BUTTERFLY/CATERPILLAR UPDATE & GRADE 4 PRESENTATIONS...

Hello families of Room 205s. I hope everyone has had a great week and is looking forward to the upcoming long weekend. Just a reminder that there is no school on Monday May 19th. School will resume on Tuesday May 20th and it will be a Day 1 in our schedule.

Grade 4 Presentations continued - Here are some photographs of the grade 4 travel agents who presented today. They did an outstanding job presenting the Yukon Territories and New Brunswick!

Scientists in the School - On Thursday May 22nd, we will have a Scientist visit our class to do a workshop on Pulleys and Gears. Our class parent, Nina, sent out an email requesting 5 parent volunteers for the morning only. If you are able to volunteer, please email Nina. Your assistance is greatly appreciated as there will be 5 stations set up that require adult supervision. Thank you.

Project Give Back - Our last PGB class will be held on Wednesday May 21st. We are very sad that this outstanding and educational program has come to an end. The students will be mailing the good copy of their letters to the charity they chose. On Wednesday, we will walk as a class to the mailbox to mail the letters. Michelle is planning on bringing in a small treat and showing a video presentation to the class. This has been an excellent program that each and every student in our class has benefitted from throughout the year. I'd like to thank Michelle, our teacher, for inspiring our students each and every week and teaching them the importance of charities and giving back. I'd also like to thank Ellen Schwartz for creating Project Give Back and sharing her personal story with our class.

Butterfly update - Yesterday we opened the small plastic cups to find sweet little caterpillars inside! It was a great experience. Some of the caterpillars appeared to be quite feisty and squirmy as others were very mellow and complacent. Each student was called over, given a specific caterpillar to care for and then asked to remove the shell the caterpillar had formed inside the cup and place them on the paper inside in order for them to develop into their next stage.

We will leave them in their plastic cups for the next 5 days or so. At this time, we'll remove the lids and hopefully find them in a cocoon which will be taped to the top of their home (the net). Stay tuned for the development of the Monarch Butterflies! Here are some photos of yesterday's event..

Sorry to one of our grade 5 students whose Canadian Prime Minister poster on Lester B. Pearson did not make it on the blog last week. Here it is....

HAVE A WONDERFUL VICTORIA DAY LONG WEEKEND.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

MRS. MENDELSON

CLASS BASKETS FOR OUR FUN FAIR

FUN FAIR - The Forest Hill Fun Fair will take place on Wednesday June 4, 2014. It is an AMAZING fair filled with rides, music, prizes, baked goods and a silent auction. All of the money raised at the fair helps fund new items for our school.

Each class is asked to choose a theme for a basket that will be auctioned off at the fair. This morning, our class brainstormed many basket related ideas and we decided on the theme of CANADA. Below is a list of items we thought could fill the basket. A notice was sent home today with your child explaining how this CLASS BASKET FUNDRAISER works. Please read this for important information and details.

You are asked to spend $10.00 or less on an item for the basket. Please send in your item with your child to school by Thursday May 29th. Your support and help with this fundraiser is greatly appreciated!

Here are some ideas we came up with for our CANADA basket:

• books on Canada
• Maple Syrup
• hockey related items such as a t-shirt, toque or hockey cards
• mini Canadian flags
• Canadian wine
• Maple Syrup lollipops
• Roots gift card or any Roots item (hat, sockss, t-shirt)
• chocolate moose or beaver (or a stuffed animal)
• Tim Horton's gift card
• Canadian Tire gift card
• OR any other item of your choice as long as it's related to CANADA

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

We have been travelling all over Canada!

GRADE 4 PERSUASIVE PRESENTATIONS, BROCHURES AND POSTCARDS - The grade 4's have been busy acting as excellent travel agents this week trying their best to persuade us to visit their province or territory! We have been travelling all across Canada learning pertinent information about each of Canada's provinces and territories. Here's where we've visited so far: Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Alberta, Manitoba, Nunavut, Newfoundland and Labrador, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. We look forward to finishing our presentations at the end of the week.

If your child comes home and tries to persuade you to take a vacation somewhere in Canada, then our travel agents have done their job! Excellent work grade 4's on your latest project. 

Enjoy the pictures...

The Butterflies have arrived!

Monarch Butterflies - Thank you very much to all the families who contributed money towards our latest class pets - the butterflies. They arrived in a beautiful netted bag last Friday. Each of the larvae are in plastic cups. We will wait 6 days, as per the instructions, and open each container in order for them to enter their next stage of development. 

