Dear Parents,

I would like to begin by sincerely expressing how wonderful it has been teaching the ABIS grade fives over the last four months. I am a very fortunate teacher to have such a nice (small) group of culturally diverse students.

Some of the curricular focuses we began with in early November have come to end and others will be continuing into 2013.

Our Unit of Inquiry (UOI), It’s a Small World, was a look at the basic social, economic and political issues behind globalization as well as some fundamental geographic facts. In the new year we’ll be wrapping up this unit, using the geography focus as a link to move into ‘The Changing Earth’, an investigation into the earth’s formation, features and change over time. We will also be wrapping up and exhibiting our extensive UOI art creations early in 2013.

In math we have had our fill of algebra and next quarter we will be moving on to geometry and measurement, exploring such topics as length, volume & capacity, temperature, mass, area, angle, time, shape, transformations and positioning & orientation.

In language we will be continuing our construction of vibrant information books and our investigation into different types of words and how to effectively use them in our writing. We will also be doing a novel study and focusing on how readers can make personal connections and form their own ideas and perspectives from what they are reading.

Have a great ‘time out’ from the school routine and enjoy the next two weeks.

All the best, Mr. George (AKA Mr. Geroge, Mr. Gorge or Mr. george)