October 26th Update

Phew! Another busy week filled with fun and learning in 3C!

LITERACY

We didn't finish The Trouble With Chickens today because we had three students missing and I didn't want them to miss the conclusion of this story. Next week, we will start reading the first book in the Dinosaur Cove series during Read Alouds.

We finished up our final week focusing on IDEAS in writing and the students have done so well! This week we focused on staying on topic when planning our writing and when writing. The students were masters at catching details that didn't belong in letters and paragraphs because they didn't stay on topic. It was neat to see the students shake their heads at the mistakes that they were catching in the examples. They'd say, "What was he thinking? You can't just mention your birthdate when you're in the middle of explaining where you live! That doesn't make sense!" YES! They've got it! Next week, we will switch our focus to ORGANIZATION.

NUMERACY

This week in math we learned how to write a number in words. Students have the number words on their portable word walls so spelling counts. Students have to first be able to read the number properly and then write down the words accurately. We also practiced writing numbers in all of the ways that we have learned so far: expanded form (numerals only and numerals and words), drawing the base ten blocks and using a place value chart. We will continue to practice these skills next week to gain a consistent level of mastery.

SOCIAL STUDIES

This week, we reviewed the names and locations of the seven continents and learned about the five oceans. The five oceans include: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean. We also took a closer look at North America. We talked about how there are 23 independent countries in North America. The three main countries are Canada, Mexico and the USA.  Next week we are going to take a closer look at Canada and the other continents. 

ART

The students were excited to bring home their Rock Monsters today! We took two days to create these masterpieces and the students were so proud of their finished products!

To see close up photos of each Rock Monster click here!

TAKE ME OUTSIDE DAY

What a wonderful afternoon we had! The students all enjoyed an almost 4km walk down to the river valley in search of wildlife! We watched a couple of inspiring videos to get us in the "wildlife watcher" frame of mind. We took a few lessons from my favourite Canadian naturalist, Brian Keating! We talked about the two videos and how Brian Keating acted in the videos. Was he loud? Did he run around? Did he walk slowly and quietly? How does he manage such amazing wildlife encounters?

Here are the links to the videos that we watched:

As we headed out for our walk, I had a surprise for the students waiting for us in the car! My dog Tali was going to join us for our walk! They were super excited to meet her and she was the perfect front of our line that the students couldn't pass. Once we reached the river valley, we were treated to a squirrel sighting! The kids were so happy to see this little guy hanging out in the tree!

At first, we struggled to walk quietly and calmly through the trails. After another chat about behaviour, I asked the students, "Would Brian Keating want to be walking with us right now? How would he feel about how we are walking through the trails looking for wildlife?" This seemed to be the reminder that they needed. They were calm and quiet! Mother Nature rewarded them for their efforts and treated us to an adorable chipmunk sighting...and then another! Two chipmunks were busy eating some yellowish berries from the bushes! The kids whispered and beamed as they were amazed by their agility on the tiny branches!

We had a fantastic afternoon exploring the amazing river valley that we are all so blessed to live near!

To see more pictures of our Take Me Outside Day click HERE!

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

Congratulations goes out to Orion for earning Student of the Week this week! 

That's all for tonight! Have a great weekend!

October 20th Update

Wow! What a gorgeous fall day! I hope everyone has a chance to get outside sometime this weekend to enjoy the beautiful weather! We had another short but busy week in 3C!

LITERACY

The students have continued to enjoy The Trouble with Chickens during our read aloud time each morning! They are loving the characters in this story! Ask them to introduce you to JJ, Moosh, Dirt, Sugar and Vince the Funnel. Our reading conferences are going very well...I am so happy to see the students using the reading strategies that I am teaching! It's so great when I hear, "I used that read around the word strategy and it ACTUALLY worked!" It's music to my ears!

We just finished our fourth week focusing on IDEAS in writing. The students are really getting a hang of things! This week we focused on using specific details to support our ideas. 

