G5 Weekly Newsletter

G5 Weekly Newsletter Grade 5

Dates: March 19-22            

Dear Parents,

Curriculum Information for this Week:

Literacy:

Grade 5 students will conclude their fantasy reading and writing units. They will be finishing up their fantasy book clubs and taking end of unit reading and writing assessments. Students will also be celebrating their writing by sharing it with other G5 classes. This will be an opportunity to share what we have covered during this unit, including wonderful examples of FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, GREAT BEGINNINGS, INSPIRING DIALOGUE, LOTS OF FANTASY ELEMENTS, and an ENDING THAT WILL HAVE US WANTING MORE! 

Math:

The students continue working on Unit 5: Multiplying & Dividing Fractions. The focus continues to be on conceptual understanding of these skills using a variety of manipulatives and also drawing models to show their thinking. The assessment will be at the end of this week. After the break, the students will begin the unit titled Order of Operations. We have been practicing this skill using daily warm ups, so they are familiar with these skills. Students will evaluate how to use numerical expressions with parentheses, brackets and braces. They will explain how to use these symbols in order to identify, write and describe simple numerical expressions.

Unit of Study:

We are starting our Social Change unit by tuning in to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as looking at the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Classes will be researching a social issue to be presented at our ‘Night of the Notables’ presentation to parents in the Melawati Theatre on Tuesday April 30th at 7:00pm. Further details will be announced shortly.

For more information and ways to support your child please visit the Parent Learning Connection page.

Important Reminders/Information: (also see GLC Updates)

Monday, March 18-No school for students (teacher work day)

Tuesday, March 19-School reconvenes (Day 2)

Math, Science, Reading and Writing assessments will be conducted this week

Friday, March 22-Writers’ Celebration 

March 24-28-No School-Spring Break

Monday, April 1-School reconvenes (Day 6)

Thursday, April 4 (10:30-12:30)-Part 2 of Social Change Makers’ Conference from 10:30am-2:30pm (parents welcome)

INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS WEEK PLANS

From the Inclusive Schools Week Planning Team:

There will be three special dress up days to celebrate Inclusive Schools Week:

March 21: Students are encouraged to wear odd socks with their school uniform on ‘Mismatched Sock Day’.

April 2: Students are encouraged to wear blue clothing for ‘Autism Awareness Day’.

April 5: Diversity Day - ES students are encouraged to dress in clothes that highlight them as unique individuals.

There will be a Coffee Chat & Resource Fair happening on April 1st. RSVP is required Click Here for the invitation. There is more information about these days below.

March 21, 2019, Down Syndrome Awareness Day

Today is World Down Syndrome Awareness Day. #WorldDownSyndromeDay The ISKL ES community is encouraged to wear mismatched socks to raise awareness and highlight that our differences are what make us great.

April 1-5, 2019, Inclusive Schools Week. #kaleidoscopeoffriends

The ISKL Community Schoolwide will celebrate the progress that we have made in providing a supportive and quality education to an increasingly diverse student population. The week will also provide an important opportunity for educators, students and parents to discuss what else needs to be done in order to ensure that ISKL continues to successfully educate all children. Events will be planned to engage the students, teachers, and parents. 

April 1, 2019, Coffee Chat & Resource Fair.

To kick off Inclusive Schools Week there will be a Coffee Chat and Resource Fair in the Community Room from 8:15 - 9:45 am. This is a great opportunity for parents to learn about the resources that the Student Resource Team (SRT) offers to support students in their learning and development at ISKL. In addition to learning about speech and language therapy, educational psychology, and counseling available at ISKL, parents will also have the opportunity to learn about additional supports that can be accessed outside of school to support their child and family.  Coffee and snacks will be provided. Parents need to RSVP - Click Here.

April 2, 2019, is World Autism Awareness Day 

#LightItUpBlue The ISKL ES community is encouraged to support the ‘Autism Speaks - Light it up Blue Campaign’ by wearing blue to increase understanding and acceptance of autism.

April 5, 2019, Diversity Day

As Inclusive Schools Week wraps up, ES students are encouraged to dress in clothes that highlight them as unique individuals. #kaleidoscopeoffriends

Highlight last week:

The G6 Counselor - Janelle Maxson - and the G6 Peer Helpers presented information to our G5 students about next year....and we are all excited about our course selections! Please return your child’s orange-colored G6 Course Selection sheet. (Due Tuesday, March 19th).

