December 23, 2016

Good afternoon parents!

Today we had our POW test. Please look for results in your child's bag. We then went on to Read to Self. After recess, we worked on our Catapult challenge (Grade 4) and conquering the Oregon Trail (Grade 3 -- https://archive.org/details/msdos_Oregon_Trail_The_1990). Please ask your child about these two centers today and how they did. 

In the afternoon we had our party and watched "Charlotte's Web" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAaPt61vM8Q) the original animated version. Please ask your child about this.

Thank you for providing students with snacks for the party. We had a great time!

Homework:
Reading

Have a lovely and restful holiday! See you in 2017!!!

December 22, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we began our day with the POW and then went right into Read to Self. We then made a salad from the spoils of our Garden Tower. We have powered down the Garden Tower and it will be moving to another class. We learned about Solutions and Mixtures as we talked about the fact that oil and vinegar do not mix. We watched the following video to solidify this concept:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnpmPDa3tbM

Please ask your child about what they thought of the salad. We then went to French. 

After lunch we had Yoga with Rochelle. After recess we continued with our Social Studies centers. The Grade 4s wrote a diary entry from a Peasants perspective while the Grade 3s learned about a day in the life of a pioneer child. Video here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkZyejHU5Aw

They then had to write a diary entry as if they were a pioneer child. We then decided what center we would move on to tomorrow. Stay tuned! 

Homework:
Reading
POW
Class party tomorrow (pm)

December 21, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we began our day with our Greenwood volunteers and Read to Self. We then had Gym and French.

In the afternoon, we had Problem Solving and then math games. After recess we worked on our Social Studies centers. The Grade 4s learned about the peasant, while the Grade 3s worked further on building their log cabins from the Pioneer times. 

Homework:
POW
Reading for 20 minutes
Class party on Friday

December 20, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we began our day with the POW and then went into Read to Self. We then did a "The Snowman" response and write up for our art from Friday. We then had French.

In the afternoon we learned about Perimeter and Area. We watched the following video to help us remember these concepts: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk-PyhjFWw4
We then worked in our workbooks on the concept of Perimeter. 
After recess we continued our diorama of our Ecosystems with Jean.

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
POW
Class party Friday

December 16, 2016

Hello parents!

Today we started with our POW test. Please see results tonight. We then moved on to Read to Self. After recess we watched "The Snowman" -- a beautiful video about a young boy building a snowman and where his imagination takes him. Please see the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHCZhUZXhZU. We then went to French. 

After lunch we had our Math test on measurement. We then played math games. After recess we did an Art activity tied to the video The Snowman. Here is an example of what the kids produced: 

We then had an extra gym per our Class Dojo reward where we played the Human Hungry Hippo game and then badminton. 

Homework:
Reading for 20 minutes

December 15, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we worked on Read to Self while I conferenced with students. We then worked on our success criteria for our writing. We then did our Journals. Then we went to French.

After lunch, we went to Yoga and then we worked on a math review for tomorrow's test. After recess we continued the math review and then tidied up for the end of the day.

Homework:
Reading for 20 minutes
POW (test tomorrow)
Math test on measurement tomorrow 
HAT DAY tomorrow!

December 14, 2016

Dear Parents,

Today we began our day with Read to Self. Our Greenwood volunteers were here today and some of the students read with them. We then had snack. After recess we had Gym which culminated in a small tournament of Badminton today. In the new year we will be moving on to another sport (hockey). We then went to French.

After lunch we had our Math problem solving. We used google maps to locate prominent landmarks (CN Tower, Yorkdale mall, Evergreen Brickworks, Niagara Falls, Science North, Terry Fox monument) and then figured out the distance from Nelson Mandela Park PS to that landmark. We worked in partners to do this problem solving. We then used the computers to continue our hour of coding by trying a different coding activity. You can access the link from home here: https://code.org/learn.

Homework:
Reading
POW
Math test Friday on mm, cm, m, km and the conversion between those units of measure

December 13, 2016

Dear parents,

Today we focused on our Poem of the Week. We looked at the metaphors within the poem, for instance, the icicles are compared to fingers and so on. We then went on to Read to Self while I conferenced with students about their personal reading and their reading habits. There has been tremendous development in the reading habits of the students over the past four months and many of them truly enjoy reading for pleasure! We continued with Charlotte's Web today and ended up finishing the book. Sadly, Charlotte dies, but her legacy of friendship and kindness live on through her children and the generations that come after her. Please talk to your child about this book and the ending. We then went to French. 

After lunch, I showed several math videos as a different way to teach math. They are as follows:
Measurement song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djTNUp4XIRo

Measurement video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrA4D-8vHhk

Measurement problem solving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei5mgFtUGns

We then set to work around each of the last two videos, trying to solve the problems and then seeing the solutions. We then worked on the Success Criteria of our Problem Solving. On Friday there will be a test on Measurement. After recess, we went to Library with Jean where we are continuing to construct our Ecosystem dioramas. 

