Time Flies When You're Having Fun and the Snow is Blowing!

A few important updates!

LANGUAGE ARTS

* We won't be having a new word sort or word wall words this week. With the chaos of Christmas concerts and last Friday's snow day, we are going to test the words from last week, this week. 

* This week will be adding a few sentences to a school wide story that revolves around a different piece of art from the Alberta Art Gallery. We will also be writing letters to Santa this week (if you haven't seen my special Christmas request email yet, please look for it in your inbox ASAP).

* We are finishing up The Trouble With Chickens this week. The students have LOVED it! They have fallen in love with the characters! There are a few other books by the same author, Doreen Cronin, that would make great Christmas gifts for the kids: The Legend of Diamond Lil, The Chicken Squad: The First Misadventure, and The Case of the Weird Blue Chicken: The Next Misadventure. 

* One on one and small group weekly reading conferences are going very well. I am seeing quite a bit of growth when in comes to reading strategies in the areas of comprehension, accuracy and fluency. Thank you for your support with home reading! This is such an integral part of supporting your child's growth as a reader. 

MATH

* I was hoping that I could announce that we were finished our patterns unit and on to our place value unit...but I can't. I wasn't comfortable leaving such an important unit behind when I had a handful of students who were struggling with identifying and extending patterns when it involved numbers instead of objects. I have spent the last few days taking a step back with these students and built a more solid foundation of skills to work with. We have completed our work with increasing number patterns and will focus this week on decreasing number patterns. In the meantime, the other students have enjoyed: (a) applying the patterning concepts to some challenging problem solving questions

(b) completing review work out of the textbook 

(c) playing math games that reinforce their basic facts. 

* The place value unit is up next. It is a quick, straight forward unit. With all of the number sense work that we have done over the past three months, I believe that this unit will be completed quite quickly. 

Christmas Festivities

Christmas concerts are this week! The students have been working hard to perfect their performance. Our concert is on Tuesday, December 2nd at 7pm. Doors open at 6:45pm. We are meeting in Mrs. Murtha-Toles' room. 

Christmas party/special snack day details will be coming out on Thursday! 

Golden Garbage Can Award

For the month of November, 3FM won the Golden Garbage Can Award! We won this by keeping the cleanest classroom! Way to go team! It's a great way to show our appreciation for our custodians!

SNOW DAY!

On Friday, only 8 students made it to school due to the cold weather and lack of buses. The nine of us had a great day! After our assembly we played a variety of games, both educational and just for fun! We spent the afternoon in Mrs. Rothfos' class with seven 3R students and worked on a special art project. It was so much fun getting together with other grade three students!

Looking forward to seeing you all on Tuesday night!

Take care and stay warm!

Walking In a Winter Wonderland!

It looks like the end of November is here already, and that winter has decided to 

rear its head with a nice warm snow storm welcome.

We have been pretty busy with preparations for the Christmas Concert on Tuesday December 2 - 

we hope to see all your faces there, however if your child cannot make it - we ask 

that you please let us know as soon as possible.

Science Update

We finished up our Rocks and Minerals Unit this week with the students writing their tests on Tuesday. Wow! I was so impressed with how hard they worked and how well they did! 

The tests should be coming home for you to have a look at - if you would please sign them 

and return them to school, it would be greatly appreciated.

Today, we wrapped things up with a Pet Rock activity. The students painted their very own Pet Rock and were able to work on some Pet Adoption papers and activities relating to their new pet. 

Here are a couple pictures of the students working hard on their Pet Rocks.

And here are the final products - some pretty fabulous Pet Rocks!!!

The class really enjoyed this unit - their enthusiasm  and excitement was contagious. 

I'm not sure who is more sad that it's over - myself or the students!

Next week, we will begin our second unit - Hearing and Sound - 

which ties in nicely with the Christmas Concert.

Social Studies

In Social Studies, we began looking into quality of life. Students were introduced to the idea 

of quality of life through the story, Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting. It tells the story of a 

little boy and his father who are homeless but live in an airport rather 

than on the streets. It really opened up a good class discussion.

We talked about the meaning of quality of life and that having money does not necessarily

 mean that you have a better quality of life. We sorted out a number of feeling 

statements - safe, happy feelings VS sad, not safe feelings: 

I feel full VS I feel hungry.

I feel rested VS I feel so tired.

I feel like part of the group VS I feel like I'm alone

I feel hopeful that things will get better VS I feel hopeless that things won't get better

We determined that if you have more happy than sad feelings, it means that you have a better 

quality of life. We also looked at the difference between needs and wants.

Next week we will begin looking at the quality of life in each of the four countries: 

India, Peru, Tunisia and Ukraine. 

A Couple Notes

In regards to Social Studies - if you have any items, books or pictures or experiences 

relating to any of the four countries that you would be willing to share with the class - 

it would be greatly appreciated. 

