December 20th Update

We had such a great week in 3C!

LITERACY & NUMERACY

This week we:

• enjoyed some Christmas themed activities to practice our literacy and numeracy skills
• did a check in with double digit addition and we NAILED it!
• worked on our Grade Three Memories Slideshows. Students were working on several skills on their chromebooks during this time: inserting photos, changing the size of photos, copying and pasting textboxes, changing font sizes, inputting text, arranging photos and textbooks on a slide

SOCIAL STUDIES

This week we:

• learned about the services available to people in India. 
• learned that many children do not go to school because they have to work with their families to make enough money to survive. 
• learned that doctors and surgeons fly around to different areas of India to provide care. Care is not always available to everyone.
• participated in a review Kahoot activity
• completed a "Show What You Know" about the concepts/topics that we covered when learning about India

CHRISTMAS FUN

This week we:

• worked on our gifts for parents. I hope you like them! The students worked very hard on them and were so proud of how they turned out!
• did two guided drawings in preparing our Christmas cards for parents. 
• enjoyed a period of carolling with Mr. Coffin and Mrs. Kloschinsky
• put together our snowglobe projects. The students were very excited about this project!

MY CHRISTMAS GIFT TO THE STUDENTS

During snack time throughout the week, we often check in on the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to see how things are going in Africa. We look for updates on Malkia, see the exciting news of wild babies being born to ex-orphans, hear about new orphans and rescues. It was during this time that we first saw Apollo. He was rescued in mid September and he is cutest and toughest little rhino ever!

The students had painted their picture frames on Thursday afternoon. I didn't tell them much about it; I just said that they have spent the week working hard on projects for their parents and now it was time to make something for themselves. I asked them to paint their frame with their favourite colours. On Friday after the assembly, I brought up my email where it announced that I had renewed our adoption of Malkia and that I had also added Apollo to our class family! They were so excited! I gave them the photos of Malkia and Apollo along with the little sign to glue onto their frames.  I hope that they were excited to share this news with you when they got home!

Here's a super sweet video about the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

The students wanted me to share this video of Apollo with you!

A TOUGH GOODBYE

Friday was a great day but it was a little bittersweet. We had to say goodbye to one of our classmates. Mikey is moving into Edmonton and will be going to a new school in January. We are all going to miss his witty charm, contagious smile, bubbling energy and super helpful hands! 

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS SURROUNDED BY THE LOVE AND LAUGHTER OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

December 13th Update

Wow! Friday the 13th twelve days before Santa comes gives a whole new meaning to Friday the 13th! LOL! Add to that Christmas dress up day and India Day...the energy in RBES was palpable!

LITERACY

This week we:

• completed the second week of our ORGANIZATION unit in writing. We focused on writing things in a logical order when describing something. Students learned how to use guide words like first, then, next, now, finally, to start their sentences and help the reader follow the steps. We also learned that you need to put a comma after these words. 
• enjoyed some Christmas read alouds
• wrote a special guided paragraph using JoAnne Moore sentence writing tips. We focused on varying our sentence starters and using specific verbs.

NUMERACY

This week we:

• learned how to represent double digit addition with regrouping using base ten blocks
• learned how to calculate the sum of a double digit addition with and without regrouping using the standard algorithm...AKA "stack and add"...AKA just like you did it when you were a kid! The students LOVED practicing this skill! 

• used a good ol' MathQuest textbook, circa 1980s, to practice properly writing down equations and answering them. We focused on proper spacing, sizing, lining up our digits and accurate calculations. The students were super proud of their progress with this skill!

Remember this... or am I the only one old enough to have personally used this in school?!?!

• challenged ourselves to some activities on iknowit.com related to two digit addition. Some students even worked on adding four 2-digit numbers in one equation!

SOCIAL STUDIES

This week we:

• learned about wedding traditions in India! The students were amazed by the differences between Canadian and Indian weddings! We discussed how 90% of marriages in India are arranged. This blew the students away! 
• brainstormed with a group everything that we had learned about weddings in India!

• celebrated India Day! Students travelled to four different classrooms and participated in four different activities. They: had henna applied, received two bangles and a peacock feather, enjoyed butter chicken, mango lassis, naan bread and rice, made a paper lantern, danced and played a game. 
• need to thank Mrs. Kitchener, Mrs. MacKay, Mr. Boutilier and Mrs. Klaassen for helping me with the henna!

To see all of our India Day photos, click here!

STAR STUDENT

This week, we got to know our Mikey a little bit better!

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

Mikey also was our Student of the Week this week! He shared the honour with his two sisters! It was a McMahon family sweep!

*IMPORTANT REMINDERS*

• Send in a clean, label free glass jar on Monday. If you have any extras, feel free to send them in for students who can't bring one.
• Send in a gift bag (the size of an ipad) on Monday.
• Read for Beads on Wednesday
• Library on Thursday
• PJ, stuffy and blanket day on Friday. 
• No need to send a snack with your child on Friday.

December 7th update

Ten school days left until Christmas Break!!!

LITERACY

This week we:

• read a few wintery and Christmassy read alouds
• started our first writing week focusing on ORGANIZATION. We looked at exciting beginnings, middles that make sense and interesting endings!
• completed a Using Words You Know lesson 

NUMERACY

This week we:

• practiced writing three digit numerals in words
• learned how to regroup ten ones to make a ten and ten tens to make a hundred. This is in preparation for learning how to complete triple digit addition with regrouping. 

SOCIAL STUDIES

This week we:

• learned about the culture and traditions in India.
• focused on annual celebrations in India, language, religion, clothing and jewelry

LIBRARY

This week we:

• learned about the different locations for books in our library. Ms. Sacuta encouraged the students to look in a variety of areas of the library and investigate the books available in that genre. Students were given a shelf marker with a specific section noted on it and needed to start their search for a book in that section. They didn't have to choose a book from that section; they were just expected to spend a little bit of time checking it out. 

CHRISTMAS ELVES HELPERS

The students really enjoyed their time helping out the Devon Christmas Elves! The ladies the depot were very appreciative of our help!

CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Our class did an awesome job at both performances of the Christmas concert! A HUGE thank you goes out to our very own, super talented Mrs. Stanski! I appreciate her passion every day but a little extra every year during Christmas concert season! She is the best and we are so blessed to have her at RBES!

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Paint Days after school - Monday to Wednesday
• Read for Beads - Wednesday
• Library - Thursday
• India Day - Friday (**Stay tuned for a fee to pop up on your PowerSchool accounts to cover the costs of our Culture Days! I will email you when it is up!)
• Share Your Holiday Spirit Dress Up Day - Friday