Busy bees in grade three!

Last week was another great week in 3C!

New Projector!

We were all extremely excited to try out our new interactive whiteboard this week! Instead of having to run to my computer all of the time, I can just touch my whiteboard and have control! The students have fun exploring adding fractions using the pen feature! We will continue to explore different ways to use this new technology to enhance our learning experience.

Science

Mother Nature definitely didn't cooperate with us this week! Having to cancel our Rock Walk was very disappointing for the students. We made the best of it and had a great day setting up our chrome books and doing some handwriting. We have rescheduled the Rock Walk for this Wednesday (with three possible rain out dates- just in case) and ask that you please fill out the new permission slip online before Wednesday morning. Thank you for cooperation and patience with this process.

Social Studies

The students continued their exploration of mapping this week by learning about the compass rose, cardinal directions (N, S, E, W) and intercardinal directions (NE, NW, SE, SW).

Math

We finished up our mini confidence building unit on naming and adding fractions and then started into our patterning unit. The Jump Math program pays attention to building students' skills in small steps in preparation for the end goal. This week we worked on discovering the "gap" between two numbers in preparation for figuring out the pattern rule and extending an increasing pattern. All students were successful with the concepts this week!

Literacy

This week our read alouds have focused around reinforcing the comprehension strategies check for understanding and go back and reread. I am using Skippyjon Jones books to illustrate the importance of these strategies. Skippyjon Jones books are hilarious but there is a catch! You have to make sure you understand the expressions that are in Spanish to fully get all of the funny bits! I demonstate our strategies throughout the read aloud and clearly show the students the value of using these strategies. The reward for using the strategies is huge...more laughs!

I have continued to read with students during our read to self time each day. At this time, I teach specific reading strategies that I feel will benefit individual students the most. It is so wonderful working with a group of students who are so eager to add to their reading strategy toolboxes!

Art

This week in art, I introduced the students to one of my favourite artists, Romero Britto! We learned a few things about him personally and then starting looking at his art. The students quickly recognized a few key features present in his work:
- dark black lines outlining his drawings
- bold and bright colours
- patterns that go in every "piece" of his picture

After grasping an understanding of his works features, I guided the students through a cat drawing. Once the drawings were complete, we practiced making patterns with a variety of shapes and colours. Students were excited to try out their new skills on their cat drawings and got to work right away. We listened to Brazilian music while we worked since Romero Britto is from Brazil. We didn't get to finish our masterpieces and will continue to work on them this week.

Important Dates

Library - Tuesdays
Hot lunch orders - due Wednesday
Rock Walk- Wednesday
Terry Fox Walk - Friday

As always, if at any time you have any questions or concerns please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Day 8 Already!?!

Wow! Things are sure moving along in 3C! We may only be 8 days into grade three but we have been very busy!

Language Arts

We have been busy with:

1) daily read alouds that help me introduce a variety of reading strategies

- The Troll by Julia Donaldson taught us about tuning into interesting words when we read.

- Chowder & The Fabulous Bouncing Chowder by Peter Brown taught us to cross check when we are unsure of a word (Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?) and to make connections when we are reading (text to self, text to text, text to world).

- Yellowstone, a nonfiction selection, taught us the difference between reading fiction and nonfiction. We were also able to practice three comprehension strategies while reading, checking for understanding, back up and reread and retell what you've read. 

2) poetry writing and parts of speech brainstorming

- Students wrote a poem using different nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs to describe themselves. 

3) journal writing

4) back and forth communication

- Students will be writing to you each Friday and will bring home their back and forth duotang for you on Fridays. Please read your child's entry and write back. The students LOVE reading what you have to say. This week we are working on filling in some basic information about our school, class, rules and goals. You can expect the Back and Forth duotang to come home next Friday for the first time. 

Math

The students are very excited to start our new math program called Jump Math. I attended a workshop with three other teachers from RBES to learn about this program. We really liked what we saw and applied for a year of free resources. All four of us were successful and are trying the program out this year! For more information about Jump Math you can click on this link here:

http://jumpmath.org/ jump/en/approach

Students start out by completing a "Confidence Building Unit" working with fractions and the addition of fractions. The purpose of this mini-unit is to boost student confidence in their math abilities, not to delve into the deep and complicated world of fractions. Students in 3C were very proud of themselves as they worked through the questions!

Tomorrow we will begin our study of number patterns using the very much anticipated Jump Math workbooks! I'm sure your child will come home eager to tell you about them tomorrow!

Social Studies

We have started our introductory unit on mapping. Before we dive into the study of our four countries (Ukraine, Peru, Tunisia and India), we need to make sure we understand our place in the world. We will explore Canada, continents, oceans, directions and other geographical vocabulary. Last week we looked at the difference between a map and a globe. This week we are investigating the Compass Rose that can be found on every map. 