Newsletter no. 28 Mon. 18 Mar. 2019

NEWSLETTER NO. 28

MON. 18 MAR. 2019

Dear Parents,

REMINDERS FOR THIS WEEK & EARLY NEXT WEEK:

Mon. 18 Mar: Faculty Inservice Day - no school for students

Tues. 19 Mar. - day 2: Begin Fantasy writing unit post-assessment. Begin ‘Social Change’ social studies unit.

Wed. 20 Mar. - day 3: Complete Fantasy writing unit post-assessment. Complete Fantasy Reading post-assessment.

Thurs. 21 Mar. - day 4: ‘World Down Syndrome Awareness Day’. Also ‘UN International Day for the Elimination of Discrimination’.

Complete math Unit 5: Multiplying & Dividing Fractions post-assessment.

Fri. 22 Mar. - day 5: G5 ‘Fantasy Character Dress Up Day’ (dressing up optional - students may bring a fantasy ‘prop’ instead of a costume or they can do both)  and sharing fantasy stories with G5 students.

Sat. 23 - Sun. 31 Mar: Mid-semester break

Mon. 1 Apr: School resumes.

Inclusive Schools Week begins.

G6 COURSE SELECTION FORM

Janelle Maxson - the G6 Counselor - presented the various G6 course options to the students at a GL assembly in the common area last Tues. 12 Mar. at 1:30pm.  Following the assembly, the students were given an orange course selection form to take home for you to read, complete and sign. Please return the completed orange form to school by Tues. 19 Mar. even if you think your family may be moving elsewhere at the end of the school year, please return the form just in case your plans change.

STUDENTS LEAVING SCHOOL EARLY

From the ES Admin:

Please remember to get gate pass from the ES Office if your child needs to leave school before dismissal time. It’s a student safety issue. Students leaving campus prior to the end of the school day must have a pass from the office to exit campus. Students need to released through the ES office instead of directly from teachers’ classrooms.

INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS WEEK PLANS

From the Inclusive Schools Week Planning Team:

There will be three special dress up days to celebrate Inclusive Schools Week:

March 21: Students are encouraged to wear odd socks with their school uniform on ‘Mismatched Sock Day’.

April 2: Students are encouraged to wear blue clothing for ‘Autism Awareness Day’.

April 5: Diversity Day - ES students are encouraged to dress in clothes that highlight them as unique individuals.

There will be a Coffee Chat & Resource Fair happening on April 1st. RSVP is required Click Here for the invitation. There is more information about these days below.

March 21, 2019, Down Syndrome Awareness Day

Today is World Down Syndrome Awareness Day. #WorldDownSyndromeDay. The ISKL ES community is encouraged to wear mismatched socks to raise awareness and highlight that our differences are what make us great.

April 1-5, 2019, Inclusive Schools Week. #kaleidoscopeoffriends.

The ISKL Community Schoolwide will celebrate the progress that we have made in providing a supportive and quality education to an increasingly diverse student population. The week will also provide an important opportunity for educators, students and parents to discuss what else needs to be done in order to ensure that ISKL continues to successfully educate all children. Events will be planned to engage the students, teachers, and parents. 

April 1, 2019, Coffee Chat & Resource Fair. 

To kick off Inclusive Schools Week there will be a Coffee Chat and Resource Fair in the Community Room from 8:15 - 9:45 am. This is a great opportunity for parents to learn about the resources that the Student Resource Team (SRT) offers to support students in their learning and development at ISKL. In addition to learning about speech and language therapy, educational psychology, and counseling available at ISKL, parents will also have the opportunity to learn about additional supports that can be accessed outside of school to support their child and family.  Coffee and snacks will be provided. Parents need to RSVP - Click Here.

April 2, 2019, is World Autism Awareness Day 

#LightItUpBlue The ISKL ES community is encouraged to support the ‘Autism Speaks - Light it up Blue Campaign’ by wearing blue to increase understanding and acceptance of autism.

April 5, 2019, Diversity Day

As Inclusive Schools Week wraps up, ES students are encouraged to dress in clothes that highlight them as unique individuals. #kaleidoscopeoffriends

CLASS WORK LAST WEEK

Language Arts: Reading, writing, speaking & listening:

Last week for reading, the students continued their reading unit titled, ‘Fantasy Book Clubs’. The students continued working in their fantasy book clubs reading and discussing their current fantasy books. For writing, the students continued writing a short fantasy story and/or their ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ fantasy story using Google slides and they also continued their year-long ‘Free Choice Writing Project’ where they continued the process of writing and publishing their own realistic or fantasy story on their laptops using a Google doc. I also continued reading a series of short fantasy stories by Paul Jennings from his books, Unreal, Unbelievable, Uncanny and Quirky Tales.  The students also continued daily typing practice from 7:50 - 8:10am using the www.typing.com program.

