Beyond The Desk

Hey there, awesome parents and guardians of our Grade 5/6 superstars!

We hope you’re all enjoying the beauty of fall. Tomorrow’s going to be a fun one – it’s Fall Colour Day at our school! Your kids can choose to rock their regular school uniforms or enjoy time wearing some casual fall-colored outfits!

Next up – memory verses! This week, our memory verse is Proverbs 3:3.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

We’ve noticed that a few students mentioned they were too busy to memorize last week’s verse, so we just wanted to give you and your kids a friendly nudge. Working on these verses is part and parcel of being a student and being organized with their homework, and dedicating a few minutes each night can make a world of difference. Plus, it’s a key part of their report card evaluation in Bible. For a deeper dive into how we assess memory verses, you can check out our previous blog post.

But why are memory verses important in the life of a Grade 5/6 student? Proverbs 3:3 is actually pretty cool and can teach our kids some valuable life lessons. It’s all about kindness and truth, which are super important. Here’s how it can make a difference in their lives:

1. Building Character: It helps them grow into kind, honest, and trustworthy individuals – qualities that’ll serve them well in the long run.
2. Nurturing Friendships: Proverbs 3:3 pushes love and faithfulness. These traits can help your kids build strong and positive relationships with others.
3. Conflict Resolution: By understanding the value of kindness and truth, they can learn to deal with conflicts in a more peaceful and respectful way.
4. Self-Reflection: Memorizing this verse can inspire them to think about their actions and how they affect those around them.

In other classroom news, we’re working on some pretty cool stuff:

Language Arts: Right now, our young authors are busy working on a project called “What Fall Means to Me.” They’re using their senses and colorful words to capture the magic of fall and everything that makes this season special.

Math: We’re still exploring patterns and variables, which are like the building blocks of math. This knowledge will come in handy as they tackle more advanced math concepts down the road.

Science and Social Studies: We’ve just wrapped up our unit on “How Scientists Know So Much” and experimental design. The students had a blast testing a mystery powder with different liquids and seeing what happens – it was science in action! Now, we’re diving into a crucial topic in Social Studies: discrimination. We’re teaching our kids why it’s important to treat everyone fairly, regardless of things like where they’re from, their gender, or any other personal characteristic. We learned that discrimination is:

 Treating a person badly or unfairly on account of a personal characteristic, such as national, ethnic or social origin, gender, language, religion, or disability.

French: Our French classes are a hoot. Your kids are building personal French dictionaries and using the words they’ve learned in conversations with their classmates. It is a lot of fun seeing them walking around having french conversations with each other.

Before we go, we’d like to remind you to send back your child’s comfort kit if they haven’t already. We want to make sure they’re tucked away safely and we are still missing a few!

Thanks for being amazing partners in your child’s education. We’re looking forward to a fantastic Fall Colour Day.

You may have noticed – hopefully 🙂 – that we have started our bible memory verses. The verse we are working are was written in your child’s planner today. The entire intermediate department will be working on the same verse to make it easier for those with multiple students in the elementary.

This month we are working on memorizing Proverbs 3: 1-6. To help, we have broken it up into smaller chunks.

This week, students will be working on Proverbs 3: 1 and 2. Students will be expected to be able to recite the verses to me next Tuesday. They can either do it out loud or write it out in front of me.

Bible Memory verses are graded for a mark on the report card. The entire department uses the scale which I have included below:

As you can see, to fall into the extended category, students should be able to explain why this section they have memorized is important to their lives. This is a great chance to have a discussion with your child about the verses they are learning and how they relate to them. Bible memory verses shouldn’t be just about blindly memorizing words but rather an opportunity to understand about having God’s word in our hearts, why those words are important and how they impact our lives. You and your child can have that and the memory verse prepared to share with me in class to get the “extended” score on the scale. Here are some examples of how students can related to our verses this week:

At school:

• Respect for Teachers: Students can apply this verse by showing respect and attentiveness to their teachers. They should listen carefully to their teachers’ instructions and follow them diligently
• Academic Diligence: They can keep this verse in mind as a motivation to work hard in their studies. By doing so, they can prolong their educational journey and achieve better results.
• Helping Peers: Encourage students to help their classmates with their studies, as this fosters a sense of community and supports everyone’s learning.

