Author: Tiffany Poirier

Hello, 5B families!

Thank you, everyone!

We begin with a HUGE THANK YOU for all of your thoughtfulness and generosity in supporting our school’s Warm Winter Clothing Drive, as well as our Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child Shoebox initiative.

The grade 5 classes together raised awareness and funds to purchase enough toys, school supplies and other essentials to fill 26 shoeboxes that are now in transit on the way to be distributed to 26 children in need around the world. We prayed over each donated item and shoebox, imagining the children who would receive these gifts and holding them in our hearts.

It was such a joy to see how this very tangible process of sorting and praying over these gifts opened up our students’ hearts and minds in beautiful ways.

Thank you for sharing your time with us on such a meaningfully experience that linked our Religion curriculum with core competency development (communication and personal and social awareness). If you enjoyed this project, consider participate in it as a family next year directly through the Samaritan’s Purse website.

Math: Function Machines!

Students have extended their learning in our science unit on simple machines to inform their creative design of “function machines” in math class.

This open-ended mathematics task invites students to design a machine that apply a series of operations to an input to get to an output, as you can see with the example of the “Number Cruncher 3000” above.

As a class, students collaborated to transform our bulletin board into a giant function machine that will continue to change every few days, offering a new challenge with each iteration.

Students who finish their math assignments early can keep working on their own new function machines or choose items from the Math Enrichment Bin that offers math puzzles, logic puzzles, math literature, and dice/flash cards/calculators for their own open ended explorations.

Term 1 Math Tests

Your child has now brought home their marked Term 1 math test, along with a pink form to be signed and returned. This test was conducted with an open-ended time frame and students were supported according to their individual needs. The results from this test, combined with in-class observations, group activities, and the many numerous unit quizzes, help inform your child’s Term 1 math grade.

I’m so pleased to celebrate that every single one of our 5B students has shown remarkable growth this term! Thank you for the meaningful support you’ve provided at home to help your child continue learning and improving.

To further support student success, I am offering an optional Term 1 Math Test Rewrite on Thursday, November 21st. This is a firm deadline as I need time to mark and then recalculate and change grades (if warranted) to submit to the office the following week. The rewrite provides an opportunity for students to improve their grade if they have demonstrated growth—the rewrite would not lower a grade.

*To qualify for the rewrite, students must study meaningfully for it at home.* That’s it. But I do mean it. Students and families can decide whether or not to participate in the rewrite based on their individual needs.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions, and thank you for promptly returning the signed pink math test forms and tests for our records.

Hallow App for Families!

A wonderful Catholic resource we have enjoyed exploring in Religion class is the Hallow App. We have used it for guiding us in prayer and deepening our reflection upon the Bible stories we explored this term. Our district has purchased licensing so families can use this valuable app at home as well! You can visit the App Store on your home devices now to find and download the Hallow App. Then, students can show you how to login using their school district Google account credentials. We have practiced doing this in class. Enjoy this treasured opportunity to draw upon endless hours of beautifully inspiring content to support social-emotional learning, foster faith and develop cultural and Biblical literacy.

Reminder:
There is no school for students on Friday, Nov. 22nd as it is a professional development day for staff.

Coming soon…

KIDS SHOPPING EVENT: Thurs., Dec. 12th

This annual event is fun and meaningful for students as they get to go shopping (in our school) for Christmas presents for their parents and siblings. (Sorry, they can’t buy for other family members during the first round of buying, even if they live in your house). But on Friday, Dec. 13, after all classes have finished shopping, if there are leftover items, then shopping will be opened up for students to buy gifts for other family members. 

*If you have new or used items in good condition that would be good to donate to this “Kids Shopping Event” (things that would make good presents for parents and kids of all ages), please send those donations to school. Thank you so much!

On GRADE 5 shopping day (Thurs. Dec. 12 at 9:30am) your child should bring:

-one or two reusable shopping bags (large, if possible) with a handle

-a list with the names of the family members who they are buying for (ages of the siblings helps the assistant shoppers) Example: Mom, Dad, Bobby (age 3), Suzy (age 10)

–$2 per gift (Gr. 7s are raising money to buy gifts for less fortunate children)

The gifts will be wrapped & tagged by the Gr. 7 elves (that’s why they need the list of names).