Math:

Last week, the students continued working on Unit 5 titled: ‘Multiplying and Dividing Fractions’.

Lessons covered last week:

Lesson 3: Multiplying a fraction by a whole number

Lesson 4: Multiplying a unit fraction by a unit fraction.

Lesson 5: Multiplying a unit fraction by a non-unit fraction

Checkpoint.

Science:

Last week, the students concluded their Amplify Science unit titled, ‘Modeling Matter: The Chemistry of Food’. The students were involved in a simulation where they are in the role of food scientists who work for a fictitious company titled, ‘Good Food Production Inc’. Science lessons were conducted in one of the science labs and classroom. The students have now completed all the chapter 1, 2 and 3 lessons. Last week, they completed:

Lesson 3.6 Creating digital models of emulsifiers

They made the actual salad dressing in science lab 3 and tasted it on some lettuce.

They also completed the end-of-unit written assessment.

COUNSELING LESSONS

Our G4&5 Counselor - Stephanie Stone - conducted her usual counseling lesson last Wed. morning. Her next counseling lesson will be on Tues. 2 Apr. - the next day 7 - from 8:30-9:00am

UPCOMING MAR. APR. & MAY 2019 CLASS & SCHOOL EVENTS

Mon. 1 Apr. - day 6: school resumes following the mid-semester break

Tues. 2 Apr. - day 7: World Autism Awareness Day

Wed. 3 Apr. - day 8:

Thurs. 4 Apr. - day 1: G5 Social Change Maker’s Conference - Part 2, from 10:30am-12:30pm. We will have 5 more social change makers presenting to our students. Parents are invited to attend. 

Fri. 5 Apr. - day 2: Diversity Day

Fri. 19 Apr: Good Friday. School is in session. Red Hats’ Free Dress Day.

Sat. 20 Apr: Community Recycling Program in the Cell Phone Car Park from 9:30-11:30am.

Mon. 22 Apr: ES Earth Week begins.

Thurs. 25 Apr: ES MAP testing program begins.

Tues. 30 Apr: G5 Night of the Notables Presentation for parents in the Melawati Theatre from 7:00-8:00pm. More details TBA.

Wed. 1 May: Labour Day holiday - no school 

Until after the mid-semester break,

 

Best regards,         

 

David

Newsletter no. 27 Mon. 11 Mar. 2019

NEWSLETTER NO. 27
MON. 11 MAR. 2019

Dear Parents,

REMINDERS FOR THIS WEEK & EARLY NEXT WEEK:
Mon. 11 Mar. - day 5: ES Book Week starts

Tues. 12 Mar. - day 6: G6 Course Selection Form Assembly with Janelle Maxson, the G6 Counselor, from 1:30-2:30pm in the G5 common area.

Wed 13 Mar. - day 7: G6 Peer Helpers will visit G5 classrooms for a Q&A about G6 and the Middle School from 10:30-11:15am.
ES Book Swap.

Thurs. 14 Mar.  - day 8:

Fri. 15 Mar. - day 1: ES Book Character Dress-up Day. Students can dress up as their favorite book character.

Sat. 16 Mar: Community Recycling Program in the Cell Phone Car Park from 9:30-11:30am

G6 COURSE SELECTION FORM
As mentioned above, Janelle Maxson will present the various G6 course options to the students on Tues. 12 Mar. at 1:30pm and they will receive a course selection form to take home for you to read, complete and sign. Please read the form with your child, choose and record course options and return the form to school by Tues. 19 Mar. Even if you think your family may be moving elsewhere at the end of the school year, please return the form just in case plans change.   

STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES (SLCs) THANKS
It was great to see you all again at our SLCs last Thursday & Friday! Congratulations to the students for their hard work and effort, both in preparing for and conducting their SLC. It was inspiring to be an active listener/observer during the multiple conferences and to witness how confident and mature the students were in sharing/discussing their work samples and learning goals. Thanks also to you for all the time and effort you contributed as parents to make our SLCs a success. I hope you learned just as much, or hopefully even more from your child’s SLC than from a traditional parent-teacher conference. My goal for the remainder of this school year is to help each student work on their learning goals and prepare for G6.

