Mr Ward  Grade 5  (March, 2023)

Seeing is Believing

One of our thematic units this year is Light and Shadow. As part of our unit on Light and Shadow, we have talked about the different properties of light. First, the students learned about natural and artificial light sources. The students named and labeled different sources.

We introduced the electromagnetic spectrum and talked about the range of light that is visible as well as talking about the light ranges that humans cannot see. We then talked about other properties of light. The students learned about opacity, transparency, and translucency. The students identified different objects that range from transparent to opaque.

We watched a video demonstration of a project. The students then attempted it themselves. We colored a paper wheel in different colors, attached it to a string and spun it. When it goes fast enough, the colors look white.

Finally, after talking about reflection and refraction, the students drew, folded and cut out the pieces to make a periscope. We helped them put in the mirrors. (10-11) After the periscopes were completed, the students were able to use the two mirrors within to see object out the other side of the periscope. Overall, we had a great time learning about the different properties of light and putting them to use.

Ms Jemma  Grade 5  (April, 2023)

Kindness is Magic

Last semester our Social Science topic was all about friendship. The students worked together to identify what elements make a good friend, these included qualities such as honesty, trustworthiness, fun, helpful, accepting and kind. With a focus on kindness the students answered the questions what does kindness mean? And why should I be kind?

Then we went online, and being kind became more important than ever, many people were struggling during this time. The students were challenged to complete 3 acts of kindness. Since we could not return to classes before the end on the semester, over the winter holidays students had time to complete their task. For each act of kindness they performed, they wrote a few sentences about what they did. Some were asked more details about their act of kindness. They were then given a card which they put on our notice board; once the cards were all there they created a huge picture. The students Enjoyed trying to guess what the completed picture would look like.

Our acts of kindness included, helping their family cook dinner, helping their friends find lost items and with difficult homework. Some students helped strangers carry their shopping and visit their grandparent to help clean.

Once the students had completed their acts of kindness it was my turn to show them some kindness so each student was rewarded with tickets and a small gift bag. I hope they will all keep their promise to be kind!

Mr V  Grade 5  (April, 2023)

How Big and Bad is the Big Bad Wolf? : Understanding Characters in a Story

5.3 are learning more about their favorite character in the books they will be reading. The project we will do takes the form of an interactive note book that focuses on six main story elements with character traits being the first. The students will search in the text for descriptions of the character’s actions, thoughts, feelings and spoken words to understand their favorite character’s personality. Students will be provided a model to use for their project. Arts and crafts combined with learning is a great way for students to enjoy learning while also expressing their creative side by using a variety of designs reflecting the students’ own personality and interests. The character the students choose can also be reflection of their personality and interests.

First, we did a model together, so the students could understand what they will do for their own character. We chose the Big, Bad Wolf for the model. Character adjectives used to describe him are often the same: dangerous, aggressive, dishonest, foolish and violent. Others might include sneaky and evil. There is the name and famous first words of the Big, Bad Wolf—“Little pig, little pig, Let me come in!” This line might seem innocent enough until the next line is introduced, which might be more famous—“I will huff and I will puff and I will blow your house down!” These first few lines of dialogue between the first pig and the Big, Bad Wolf allow the reader to understand that the Big, Bad Wolf is indeed Big and Bad. We look forward to seeing the students own Character Trait project!

Mr Ward   Grade 5  (January, 2022)

Bullying

In our class, we are learning about bullying, how to prevent it, and what to do if you witness it. The students watched a video of kids talking about bullying, why it happens, and what to do about it. (pic 1, 2) The students then had a class discussion on what to do. (pic 3, 4, 5)

As a class, we talked about what actions are bullying and what we can do about it.

As a group, we talked about self-control and controlling our emotions. We talked about how to control our emotions and practiced techniques like deep breathing. (pic 6)

The students, in groups of two, made posters about anti-bullying. We looked at different examples of anti-bullying posters. As a whole, we highlighted language that these posters used (pic 7). The students then worked on making their own posters using the ones we had seen for inspiration. (pic 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

Finally, the students worked together one more time to make a skit that talked about bullying. The students had to show awareness of different types of bullying and provide an anti-bullying message to the class. The students then presented their skits in front of the class. (pic 14, 15, 16)

Mr Matt  UELS (January, 2022)

At the Circus!

