Only 6 days left?!?

Our week has flown by! We have been super busy in 3FM!

Butterflies

Today was a super exciting day! We counted 5 butterflies at lunch time! Little did we know that three more would be ready to emerge in the afternoon! We were all glued to the butterfly enclosure multiple times this afternoon in hopes of witnessing that magic moment when the butterfly emerges!

I'm not sure what we are going to find in the morning. As of 4pm on Thursday, all movement had stopped from two of the chrysalids. I am hopeful that at least one of the three survived the emerging process. It looks like such hard work!

Swimming

The students have continued to enjoy their time at the pool eventhough the weather hasn't been cooperating as much! We are so lucky to have such quick access to the pool!

Math

In math we've continued to work on the measurement unit, now focusing on time measurement. The students enjoyed using the nonstandard unit of pendulum swings to time their partners during various activities. 

Next week we will finish up the unit with a look at measuring mass. 

Language Arts

We are on the final stretch of chapters in our book Wonder. Mrs. Duperron was so helpful reading a couple of sad chapters for me...I can't get through the chapters when the family dog passes away without sobbing! The students continue to infer, question, predict and make connections while reading and discussing the story. 

Final reading conferences have been happening this week and will continue into the first few days of next week. It is truly amazing to look back with each student individually and see how far they have come over the past 10 months! The increase in strategy use has been phenomenal! I'm proud to have witnessed their transformation into voracious readers!

Fun Day

I'm unable to provide you with an official schedule as of right now but I can pass on the info that I do have. Fun Day is going to look a little different this year. As a staff we discussed how we felt that the full day of stations was too long...students lost interest before the time was up. We've decided to try something new this year. 

For the morning, students will be alternating through various "Wellness Stations", one being the pool. They will travel from station to station as a class. The CAP team from Blackgold is leading this portion of our day. 

For the afternoon, it will be Fun Day as usual. Students will travel individually between stations that are being set up and run by the teachers. I'm sure volunteers are needed and if you're interesting in helping out, you can call the office or email me. 

That's all for now! 

Take care,

Jolene Milson

It's already Thursday night?

Wow! This week has flown by! Things have been super busy in 3FM!

The students have been enjoying the beautiful weather everyday while they play and splash at the pool! Many students are making it into the deep end and jumping off the diving boards! Next week our swimming times seem to jump around quite a bit. All swimming still takes place in the morning. 

Students have also been very excited to learn how to handwrite! I usually leave this to the end of the year to introduce something that they are really interested in during the long days of June. I had the fortune of working along side an Occupational Therapist last year who lead the cursive writing lessons. Her approach was new to me and I loved it! I was left with the resources and training to teach it "her way" in future years. I'm finding that this method is working wonders this year too! The students are super proud of their fancy writing!

Wednesday was Smiley Face Day at RBES! To be honest, we always have tons of smiley faces in our class but it was cute to see many students wearing their finest smiley clothes! I especially liked how the school population was extra smiley when they were performing for the parents at the Volunteer Appreciation gathering!

This morning we had two surprise visitors! Cheyenne's mom was on her way to the vet with two of their horses so when she dropped Cheyenne off for the day, she invited us out to the trailer to say hi! The students were thrilled to meet Flicka (light) and Buddy (dark) and a few of us, including me, got a lick from Buddy! What a treat!

MATH

We are just finishing up the section of our measurement unit that focuses on linear measurement. The students enjoyed learning their first math formula! They felt so grown up!

P=S1 + S2 + S3 + S4...

Next, we will be going to measure time (clock and calendar) and mass!

Mrs. Duperron has been wonderful enough to offer to teach our 3D objects and 2D shapes unit during her time! There is some overlap between this math unit and the science building unit. Since she is familiar with both curricular areas, she is the perfect person to teach this unit! I appreciate the time that this gives me to focus a bit more on language arts for the last couple of weeks!

LANGUAGE ARTS

The students and I look forward everyday to the time we spend reading and talking about Wonder! The other day, I asked the students how they would feel if I told them that we wouldn't be able to finish the book by the end of the year. They had such a strong reaction! 

"No! That's not fair!"

"How will we know how it all turns out?"

"You can't do that!"

I asked them why they cared so much and their answers were all the same, 

"We care about August and we need to know that it all turns out ok for him!"

