Hello everyone!! We are coming to the end of the school year and have many exciting things happening in the classroom and around the school! The students are excited about about some hands on projects that we have coming up in Science.I am going to try and bring in some supplies to supplement, however any supplies that students can bring in for their project would be appreciated. Here are the projects and some suggested materials:

Grade 5 bridge design:

Materials: popsicle sticks, construction paper, small pieces of cardboard that can be used for supports, hot glue gun, glue gun sticks, string or wire for suspension cables (if that is the type of bridge they are building).

Grade 6 Science: Solar System Model

Materials: Students may use their creative ideas to determine how they would like to create their planets. They might choose to paint Styrofoam ball, design the planets with paper and create a 3-dimensional look to them, or use something else. I can provide bristol board or they can use something like a foam bard that is a firmer surface.

I would like to recognize and congratulate 4 AMAZING girls for all of their hard work, commitment and enthusiasm towards the completion and presentation of their Social Studies Curriculum based Heritage Fair projects! They were such excellent representatives for Hillsdale and I am one PROUD teacher!!! You girls did an exceptional job!!!

Thank you to all of you who were able to come and visit our amazing Wax Museum! I know that mid-day events are not always easy to attend…we really appreciate your time! The other grades really enjoyed visiting all of the presentations! I am so PROUD of all of my students!! They all did such an outstanding job and it really was such a great success due to their hard work, excitement and energy!!!

The students designed invitations that went home today to invite parents to our live Wax Museum! They have all worked so hard at this task and they are really excited to share/present to everyone! Please come by to visit us, this Wednesday, April 11th, between 1:50 and 2:30 in the Gym. We look forward to seeing you!!

Hello everyone! February was a busy month and I just wanted to touch base with some updates!

Recently, Report cards for term 1 were sent home. I have talked to the students about maintaining a growth mindset and to reflect upon their report with pride, acknowledging areas of growth and identifying some goals that they would like to work towards for this last reporting term. I am so very proud of each one of my students as I know they work hard towards success with individual goals.

There has also been a few assessments that have recently been sent home. I try on my end to encourage the use of an agenda, as a way to help students manage and organize important dates/tasks and to communicate with parents at home. I sign each day to identify that I have seen the agenda. We also write in the agendas when assessments have been sent home. I try to encourage students to share assessments with their parents and return initialed by a parent. I have noticed in the past few months that the use of agendas has declined and I really hope to help students work towards consistent use of the agendas. This will help maintain communication between home and school as well as foster their level of responsibility and organization.

We are going to be starting up with some exciting new units! We have just started a new unit for Writing and the students are really excited about this! We are creating biographies for our very own Wax Museum. Students have selected an individual that they wish to research and will actually take role of that individual for our live Wax Museum presentation. You will all be invited to come and view this magnificent museum at the school! All students have a paper copy as well as a copy shared through Google Drive to help manage task completion throughout this process. There are specific dates when portions of the task are due, so it s important for students to manage their time and responsibility to ensure that they are keeping up to date with the process. For our Reading program, we will be moving into novel study circles, once we have done some time with modeling through the use of comprehension strategies and the Answer Formula. This will be a structured guided reading program, with students cycling through stations each day such as Read to Self, Read with Teacher, Comprehension Questions, Comprehension Media and Word Study tasks. In Science Grade 6 students will be moving into Space and Grade 5 students will be moving into Forces and Structures. Social Studies the Grade 6 focus will be on Canada’s Interactions with the Global Community and the Grade 5 focus will be People and Environments, the Role of Government and Responsible Citizenship. Our current math unit is on Geometry, where students will be learning about geometric properties and relationships (classify and construct polygons and angles, sketch and build 3D models). I am excited to start up a new media unit, which will focus on character education, acts of kindness.

Thank you for all your support and cooperation!

Mrs. Sharpe 🙂

Hello everyone! The students have been working very hard these past few weeks. It has been a busy time and I am very proud of all their hard work. I just wanted to keep everyone up to date with what is happening in class.

For Reading, students have been working on an independent novel study task , which connects to a number of comprehension strategies and media related activities. They are working really hard to add detail and explanation to their work, providing depth to identify their comprehension of the text.

In Writing, students have been busy working through the writing process for their speech. I did mention a new form of presentation, which is called a TED talk-similar to a speech, however focusing more upon a motivational discussion that involves images to be presented along with their presentation. We are planning to have our class speech presentations beginning at the start of next week (Jan.29th) as our school competition will be on Friday, February 2nd. That being said I was hoping for students to have completed their published copy by Monday.

We have been using Google Drive, Google Docs and Google Slides lately for some tasks. These are such great Apps to use as you can access them from any device with your sign in. I have shared some of our project expectations /Success Criteria in Google Drive. Students can log into their Drive and share with you some of their work.

Students have been encouraged to manage their responsibilities with their tasks (researching/keeping up to expected dates), and if they are needing more time to take the opportunity to stay in for a recess or complete some work at home. In regards to assessments that are sent home, I ask that students share/reflect on their work with their parents and that parents sign/return the assessment to identify that they have seen it. We are continuing to write notes in the agendas each day so it is important for students to use this tool which allows for consistent organization for managing important dates, notes and assessments. It is also a great way to have the connected triangulated communication with student/parent/teacher.  Again thank you all for your continued support! I am looking forward to many fun and exciting activities/events coming up!