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Thurs., Nov. 21 – Term 1 assessment deadline. Report card grades and comments will be finalized after this.

Tues., Nov. 26 through to Fri., Nov. 29 – Ms. Poirier is away from school, busy with the task of packing and moving her family home (still in town.). Ms. Poirier will not likely be able to respond to emails or questions during this period. *If your child is going to be absent on any of these days, please direct your email to the school office to inform them. For continuity, we are lucky to have the same substitute each of these four days, Mr. Ruffolo, who has worked with 5B—detailed plans will be left to ensure students have a wonderful week of valuable learning together!

Fri., Nov. 29th – Wear pink accessories in memory of Adaea (info in Nov. 25 newsletter)

Tues., Dec. 3 – Wear FULL uniform, Advent Mass. Grade 5s are supporting Mass by doing readings.

Wed., Dec. 4 – Early dismissal

Fri., Dec. 6th – Kids Night Out (registration deadline is Nov. 29, but space is limited and may fill up before then) See newsletter for details & registration link

Tues., Dec. 10 – Wear civvies during the day for the concert rehearsal) then wear FULL UNIFORM to the Advent Concert at 6:00 pm, St. Andrew’s Cathedral. ALL students are involved.

Wed., Dec. 11 – Pyjama day!

Kids Shopping Event for grade 5 (see details above)

Fri., Dec. 20- Wear Christmas-themed Civvies: red/green clothes; school is dismissed at noon for Christmas vacation

Dear 5A and 5B Families,

This year, the grade 5 classes are supporting Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child. This charity invites us to share God’s love by filling shoeboxes with new items for children worldwide, especially those in impoverished or war-torn areas who may rarely receive new gifts.

How You Can Help
We invite families to participate as little or as much as they would like:
● Donating small, new gift items to be packed in shoeboxes that the charity supplies (e.g., school supplies, toys, toothbrushes, small musical instruments). Ideas can be found here.
● Contributing cash donations to help purchase additional items and cover shipping costs.

Please remember that shoeboxes cannot include liquids, used or breakable items, food, candy, medications, or war-related items.

Important Details
● Collection Deadline: Thursday, November 14 (You can start bringing items now. We will work together to sort and pack the shoeboxes on the 14th.)
● Ages We’re Targeting: The idea is that one shoebox is filled for one child. Gifts will be sorted into boxes for either a boy or girl in the following age group: 2-4, 5-9, and 10-14.

Once items are collected, students will sort, pack, and prepare the shoeboxes for shipment. We’ll conclude by praying over these gifts, sending our love and best intentions to the children who will receive them.

This project is part of our Religion course and social justice education, aiming to teach generosity, global awareness, and gratitude. We hope this experience will help students understand the blessings we have and the joy of sharing with others.

Thank you for joining us in this meaningful initiative. For more details, please watch for a follow-up email with links and resources.

With blessings,
Tiffany Poirier and Catherine Hicks
The Grade Five Teachers

Hello, 5B families!

We had so much fun with our art on Monday, that we went deeper in our illustration explorations inspired by nature. Please enjoy these wondrous creatures you might see out and about on Halloween…

Hello, 5B families!

Wow! Our 5B class has come alive with excitement for simple machines in our Science and ADST classes. We are so excited to share with you the creative projects students envisioned and built upon over the last few weeks.

Tomorrow each student will bring home his or her “Simple Machines Quiz” and project assessment rubric; we have learned so much that goes beyond what any quiz or project grade can capture! I am so proud of all students for their efforts and learning achievements! They inspired one another and really grew as scientists and innovators!

Enjoy these photos, and we will keep adding a few more in the next few days. You can scroll to the bottom to see the assignment set up and criteria…

Background Information…

Project Description & Criteria

Hello, 5B families!

What items in nature are safe to use in our crafts?

In Health Education today, students learned to identify a few naturally growing items they may encounter in our school community that pose a safety risk: death cap and amanita muscara mushrooms and poison hemlock.

We talked about the identifying features of these mushrooms and poison hemlock, their lookalikes, the possible life-threatening side effects of their accidental ingestion, the signs of toxicity, and the need to avoid touching these things and protect oneself by hand washing and never eating any foreign items found in nature!

