great way to learn how to listen to each other, gain the confidence to speak out in front of everyone and just get together for a great bonding session!
We hope you enjoyed your special day, Mei Lin!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Birthday Celebrations!
May this year bring you both much laughter, excitement and newly gained knowledge.
Keep dreaming big girls, and the world is your oyster!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Weekly Preview Week Beginning Monday 31st August
Week Beginning Monday 31st August
Math
Unit 1: Whole Numbers & Decimals
Chap. 2: Place Value Of Decimals
· Tenths and Hundredths
· Thousandths & Ten-Thousandths
· Equivalent Decimals
· Compare & Order Decimals
Reading
· GATES Reading Testing
· DRA Reading Testing begins
· Independent Reading
· Class Novel – Manic Magee – Pre-reading Activities
Grammar
Unit 1:
· The Sentence - Subjects in Imperatives; Conjunctions; Revising Strategies: Sentence Fluency & Writing Good Sentences; Run-on Sentences
Writing
· Publishing ‘The Best Part Of Me’ Poetry
· Publishing “I Am” Poetry
· “Dear Me’ Letters on Vests
· Activities linked to ‘Manic Magee’ Prewriting Lessons
Social Studies
· Map Skills Continued: Straight lines in Europe; Straight Lines in South America; American Waterfalls; Guatemalan Search
· ‘Caravans’ Simulation Country Research & Oral Reports – South America (Costa Rica; Ecuador; Brazil)
Fun/Social
· Morning Meeting – Each day 7.45am – 8.15am
· Etiquette Assembly: September 4th 10:30am
· Open House – September 3rd 7.00pm
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Sunday, 23 August 2009
Our Classroom
Our classroom is lovely and bright, full of light and full of colour. I am especially proud of our wonderful classroom library that now includes over 40 brand new books and have all been levelled into grade level/interest level and genre. It was a big project that last year's 5B class started working on and now my 2009/2010 students have the chance to use it. Fantastic!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
Friday, 21 August 2009
Weekly Preview Week Beginning Monday 24th August
Week Beginning Monday 24th August
Math
Unit 1: Whole Numbers & Decimals
Chap. 1 Introduction to Place Value of Whole Numbers
· Understanding Place Value
· Millions and Billions
· Comparing Numbers
· Ordering Numbers
Reading
· ‘Big Al’ by Andrew Clements Yoshi
· Class Library – Independent Reading & Primarily Reading Reflections
· DRA Reading Testing begins
Grammar
· Sentences - The Four Types; Subjects & Predicates; Simple Subjects; Simple Predicates;
Writing
· Setting up Writing Process bulletin board – ‘Race track’
· Discussion of Writer’s Workshop lessons
· ‘The Best Part Of Me’ poetry continued
· Fish Philosophy writing
· “I Am” poetry
· “Dear Me’ Letters
· “Me Cube”
Social Studies
· Map Skills
· Discuss different uses for maps (political, physical, population, etc).
· Brainstorm parts of maps
· City maps; Border lines; Straight lines.
· Set up ‘Caravans’ simulation
Fun/Social
· Electing Student Council Representatives – August 31st 1.50pm
· Open House – September 3rd 7.00pm
· House Competition– Friday 28th 7.35am
Trivia Of The Week 17/08/2009
a) Rome
b)Reykjavik
c) Nairobi
2)What famous musical movie consists of a nun who goes to live with a Captain and his seven children?
3) Name the authors of the following books:
a) The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
b) The Harry Potter stories
c) The 'Dear Dumb Diary' stories
4) Name the following current world leaders:
a) The President of Indonesia;
b) The Prime Minister of the U.K
c)The President of the U.S.A
Answers next week!
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown