Bonjour!
Just two more weeks before the Winter Break. Here's what's coming up:
Tuesday Dec. 12 - P.E., Choir rehearsal in the afternoon
Thursday Dec. 14 - Dictée, Choir rehearsal in the afternoon
Friday Dec. 15 - Pizza/sushi
Monday Dec. 18 - Field trip, afternoon Choir performance in our gym
Wednesday Dec. 20 - Evening choir performance at Oak Bay High School
Thursday Dec. 21 - No dictée or spelling!!
Please send your child's choir uniform to school this week in preparation for next week's concerts.
Last week we started our first Spelling Unit of Grade 3. We will be alternating Spelling and Dictées for the remainder of the school year. This week will be our last Dictée/Spelling of 2017. We will be taking a break from these next week and restart after the New Year.
I will be placing all Spelling Units on a website called "Spelling City". This site uses the class Spelling lists and allows students to play a few games like "Hangman" and "Unscramble". As an added bonus it is free and there is no need to register. This year's lists will always start with a "3", followed by the Unit name. Ex: 3 Unit 1. My previous units from when I taught Grade 4/5 are still up there for anyone to try. You can access it here. Another way to reach the site is to go to: SpellingCity.com/teachers/s showers.
Here is this week's audio dictée:
Sunday 10 December 2017
Sunday 26 November 2017
Week of November 27th
Bonjour!
I mainly update this blog to post the new audio dictée, but it also allows me to reflect on the past week and what is to come. Perhaps if I only posted the dictée the post would get out sooner, but I wouldn't get to share the fun things like how fun it was to make bread this past Wednesday!
Making bread in a classroom with 7 & 8 year olds is a whole-day adventure. In the past I would help each student to measure ingredients. In an effort to streamline the process, and to save my sanity, this year I decided to pre-measure ingredients for each group. With the pre-measured ingredients, the dough had extra time to rise since all groups were able to mix the components at the same time.
My goal was to tie-in this baking with our Matter unit, so I tried to point out how the yeast was activated with the warm water and how mixing the ingredients together produced gasses. The proof were the bubbles in the dough.
Mixing ingredients was a cinch. An hour or so later, shaping the dough quickly became very exciting. At some point someone had the idea to add more flour and soon many students were running to the front of the class while stretching gooey dough between their hands. I wish I could have shared the laughs by texting a picture to my night custodian! Everything turned out fine and it really wasn't all that messy after all. I still have to perfect this part of the process though so next time, giving each group a small bowl of extra flour and having more cookie sheets would make it this step easier.
Bread dough is very forgiving and it turned out well in the end. We ate the buns around 2pm, hot out of the oven. Many thanks to all of you who sent in flour, butter, and jam. Every year someone says: "This is the best bread in the world!". I love hearing this and it makes it all worth while. Next time we will have to make a few extra buns for hungry staff who turn up at our door.
On Thursday we wrote-up our "experiment" in our Science duotangs. If you would like to try this at home, the recipe is here. Our dough was a bit too runny so you may need to add more flour.
Friday and Saturday I was sponsored by the District to attend the Google Summit for educators at Oak Bay High School. It was a s 2 day conference packed with all the latest and greatest ideas using Google Apps for Education. I'm really grateful to have been one of the teachers chosen to attend this conference. Oh, and someone in my household may or may not have welcomed a new 360camera into our life.
This week's audio dictée:
I mainly update this blog to post the new audio dictée, but it also allows me to reflect on the past week and what is to come. Perhaps if I only posted the dictée the post would get out sooner, but I wouldn't get to share the fun things like how fun it was to make bread this past Wednesday!
Making bread in a classroom with 7 & 8 year olds is a whole-day adventure. In the past I would help each student to measure ingredients. In an effort to streamline the process, and to save my sanity, this year I decided to pre-measure ingredients for each group. With the pre-measured ingredients, the dough had extra time to rise since all groups were able to mix the components at the same time.
My goal was to tie-in this baking with our Matter unit, so I tried to point out how the yeast was activated with the warm water and how mixing the ingredients together produced gasses. The proof were the bubbles in the dough.