In the Community:

• Kindness and Respect: Encourage students to treat others in the community with kindness and respect. This includes their peers, neighbors, and any community members they interact with.
• Volunteering: Getting involved in community service and volunteering is a practical way to apply this verse. By giving their time and effort to help others, they can bring peace and prosperity to their community.
• Following Rules and Laws: Teach them the importance of obeying rules and laws in their community, which can lead to a peaceful and prosperous environment for everyone.

In the Family:

• Respect for Parents and Elders: Students can apply Proverbs 3:1 by respecting and obeying their parents and elders within the family. This contributes to a harmonious family life.
• Helping with Chores: Encourage them to contribute to the well-being of the family by helping with household chores and responsibilities.
• Conflict Resolution: Teach them conflict resolution skills, so they can help maintain peace within the family by resolving disputes in a constructive manner.

Personal Growth:

• Setting Goals: Help them set personal goals and aspirations that align with the teachings and values they hold dear. This can contribute to their personal growth and prosperity.
• Developing Character: Remind them that the wisdom contained in Proverbs 3:1 can help shape their character by promoting virtues like honesty, integrity, and compassion.

In other news:

• Comfort Kits: We are still waiting for a couple of comfort kits to come in. If your child has not brought in their comfort kit yet, please send it in as soon as possible. We would like to have them all in by Oct. 6.
• No school Monday: Monday of course is the Thanksgiving holiday.

As the rainy season begins, we want to remind parents that students will head outdoors for recess, even in the rain. It is crucial that students are dressed appropriately for all types of weather. We kindly request that you ensure your child comes to school prepared with the necessary attire to stay dry and comfortable during rainy days.

Hey there, fantastic Grade 5/6 parents,

It’s been a great week in our classroom so far, filled with French language adventures and hard work.

Exploring French Through Surveys

Today, our French class took a creative turn, and we ventured into the world of surveys. But wait, it’s not your typical survey – we made it fun and real life!

We started by brainstorming a list of French words students already knew. And let me tell you, it was quite a list! Some of these words, we didn’t even realize were French. Can you believe how much French we encounter in our daily lives?

Next, we divided our French word list into two categories: French words related to food and other French words. It was fascinating to see how many words fell into each category. French is all around us, especially when it comes to delicious food!

But here’s where the real magic happened. Armed with our newfound knowledge of French words, we decided to use a key phrase: “Que préfères-tu?” This means “What do you prefer?” We turned our classroom into a survey hub, asking our classmates about their preferences.

We surveyed each other about our favourite foods from the list we had generated. We then tallied up the responses, and started creating a colorful graph that showed our preferences. It was a fantastic way to apply the French language in a real-life context.

Celebrating Hard Work with a Party

Speaking of fun, I’ve been so thrilled that our students have been working incredibly hard this month, focusing on their behaviour and work ethic. I’m super proud of each and every one of the students for their dedication!

To celebrate our achievements, we’re having our first party this Friday! 🎉 But no party is complete without snacks, right? We kindly ask that you send a snack with your child to share with the class on Friday if possible. However, due to allergies, please remember not to include any nuts in your snack.

Our party will be a movie with lots of yummy snacks. It’s the perfect way to unwind and enjoy the end of our first month. Plus, it’s an excellent opportunity to bond with our classmates, especially those who are leaving us.

We’re looking forward to a fantastic party filled with laughter and joy.

That’s all for now, Grade 5/6 superstars!

Au revoir et à bientôt!

Dear Grade 5/6 Students and Parents,

There are several important announcements and events to share with you, including Orange Shirt Day, a day off for Truth and Reconciliation, and details about the upcoming September 28 chapel service. Let’s dive into the details!

Orange Shirt Day Activities (This week)

This Friday, September 29th, we will be observing Orange Shirt Day. Throughout the week, we will be engaging in various activities aimed at helping us understand the significance of Orange Shirt Day and why it is essential to remember and learn from this period in Canadian history. By wearing orange shirts and participating in these activities, we hope to show our support for reconciliation and the healing journey of Indigenous communities. Please note that for Friday, students are greatly encouraged to wear their orange shirts. Any students choosing to not do so may wear their regular uniform (not knight wear).

Day Off for Truth and Reconciliation (Monday)

Following Orange Shirt Day, Monday, October 2nd, will be a day off from school to commemorate Truth and Reconciliation. This is a day when we pause to reflect on the experiences of Indigenous peoples in Canada, acknowledge the historical injustices they faced, and commit to working towards a better future, based on understanding, empathy, and respect.

