Happy Halloween!

Reminder- Monday is pizza day. Notice: The sign up sheet for student led conferences is now up. Conferences will be held Nov. 15-18 after school. I will be unavailable the 16th (Tuesday). On Monday, students will be putting their logs on TV hours watched to use as we analyze the data and organize it into a graph. Our graphing unit is coming to an end, and a unit on Patterning will be beginning next week. We also start our unit on Narratives in writing, and making inferences in reading. Of course, nothing else really matters except the big night on Sunday. Have a safe and happy Halloween!

It's Gettting Spooky Around Here!

Reminder - there are still a few TV logs that need to be completed and returned to class. Reminder - Friday is orange and black day Due Date - final drafts of recounts are due tomorrow (Friday). Notes home - wrap order forms and paper copies of the newsletter went home today, also some student photos. Today, students heard the sotry "Maybe a Bear Ate It" and made three predictions during various points in the text. Also, we did a shared reading exercise on Medieval Construction Zones. Finally in literacy, we worked diligently to finish our recounts for tomorrow. Many students are finished and worked on a Free Write. In math we talked about how much sleep we get at night and looked at a different type of graph, called a line plot. For grade threes, we are coming to the end of our unit on mapping skills in Social Studies. Tomorrow, during the last 100 min. of the day, grade four will get to go to a dance. Grade threes will not, but will be offered a game time/free time. Feel free to let your child bring a board game in to play. Have a good night.

Back at it!

I hope everyone had a good long weekend, and is getting ready for Halloween this Sunday. Hard to know what the weather will be like based on the last week. DEADLINE: - final drafts of recount writing are due this Friday. Most students are finished their first draft and ready to publish. OVERDUE - many students handed in their TV watching log, but some are still at home. Please remind your child to bring theirs in REMINDER - read for 15 min. each night Today in math, we practiced our skills with bar graphs. Here is a nice website for review 3s - http://www.nelson.com/nelson/school/elementary/mathK8/math3/quizzes/math3quizzes/m3ch3l4.htm 4's -http://www.nelson.com/nelson/school/elementary/mathK8/math4/quizzes/math4quizzes/m4ch3l2.htm . Today was our Character Recognition assembly. October's character trait was Respect, next month's is Courage. The grade twos entertained us with a very nice song. Have a good night.

What????????!!!!!!?????

Well, I think by now I've recovered from the shock on my front lawn this morning. Snow??? I guess it will save me from raking leaves. Reminders - Monday is a PA day, and therefore a day off for the students. Enjoy! - read for 15 minutes Due Date - the TV hours watched log sheet is due Tuesday. - the final draft of the recount letter is due next Friday We are working on bar graphs in math, here are a couple of links for practice. http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/ http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/grapher.html Have a good weekend.

Pumpkin Mania!!!

No doubt, the big event of the day in Grade 3/4 was definitely the pumpkin carving. Mushy hands and funny faces make for a fun time. The pumpkins were donated by a local market, and are being used for a grand pumpkin tower there. Soon you should be able to go and view your child's handiwork. Reminders - any student still completing the writing planner for their recount needs to finish it for tomorrow - grade threes are on a field trip to Sharon and Bram tomorrow, the grade 4s will have a regular day, but spend the first two blocks in another classroom. - grade 3 will not be able to order pizza or milk tomorrow, but grade 4s will -continue to record hours of TV watched, hopefully students have recorded 3 or 4 days by now -read for 15 mn., students should be well on their way to completing their first reading log by now Today, grade three worked on questions from the a previous EQAO math assessment. All grade 3s and 6s in Ontario will write the EQAO assessment in Language and Mathematics in late May or early June of next year. For those interested in finding out more, seeing assessments from previous years (that you can practice at home), or looking at how the assessments are marked, with examples, check out this link: http://www.eqao.com/Parents/Elementary/036/036.aspx?Lang=E&gr=036 Have a good night!

Tuesday

It is one of those days when you can't quite figure out if the sun is going to shine, or its going to rain buckets. During visual arts today, we worked on finishing our "Apples and Oranges" project, and started a project on a Peace Dove. Halloween is around the corner, and so is Remembrance Day. A short post today. Have a good night.

Farm Trip Fun

By all accounts, the trip to the Edencrest farm was very good today, even with a few drops of rain. Ask your child to tell you about it, or recount it. Today in math, the 3s and 4s discussed analyzing data to find the mode. Check out this website, which also works on the concept of median which we will learn soon. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/data/mode_median_mean/play.shtml NOTICE: - due to the Sharon and Bram trip on Thursday, there will be no pizza or milk orders for the grade 3's. Students should plan to bring a lunch on Thursday. The bus is schedled to be back at the school around 1:15, so the 3s should have time to eat what they have packed. For the grade fours, they will order pizza or milk in the classes they are in. Reminders: - record hours of TV watched - read for 15 min. Have a good night.

Fabulous Friday

The weekend is here! Looks like nice weather too. Enjoy it while you can, I felt some winter winds whipping through the yard this morning while on duty. Monday morning is a trip for grades 3 and 4 to the Edencrest Farm. Students will be asked to enter the school a little early to receive their trip tags, give their pizza order, etc. Next Thursday is a trip to Sharon and Bram for the grade threes only. Remember the $6.00 fee. On Wednesday of next week, we will be carving pumpkins for the local pumpkin tower. That should be fun! Tonight, look for an order form for chicken wraps. The wraps are delivered Fridays, but need to be ordered on Wednesdays. No extras will be ordered. Your child has been asked to record the number of hours they watch TV each day during the next week. The data we collect will be used for a graphing assignment. Look for that sheet, and a letter for parents, in your child's backpack. Have a nice weekend!