We talked about how we do get wrapped up in stories when we genuinely care about the characters. Most of them said that this was the first time that they felt this way. That's exactly why I love reading this book to my students! For many of them, this book is a pivotal influence on them as a reader!

The students have also shown tremendous growth in their ability to infer meaning from the text and ask questions during reading. When discussing the chapters as we read through the books, I rarely ask simple comprehension questions like, "Who is August's best friend?" We are focusing on finding meaning and answers to questions that aren't obvious. Questions like:

Why does Miranda carry a picture of August with her in her wallet? What does that tell us about the type of person she is?

I'm excited to finish up this book with the students over the next two weeks! There will be a special over-the-summer homework assignment for students to complete. It's simple but so powerful! It will be included in their report card package. 

In writing, we are working very hard to finish up their final stories! Students will be given a bit of time tomorrow to finish up their stories. If students are not finished, it will come home tomorrow for homework. I will provide our class story as a sample to follow and a copy of our story plan and dictionary. Thank you in advance for your support in ensuring that your child finishes their work. 

Students are excited to publish their favourite story from this year and we need your help! With report cards and other end of year projects on my plate, I do not have the time to type 19 stories into the computer...this is where you come in! I will email you two attachments: a google doc and a word file. You choose which one works best for you. 

The documents will have the headings already in there for you to follow:

setting intro

character/motive

stuck

attempt 1

attempt 2

success

motive carried out

You need to type each paragraph under the proper heading (your child will easily be able to identify these paragraphs). Feel free to fix up spelling and grammatical errors with your child. They have been peer edited but are not perfect. This will be a great opportunity for you to work with your child and see exactly what and how they've been doing in story writing! Once you are finished, please email it back to me and I will take care of the rest. Please have them emailed to me no later than 9am on Monday morning and return all writing scribblers and papers to school on Monday.

If you have any questions or concerns over the weekend, please email me. I will check my work email regulary and get back to you ASAP. 

Thank you in advance for making this story publication possible!

That's all for now! With only eleven days left, things are about to get super busy!!!

The Painted Ladies Have Arrived!

On Tuesday, May 26th, we began raising caterpillars to become Painted Lady Butterflies! They are growing fast! They are presently in stage two,larvae, and are soon to pupate! Over the next two weeks they will emerge as adults. We will keep you posted!

Popcorn day!

We enjoyed our yummy popcorn!

Thank you for the treat!

Fun, fun, fun!

We were treated to the Grade Four drama production, Serenade to Swine!

As usual, Mrs Stanski put together an amazingly funny and entertaining show filled with wonderful music, singing, dancing and theatrics! We all left the Meeting Place with smiles on our faces and the students were already talking about how they can't wait for next year when it's their turn!

This week we enjoyed bike safety, a few more chapters of Wonder, some partner reading and the beginning of our newest math unit, Measurement!

We started out our measurement unit by brainstorming all that we already know about the topic! We filled the board with types of measurement and standard unit names (minutes, seconds, hours, cm, m, km, g, kg, etc)! 

We then narrowed our focus on measuring length. We started out discussing centimetres. We found a referent for 1cm...the tip of our finger! We practiced measuring objects using this referent to get approximate lengths. Next, we found a referent for 10cm using our hand with our fingers spread out just a bit. Again, we practiced measuring our desks, papers and then a friend's arm or leg! The kids had a great time and learned a ton!

Bike safety was great! A big thank you to Mrs Bennett and Mr Flemming for joining us on a bike ride around town!

Tomorrow, we're off to the Children's Festival! We can't wait!

What a great day!

Our trip to the International Children's Festival was amazing!!!

Our first show was at the Arden Theatre, is from Australia and was called Kaput! It was a silent show filled with acrobatics, humour, clumsiness and even a bit of romance! To check out a clip here:

http://youtu.be/MsMIudPhi6o

Next, we quickly made our way to our Ukranian dance lessons!

After some free time, lunch and time at the park, we headed off for some science exploration in the Sound Lab!

After some more free time, we headed to our last show, Ache Brasil! It was a dance, music and martial arts extravaganza! Two of our classmates even had a chance to share the stage with the artists!

