May!

Hi everyone,
Just a quick update to let you know the happenings of this week. It's a busy one!
Thursday is our school BBQ and Fun Fair at the school. It will run from 5-7p.m. Our intermediate students have been advertising their Fun Fair games over the announcements. There will be a BBQ and food/drink items for sale.  I hope the weather holds up and we are able to stay outside for this event. Hoping to see you on Thursday!

In other news:
In literacy we have been talking about the moon and its phases as part of learning about descriptive texts. We watched some very interesting videos about the moon.  The kids have been contributing their previous knowledge to a chart which we are adding to as we gain a better understanding about the characteristics of the moon.  In guided reading, students have been reading about texts that align with numeracy and social studies. Students have been working on writing our "morning message" in small groups for the last few weeks as one of their centres during literacy.  Starting today, these messages will be posted online on this blog.  Please comment on them if you are able and we can share the comments in class.
In math we have been working with money. Last week we designed our own menus and used calculators to add up the items after we had rounded and estimated the total cost. It would be great if you helped your child practise counting money and making change. Real life examples working with money are great for learning.
I will be back later to post the morning message created this morning!
Alana

Yikes! It has been awhile...

Hi parents/guardians and friends of our class,
As the class is practicing their poems this morning I had a chance to check in on the blog- eek!  Apparently I've been on a blog holiday. My apologies.
Thank you to all of you who have encouraged your child to do their homework. I know it isn't much but sitting down and making sure they complete it is important. Students are reading the poems with expression and fluency- so great to see!
In other news- we have been enjoying the weather. Yesterday we voted for gym inside or outside. I was happy that the vote swayed in favour of the outside. The climbers are open again and the sand is everywhere!  Yeah for spring!
In math we have finished up our unit on making equal groups and dividing. We are into equality of expressions now. We have been making math sentences balance on both sides.
For example: 9 + 8 = ______ + 4. We have been working with pattern blocks as well to show equality and congruency.
In language students have been writing morning messages as a group. We dissected one groups' message and talked about properly using capitals, punctuation and making sure our sentences made sense.  The class has greatly improved and the messages have become more detailed and interesting for the audience. Way to go class!
In Social Studies, the grade twos have been looking at different homes around the world and how they are affected by climate. We also just started coming up with major life events (learning to ride bikes, first tooth, learning to walk, etc). Grade 3 students are learning about Pioneer Life and the influences of Native Canadians.
In Science, Mr. Powell has been guiding the class in their discovery of Air & Water (gr.2) or Forces (gr.3).
We continue to work on fair play, good sportsmanship and team skills in gym. This week we played a full class game of stones outside. I think it was enjoyed by all- and boy, did I have a sweaty group of kids!
The grade three students had a blast going on the bus to Wasaga Beach YMCA for their swim to survive lessons. I was really proud of their efforts in the water as some of them were very hesitant to participate at first.

In other news:
This month we have been working on the character trait of Optimism.
Yearbooks are available to be pre-ordered for $17. Order forms went home early this week and yearbooks can be purchased until May 11.
Friday, April 24 is ROCK STAR/CELEBRITY day. Students are invited to dress up and support their house colour team!
Happy weekend!
Alana
P.S. Here are some pictures of Crazy Sock Day, our game of Stones and a poem written and presented by Julian!  Way to go !

This game would be the reason that your child may have had sandy socks. Even with shoes on, that pesky sand gets everywhere!

So many wonderful socks!

Julian wrote this poem and read it to the class. Love the pictures! Well done buddy!

"Shell"ters

Today we made shelters for our Costa Rican shells.  Noah came up with the term "shellter."  We were asked to make a shelter using up to 16 base ten blocks with a partner.  We counted by ones, tens and hundreds to come up with our "shell-ter" address.  Please take a look at the shelters we created below.  Each student created their own and should be bringing a shell home tonight!

Thank you to who ever nominated me for a 'Star' award with the SCDSB. It was a very nice surprise!

Happy March Break

Just a quick message to say Happy March Break!  I hope you all enjoy the time off with your families.
Cheers to warm sun and the disappearance of the snow!
Ms.Rogers

MARCH BREAK

This week is going to be warmer....right? I'm hoping that the brunt of winter is behind us and we can look forward to warmer, spring like temperatures.  A girl can hope anyways!
March Break is almost upon us... but this will prove to be another busy week.  Just to re-cap some of our school events before the week blurs into Friday.

Grade 3 students go to their first 'Swim to Survive' lesson on Thursday. Parents- this is a free program provided to all grade three students across Simcoe County.  It is aimed at all abilities and NO previous swimming background is necessary.  I sent a permission form home early last week- did you get it? It needs to be returned by Wednesday.  We will leave around noon and be back in time for dismissal. Students will need to bring their bathing suit and towel in a plastic bag on swimming days.  We will be sure to include a note in the agenda the night before to remind you. Any questions or concerns please contact me at the school, or via email.

Friday is PJ Day.

Math- we are wrapping up our 2D & 3D geometry units. We will move into Number Sense. More details to follow, but if you are looking for something to have your child practise over the break- Mental Math (quick adding and subtracting) and double digit adding and subtracting with and without regrouping is always a good place to start!

Language- look for our dinosaur reports to come home. I also have been collecting and making videos using the green screen with the class. I'm hoping that in May we can arrange a time for parents/guardians/grandparents to come in and view all these videos! Students are working on creating a Mixed Beast as another written project that allows them to to go through the writing process.

Enjoy the week!
Ms.Rogers

I like winter, but this is getting a bit harsh...

Hello...Brrrr...this is starting to become too common. I know we live in Canada, but I can't remember a year that we have had soooo many indoor recesses. Poor kids (poor teachers :)). We are all surviving though...and it can and must eventually get warmer, right?

I hope that you had a chance to take a look at your child's report card. I've been impressed with this class. We continue to work on giving our best at all times, becoming more independent and staying focused. But, for the most part we are en route to achieving our best and it seems as though everyone is happy to be at school. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Our words of the week are contractions this week. Students will be working with their words in small literacy groups. We have also been using the tool "Power Paragraphs" to organize our ideas into detailed paragraphs.  Today we read a book that informed us about animal habits and comparisons to humans. Students were asked to take information from the book and practise writing their response in Power Paragraph form.

In Math we are working with 2D and 3D shapes. Students worked on designing a floor tile using triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons and hexagons. They were to colour in their design using a chromatic colour scheme.

Zumba finishes up this Friday- we have had a great time groovin' with Louise. She really is a fantastic and engaging instructor.

Thursday is Crazy Sock Day for House Points. Our class has taken on the responsibility of calculating and counting all the points from the classes. Its a great leadership opportunity for the kids and it is a great numeracy task. On Thursday we will also have a Character Assembly in the morning.

Ms. Rogers

100th Day Celebrations

I'm sorry it took me a bit to post these gems.  Students created pictures on Feb.6th using the number 100.  Again, their creativity is awesome!  It was a fun day and I have to say that the costumes and 100 year old get ups were hilarious. Thanks for helping your child out with their 100 year old self!  I won't post their pics but here's one of  the 100 year old teacher.

Photo courtesy of Ashley P.