Reminder - book orders are due Wednesday, Dec. 1st Reminder - students are to read for 15 min. each night and make a record in their log. Reminder - tomorrow is Phys. Ed. Today in math, we continued to work on mental addition strategies. No calculators allowed for a little while!!!!! Here are some fun sites to practice with: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/number/addition/play.shtml This link is a little funny, if the game does not pop up immediately, make sure you have the entire address. For some reason the "online/brcks2.swf" does not always come up. http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/online/bricks2.swf A neat site that lists a couple of mental math strategies, then below them is a place to practice. Finally, below that are some follow up games. http://www.aaamath.com/B/add27cx1.htm Today was our character education assembly, with Courage being the focus for November. Our class sang a couple of songs as part of a choir - "You Can Do It If You Try", and "Start All Over Again" They were in fine form. We'll be starting soon on our Holiday concert song, but we're keeping that a surprise! Have a good night.

Reminder/Note Home - Chicken wrap orders went home today and are due Tues. Nov. 30th Reminders - students are to read 15 min. every day and make an entry in their reading log -book orders are due Wednesday December 1st - some students have not had they their math test signed by a parent and returned - our class is helping to put together a gift basket for coffee lovers Have a good weekend.

Reminder - we have started our holiday basket. Our class is putting together a basket for coffee lovers for the Parent Council silent auction. Please remember that it is your choice to give, and it is for a good cause. Reminder - the deadline for bringing parent signatures on math tests is tomorrow (Friday). Reminder - book orders are due Dec. 1st. Grade three are working on Forces in Science. We have discussed pushes, pulls, twists, and explored the concept of friction. Here are a couple of fun sites to play around with the ideas. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/physical_processes/friction/play.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/forces_movement.shtml In math, we continued to work on mental math strategies for adding and subtracting. Here is a fun game, using simple numbers, to mentally add. Note: use the mouse to grab the grey ball at the left of the screen. Click on it and pull it down to change the number to add on. http://www.ictgames.com/catapultCountOn/index.html Finally, we have been working on nouns and adjectives lately. Here is a site to help students know the difference between nouns and verbs. http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/adventure/grammar1.htm# In art today, we started working on a portrait. The exercise is based on a painting by Rembrandt van Rijn. Take a look: http://www.artofeurope.com/rembrandt/rem7.htm Have a good night!

Reminder -students have been asked to have a parent sign their most recent math test Note home - a note went home today regarding our Holiday Baskets - Our class is putting together a basket for coffee lovers. My favourite for sure. Today in math we continued working on our mental math skills by playing a game called Ten Ten Ten. Ask your child to describe what they did, and what strategy they used to win. Grade three had Social Studies today where they continue to study Urban and Rural communities. Here is a great game from TVO kids to help them explore Canada. http://www.tvokids.com/games/canadastreasuretrek Today, we had Phys. Ed. Friday will be our next visit to the gym. Reminder - tomorrow is pizza day. Reminder - book orders are due next Wednesday, the 1st of (yikes) December. Here is one of the best sites I've ever come across for all curriculum areas from grades K-8. Mr. Chapman is a teacher in the Ottawa Carleton Board and has done a LOT of work, as you will see when you hit this link. http://www.magma.ca/~mrchapman/index.html#Grade3 Have a good night.

I hope everyone had a good long weekend. Judging by how it looks outside of our classroom window, winter is only about 5 or 10 minutes away. Note home: Book orders, the last for 2010, went home tonight and are due next Wednesday, Dec. 1st. I can't make guarantees, however the turnaround time from ordering to delivery is usually 3-4 days, so getting things in time for Christmas should not be a problem. We are going to start practicing for our Winter Celebration song over the next few days. You should hear your child singing away to themselves soon. Today we started a new unit on Addition and Subtraction in Math. We will focus on mental math strategies for awhile, then move on to more difficult calculations. I don't have a website for you, but giving simple addition problems to do without paper or a calculator is a good thing to do. Here is a website I posted last week that should have some ideas for extra practice. http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmm/ Speaking of websites, I have made a new friend in the past week or so. His name is Howard B. Wigglebottom. I introduced him to the class today. The book I purchased is called Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen. Howard has some other books that centre around self-esteem and self-acceptance. There are animated versions of some of Howard's books, as well as funky songs to sing. There are also some games and puzzles good for the younger set. Take a peek, its a great site. http://www.wedolisten.com/ We are getting closer and closer to finishing our first narratives. Tomorrow we will talk about what to look for when editing. We finished off the first round of Reader's Theatre presentations today. Ask how your child did. Have a good night.

