January 21

 Sorry, it looks like the traffic to this blog has become very, very limited (may just be me going to the blog).  I will be moving to sending emails directly if there are important updates from here on out.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me.  I tend to respond fairly quickly.

January 13 - 17

No major news updates this week.  We do have Jungle Sports coming next week (thank you for returning the permission forms) and we have an anti-bully Magic Show coming up on Thursday.

In Math, we are still going through multiplication and division strategies.  It is important for children in grade 3 to learn their multiplication to x9 and division to 81 divided by 9.  In class, we go through strategies, use arrays and number lines to model what it means.   We will be continuing this to the end of next week.

In Language, we are looking at narrative writing.  We will be listening to different versions of Little Red Riding Hood, and starting late this week we will be making our own versions by changing the character, setting and even the problem (and how it is solved!).  This will be done in class, using Book Creator.  We are also going to have a lesson looking at quotation marks.

Week of January 6 - 10

Happy New Year!!  It was nice to see everyone back and hear all about their holidays!  Thank you for all returning the permission form for Jungle Sport, which will be during the week of January 20th.

This week, we will be continuing our work with multiplication and division.  Again, it is important for the class to learn their number facts up to x9.  Perhaps pick one of the facts, and practice that at night.  Keep an eye in their workspace for our lessons.

In Language, we will be working on our New Year's Resolutions this week.   Today, we looked at picking a single word to represent what we would like to change or do better this year. 

We will also be working in these areas during the next two weeks:

• Language: We will be starting some work in narrative writing soon (learning about the parts of a story, and creating our own as well)
• Health: Working in Book Creator to display a balanced meal plan for one day.  
• Drama: We will be continuing work with expressions and body movements through games and activities.
• Science:  We will be continuing to work on our Forces unit
• Family Life: We will be having some discussions about brothers, sisters and good friends
• Physical Education: Practice with badminton and handball over the next month.

Monday, December 9

 Two weeks of school until Christmas!  I will make this the last post until after Christmas, so I will try to list some of the big events/theme days coming up.

• Thursday, December 12 our class will be doing our cookie decorating activity thanks to the parent council.
• Thursday, December 19th is the Christmas concert for the parents.  It will start around 9:45 am and last until 11:15 am
• Here are the theme week activities for the week of December 16-20:
• Monday: Wear your ugly/tacky Christmas sweater
• Tuesday: Dress like Santa/elves/toys/trees/reindeer, etc
• Wednesday:Wear your favourite Christmas accessory (scarf, tie, headband)
• Thursday: Wear your favourite Christmas colours!
• Friday: Pajama Day
• Pizza Day order deadline for next term is Tuesday, December 17th.  Subway orders are due Thursday, December 19th

I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Monday, November 25

 It was a pleasure to speak with many of you last week.  This school year is really moving along!

No major updates for this week.  We will be heading into Advent season soon, and only 4 more school weeks until the holidays!

As we move through these weeks, we will be working on a pair of persuasive writing exercises.  This week, we will be writing persuasive notes for our favourite holiday or field trip.  This will be followed by an "I want to be an Elf" Christmas exercise.  In both instances, we will be looking at sentence structure, punctuation and paragraph formation.

In Math, we will be looking at how to measure area.  Today, using the unit of Post-It notes, we tried measuring our desk tops and discovered some rules about measuring area.  As I mentioned in many interviews, there will be weekly assignments put on Magma Math (found in the student portal) to help refine their abilities.

In Art, we are working on our One-Point Perspective pictures.  Wow, some great artwork will be heading home!  Also, in Science, they worked on some mini-group assignments on additives to soils.  It was meant as an opportunity to work on our collaboration skills, and they did a pretty good job working together!

Monday, November 11

Today we had a very nice Remembrance Day service!  I hope everyone had a moment to pay their respects.

A couple of announcements for this week:

• we have the Scholastic Book fair this week.  Our class will be going once again on Wednesday morning.
• our last Swim to Survive is tomorrow (Tuesday).  Please make sure they have their bathing suit and towel!
• on Wednesday, I will be emailing a link for parent-teacher interviews.  If you would like an interview, we will have signups for one of the 10 minute timeslots that will run between 3:15 and 7:00 pm on Thursday, November 21.

Monday, November 4

 I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween!  It was fun to see everyone in their costumes last week.  This week:

• Swim to Survive is tomorrow (Tuesday).  It went very well last week!  Please ensure bathing suit and towels once again.
• The Scholastic Book Fair starts this week.  Our library time is Wednesday morning.  They are welcome to purchase books this week, but we will also be going during our library time next week.  They can always use this week to check it out and make a list of books they are interested in.
• Friday is a PD Day, so there will be no school on that day.

In Language this week, we will be looking at a pair of poems for Remembrance Day.  As a challenge, I am going to suggest some to try to learn parts of In Flanders Fields by memory to be recited next week in class.  If they prefer to do a read it out loud next week, they can do that too.

In Math, we will continue to be looking at place value and comparing numbers to 1000.  This week, we will be reviewing the concept of rounding numbers.