Homework:
Reading
POW
Math test Friday (on mm, cm, m and km, conversions between the units of measure and measuring using those units)

December 12, 2016

Dear parents,

Today we began our day with the Poem of the Week. We then did Read to Self and then did our Journal writing. We then went to French.

In the afternoon, we had a lesson on using meters and comparing centimeters with meters while the Grade 3s worked on using and adding kilometers. We then worked in our JUMP math books on these concepts. We then had Library and Gym. We continued with our focus on Badminton. 

Homework:
POW
Reading for 20 minutes
Math test Friday on measurement (mm, cm, m, and km)

December 9, 2016

Dear parents,

Today we had our Poem of the Week test and then worked on Read to Self. We then took up our answers to the Syrian Refugee reading we did yesterday and began another story about blindness and new technology available to help people with vision impairments. We will take up the answers on Monday. We then went to French.

After lunch we went to Ms. Xavier's room and had a quick lesson on Coding for the Hour of Code. At 1:00, we then began our Hour of Code! We had a fantastic time coding. Please ask your child about this. You can try this at home using the website https://hourofcode.com/ca/learn. We then debriefed our learning. Students said:
"I worked well with my partner."
"I followed the success criteria."
"I helped others."
"I persevered."
"I had lots of fun!"
"Sometimes coding is hard and sometimes it's easy."
"You don't learn from giving up."
"I had to read the instructions."
There was lots of great learning about math, literacy, computer science and creativity, as well as the social learning of cooperation, teamwork and perseverance. Way to go Room 201!!!

Homework:
Reading for 20 minutes
Have a nice weekend!!!

December 8, 2016

Dear parents,

Today we worked on our Poem of the Week. We practiced reading it in a deep voice, a mouse like voice and an angry elf`voice. What fun! We then did Read to Self while I conferenced with students. After we worked on Reading Responses by reading a news story about Syrian refugee camps. We will take up the answers tomorrow. We then went to French.

After lunch, we worked on a math sheet about Kilometers. We then went to Yoga. After recess, we continued with our Social Studies centres. Students in grade 4 finished their name in Calligraphy while the grade 3s worked on their log cabins. When done, we worked on the Dash and Dot robots which can be coded using an iPhone or iPad. Please ask your child about this. 



Homework:
POW
Reading for 20 minutes

December 7th, 2016

Dear parents,

Today we began our day with Read to Self while I conferenced with several students. We then went to Gym where we played Badminton and then to French.

After lunch, we worked on the Problem of the Week. The problem was: "A cyclist rides 225 m in a minute.  How long does it take to travel 15 km?" This was a tricky problem. Eventually we had a Math Congress where we solved this problem together. We then played Prodigy Math. After we worked on our Social Studies centers. During our Guided Reading sessions (in the morning) we have learned about Early Societies (Grade 4) and how they wrote. For Grade 3 we looked at literature about life in Canada in the early days and how log cabins were built by the Pioneers. Therefore, for Social Studies centers we focused on calligraphy for Grade 4 and building a log cabin for Grade 3s. Please ask your child about this.

Homework:
Reading for 20 minutes
POW

December 6th, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we began our day with Read to Self while I conferenced with students. We then read "Charlotte's Web." We then worked on our Journals, focussing on proper paragraph writing. Then we went to French.

After lunch we continued our writing if we were not done and then went to an assembly for the December 6th National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. It was a beautiful ceremony filled with thoughtful poetry and videos commemorating and celebrating women. Please ask your child about this and its importance. We then went out for DPA. After recess we met up with Ms. Jean in the Library to work on our Ecosystem dioramas. 

Homework:
Reading for 20 minutes
POW

December 5, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we began our week with the Poem of the Week. We went over the objectives of the Poem which is to learn the spelling words, to read and infer what the poem means, to look at rhyming words and the rhyming pattern (if there is one). We then did Read to Self while I conferenced individually with students. We then finished our biographies of famous women for the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. We have finished the biographies and they are up in the front foyer as well as in the classroom. We then went to French.

After lunch we had a lesson on measuring and converting millimeters to centimeters and so on. We then worked in our Math workbooks on this concept. We then had Library and Gym. In Gym we continue to learn Badminton and ended our day with dodge ball! 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
Poem of the Week

December 1, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we started our day with the Poem of the Week test. Results have been given back to students. Please check their bags. We then did Read to Self while I conferenced with students. We then did our Biographies of famous women for the display downstairs for the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. We talked extensively about Helen Keller and her remarkable story. We then went to French.

After lunch we had our weekly Yoga with New Leaf. We then played Math games and finished up our biographies and any other work we were not done from this week. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
PA Day Friday (no school for students!)

