Week 16

Dear Parents and Students,

It's hard to believe we have finished our final week of school for 2018! We finished this week with a Christmas/Winter party. Thank you to parents and students for the treats we shared today. It was not an obligation this year, but it's clear that people enjoy sharing, and so it was a nice way to end the week ahead of the Winter Break.

One of our activities on Friday was making geometrically accurate snowflakes. This was an extension of Math Topic 9, and our studies in geometry. We are a little more than halfway through Topic 9. When we return from the break, we will complete the topic – with a focus on triangles and quadrilaterals – with the Topic Test to take place on Friday, 4^th January.

 In our Literacy Workshop, we have completed our latest writing assignment: Writing a Narrative Story, and we read our stories aloud before the class. We are also coming to the end of our grammar unit dedicated to verbs. We will complete this unit soon after we return from the break, and then move onto our next unit about adjectives.

In Science, we have reviewed all we have learned about energy, and we have previewed our next topic, which investigates motion. We will be enjoying more practical assignments when we return after the break as we discover what affects motion and movement, and how we can use this knowledge to our advantage.

In Social Studies, we held our open-book test this week. In addition to developing our ability to locate information as required, the test has given each of us a good idea of how effective our note-taking strategies are, as we were also able to use our notebooks to answer questions. We have also been previewing what is to come after the break. When we return, we will be learning about the American Northeast, including the early people of the land, European settlement, and its foundation and growth as the United States of America.

I hope that you all have a wonderful winter vacation, and are able to spend quality time with your families.

Take care during the break, and I will see you all in the New Year!

Important Dates:

15^th Dec – 1^st Jan:        Winter Break

Fri, Jan 4:                    Maths test – Topic 9

Wed Jan 16:                 Last day of Semester 1 Clubs

Fri, Jan 25:                  Monthly Assembly (Dec and Jan)

Mon-Thu, Jan 28-31:  Chinese Week

Fri-Sun, Feb 1-10:       Chinese New Year vacation – School closed

  

 Click here to see photos of us presenting our narrative stories.

Thank you to Marlee, our class photographer for the week!

...and click here for our Christmas Album.  Please feel free to add photos you may have taken during the performance last Friday!

Student of the Week, Week 16

Congratulations to Kanon!

Kanon has greatly improved her attitude since last week, and has been contributing much more to our classroom environment. Well done, Kanon, it's good to have you as part of our class!

Homework, Thursday, 13th December

Maths: Practice 9-4 Polygons; Enrichment 9-4 Poly Shapes
Bonus points: find the specific names for the shapes at numbers 6 and 7 of Practice 9-4.
This link will take you to a Wikipedia page that shows you how to label polygons with huge numbers of sides.
And here is another... (Scroll to the bottom for the fun part.)

Homework, Wednesday, 12th December

Maths: Practice 9-3 Measuring Angles; Enrichment 9-3 Name that Angle
English/Writing: Publish your Narrative Story – Presentations tomorrow!

Homework, Tuesday, 11th December

Maths: Practice 9-2 Lines, Rays, and Angles; Enrichment 9-2 Shapes in Shapes
Click here to study new terms on Quizlet
English: Make sure your narrative is ready to proofread and publish tomorrow.

Homework, Monday, 10th December

Maths: Practice 9-1 Points, Lines, and Planes; Enrichment 9-1 Street Smarts
Social Studies: Make sure your Chapter 2 notes are complete. Open-book test tomorrow.
Science: Click here if you would like to watch today's lesson again.

Week 15

Dear Parents and Students,

At the time of writing, we are yet to perform our Christmas concert, but we are all very excited in anticipation of the show. A big thank you to Mrs Johnson, who has put in so much work with not just our class, but all of the classes at HIS.

In the classroom:

Maths: We have just completed Topic 8, and our test took place on Thursday. We also had a cumulative test on Friday. This test required no studying, as it is designed to gauge our retention rate of all topics covered so far this year. Next week, we will begin our next topic, which focuses on geometry.

Literacy: We have been planning and drafting our Narrative Story which is due for publication next week.  We will read our stories aloud before the rest of the class next Thursday.  In grammar, we have continued with our study of verbs.

Science: We have almost finished our first Physical Science unit about energy, and have been enjoying a number of practical investigations.  We will complete this unit next week, and preview our next unit about motion which will begin in earnest after the break.

Social Studies: We have all but completed Unit 1, which sets the foundations and gives direction for our studies throughout the remainder of the year. Next week, we will complete an open book test dedicated to what we studied in Chapter 2. We will then preview the next unit, and discuss how we will be investigating each region. The open-book test will take place on Tuesday.

Next Friday, we will have a small Christmas/end of year party in the classroom. Students are welcome to bring snacks to share, although this is not an obligation. We will have a relaxing day, including watching a movie after we have completed all tasks and tidied up. This will be our final school day for 2018, and students will be dismissed at between 12:00-12:10 pm. Please check the newsletter, this blog, and Class Dojo messages for further details.

I hope everyone enjoys the winter break, and I wish you all safe journeys if you are traveling. We have one more week before our vacation, though, so students, I’ll see you all on Monday!

Important Dates:

Tue, Dec 11:               Social Studies open-book test – Chapter 2

Fri, Dec 14:                 Christmas / End of Year Party;  Half Day

15^th Dec – 1^st Jan:        Winter Break

  

Student of the Week, Week 15

Congratulations to Marlee!