The Annual school-wide toy drive for Devon Christmas Elves will run from 

tomorrow until Thursday December 4. 

We sent out letters about the Christmas Concert and Christmas Movie night. The information can also be found at the following link: http://www.rbes.ca/calendar.html  

  

Hope you all have a super weekend. Stay warm and stay safe!

3FM update!

After two short weeks, we are settling into a full week of school! 

Language Arts

A new word sort came home this week. Students are working hard to master the spelling rules for the week during their daily sorting activities. Five new word wall words came home on Monday too. When agendas come home on Mondays, please check for the weeks word wall words. To focus your child's word wall work for the week, follow the list below:

- if your child can read and spell all 5 words---> relax! No further practice is required!

- if your child can read but can't spell one or more word---> focus on those words and make sure your child can spell them by the end of the week

- if your child can not read one or more word---> help your child master these sight words by the end of the week. Do not worry about getting them to learn how to spell them, just focus on reading them. This way, students can find them on their word wall and practice writing them from there. 

We have continued with our paragraph writing focus this week. Today students wrote paragraphs describing a piece of art from the travelling art gallery that is visiting our school right now. Students were able to identify the parts of a paragraph: the topic sentence, supporting sentences and concluding sentence. Our ability to write a focused paragraph is definitely improving in 3FM!

Today we started reading a new novel, The Trouble With Chickens. Students are enjoying the story as told by the main character JJ, who is a retired search and rescue dog. His voice is sarcastic, witty and comical! We are discussing voice and how it impacts the reader while we are reading the book and will soon meet another voice that is eager to tell his side of the story. 

Math

This week we are finishing up our Patterning unit. We are expanding our skills into more complex questions involving some problem solving. Students are able to use a hundreds chart to help them navigate the number patterns but are also encouraged to use some mental math to extend the patterns. 

Next up for us in math is Place Value!

Christmas Concert

Our concert is on December 2nd. Please let me know ASAP if your child is unable to attend. 

A couple of shout outs:

The students are enjoying their week of Mission Impossible in gym!

I'm very happy with the progress that I am witnessing during reading conferences!

We all enjoyed Miss V's presentation about her trip to Mexico!

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

Take care, 

Jolene Milson

Quick Update - Science and Social Studies

Two short weeks makes it seem like we have barely been in the classroom. 

However, on the days that we were in the class - your students worked hard 

and we were able to get a lot done!

Science

In Science, students continued to work on soil. We also investigated 

weathering of rocks and erosion.

Ask your students how you can make soil using a rock, a hammer, a cutting board

 and a pair of safety glasses. 

They sure enjoyed seeing me in my safety "goggles!"

Students completed a weathering simulation using our mouths (saliva) to act as water, and rocket candies and our teeth to act like rocks. They learned that the faster a river is, and the more rocks that there are to bump into - the faster a rock will be weathered. 

I sent home a Practice Test to help them prepare for their Rocks and Minerals Unit Test. 

Practice Test is due Tuesday November 18 so I can mark it and have it back to them.

Rocks and Minerals Unit Test is Tuesday November 25. 

Social Studies

In Social Studies. students continue to be introduced to the four countries that we will be studying for the rest of the year. India, Peru, Tunisia and Ukraine. We have started 

looking at the locations of each country and what may be found bordering 

each country - neighbors or bodies of water.

Hope you have a fabulous rest of your week!

3FM Will Never Forget...

Today we focused our literacy time on Remembrance Day. We read one of my favourite books today. A Bear In War by Stephanie Innes & Harry Endrulat is a story told from a teddy bear's point of view about a family living through war times. 

After reading the book, watching a video and discussing the loss of Canadian soldiers, the students partnered up and wrote what they would be thinking about during our moment of silence tomorrow. I really appreciated how respectful the students were during these discussions. Their responses are very thoughtful. 

Science and Social Studies Update

Wow - I can't believe how fast the time is flying by...November already!

I am really looking forward to meeting everyone this week at parent-teacher interviews. We are available Tuesday and Wednesday. If you haven't already booked your appointment - please do! 

You can do so at the following link:

http://rbes.schoolappointments.com/admin/

Science

In Science we are almost ready to wrap up our Rocks and 

Minerals Unit. This past week the students:

*examined 5 different types of soil 

*described the differences  between different types of soil

*observed the different layers that we find in soil

*discussed that soil is NOT just dirt

Below is a picture of soil layer experiment and our comparison drawing:

We talked about the importance of recording our observations 

during experiments and labeling our diagrams so that when we 

look back it will help us remember.

Social Studies

After completing the quiz on Continents and Oceans, we started our new unit - Many Places, Many Lives in Social Studies. This unit will focus on getting to know the four countries that we will be studying. This past week were just introduced to the four countries, as well as to the textbook that we will be using.

Today, the students were introduced to four children, one from each of the countries, that we will follow as we learn about India, Peru, Tunisia and Ukraine.

