Firstly, a great big thank you to the parents who came to the PTA open house. It was good to see you all again. Thanks also to the various parents who helped complete the form we needed to fill in and to those who have started work on the UNICEF Carnival booth.
We had two birthdays recently. Happy birthday Nicole and Ricky, I hope you had a great day.
Homework is usually turned in on time and completed correctly but I would like to remind all of you to have your homework signed by one of your parents and always check what books you need for homework before leaving school each day.
In English, each week starts with a weekly spelling and vocabulary quiz and ends with a reading comprehension, phonics, and vocabulary review quiz. So I would like to remind you all to review for this week’s quizzes so that you can build your English skills.
On Monday we will have a spelling and vocabulary test on all the spelling words from this past week.
This last week in English we read a story about Ellen Ochoa, who was the first Hispanic woman in space and who attained her goal with perseverance. In phonics we learned about adding “s” to most words to make them plural but when the word ends in ss, x, ch, sh, or z then we need to add “es”.
Our Grammar focus was compound subjects and predicates, for example: the two sentences “Nina went to the zoo.” and “Sonia went to the zoo.” can but written “Nina and Sonia went to the zoo.”
We also had a fun team game to practice using the Table of Contents, Index, and Glossary of our books. Everyone did really well and could find the answers quickly.
For the next two weeks in English we will be writing a story about ourselves, reviewing what we have learned over the past 4 weeks for the Theme 1 test on Monday 12th October, and practicing the play “In the News” which we will perform during the last lesson on Friday 16th October (for any parents who can join us).
On Wednesday we had flag ceremony and everyone looked great in their yellow (or white) and blue .. we looked like a real team. We also received two clean up certificates – one for 2nd place, and one for tied 1st place. Great job everyone!
We have continued reading the African folk tale, Kabuka and the Magic Calabash. Kabuka has set out on his adventure to find the Magic Calabash and bring rain to the drought stricken land. He joined up with the Hyena “Bazi” to try and find the Evil witchdoctor “Zaka” who imprisoned “Amanzi” (the rain spirit). Kabuka and Bazi had an interesting time stealing bananas from Ma Moyo’s banana palms. We all enjoyed the part where she got her foot stuck in the food pot and hopped around trying to chase the two naughty animals. Kabuka and Bazi then had to say goodbye to each other. Kabuka set out alone to find the great Mlimo and on the way rescued the eagle, Gondo, from a trap. We will find out if the Mlimo is able to guide Kabuka in finding the Magic Calabash.
Don’t forget to get regular updates on Kabuka’s adventure from your children.
In Math we have been learning how to count out change using American money denominations of 1 cent (a penny), 5 cents (a nickel), 10 cents (a dime), 25 cents (a quarter), 50 cents (a half dollar), $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. Most students have mastered this section but a few are finding it a bit more difficult. So if you have time please try out the game I wrote about last time.
Here are the rules again if you cant find it”
The game is “Dollar Dunk” (based on the card game called “Go Fish”)
For this game you need:
Ten 1c cards, ten 5c cards, eight 10c cards, eight 25 c cards, and four 50 c cards (a total of 40 cards)
You can play with 2 – 4 people
Each person starts with 5 cards
The object is to put down cards which add up to $1
If the person can’t put down cards adding up to $1 they need to ask someone in the group for a card e.g. Sonia do you have any 50 c cards? ... if Sonia has, she must give the person the card ... if she doesn’t, the person must pick up a card from the extra pile of cards.
The first person to get rid of all their cards is the winner
Good Luck … enjoy the game!
Next, in Math, we learn about telling the time and will be using some small clocks to help us. The following week we will wrap up this chapter and will therefore have the Chapter 2 test on Thursday 15th October.
In Social Studies we studied the world and how it is split up into continents and hemispheres, we also looked at how continents, regions, and cities all have boundaries – some are manmade, like fences, and some are natural, like mountain ranges.
Next week we will complete this chapter. On Monday 12th we will review chapter 1 and 2 and have the Unit 1 test on Wednesday 14th October.
Over the past 2 weeks in Science we have learned about the various traits of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. We have also started looking at the difference between instinct and learned behavior, camouflage and mimicry, and also hibernation.
Students pretended to be birds and tried to pick up different kinds of “food”.
We decided which animals came from eggs and worked on a puzzle during break times.
One of the traits of mammals is that they all have fur or hair. We conducted an experiment to see if fur would keep an animal warm.
Some mammals have very little fur but they are very fat and that keeps them warm.
We had some special visitors on Friday to teach us a bit about learned behavior. Having Mr. DB, Rain, and Sunny was a fun treat and we learned about how animals can be taught to sit, shake hands, and lie down. We also learned that like humans, dogs have different personalities – Rain is very friendly and loves her tummy rubbed but Sunny is a bit nervous and prefers just one or two people to pet her at a time.
Next week we will complete this chapter and listen to the student’s presentations about Endangered animals.
Please remember that all projects need to be handed in on Tuesday 6th October and presentations need to be ready by Wednesday 7th October (this is one day later than previously mentioned.)
The Science Chapter 2 test will be on Tuesday 13th October.
Victor’s mom tried to find our camouflage insects .. she did really well and found most of them.
UNICEF walk-a-thon hosted by Interact was a great success with more than ½ the class attending and many parents too. Thank you all for supporting this event - it was great fun and a good time for building some class spirit. Please remember to send in your sponsorship money as soon as possible. 
A reminder of what’s coming up in October as part of the UNICEF project:
- Wednesday sales during lunch in Grade 5 starts this week (so bring money and buy some tasty snacks each Wednesday).
- The coin competition will be held during the week of 12-16 October. Please collect your Taiwan coins and bring them to school that week.
- Friday 16th October from 6-9pm is the Music night. Don’t forget that we will have rehearsals this week on Tuesday and Friday from 4:15 to 5pm.
In music on Friday we had some help in rehearsing “Tell me Why?”
- Wednesday 28th October from 11am to 3pm is the Halloween Carnival. Don’t forget to start getting your creative ideas going so that you can dress up in some really innovative costumes.
See you on Monday, 3b!
Mrs.DB
No comments:
Post a Comment