November 30, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we had our Science Centre trip! We had an excellent time learning about Rocks and Minerals in our morning workshop. After lunch we explored the Science Centre and all of its exhibits, including a new one on Weather. 

Please ask your child the following questions:

1) What mineral is in baby powder? (Talc)
2) How do you test a minerals "hardness?" (fingernail, penny, nail)
3) What is the name of a fossil they saw today? (Trilobyte)
4) What characteristics does a meteor have? (dimples, magnetic, heavy, black)
5) What is a scratch test? (a test to see what kind of mineral it is)

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
Poem of the Week (test tomorrow)
Pyjama day tomorrow!!

November 28, 2016

Dear parents,

Today we began our day with the Poem of the Week. We looked at the rhyming words and the meaning of the poem. We then did Read to Self while I did Guided Reading with a group of students. For writing, we worked on our Journals today. 

After lunch, we had Daily Physical Activity (DPA) and then went inside to do a measurement lesson. We measured our heights and graphed the results in a bar graph. Students will re-measure themselves in June to see how much they have grown. We then went to our Student of the Month assembly on Empathy. We came back and finished any work that was not complete (graph, writing, etc). 

Homework:
POW
Read for 20 minutes
REMINDER: Science Center trip on Wednesday

November 25, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we had our POW spelling test. Please look in your child's bag for the test as well as some art that is coming home. We did Guided Reading today while others Read to Self. We then continued to work on our Biographies of famous women as we approach December 6th. The biographies are shaping up nicely. We then went to French. 

After lunch, we had four math centers that we rotated through: iPad math (Prodigy), a building center, chess center and then a dice game center (SKUNK). Please ask your child about this. We then went to Library and had Gym. 

Homework:
Reading for 20 minutes
Field Trip on Wednesday

November 24, 2016

Hello parents,

We started our day with the POW and then went straight into Read to Self while I did Guided Reading. We  then did the work on biographies of famous women. We then went to French.

After lunch we had a fabulous workshop from Food Share based on our Garden Tower. Please ask your child about this. We did DPA and then we did Math to end our day.

Homework:
POW 
Read for 20 minutes

November 23, 2016

G'day parents!

Today we began our day with Aussie X Cricket! We had an enjoyable morning learning about the game of Cricket. Please ask your child to show you what they learned! Please also ask them what the following statements mean:

"You little ripper!"
"Good on you mate!"
"Good day mate!"

After lunch, students worked on an Anti-Bullying campaign. This was in response to a few concerns I had with the way some students were talking to each other. Please ask your child about this. We then did Math Prodigy games. 

Homework:
POW
Read for 20 minutes
Thursday: Pink Shirt Day (for anti-bullying)

November 22, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we reviewed our Poem of the Week, talking about the images in the poem and they rhyming scheme again. We then moved on to Read to Self while I did Guided Reading with a group of students. We are focusing on Social Studies in our Guided Reading groups to gain greater knowledge of the eras we are studying. We then began a new writing project on Female biographies leading up to December 6th, which is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women. We are working in partners to create a short biography of an important female writer, athlete, filmmaker, teacher, artist, explorer, or first nations person. Our work will be displayed in the foyer. We then went to French. 

After lunch, we went to the Daniels Spectrum theatre to see six short films. They were amazing. Please ask your son or daughter about the films and which one they thought was the best and why. We came back from the theatre and discussed our favourite one. We then got ready for the end of the day. 

Homework:
POW
Read for 20 minutes
Thursday is Pink Shirt Day (anti-bullying)

November 21, 2016

Good evening parents!

Today we began our day with the POW. We looked at reciting the poem together and then we looked at the rhyming scheme. Please talk with your child about this. We then did Read to Self while I conferenced with students and then we worked on the Journal writing. We then went to French. 

After lunch we began a new unit: Measurement. I asked students what we have recently measured. The answer was ... our lives! We can use years as a unit of measure. We can also use days and months. We can use millimeters, centimeters, and kilometers. We can use kilograms and grams, and liters and milliliters. We then went over how to use a ruler and measured several items to make sure we were measuring properly. We then practiced this concept in our JUMP math book. After recess, we worked with Ms. Jean on our Ecosystems diorama. A diorama is a 3D art piece based on our Science topic of Habitats and Plants. Students are working in groups to make an Ecosystem based on the animal or plant they researched. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
POW
Thursday is Pink Shirt Day
JUMP Math pages 95-97 (Grade 3) and pages 97-98 (Grade 4)

November 17, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we began our day with the POW test. Results will be given on Monday. We then did Read to Self while I conferenced with students. During these conferences I listen to their reading, ask them questions about what they are reading, make suggestions for other books and we generally talk about how they think of their reading. This is a time to reiterate reading strategies and pulling out deeper meaning from their personal reading. We then did our Journal writing and worked on our "All About Me" projects. We then went to French.