In UELS2, one Guided Reading story we read was “The Circus.” During Guided Reading, we discussed things you can see or do at the circus. The teacher also spent this time helping the students pronounce and understand circus related vocabulary words. Then, we spent a lesson taking notes in our Writing Strategies notebooks about circus related vocabulary words. The slides on the screens also showed pictures describing the words in order to help the students remember the words. After we learned some new words, we played a speaking and listening review game called “Hot Seat.” The class was split into two teams with each team having a member on the Hot Seat. The students on the Hot Seat could not look at the screen, but they were given spoken clues about which vocabulary word was projected onto the screen. The team that won earned prizes. After we learned our vocabulary words, we had an independent writing assignment with a circus picture prompt. The students used their Writing Strategies notebook to help come up with ideas, and they all wrote wonderful stories. After the teacher took a look at them, the students copied their stories onto special circus paper, cut them out, and decorated them. These final products are what are proudly displayed outside the UELS2 classroom!

Ms Antasha Grade 5 (February, 2022)

Welcome Year of the Tiger - 2022

What is more exciting than Chinese cultural traditions for the Lunar New Year?  If you ask our class, nothing!  The rest of the world may call it Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, while travel guides call it the largest human migration.  This annual holiday brings families together all over China.

In a personal narrative style, using learned sentence types, our scholars share their family, regional and cultural traditions practiced during this exciting time of the year.  They put their activities in order as they will be experienced throughout the seven day holiday and beyond.  Their expressed details share glad feeling, increase their vocabulary usage, and sharpen grammar skills.  

Our completed paragraphs were rewritten and added to a flying dragon or tiger inspired by the puppet tradition of pí yǐng xì {皮影戏}.

There are many cultural traditions we all experience throughout our lives.  It is a real treat to share these cheerful moments with others along the way.

Mr A Grade 5 (February, 2022)

5Ws to Writing a Paragraph: Now THAT’s a Tasty Hamburger!

In previous years, many students focused on writing about their family, friends, hobbies, and places around their home. We were able to learn common nouns and adjectives to use in our sentences when speaking and writing with a friend or teacher. As the years progress, students will take on a whole new vocabulary of new and unfamiliar words. But how do we use all this new information? Paragraphs and story writing! The focus this year for students will be to expand their sentence structures while in the classroom. Students will be to use a new variety of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, punctuation, and sentence structures to write down their complete thoughts and ideas. One of these sentence structures is a personal favourite of mine which are the 5Ws (who, what, when, where, and why?). Using the 5Ws, students are able to give the reader a complete idea and picture inside their mind as they describe set and setting, which we will work on next semester. As students gain confidence and understanding when writing, the next challenge is to put everything that we’ve learned together into a complete structure that has a beginning, middle, and end. We call this a paragraph which holds at least 5 complete sentences. A paragraph has an introductory sentence, at least three juicy details, and finally a concluding sentence which holds it all together. Teachers usually use the hamburger method (see below) to show how students can essentially create a tasty meal from words alone!

Ms Jemma Grade 6 (February, 2022)

A Good Book

Book reports help students to organize their thoughts about a book, but they also help students to understand what is happening in the story. Recently in grade 5 we have been working on a mini book report. The class is about halfway through their guided reading book, so to help them follow the story they have been mapping out key events and characters on to triangular puzzle pieces. These pieces will be put together to make a ball book report.

One of the triangle pieces asks the students what they think of the story so far. We want to encourage students to write more detailed answers so we began this piece by looking at different opinions that we can have, and the vocabulary used to describe them. These opinions can be both positive and negative. Students made notes about the different opinions and gave examples of books for each of the opinions. For example, Harry Potter is an exciting book. Then we looked at adding evidence to our opinions, students found reasons and examples from their book to demonstrate their opinion. For example Harry Potter is an exciting book, the quidditch games are very fast and funny, this is why I really like this book.

Once the students have completed all eight pieces of their book report it was time to put them together to make a ball. Students cut out all the pieces and glued the sides together. Once complete the book reports looked great and we will hang them in our classroom.