Mrs. Sharpe 🙂

Hello everyone!! I really hope that you all enjoyed your holidays, spending time with family and friends! I am excited for all of the many fun learning opportunities that will take place in our class for 2018! I just wanted to provide a few updates regarding the programming that will be taking place this month.

We will be starting an independent book study for which students have been asked to bring in a “just right book” which is at their level in regards to decoding and comprehension, that they have recently read or are currently reading at this time. If they are currently reading it at this time, they must ensure that they will be able to complete the reading of the text by next week to ensure comprehension of the conclusion of the text. We will be starting this task on Wednesday (Jan. 10th), so students have been encouraged to bring in their text for Wednesday.

In Writing we have been focusing on the form of persuasive, which has now led us into the writing for a speech/TED Talk. We have talked about how to select a good topic that will capture the interest and attention of an audience. We have listened to a few examples of speeches and dissected the main points and examples that provided proof and explanation to the main points. We will be starting the brainstorming process this week prior to drafting. Students have been encouraged to bring in selected materials/resources that they might need throughout the drafting stage of their writing (providing facts/information).

In Math we have started our unit on Number Sense and Numeration focusing on Multiplication and Division. Students will learn a variety of strategies to apply with these operations, mental math strategies, as well as a focus on understanding the context of these operations in word problems. We are continuing to use our daily math of 180 Days which is effective in supporting students throughout the different stands throughout the Math curriculum.

In Social Studies students have selected their inquiry project topic and have been researching and starting to draft their paragraphs for this project. This project has been shared with students through Google Drive and they can choose how they would like to organize and present their information. Such options are Google Slides (similar to PowerPoint), Google Docs, Bristol board/presentation board. Class periods have and will be provided throughout each week. Students have been asked to ensure that they are following along with the timeline of dates on the project outline shared in Google Drive. I typically do not assign homework, however I am encouraging students to utilize their time at home if needed to ensure that they are keeping up with assignment expectations.

On another note, I am planning to start up Intramural Junior girls volleyball next week. This is a great opportunity for students to build upon their skills and understanding of the game. This will take place during 2 nutritional breaks each week. There will be some helpful Intermediate girls assisting to work along with small group skill building and direction.

Thank you all for your support and cooperation!!

Mrs. Sharpe 🙂

Hello Everyone!! The excitement of BRINGO will be starting up on Monday, November 27th to Friday December 1st. In this time students are encouraged to bring in non-perishable food items to fill up our box-car train and earn their BRINGO cards. BRINGO cards will be earned for this week only. Our school will continue to collect non-perishable food items as well as fill-up our Christmas tree in the front foyer with new hats, mitts and socks for the Midland Shelter/David Busby Centre in Barrie. Such an important time to give back through acts of kindness! As always, thank you so much for your support!

Mrs. Sharpe 🙂

The big day has arrived and the students could not be more excited!! They are having so much fun working on their STEAM 3-D City of Ember models! The ideas, design and creativity are exceptional!!

Hello Everyone! I would first like to thank my amazing class for such a memorable performance at our Remembrance Day ceremony. They all worked so hard towards this tribute performance singing “Highway of Heroes” and I am so proud of all their hard work! They were all so dedicated and sang with their hearts, acknowledging and honouring those who have sacrificed, to make our country a beautiful place of peace and freedom! Thank you to Gabriella and Ethan for doing such a fantastic job representing our class as wreath bearers. Very proud of both of you-thank you!

Progress reports were sent home Friday in the agendas. It is a great opportunity for your child to share with you what they have been working on, as well as some goals that they may have! I have encouraged students to review their progress report with their parents and to reflect with a growth mindset. They have all worked so hard and I am very proud of what they continue to show me each day!

Throughout our class discussions, students have voiced interest in the opportunity to participate in intramurals. I am really excited to start up the opportunity for Junior Intramurals at Hillsdale to provide the students in Grade 4, 5, and 6 with the opportunity to build/expand upon skills in a variety of sports (volleyball, basketball, Soccer etc.). We have some amazing Intermediates who are eager to help out as well! I am hoping to get this started very soon!

A note will be sent home in the agenda on Thursday regarding a very exciting STEAM project that will be starting up next week! We are all super excited about this task as it involves so many different elements of our curriculum in a fun, creative way! To go along with our Science units on Electricity/Conservation of Energy and our guided/shared reading novel, The City of Ember, we have decided to create a 3-D model of the city involving a number of curriculum components! This will involve visual arts (3-D art) as well as mathematics (measurement) and scientific components. I would like this to be as open as it can be with the gathering of materials as I know there are so many creative minds! Students will need to gather materials to build their city (buildings, streets, street lights etc.) I have also asked that they bring in a cardboard base (or stable piece of material) measuring no larger than 50cm by 30cm. They can use a variety of items to build such as recycled materials, dollar store crafting items, Lego, wooden blocks etc. We hope to get started towards the middle of next week! I will also try to gather and supply a variety of materials for the students as well. Thank you for you help!

Mrs. Sharpe 🙂