After lunch, we had our first Yoga session with Rochelle. We did several breathing exercises and some entry level yoga poses. We then went to Library after recess and then Gym. 

REMINDER: Tomorrow is a PA Day so there is no school! 

Homework:
Reading for 20 minutes
Science Center permission forms

November 15, 2016

Good evening parents,

Today we worked on the POW by rereading it and looking at the rhyming scheme. We then did Read to Self while I conferenced with students. After recess we began working on the good copy of our Autobiography reports. We had a lice check by the nurse and then went to French.

After lunch we worked on adding and subtracting using regrouping. We then worked on our Autobiography reports for the rest of the afternoon. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
POW (due Thursday)
Interview schedule sent home

November 14, 2016

Good afternoon parents,

Today we began our day with the Poem of the Week and going over the meaning of the poem. Last week's POW was handed out so please look in your child's bag for the results. We then did Read to Self while I conferenced with students. After recess we went to Gym and began Badminton lessons. We then went to French.

After lunch, we went through our Math test. We then worked on subtraction with regrouping, keeping in mind that we are all at different levels in our understanding of that concept. We then went over our Timeline project and each shared our photos. It was interesting to see students sharing what they had in common and what each of them looked like when they were small. We also began Social Studies with a title page today. 

Homework:
Reading for 20 minutes
Poem of the Week
Report Cards will go home on Thursday

November 11, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we began with a discussion around Remembrance Day. We then did our POW test for "In Flanders Fields." We did Read to Self while I conferenced with students.

After recess, we went to our lovely Remembrance Day ceremony. Several of Room 201's students were part of the choir and it was a beautiful event. 

After lunch, we did our Math test and then played Math games. We then finished our report writing while the rest of the students went down to the library to work on "Worldvuze." Worldvuze is a forum to ask other classrooms around the world a question or to answer a question from a classroom around the world. Please ask your child if they were a part of this. https://www.worldvuze.com/ 

Homework:
* Read for 20 minutes
* Please send in the parent-teacher interview form with your three preferences for times for interviews (thank you to those who have already sent it in!)

November 10th, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we began our day with a discussion based on the Poem of the Week. We further clarified vocabulary in the poem and then set off to do our Read to Self. I did Guided Reading with one small group of students today. We then worked on our Journals after recess, focusing on spelling and using the hamburger paragraph as our model for good writing. We then went to French.

After lunch, we finished up some work from this morning and then we had an introduction to our Yoga instructor, Rochelle. We found out about each other and made agreements for how our Yoga sessions would run. After recess, we went to Library and then came back to class and cleaned up for the evening. 

A math review was handed out for Grade 3 and 4 students. It is one page of addition and subtraction questions (with regrouping) to practice for tomorrow's math test. Please work with your child on this. It is for practice only -- it does not have to be handed in. 

Indigenous Veterans Remembrance Day Medal 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
POW (test tomorrow)
Math test tomorrow on adding and subtracting with regrouping
Timeline due Friday
Battery Blitz (final day is tomorrow)

November 9th, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we began our day with community circle, discussing a few housekeeping items. We had our Greenwood volunteers in reading to several students this morning while other students were Reading to Self. We then moved on to reading about Indigenous Veterans in remembrance of their service during WWI, WWII and the Korean War. After a discussion about the article we read, we worked on creating a war medal for Indigenous veterans. We had to stop our work and go to French. 

After lunch we worked on today's math problem. The problem was "About how many days have you been in school? Tell how you estimated. Tell what mathematical operations you used." We then continued working on our Indigenous veterans medal (and explanation of the medal) and then on our Science reports. If students were finished, they then worked on Prodigy.

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
POW
Timeline (due Friday)
Battery Blitz
Yoga form (due tomorrow)
MATH TEST FRIDAY (adding and subtracting with regrouping)

November 4, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we had a very busy day!

We began with our POW test. We then moved into Read to Self and conferenced with students. We then had our last fire drill of 2016! After recess we worked on our Journal writing and then went to French. 

After lunch did Math Game Centres. Today one of the centres was building with shapes and another was counting and sorting the batteries in the Battery Blitz box. We have 162 used batteries! Please ask your child about this and how they sorted the material. 

Our math tally sheet for the Battery Blitz!

Our battery haul!

We then moved on to our Science projects. We are working on reports on either Animals (Grade 4) or Plants (Grade 3). We also had Ms. Xavier's class come in and test the pH of the Garden tower. Please see yesterday's post regarding the progress of the Garden tower. 

Homework: 
- Read for 20 minutes
- Timeline project (due November 11th)
- Battery Blitz

November 3, 2016

Hello parents,

We began our day by recapping the Poem of the Week. We then moved on to Read to Self while I conferenced with students about yesterday's journal writing. We then worked on our Reading Responses to "Charlotte's Web." We then went to French.

