Grade 5 Newsletter

Dear Parents/Guardians,
Term 1 Report Cards are being sent home on
Wednesday February 4th. I will also be sending home a
letter this week regarding parent/teacher interviews.
Although a formal interview is not required for all
students, any parents or guardians who are interested
are welcome to request one. I would be a happy to
meet with you to discuss your childs progress heading
into Term 2.
In the classroom, our recent focus has been on setting
learning goals. For our new math unit (multiplication),
the class identified the following learning goals the will
help to guide our learning:
1. Know and recall the multiplication facts up to 12 X
12.
2. Solve problems involving the multiplication of two
digit numbers.

February 2015
Important Dates
Wednesday February
4th
Report Cards go
home
February 9 - February
12
Kindness Week
Thursday February
12th
Red, White and Pink
Day
Cake Walk Fundraiser
Scholastic Orders
Due

For each learning goal, the class worked together to cocreate the success criteria that will be used to track
their progress. The key theme that was identified is
efficiency, finding the right balance between accuracy
and speed. We are currently in the progress of exploring
a wide variety of multiplication strategies.

Friday February 13th

PA Day: No Classes

We have been setting goals in other areas as well. Our

reading and writing focus currently is Readers Theatre.
The students are working in groups to write short
scripts based on their campfire stories from Term 1.
Drama will be an integral part of our learning this term,
particularly in Social Studies as we complete our class
election and begin to explore the interaction between
Early French Explorers and First Nations. To help guide
their learning in drama, each student recently identified
their strengths and goals as dramatic performers.

Friday February 20th

Hot Dog Orders Due

In Science, we are currently testing the insulated

containers for their ability to prevent heat transfer. This
activity provides a bridge between our last unit
(Properties and Changes in Matter) and our upcoming
unit exploring Conservation of Energy. A big focus of the
upcoming unit will be another design task. Students will
be designing and building machines that convert one
form of energy to another to perform a simple task.

Days to Remember

Monday February
16th
Family Day: No
Classes

Tuesday February
24th
Toonie Tuesday
Fundraiser
Wednesday February
25th
Jump Rope for Heart

Indoor Gym: Tuesday

& Thursday
DPA: Monday,
Wednesday & Friday
(Skating)
Computers:
Wednesday

Class Dojo and Tracking Smart Goals

As we begin Term 2, I have made a few changes to the way in which
students learning goals will be tracked. Each student is currently writing 4
new smart goals based on the learning skills that appear on the elementary
report card (Responsibility, Independent Work, Initiative, Organization,
Collaboration and Self-Regulation). Each month, students will choose one
personal goal to track. From time to time, I will also set common goals that
the class as a whole can work on. Once the new goals have been written, I
will ask each student to bring a copy home to share with you.
I will continue to use the Class Dojo website (www.classdojo.com) to track
student progress. When students show progress towards achieving their
goals, they will receive a positive feedback message and earn dojo points
that can be traded in for small rewards (e.g. eat lunch with a friend). One
drawback of this site is that the other option for a feedback message (needs
work) removes points. I will no longer be sending needs work messages to
students who are not achieving their goals as it does not seem fair to remove
points that have already been earned. This means that students will only
receive feedback when they have achieved their learning goal. No message
indicates that the student is still working on that particular goal.
Student Volunteering
I have been very proud of the leadership initiative shown by our Grade 5
class recently. Many of our students have given up considerable hours of
their own time to volunteer for lunch monitoring, the healthy snack program
and eco-explorers. Bells Corners P.S. is fortunate to have such caring
students. Keep up the great work!
Skating
We have recently begun using the outdoor skating rink that is located on the
school yard. Our scheduled skating time (weather permitting) is Friday
afternoon from 2:45-3:45. Parent volunteers are always welcome to help with
the tying and untying of skate laces. As always, please ensure that students
have a CSA approved helmet for skating and any skates brought to school
should be protected with blade guards.
Electronics in the Classroom
During the last week of January, students were invited to bring their own
personal electronic devices to school for a one day trial. I was very pleased
with the responsible way in which students used their electronics. If future
opportunities to bring electronics become available, I will provide further
details.

Communication

If you need to reach me, please email (daniel.holmes@ocdsb.ca), call (613828-3100 x2026) or send a note in your childs agenda.
I will be keeping you up-to-date on important information and school/class
events through a number of ways:

Email
Newsletters
Class Dojo (www.classdojo.com)
Class website: http://bcps-r5a.weebly.com/
Your childs agenda

It is important to check the website regularly for ongoing information

regarding class and school events. Here you will be able to find past copies
of newsletters, important dates, information on homework and a link to the
schools website (http://www.bellscornersps.blogspot.ca/).
Early pick up
If you plan to pick up your child early, please send me a note (email or
agenda) with the approximate time so that I can let the office staff know that
you are coming.
Reminders
It is recommended that students have one pair of tight fitting shoes (no slipons) for indoor physical activity and a pair of warm, waterproof boots for
outdoor play. Now that the weather has changed, please ensure that
students come prepared each day to spend time outdoors (recess and DPA).
Students should have a warm coat, boots, hat and gloves/mittens. Sending
an extra pair of dry socks in the backpack is also a good way to avoid cold
wet feet during the day.
To minimize interruptions to our classroom learning environment and to
avoid many trips to the water fountain, please send your child to school with
a sealed reusable water bottle that can be kept at his/her desk.
Fridays at BCPS are litter-less lunch days. Please send lunch items in
reusable containers. A spare ziplock bag is also a handy item for returning
apple cores, banana peels, etc.
Scholastic Reading Club
Each month, I will be sending home the order forms for purchasing books
and other educational resources. As always, scholastic orders are completely
voluntary. The bonus points that are collected will be used to obtain books
for our classroom library.

Donations

Any donations of gently used books for our classroom library or sports
equipment (tennis balls, mini sticks, etc.) for our recess bin will be greatly
appreciated. If your child would like the books/equipment returned to them
at the end of the year, please ensure that their name is clearly visible on the
item.
Homework
Weekly math practice sheets (yellow math duotang) are sent home each
Monday.
This homework will provide additional reinforcement to the
concepts that we will be covering in class. Students are asked to complete
and return their math practice by Friday each week.
We are now into our nineteenth week of daily word work. Students will be
given time in class to complete daily work on their core spelling words. Any
unfinished work will need to be completed at home on Thursday (grey word
work duotang) and returned to school by Friday. Our weekly dictation will
be held on Friday afternoon so students may choose to study their words the
night before (Thursday).
From time to time, assignments (e.g. science project) may need to be sent
home to be completed. Due dates will be communicated by email and on
the class website.
As always, students are encouraged to spend approximately 30 minutes
each night (Sunday Thursday) reading.
Thank you,
Mr. Daniel Holmes
Grade 5
Bells Corners P.S.