Mixing ingredients was a cinch. An hour or so later, shaping the dough quickly became very exciting. At some point someone had the idea to add more flour and soon many students were running to the front of the class while stretching gooey dough between their hands. I wish I could have shared the laughs by texting a picture to my night custodian! Everything turned out fine and it really wasn't all that messy after all. I still have to perfect this part of the process though so next time, giving each group a small bowl of extra flour and having more cookie sheets would make it this step easier.
Bread dough is very forgiving and it turned out well in the end. We ate the buns around 2pm, hot out of the oven. Many thanks to all of you who sent in flour, butter, and jam. Every year someone says: "This is the best bread in the world!". I love hearing this and it makes it all worth while. Next time we will have to make a few extra buns for hungry staff who turn up at our door.
On Thursday we wrote-up our "experiment" in our Science duotangs. If you would like to try this at home, the recipe is here. Our dough was a bit too runny so you may need to add more flour.
Friday and Saturday I was sponsored by the District to attend the Google Summit for educators at Oak Bay High School. It was a s 2 day conference packed with all the latest and greatest ideas using Google Apps for Education. I'm really grateful to have been one of the teachers chosen to attend this conference. Oh, and someone in my household may or may not have welcomed a new 360camera into our life.
This week's audio dictée:
Sunday 19 November 2017
Week 12
Bonjour!
It was a busy
week with our field trip to the Royal BC Museum, and us teachers writing report
cards for the past few weeks. Luckily we had such an incredible day on
Wednesday, and the end is in sight for the reports.
First, let me
thank Paul, Tracy, Shari, and Daphne for shepherding the students on the bus as well as in
the museum. We were treated to our guide Lesley McGarry's knowledge of
First Nations traditions and ways of learning during our visit of the First
Peoples' Exhibit. While I have visited this gallery many times in the
past decades, hearing her information was like experiencing it for the first
time. The kids were mesmerized by Lesley's delivery, we all were
actually, and they were able to retell many tidbits of information they had
learned on a Mindmap they created later that afternoon in school. I hope
they were able to share some of their experiences at home too.
It's hard to
believe that our first term is already at its end. It seems like we're
just getting comfortable in our new classrooms (new to me too). Exciting
news at Willows this week as the portables/studios/cottages/... are near
completed and the 2 classes will finally get their new digs. For us that means that the library will be
back in business this week and students will be able to have classes in the
gym.
To celebrate our first term of learning together
I would like to celebrate in a small way.
I like to make bread with students at least once a year. It’s messy, but fun and delicious. We can also look at it from the point of view of matter changing states from liquid goo to solid as we are starting to look at Matter in Science. I’m planning on baking this Wednesday, as long
as the kitchen is available.
- Please send along 1 cup of flour or some butter or jam if
possible.
Tomorrow afternoon we have the pleasure of welcoming Gary
Allen and his wolf to Willows, yes that's right, his 90% wolf. Gary will
be speaking about ecosystems and is a speaker in great demand. You can find out more about his program
here:
2 weeks at a glance:
This week:
Monday: Gary Allen
wolf presentation
Tuesday: P.E.
Wednesday:
Breadmaking day, choir
Thursday: Dictée (please
return dictée cahiers), library visit
Friday: Pro-D (no
school for students. I will be attending
the Google Summit for educators at OBHS Friday & Saturday)
Next week:
The return of library days as needed Mondays and Thursdays
Tuesday: P.E.
Wednesday: Choir
Thursday: Dictée
Friday: Little buddies
Tuesday 14 November 2017
Week 11 in Div. 11
Bonjour!
Please see the email for field trip information.
Upcoming:
Thurs. Nov. 16 - Dictée
Fri. Nov. 17 - Pizza/sushi
Mon. Nov. 20 - Author visit
Tues. Nov. 21 - P.E.
Thurs. Nov. 23 - Dictée
Fri. Nov. 24 - Professional Day. No school for students. I will attending the Google Summit for educators on Friday and Saturday at Oak Bay High School.
This week's dictée:
Please see the email for field trip information.
Upcoming:
Thurs. Nov. 16 - Dictée
Fri. Nov. 17 - Pizza/sushi
Mon. Nov. 20 - Author visit
Tues. Nov. 21 - P.E.
