One of the best things about being in 4/5 is the trips. This year we will be taking our students to Washington, DC. A big part of the cost of the trip will be covered by fundraising. Right now we are looking for parents to help with those fundraising efforts. Some of the work could be done outside of school hours and time given can be small or large. If you would like to help with this important job, please contact Kelly Haynes at [email protected]. Thank you! Backpack Drive: Did you buy your child a new backpack for this school year? Donate the old backpack to our supply drive that will support the school children of Ecole Shalom in Haiti. Bring the backpack to the main office any time during the first few weeks of school. We will have bins in the elementary lobby and the main office for your donation. Below you will find the 2015-2016 PKY Code of Conduct and Technology release. Many families have already turned in the Code of Conduct. If you need another copy, here you go! We are close to having 100% of the forms turned in and are excited to be able to have all students start using the Chromebooks as soon as possible.
Welcome Back!
We are excited and ready to start a new year here at PKY! Our intention is to continually work to increase communication and a feeling of belonging for our students and families. Below is a break down of how things will work this year. Similar to previous years, we are operating in teaching teams. Each team consists of two teachers. These will be the two teachers your child will work with this year. Mr. Kirby will continue in his role as Learning Community Leader and will work with some students in small groups and individually. These students will come from all three teaching teams. Our teaching teams are:
No matter which teaching team your child has, there will be certain similarities. The easiest way to go through these is by subject area. Math
Writing
Reading
Science
Curricula Math We are continuing with our math curriculum – Investigations in Number, Data, and Space. The Investigations curriculum was chosen because it focuses on helping students investigate, explore, and build number concepts and relationships. Rather than simply teaching kids methods to memorize, the goal of Investigations is for students to truly understand the work of math. Sometimes this looks really different for those of us who grew up learning to just “do” math, but in the long run we are aiming for higher levels of understanding. You can read more by visiting the Investigations website: https://investigations.terc.edu/ Writing We are continuing to use our Writing curriculum Being a Writer published by the Center for the Collaborative Classroom (CCC) (Formerly Developmental Studies Center). We chose this curriculum because it focuses on deliberately building students’ abilities, confidence, and skills in Writing. It also uses real literature from multiple cultures and genres. We will have more information at Open House about our specific foci in our Writing blocks this year. You can read more by visiting the CCC website: https://www.collaborativeclassroom.org/being-a-writer Reading This year we will begin using Making Meaning: Comprehension & Vocabulary for Reading. This is a companion curriculum to Being a Writer and is also published by the Center for the Collaborative Classroom. The format of the Reading block is very similar to the Reading Workshop format we have been using. Each day consists of a teacher-facilitated mini-lesson, independent reading time, small group or individual conferences, and share time. You can read more by visiting the CCC website: https://www.collaborativeclassroom.org/making-meaning Science This year we will begin using Sangari Active Science. This curriculum is built around students doing science by engaging in scientific practices: asking questions; collecting and analyzing data; and using evidence to explain their ideas. As the name implies, this science curriculum is active – students handle the materials and tools of science as they do science, read about science, write about science, and talk about science throughout each lesson. We will be learning science on a two-year cycle. This year, we will begin in year 2. Here are the units we will explore in 4/5: Year 2 (2015-2016)
Year 1 (2016-2017)
You can read more by visiting the Sangari website: http://www.activatelearning.com/activescience/ Welcome to the 2015-2016 school year in the Treehouse Learning Community (fourth and fifth grades at PK Yonge. We will use this blog to keep families updated with all the news about what is going on throughout the year.
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