In the afternoon, we had a lesson on subtracting with regrouping for Grade 3s and some problem solving using addition and subtraction for Grade 4s. We then had Library and Gym. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
POW 
Timeline (due November 11th)
Battery Blitz

November 2, 2016

Hello parents!

Today we began our day with the Poem of the Week and a class discussion. We then moved on to Read to Self while I conferenced with students individually. We then moved on to Journal Writing, focussing on the Hamburger paragraph (opening sentence, detail #1, detail #2, detail #3, and a closing sentence). We then had French. 

After lunch we did Math Problem Solving. After the Math Congress (where we meet to discuss how we solved the problem and the different strategies we used) we had our Math Prodigy time. After recess we had Drama. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
POW
Timeline
Battery Blitz

November 1, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we did our Shared Reading of the Poem of the Week. We then did Read to Self while I worked in small groups with students regarding Internal and External Character Traits. We worked on the book "Charlotte's Web" and the three main characters: Wilbur, Charlotte and Fern. 

We then went to French. 

After recess, we finished yesterday's movie and then had a math lesson on subtracting with regrouping (Grade 4) and subtracting without regrouping (Grade 3). We then worked in our JUMP math workbooks on this concept. After recess, we worked on our Plant or Animal expert research project. Today we worked on writing up their report on their animal or plant. At the end of the day, we did DPA. 

Homework:

Read for 20 minutes

POW

Timeline (due November 11th)

Permission form for CBC filming 

Battery Blitz (please bring in used batteries)

October 31st, 2016

Happy Halloween parents!

Today we did our Poem of the Week. We went over it together and then read it with a partner. We did our spelling pre-test with our partner and then did Read to Self while I conferenced with students. After recess we had Gym. Today was the culmination of many Gym lessons on basketball skills -- we finally got to play a basketball game!! It was wonderful to watch their skill level at handling, dribbling and passing the basketball. We then had French. 

After lunch we watched a movie and partied!! After recess we worked on STEAM questions for an upcoming filming by CBC at Nelson Mandela Park PS. Please check your child`s bag for further details and a permission form. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
POW
Timeline (due November 11)
STEAM Question and permission form (due WEDNESDAY)

October 28, 2016

Good evening parents,

Today we had our Poem of the Week Spelling test. Results will be shared on Monday. We then did Read to Self while I did Guided Reading and then individual conferences with children. After recess we looked at an example of a timeline. The timeline was of Rosa Parks. We discussed what it looked like (date on time, brief but important information on the bottom, and relevant pictures). I then began my own timeline with my date of birth. Students were then given a timeline assignment (please check your child's bag) and we filled in the first event: their birth. This assignment is due on November 11th. Please go over it with your child this weekend. Thanks! 

After lunch we played Math games (chess) and finished up our pumpkin art in the style of Romero Britto. We worked on our Art Portfolios. The pumpkin art is displayed outside of the classroom near our Terry Fox timeline should you wish to see it. 

A selection of Room 201's pumpkin art...

After recess we then had a party for a student who is leaving our classroom. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
Battery Blitz (please bring in any used batteries lying around the house)
Timeline assignment

October 26th, 2016

Good evening parents,

Today we practiced our Poem of the Week for fluency. We then went on to practice Read to Self while I conferenced with my Guided Reading groups. After recess we worked on a reflection of yesterday's Parang workshop. I asked students to practice their "hamburger paragraph" writing while they were writing their responses. We then did our Journals and then went to French.

After lunch, we did Math Problem Solving. This took students quite a while to figure out. We then worked on other work that wasn't finished (journal, pumpkin art) and Chess. After recess we did our work with Prodigy and continued finishing work that wasn't finished. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
POW

October 25, 2016

Dear parents,

Today we went over our Poem of the Week and looked at the "ight" ending. How many words can you make with that ending? We then did Read to Self while I conferenced with groups for Guided Reading. After recess, we finished Douglas Coupland's book, "Terry." Children will now be looking through the book to add more detail to our Terry Fox timeline. We then went to French.

After lunch we had a lesson on adding with regrouping (3 and 4 digit numbers for Grade 4, 2 and 3 digit numbers for Grade 3). We then went to a wonderful Parang workshop. 

"Students will learn about the parang music tradition from Trinidad. Parang is a term, which identifies a custom belonging to Trinidad’s Hispanic heritage. The word itself is neither Spanish nor English. It is the colloquial term for parran, the abbreviation of parranda, the Spanish word, which means a spree, or carousel, or a group of more than four people who go out at night singing with the accompaniment of musical instruments."

After recess we did a Pumpkin art in style of Romero Britto. Please see the following video for an example. We will continue this this week. 

Homework:
Reading for 20 minutes
POW
Grade 3 -- JUMP pages 52-54
Grade 4 -- JUMP pages 46-49

October 24, 2016

Dear parents,

Today we worked on our Poem of the Week and did Read to Self while I conferenced with small groups of students. After recess we had Gym where we are learning basketball skills. We then went to French.