During our Working with Words time, we completed a Making Words lesson and a Using Words You Know lesson. It's great to see and hear the students increased confidence using some basic spelling rules:

• We need an e at the end of the word to make the vowel long!
• That beginning sound is a triple blend, s-p-r!
• We need to put the two vowels side by side so the first one is long!
• That word rhymes with train so it ends in a-i-n!

NUMERACY

We have three solid lessons behind us in our Place Value unit and the students are grasping the concepts well! Sometimes students struggle with the idea of place value and for us adults, it just seems so simple. The JumpMath program, along with a great resource from Trevor Calkin's (a super amazing math teacher from BC),  does a fantastic job breaking down the concepts for kids and I often see things click for some struggling students. 

This week we focused on the following place value concepts:

1) reading numbers properly

•  347, three hundred forty seven 
• no and (and stands for the decimal point in a number)

2) indicating the place that a number is in

3) indicating the value of a digit

• in the number 238, the 2 is worth 200, the 3 is worth 30 and the 8 is worth 8

4) being able to draw a number using base ten blocks and being able to indicate the number using an image of base ten blocks

5) writing numbers in expanded form using numerals only and using words and numerals

 

or 123 = 1 hundred + 2 tens + 3 ones

SOCIAL STUDIES

We've started our first Social Studies unit on global awareness. Before we start looking at our four countries, we need to understand where we are in the world and the countries of the world are organized into continents. I introduced the students to a fun video that helps them remember the names of the seven continents of the world. 

BLUE FLAME KITCHEN VISIT

The students in 3C really enjoyed a yummy morning after making fresh salsa and fruit salad! They learned so much about food safety, knife safety, reading and following a recipe and nutrition! It was a fantastic program! There is a parent/child cooking class on Tuesday evening (6-7pm) during Parent Teacher Meetings. You will be making no bake cereal bars! 

To sign up, click on this link: https://goo.gl/LbGGx2

Click here to see all of the Blue Flame Kitchen photos!

PARENT TEACHER MEETINGS/BOOK FAIR

I am available for meeting appointments on both Monday and Tuesday after school. The Enchanted Forest Book Fair will be running this week from Monday to Thursday. We will be going during our regular library period on Thursday. 

UPCOMING REMINDERS

• The grade fours received about half the orders as usual this year for the fruit and cookie dough order. If you missed the Thursday deadline, Miss Potter will be more than happy to accept orders on Monday! 
• The Earth Rangers are coming to RBES at 2pm on Tuesday and they're bringing four animals for the students to see!

October 12th Update

We had a short but busy week in 3C!

LITERACY

This week in writing we focused on including the 5 Ws in our writing: what, where, when, who, why. The students practiced including these details in their writing during the planning stages and in their actual writing. We also focused on contractions (can't, won't, it's, I'm, etc). We practiced making contractions and identifying them in written paragraphs. 

We read a variety of picture books on Tuesday through Thursday during our read alouds. On Friday, we started a new chapter book. It's called The Trouble with Chickens by Doreen Cronin. This is such a funny tale about an odd friendship with a little mystery mixed in. The students get to hear the story from the dog's perspective. He has quite a way with words! 

I introduced a new Working with Words activity this week. It's called Using Words You Know. I love these lessons because they cross over to both reading and writing. Students are given four related words that each follow a different spelling pattern/rule. This week we worked with: bike, train, van, car. I start the lesson by directly teaching these spelling rules/patterns and students write them down at the top of their paper. Next, I write a word on the board that fits in one of the columns. Students are expected to read the word and write it in the column where it belongs, copying it down accurately. After about 10-12 words, I read the word to them without giving them a visual. Students are expected to spell the word properly under the appropriate column. 

NUMERACY

This week in math, we investigated tables and patterns within them. We started by looking closely at tables and learned the difference between columns and rows. We also looked at how columns and rows are numbered. This set the students up with the proper language and understanding to be able to talk about tables..."Look at the numbers in the second column." We then dove into identifying the pattern rules and extending patterns within tables. We even took on some tricky problem solving questions! The students did a great job with these concepts! We did a quick little unit quiz on Friday afternoon. I will be marking them this weekend and posting the marks on PowerSchool.