Marlee has found some of our recent lessons quite challenging, but she has risen to the task and put forth her best efforts. Her positive attitude is an inspirational example for us all to follow. Keep it up, Marlee. Well done!

Homework, Thursday, 6th December

There is NO specific homework assigned for this evening, but please make sure that you are up-to-date on the following:

Reading: make sure you are completing at least two Achieve 3000 articles each week.
English: Character, Setting, and Plot Summary - We will be drafting tomorrow.
Science: All worksheets due tomorrow.
Social Studies: Chapter 2 Review - pp.66-67;  Open-book test on Tuesday

Homework, Wednesday, 5th December

Maths:  Review Topic 8 - test tomorrow.  Practice Test pp.188-189; Extra Practice pp.190-193
Answers below
Practice 8-9 Prime and Composite Numbers; Enrichment 8-9 Pyramid Patterns

Science: All worksheets due Friday

Practice Test 8 Answers

1. C      2. B      3. C      4. D     5. D     6. C      7. A      8. B      9. A      10. A   11. D   12. B   13. C   14. A   15. B

Topic 8 Extra Practice Answer Key

Set A 1. 50 2. 9,000 3. 800 4. 6,000 5. 500 6. 60 7. 90 8. 8,000 9. 900 10. 7,000 11. 1,000 12. 70 13. 300 14. 7,000	Set B 1. 90 2. 40 3. 60 4. 10 5. 120 6. 160 7. 70 8. 90 9. 70 10. 90 11. 70 12. 40 13. 10 14. 20 15. 50 16. 60 17. 70 18. 30 19. 80 20. 60	Set C 1. 5 R1 2. 7 R1 3. 8 R3 4. 4 R2 5. 9 R1 6. 6 R3 7. 9 R6 8. 7 R5	Set D 1. 7 CDs, 3 left over 2. 4 nickels, 0 left over 3. 15 dimes, 2 left over 4. 12 nickels, 5 left over	SET E 1. 6 R1 2. 16 R1 3. 3 R4 4. 26 R1 5. 12 R2 6. 28 R1 7. 23 R2 8. 15 R2
SET F 1. 112 2. 130 R1 3. 132 R2 4. 121 R2 5. 101 R3 6. 114 R2 7. 103 8. 116 R2		SET G 1.    9×5; 15×3 2.    10×4; 8×5 3.    8×7; 28×2 4.    9×7; 21×3 5.    6×6; 9×4 6.     4×4; 8×2	SET H 1. Prime 2. Composite 3. Composite 4. Prime 5. Prime 6. Composite	SET K 1. $352 2. 325 minutes

Homework, Thursday, 4th December

Maths: Practice 8-8 Factors; Enrichment 8-7 Division Amazement
Writing: Think about your plot and storyline.
Reading: Keep up to date with Achieve 3000

Homework, Monday, 3rd December

Maths: Practice 8-7 Deciding Where to Start Dividing; Enrichment 8-7 The History of Zoro
Also complete Practice 8-6; Enrichment 8-6
English: THINK about characters and a setting for your narrative story.

Today's mini-lesson:

Week 14

Dear Parents and Students,

It was a little disappointing that the weather didn’t favour us on Wednesday. Thank you to all parents who helped to make sure that everyone was wearing team colours; the classroom was very bright! We will just have to be patient, and wait until the 16^th January to enjoy Fun Day. Despite the disappointment, we have had a lot of fun this week.

In the classroom:

Maths: The week has been dedicated to division. We have used counters, pictures, diagrams, and expanded algorithms to find the quotients of single, double, and triple digit dividends. We will continue with Topic 8 next week, with the test to take place on Thursday.

Literacy: We have spent the week reading A Very Important Day, and our close-reading skills continue to improve. Next week, we will begin planning and drafting for our Narrative Story. This process will occupy the best part of the final two weeks before Winter Break, and we will be reading our stories aloud before the class once we have finished publishing.

Science: We enjoyed another practical assignment this week, as we continue to study thermal energy. Our challenge was to use heat to propel a spinner which we built from paper templates. We then compared the chain reactions of our designs to those found in other existing heat engines. Pictures of our workshop can be found via the link at the bottom of this post.

Social Studies: We have continued our discussion about different levels of government, and we have also observed the various kinds of regions into which a country can be divided. Next week, we will revise what we have learned over the past few weeks, then begin preparing for our open book test, due to take place on the following Tuesday, 11^th December.

As you know, our Christmas show is to take place next Friday, 7^th December. Everyone has been working hard preparing for the performances, and Mrs Johnson has done a wonderful job directing each number. It promises to be an entertaining evening, and I look forward to seeing you all there.

Students, I’ll see you all next Monday.

Important Dates:

Thu, Dec 6: Maths test – Topic 8

Fri, Dec 7: Christmas Show

Fri, Dec 14: Half Day

15^th Dec – 1^st Jan: Winter Break

Click here for photos of our Heat Engine experiment.

Students of the Week

Runa, Liam, Soushi, Evelyn, Bronte (Guess-how-many-eyeballs winner) and Christine

Student of the Week, Week 14

Congratulations to Gary!

Gary has had a very good week. He has increased his focus on his work, and his involvement in Reading Circles and the Science practical task has shown enthusiasm while being beneficial to his groups. Well done, Gary, and keep up the good work!