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Live Binders is an organizational tool for the web that allows people to create tabbed lists of links to a variety of resources.  Click on the link below to access some great Grade 5/6 curriculum-related web pages and games. Our BLOG posts are also integrated into our new Live Binders class page, so you can get all the news and info. there, instead of having to visit both sites!

Once you get to our Live Binders page, use the tabs across the top to navigate between curriculum areas, and the sub-tabs below them to access resource pages.

Here's the link (don't forget to bookmark it!):
Mrs. Black's Grade 5/6 class Live Binders page

To promote classroom and home reading, and enhance our study of particular subjects, several areas in our classroom feature book displays.

We have a Classroom Reference Library, with a display of books that rotates according to what topics we are studying.  These books are for classroom use only, and cannot be taken home.

 

 This is our main Classroom Reference Library

Along the chalkboard ledge, we have funny fiction
illustrating parts of speech and punctuation usage.

On the left side of the table, we have examples of narratives.
In writing, students are authoring their our own narratives.

On the right side of the table are First Nations texts,
relating to our Grade 6 First Nations unit.
(Grade 5's are welcome to read these books, too!)

We have some new math-related fiction and non-fiction reference texts,
available on our classroom math resource table.

Under our world map, we have a few science reference texts.
Later, we will rotate our table display to include more science resources.

We also have a Classroom Lending Library.  Most of the books in this library are Grade 5/6 novels.  Students are welcome to read them in the classroom or sign them out to read at home.

   

This is our Classroom Lending Library

Each week a student volunteer is given the job of class librarian.  That person is responsible for keeping our book collections neat and tracking books from the lending library that have been signed out and returned.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me:  mblack@mail1.scdsb.on.ca or to add a comment to this page.

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by Alise

Right now, the Grade 6's in our class are studying First Nations people.  We are doing an inquiry project.  We are researching things like what different Aboriginal people ate and made, where they lived, how they travelled, and how their society was set up before the Europeans arrived.  We are going to learn so much! 

This is the project outline that the students and Mrs. Black created together:

If you click on the picture above, you can read about our project.

Mrs. Black set up a display of her books and books from the library, to help with our project.

We are also using computers to do our research.

The Grade 5's are continuing their Government unit, with Mrs. Torrey.

We will write again later to tell you about some of the things we learned...

 

Text and photos by Brandon S., Julia B. and Spencer B.  (Grade 5)

 

Over the past three weeks, the Grade 5's have been going down to the library to learn about the upcoming election, with Mrs. Torrey.

We learned about the different parties and how many seats are in the Ontario Legislative building.  We also learned about the different electoral districts and different types of governments: autocratic, democratic, oligarcic, etc.

On October 5th, we voted in the Provincial Election through the "Student Vote" organization.  "Student Vote" is a non-profit, non-partisan group working with educators to engage young Canadians in the democratic process.  Their website is located at:  http://www.studentvote.ca

These are pictures of the Student Vote Polling Station Mrs. Torrey set up in our school library:


Here are the results of our school vote:  http://studentvote.ca/ontario/results/school.php?school_id=33292385
Click on "voting info."

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During the month of September, our class reviewed math concepts, completed the PRIME numeracy test (which identifies strengths and needs in the areas of number sense and operations) and began to move forward with our math program.

Our math program follows the Simcoe County District School Board's Course of Study.  The Course of Study summarizes key principles and learning expectations in the Ontario Mathematics Curriculum and provides a teaching sequence, timeline, and list of tools and lesson resources needed to cover the expectations.


This is a sample of the Grade 5 Course of Study Overview
and the outline for Unit 1. 

There are similar documents for Grade 6.


Resources listed in the Course of Study include "Nelson Math,"
"The Super Source Math Resource" and the Ontario Ministry of Education's
"Guides to Effective Instruction in Math, Grades 4-6."
We utilize all three of these resources in our classroom.

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Our math period begins with "bell work" from the Canadian resource Daily Math.


This resource provides practice with all five strands of math each week.

After "bell work," we engage in a three-part math lesson that includes:

  1. A "minds-on" activity that serves to review a familiar math concept or introduce a new one;
  2. A lesson and an opportunity for partner- and independent-practice;
  3. An opportunity for the class consolidate understanding by discussing new insights gleaned from the lesson.  Consolidation sometimes includes creating a note, in the form of a definition, rule or procedure that students copy into a math journal, for future reference.

At the conclusion of instruction about a concept, each student answers a math question on a piece of paper called an "exit card." Exit cards indicate how well each student understood the concept.  Students who have difficulty answering the question, or who ask for additional assistance, are offered Guided Math instruction the following day.

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Once a week, our class participates in Numeration Stations.  These math stations, or centres, are geared toward improving proficiency with math facts and mental math.  Instant recall of simple addition and subtraction equations and "times tables," and an ability to do simple math in one's head, improves a student's efficiency in solving more complex math problems.

We begin Numeration Stations with a "Times Table Challenge" quiz.

After we take up the quiz, students rotate through a variety of numeration games and activities.  During the rotation, I conduct Guided Math sessions with small groups, to ensure that each student is progressing to the best of his/her ability.

The following pictures show some of the components of Numeration Stations:


Stations include "Fraction Stories,"  Guided Math, Board and Card Games,
"Math Mysteries," and "Math Frog" (a Grade 4-6 math game website
created and hosted by the University of Waterloo).


These are some of the resources for Numeration Stations.


These are some of the 15+ math games that are stored in the green bin (above).

SOME MATH RESOURCES FOR HOME

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me:  mblack@mail1.scdsb.on.ca or to add a comment to this page.

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