On Monday, we will start our new unit focusing on number concepts and place value!

SCIENCE

This week we finished up our Rocks and Minerals unit! The students enjoyed exploring the properties of their rocks using a variety of tools, just like geologists do! On Friday, we did a Kahoot quiz to test the students understanding of the concepts in the unit.

On Monday, we will start a mini unit in Social Studies focusing on mapping. This will help create a greater understanding of the globe and where Canada is in relation to our 4 countries: India, Ukraine, Peru and Tunisia. 

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

A big congratulations goes out to Jacob for earning our first Student of the Week award! 

We are so lucky to share our days with you in 3C!

Important Reminders for the Week

• The students will be participating in a Blue Flame Kitchen cooking class on Wednesday morning from 9-11am. Please make sure that you have completed the permission form online. There is no cost for this activity as it has been covered by the Nutrition Grant. 
• Fruit and cookie dough orders are due on Thursday. This fundraiser is in support of the Grade Four Camping Trip.
• PD Day on Friday
• Don't forget to sign up for a time for a Parent Teacher Meeting. I am available on both Monday and Tuesday. Use this link to sign yourself up: https://www.schoolinterviews.ca/book/step1?z=RWnILW

Have a great weekend!

October 5th Update

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our 3C families! I hope everyone enjoys a weekend surrounded by the love, laughter and fellowship of family and friends this weekend!

LITERACY

Monday's read alouds revolved around Orange Shirt Day when we read Stolen Words by Melanie Florence. We finished up the Skippyjon Jones series this week. Not only did we focus on checking for understanding and backing up to reread during our book study, but we also focused on the writing strategies used by the author. We discussed how Julia Schachner planned out her books, followed the same "recipe", paid attention to word choice and intentionally made text to text and text to world connections for her readers. The students were amazed by all of the thinking that is involved when you write a book! It was like I taught them the secret behind a magic trick!

Our writing lessons this week focused on planning a paragraph and including a topic sentence and supporting sentences. The final project for the week was planning and writing a Thanksgiving themed paragraph. The students did a great job on this paragraph! A mark for this assignment has been posted on PowerSchool. 

Click here to see all of the paragraphs!

We also finished up our Kite String letters in handwriting this week! Two review sheets came home to introduce you to the methods that we are using to form our letters properly. The handwriting program that I use is from an Occupational Therapist and I have found that it really gets the students started on the write foot with proper cursive letter formation. The little phrases that go with each letter assist the students in remembering the steps in order.

NUMERACY

This week we continued to build confidence and improve our accuracy when extending increasing and decreasing patterns. We started identifying the pattern rule using the "start with ___, add/subtract ___" notation. We also looked at ordinal numbers in preparation for upcoming work with patterns using tables. The motive behind introducing ordinal numbers at this time is to ensure a common vocabulary when discussing positions on the tables (ie; what would the number be on the third line? on the fifth line?). This was quite a simple lesson and the students all grasped the concepts with ease.

SCIENCE

This week in science we investigated the difference between a rock and a mineral. The students enjoyed touching a chunk of a real mineral, amethyst, that my family "mined" east of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The class was filled with oohs and ahhs when I took a flashlight and placed it behind the amethyst! Like magic, different colours appeared! There was light and dark purple, some white and even some yellow! The students were amazed! 

This gentleman does an amazing job explaining what a mineral is!

We also discussed Moh's Hardness Scale this week! The students are really excited to test out their new geologist skills next week on their own rocks! 

ART

We had an afternoon full of amazing art today as I introduce Team 3C to my favourite artist, Romero Britto! We completed a guided drawing of a cat, practiced colouring patterns/designs and then started colouring in our masterpieces! We had such a great time! Stay tuned for pictures of our finished pieces!

ORANGE SHIRT DAY!

We quickly snapped this selfie of all of us in our orange shirts before dismissal time!