Welcome back to our class blog where you will find highlights of interesting activities our class has and will been doing, comments that inspire and celebrate learning, homework details and discussion starters for home. As the students get busy learning, you, the parent, may wish to support your child at home. The italicized words suggest ways you may extend learning at home.
On this note please remember: ALL HOMEWORK IS COPIED AND SENT HOME, DONE OR NOT DONE, SO THAT PARENTS CAN SEE WHAT THEIR CHILDREN ARE DOING AND CAN SIGN THE AGENDA KNOWING THAT THE WORK HAS BEEN SEEN COMPLETED.
I want to express my appreciation for all the parents who shared their dreams for their child this year. I have added your wishes to my notes on your child and will keep them in mind throughout the year. Most families have returned all of the forms from the school by this time. I will contact any family needing to still do this. I hope you enjoyed a wonderful weekend with your family!
Last week we spent time learning routines, labelling notebooks, and setting up Classcraft – our Internet-based class management system which allows your child to take on the identity of a healer, warrior, or mage and earn powers in this medieval-looking game. Since homework also began last week, the students watched me inflate and shrink my head to show what happens when homework is done or not. (you'd better ask your son or daughter about this one!). The students also crumpled paper happy faces to represent how words and actions can hurt a happy person. They then dropped the faces into a bin; when they reopened the faces, the faces had magically become sad with even a tear in one eye! Students thought this showed that once saddened, a face has a hard time getting happy again. Hopefully our year will be filled with only kind words and actions.
Our first Religion study focusses on how we gather in one spirit as Catholics (Grade 3) and how in this gathering the Church hands on the good news (as such, Grade 4s receive bibles). You can reinforce what we are discussing in Religion by noting the kind words family members use, how you gather as a family to share daily challenges and successes, hopes and dreams, and perhaps how your faith has directed decisions.
We started our Math groups. The grade 3 students learn with Mrs. Bennett and the grade 4s learn with me. We are learning about place value through modelling, paper practice, and games such as flipping and rearranging cards to make the greatest number. If you get the chance, share times you encounter place value. These may include making change, adding amounts, or even dates on a calendar.
We started our Language study of recount texts by reading the diary of a worm that eats its homework! We will learn how to make connections to the texts we read and copy the structure and language to make our own. We do a daily grammar practice. The first one is stretching sentences with parts of speech (adverbs, adjectives...) Example: The dog ran. The dog ran quickly. The black dog ran quickly. The black dog ran quickly down the hill.The large, black dog ran quickly down the hill. Yesterday, the large, black dog ran quickly down the hill. Yesterday, the large, black dog ran quickly down the hill. Yesterday, the large, black dog ran quickly down the grassy hill. The students 'shopped' for books from a selection of non-fiction texts and I am starting to read independently with them to determine strengths and areas to develop. This week we will start our structured language block. Students receive whole class explicit instruction of the current reading and writing skills, after which I provide more focused instruction to small groups while the other groups practice independent reading, writing, and word skills. We will also be starting our home reading program. Students are expected to read 15 minutes a night. However, some nights can be busy. So as long as students read a total of 105 minutes a week, they meet the expectations. Each student will receive a sheet to log his or her reading time on. Each time must be signed by a parent to ensure its accuracy. Points are awarded in class for meeting the expectation.
On this note please remember: ALL HOMEWORK IS COPIED AND SENT HOME, DONE OR NOT DONE, SO THAT PARENTS CAN SEE WHAT THEIR CHILDREN ARE DOING AND CAN SIGN THE AGENDA KNOWING THAT THE WORK HAS BEEN SEEN COMPLETED.
I want to express my appreciation for all the parents who shared their dreams for their child this year. I have added your wishes to my notes on your child and will keep them in mind throughout the year. Most families have returned all of the forms from the school by this time. I will contact any family needing to still do this. I hope you enjoyed a wonderful weekend with your family!
We are starting through our first Science unit (Grade 3: Plants and Grade 4: Habitats). Grade 3s compare how parts of our bodies help us to how plant parts help plants. Grade 4s compare a beaver's habitat to our own.
In music we shall shortly enter “The Magical Land of Staff”, a story of the "note" people that teach through musical adventures the notes and their values, as well as dynamics such as how volume is increased ("crescendo"). Grade 4s will also learn the recorder pieces to achieve colour belts.
We have been discussing contrast using colours and lines in Art. Students created desk name cards to demonstrate this.
How foods get from nature to our table (eg processing - Grade 3) and identifying the importance of key nutrients (fats, proteins) for our health (Grade 4) will be the focus in our first unit in Health. Feel free to look at packaging, nutrition labels, Canada’s Food Guide, ingredients in foods, and discuss how foods are healthy to eat, as well as which ones should be limited.
Meanwhile, the students are enjoying active strategic games in Physical Education which demand not just hand eye coordination and various movement skills, but also teamwork and planning. Ask about “Bees and Butterflies” and what strategies your child can use to win them!
On a final note, with the messy weather, I remind all parents that students are encouraged to bring in a tied, labelled bag with a change of clothes to hang on their hook for the year in our class coatroom.
Mr . L.
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Mr . L.
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