After lunch we had a lesson in math on regrouping (Grade 4) and adding and subtracting 10 and 100 to a number (Grade 3). We then had our Sharing Assembly after recess and finally ended our day with Daily Physical Activity outside. 

Homework:
Reading for 20 minutes
POW
Grade 4 -- JUMP 43-44
Grade 3 -- JUMP 49-51

Thank you!

October 21, 2016

Hello parents!

We began our day with the Poem of the Week test. Please ask your child for the results as the test was handed back. We then did Read to Self and Listening to Reading while I conferenced with students. After recess, we recapped our lesson on Hamburger paragraphs and applied this to our Journal writing. We then went to French. 

After lunch we did a new Math Game Rotation which will now happen every Friday. We had four stations: Chess, iPad (Prodigy), Lego challenge with Ms. Jensen, and Score with Four (dice game). Please ask your child about these stations. After recess we went to the Library for Team Teaching with Ms. Rehder. We worked on our Habitat and Plant Expert projects while Ms. Rehder worked with one small group on "Worldvuze." Please ask your child about this. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
Enjoy your weekend!!

October 20, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we began our day with the Poem of the Week and looking at punctuation (commas, periods and exclamations). We then did Read to Self and Listen to Reading (ask your child about their Epic account and if it was their iPad day) while I conferenced with students. After recess we then read more about Terry with the fabulous book written by Douglas Coupland. In it, there are beautiful and rare images of Terry and his personal items. Please ask your child about the book and what they learned today. We then went to French. 

After recess, I started with Grade 3s and we went over a lesson on Greater than, Less than and Equal to. I sent them to do their work in JUMP while I met with the Grade 4s about yesterday's Problem Solving. We went over the answer together, clarified our understanding and I sent the Grade 4s to fix their errors. I then asked the Grade 3s to meet and we discussed our Problem Solving and we clarified our understanding. I then sent the Grade 3s to fix up their work. While students were working I worked with one group on the Garden Tower. We checked the pH of the water and discovered that it was 4.5. Our Garden Tower's pH must be between 5.5 and 6.5, so we added a pH+ solution and retested the water. We looked for signs of infestation and checked the base for an overgrowth of roots. The Garden Tower is looking great and our lettuce, etc is close to harvest!! After recess we had Library and then Gym. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
POW

SPECIAL NOTICE: Field Trips

Hello parents,

Just a note about several upcoming Field Trips:

1) Regent Park Film Festival -- November 23rd (9 am to 11 am)
The whole class will be attending this series of short films as part of our Media Studies. 

"Through heroic journeys, altered realities and supernatural powers, these films help us challenge negative stereotypes about our identities, cultures and communities."

COST: Free



2) Science Centre -- November 30th (all day)
Workshop: Rocks and Minerals (10:45 am) and exploration of the Science Centre

COST: Free

***Parent volunteers needed!!!! Please email Ms. Jensen: kristin.jensen@tdsb.on.ca if you can volunteer!



3) ROM -- in the New Year

October 19, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we focused on the POW to start our day. We spoke about sight words (commonly spelled words) and contractions (we're, don't, they're, you're). We then did Read to Self while I conferenced with students. After recess we had a lesson on a hamburger paragraph (introduction, body, conclusion). We then went to French.

After lunch we did Daily Physical Activity. We are using jump ropes in order to get our heart rate up. We then came inside and spent the rest of the afternoon on Math problem solving. We then had our Prodigy Math time. 

Homework:
Read 20 minutes
POW 

October 18, 2016

Hello parents!

I was at an Eco-Schools workshop this morning, so I cannot report what happened in the morning. Please ask your child -- I met the supply teacher and she was awesome!

After lunch we had a math lesson on regrouping (Grade 4) and Greater than and Less than (Grade 3). We then practiced this concept in our JUMP Math books. 

An example of the anchor chart I began with the Grade 3s. 

After recess we looked at and drew a spider and then labelled the part of a spider. This relates to our work with "Charlotte's Web" and our unit of study in Science. 

Please try and label with your child to see if they remember the parts of a spider. 

After that we went outside for Daily Physical Activity. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
POW (please practice "Whisky Frisky")

October 14, 2016

Hello parents,

Thanks to those who were able to make it out last night! I enjoyed meeting you!

Today we began our day with the Poem of the Week test. Results will be given Monday. We then had a lesson on "Listening to Reading." The Grade 3s had an opportunity to practice using "Epic" which is an online reading app. Please ask your child about this and the books that are available on this app. All other students were practicing Read to Self. After recess we continued with our Terry Fox research and added more information to our class timeline. Please ask your child about the Terry Fox fact they came up with. Students then went to French. 