Here are some pictures of what the caterpillars look like right now. They are all in 25 plastic cups. In the next few days, we will be removing the lids of the plastic containers, dumping the waste and placing the caterpillars on the plastic lid of the container in order for them to go through the next stage in their development. This is all VERY EXCITING for our class! 

We look forward to raising healthy and beautiful monarch butterflies over the next few weeks.

A great field trip and my apologies for a delay in the blog!

Hello families of Room 205s. I have to apologize for my delay in posting the blog over the past two weeks. It has been a very busy few weeks in our classroom and as Friday approaches, I have every intention of posting the blog and I've been sidetracked by other school related items. So here we are...back up and running again! I hope everyone has had a great few weeks and you are beginning to enjoy the sunshine and nice weather that seems to have finally arrived.

Also, to all our MOMS out there - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY. I hope you had a great day and were pampered with love from your family.

Field trip - On Friday May 9th, we spent a wonderful day at the McMichael Art Gallery in Kleinburg, Ontario. The students spent half the day sketching landscapes similar to those of The Group of Seven. They created beautiful water coloured paintings while paying close attention to the foreground, middle ground and background of their paintings. In the afternoon, we were given a detailed tour of the gallery and shown many of the current exhibits and valuable paintings that are housed at the McMichael Gallery. The weather was exquisite and we had a great day! I'd like to thank the following parents for joining us on this trip: Bridget's mom, Ruth, Oscar"s mom, Cheryl and Max's mom, Elyse. I appreciate you driving to the art gallery and spending the day with us.

Junior School Assembly - Our class was in charge of last week's Junior School Assembly. Our students did an excellent job in their performance of the song, One Day, by Matisyahu. This song is from the Kindness Boomerang on the Life Vest Inside website that our class checks on a regular basis. This song sends a message about peace, kindness and putting an end to violence and war. Life Vest Inside is an amazing organization that promotes acts of kindness in our everyday lives.  The students sung it with great confidence and pride to the junior school and received many compliments on their excellent work. Well done grade 4/5's, I am proud of you!

Currency Assignment - Last week the students presented their Math Currency Assignment to the class. We examined many currencies from all over the world and discussed their value in Canadian dollars. We also went on line to see the symbols used to represent the currency as well as what the currency looks like in both bills and coins. The students did an excellent job explaining their specific currency of choice and many were able to bring in samples of the money. Here are some of the currencies we learned about:

• African tagalog
• Pound
• US dollar
• Ruppee
• Mexican Peso as well as the Chilean Peso
• Euro
• Yuan
• Czech Crowns
• North Korean Won and South Korean Won

Grade 4 Travel Brochures and Postcards - The grade 4's Social Studies project on a Canadian province or territory is due on Tuesday May 13, 2014. The students have been working hard in class to design and plan their brochures and postcards. Many of them have brought their research into class and have made jot notes that they've shown me. They have also shown me their first drafts and asked for editing. I am impressed with most of the grade 4's for working hard on this assignment in class. As I told them at the beginning, I expect the research part to be done in class so I can monitor their progress and guide them along the way through the written part of the assignment.  The artwork and final design part can be completed at home.

Their presentations as travel agents promoting their province/territory will begin this week and we look forward to these. Thank you as always for your support with this project.

Grade 5 Prime Minister Posters - The grade 5's presented their Prime Minister posters several weeks ago as part of our Social Studies unit on the Canadian Government. Their work showed an excellent understanding of their Prime Minister's life and history. The student's presentations showed that they were able to effectively communicate why this person was a significant part of Canadian history and how they contributed to our country. Great work grade 5's! The posters are displayed in the hallway outside of our classroom. We are continuing with our Canadian Government unit and the students will be given a project next week on the Rights of a Child. More information will follow in next week's blog.

Please enjoy the pictures below...

Math test - The grade 5's will have their unit math test on Wednesday May 14, 2014. The test will be on Unit 6, Measurement. They will be given time in class to complete a review as well as ask any questions they may have. The next math unit is Fractions and Decimals.

The grade 4's will have a math test towards the end of next week as their unit is much longer. I will post the exact date in the next blog. The next grade 4 unit will also be Fractions and Decimals.

Reminder: There is no school on Monday May 19, 2014 as it is the Victoria Day weekend.

I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT WEEK!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

Mrs. Mendelson