CLASS WORK LAST WEEK
Language Arts: Reading, writing, speaking & listening:
Last week our fantasy book clubs were put on hold due to the students needing to prepare for their SLCs. However, at various times they were able to continue with some writing. They continued writing a short fantasy story and they also continued their year-long ‘Free Choice Writing Project’ where they continued the process of writing and publishing their own realistic or fantasy story on their laptops using a Google doc. They also continued writing a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ fantasy story using Google slides. I also continued reading a series of short fantasy stories by Paul Jennings from his books, Unreal, Unbelievable, Uncanny and Quirky Tales.  The students also continued daily typing practice from 7:50 - 8:10am using the www.typing.com program.

Math:
Last week, the students used their math lesson time to prep for their SLCs.

Science:
Last week, the students used their science time to prep for their SLCs. 

COUNSELING LESSONS
Our G4&5 Counselor - Stephanie Stone - will conduct her next counseling lesson on Wed. 13 Mar. - the next day 7 - from 8:30-9:00am

UPCOMING MAR. APR. & MAY 2019 CLASS & SCHOOL EVENTS
Mon. 18 Mar: Faculty Inservice Day - no school for students

Tues. 19 Mar. - day 2: Begin Fantasy writing unit post-assessment. Begin ‘Social Change’ social studies unit.

Wed. 20 Mar. - day 3: Complete Fantasy writing unit post-assessment.

Thurs. 21 Mar. - day 4: World Down Syndrome Awareness Day.

Fri. 22 Mar. - day 5: Fantasy reading and writing units end with a G5 ‘Fantasy Character Dress Up Day’ and sharing fantasy stories with G2 students.

Sat. 23 - Sun. 31 Mar: Mid-semester break.

Mon. 1 Apr: School resumes.
Inclusive Schools Week begins.

Mon. 22 Apr: ES Earth Week begins.

Tues. 30 Apr: G5 'Night of the Notables Presentation' to parents in the Melawati Theatre from 7:00-8:00pm. More details TBA.

Wed. 1 May: Labour Day public holiday - no school.

Until next week,

Best regards,         

David

Newsletter no. 26 Mon. 4 Mar. 2019

NEWSLETTER NO. 26
MON. 4 MAR. 2019

Dear Parents,

REMINDERS FOR THIS WEEK & EARLY NEXT WEEK:
Mon. 4 Mar. - day 8:

Tues. 5 Mar. - day 1:

Wed. 6 Mar. - day 2:

Thurs. 7 Mar. - day 3 & Fri. 8 Mar. - day 4: ES Parent-Teacher Conferences. G2-5 students will be doing Student-Led Conferences. All parents have booked their child’s SLC in PowerSchool.

Mon. 11 - Fri. 15 Mar: ES Book Week

STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES SLCS - WHAT TO EXPECT IN 5DH
Why SLCs?
Students develop students’ ownership of their learning
Students build independence
Students take pride in their success
Students identify areas for improvement
Students share knowledge and skills learned

What will be the format for the SLCs?
Students will lead their conferences and rotate with their parents through 4 conference stations within their classroom.
The 4 stations will be: Language Arts: Reading & Writing, Math, Science and Learning Behaviors, Work Habits etc.
2-4 students and their parents will rotate around the 4 stations within a 45 min. time slot.
Some teacher time with parents can be provided, if needed.
After 45 minutes, when the 4 classroom-based rotations are complete, students and parents are expected to visit with 1-2 specialist teachers, who will be located in their usual rooms.
Students will share work samples, progress, learning goals, next steps etc.
EAL/LR support teachers will join the SLCs to support students.
A separate time can be scheduled for lengthy conversations, if needed.

