December events

Hi everyone,

Welcome to December!  There is a lot happening this month - please see the following list:

On December 19, we will be having a Festive Feast!  Please see the google document (that you can edit) to sign up for a potluck item:
Sign Up for Barrett & Skelton Festive Feast
This document can also be accessed through student email addresses (students should know their login and password information):
Student Email

We are also continuing to collect for the local Food Bank - please consider sending in non-perishable items for members of our community who are in need.

Today - pictures come home!
December 6 - Hot Lunch forms due to the office
December 9 - Festive Hat Day
December 16 - Festive Sweater Day, Character Education assembly at 9:30 am
December 21 - Caroling for the first block in the gym
December 22 - Caroling for the first block in the gym
December 23 - PJ Day, last day of school for 2016

There will likely be more events coming up - please keep checking student agendas!
Have a great day,
Miss Skelton :)

New Science Units!

We started some new Science Units this week - students are invited to continue adding to, responding to, and asking questions on the following padlets - they've used them... please check them out!

Skelton's Grade 5s: http://padlet.com/sskelton/LSSkelton
Skelton's Grade 6s:  http://padlet.com/sskelton/solarsystem6
Barrett's Grade 5s:  http://padlet.com/sskelton/LSBarrett

Sugar Skulls and Coding

Over the past week, we've been working on drawing sugar skulls.  Students have done a beautiful job of participating in the creation of these beautiful, haunting skulls.  The following video gives a quick tutorial on how to draw a sugar skull:

I Can Haz Draw - Sugar Skulls

We also began coding today - coding is computer programming, and students are using logic and problem solving to design a set of commands to move characters through mazes. Please click on the link to the right to see what it's all about!  Students are welcome to use code.org both at school and at home.

I would also like to take this chance to congratulate our award winners for this month!  Kylah and Vito received the Character Awards for Cooperation and Lauryn received the Falcon Award for academic excellence. Congratulations!

Enjoy the weekend!
Miss Skelton

School Email

To check your email, please click on the following link:

Check your SCDSB Email

Peer Awareness & updates

Hi everyone,

I hope you've all been enjoying this beautiful October weather!  What a wonderful year we've had so far!

We were fortunate enough to have Shelly from Kinark in today to do a Peer Awareness session with our students, to help them understand how students with sensory sensitivities might perceive various tasks.  Please talk to your child about his or her favourite activity from this morning:
- skipping with yarn
- completing a puzzle together without talking
- reading and writing with glasses that have the lenses scratched up
- stringing beads while wearing gardening gloves

Our students were able to recognize how frustrating it might be to struggle with some of these items for a short time.  Our hopes are that they will be more empathetic toward students who may struggle with these sensory issues on a more regular basis. Thank you to our students for participating in such an active way! For pictures, please see the Remind feed at the right of the blog (or join us on remind and get the pics and updates as they happen!).

I've had some inquiries about our schedule, and would like to clarify a few items:
- with the addition of so many students and classes to our school, we will have an alternating Gym schedule with two Gym periods in Week A and one Gym period in Week B (this is to maximize the gym use for all 35+ classes).This week, we will have Gym in the first period on Day 2 and Day 3.  Next 5-day cycle we will have Gym in the first period on Day 2 only.
- a new (and hopefully relatively finalized!) schedule will be coming home in the next week.

Please remember to send in Dance-a-thon permission and pledge forms!
Also, tomorrow's a PD day, so students get to stay home :)

Have a great day,
Miss Skelton

October is here!

Hi everyone,

It's hard to believe, but October is already here!  I'm happy to say that students have settled into our new 5/6 well, and that every other teacher that comes into our class says it's a delight to be there :)  I'm already loving my students, but they've all been mine for a while, so I have a good excuse!

Before I mention our upcoming events and activities, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who attended our Meet-The-Teacher night. It was wonderful to meet you, and if you weren't able to make it, I look forward to meeting you in the future!

If you haven't signed up for a conference time in November (after the progress reports go home), please contact me either through Remind or via email at sskelton@scdsb.on.ca.