Here is a clip from Ache Brasil!

http://youtu.be/USnenXR8zJc

As a treat, the festival organizers arranged for us to participate in a visual arts activity! It should have cost $3 per student but they let us go in for free! It was the perfect ending to a fantastic day!

A big thank you to Mrs. Huber, Mrs. Bennett, Mrs. Stewart, Mrs. Rector and Mrs. Buryn for their help with the students!

Last week of May?!?

Is it just me, or is this month flying by? 

Devon Days has come and gone...which really seems to trigger the fast paced rush to the finish line of grade three! Yikes!

We have been working like busy bees in 3FM!

MATH

Students did a great job on their unit tests in Multiplication and Division. Tests are marked and will be coming home with a learning objectives checklist on Monday!

Last week we started and finished our unit on Fractions! It's a quick and easy unit and the students thoroughly enjoyed it! The unit review will be marked and accompanied by a learning objectives checklist early this week!

This week we are going to start working on our Measurement unit. 

LANGUAGE ARTS

We have continued to love reading Wonder and have enjoyed hearing Via (August's sister) and Summer's (August's friend) side of the story. The students are really expanding on their comprehension skills by predicting future events, inferring meaning and making connections to the text. 

Students have also enjoyed planning and starting writing our newest stuck story. We came up with an excellent story plan! Our story takes place in the Amazon and features two characters. Their motive is that they want to find a unique species of fish in order to win a competition. The students have really enjoyed the pre-planning research that was required to get aquainted with the creatures of the Amazon!

Other important information was sent out earlier in an email. Please make sure to read it ASAP.

Playground Project

Hello everyone! Mrs. Duperron here......I am happy to be in Mrs. Ferguson's place for Science and Social and feel fortunate to be working with such a lovely bunch. Everyone had a great time using their building skills as they created playgrounds with recyclable materials. The structures had to be sturdy and feature moving parts as would apply, for example swings had to be able to swing.

Now comes the hard part, with deciding which team member gets to take them home. We will show off our playgrounds and previously made animals on Monday afternoon to Mrs.Ferguson and her 2D class. Then the projects are to head home.

Please feel free to contact me at any time by email...dresda.duperron@blackgold.ca

3FM Update!

Math Update

This week we dove a bit deeper into the connections between multiplication and division. Students explored how they can use what they know about multiplication to help them solve division problems. We looked more closely at fact families using these two operations and worked through some challenging problem solving questions. Next week we will finish up with some review and then have a unit test. 

Language Arts

We worked through another week of WTW. We will be taking the next two short weeks off from WTW and will focus our LA time on story writing again. The students have researched and planned a very exciting story that takes place in the Amazon. They have spent some time researching the different creatures that live in the Amazon and have even brainstormed some specific verbs for their favourites! It will be exciting watching these ideas come to life in story form! 

We have continued reading Wonder while focusing on some higher level comprehension strategies. The book has changed narrators, from August (the main character) to his sister, Via. This narrative change has opened up the discussion around character voice and point of view. The students have continued to love the time we spend on the carpet reading and discussing this awesome book!

Education Week

Students and staff have enjoyed a fabulous week celebrating Education Week! On Monday afternoon, students rotated through their choice of sessions taught by their peers. Plants and planting, origami, math games, literacy games, basketball drills, soccer baseball, haiku, amazing animal facts and peer portraits kept the students at RBES busy for the afternoon! It was such a great activity! The peer teachers were excited to share their expertise and the peer learners were so respectful and eager!

Our two peer teachers did an absolutely fabulous job putting together a PowerPoint presentation focusing on Interesting Facts About Amazing Animals! Their presentation highlighted 6 species and included three interesting facts, pictures and a video for each animal. You could have heard a pin drop in our class as the peer learners were hanging on their every word! It was awesome! I have heard many comments from other teachers that the Amazing Animals was their students' favourite session! Way to go Miss A and Miss O! I am incredibly proud of you both!

On Tuesday, students were visited by a gentleman from the Lions Club. He read us Jada's favourite book and even gave us a new book for our class library! What a treat!

Students also participated in a Teacher Riddles activity. Using the clues provided, they had to guess the correct teacher! 

Most of our students guessed my riddle:

I have reddish brown hair and bluish green eyes. In grade four I was taller than my teacher. I love learning about all of the world's creatures, except spiders!