Yikes, a fire drill!

We had a little excitement here today as a fire drill took place just before lunch time. Students were surprised, but of course, everyone made it out. Please check with your child to ensure they have indoor shoes, some were caught without. Ask your child about a shared reading piece we are doing called "Desert Run". Grade 3/4 are being asked to retell it tomorrow. See how much they remember, it is a neat story. In math we created surveys, collected data, and are now getting ready to graph our results. Here is a website for some extra practice with tally charts and graphs: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/mathsfile/shockwave/games/datapick.html Also, some have asked for some extra materials for reading at home. Remember that each student is asked to read for at least 15 min. a night. Asking your child to retell what they have read, or to make a prediction about what happens next, are great conversation starters. Have a good night. Remember that there is a PD day on Mon. Oct. 25th, so no school that day (except for the teachers).

Wet Wednesday

The rain clouds are gathering as I post today, looks like a wet walk home. A reminder that permission forms for the Farm Trip (3s and 4s) and Sharon and Bram (3s only) have gone home and are due ASAP. Also, your child has come home with their math test to be signed by a parent tonight. It is Thursday tomorrow, which means pizza day already. Today, we worked on a new recount. Students are to pretend it is 30 years in their future, and are then to write a letter to their current selves detailing how life has been. Grade 3/4 seems excited about this. In math, we continued on with our unit on Data Management, focusing on Venn Diagrams (3s) and critiquing various kinds of graphs for errors (4s). Here are a couple of websites to try tonight: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/numeracy/data/index.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/data/interpreting_data/play.shtml Kudos to our Cross Country team who represented our school so well today. Have a good night

Happy Thanksgiving!

A happy turkey day to you all. Enjoy what is supposed to be a beautiful long weekend. A reminder that the Allegory of Clearview art project is due Tuesday, as well as book orders and QSP magazine orders. Grade 3/4 were asked to do some thinking this weekend as well. Next week, they will begin a new recount writing piece. Students will pretend it is roughly 30 years in the future and write a letter to their current self, recounting what life has been like. Ideas of what lies in store were flying fast and furious today. See you Tuesday.

The long weekend is coming

A reminder that the "I Can't Believe it Happened to Me" recount is due tomorrow (Friday), and the Allegory of Clearview is due on Tuesday. As well, remind your child to read for 15 min. each night AND to record it in their logs. QSP orders are also due on Tuesday, and tomorrow is the last day of our Thanksgiving food drive. Finally, book orders are also due on Tuesday. Please see the newsletter that went home today with youngest or only students here. Today, we started a new unit in math on Data Management. Students will be spending the next three weeks or so collecting, organzing, displaying, and interpreting data. Students have been receving feedback on recounts they have already written. Look for strengths and a next step at the bottom of the checklist. These should be in your child's writing folders. Next week, you will be asked to review and sign your child's math test from the past two days. Have a good night.

Home Reading Program

Before we get to the Home Reading Program, a couple of due dates first: The "I Can't Believe It Happened to Me" recount is due Friday, October 8th. The Allegory of Clearview Meadows art assignment is due Tuesday, October 12th. All students are asked to read for 15 min. each night. As you probably have noticed, your child has been bringing home a blue folder lately to log their home reading. Students have been asked to read for 15 min. each night, even on weekends, with parents being asked to initial when this has been completed. Students record 15 min. per day. For example, if a student read for 15 min tonight, they would complete one entry in their log. If a student read for 1 hour tonight, they would still only complete one entry. Entries are for each day. Once thirty entries are completed, hopefully in thirty days, your child will receive a promotion in our ranking system. The nautically themed ranks are: Powder Monkey - start Cabin Kid - 30 days Mate - 60 days Lieutenant - 90 days Commander - 120 days Captain - 150 days Commodore - 180 days Admiral - 210 days Admiral of the Fleet - 240 days Rear Admiral of the Fleet - 270 days Even with our late start, students should still be able to become Rear Admirals. Good luck to all. Thanks for checking in.

A late welcome

Hello, welcome to the blog for the Grade Three/Four classroom! This blog will be a replacement for the monthly newsletters I had originally planned on using. Hopefully, you will find this a little more current than the printed page. We are almost at Thanksgiving, and the first term Progress Reports will be going home in a little over a month. This blog will (try to) keep you updated on events in our classroom and the school. Any homework assignments will be posted here, as well as other items of interest like Spirit Days, pizza days, websites we have used in the classroom, and day to day life here in Grade Three Four. Please note, any homework listed on the blog will not be in addition to that written in the agenda. Homework listed here will be written on the board in class as well. In other words, it is not necessary I hope to post at least three days a week, but please check in often. You just never know what you will find! Thanks for visiting! http://mrbabcock.blogspot.com/ Here is the web address for the blog, we hope to have it linked up to the Clearview Meadows website soon. For any parents who are unable to access this page, or wish to have hard copies, please let me know and I will print them out each week for you. Thanks again, T. Babcock