Ms. Davis Grade 5 (2023-2024)

This week, students finished their wetlands posters and we began exploring the differences between living and non-living things. Students then brainstormed what classifies a living thing as an animal and came up with categories using their prior knowledge. Next week, students will be exploring plants as living things, and the adaptations of animals and will be doing their second science experiment of the year. We finished our math unit on representing large numbers by practicing in math centres in small groups. Next Tuesday , students will be taking their first quiz on representing large numbers in standard form, expanded form, word form and model form.  Students also started an extended writing piece, where they are writing a letter to their future selves. They will be opening up this letter at the end of the year to see how far they've come! We will be going for our first community walk next week! If you would like to volunteer to come join us on our walk, please let me know by e...

It was wonderful meeting you last night at Meet the Teacher! If you didn't have the chance to come to the school, I look forward to meeting you during conferences in a few months. This week was our Terry Fox Run! Students explored the legacy of Terry Fox, and the characteristics of being heroic. They then considered who in their life demonstrates these characteristics, and who they have heard of that they would consider a hero. Working together, they came up with a list of names for each, realizing that many of the people they considered to be a hero were similar to their peers. We ran in the Terry Fox Run on Thursday, and students brought in toonies to donate to cancer research. Thank you to everyone who donated and came out to cheer their students on. We started to explore the different types of wetlands in our science unit. Students are working in groups of 2 or 3 to create a poster showcasing a different type of wetland. In Social Studies, students began to learn key vocabulary...

This week, students completed their first science experiment with Smarties, where they determined if there would be an unequal or equal amount of smarties in a 1/3 cup. They charted their data on a table, and graphed their results on a bar graph. In Math, students began exploring place value and how to represent large numbers using various forms. We reviewed how to write numbers in standard form, expanded form and word form. Students begin each class with a 'Which One Doesn't Belong?' question, where they come up with reasons why one of the four numbers, graphs or images doesn't belong. Ask your student about this - they love it! We continued to build our classroom community with team building activities. Yesterday we spent part of the afternoon playing games outside and today students worked to build the longest chain with a group, using only scissors, glue and one piece of construction paper. This weekend, students will be bringing home their home journals. This is a ...

Happy second week of school! We had a great week. We continued to establish our classroom community, got to know one another even better, and practiced our routines and classroom expectations. We started our first units in Science and Social Studies. In Science, we learned about the scientific method - the steps scientists take when testing out their theories. Next week, we will be doing our first science experiment, following these steps!  In Social Studies, our first unit looks at the physical geography of Canada. To get students thinking about Canada's physical geography, I challenged them to fill out a Canadian map with a partner in 10 minutes. They were only given a list of provinces/territories, capitals, and important bodies of water. By the end of our unit, they will be able to see how much more they know about Canada's geography. In ELAL, we focused on developing our oral language skills. We brainstormed how to be active listeners, and students spent the entire week wo...