Social Studies Update

As we near the end of October, Room 5C has been preparing for a big debate in Social Studies. We have started learning about the 6 geographic regions of Canada, beginning with the Atlantic region. 

As we have learned, people in the Atlantic region relied heavily on the cod fishing industry to support their livelihood. In 1992 the government put a ban on cod fishing, due to the depleting numbers of the cod population. We have learned that, as a result, 40 000 people lost their jobs.
In our class, students have been divided into opposing groups to debate over the issue: Should the cod fishery reopen? 
After much research and planning, our debate will occur tomorrow morning. We are excited to discuss these issues, and to engage in a respectful and informed debate with our peers. 

Coming soon, we will have a Chapter 1 test about Exploring Canada.
Next week we will be reviewing concepts from Chapter 1, and focusing on what makes each region unique. Students will need to know the names of all 6 regions, and where each region is located in Canada.
Tomorrow, students will be given a study guide, which they may take home for the long weekend if they would like to. 

Good Evening!

This morning in Language Arts, we had a discussion about what it means to be humble. After looking at the quote, "Humility is the foundation of all virtues." by the philosopher Confucius. After our class discussion, students wrote individual reflections including examples of what it looks like to show humility. 

·         In Social Studies we are preparing for a class debate concerning natural resources and how we can protect these resources. Our debate topic is: “If the numbers of cod increase, should the cod fishery re-open?” Students are very excited about this.

·         We have started our next unit in Math on Multiplying and Dividing. Students got their Unit 2 tests back today and we went over them as a group. They will come home tonight to be signed and returned to class. We will begin our multiplication basic facts in class this week, and the remaining addition questions will be available for students to finish on their own time. In grade 5, students are expected to know facts up to 9 x 9 but we will practice up to 12 x 12 in preparation for future years

Upcoming Dates:

Now until Friday, October 28^th – Jacket Racket continues.

Thursday, October 27^th – Family Photo Night in the Learning Commons.

Friday, October 28^th – Black and Orange Spirit Day. 

Friday, October 28^th – Mary Brown’s Chicken Lunch (for those that ordered).

Monday, October 31^st – Professional Development Day – No school for students.

Tuesday, November 1^st – Faith Day – No school for students. 

Wednesday, November 2^nd to Friday the 11^th, students will have an opportunity to bring in any extra candy they have to be donated to the food bank. 

October 17th Update

Good evening students and parents of 5C!

In Math, we will be writing our Unit 2 Test on Wednesday, October 19th, which we will be reviewing for tomorrow. 
Today we were practicing basic addition and subtraction, and estimation using front-end rounding. 
Front-end rounding is a strategy in which we take the first one or two digits of the same place value, and every number to the right of those becomes a zero.
For example, front end round using the first and second digit:
8 729 + 5 493.
Step 1 is to look at the first and second digits of each number.
Step 2 is to change the remaining numbers to the right of those digits to zero. 
Step 3 is to add. 
8 700 + 5 400 = 14 100

Here are the questions we were working on in class today:

In Art class, students of 5C worked on paintings using autumn colours, and fresh leaves that we gathered from the ground outside. By combining a number of painting techniques, we came up with a broad spectrum of works of art that are proudly displayed outside our classroom. 
The incredible thing about art is that each individual has the ability to create something unique. Here are some of the finished products:

In Science, the students have built their own weather instruments, and for the past week they have been observing the weather and recording the data they found. Tomorrow will be our last day to use their instruments to record the weather, and this week each group will share their expert information about their specific instrument with their classmates.