LITERACY
This week we:
- focused on a few reading strategies during our read aloud time while enjoying some awesome books. We focused on tuning into interesting words when reading Rebecca Bender's books Giraffe and Bird and Don't Laugh at Giraffe. We also focused on making connections when reading to improve our comprehension when reading The Interrupting Chicken, Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise and The Incredible Bouncing Chowder.
- started our reading intervention schedule for one-on-one reading conferences during read to self time. Students who require the most assistance get the most time during these conferences with the intention of quickly raising reading levels.
- wrote our HLATs. This is an assessment tool that all grade 2-9 students complete in September in Black Gold School Division. They will be marked by October 30th, as we need to wait for exemplars to be provided prior to marking.
- completed week 3 in our focus on IDEAS in writing. This week we focused on including the 5 Ws (what, where, when, who and why) in our writing to ensure that we are giving our reading adequate information.
NUMERACY
This week we:
- learned how to add the gap to the final number in a sequence
- learned how to extend increasing patterns using three steps. (1) find the gap, (2) double check your gap, (3) add the gap on to the last number
- learned how to identify the gap in a decreasing pattern by counting backwards
- completed our MIPI assessment. This assessment tool is used by grades 1 to 10 students in Black Gold School Division. These assessments have already been scored.
SCIENCE
This week we:
- continued to learn about the layers of the earth
- started constructing a 3D model of the layers of the earth using modelling clay. I have no photos of this activity at this time because my hands were constantly busy helping the students warm up their modelling clay! LOL! Photos to come next week after we add our finishing touches!
TERRY FOX WALK
This week we:
- learned why Terry Fox is a Canadian hero!
- enjoyed a chilly walk!
INTRODUCING OUR FIRST STAR STUDENT
This week we:
- enjoyed getting to know Kacey better!
- Please note: I'm sharing more photos than I normally would this week to give you a better idea of what happens during your child's Star Student week. I understand that this project takes some time to put together but I promise you, it is worth it. The students just glow with pride when it's their turn in the spotlight!
ORANGE SHIRT DAY
This week we:
- read two books and had discussions about the use of residential schools in Canada.
Talking about this topic is tricky with Grade Three students and I promise you that I put a lot of thought into it. We started our discussion talking about how sometimes when we look back at things that happened in the past, we wonder "why would people think this was ok?" I opened the conversation by talking about how when I was a child, it wasn't the law to wear seatbelts, so I didn't wear one (until I was eleven years old...I just looked it up). They were shocked by this! I went on to explain how when I came home from the hospital, my mom held me in the front seat because there was no such thing as car seats. Again, their mouths fell open in shock! We then talked about how knowing what we know now, that seems crazy and you may even question what my parents were thinking. But back then, it's just the way it was.
From here, we started talking about what we learned from the books about residential schools and how it affected the children and the Indigenous groups all over Canada.
The parts that I focused on were:
- the children weren't allowed to speak their own languages and "lost" their languages over the years. We talked about the impact of not being able to communicate with their parents when they got home.
- the children were unable to maintain their connection to their culture at that time and often lost the knowledge and skills to participate fully and confidently in their culture when they got home.
- when they finished with their time in the residential schools they often lacked a sense of belonging to either community (Euro-Canadian or Indigenous)
- they lived at the schools and missed their parents
I'm very sensitive with this topic for the students, because I know for most of them, this is the first time that they've heard about it. I focus on how the intention behind the residential schools was not to harm children and that the people running them thought they were doing what was best for the children at the time. But just like the seatbelt law, we know better now.
It did come up in the Stolen Words book that children were struck. This shocked the students at first but then someone chimed in with, "My grandpa told me about getting the strap when he was a kid at school and he didn't go to a residential school!" We talked about how that's another example of things that were "normal" in the past, that we can't imagine happening today.
Finally, I did share with the students a story about a trip that my family took to Alert Bay, just off the coast of Port MacNeil, on Vancouver Island. I told them about going to the Big House to take in a T'sasala Cultural Group traditional dance performance. I talked about meeting an Elder that quietly watched as people filed into the Big House to take their seats. During the introductions, her daughters introduced her to us and explained that she has a hard time believing that we came to witness her culture. They explained that she grew up in a residential school and was taught to be ashamed of her culture. She is moved to tears during every performance as she watches the spectators enjoying and embracing her culture. I shared some photos and videos with the students from this day.
If you have any questions about our conversation, please feel free to contact me at any time.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
- Monday - Orange Shirt Day
- Monday - Elder Sydney Courtepatte of Michel First Nation will be doing a 30 minute presentation around 9:20 for the Grade 3s and 4s.
- Wednesday - Early Dismissal
- Friday - Admazing Savings Pack orders due
- Friday - Photo Orders due
- Wednesday, October 9th - Photo Retakes
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