We have a few things coming up this week:
Monday, October 3 -  weekly multiplication quiz;  spirit-wear day (wear Falcon clothes or green & black, our school colours); character ed assembly at 11:45 (which our students are presenting at/performing in, so if you'd like to join us, please do!)
Tuesday, October 4 - Officer Rob will be here to talk about Internet Safety
The rest of the week looks normal for now, but there's always something interesting that comes up at Fieldcrest, so look for updates!
Wednesday, October 5 - for those participating, the Cross Country meet

We've finished celebrating September's character trait of "caring", and we are now moving onto October's trait of "cooperation". Please talk to your child about the importance of this character trait!

Just a little to think about!

Have a great week,
Miss Skelton :)

Welcome!

Hello everyone,

I would like to welcome our grade 6 students to our class this week!  Miss Barrett and I are looking forward to having a successful year with you in Grade 6 and can't wait to begin our year with you!

Please invite your families to attend Meet-the-Teacher night on September 27!

Miss Skelton :)

Class Reorganization

Due to the September 27th class reorganization, several of our students will be relocated to the 4/5 split (which will be in the library, pending the arrival of the new portables), and the remainder of our class will become a 5/6 split.  We will be welcoming grade 6s into our class as we proceed with the rest of our 2016/2017 school year.

I will miss the students who are leaving dearly, however they are always welcome to come and see me and visit whenever they'd like :)

Please remember that Meet-the-Teacher night is also September 27, from 6-8pm. You'll be invited to join our Remind classroom @fesgr56 and to follow our blog at skeltongrade5-6.blogspot.ca (this blog address will be updated on September 27).

Miss Skelton

Growth Mindset - Try It!

Hi everyone,

An important focus that we will have this year is Growth Mindset.  Growth Mindset is a philosophy where we encourage students to try new things, even if there is a risk of failing.  Today, our discussion included Famous Failures, and people who struggled to be successful.  We also discussed common, every day products that we use that were made by accident - ask your child about Post-it Notes or chocolate chip cookies!
As far as trying anything and not being afraid to take on a new challenge, check out this video with Nick Vujivic:


This video, named "The Best Motivational Video Ever", focuses on famous people and/or celebrities



Lastly, we discussed the idea of "paying it forward"... and how random acts of kindness can be enough to change a person's entire day, no matter how big or how small.




Please take a moment to watch these videos and discuss them with your child!

Some important upcoming dates:
September 13 - Multiplication quiz
September 19 - book orders due
September 19 - Multiplication quiz
September 26 - Multiplication quiz
September 27 - Class turnaround day - there is a chance that students may be moved to a new/different classroom on this day
September 27 - Meet-The-Teacher Night - 6-8pm

Have a great Monday evening!
Miss Skelton :)

Welcome to Grade 5!

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to the 2016-2017 school year!  We've had an incredibly successful first two days of school.  Students have adjusted to a new classroom, new teachers, new routines, and a new yard boundary.

Miss Barrett and I are fortunate to be teaching side-by-side again this year, as we did last year.  We run a very successful rotary program, where students will travel from one class to the other for specific subjects.  I will be teaching Math, Science, Visual Arts, and Phys. Ed., and Miss Barrett will be teaching Language Arts, Social Studies, Health, and Phys. Ed. We will have Mr. Starr to teach Drama and Dance (once a week), and Mr. Crone to teach Music (once a week).  Similarly to last year, students will French four times a week, and this year, their teacher is Mlle Dukelow.

This year, we will be implementing a classroom/individual student point program.  Students can reach milestones with points, and receive individual rewards, as well as classroom rewards. Please ask your child to explain the program to you - I think they'll enjoy it!

If you haven't had a chance to join our Remind list yet, please visit https://www.remind.com/join/fesgr5 to find the appropriate information to join.  Regular reminders will be sent, updates on happenings in our class and school, and special information about upcoming assessments/evaluations.  Students are also invited to have remind on their devices, however the intention of the app is for parents to remain in communication with the teachers.

Paperwork was sent home yesterday with students, and the office would greatly appreciate it if it could come back by Friday, September 9 at the latest.  (Students will receive points for returning it this week!).

There will be regular updates on our blog, so please check back frequently... or, better yet, subscribe and get email notifications when I update it!

I'm looking forward to a fantastic year with your child.  Happy Back to School!

Miss Skelton :)