The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Update from Ms. R
The homework for this week to write a story of your child's choice (fiction or non-fiction) in the homework writing journal. There is also a math worksheet reviewing measurement concepts of capacity (litre and millilitre) and mass (kilogram and gram) plus a review of the cursive letters the class has learned so far. This homework is due on Friday, March 3rd.
***NOTE TO PARENTS***
Our library day is now on TUESDAYS. Please help your child to remember to return his/her library book to school each week.
Please remember to check out our daily postings on Instagram. Each day the star student posts a photo and comment. You can access the postings on an apple device using the Instagram app and the account "@planet5news". You can also access the account at www.instagam.com/planet5news (click on the images to see the comments).
Important Dates:
February 28 - Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Tuesday (in class)
March 13 to 17 - March Break holiday
April 14 - Good Friday holiday
April 16 - Easter Sunday
April 17 - Easter Monday holiday
May 22 - Victoria Day holiday
June 9 - P.A. Day (no school)
June 29 - Last day of school for the 2016-2017 school year.
News for February 24
News for February 24
This four-day week had the children acting in plays, learning about air and water in the environment and how maple syrup is made!
Our class glovetopus chapter books are now finished! Each student now has a deep appreciation for the amount of work it takes to create and publish a book. The last steps were to design a "table of contents" and assemble all the pages, in the proper order, and staple the pages together.
Every child had a chance to read another student's chapter book and write the author a book review in the form of a letter. The reviewer wrote about what they liked about the book, and why, and what they could do next time to make his/her writing even better. These books and letters are now part of a whole class book that the children can access during our independent reading time.
In math, the class learned about the standard units of measure for capacity (litre and millilitre) and mass (kilogram and gram). Capacity is the measurement of the amount that something can hold. Mass is the measurement of the amount of "stuff" is something. On Earth, mass is equivalent to "weight" (due to the force of gravity). The difference between mass and weight is important as the weight of something can change (things weigh less on the moon, for example) but the mass of things do not change.
In our guided reading groups this week, we read about and discussed how maple syrup is made. Canada produces the most maple syrup in the world. This information is in preparation for our discussion and celebration of "Pancake Tuesday" next week.
In science, the class talked about air. It's invisible but so important! Did you know that air is mostly nitrogen gas with a bit of oxygen gas? (There are also trace amounts of water vapour, argon and carbon dioxide in air.) Earth's air is in a layer around the Earth called the atmosphere and is kept there because of the pull of gravity. Using straws and tissue paper, the students used what they know about air to play a "pass the paper" type of game. On Friday, the children created pinwheels, a toy that needs air to work, by blowing on the pinwheel or moving the pinwheel itself through the air. The students then wrote the directions on how to make a pinwheel toy in their writing journals.
Two of the three Reader's Theatre groups performed their plays this week. The actors all did a great job! The third group will be filmed next week. These videos can be seen in a separate posting.
The students began to talk formally about fairy tales. Several stories were read aloud and we compiled a list of "fairy tale rules" that apply to these types of stories. (For example, in many stories, animals act like humans.) We also started a list of the fairy tale stories that we know. The children began to write their own fairy tales based on existing stories (e.g., "The Three Little Spiders" instead of "The Three Little Pigs").
The class learned the cursive letters, "l, e, f, v". (Only 4 more letters to go...)
Our guest this week on the Room 204 Interview Show was Ms. Tiralongo. She is a teacher at our school. This video can be seen in a separate posting.
Books read aloud this week:
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (chapter book - now finished)
Rivers of Sunlight - How the Sun Moves Water Around the Earth by Molly Bang
Once Upon a Time - Barnyard Tales (The Little Red Hen, The Ugly Duckling, Chicken Little) retold by Marilyn Helmer
Rumplestiltskin retold by Edith Tarcov
Sunday, February 19, 2017
The Room 204 Interview Show
This week our guest was Mr. Pearce. He is a supply teacher at our school.
100 Days of School
This week our class celebrated learning together for 100 days of school!
The class did four activities that helped them understand the number 100. From counting out 100 pieces of cereal and stringing them, to creating a grid of 100 stamps, to playing and organizing groups of 100 items (e.g., football cards, marbles, straws) to counting and recording how many exercises they did in 100 seconds, the students had a great time.
I also read aloud a book I wrote with my students from many years ago. At that time there was a teacher at our school who wore a colourful shirt everyday. One year, we took a photo of him each day wearing a different shirt to see if he had 100 different shirts. Here is a video of the first 50 shirts that we recorded.
Update from Ms. R
The homework for this week to write a movie review, on the worksheet provided, of a movie that your child has seen at home or the movie theatre. There is a math sheet reviewing multi-digit addition/subtraction with regrouping and on the back of this sheet is a cursive review activity. This homework is due on Friday, February 24th.
***NOTE TO PARENTS***
It was wonderful to meet with all the parents this week! Thank you to everyone for taking the time to come in to talk about your child's learning at school. Here are some points I spoke to parents about:
1. READING - Please make sure your child reads for at least 20 minutes EACH day. Reading is a skill that needs to be practised. Your child can read to him/herself and/or you can read aloud a chapter book and talk about it with them. Students are welcome to borrow books from our classroom anytime they wish. A family trip to the library is also a great way to get a variety of different books and have some "together time" too. These kinds of activities are a great way to make meaningful memories with your child.
2. TYPING - The curriculum and our facilities at school do not allow for teaching children how to type on a keyboard. However, they are expected to type starting in grade 4 (junior grades have sets of laptop computers). There are lots of games online that can help your child to learn the QWERTY keyboard style of touch typing.
3. MATH FACTS - Help your child to automate (memorize) addition and subtraction facts by taking 5 minutes a day and practice orally or use flash cards or a purchased workbook. Get them to be the "teacher" and test you too! Children who have a quick recall of these facts do better at multiplication and division and when solving more complicated word problems.
4. EQAO - This is the standardized test that all grade 3 students in Ontario write at the end of May. More information will be sent to you by the school in May. If you would like more information about the test, please visit the website eqao.ca.
Important Dates:
February 28 - Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Tuesday (in class)
March 13 to 17 - March Break holiday
April 14 - Good Friday holiday
April 16 - Easter Sunday
April 17 - Easter Monday holiday
May 22 - Victoria Day holiday
June 9 - P.A. Day (no school)
June 29 - Last day of school for the 2016-2017 school year
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