We encourage all students and families to take this opportunity to learn more about the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada, engage in discussions about reconciliation, and consider how we can contribute to positive change in our community and beyond.

September 28 Chapel List

We are excited to share the chapel list for the upcoming September 28th chapel service. Here is the list of students and their roles:

• Keys: Grayson, Indie
• Vocals: Sophia, Anna, Felisha, Mrs. Van Santen
• Tech: Bianca, Daniella
• Electric Guitar: Jun
• Acoustic Guitar: Maelle
• Bass: Julie
• Drums: Bentley
• Percussion: Carter
• Stage Manager: Jack
• Door Greeter: Audrina, Ezra

Chapel Songs

The chapel service will feature the following songs:

1. “My Lighthouse” (Key of C)
2. “This Is Amazing Grace” (Key of D)
3. “Waymaker” (Key of G)

Please note the arrival times for Door Greeters and everyone else:

• Door Greeter: Please arrive at the usual school time.
• Everyone else: Please arrive at 7:45 AM.

If you are unable to take your turn as a Door Greeter, kindly email ldekoff@highroadacademy.com to make alternate arrangements.

Finally, we are also in need of more volunteers – specifically in the area of pizza lunch and lunchtime supervision.

Sorry for the delay in posts. The subscription for the blog needed to be renewed and there was a delay in doing that!

We had a great day today. The weather was beautiful and the hike was amazing. The kids did so well today! It was a tough climb but the kids persevered and did so well! We had a nice break next to the lake and made it back to school on time! Here are some pics:

We are truckin’ along in our class work. We are performing our Reader’s Theatre pieces on Friday to cap off our unit on Reading Fluency. They should be a lot of fun to see. In Math, we have started our unit on patterns after finishing our introduction to math. We’re hoping that the lessons we have learned about perseverance, resiliency and growing as learners through challenges will help us in the coming year for Math. We have a lot to cover in Math this year, so please expect your child to have homework in this area. While I don’t typically like to give homework, there is so much math to cover that we will quickly fall behind if we don’t push through our units.

Science has us designing Oobleck machines. What is Oobleck you ask? Great question! Oobleck is a mixture of water and cornstarch that demonstrates several strange properties. Adding some green food colouring for fun, we learned that oobleck is liquidy when held in the hand carefully, but turns hard and crumbly when squeezed or handled roughly.

Through our look at Oobleck, students have been practising what it means to be a scientist. They have been exploring the scientific process, experimenting, asking big questions and being creative. We started the process with experimenting on how to make paper airplanes go further. We had a great time experimenting with it and studying it’s properties. Do you remember what properties are? We can find the properties of objects around us by using our 5 senses; what we see, feel, hear, smell and taste. So,

Properties are the things or words we use to describe different objects so we can tell them apart.

We played with and investigated the properties of Oobleck to help us understand what made Oobleck different from other substances like water or play-do. The students had some wonderful properties they discovered as they worked with the Oobleck. It got very busy. We then held a scientific convention to decide upon some “rules” about Oobleck and come up with a set of laws that were true about Oobleck. We are now in the design phase of the process where students are designing a space ship that could travel to and explore a planet of Oobleck using the properties of Oobleck as a design guide. Love the creative ideas!

Oobleck, of course, is a real substance. It’s very distinctive property of being both a solid and a liquid has made Scientists curious for a long time. When left alone, Oobleck will act like a liquid. However, when squeezed, hit or pushed on, it will suddenly act like a solid, cracking and breaking under pressure. Scientists still do not know why it does this .

If you have lots of time and lots of Oobleck, you could do this:

Here is a video showing what Oobleck does when you put it on top of a very loud speaker!!! What do you notice? Would water do this is you did the same thing? Why don’t you try it and find out?

In Bible, we are reviewing the books of the Old and New Testament and looking at how they are organized into different themes.

Just some notes of things:

• Terry Fox day is tomorrow for our class. It’s an important way to celebrate the achievements and the ongoing impact of a great Canadian hero. We will be going outside and doing laps around the field to help remember this incredible person. If you are able to donate a toonie towards cancer research, we would be grateful. There is no obligation however.
• The school has asked us to remind everyone about the pick-up and drop-off procedures:
  • Please ensure that you always follow the procedures for parking lot safety while using the Highroad Academy parking lot.
    1. Follow direction of flow as indicated by the arrows and signage.
    2. Park ONLY in designated parking areas. Do not park in ‘No Parking’ zones including the Drop Off lane on the west side of the building.
    3. Pull into a parking stall when dropping off and picking up students rather than stopping in the driving lane. Do not stop next to the pylons to drop off or pick up your students.
    4. Do not drive alongside the overhang of the main school entrance, north side of the building.
    5. Do not enter through the Chilliwack Central Entrance next to the playing field. This is a Fire Lane, and the parking area is not available for HRA use.
    6. Always be alert for children who may dart out between cars.

