We have kicked off May with a bang! Monday was a professional day so while you all were resting up and relaxing (we hope!), we were busy here at school planning for a very exciting Art initiative which will be happening at our school on May 14th. It is called the “Project of Heart” initiative and we spent the day planning activities and preparing for the special event. Without giving to much away, this Art project will help us put reconciliation into action here at Brentwood Park.
While we are wrapping up our Science projects, getting our Essays and Art ready to display, we have also started many new projects as well.
The Grade 5’s have started a new unit in Math where they will be exploring Measurement and Geometry. 
We reviewed the metric units of measurement (mm,cm,m,km) and we practiced using our rulers this week as well. Perimeter is another topic we reviewed and practiced together. It is important to know how to measure shapes for perimeter as it is something we will need to use and understand all our lives
. Converting measurements and comparing them was also practiced. Next week we will be talking more about Perimeter and diving into the topic of Area. Do you remember learning about Area last year?
We wrapped up our “If the World Were 100 People” graphs with one final GOW. You received your “Part 3” section back and this last graph was an assessment to see how well you could take the information given and convert it into a pie graph. This graph focused on wealth and income. Did you know that only half of the world’s population makes over $7.00 a day??? 
The remaining half of the population earns LESS… with 10 % of the people on the planet having less than $2.00 a day to live on. That sure is an eye-opener… and puts into perspective how truly fortunate we are!
We are still talking about Body Science and the topic of Puberty was the main focus this week. We worked in groups to unpack examples of how puberty can effect each of us differently.
During puberty so much is changing. Whether it be physical, emotional, or social, our changing hormones play a huge role in how we feel about ourselves and in turn, can directly effect how we treat those around us. We were very proud of how mature you have all been during our discussions and we can see you already know a lot about your bodies! It is so important to know what to expect so we can ask for help if something feels wrong but more importantly, not worry when things feel different. Knowledge is power friends!
Our research on government started this week as well. Each of us now have a level of government that we are learning about: either Federal, Provincial, or Municipal. Government ( no matter what level) is a HUGE topic, so we are narrowing it down and looking at only the “legislative” branch of each. 
Using our guiding questions, several videos on Teams, and “google”, we should be able to find out quite a bit about the level of government each of us is responsible for. Remember, your notes are due next Thursday… and those will be your ticket to starting your power point presentation. The goal is that everyone is starting their power point in class next week.
Finally, we have started to work on some Digital/Media Literacy studies. This week we explored a little bit about Cyber-bullying. It is so important to understand that Cyberbullying is a type of bullying and involves the use of technology to intimidate, hurt or humiliate someone. 
Cyberbullying can happen on social media, in texts, emails, and even websites or gaming platforms. Cyberbullying can include: sending cruel or threatening emails / messages. We want you all to be aware of how vulnerable you can be online and to understand the dangers lurking behind the screens. Next week, we are going to focus more on using technology wisely and learning how to navigate the internet safely and efficiently, especially when trying to complete work for school.
Your Blog Response Question for this weekend is…….
What are 3 actions you can take to be an “Upstander” instead of a “Bystander” if you or someone you know is experiencing cyber-bullying?