Science

This week we are starting our first unit on Rocks and Minerals. Going on our rock walk is the perfect way to start this unit. 

Please make sure that you have signed the permission slip online and please let me know if you are able to join us!

A few other important dates to remember:

Lunch orders due September 23rd

Milk delivery starts September 28th

Meet the teacher is on Thursday from 5pm-7pm

Rock walk is on Wednesday

Terry Fox Walk is on Friday, September 25th

What a fantastic start to the year!

Wow! What a fantastic three days!  I am so blessed to have such an amazing group of students to spend my days with!

On Monday, we got to know each other a bit, went over classroom rules and routines, made temporary name plates for our tables (our new desks are expected to arrive at the end of the month), read one of my favourite books (The Empty Pot by Demi) and enjoyed a presentation by Mary Lambert that focused on keeping a healthy body.

On Tuesday, we read My New Teacher by Al Yankovic, had fun trying to figure out each others' fib in Two Truths and a Fib, organized some of our supplies, discussed how to choose a "good fit book", chose 5 "good fit books" to put in our book bins, enjoyed 15 minutes of read to self, worked through two spelling tests (that I will mark this weekend to determine spelling groups) and worked on some basic addition facts.

On Wednesday, we read Chowder by Peter Brown, enjoyed 15 minutes of read to self, worked on a beautiful watercolour painting, wrote an I Am poem, wrote the I Am poem on top of our watercolour painting and explored a new math activity called How Many Ways (see below). It was such a fun day!

How Many Ways?

This is one of my favourite math activities to do! Students are asked to write equations that equal the target number. Today we worked on the number ten. 

The rules are:

1) you can only have one = in each equation

2) you can use addition, subtraction, multiplication or division

3) you need to be sure that you are right

4) you can use counters if needed

As time goes on, we will add a few more rules about how long you can follow a particular pattern before you need to switch things up.

The equations that are in this picture were generated together. Students were then given 15 minutes to come up with some more equations. I was blown away by the equations that they came up with! Some students had multiplication, addition and subtraction in one equation! Over time, everyone's confidence will grow with this activity and they will be excited to share their equations with the class.

Supplies

The students and I had a discussion surrounding how to handle supplies this year. With families being responsible for supplying their own supplies, I felt that things needed to be done a bit differently this year. The students decided that they want their own "art supplies" in their desk, instead of having communal bins. This includes their pencil crayons (24), their thick markers (10) and fine markers (12). To keep distractions at a minimum, I will keep scissors and glue in tubs to be used when needed. Unfortunately, we didn't have pencil boxes on our list of supplies. If you can purchase one or two pencil boxes this weekend and send them to school on Tuesday, that would be fantastic. I was at Staples the other day and they had nice pencil boxes for $2 right at the front of the store. The students and I fiddled around with a few of the pencil boxes that came in with students and all agreed that everything wouldn't fit in just one box. The idea that they came up with was to have one for pencil crayons and one for felts. 

Important Notes

The students came home with a bundle of office papers for you (stapled together) and one individual paper. Please go through these forms ASAP and return them to school on Tuesday. It is important for the office to update the students personal records. Once the FOIP forms have cleared the office, I can start posting pictures of students on our blog.

Fundraising

Students came home with SUTP books and order envelopes from our Parent Fundraising Committee. The cost is $20 per coupon book or app. Orders are due after the Thanksgiving weekend. If you are not interested, please return the book in the envelope to avoid being charged the $20. 

Water Bottles

Students are encouraged to bring a water bottle to school each day. Trips to the water fountain are very disruptive. I will be encouraging students to bring home bottles each day to be washed and refilled for the following day. 

Parent Homework

The students loved the fact that you received the first homework assignment of the year! Please complete the In A Million Words or Less sheet and return it to school by September 11th. 

I think that is all for now...I hope I haven't overloaded you with information!

My door is always open to our 3C families. If you have any questions or concerns at any time, please bring them to my attention at your earliest convenience.

Have a great long weekend!

Here are some pictures from our Art Gallery!

Summer has officially begun!

We hope you have a great summer - we will see everyone again in September!  You will receive a letter from your child's new teacher by email in August.  The first day of school is Wednesday, September 2.

School supply information can be found on our website at    http://rbes.blackgold.ca/parents/school-supplies/ 

Additional summer and September Information can be found on our website at: http://rbes.blackgold.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2015-16SummerSeptemberInformationTemplate-RobinaBakerElementary.pdf

If you have any questions or concerns during the summer please contact Mrs. Kloschinsky by email: kathy.kloschinsky@blackgold.ca 

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!