Together we found the countries on a world map, and talked about how far each country is from us, here in Alberta. The students also completed a partnered activity - in which they read about the different countries and had to share at least one piece of information that they learned. 

Below is what the students shared:

The students were genuinely excited to discuss the countries and 

to share what they learned with their partners. They were especially 

fascinated by the varying populations in each country!

Buddy Activity from Last Week

The class had a great time helping our grade 1 buddies make their worms. Prior to the activity, we read the story "Diary of A Worm." Then we talked about how worms are really important to soil. We also spent our lunch hour watching a couple youtube videos on earthworms to get us in the mode for worm-building.

Here are a couple of pictures that I was able to capture during the activity. There was so much excitement - it made it difficult to get 

photos of all the students. However, if you have time and can swing by Mrs. Luciw's room - you can see what your children helped the grade one's do!

I hope everyone has a fabulous week - and an equally fabulous long weekend!

Reminder: There is no school on Friday November 7, Monday November 10 or Tuesday November 11.

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Last week was a very productive week!

Language Arts

We have continued to work on sentence writing to ensure that everyone is aware of the proper conventions (capitalization, punctuation and spelling) and elements required to create a sentence. Students discussed how they come up with a sentence in their mind and then get that sentence accurately on paper. One student shared their strategy of focusing on two to three words at a time and then repeating the sentence over and over until all of the words are written down properly. This may seem like common sense to us but you would be surprised how many students struggle to get what is in their head, down on paper. We even took about 15 minutes to review proper formation and placement of letters. Several students were not forming or placing their letters properly when writing and it was difficult to tell the difference between upper and lower case letters. I'm hopeful that we are all on the same page now. 

We also discussed paragraph writing this week. Students understand that a paragraph focuses on one topic and contains: a topic sentence, supporting detail sentences and a concluding sentence. We started working on a paragraph on thankfulness. The topic of October's assemblies has been focusing on being thankful so the students have a lot of experience with this topic. This week we will continue to fine tune these paragraphs and publish them in a shared book. This book will make it's way home with each student next week!

In reading we focused on spooky Halloween books which was so much fun! The reading strategies that we focused on were: 

Tuning into interesting words

Reading with expression

Checking for understanding 

Backing up and rereading

During read to self time, I was able to conference with the remaining students that I hadn't read with yet (with the exception of one student who was absent). During reading conferences, the students and I decide on a reading strategy that they need to focus on for the next few weeks. Students need to focus on this strategy every time they read at school and at home. Ask your child what their strategy is. If they have forgotten, they can check our CAFE board...each student has a post-it note under their strategy heading (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, Expanding Vocabulary) with the number of the strategy beside their name. I was also able to do further reading testing with some struggling readers. These assessments help me target their reading instruction. 

Our Words Their Way program is going well! I am eager to hear how it is going for you at home during our Parent Teacher meetings. Students are quickly grasping the reasons for their sorts each week which is great to see! We are heading into our second 4 week stretch. With Remembrance Day week being only 3 days, we will not have a word sort that week. This week, being 4 days, will have a word sort. If you ever have any questions or concerns about the sorts when you are working on them at home with your child, please feel free to email me. I check my email often and should usually be able to respond quite quickly. 

Just a reminder that the WTW- Home duotangs should be returned to school each Friday so that I can mark them over the weekend. 

Math

We have continued our work on patterning, focusing on number patterns instead of figure patterns. Students were working with increasing number patterns using a hundreds chart for assistance. This week we will investigate decreasing number patterns using a hundreds chart for support. I'm hoping to finish up this unit by November 14th. 

We continue to spend time working on our basic facts and developing our number sense with How Many Ways? throughout the week. 

I look forward to meeting with each of you on either Tuesday or Wednesday evening during our Parent Teacher conferences. If you have any pressing concerns or questions that you want to address at that time, feel free to email me so that I have time to gather all of the information we need to properly address your concerns. 

Take care, 

Jolene Milson 

Happy Halloween!

We had a great day celebrating Halloween in 3FM! The day flew by!

After our assembly, the students completed their spelling tests on Spelling City, worked on a Halloween word search and participated in a Halloween themed gym class. After lunch, we participated in the annual RBES Costume Parade! It was great to see all of the students dressed up in their creative costumes! Earlier in the week, students brainstormed options for activities and voted on their favourite. Watching a movie was the most popular choice so when we got back to class, we watched Hotel Transylvania and enjoyed our party food. After tidying up we played Halloween pictionary! It was a blast!

A huge thank you goes out to:

Max's family for the veggie tray

Damion's family for the cheese and crackers

Vanessa's family for the sausage tray

Hunter's family for the fruit tray

Olivia's family for the chocolate cake and chocolate treats

Kennedy's family for the cupcakes and candy kabobs

Tristan's family for the chips

Mrs. Rector for helping hand out the party food

Mrs. Toogood for being on our girls team in Pictionary