Science and Social Studies Update

I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend and is all geared up for Halloween!!!

I wanted to give a quick update on what has been happening in Science and Social Studies.

In Science we continue to work on our rocks and minerals unit. Students have:

ü  reviewed the rock cycle - and how rocks come from deep within earth and 

then go through changes throughout time. 

ü  learned about igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks. 

The students also continue to enjoy bringing in rocks during Rock Talk to show to 

their classmates. It is such a fun way for students to demonstrate how they 

can describe the properties of rocks and minerals. 

This week we will begin looking at soil and how it is NOT just dirt! Students will learn that 

soil is really a combination of fine rock particles and humus. We were also invited to work 

with 1L on a buddy project on worms which ties in nicely with our introduction to soil. 

In Social Studies we will be finishing off our mapping unit with a quiz on 
the continents and oceans on Monday. 

Students will then be introduced to a child from each of the following countries:
Ukraine, India, Peru, Tunisia. These characters will be followed over the course of the
year to help the students as they learn about life in each of the countries.

Looking forward to a super week in 3FM!

Halloween

It's time to talk Halloween!

On the blog, we have a section called VIP (Very Important Papers). It is on the bottom right hand side of the blog. Under that heading you will find a document called Planning Party Days. If you click on that link, it will open up the document for you. This document breaks down our year and our students, assigning everyone one party food for one party day. Mrs. Ferguson and I will supply the drinks, plates and napkins each time. If you have any questions or concerns about your child's responsibilities, please contact me as soon as possible so that changes can be made.
Please note: Damion and Cheyenne have already arranged to switch items and holidays but the master sheet has not been changed yet.

Halloween will look a little different this year at RBES. When Mr. Henderson was going through the gym storage rooms he came across the supplies for the Toonie Carnival. Everything was in pretty rough shape so Mr. Henderson discarded them. During our October staff meeting we had a very long discussion about our options for Halloween. We decided to let go of the Toonie Carnival portion. This year:

- students will help decorate the halls (we are in charge of the foyer along with 4S) on October 24th in the afternoon.

- students will dress up for the entire day, not just the afternoon.

- students will participate in the traditional costume parade in the gym after lunch and then proceed back to our class for a party. Students will decide on what activity they want to do in the afternoon (special craft, games, movie, etc.) and we will enjoy our party food.

- students will have a regular assembly in the morning from 8:30 - 10:00. Parents are welcome to attend the beginning portion of the assembly.

Quick check in!

Our short week is FLYING by!!!

Yesterday, students completed the first digital SLA focusing on English Literacy. Tech issues and an overwhelmed website tried our patience throughout the morning. It took five periods to complete and all students made me proud with their patience and efforts. Period six was a fantastic break! I was able to play basketball with the students and watch them relax and have some fun! I must admit, I enjoy teaching gym once a week - it gives me a chance to see them and interact with them in a different environment.

The afternoon was filled with math, which was great! The students explored increasing patterns, wrote pattern rules and extended the patterns. We also took some time to review subtraction using Touch Math. Students definitely find subtraction more difficult because they are not used to counting back from numbers higher than 10. Instead of a ten second count down, have your child practice counting back from a higher number when getting ready to go into the vehicle, tie their shoes or clean up a small mess. Most students struggle to count down 13, 12, 11, 10, so any practice would be beneficial.

This morning we tackled our last digital SLA focusing on Numeracy. The tech issues have been fewer, which is appreciated by all. While the students were in music, I was able to sit down and write some specific feedback about our experience with the pilot SLA assessments. Mrs. Kloschinsky asked all grade three teachers to provide feedback so that she could pass it on to the powers that be. I have repeatedly told our students that this was the first time grade three students have written SLAs and that they are definitely not perfect. I have repeatedly thanked them for their efforts and patience. I am relieved that they are complete and that we can get back to a regular schedule.

A few important things to take note of:

- There is a family movie night happening on October 24th.
Doors open at 6pm
Movie starts at 6:30pm
Tickets are $5 per family
The movie playing is The Lego Movie
There will be a concession and a LEGO door prize.

Tickets are being sold in the morning between 8:15-8:45am and at lunch from noon - 1pm.
Funds raised will be put towards purchasing new Smartboards and other tech equipment for the school.

- Hot lunch orders for November are due by October 24th.

- Milk tickets are always available to purchase.


As always, if you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us at your earliest convenience.

Take care,
Jolene Milson

Fab Fridays in 3FM

I don't usually get to spend Fridays in the classroom - but I did today! It was a busy day - that started with our Character Education Assembly. Congratulations goes out to Connor for receiving our first Student of the Week. He earned this by always being organized and ready to learn! Way to go Connor!

Next, we participated in Bus Safety - which was an awesome reminder about how we need to act in and outside of busses! Good job 3FM - you were an awesome audience for the presentation.

The students completed their spelling tests on spelling city - I have never seen so many students excited about a spelling test! The ease of our students in incorporating technology in the classroom is a blessing in today's world.

It was also our first day for hot lunch and milk - which was thoroughly enjoyed by all the students who ordered.  

This afternoon the students continued to work on their spider web art projects. A big thank you goes out to Mrs. Huber for her help in containing the chaos of oil pastels and her help with the students on their project. Help in the class is always so greatly appreciated by both myself, and Mrs. Milson.