Then in Art class, we contrasted the previous discussion with attention to the many beautiful and safer natural items we can see in our school community, including various fallen leaves, pinecones, sticks, tiny crab apples and more. Students were reminded to always wash their hands after handling things found outside.

We appreciated the beautiful autumn colour scheme, and then students were challenged to use greyscale (white, grey and black) illustration to transform natural items into entirely new concepts.

Enjoy the gallery of artworks below…

In Math class, we have finished our unit on rounding and have been working on comparing and ordering numbers.

In Science, we continue to enjoy students sharing their simple machines projects—a special blog post with all the highlights is coming soon!

Students will also show their learning in this unit through writing a quiz on simple machines tomorrow. (They have had class time and support for studying this content for the last four weeks.)

In Language Arts, students have been finishing up writing projects, adding to their spelling dictionaries and getting prepared for their oral storytelling showcase.

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REMINDER…

Students are welcome to wear a costume this Thursday. It needs to be appropriate for school (not scary, no weapons, no masks, safe for playing and sitting at a desk, appropriately sensitive and not insulting to anyone’s culture, race, gender, etc.).

Feel free to reach out if you have questions.

For our school’s Halloween Howl event in the gym this Thursday afternoon, students may bring a flashlight–but it is not necessary to do so. 

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Hello, 5B families!

In Social Studies, the 5B class has been enjoying a unit on government—with a recent focus on understanding the democratic process and the BC election. Here is an overview of our learning journey…

We did independent research to learn about the parties and candidates using a variety online sources and friends and family. At all times, students are encouraged to think for themselves, form their own views based on evaluating information for themselves, and note how language choice and the omission or emphasis of certain information can shape opinions and reveal bias.

We watched and analyzed the leaders’ debates, taking notes on key points.

We explored a student resource kit that was graciously sent to us from Elections BC.

We took a bird’s eye view of some key election issues and each campaigning party’s stance and promises.

We conducted our own election simulation in class, endeavouring to follow protocols.

Then we tallied the results and three students choose to role play the leadership candidates and dramatized their responses to hearing our grand announcement: 1 vote for NDP, 7 votes for the Green Party, and 13 votes for the BC conservatives.

John Rustad (played by Lucas) gave a great impromptu acceptance speech and took tough questions from audience. He was quick on his feet to answer how he planned to deliver on his campaign promises—also adding he could make up any budget shortfall with “a lemonade stand in my yard.” The audience loved it! David Eby (played by Ethan) of the NDP and Sonia Furstenau (played by Lochlan) of the BC Greens gave gracious concession speeches and showed support of their competitors…what we witnessed as an audience was first class sportsmanship! There was lots of laughter and tonnes of learning!

Today, students are finishing writing paragraphs to answer this question:

If you could vote in the 2024 B.C. election, which party/candidate would you vote for, and why?

I walked students through an example of how to pull together ideas, and gave a paragraph framework they can follow or adapt to make their own. I asked students to provide at least three detailed reasons for their decision. *I clarified that I will be evaluating the ways they express and support their positions (not their positions themselves). Alternatively, students had the option to write about the reasons why no party/candidate earned their trust and vote at this time.

MORE STUDENT WORK
COMING SOON!
It is enriching for us to see and celebrate the kind of great research and critical thinking the 5B students have been doing.
So, I will keep updating this blog post with examples of students’ paragraphs once they are complete.

Work will only be shared with a student’s consent and all names removed for privacy.

CELEBRATING 5B STUDENTS GREAT WRITING…

Wishing all 5B families a happy Thanksgiving!

Our open-ended creative challenge for students on Friday was to make any kind of 2D or 3D Thanksgiving art they like by meaningfully using and/or transforming papers printed with a collection of Bible verses on the theme of gratitude, thanks, and appreciation for God and His creation.

Students created beautiful autumn scene paintings, leaves, and even sculptures of Thanksgiving turkeys! 🦃 🍂 🍃 🍁

Hello, 5B families!

In Social Studies, today we started a new unit on government and looked at the big picture of federal, provincial and municipal government structures and roles.

Students were supported with research tips and links to begin gathering information to help them answer for themselves the question: who would you vote for in the upcoming BC election, and why?

Students were encouraged to explore different candidates’ platforms and campaign promises and approaches. (I monitor students’ searches to guide them to appropriate, approved sources of relevant information, while talking through why some sites may be considered more reliable than others.)

