Grade 5 Newsletter

Dear Parents,
The Last week of October was incredibly busy with Picture
Day, the rescheduled soccer tournament, Right to
Play assembly and our preparations for Halloween. Thank
you to all the Grade 5 students in Room 209 who helped
to design and create our haunted door. It looked spooktacular (pictures posted on the website).
In literacy, the students have begun planning and writing
their scary (and sometimes funny) campfire stories. This
writing activity provides the framework to explore the traits
of narratives (setting, protagonist/antagonist, conflict,
resolution, etc.). During November, students will finish
writing their stories as we focus on expressive language
and writing conventions (sensory details, vivid imagery
and foreshadowing).
Each student will have the
opportunity to present their story at our classroom
campfire later this month.
I was very proud of the overall achievement on the first
Math assessment (Whole Numbers, Decimals and
Rounding).
The class demonstrated a good
understanding of the many representations of numbers,
large and small. Within the next few days, students will be
assessed on their learning of addition and subtraction
strategies (whole numbers and decimals). Following this
assessment, we will take a break from Number Sense to
explore Patterning.
During October, students have been learning about the
process of law making as it relates to our Social Studies
unit on Government and Citizenship. Each student has
chosen an issue that is important to them and written a
letter to their local MP proposing a new law to be
introduced in Parliament. This activity was to coincide with
our Trip to Parliament Hill which unfortunately had to be
cancelled. We will be continuing this unit in November by
looking at the 3 levels of government and the electoral
process.
Our current science unit (Changes in Matter) is temporarily
on hold as we work on other assignments. We will be
continuing very soon by performing some experiments
designed to demonstrate changes from one state of
matter to another.

November 2014
Important Dates
Tuesday November 11th
Remembrance Day
Assembly
Wednesday November 12
Ottawa Inuit Childrens
Centre Presentation
Thursday November 13th
Progress Reports Sent
Home
Friday November 14th
Picture Retake Day
Friday November 14th
Scholastic Orders Due
Thursday November 20th
Parent Teacher Interviews
(pm) and Book Fair

Friday November 21st

PA Day: Parent Teacher
Interviews (am) and Book
Fair
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

Parent Teacher Interviews

Interviews will be scheduled in short intervals (15 minutes) beginning at 4:00 on
Thursday, November 20th and continuing on the morning of Friday, November
21st. This will provide you with an opportunity to discuss and ask any questions
regarding your childs progress as outlined in the Progress Reports that will be
sent home on November 13th. The interviews will be held in the classroom (Room
209). Please feel free to knock on the door at your scheduled time.
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/).
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.
Reminders
It is recommended that students have two pairs of tight fitting shoes (no slip-ons)
for both indoor and outdoor physical activity. Now that the weather is
changing, please ensure that students come prepared each day to spend time
outdoors (recess and DPA). Students should have a warm coat, boots, hat and
gloves/mittens. If you need any assistance obtaining extra items, please dont
hesitate to ask. The school has access to a number of great programs such as
the snowsuit fund.
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 eighth 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).
From time to time, assignments that have been worked on in class may need to
be sent home to be completed. Due dates will be communicated by email
and in your childs agenda.
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.