BOOK SWAP PREPARATION
Mon. 11 Mar. is the start of Book Week and the ever popular BOOK SWAP will be on Wed. 13 Mar. This is a wonderful time for students to bring in books that they no longer want to read and trade them for “new” book(s). Last Fri. the students were asked to start bringing in books for the Book Swap. Students can bring their books to the library or classroom and receive coupons. Leftover books will be donated to refugee schools. So it is a WIN, WIN, WIN!!!
The way that the swap will work is as follows:
1. Up until Tues. 12 Mar. students may bring books to the library or their classroom.  For each book donated, students will be given one coupon. Teachers and library staff will write students’ names on each coupon that they have in case these coupons become lost.
2. On the day of the Book Swap - Wed. 13 Mar. - students will bring their coupon(s) to the library. Grades 3-5 students can come during lunch recess or teachers can send them in small groups. Grades PR-2 will sign up for a time slot by class.
A few rules for the Book Swap:
1. Students are asked to bring in books IN ENGLISH ONLY that are appropriate for their OWN age level. Books should be in GOOD CONDITION!!
2. Students may bring as many books as they would like to the swap, but we will give only a maximum of 10 coupons per child.
3. We are asking that students do not bring in workbooks, consumable books like coloring books, books not written in English and religious books.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to email either Suji DeHart or Ms. Jit. Thank you for your enthusiastic support of this fun event -ES Library Staff: Suji, Punitha and Jit.

MARCH BOOK MADNESS (MBM) 2019
A few weeks ago G5 teachers and our librarian - Suji Dehart - introduced the students to an online ‘tournament of books’ titled “March Book Madness’. The format is similar to the NCAA’s (National Collegiate Athletic Association in the USA) March Madness Basketball Tournament, which is held each March in the USA. The difference of course is that the March Book Madness tournament involved books, not college basketball. Click here for details. The students will be reading/voting on the MG (Middle Grades) Novel Bracket. They will vote online on the first round of books on Wed. 6 Mar. Some students may have read some of the books in the draw. They don’t have to read all of the books to vote. They can also watch the book trailers before they vote - available on youtube - especially if they don’t have time to read the book. As you will see from the MBM website, the tournament is not all about the competition - it’s all about promoting enjoyment of excellent literature. Many fantastic books made the cut for the 2019 MBM. Please encourage and ask your child about the books they have already read and intend to read. Voting on the MBM website starts on Wed. 6 Mar. in the US, which will be Thurs. 7 Mar. in Malaysia.

CLASS WORK LAST WEEK
Language Arts: Reading, writing, speaking & listening:
Last week for reading, the students continued their reading unit titled, ‘Fantasy Book Clubs’. The students continued working in their fantasy book clubs reading and discussing their current fantasy books. For writing, the students continued writing a short fantasy story and they also continued their year-long ‘Free Choice Writing Project’ where they continued the process of writing and publishing their own realistic or fantasy story on their laptops using a Google doc. They also continued writing a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ fantasy story using Google slides. I also continued reading a series of short fantasy stories by Paul Jennings from his books, Unreal, Unbelievable, Uncanny and Quirky Tales.  The students also continued daily typing practice from 7:50 - 8:10am using the www.typing.com program.

Math:
Last week, the students began working on Unit 5 titled: ‘Multiplying and Dividing Fractions’.
Lessons covered last week:
Lesson 1: Fractions as division
Lesson 2: Interpreting remainders as division

Science:
Last week, the students continued their Amplify Science unit titled, ‘Modeling Matter: The Chemistry of Food’. The students continued their simulation where they are in the role of food scientists who work for a fictitious company titled, ‘Good Food Production Inc’. We are conducting lessons in the science labs and classrooms. So far, the students have completed all the chapter 1 and 2 lessons. Last week, they also began the chapter 3 lessons:
Lesson 3.2: Science You Can’t See
Lesson 3.3: Modeling Mixtures
Lesson 3.4: Investigating Emulsifiers

COUNSELING LESSONS
Our G4&5 Counselor - Stephanie Stone conducted her usual counseling lesson on Fri. 1 Mar. Her next lesson will be on Wed. 13 Mar. - the next day 7 - from 8:30-9:00am

UPCOMING MAR. & APR. 2019 CLASS & SCHOOL EVENTS
Mon. 11 - Fri. 15 Mar: ES Book Week

Wed 13 Mar: ES Book Swap! Check your book shelves at home with your child and make some choices for the book swap. See above item for details.

Fri. 15 Mar: ES Book Character Dress-up Day

Sat. 16 Mar: Community Recycling Program in the Cell Phone Car Park from 9:30-11:30am

Mon. 18 Mar: Faculty Inservice Day - no school for students

Thurs. 21 Mar: World Down Syndrome Day

Fri. 22 Mar: Fantasy reading and writing units end with a G5 ‘Fantasy Character Dress Up Day’ and sharing fantasy stories with G2 students. Details - TBA.

Sat. 23 - Sun. 31 Mar: Mid-semester break

Mon. 1 Apr: School resumes

Until next week,

Best regards,         

David