Newsletter Jan.28 - 31

Weekly Newsletter Grade 5

Dates: 27-31 Jan. 2019               

Dear Parents,

Curriculum Information for this Week:

Literacy: This week the students will continue their reading unit on the Fantasy genre. They will also continue working in their fantasy book clubs where they will discuss elements of fantasy, keep track of characters’ development and problems and identify internal and external character conflicts and themes that run through their fantasy books. Questions which you can ask your fifth grader,

• What book are you reading in book club?
• Tell me about who has the power in the book and why?
• How has your character changed throughout the book?
• What theme do you see emerging in this book?

Students will begin writing fantasy stories this week. The focus of this unit is for students to be able to elaborate their thoughts (while keeping a focus!), use transitions to move from one idea to another and writing with precise language. Although, not fantasy check out the 5th grade expectation for fiction writing.

Math: The students will continue Unit 4: Place Value and Decimal Operations. Last week, the students reviewed adding and subtracting decimals and towards the This wekk we will  move into multiplying decimals (whole number X decimal) using the area model and the standard algorithm for multiplication. 

Unit of Study: The students will continue their second science unit: Modeling Matter: The Chemistry of Food from the Amplify Science program. During the unit, the students are involved in a simulation, where they take on the role of food scientists working in a lab for a large food-production company: Good Food Production Inc. The students will continue to work in their classrooms and conduct hands-on experiments in the science labs, investigating the different properties of matter.

Lessons completed so far:

Lesson 1.1 Pre-assessment - classroom

Lesson 1.2: Introducing Food Science - science lab

Lesson 1.3: Made of Matter

1.4 Seperating a Food Color Mixture

For more information and ways to support your child please visit the

Parent Learning Connection page.

Parents, please also check out the SERVICE CHANNEL, which is a forum for the ISKL community to share ideas and information about how we can contribute to our community and planet.

Important Reminders/Information: (also see GLC Updates)

· NO SCHOOL Fri Feb 1 (Federal Territory Day), Mon Feb 4 (ISKL Holiday), Tues Feb 5-6 (CNY)

· Author Visit- Matt Holmes: Friday February 8

Highlight from last week:

On Thurs. January 24 we welcomed author and explorer Matt Dickinson. Fifth graders were enthralled by his storytelling and some of them now may want to climb Everest!

Newsletter Jan. 21-25

Weekly Newsletter Grade 5

Dates: 21-25 Jan. 2019               

Dear Parents,

Curriculum Information for this Week:

Literacy: This week the students will continue their reading unit on the Fantasy genre. They will also continue working in their fantasy book clubs where they will discuss elements of fantasy, keeping track of characters’ development and problems and identify internal and external character conflicts and themes that run through their fantasy books. Our daily fantasy read alouds will also continue. While the focus for the first week of semester 2 was on fantasy reading, the students will begin brainstorming ideas for Fantasy writing.

Math: The students will continue Unit 4: Place Value and Decimal Operations. Last week, the students reviewed adding and subtracting decimals, understanding place value as well as multiplying by exponents. This week students will move into multiplying decimals (whole number times a decimal) using the area model and the standard algorithm for multiplication. This week they will continue to work on multiplying decimals, using the above strategies and including showing their thinking on decimal grids.  

Unit of Study: The students will continue their second science unit: Modeling Matter: The Chemistry of Food from the Amplify Science program. During the unit, the students are involved in a simulation, where they take on the role of food scientists working in a lab for a large food-production company: Good Food Production Inc. The students will continue to work in their classrooms and conduct hands-on experiments in the science labs, investigating the different properties of matter.

Lessons for this week:

Lesson 1.1 Pre-assessment - classroom (What is a food scientist?)

Lesson 1.2: Introducing Food Science - science lab

Lesson 1.3: Made of Matter  

For more information and ways to support your child please visit the

Parent Learning Connection page.

Parents, please also check out the SERVICE CHANNEL, which is a forum for the ISKL community to share ideas and information about how we can contribute to our community and planet.

Important Reminders/Information: (also see GLC Updates)

Mon. 21 Jan: G5 fantasy writing unit begins

Wed. 23 Jan: ‘Welcome Back to Semester 2 Assembly’ for G3-5 in the Melawati Theatre from 2:00-2:30pm. The PJ-G2 Assembly will be conducted from 8:30-9:00am. Some Red Hats will lead both assemblies.

Also, Semester 2 ASA registrations will close in PowerSchool at 10:00am.

Thurs. 24 Jan: Visiting Author Presentation by Matt Dickinson in MPR4 from 1:45-2:30pm.

Fri. 25 Jan: Next Red Hats Free Dress Day - suggested donation - RM5

Also, PTA New Parent Reception in MPR1 from 9:30-11:30am.

Highlight from last week:

On Thurs. 17 Jan. at the ES Open Day, a small group of Red Hats from each G5 class got to show prospective parents around the school and answer their questions. The feedback suggests that the adults were very impressed by our students.