After lunch we had a conversation about ability and determination. Please ask your child about the friend I went to lunch with who had a stroke in June. His story is very inspiring to me and I hope it was inspiring to your child too. We then worked on Khan Academy and reviewed concepts of Place Value. Students worked in groups on computers to do this. After recess we finished our Spider Web art.  

Homework:
Read 20 minutes
Study for the Math test on Monday 
Grade 3 -- study pages 28 to 41 from JUMP Math
Grade 4 -- study pages 22-38 from JUMP Math

Thank you!

October 12, 2016

Hello parents!

We had a busy day!

We began our day with Read to Self. I conferenced with students about the Setting and what that means in a story (where and when the story takes place). I worked in small groups through an activity around the setting of "Charlotte's Web." Students then completed a paragraph about the setting in the story. After recess, we worked on our Journals. I marked their journal writing and gave students descriptive feedback about how their individual writing could improve. Please talk to your child about this. We then went to French.

After lunch, students worked on quite a difficult problem. They had to use a t-chart in order to solve the problem. Again, we practiced: Read, Highlight, Plan, Solve. Students worked in pairs to solve the problem and we went over it as a class. After recess, we played Math games using the computers (Prodigy and CoolMathGames).

Homework:
Read 20 minutes
Poem of the Week
Choir form
Math quiz FRIDAY

October 11, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we began our day with the POW. 

We then moved on to Read to Self while I conferenced individually with students. After recess we worked on our Terry Fox timeline by reading a non-fiction book about him. We then had snack and read "Charlotte's Web." We talked about the setting in the book (which is the farm) and the era. We looked for text clues and decided that the era was the 1940s or 1950s. We then went to French. 

After lunch we had a Math lesson about counting on by 10s, 100s and 1000s. We talked about the tips and tricks of counting on, for instance in 10, 20, 30, 40, the first digit goes up by one. We then worked in our JUMP Math workbooks. After recess we worked on our Animal or Plant Expert project. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
POW 
Choir Form
Picture Day is Thursday
Meet the Teacher night and BBQ is Thursday night

October 10, 2016

Hello parents!

Today we began our day with our Poem of the Week test and then went straight into Read to Self. Please check your child's backpack for the marked test. We then had Gym and French.

After lunch, we debriefed how our class is going to be pairing every once in a while with Ms. Xavier's Junior Autism class. To pair with a class with students with exceptionalities is one of the ways to develop a greater sense of empathy and community building in our classroom. The students then went to Ms. Xavier's room and we worked on a tally and graphing activity together. 

Favourite type of apple graphing activity. 

After recess we learned how to create a spider web. Our end result will eventually look something like this:

Example of the art we began in class. 

Homework:
- read for 20 minutes
- No school Friday or Monday  
Enjoy the long weekend!

October 5, 2016

Hi parents!

Congratulations to all students who participated in today's Cross Country run!

We began our day with Read to Self while I did Guided Reading with groups of students. Again, please refer to yesterday's blog about what we did (non-fiction text features, summarizing text information using a sticky note). We then read "Charlotte's Web" while we had our snack. 

After recess we had a lesson on what a timeline looks like. So far, we have two dates on our Terry Fox timeline: his birth (1958) and his death (1981). I talked to students about how a timeline is generally read (from left to right) and how a timeline is divided up. We talked about where half of Terry's life would be located in the timeline. Where would 1/4 of Terry's life be located? 3/4? Tomorrow we will add facts to our timeline using jot notes from the story we are reading together. We then went to French.

Our blank Terry Fox timeline

After lunch, we did our Math Problem Solving (this occurs every Wednesday). We talked about our steps to problem solving: read, highlight, plan, solve. We then solved the problem and students checked in with me when they were done. Students then played Prodigy. 

Today's problem... Not sure why it is sideways!!

After recess we went down to the library for Team Teaching time with Ms. Jean. We worked using PebbleGo to come up with notes about our chosen plant or animal. Usernames and passwords are on the LearnMark provided in the first few weeks in school. 

It was a busy day of learning!!!

Homework:
- Read for 20 minutes
- POW (due tomorrow)
- Choir form
- WEAR YOUR BLUE JAYS GEAR!!!

October 4th, 2016

Hello parents!

Today we began our day by reviewing what we learned yesterday regarding Non-Fiction and Fiction text features (see yesterday's post). We then did Read to Self while I did Guided Reading groups with a Non-Fiction text related to plants and animals. Individually, I coached children how to read a Non-Fiction text and they were tasked with pulling out one or two important details and writing it down on a sticky note. For an idea of what Guided Reading is, please refer to the following video: Grade 3 and Grade 4. Guided Reading is an important part of the Language Block and is a means to conference individually and focus on key reading concepts to push your child further along the reading continuum. We then read "Charlotte's Web" and ate snack. After recess, we continued further with our research on Terry Fox. We continued reading a story and students were tasked with writing an important fact from the book on a sticky note. We compiled the facts on chart paper and will be reviewing them tomorrow. 

