Sunday, May 29, 2016

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to read and complete some of the activities in the Pet Valu activity booklet designed for children. Pet Valu is a chain of Canadian stores that sell pet supplies. Each child is asked to write an opinion letter to Pet Valu. They are to write about what they liked about the booklet and why, what they didn't like and why and to offer suggestions on how to improve the booklet to make it even better. The completed letter (using proper letter format) is due on Friday, June 3rd. (Students may keep the booklet.)

EQAO News
It's finally here! Next week, the grade 3 students will be writing the EQAO standardized test for math, reading and writing. It is very important that all grade 3 students arrive to school on time in the morning and attend school each day of testing. Here is the schedule:
Tuesday, May 31 - math (am until recess) and language (pm until recess)
Wednesday, June 1 - math (am until recess) and language (pm until recess)
Thursday, June 2 - language (am until recess) and language (pm until recess)
Your grade 3 child's test and results will be returned to you at the end of September, when they are in grade 4. Because the tests are marked independently, (that is they are not marked by me or anyone in our school), your child's results are not part of the Term 2 final report card.
During the testing times, our grade 2 students will be with Mr. Hinrichsen in his classroom on the third floor. Mr. Hinrichsen's grade 3 students will write the test with our grade 3 children in Room 204 (our classroom).
Please email me if you have any questions about the schedule for this week.


The butterflies are now free...

The students took the butterfly cage outside on Friday to release the Painted Lady butterflies that the children have observed since they were tiny caterpillars (around 1 cm long). The butterflies (adult stage) are now free to go and lay eggs to complete their live cycle. Recall, that the circle of life for these creatures is egg, caterpillar (larva), chrysalis (pupa) and butterfly (adult).

It was very exciting on Tuesday to come into the classroom and find almost all the butterflies had come out of their chrysalids! The butterflies were given orange Gatorade and the juice from fresh orange slices to drink because butterflies drink but don't eat (and caterpillars eat but don't drink). A butterfly has a long straw-like tongue called a proboscis that it uses to drink liquids. In nature, of course, butterflies drink liquid nectar from flowers and the long tongue helps to reach the nectar.

There was a lot of insect blood in the butterfly cage! This is due to the fluid the butterfly uses to pump up and straighten out its wings that were folded up inside the chrysalis. After the wings are unfolded the butterfly doesn't need the fluid anymore so it pushes it out of its body. 

Did you know, that Painted Lady butterflies are found on all the continents, except for Antarctica? That they can fly over 20 kilometres per hour and up to 100 metres? That the patterns on the wings are many up of coloured, overlapping scales and the patterns are used for camoflague or to scare away predators (some wings have patterns that look like large eyes)? That Painted Lady butterflies have 4 symmetrical wings (two on each side) and they only live for 2 weeks? They also taste things with their feet!

Here are some photos from this week:








News for May 27




 News for May 27
Well, it was a four-day week but the students finished a few projects so we can begin some final projects for the year.
All week the grade 3 students have been practising and reviewing for the grade 3 EQAO standardized test of math, reading and writing that begins next week. The students self-reported that they are feeling more confident now about their ability to answer the test questions correctly and completely. 
The grade two students have been reviewing math concepts too. They completed activities that review graphing and data management and patterning.
On Wednesday, our librarian, Ms. Mantello invited our class to come to the gym to listen to the Canadian children's book author, Heather Hartt-Sussman, talk about being an author and to listen to her talk about what it's like to be an author, and hear her read aloud two of her books.
We finished our Painted Lady butterfly project on Friday by releasing the adult butterflies outside. The students completed their science observation journals and wrote a reflection on what they remembered about the project and how they felt about finally releasing the butterflies. One student wrote, "I feel sad because I will miss them. I also feel happy because they will be free." Each student created an origami box and a symmetrical paper butterfly to decorate the lid. Each child chose an empty chrysalis to put inside the box as a memory from our project. More information and photos from this project may be seen in a separate posting.
The class finished watching the movie, The Iron Giant and used their notes and drawings to help them write about the movie story and compare it with the story in The Iron Man book. After reflecting on what they liked about the book and the movie, the students were asked to compare the book and the movie using a Venn Diagram graphic organizer and then write their opinions about which they liked better, the book or the movie. (At this stage in their lives, most children will pick the movie over the book because it's difficult for a book to compete with the colourful animation, action, sound and music of the movie!)
As we continue to learn how pioneers lived hundreds of years ago, one of the major themes of this unit is learning how to make things. Hundreds of years ago in Canada, people could not go to the store to buy things they needed. People had to either grow it or make it. In that spirit, the students continued to practice knitting using the corkers they made last week and they learned how to make a pom-pom using a handmade cardboard "donut" and the yarn they dyed several weeks ago. They are also learning how to do different kinds of knots, square knots and overhand knots.
The children rehearsed the play, "Honesty is the Best Policy" a few times this week. The students will be performing this play on the stage in the gym near the end of June.
Books read aloud this week:
Noni Says No by Heather Hartt-Sussman
The Butterfly Alphabet by Kjell Bloch Sandved
The Iron Giant (movie based on the novel, The Iron Man by Ted Hughes)