Thanks to everyone who joined in the Student Led Conferences over the past few days. It is wonderful to watch the students' excitement as they shared what they have been up to. If you would like to schedule another, please contact me here at the school and give a day's notice so I can ensure I am available. Reminder - Monday is a PD day, so there are no classes for the students. Note Home - a note went home with the youngest/only students regarding the grade 8's cheese fundraiser for their graduation trip. Grade 3 have started a new unit in Science. They are studying forces. Here is a nice introduction to what we will be talking about. http://www.engineeringinteract.org/resources/parkworldplot/flash/concepts/allaboutforces.htm Grade 3 have also started a unit on Urban and Rural communities. Here is a quick primer on what we've discussed so far. http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/books/applications/imaps/maps/g3_u1/index.html Grade 4 are working on the Provinces and Territories in Social Studies. Here is a fun site about a province we are very familiar with. http://www.onzone.ca/english/ Here is a site from the BBC to help practice spelling. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/spellits/ad_menu_flash.shtml Today was the math test on Patterning. It will go home next week for parent signature. Next week, back into the Number Sense and Numeration. Have a good weekend

Reminder - tomorrow is Tie Day. Wear your funniest tie to show your spirit. Reminder - tomorrow (Friday) is the math test. Review questions were attempted and taken up today. Students were asked to take home the sheet to study from it. Reminder - Monday is a Professional Development day - no school for students, just the teachers (insert sad music here). Note home - an information sheet on Medic Alert went home tonight. Student led conferences continue this evening. Have a good night.

Birds and Wolves Make Friends!!

A fun event took place today at our school, as we were visited by none other than Oscar, the Peregrine Falcon. Students from grades 3-8 had an excellent opportunity to see wildlife up close. It definitely was the hilight of the day. Reminder - tomorrow is pizza day. Reminder - Friday is our Tie Day, to help show our spirit here at school. Reminder - student led conferences continue this week. If you are unsure of when your appointment is, please contact the school to find out. Reminder - tomorrow is our review day on patterning, with the test taking place on Friday. Have a good night.

Reminder- student led conferences take place this week. A note outlining when your appointment is went home yesterday. Reminder - about half of the class has completed their first reading log of the year and have moved on from Powder Monkey to Cabin Kid. Test Date - we will be reviewing our patterning unit tomorrow, and having a test on Thursday. I found a neat website today from Houghton-Mifflin, a textbook maker in the U.S. If you are looking for extra practice in math, this looks like a great place to start. http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmm/ In literacy, we continued to work on inferencing and our narratives. We are getting a lot better at "reading between the lines". By the way, a little bird told me we are in for a special treat tomorrow. Seems like the feathers will really be flying. Have a good night.

Today was the first day of student-led conferences. Every student has been booked for an appointment today, Wednesday, or Thursday. If you are unsure of when your appointment is, please check the note that went home today. Reminder - please bring page 2 of the Progress Report to the interview. At the bottom is a section for your child to set a goal. I will photocopy and return it. The Character Trait for November is courage. Today we started talking about what it means to have courage, and some situations where it is a strong trait to have. Brainstorm some people that you think demonstrate courage. Have a good night.

Reminder - Monday is pizza day, also remember your milk money. Sent home- progress reports went home today Sent home - a flyer on our Scholastic book fair that takes place next week. Today we finished up an assignment in math called "Spiney and Other Creatures". Students were asked to create a shape using pattern blocks, then continue it as a pattern. Using the first three parts of the pattern, they were then to predict the 7th part. In literacy, we did a shared reading of "In Flander's Field" and discussed the meaning of the poem. It is still a powerful piece of writing after almost 100 years. We also had our Friday Free Writes, where students could write about any topic they wished. What did your child write about? Finally, we had a spirit assembly to finish the day. Have a good weekend.

I hope everyone had a chance to come to our Remembrance Day ceremony today, it was a fine tribute to members of the service, both past and present. Reminder - tomorrow (Friday) progress reports go home. Please take time to work with your child on setting goals for next term. Some new patterning games to practice skills: http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/webisode_1/web_3game.html http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/math/patterns/buttons/ And a repeat from the other day: http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/data/data.html Have a good night.

A quick note today. Reminder - tomorrow at 9:30 we will be having our Remembrance Day ceremony. We hope to see all of our parents there. Reminder - November book orders are due tomorrow. Reminder - tomorrow is pizza day. We started presenting our Reader's Theatre plays today. We are about half way through, and so far the results are excellent! Have a good night.

Note home - Please look for a pamphlet from the Board regarding changes to reporting (report card) procedures effective this year. It was distributed to the youngest/only students in the school. Reminder - Thursday is Remembrance Day. We hope you can come and hear our song. The ceremony starts at 9:30 am. See you there! Reminder - each student is expected to read for 15 min. each night, and to enter that in their reading log. Reminder - book orders are due this Thursday the 11th. Reminder - student led conferences are next week (15th - 19th). Please sign up in the front foyer to ensure you get the spot you would like. Today in literacy we worked on a Storyboard planner for our own narratives and looked at the results from our last recount. We also did a shared activity on inferencing. In math, we continued to work on patterning with an activity called "Building Rectangles". Please see yesterday's post for some websites to practice on, and a couple of quizzes too. Here is another, and I think the best, website for practice on 100 charts and skip counting http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_337_g_1_t_1.html?from=grade_g_1.html Have a good night!