In Math, students brought home their “Number Patterns” quiz today. Everyone is welcome to study and do quiz rewrites as much as they like! Our next focus is reviewing multi-digit subtraction with regrouping.

In Career Education, we discussed strategies for taking ownership for our own personal organization and having the things we need at to school to be ready for the day—great practice for any future career! (If you are a firefighter and you show up to a burning building without your gear and a hose, you are not in a position to safely help and do your job!) So, students brainstormed, wrote, and illustrated a personal list of things they need to doublecheck that they have before leaving the home for school each day. These “Leaving for School Checklists” will be coming home tomorrow!

In Language Arts, we learned about writing in complete sentences, avoiding run-on-sentences, properly capitalizing the first word in each sentence, and concluding sentences with the appropriate end marks.

We also continue to strengthen and learn new reading strategies. Yesterday I introduced research-backed method for improving students’ comprehension of expository texts: “High 5!”

As well, students followed up their hummingbird reading comprehension work with the invitation to write and present a short speech for the class or to read aloud a pre-written speech.

Oral language skill development is a huge focus this term. Inspired by the educational talks we heard from the bird handlers at The Raptors last week, these three students wanted to share their own new knowledge about hummingbirds…enjoy!

Wild Food Day! Please note that October 10-17 our school is collecting donations of non-perishable food items to supports folks who could benefit from your generosity—this is a wonderful, tangible way we can show gratitude for what we have!

IMPORTANT DATES:

Mon., Oct 14 – Thanksgiving, school closed

Wed., Oct 16 – World Food Day Mass, FULL UNIFORM, 10:45am (Bring non-perishable food donations from now until Oct. 17)

Fri., Oct. 18 – Praying the Rosary for Peace (school-wide)

Mon., Oct 21 – Parent /Teacher Conferences 3:30-6:30pm (details coming soon)

Wed., Oct 23 – Parent/Teacher Conferences, 3:30-6:30pm

Wed., Oct 30 – Simple Machines Project is due (Students can finish and present these projects in class starting now if they are ready).

Hello, 5B families!

In Math, students have now brought home their addition quizzes; they are welcome to rewrite that quiz after having invested time in studying their corrections.

We are now working on a unit in number patterns (creating patterns with rules, identifying the next number in a pattern according to rules, and function machines). For example, see the video and sample worksheets below.

The creative enrichment invitation today was to create a more complex number pattern using more than one operator. Some students played with this concept using variables and exponents and even theorized about infinite sets.

In Health Education we have been learning about the difference between a “growth mindset” and a “fixed mindset”—and finding examples from history of how a growth mindset led to great discoveries and accomplishments.

As well, we have been using the “Open Parachute” curriculum to support SEL (social emotional learning) goals, such as in our recent lesson on “Negative Thought Traps”.

In Science, students continue to work on their simple machines projects. As well, students debriefed our trip to The Raptors last week in dialogue and wrote a “field trip reflection” to share what they had learned about animal science and conservation.

In Social Studies and Language Arts, we have continued exploring Indigenous stories.

Today we read and analyzed the message in the book “Flight of the Hummingbird” by Haida artist, Michael Nicoll Yagulanaas. Students made connections between this story and Catholic social justice themes.

See a video retelling of this story below…

Then we practiced reading comprehension strategies while analyzing an excerpt of science text about hummingbirds.

Students then had the option to choose a follow up activity: (1.) write a paragraph comparing and contrasting hummingbirds with another type of bird, (2.) write a speech about hummingbirds, (3.) practice reading aloud one of Ms. Poirier’s pre-written hummingbird speeches (grade level text or enriched vocabulary version).

Hello, 5B families!

Congratulations and a huge thanks to students, supervisors, families, and the majestic birds and their handlers for making our field trip to THE RAPTORS such a special and memorable day! Please enjoy our little “documentary” of the day…

A lady sitting on the benches behind our class during the flight demonstration marvelled at the students’ polite focus and said, “I was a teacher for 30 years, and THESE kids are REALLY well behaved! Wow!” What a sweet compliment for our class!

Literature connections! This trip was our meaningful way to celebrate our learning after completing an in depth study of Farley Mowat’s classic Canadian novel, Owls in the Family.