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Update from Ms. R

Note for Parents
As the weather gets sunnier and warmer, the students each need to bring the following to school:
1. Water bottle 
2. Hat
3. Sunscreen
The children are outside for morning recess, lunch recess and afternoon recess for a total of 60 minutes outside. Sometimes they are also outside for their gym class period. There is limited shade on the playground. We love the warmth of the sun but the sun's rays can damage the skin and can give children headaches.
The homework for this week is to write a story in the homework writing journal with a setting around the year 1816. This is a link to our social studies unit where we are studying how people in Canada lived 200 years ago. There is also a math worksheet for the grade 2 students reviewing moving on a map or grid. The grade 3 students have some short answer practice EQAO questions. This homework is due on Friday, May 27th.
Important Dates:
May 31, June 1 and June 2 - EQAO testing time, Please do not schedule any appointments for this time period.
June 10 - P. A. Day - no classes
June 14 - Trip to the Bata Shoe Museum and University of Toronto Imaging Facility (more information to follow soon).
June 15 (evening) - SCHOOL CONCERT - Please mark the date! You don't want to miss it!
June 29 - Last day of school before the summer break.
The children rehearse our new class play!

News for May 20

News for May 20

I am so proud of my hard-working students this week. It's not been easy as we juggle finishing off the grade curriculum and the grade 3 students prepare for the EQAO standardized test at the end of the month.
In math, the children reviewed the concept of symmetry and the line of symmetry that splits an object into congruent parts (same size, same shape). The students learned the different ways to move a shape across a surface: flip (reflection), turn (rotation) and slide (translation). The class also learned how to measure the space within a shape, or area, using equal units (size and shape). Area can be measured using any shape but the standard shape is square units.
We finished our read aloud chapter book, The Iron Man. The children have been practising the reading comprehension strategy of "make a picture in your mind" as the story was read by drawing the pictures in their mind as the story was read. It is quite a story...so much going on and the students were doing a great job keeping up with all the action in the story.
In science, our caterpillar/butterfly project continues! The students learned that there are over 20,000 different kinds (species) of butterflies. We discussed what the children think must be happening in the chrysalis for the caterpillar to change into a butterfly. The children learned that bascially, the caterpillar breaks down to "caterpillar soup" and rearranges itself to become a butterfly. All week, the caterpillars were quietly going through metamorphosis inside their chrysalids. 
EQAO preparation continues for the grade 3 students as they continue to review concepts and learn the tips and tricks on how to write a standardized test. During these preparation times, the grade 2 students have begun to research an animal and create research posters to display what they have learned.
Our class has started to rehearse a new play! The same play is being done by the grade two students and also by the grade three students so that every student gets a chance to have a speaking part. We are working in class on this project and during the drama time once a week with Ms. Francesca.
In art, the students cut out the symmetrical, painted butterflies they made last week, taped them on large art paper and designed a background using oil pastels.
In social studies, the children continued to learn and discuss what it was like to live in Canada 200 years ago. The students worked in groups to list the things that we have now that did not exist 200 years ago. One of the things that people needed to do was to create their own clothing and household items. Each child this week made his/her own "corker" which pioneer children used to learn how to knit. Using the wool yarn they dyed several weeks ago, the students all began learning to knit using the corker so that they made. The students learned that when the pioneers were sick, they didn't go to the doctor or dentist....they went to the blacksmith to get a tooth pulled and sometimes the barber for "bloodletting" because they believed that sickness began with poison in the blood. FIrst Nations people taught the pioneers to preserve meet by drying it to make "jerky" and then to crush the jerky and mix it with fat, nuts and berries to make a nutritional food. 
The class learned about the Canadian holiday, VIctoria Day. Canadians have been celebrating this holiday since 1845, before Canada officially became a country in 1867. Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was the Queen of England from 1837 to 1901, or 64 years! She was so loved and respected that the immigrants from England brought the celebration of her birthday (May 24) to their new home.
Books read aloud this week:
The Iron Man by Ted Hughes (chapter book)
The Butterfly House by Sarah L. Smith

Monday, May 16, 2016

Concert Date

Our class is part of the grades 3 and 4 concert on Wednesday, June 15th. More information will be posted soon.
Mark the date! You don't want to miss your child's performance!

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is for grade 3 students to answer practice EQAO math questions and write a short narrative (story). The students have space to plan their stories (this work does not get marked) and a limited space to write the actual story (only writing on the horizontal lines given gets marked). The grade 2 students have a math worksheet reviewing a variety of math concepts learned this year. They also have a reading comprehension activity on tooth traditions. This work is due on Friday, May 20th.