Reminder - book orders are due this Thursday. Reminder - our Remembrance Day ceremony will be Thursday at 9:30, we hope to see you there. Reminder - read for 15 minutes. Math - today we worked on patterns in 100 charts, as well as t-charts. Here are LOTS of websites for you to check out, including a couple of quizzes. This link does pretty much exactly what we did in class today, using a calculator to figure out values based on a pattern rule, then graphing them on a 100 chart. http://standards.nctm.org/document/eexamples/chap4/4.5/index.htm This is a 100 chart with 3 different types of counters, so you can show 3 different skip count patterns at once. Cool! - http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/countersquare.html Here is a quiz: http://www.nelson.com/nelson/school/elementary/mathK8/math3/quizzes/math3quizzes/m3ch1l3.htm And another: http://www.nelson.com/nelson/school/elementary/mathK8/math3/quizzes/math3quizzes/m3ch1l4.htm Have a good night.

Oh no, not again!!!

This snow thing is really starting to become a habit. Hopefully the sun shines on the weekend and melts it away. Reminder - Monday is pizza day, and book orders are due Thurs. the 11th. Today in math we continued to use the cuisinaire rods (fraction rods) to help us identify a pattern. Here is a quiz on the concepts covered so far: http://www.nelson.com/nelson/school/elementary/mathK8/math3/quizzes/math3quizzes/m3ch1l1.htm and another review quiz http://www.nelson.com/nelson/school/elementary/mathK8/math3/quizzes/math3quizzes/m3ch1l2.htm Remember Mastermind? Here is a fun(er) version to play: http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/data/data.html This is a patterning game that uses music to have make a pattern. http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/patterns/patterns.html In literacy, we started writing a story together on Timmy Jones, who just happens to live on Saturn and has an unfortunate paper cut. Ask your child for more on this!! You may have heard your child talk about doing Reader's Theatre in class. These are plays that students read together and will put on next week. Fun! Progress reports, which have taken the place of the first report card, will go home next Friday, the 12th. The week after will bring student led conferences, so make sure you sign up. The list is in the front hall of the school. Many more reading logs are coming in, we now have 5 Cabin Kids in our class. We are hoping for 15 more! Have a great weekend!

Reminder - Scholastic book orders are due Thurs. Nov. 11th. Today we continued working on narratives and inferencing. We have been reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" in class the past couple of weeks. If anyone is watching the movie at home, ask them to make comparisons between the movie and novel version. In math we worked on patterning using cuisinaire rods, also known as fraction rods. The name sounds complicated, but check out this link to see they are really not. http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_203_g_1_t_1.html?from=topic_t_1.html For a little more practice on identifying and extending patterns, check out: http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_184_g_2_t_1.html Tomorrow is Friday!! Have a good night.

It's Hump Day!

We're halfway through the week already, time is flying by when you think that we are two months into the school year, and about 7 or 8 weeks away from Christmas holidays. The lyrics for the song your child is learning for the Remembrance Day ceremony will probably go home tomorrow. Please help you child rehearse and practice by lending and a round of applause or two. Today we worked on a patterning assignment where we created and extended a pattern. We then took our pattern and represented it on a hundreds chart. In literacy, we continue to work on inferencing, and writing complete answers to open response questions. We use a "4-pen" method, which has the students use four different colour pens to answer some questions so they can check to ensure they have everything they need. We also worked on planning a narrative and should be ready to write our own very soon. In the arts, we worked on Reader's Theatre presentations and made poppies for our Remembrance Day ceremony. Remember, tomorrow is pizza day. We have had our first reading logs handed in, so two students have graduated to Cabin Kid. Each student is to read for 15 min. a night and record it in their log. Have a good night!

Tuesday Nov. 2

Note home - poinsettia order forms went home tonight with the youngest and only students in the school. Can we be planning for Christmas already? Today in math we started our unit on patterning. When you stop to look around, it is hard to believe all of the patterns you can pick out of everyday life. In Writing, we looked at a graphic organizer for writing a narrative, and filled one out based on the three little pigs. The practicing for the Remembrance Day ceremony continues today, and will up until the 11th. I am hopeful that many parents can join us that day. Have a good night. Oh, and tonight, Go Sens Go!!!

All Saint's Day

Well, once again, the big day has come and gone. Sugar lows have kicked in, but brown bag lunches are filled with sweet treats. All Hallow's Eve 2010 is in the books again, and today is traditionally known as All Saint's Day. Today we started our unit on narratives by discussing what exactly the chartacteristics of a narrative are. As well, we began talking about making inferences while we are reading. Inferences are those details that are not explicitly in the text, but can be assumed by reading. In math, we began the final graphing activity, graphing the results of our TV logs. Today was another starter, as we began practicing for our song in the Remembrance Day assembly. Reminder - the sign up list for student led conferences is in the hall ready to go. Sign up quickly to make sure there is a time that is right for you. Have a good night.