Newsletter Jan. 14-18th

Weekly Newsletter Grade 5

Dates: 14-18 Jan. 2019               

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year and welcome back to semester 2 in G5! We hope you had a relaxing holiday with your family and friends.

Curriculum Information for this Week:

Literacy: This week the students will start new reading and writing units on Fantasy Genre.

The students will begin by doing a tuning-in to the fantasy unit by identifying the

elements of fantasy. In the first part of the reading unit, readers will read alongside the

characters keeping track of problems, identifying internal and external character conflicts

and themes that run through fantasy books and history. Our read aloud will also be a

fantasy book. The students will begin their writing fantasy unit  with a reading and writing pre-assessment.

Math: The students will continue Unit 4: Place Value and Decimal Operations.

They will begin the week reviewing adding and subtracting decimals, before they move

into multiplying decimals. Our emphasis is to build models to represent our thinking using hundreds grids.

Unit of Study: The students will begin their second science unit: Modeling Matter: The Chemistry of Food! In this unit, students take on the role of food scientists working in a lab for a large food-production company. Through some hands-on experiments the students will investigate different properties of matter and how chromatography works.

For more information and ways to support your child please visit the

Parent Learning Connection page.

Parents, please also check out the SERVICE CHANNEL, which is a forum for the ISKL community to share ideas and information about how we can contribute to our community and planet.

Important Reminders/Information: (also see GLC Updates)

Mon. 14 Jan. Day 1: First day of semester 2.  

Highlights in the week prior to the semester break:

The students completed their first science unit titled, ‘Sustainable Energy’ and showcasing their innovation through Design Thinking. A G5 ‘gallery walk’ was also held on Friday. 21 Dec. in the G5 classrooms from 1:45 to 2:20 pm, which was a celebration of learning where

students and teachers experienced the variety of presentations outside their own classroom.

Newsletter: Dec 17-21

Weekly Newsletter Grade 5

Dates: December 17-21 2018

Curriculum Information for the Week:

Literacy: This week students will wrap up their informational writing, focusing on sustainable energy. Information paragraphs follow the same format as all good paragraph writing, starting with a topic sentence, followed by FRED’s, and concluding with a “So what?” This week students will show what they know in their Writing on Demand Assessment.

Math: As we move forward in our decimals unit, students are learning to add and subtract decimals.  We have multiple tools and strategies to help students develop conceptual understanding.  Students will show what they know about decimals by adding, subtracting, and rounding while shopping for a meal on Tesco.com

Unit of Study:  Design Thinking is in full swing. Students have started making connections to energy consumption and climate change, and have begun their designs of a prototype to help reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, in order to reduce carbon emissions that lead to greenhouse gases and global warming.

For more information and ways to support your child please visit the Parent Learning Connection page.

Parents, please also check out the SERVICE CHANNEL, which is a forum for the ISKL community to share ideas and information about how we can contribute to our community and planet.

Important Reminders/Information for this week: (also see GLC Updates):
Last week of school before break!


Highlights from last week:
Students have been working hard on their nonfiction writing pieces throughout the week.  Ask them to share their work with you!
Design Thinking is in full swing!  Ask your child about their idea, the prototype they will be building and HOW it will positively affect the environment!

Newsletter Dec. 3-

Weekly Newsletter Grade 5

Dates: December 3-7, 2018

Curriculum Information for the Week:

Literacy: Students will continue to work on their nonfiction reading and writing units, which are integrated with our sustainable energy science unit. Students will continue to use hard copy and online texts about sustainable energy to improve their nonfiction reading and writing. This week the students will focus on choosing and researching one form of sustainable energy, including the pros and cons etc. They will begin to synthesize their research in an information essay. All of this research will guide us to use the design thinking process in order to problem solve around climate change.

Math: We are wrapping up our unit on coordinate planes. We are now bridging into understanding the decimal system. In this unit, students will grasp that the location of digits in decimal numbers determines the value of a digit. Students will also be using real-world problems in order to understand how to add, subtract, divide and multiply decimals.

Unit of Study:  The students will continue to work on our Sustainable Energy unit. Various classes have completed their electrical energy exploration labs, including building on their knowledge of circuits to create their own LED flashlights. Students will continue to read nonfiction texts to support their understanding of sustainable energy. This week, as mentioned above, the students will start making connections to energy consumption and climate change.

For more information and ways to support your child please visit the Parent Learning Connection page.

Parents, please also check out the SERVICE CHANNEL, which is a forum for the ISKL community to share ideas and information about how we can contribute to our community and planet. 


Important Reminders/Information for this week: (also see GLC Updates):
Thursday December 6, ES Holiday Concert 6pm and 7:30pm
Please send in your clean recyclables for our design thinking project. We are looking for plastic, ribbon, fabric, cartons, bottles etc.

Highlights from last week:
Thank you for the parent volunteers who helped our kids craft a unique Christmas ornament.
CONGRATULATIONS to the Aqua Panthers (swimmers) who competed in their first meet of the year.