I think my squeal and quick getaway reaction when a spider visits our classroom was a dead giveaway! Lol!

The halls were also decorated with teacher portraits this week. I have to say that this was one of my favourite moments as a teacher in the past 15 years. We decided to do our portraits in the style of the Wonder book cover. 

Instead of writing my name over my eye or the word Wonder, I asked students to think of one word that they would use to describe me. They brainstormed a list and I have to say that I had to fight back tears. Your children were so generous with their words and it truly meant the world to me! I took a photo of the board with their list of words on it and I told them that I would treasure it always and on a day when my bucket feels a little empty, I would look at it and know that my bucket would instantly be overflowing.

The portraits turned out perfect! 

Mrs. Duperron

This was our first week with Mrs. Duperron joining our team! We are so lucky to have Mrs. Duperron working with us! The students have handled the transition well and enjoy seeing Mrs. Ferguson on supervision at recess and around the school! 

That's a wrap for this week! 

Wishing you all a great weekend and wonderful Mother's Day!

How Lucky Are We?

When I count my blessings at school each day two things come to mind immediately!

#1- I am so lucky to work with such fantastic kids each day!

#2 - I am so lucky to share my love of books with Mrs. Becker!

Our Students Are Filled With Wonder!

Last week was a short one but it was packed with learning in 3FM!

Language Arts News

Reading

To say that the students are enjoying the book Wonder might just be the understatement of the year! We have been enjoying the journey through August's first month of grade five and the discussions that occur after we finish reading each day. One of the reoccurring themes in the book is about precepts.

PRECEPT = RULES ABOUT REALLY IMPORTANT THINGS!

In the book, Mr. Browne discusses with the students what is important.

"Who we are," he said, underlining each word as he said it. "Who we are! Us! Right? What kind of people are we? What kind of person are you? Isn't that the most important thing of all? Isn't that the kind of question we should be asking ourselves all the time? What kind of person am I?"

Each month, Mr. Browne, August's English teacher, introduces the class to a new precept. They discuss the precept and then the students are asked to write a paragraph about the importance of that precept and what it means to them.

MR. BROWNE'S SEPTEMBER PRECEPT:
WHEN GIVEN THE CHOICE BETWEEN BEING
RIGHT AND BEING KIND, CHOOSE KIND.

The students and I discussed this precept and came up with many examples of when we should choose kind. I let them think about it for a couple of days and then I asked them to write a few sentences about what it meant to them or why it was important. Here are a few of the responses:

Choosing kind is good, it brings people together. (Logan)

When you're being kind it makes you happy and everyone else happy. The world wants peace and harmony. When you are being kind you get friends. (Cheyenne)

You choose kind so that they don't get sad. Choose kind so that you don't get into a fight. Choose kind so that the place will get better. Always be kind to people. (Belle)

Choose kind because it makes people happy. If we don't choose kind it will empty people's buckets. (Vanessa)

If you choose kind and not right you will have lots of friends. And then, if you are kind for the rest of your life you will be happy! (Olivia)

For me, I think to choose kind, to not make your friend feel bad. But choosing right just makes your friends feel horrible about themselves. Always choose kind not right. (Tristen)

The students have become very attached to the main character August. Today they were expressing how proud they were of him for taking the risk of inviting everyone in his homeroom class to his birthday party. I asked them why they thought he would take such a chance and they were quick to point out the support that he has now with his friends Jack, Summer and Charlotte and the increased confidence that he has after a month in school. Not everyone from his class came to the party...actually only five did. Julian's mom didn't even have the courtesy to RSVP. August's mom says, "I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."  The students and I discussed what this phrase means. They all recognized it but no one could tell me what it meant. I love when these opportunities present themselves! Please ask your child to explain what it means tonight.

Words Their Way

The students are all adjusting well to their new sort levels. The white and yellow groups continue to work on vowel sound discrimination. Please continue to sort blind initially (you read the word to your child without them seeing it), have them listen for the vowel sound and then tell you where the word belongs.

Thank you to all parents for taking the time to work through the sorts with their children. The home practice helps the students master these important spelling rules.

Writing

This week we are going to plan and start writing our next stuck story! Stay tuned for more details!