Our weavings are now finished! (Click on the photo to see the full image.)
Student drawings based on our read aloud of the book, The Iron Giant.

News for May 13







News for May 13

This week, the students were very busy as usual!
In math, the children continued the unit on probability. We did a class experiment where the children tried to predict the number of different coloured cubes in a sealed box based on the results of "peeking" at one cube at a time and tallying the results. The class learned that if you see one colour of cube a lot that means that there are more of that colour in the box and if you see a colour only a few times then there are fewer of that colour cube. The students made fair and unfair spinners and finally they did experiments to prove that when rolling a single number cube (die) the probability of rolling a 1,2,3,4,5 or 6 is equally likely but when rolling two number cubes (dice) the probability of rolling a 6,7 or 8 is more likely, and rolling a 2,3,11 or 12 is less likely. The reason is that for example, a 7 can be rolled by getting 1+6, 2+5 or 3+4, but a 2 can be rolled only by getting 1+1
In science, the class learned about the exoskeleton of the caterpillar and how this comes off (molting) to allow the caterpillar to grow bigger. Using a microscope, the students saw that the spikes stay attached to the shed exoskeleton, so the caterpillar must make new spikes each time it molts. The children used their magnifying glasses to see the holes in the sides of the caterpillars called the spiracles, which are used for breathing. There was some confusion about the number of legs on a caterpillar, since it is an insect it only has 6 true legs (seen near the front). The many other legs are actually "prolegs" or fake legs that are used for balance and keeping its long body up off the ground. The caterpillars eat using jaws or mandibles and produces a lot of "frass" (caterpillar poop) as it processes the food and grows. By the end of the week, many caterpillars had attached themselves to the "roof" of the container and settled into a J-shape. After a final molting of the exoskeleton, about half of the caterpillars are now in the pupa stage: the chrysalis. Finally, the students drew a diagram of the butterfly life cycle including the four main stages: egg, caterpillar (larvae), chrysalis (pupa) and butterfly (adult). The class even learned a song with American Sign Language about the butterfly life cycle.
In social studies (People of Canada: 1780-1850), the class learned about how people immigrated to Canada from Britain and Europe during this time period and the reasons why. The students also finished their weaving with the wool yarn they dyed a few weeks ago. Reflecting on the weaving process, the students realized that it would take a lot of effort to weave fabric for clothes and blankets! The children also used the "power of the twist" (the fact that twisting fibres make them stronger), to learn how to make rope. Each student worked with a partner to twist yarn to make a thicker and stronger "rope".
The class is also starting to talk about "tooth traditions" or how the loss of a baby tooth is dealt with. This differs from family to family and from country to country.
In our shared reading time, we began a read aloud project a bit differently. The book, The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes, contains wonderful, descriptive language. The children were asked to draw pictures of what was happening in the story to help them understand the story. This helps the children understand better the reading comprehension strategy of making a picture in your mind when reading a story.
In art, the students used the math concept of symmetry to create colourful symmetrical designs that we will use next week to create butterfly wing designs.
The grade 3 students continue to learn the rules of writing a standardized test and practiced answering both math and reading questions. We took up the questions and discussed all the information that needs to be included to get the most marks possible.
Books read aloud this week: 
The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes (chapter book)
Squirrelly Gray by James Kochalka
Throw Your tooth on the Roof - Tooth Traditions from Around the World by Selby B. Becker
The Blue Whale by Jenni Desmond

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Update from Ms. R

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the Moms a very happy Mother's Day! We hope that you enjoy your handmade gifts. The children were very sweet when writing their cards to you.
Thank you to all the families who attended Math Night on Thursday evening this week. It was wonderful to see everyone enjoying the math displays and activities. Remember math is everywhere!
The homework for this week is to write a story (fiction or non-fiction) in the homework writing journal. The story should have something to do with caterpillars/butterflies (as a connection to our new science unit). There is also a math worksheet with questions from our unit on probability and a fun dot-to-dot activity. This homework is due on Friday, May 13th.

Let the games begin! Tuesday was our Track and Field Day.
On Monday, the class attended an Asian Heritage Month assembly.
Here is our class presentation for the Science Fair this week. Plants have used green chlorophyll, in the process of photosynthesis, to capture the energy of the sun (to make sugar or glucose and oxygen) for millions of years. Humans can also capture the energy using solar panels (to make electricity) but these were only invented about 60 years ago.

One Million Dots Project!