I hope you all have a fabulous long-weekend. From my family to yours - Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Science and Social Update

I can't believe how fast the time is going! It's almost Thanksgiving already - 

before we know it, Halloween will be upon us and we will be digging out our winter gear! 

Science

In science we have been working hard on being geologists. We have been examining the rocks we collected, as well as performing a variety of tests on the rocks to investigate properties such as colour, shape, hardness, texture.  We will continue our investigations by exploring the rock cycle, 

how rocks are made and the 3 main different types of rocks. 

The students are genuinely excited to learn about rocks, as is evident by the number of students 

who choose to participate in our Rock Talks on Tuesday and Thursday. Rock Talk gives the
students a chance to present a rock to the class - giving descriptions of the properties, 

where it's from and if it has any special meaning to them. 

Check out some of our Rock Talkers below:

Social Studies

We have been working on a Mapping Unit. The students have been reviewing 

the cardinal directions, as well as working with maps.  

We have:

✔️learned what the key components of a map are: title, key, symbols, compass rose, scales

✔️created our own maps

✔️practiced reading different types of maps to get information

✔️ learned about latitude and longitude

Currently, we are studying the 7 continents and 4 oceans in preparation for our exploration of the following peoples/countries: India, Ukraine, Tunisia and Peru. 

In the spirit of the holiday; this year, I am thankful for...

...my amazing husband and my three beautiful daughters

...my parents and the time I get to spend with them 
...my time spent learning with your children

...being a part of the incredible RBES team

I hope you all have a great rest of the week and a fabulous Thanksgiving Weekend!!!

October already!!!

Language Arts News

Our first week of Words Their Way is behind us and I'm happy with how things went. Ten out of seventeen WTW Home books were returned on Friday. Students should have two complete sorts written in their books each week. The first one is done on Tuesday when they look at and read each word and then write it the appropriate column. The second one is completed on Wednesday and it is a blind sort and write. A parent reads the word to the child but doesn't show them the word. The student is expected to write the word with proper spelling in the appropriate category. 

Students completed their spelling tests online using the Spelling City website on Friday. This made it quick and easy for students to complete their personalized spelling test instead of me having to give five different spelling tests throughout the day. The words are read to the students individually and a sentence is read using the word. The students type the word into the space provided. I was very happy to see the level of mastery that students achieved with their words and that most students were able to extend their knowledge to spell three new words that follow the same spelling patterns. Way to go 3FM!

Starting this week, in addition to their Words Their Way words, students will write five Word Wall Words in their agenda. These words will be basic sight words. Please ensure that your child can read and spell these common words by the end of the week. Thank you for your support!

Our home reading program is up and running with many enthusiastic readers earning beads for their necklaces! I am super proud of their dedication to their reading skills!

I have been meeting with students for reading conferences during our read to self time each day. During this time, I listen to a student read and we discuss their strengths and areas that need some attention. I teach them a strategy or two that I want them to focus on during reading practice. The strategies focus on one or two of our CAFE reading areas: Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding Vocabulary. It is during this time that we also adjust reading levels throughout the year. 

In writing, we have been focusing on building our stamina while writing in our journals. Students have also thoroughly enjoyed writing home on Fridays in their Back and Forth books. Daily, students are reminded of the proper writing conventions expected in all written work. Sentences need to start with a capital letter and end with proper punctuation. Proper names of people and places must be capitalized within a sentence. 

Math News

Our first month together was spent exploring and building on our general number sense. Through weekly graphs, How Many Ways and basic addition fact practice, I have been able to get a sense of where the students are at when it comes to their math skills. This insight helps me plan future activities and unit studies. This week we will start our patterning unit. Students will explore and extend increasing and decreasing patterns in a variety of ways. They will learn how to define the pattern rule in a given pattern and how to create their own patterns.

I would like to take a minute to explain one of the strategies that I have taught the students to help them with their basic math facts. When students are unable to quickly recall their basic addition and subtraction facts (up to 9+9 or 18-9), they often become quite frustrated. Touch Math is a fantastic strategy that works with all math operations. 

There are two things that you need to know to use this strategy:

1) where the spots are on each number

2) how to count on or back

Students quickly memorize the spots on the numbers one through nine (see chart above). 

From one to five, all spots are single touches, meaning that students touch them and count them once. Numbers six and eight contain double touch spots, meaning that you touch and count them each twice. Numbers seven and nine contain double touch spots and a single touch spot. 

Once students have memorized the spots, applying it to addition is simple.  

For example,

6 + 4 =

Students start by touching the bigger number and say it's name, "Six..."  While touching the spots on the four, the student counts on from 6, "7, 8, 9, 10."

After a little practice, students become very proficient, consistent and confident using this strategy. 

* If you have any questions about Touch Math, please do not hesitate to contact me at school at your earliest convenience. 

This week, we will look at using Touch Math to help us with subtraction. 

Art News

October's art projects will focus on the theme of Halloween using a variety of materials. We started the month off by creating a spider web using white glue. Students first followed a guided drawing lesson to create their web in pencil and then carefully traced their pencil lines with white glue. This Friday, we will use soft pastels to add some colour to our webs. 

A big thank you goes out to Mrs. Toogood and Mrs. Bennett for helping out during art!

Looking forward to another great week with the amazing students in 3FM!