Guided Reading book and jot note

Terry Fox facts for our timeline

We also talked about how this book is historical fiction based on the way it was written (so it lives in the fiction and non-fiction world). Eventually, we will be putting together a timeline of his life. Students will then complete their own timeline (more on this later on in the month!!). We then went to French. One student made a connection to the "Draw My Life" series on Youtube which you may want to see with your child. 

After lunch we had a lesson on adding 10, 100 and 1000 more to a number for Grade 4s. I passed a ball to each student and gave them a number and asked them to add 10, 100 or 1000. We also talked about how to look at the place value and then just adding one to that number. With the Grade 3s, we looked at what "more" and "less" meant. I then passed a ball to a child and gave that child a number and said "2 more than 20" or "2 less than 30." We discussed how to write number from 20 to 99 (with the -ty suffix) and then how to write numbers from 100 and up. Please see the worksheets attached for extra practice here. After recess we had Library and then Gym. 

Homework:
- Read for 20 minutes
- POW (Due Thursday as it is a short week)
- Grade 3: page 38 in JUMP Math
- Grade 4: page 36 in JUMP Math

October 3, 2016

Hello parents!

Today we began our day with reciting the Poem of the Week entitled, "Autumn Wind." We did our spelling pre-test. Please read this over tonight with your child. I also handed back Friday's POW with their mark. Please ask your child about this. We then worked on Fiction VS Non-Fiction. There were several characteristics on index cards and students had to sort them under the Fiction or Non-Fiction category. They also had to justify why they thought that characteristic went under that category. We came up with the following:

After recess we did Read to Self while I conferenced with students individually about their writing as well as the characteristics of Non-Fiction texts in Guided Reading Groups. In Grade 3 and 4 my expectation for writing is as follows:

* I will write in full sentences
* I will use a capital at the beginning of my sentence and a period or punctuation at the end
* I will capitalize proper nouns
* I will write a paragraph consisting of 4 to 5 sentences
* I will write neatly and space my work so that it is legible
* I will underline any words that I do not know how to spell and will use a dictionary to help me spell those words after I have finished writing

We then went to French.

After lunch, I had a math lesson. For Grade 4s we learned about looking at differences between numbers and what place value the number was in. For instance, with the numbers 5678 and 5578, what number is different? What place value is it? How much is the difference between them? The answer is 100. For Grade 3s, we learned about "teen" numbers and what teen represents. I asked them what other word "teen" might look like (the word ten). Therefore the number 13 is really ten + 3. I then spoke about how the Japanese number system words. Please ask your child about this.

We then learned about the Steps to Research and how to write jot notes using the Plant Expert or Animal Expert outline I gave them. Students then worked on writing notes under each heading.

Homework:
Reading for 20 minutes
POW
Grade 4 -- page 34 JUMP
Grade 3 -- page 35-37 JUMP

September 30, 2016

Hello parents,

It's Friday! We celebrated Orange T-Shirt day by wearing our orange bracelets. We also had our Terry Fox run at 10:15! What a great way to get exercise and have fun!!

We had our Poem of the Week test today. Please make sure that you are studying the spelling words with your child and practicing fluency (reading smoothly like we are talking). Thank you! After our POW test we practiced Read to Self. 

After lunch, students were tasked with a "Number of Day" activity. We chose the number 30. They had to represent the number in several different ways. For an example, see here:

We then worked on our cursive writing while the Grade 3s finished up their testing. They are finally done!! 

After recess we had Activity Time to round out our week together. 

Homework:
- Reading 20 minutes

Thank you! 

September 29, 2016

Hello parents,

Today was a busy day and it was raining outside!! We began our day with Read to Self. I reviewed the Read to Self behaviours and then we began. While Grade 4s were Reading to Self, I was testing Grade 3 students. We then read one chapter of "Charlotte's Web." Please ask your child what the character Wilbur tried to build... After recess we went to the Commons Room to build a plant tower with the group "Food Share." Please ask your child about this and what they planted. 

After lunch, we worked on a math lesson on writing in expanded form, standard form and in the value of each number. We reviewed a Khan Academy video and together we solved 10 problems related to the video. Please see the blog post from two days ago for the video link. We then worked in our JUMP Math workbooks. After recess we took our guest turtles out for a spin around the classroom. We discussed the way they walk, their size, the length of their nails and several students shared research about turtles and their habitat. Please ask your child how long a sea turtle can become! The answer is surprising. We then drew pictures of our turtles (either a birds-eye view or side view) and glued them into our art workbooks. 

Our Terry Fox run was postponed until tomorrow due to the rain.

Homework:
Reading 20 minutes 
POW (test tomorrow)
JUMP Math pages 31-34 (Grade 4 only)
Wear an orange t-shirt tomorrow
Please bring in a set of headphones for use with the computers. 

Thank you!