Here are some photos from our Million Dots Project. We did it but it was a crazy amount of work!
We started with groups of 1,000 and the children realized it would take too long to continue with groups of 1,000. Then the class decided to try groups of 10,000 then groups of 20,000 and have the photocopier help us. Next, we had to put all the pages together and make sure that it didn't fall apart. The children worked very hard to put it all together. Then, we put the whole project down the floor of the hall and measured it...it measured 49 meters long! Finally we had to put it up in the centre stairwell, starting on the third floor and going down to the first floor. The students created and put up signs to explain the project and it was finally ready for the visitors on Math Night. Well done Room 204! Now everyone can appreciate just how big one million (1,000,000) is!











News for May 6









News for May 6
This week was Education Week at our school and there was a lot going on! Math Night, Science Fair and Track and Field Day...
The big news was the completion of our Million Dots Project. It is now on display in the middle stairwell of our school and go from the top of the school to the main level (3 floors). Photos and comments on the process can be found in a separate posting. The children even wrote a reflection on the process. I think we all now have a better appreciation of just how much a million is!
In math, the student continued the unit on probability by discussing examples of things that are certain, likely, equally likely, unlikely and impossible. We flipped two-sided counters (like coins), drew spinners and did activities to deepen their understanding of these concepts.
For Math Night, the class planned and organized the estimation activity, "How Many Candies" for grades 1-6 and kindergarten. The class had its own contest for estimating and on Friday, the children figured out who had the estimate that was the closest. Congratulations to Braeden and Emma for having the best estimations!
In science, the children put together photos and comments from our plant unit to create a display for the Science Fair. The children learned about solar panels and how they capture the sun's energy using the photoelectric effect to make electricity. They examined the solar panels on some small lights and compared these lights with how plants use chlorophyll in photosynthesis to make food (sugar) and gas (oxygen). We also displayed popcorn kernels to show how they can be germinated into corn plants (using the sun's energy) or popped into popcorn (using electricity).
On Wednesday, we began a new science unit on animal life cycles, by starting to look at Painted Lady caterpillars. The children have new research journals to write their observations and draw diagrams of these little creatures. Did you know that caterpillars have 12 eyes and 4,000 muscles?
In social studies, the students learned the story of wool. Wool was a very important fibre to the people that lived in Canada 200 years ago. It was used for clothing and household items like blankets. The wool starts off as fleece cut off of sheep. (It doens't hurt the sheep because it's just like a haircut.) Then it must be cleaned and carded to remove dirt and plant bits that might be stuck in the fleece. Then it is spun into yarn using a spinning wheel. It can be dyed at this stage if desired. Then the yarn can be knit or woven into fabric. The children had a chance to try using a spinning wheel and realized that it would be a lot of work to make the wool for socks or a sweater!
On Tuesday morning the whole class participated in the primary Track and Field event. The students spent the morning doing a variety of track and field events.
We even had time to weave, do Speed Stacking, create yearbook art and make Mother's Day gifts and cards! Whew!
Books read aloud this week:
Pelle's New Suit (The Story of Wool) by Elsa Beskow
Sixty Impossible Things Before Lunch by Harriet Russell
Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford
Great Expectations by Bruce Goldstone

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Much Ado About Nutting (cartoon)


Here is a link to the cartoon we watched about how a squirrel who worked very hard to open a coconut. The students could relate because they all saw how very difficult it was to open a coconut in real life. (I had to use a screwdriver and a hammer!)

http://m.trilulilu.ro/much-ado-about-nutting-a-merrie-melodies-cartoon

EQAO Update

The EQAO is a provincial standardized test that is given to all elementary students in grade 3 and grade 6 in the province of Ontario. EQAO stands for Education Quality and Accountability Office.
This test assesses the English stream students in math and language (reading and writing). There is a different schedule for French stream students.
EQAO grade 3 testing will be June 1 - 8 this year. The principal has requested that any daytime appointments for grade three students be arranged for days outside of this time period.
Notes for parents:
1. The results of this test are not reflected in report card grades. 
2. The test is not marked by your child's classroom teacher. 
3. The test questions are different every year.
4. Your child's results will be forwarded to you at the end of the September of your child's grade four year.
Please know that your grade 3 child will have been taught the curriculum expectations targeted on this test throughout the grade 3 academic year. Therefore, there is no need to "study" for this test. The most difficult part of preparing children for the EQAO, is teaching the students how to write a standardized test
You can get more information from the EQAO website:
www.eqao.com
If you have any questions or concerns please contact me directly by email or a note in your child's agenda.

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to complete the comprehension activity on how humans use plants as food. There is also a subtraction worksheet, for the students to use their newly practiced touch math strategies to complete the questions quickly and accurately. This homework is due on Friday, May 6th.

The Room 204 greenhouse! This week the students planted their germinated apple
seeds (from apples they ate) and corn seeds (simply popcorn kernels). Let's see what happens... 
From Ms. Francesca - Here are the details for the morning of Tuesday, May 3rd. Please make 
sure your child is prepared for this Track and Field Event.
(Please click on the photo to see the full image.) I found this greeting card recently and I shared it with the class this week as a link to our science unit on plants.