OCTOBER 2014

Important Dates

Wednesday October 1st
Meet the Teacher

Wednesday October 8
th

Walk to School Day

Thursday October 9
th

Grade 5 Trip to Parliament
Rolling Rampage

Friday October 10
th

PA Day No Classes

Monday October 13
th

Thanksgiving No Classes

Wednesday October 15
th

Cross Country Meet

Thursday October 23
rd

Grade 5 Trip to Parliament

Thursday October 30th
Picture Day

Friday November 14
th

Picture Retake Day

Days to Remember

Indoor Gym: Tuesday &
Thursday

DPA: Monday,
Wednesday & Friday

Computers: Wednesday

Music: Thursday

Library: Friday

Contact Info

Phone Number:
613-828-3100 ex 2026

Email Address:
daniel.holmes@ocdsb.ca



Grade 5 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

Thank you to all the parents and family members who
attended the Meet the Teacher Night on October 1st. It
was a great opportunity to connect and share some of
the work that has been completed so far. If you have any
additional questions or concerns, please feel free to
contact me (daniel.holmes@ocdsb.ca).

During the first month of school, the students have been
busy producing many work samples (writing, spelling
inventories, math diagnostics) that will be used as a
baseline against which future assignments will be
assessed. We have also been busy establishing our
classroom community expectations (attentive listening,
mutual respect, appreciation, right to participate) for the
year. An ongoing theme in our classroom this year will be
bucket filling. This idea is based on the books Have You
Filled A Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud and How Full is
Your Bucket? By Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer, which
we read together at the beginning of the year. Our
classroom bucket (piggy bank) is filled daily when we
show appreciation for the positive words and actions of
our classmates.

In literacy, we have been busy establishing the first three
elements of our Daily 5: Read-to self, word work and work
on writing. Our focus in literacy for October will be Fiction.
We will begin by reviewing the traits of narratives (setting,
protagonist/antagonist, conflict, resolution, etc.) which
the students will use to create their own scary/funny
campfire stories.

In math, we are wrapping up our first unit on Number
Sense (whole numbers, decimals and rounding). We
spent the last week of September solving several problems
related to the story One Grain of Rice by Demi. Following
an end-of-unit assessment (quiz), we will continue our work
with whole numbers and decimals by looking at
operations (+, -, , ), with a continuing focus on
developing problem solving strategies.







During the month of October we will also begin exploring our first units in Science
(Properties and Changes in Matter) and Social Studies (The Role of Government
and Responsible Citizenship).

Communication

If you need to reach me, please send a note in your childs agenda, email me
(daniel.holmes@ocdsb.ca) or call (613-828-3100 x2026).

I will be keeping you up-to-date on important information and school/class
events through a number of ways:

Email
Newsletters
Your childs agenda
Class website: http://bcps-r5a.weebly.com/

It is important to check the website regularly for ongoing information regarding
class and school events. Here you will be able to find past copies of newsletters,
important dates, information on homework and a link to the schools website
(http://www.bellscornersps.blogspot.ca/).

***If you have not done so already, please return the Welcome to Grade 5
communication form and the Personal Learning Inventory that was sent home
at the beginning of September.

Early pick up

If you plan to pick up your child early, please send me a note (email or agenda)
with the approximate time so that I can let the office staff know that you are
coming.

Field Trips

On Thursday October 9
th
, the grade 5 students at BCPS will be heading to
Parliament Hill to participate in the Rolling Rampage Wheelchair Relay event.
Please ensure that students arrive at school on time as the bus will be leaving
promptly at 9:15. Students are encouraged to dress according to the weather
conditions as we will be outside for most of the morning. We will return to the
school by 12:30. If you have not done so already, please return the signed
permission form (there is no cost for the trip). More information about the event
can be found on the website: http://www.amiando.com/rollingrampage.html.

On Thursday October 23
rd
, the grade 5 students will return to Parliament Hill for a
tour to learn about the law making process at the federal level. We will be
leaving the school shortly after the morning bell (9:40) and return to school by
1:30. Thank you for returning the permission forms. If you have not done so
already, please send $3.00 to cover the cost of busing.



Reminders

Students need two pairs of tight fitting shoes (no slip-ons) for both indoor and
outdoor physical activity.
To minimize interruptions to our classroom learning environment and to avoid
many trips to the water fountain, please send your child to school with a sealed
reusable water bottle that can be kept at his/her desk.

Fridays at BCPS are litter-less lunch days. Please send lunch items in reusable
containers. A spare ziplock bag is also a handy item for returning apple cores,
banana peels, etc.

Scholastic Reading Club

Each month, I will be sending home the order forms for purchasing books and
other educational resources. As always, scholastic orders are completely
voluntary. The bonus points that are collected will be used to obtain books for
our classroom library.

Donations

Any donations of gently used books for our classroom library or sports equipment
(tennis balls, mini sticks, etc.) for our recess bin will be greatly appreciated. If
your child would like the books/equipment returned to them at the end of the
year, please ensure that their name is clearly visible on the item.

Homework

Beginning in September, weekly math practice sheets (yellow math duotang)
were sent home each Monday. This homework will provide additional
reinforcement to the concepts that we will be covering in class. Students are
asked to complete and return their math practice by Friday each week.

We are now into our fourth week of daily word work. Students will be given time
in class to complete daily work on their core spelling words. Any unfinished work
will need to be completed at home (grey word work duotang) and returned to
school by Friday. Our weekly dictation will be held on Friday afternoon so
students will need to study their words the night before (Thursday).

Once we begin our first units of study in Science and Social Studies, some
homework may be required in order to complete projects and assignments.
More information to follow.

As always, students are encouraged to spend approximately 30 minutes each
night (Sunday Thursday) reading.

Thank you,
Mr. Daniel Holmes
Grade 5
Bells Corners P.S.