Math News

The students have been eagerly learning all there is to know about multiplication and division! Wow! They sure are an enthusiastic bunch! After looking at multiplication in three ways, equal groups, repeated addition and arrays, we looked at comparing multiplication sentences. Multiplication sentences, like addition sentences, can follow the commutative property. This means that 3 x 4 = 12 and 4 x 3 = 12. There is no need to learn these facts separately, you just need to know that you can switch the front numbers around and come up with the same product or answer.

Turning our focus to division was so much fun! It was neat to see the wonder on the students' faces as we dove into this unknown territory! We started out by looking at division as grouping. By this I mean, dividing a large set, into groups of a predetermined number.

For example, the students would read this division question like this:

12 ÷ 3 = 4

"12 divided into groups of 3 equals 4 groups"

Today we started looking at division as sharing. I explain this to the students by demonstrating dealing out cards to play Go Fish. The "one for you, one for you, one for me, one for you, one for you, one for me" approach to dividing a set of objects into a certain number of groups. 

For example, the students would read this division question like this:

10 ÷ 2 = 5

"10 divided into 2 groups equals 5 in each group"

This week, we will be looking at division as repeated subtraction and we will be looking at how multiplication and division facts are related. 

Students are also working on mastering their basic multiplication and division facts up to 5 x 5. We have worked on tricks for x0, x1, x2 and x5. The only facts left remaining to master are 3x3=9, 3x4=12 and 4x4=16. A few of our students have mastered these facts and are now challenging multiplication facts up to 10x10! 

I am in full time this week to cover for Mrs Ferguson while she is on a family vacation. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me at the school. 

Take care and have a great week!

April 13 - 17

Ukrainian Day

This past Monday we celebrated the culture of Ukraine. Students were able to try various types of food that is common to Ukraine: cabbage rolls, borscht, sour kraut, kutya (wheat pudding) and of course, we couldn't leave out the perogies!!!

It was a whirlwind of an afternoon, and I am so deeply indebted to Tammy Huber for volunteering her time to come in and help. She was instrumental in helping the students with the their pysanky and we would never have completed all of them without her help.

For those of you unfamiliar with pysanky - it involves drawing designs on eggs with melted wax in between dipping them into different colours. Let me tell you - it is quite the process and I, as well as the students, are so in awe of some of the very finely detailed eggs that we have seen. Students were asked to design an egg using some of the common symbols used for traditional pysanky. Then they begin the lengthy process of decorating their eggs. I have to say it was harder than we expected. Therefore, it was quite the panic to make sure everyone had an opportunity to complete their pysanky and I totally forgot to take any pictures that afternoon!!!

We also did not have time to take the wax off - so I spent some time this weekend melting the wax off of the eggs and here is a picture of the final products:

They turned out so awesome!!! Good job guys!!!

Science Update

This week in science, the students completed a Unit End Show What You Know - and I am so proud of how well they did. There were some students away - so I haven't handed them out and I won't until all of the students have completed it - but "Great Work" on understanding the concepts in our Testing Materials and Designs unit. 

We also started our new unit, Building With a Variety of Materials. In this unit the students will apply the concepts that they previously learned in some hands-on building projects.

Their first project was to construct a Gift Bag that had to meet the following criteria:

1. It had hold a package of fruit gummies. 

2. It had to have a lid - it could be attached or separate.

3. It had to be sturdy.

We discussed the purpose of containers, in particular, gift bags and then we talked about shapes and how we might go about making a gift box. Students needed to plan their gift bag first and then attempt their design. This was definitely a learning experience as many students just wanted to try it without really having a plan.

Here is what they came up with - there were some pretty awesome gift bags created in class - and a heck of a lot of enthusiasm, too!!!

Some of the designs worked really well, while others needed some work - but it was a great introduction for the students to realize the importance of a plan - and that sometimes things don't always turn out how we anticipated. 

I hope everyone has a super fabulously awesome 4 day week - as there is no school this Friday April 24 due to a PD day.

The one thing you need to know about me...

Today when we were reading Wonder, we came to a part in the story where the kids were introducing two important things about themselves to their new classmates on the first day of school. Julian chose to mention a wii game and ping pong table that he just got. Charlotte spoke about her family and their new puppy that they adopted from a shelter. After reading this chapter, we discussed what we can learn about a person from what they saw as important to share about themselves.