We would like to remind everyone that our staff will be supervising the playground until 3:00. With the sunny weather, we have noticed an increase in the number of children and parents using the playground after school. At 3:00, our duty teachers will blow the whistle, signaling that ALL children need to leave the bark mulch and join their parents. For students without parents present, they will be directed to the lobby. Once the duty teachers blow their whistle three times, students who are with their parents can return to the playground. We appreciate your cooperation in ensuring the safety and well-being of all our students. 

Hello Wonderful Parents of Grade 5/6 Superstars!

I hope you’re all doing great and that your kids are settling into the school year with lots of energy and smiles. It’s been lots of fun getting to know the students and share stories about lego!

I wanted to share some cool updates and important dates so you can stay in the loop about what’s going on in our classroom.

1. Highroad Family BBQ – September 13th

Get ready for a fantastic evening of family fun! The Highroad Family BBQ is happening on the 13th. Bring your whole gang because it’s not only a chance to enjoy some good food but also a great opportunity for you to meet your child’s teacher. Can’t wait to hang out with you!

2. Photo Day – Tomorrow

Picture-perfect smiles, please! Tomorrow is Photo Day, so remind your kiddos to wear their snazziest uniforms. It’s their time to shine in front of the camera, and we want them looking their best.

3. Language Arts

In Language Arts, we are currently working on reading fluency to prepare for our Reader’s Theatre group project. Fluent readers possess several key skills, including reading accurately, using punctuation and expression, reading for comprehension, and maintaining a conversational pace. We’re also focusing on improving students’ responses when answering questions by encouraging them to use phrases like “because” and to use the question as a starting point for their answers.

4. Math

Math time is all about building confidence and sticking with challenges. We’re teaching our kids that everyone can rock at math, and that it’s all around us. Speed isn’t the goal (except when it comes to math facts)! We’re building strategies for tackling tricky math stuff and letting them know that it’s okay for math to be a little tough—it’s how they learn and grow.

5. Science

Our science lessons are off to a fantastic start as we explore the question: “How do scientists know so much?” We’ve engaged in fun activities that highlight the importance of careful listening and teamwork. This week, we’ll be delving into the mysteries of some intriguing substances, sparking your child’s curiosity about the world around them.
 

6. Bible Memory Verses

We’ll be diving into Bible memory verses soon towards the beginning of October. Feel free to chat with them about these verses to help deepen their understanding and make it a meaningful experience. I’ll have more information about bible memory verses as we get going and I’ll share the rubric I will be using to mark your child’s recitations. I’ll also provide more information about the student led devotions that we will be starting in October.

7. Chromebooks

Guess what? We introduced Chromebooks today, and the kids couldn’t be more excited! We’re planning lots of fun projects that will put these devices to good use. It’s a fantastic way for your child to develop digital skills and make learning even more exciting.

We hope this update keeps you in the know about what’s happening in our Grade 5/6 classroom. If you ever have any questions or thoughts, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. I’m always available after school if you want to pop by the classroom. I’m super excited about the journey ahead and can’t wait to work together to make this school year amazing!

Thanks for being awesome parents and partners in our school adventure.

Well, it’s the end of the first week of school! The week went incredibly fast. It was so fun being with the kids this week and feeling the energy, creativity and learning happening. The students worked hard this week.

Our first field trip is going to be coming up soon. We will be joining Mrs. Goosen and Mr. Wolfsen’s classes for a hike to Lindeman Lake. The field trip permission form is in your child’s planner.

There is also a form regarding our Chromebook Usage policy. If you could please read that, then hop on the link below. The IT department is asking each family to fill out an acceptable use policy for the chromebooks we use in our classroom.

Please fill this out as soon as possible.  http://link.highroadacademy.com/chromebook/

It’s been a great couple of days. Lots of great things happening already. I will post more about what’s happening later.

I just wanted to send out a quick note regarding nut allergies. As we do have some students with nut allergies in our class this year, please do not send food items containing peanuts or any other nuts in your child’s lunches. I appreciate your cooperation in this.