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!

September 28, 2016

Hello parents!

Today we began our day with our community circle where we talk about current events. We spoke about tomorrow's Terry Fox run and why we are running. I encouraged children to bring in $1.00 as a donation which was Terry Fox's dream -- a dollar for every Canadian.

We then did Read to Self while I conferenced with students. We read one chapter of "Charlotte's Web" and then went for recess. After recess we did our Journal Writing and students were tasked with choosing which Journal entry they would like me to mark. After that the Grade 4s had French while the Grade 3s did their CCAT testing.

After lunch we had a lesson on Problem Solving. I use the following format for Problem Solving: Read, Highlight, Plan, Solve. Students were tasked with a math problem and got to solve it with a partner. We then had the Math Congress to discuss how we solved our problem and what strategies we used. After that, we played Prodigy. After recess we went to the library for Team Teaching with Ms. Jean. We had a story and lesson on Ecosystems using a rope. Please ask your child about this. We then began working on plant or animal research on a plant or animal of our choosing using books and resources from our library.

EXTENSION: You may choose a math problem from the following list to work with your child -- www.mathwire.com.

PLANT AND ANIMAL RESEARCH: Should you wish to find out more information about your child's plant or animal, please use PebbleGo or Encyclopedia Britannica. Please use the bookmark given to your child at the beginning of the year for usernames and passwords.

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
POW
Terry Fox run Thursday am (Please bring in $1.00)
Food Share form
Orange T-Shirt Day is Friday
Please bring in a pair of headphones from the dollar store for use with the computers  

September 27, 2016

Hello parents!

We had another productive day. 

The Grade 4s did their CASI reading assessment all morning. The Grade 3s did Poem of the Week work with me, silent reading while I helped students with their assessments, and they worked on other assignments. Because we have two turtles in the classroom, the Grade 3s worked on research and art associated with the turtles and their habitat. We then went to French.

After lunch, we learned about representing numbers in Expanded Form. In other words 3421 = 3000 + 400 + 20 + 1. They worked in their JUMP math workbooks and I conferenced with students who required extra support. Please see here for extensions to today's lesson: Khan Academy. We then had library and gym. 

Homework:
- Reading for 20 minutes
- Practice the Poem of the Week
- Food Share form (if not already brought in)
- Terry Fox run (Thursday)
- Orange shirt day (Friday)
- Please bring in a pair of headphones from the dollar store for use with computers -- thank you!!

September 26, 2016

Hello parents!

Today we began our day by welcoming two turtles!!!! Special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham for bringing in their turtle habitat for us to study this week.

We started our day with the Poem of the Week. We read it aloud as a class and did our spelling pre-test. We then did the Daily 5 "Read to Self" while I conferenced individually with students. We then ate snack and read a chapter of "Charlotte's Web." After recess we learned about Terry Fox. We began with what we know about Terry Fox (a lot!!) and then what we want to learn about him. We then read a book together on part of his life.

After lunch, we continued our new unit in Math: Number Sense. We used base ten material to represent and compose numbers. We then played a game with a base ten mat and playing cards. We then worked in our JUMP math workbooks. We had an assembly today for our Character Counts initiative for Respect. We then came back and did a drama activity using miming. Please ask your child about this.

Homework:
- Read for 20 minutes
- POW
- Terry Fox run (Thursday morning)
- Food Share form
- Orange t-shirt day (Friday)
- Please bring in a pair of dollar store headphones in a ziplock bag with your child's name on it

Thank you!!!

September 23rd, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we had another busy day!

We began our day with Poem of the Week test. Results will be given on Monday. We then did our Read to Self while I conferenced individually with students. We then had snack and read another chapter of "Charlotte's Web." We then did our Journal responses. Please ask your child what topic they chose. Students then went to French. 

After lunch, students played Math Games including Score with Four and we then played two rounds of "SKUNK." Please ask your child how to play these games. We then talked about our Art Journals and did a still life picture of a plant. 

We also had a discussion about our classroom community and how to respond when people are upset. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
Hand in Food Share permission form ASAP
Please bring in a pair of headphones from the dollar store in a plastic ziplock bag with your child's name on it. 

Thank you!

September 22nd, 2016

Hello parents,

Today we began our day with the Daily 5 literacy program. Students practiced "Read to Self" while I conferenced individually with students about their reading. The "Read to Self" behaviours include: stay in one spot, read the whole time, choose a Good Fit book, and build stamina while reading. Please ask your child what they are reading. We then had snack and I read aloud "Charlotte's Web." We then had Gym where we practiced our ball skills using a basketball and then went to French.

After lunch we had a new lesson on place value. We are beginning our new unit on "Number Sense." While students were working on this concept, I conferenced individually with students about yesterday's quiz. Please check their bag for their quiz. Any corrections should be made on a separate piece of paper. 

For extra math practice based on today's lesson: 
Grade 4: https://ca.ixl.com/math/grade-4/place-values
Grade 3: https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/place-value-models-up-to-thousands

We then learned about Natural Science. Today the Grade 4s worked on describing a farm habitat (what it looks like, feels like, sounds like) and the plant and animal populations within it. This relates to our read aloud of "Charlotte's Web." The Grade 3s had a lesson with me on carnivorous plants including the Venus Fly Trap. We then went over the parts of a plant and worked on a diagram. Please ask your child about this lesson.

Grade 3 extension: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/garden/the-lure-of-carnivorous-plants.html?_r=0

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes
Poem of the Week (test tomorrow) -- practice reading fluency
Food Share permission form
Please bring in a pair of headphones from the dollar store in a plastic bag marked with your child's name

Thank you!

Welcome to Room 201!

Hello parents,

As a way to communicate our day, I have decided to start a blog post.

Today, we worked on our CAT-4 testing all morning. Just before French we read several chapters of "Charlotte's Web." We then went to French.
After lunch, we did our Math quiz and then had time to play Prodigy (an online math game) as a reward for our hard work. Please ask your child for their level. After recess we had a lesson tying "Charlotte's Web" to our Science strands: Plants (Grade 3) and Animal Habitats (Grade 4). Please ask your child what kind of habitat Wilbur lives in and get them to describe it.

Homework:
- Read for 20 minutes
- Poem of the Week (please read it over together, get your child to practice the spelling words)
- Poem of the Week test on Friday

NB: Please bring in a pair of headphones (from the Dollar Store). Please make sure the headphones are in a plastic bag and are labelled with your child's name. These will be for "Listen to Reading" time.

Thank you!