I asked the students to each come up with one important thing that they would want someone to know about them. Here are there responses:

Connor- I like play soccer with my dad and sisters.
Kaiden- I am very protective of my big sister because  I love my big sister so much.
Olivia- I like playing outside with Elise and Jack.
Jada- I like going outside with my cats.
Austin - Me and my family love sports so we are a sports family.
Vanessa- I like to be very active.
Benjamin- I like going on bike rides.
Kennedy- I like riding my horse Buck.
Avaya- I am proud of myself for winning first place in running.
Hunter- Me, my dad and sister like to jump on our trampoline.
Logan- I am a nice, gentle, kind and positive boy.
Isabella- I like playing cars with my brother.
Dillan- I like to dirt bike with my dad.
Spencer- I like to help my dad fix stuff.
Tristen- I like to go for long walks.
Max - I love my family.
Cheyenne- I like to play with my kitties.
Mrs. Milson- I love spending time with my family.

As I introduced the next chapter, Lamb to the Slaughter, the students all gasped! This was the perfect reaction! We had discussed this phrase earlier in the book, when August's dad was explaining his concern for August starting public school for the first time.

"So sending him off to middle school like a lamb to the slaughter..."Dad answered angrily...

As soon as the students heard the title of the chapter, they predicted that something bad was going to happen to August on his first day of school. I couldn't have been happier to witness this mature reader reaction! It made my day!

April already!

With less than three months to go, we are working hard in 3FM!

Language Arts

As I mentioned in a previous email, we have started reading the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio. 

Over the past seven months, I have been working on teaching and reinforcing a variety of reading strategies focusing on fluency, accuracy, comprehension and expanding vocabulary. I will continue to reinforce these strategies in small group or one on one reading conferences. While we read Wonder, we are going to dig a bit deeper and look at some higher level comprehension strategies. Our students are maturing as readers and their reading experiences and strategies need to mature too. Reading comprehension involves the ability to not only read the lines but also the abstract step of "reading between the lines." Good readers have the ability to read beyond the lines and take away a deeper meaning and connection from a book.

I can't imagine a better book to introduce these new concepts and skills to my students. From past experience, students immediately connect with the main character, August Pullman. They become very protective of him and passionate about how he is treated. Just today, as I was reading to the students, they instantly fell silent after a few gasps, when another character in the book, Julian, was being rude to August. I asked them why they were upset and suddenly so quiet. The response was unanimous...they were upset that someone would be so mean to August. We are only on page 32 and they already have connected so deeply with the ten year old main character. Many discussions come from reading this story. We have already discussed white lies, bullying, how to stand up against a bully, how to handle seeing someone who has a physical abnormality and how our reactions affect them. We have and will continue to put ourselves in other characters' shoes and discuss how we would feel in various parts of the story. 

In addition to reading an amazing book, we also finished up some pretty amazing stories of our own! At student led conferences you had an opportunity to read your child's first stuck story. The feedback I received from parents was positive, which is always great to hear! We had one final paragraph left to write and we finished that up last week. We will start planning our next story in the next week and start writing it shortly after. We are also going to take some time to write some poetry during poetry month. 

Our new WTW groups are working hard through their newest sorts. I hope you found my email on Monday helpful when working with your child on their sort. Due to the increased challenge this week with their WTW words, we will not have WWW this week. I want the students to give all of their time and attention to WTW this week. 

Math

Wow! Our students are super excited about multiplication!!! We have started our multiplication unit by discussing how you need equal groups to multiply. 

We discussed how you can't make a multiplication sentence to count up a bunch of apples if there were 5 in one group, 3 in another group and 4 in the last group. All groups need to be equal with multiplication. 

We have also discussed how multiplication is a short cut for repeated addition. 

Today, I introduced the concept of arrays and their use with multiplication. An array is a set of rows with the same number in each row. 

We will continue to work through this concept tomorrow. The students were very excited to look for arrays in their world! You should have seen their faces when they realized that not only is our tile floor an array, our ceiling tiles make an array, and better yet, their structures in Minecraft form arrays!!! They were blown away! 

