• I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend!
• Due to the fact that we have had back to back snow days, I am moving the date of our Mystery of Cranberry Farm project to Monday, February 24th.  I originally told the students it would be due on Friday.  This way everyone will have the weekend to finish it up.
• Next week is winter carnival week.  There will be theme days such as: Feb.24 is twin day, Feb.25 is jersey day, Feb. 26 is pink shirt day and movie theater day, and Feb. 27 is math theme day and we will be having math mania in the afternoon.
• The permission forms for the movies were to go home on Wednesday, but because of the storm(s) I am hoping they will get home on Friday.  I will have a letter attached to the permission form explaining the snacks.  For $5.00, the students can get a kids pack.  We have to pre-order these and the money needs to be handed in with the permission form.  The canteen will not be open for orders the day of the movie.
• There will be no school on Friday, February 28th because it is a Collaborative day for teachers.
• Continue reading for your 20 min. each night.
• We have started our fractions and decimals unit in grade 5 math.
• Parent teacher interviews are coming up on March 6 (evening) and March 7.  I will probably follow a similar schedule as last time.  If you have any specific times you would like, please let me know. 
• Have a great week everyone!

Week of Feb. 10-14th

• Candy grams will be sold for 50 cents each on Monday and Wednesday of this week.
• Wear purple on Wednesday in recognition of Family Violence  Prevention week.
• We finished our novel!  The students loved it!  We will be starting a novel response this week in class.
• No school on Feb. 17 because it is Islander Day.
• I gave out a science assignment on Friday.  It is due this Friday and the students pick two out of the list to complete.
• We started our fractions and decimals unit at the end of last week.  We will be exploring equivalent fractions and comparing decimals.  We will also be relating decimals to fractions.  Don't forget to continue to review math facts at home.
• Congratulations to Cole for placing 1st in the Remembrance Day poster contest and to Kirstin for placing third.
• Keep reading 20 min. each evening!
• Have a wonderful week everyone.

Feb. 3-7

• Lunch orders are due tom. for the month of Feb.
• Continue reading 20 min. each night. Parents, don't forget to ask your child to talk about what they are reading.
• We are reading Mystery at Cranberry Farm and the students are loving it and so am I!
• We will be starting fractions and decimals this week in gr. 5 math.  A reminder to continue reviewing the math facts each night.  Goal 3 sec. for multiplication and 5 sec. for division.
• Book orders are due Wednesday.
• Have a great week everyone!

Week of January 27-30

• I hope everyone had a great weekend!
• The storyboards that were originally due last Friday, are now due tom.  I gave the students the weekend for a little bit of extra time due to the storm day and the delay.
• I am so excited to be starting Mystery at Cranberry Farm this week. The students are very excited too!
• There will be no school on Friday, January 31 due to a professional development day.
• Continue reading 20 min. each night.
• I hope everyone had a chance to look over the handout I sent home a couple of weeks ago that will give you some ideas on how to help your child with fluency at home.
• I was very impressed with the grade 5 math tests last week.  I loved seeing the students taking their time and double checking their work. We are finishing off our patterns in numbers unit this week before starting our unit on fractions and decimals next week.
• Have a great week everyone.

Week of Jan. 20-24

• I hope everyone had a great weekend!
• We finished our read aloud on Friday.  Kensuke's Kingdom was a hit!  The students started brainstorming for their storyboards on Friday.  This will be due on Friday, Jan. 24 and I suggest that the students are taking it home each night.  There are 8 boxes in which the students will be picking the most important events to retell the story.  We talked about putting as much effort into box 8 as in box 1.
• Grade 5 math will be finishing their quiz on Monday.
• Continue to read 20 min. each night.
• There will be a used book sale on Wednesday and Thursday this week.  Students can purchase books for 25 cents, 50 cents, and one dollar.
• Have a great week everyone!

Week of Jan. 13-17

• Book order due tom. (Monday)
• I would like to thank my students for putting so much effort into their rough copies of the ABC Autobiographies.  I will be giving them time tom. in class to start their good copies.  These will be due Wednesday.
• Grade 5 math-great job on the homework assignments. I will be giving another one Wed. night along with a review of division on Thur. and test on Friday.  Keep asking questions if you have any "bugs on your windshields."
• Continue to read 20 min. each night. The maps are getting filled....I love it!
• One of our students is missing his snowpants. They are a 7/8, black, and have a removable bib. The brand name is AlpineTek and there may be the initials MM on the inside.  It would be wonderful if everyone could do a double check at home. Thanks!
• The students are loving our new read aloud called Kensuke's Kingdom.  If you have a moment, ask your child to tell you about it so far.  They will be responsible for a sequencing project when I am finished reading. We have been learning how to take jot notes, therefore this assignment should not be difficult.
• Mrs. Visser will be in for me Mon. and Tue. because I am out at meetings both days.  I miss them terribly when I am gone and look forward to all the stories and smiles when I get back.
• Wonderful work last week students!  Let's have another great week.

Happy New Year!

• I would like to welcome everyone back after the break.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone for a full week tom. :o)
• It is lunch order Monday, so please make sure the money is handed in tom. morning.
• Students be sure to be reading your 20 min. each night and remember to read part of that time out loud.
• We are starting our new Sound unit in science.
• Gr. 5 math- I would encourage everyone to be reviewing their math facts on a nightly basis.  I will be reviewing division tom. and I am feeling that by mid next week we should be ready for our test.
• I will be starting our new read aloud in class called Kensuke's Kingdom.  The reading comprehension strategy that we will be focusing on is "Sequencing".  Sequencing refers to the identification of the components of a story, such as the beginning, middle, and end, and also to the ability to retell the events within a given text in the order in which they occurred.  We will also be starting our text type study of "Procedural writing".
• Have a wonderful week everyone! I am so glad to be back and I am looking forward to the rest of the school year.