We have also started working on a few tricks to help them master their basic multiplication facts. In grade three, they need to master up to 5 x 5. So far we have learned that:

Anything times zero is zero.

Anything times one is the other number.

Multiplying by two gives you two choices. Either double the other number or count by twos while you touch the spots on the other number (Touch Math) or your fingers. 

Multiply by five by counting by fives while you touch the spots on the other number (Touch Math) or your fingers. 

Once they have mastered these facts, the only facts that are left are:

3 x 3 = 9

3 x 4 = 12

4 x 4 = 16

Your child should have brought home a math package with feedback on their progress in multi-digit addition and subtraction. If you have any concerns or questions about this please do not hesitate to contact me ASAP. 

April 6 - 10

Welcome Back!!!

Welcome back to a nice short week to get us back in the swing of things. I hope everyone had a fabulous break! It`s hard to believe it but the school year is coming to an end quicker than we expect. There are less than 3 months left to go!!!

Science

This week in science we wrapped up our Testing Materials and Designs unit by looking reviewing adhesives, as well as the strengths of different shapes such as triangles, arches and squares. We also talked about how bricks are layered to make them more stable by completing a class demonstration to show how boxes stacked together in a layer are more stable than boxes stacked directly on top of each other without a interconnecting layer. As always, students love anytime we get to know things down!!!

We further discussed the strength of triangles by testing different designs of trusses built from popsicle sticks. Those trusses built using triangles were clearly stronger than ones without triangles. 

To end off our unit - I challenged the students. 
In groups, the students were given:

1 piece of paper

1 foot of tape

1 - large marshmallow

20 - mini marshmallows

20 - spaghetti sticks

The challenge was for each group to work together to build the tallest
 free-standing tower that they could using the above supplies. The one condition was that the large marshmallow had to be at the top of the tower.

Congrats to our winners at 41.5 cm tall:

A close 2nd 40 cm:

And here are the rest of the towers:


Good job using your triangles: 24 cm.

Also a good job trying to use triangles to strengthen their tower: 18.5 cm.

Good try: 10 cm

 Tough time getting it to work: 0 cm

It can be challenging to apply some of the things that the students have learned in this unit and then to be able to work in a group on the task. It was definitely a fun, yet great learning activity!


Social Studies 

This week in social studies we reviewed what makes a good leader by reviewing our Working Together brochures, and then students completed a Show What You Know. The sheets were sent home to be signed and returned so that I know that you are aware how your child is understanding the concepts. Overall, I was very impressed with how well students did - a number of the students received 100%!!!

 Have a fabulous week!!!

March 23-26

Week Before Spring Break

Wow - what a week! I think we can all say that we were looking forward to Spring Break with excitement - and it was very apparent in 3FM!

First things first - I want to send out a very big heartfelt thanks to the super volunteers who made it out to our Building Bridges Session. Thank you to Ms. Lynette Gaulton, Ms. Tammy Huber, Ms. Kendra Stewart and Ms. Sheena Rector. Your help is so appreciated by myself and the students. We couldn't do it without your continued support. 

SCIENCE UPDATE

What a super week for Science in Grade 3! We continued to test materials - looking at different adhesives as previously discussed. We were quite shocked at how strong white glue and hot glue were in comparison to tape, glue stick and plasticine in holding together popsicle sticks.

Students also completed a Show What You Know as a review of the concepts we have been studying as we test the various designs and materials.

On Thursday March 26, we had an in-school workshop, Building Bridges - and it was a great hands-on experience for our students.  I sent home the booklets that we completed during the session with some photos - but here are some in color:

SOCIAL STUDIES UPDATE

In Social Studies - we continued to work on our Brochure Assignment - Working Together. If you attended Student Led Conferences on Wednesday March 25 - I explained that this assignment was a little tricky for some students as it was an exercise in gathering and recording information from the text. At first, many students found this to be a difficult task, however after completing one section - it became easier for some students as they became familiar with what was expected. Some students really needed encouragement and support in regards to completing this assignment - but overall, I was impressed by the dedication of the students in their efforts to finish.


Whether you had a vacation or stay-cation - I hope everyone had a fabulous Spring Break!!!


We will be having our Library period on Wednesday this week as we missed it with having Monday off - so don't forget to send in your library books so you can get some new books to read!