Thurs. Nov. 23 - Dictée
Fri. Nov. 24 - Professional Day. No school for students. I will attending the Google Summit for educators on Friday and Saturday at Oak Bay High School.
This week's dictée:
Sunday 5 November 2017
Week 10 in Div. 11
Bonjour!
Please look for a newsletter coming home tomorrow about our upcoming field trip.
What we're working on in class right now:
Math
- Learning and practicing French numbers: Many students enter Grade 3 having difficulty remembering French numbers over 59. Please practice counting by 10s in French at home. To practice matching numbers from 1 to 100 at home, try this game.
You can also make flashcards on this link.
- Place Value: We are also learning all about the "House of Math", otherwise known as "Thousands, Hundreds, Tens, and Units", and recognizing that the "2" in 3298, is greater than the "9" because it represents 2 x 100, which is greater than 9 x 10. We will be working with blocs, representing numbers with words and illustrating them, as well as breaking numbers down into smaller parts.
French
- I have started to assess French reading for the first report card and will update the first page of each student's agenda so you can double-check that your child is bringing home the correct reading level.
- This week we should be finishing to read our first French novel together. It's the story of a family vacationing in a house with a bat problem. We have been transforming the non-fiction parts of the story into our own ideas to create an informative poster about bats.
Remembrance Day posters
This past week we started to discuss what Remembrance Day means to us. Many students have connections to this time of the year and were able to share them in class. We also started to work on posters for this occasion. Every year, I invite students to participate in the Canadian Legion's Remembrance Day poster contest. We take time to look at other students' artwork which leads to discussions about what makes an interesting poster. If your child is interested in participating in the contest I will send a form in the agenda. Find out more information about the contest here:
This week's happenings:
Monday Nov. 6th: reading assessments. Please send your child's labeled choir uniform in a labeled plastic bag.
Tuesday: Choir practice, P.E.
Thursday: Choir practice
Friday: Remembrance Day assembly, little buddies
Next week:
Monday Nov. 13th: holiday, no school
Tuesday: P.E.
Friday: Pizza/Sushi, little buddies
Here is this week's audio dictée:
Please look for a newsletter coming home tomorrow about our upcoming field trip.
What we're working on in class right now:
Math
- Learning and practicing French numbers: Many students enter Grade 3 having difficulty remembering French numbers over 59. Please practice counting by 10s in French at home. To practice matching numbers from 1 to 100 at home, try this game.
You can also make flashcards on this link.
- Place Value: We are also learning all about the "House of Math", otherwise known as "Thousands, Hundreds, Tens, and Units", and recognizing that the "2" in 3298, is greater than the "9" because it represents 2 x 100, which is greater than 9 x 10. We will be working with blocs, representing numbers with words and illustrating them, as well as breaking numbers down into smaller parts.
French
- I have started to assess French reading for the first report card and will update the first page of each student's agenda so you can double-check that your child is bringing home the correct reading level.
- This week we should be finishing to read our first French novel together. It's the story of a family vacationing in a house with a bat problem. We have been transforming the non-fiction parts of the story into our own ideas to create an informative poster about bats.
Remembrance Day posters
This past week we started to discuss what Remembrance Day means to us. Many students have connections to this time of the year and were able to share them in class. We also started to work on posters for this occasion. Every year, I invite students to participate in the Canadian Legion's Remembrance Day poster contest. We take time to look at other students' artwork which leads to discussions about what makes an interesting poster. If your child is interested in participating in the contest I will send a form in the agenda. Find out more information about the contest here:
This week's happenings:
Monday Nov. 6th: reading assessments. Please send your child's labeled choir uniform in a labeled plastic bag.
Tuesday: Choir practice, P.E.
Thursday: Choir practice
Friday: Remembrance Day assembly, little buddies
Next week:
Monday Nov. 13th: holiday, no school
Tuesday: P.E.
Friday: Pizza/Sushi, little buddies
Here is this week's audio dictée:
Sunday 29 October 2017
Week 9 in Div. 11
Bonjour!
Upcoming:
Tues. Oct. 31: Black & Orange day, P.E.
Wed. Nov. 1: Please bring candy wrappers to school for a graphing exercise
Thurs. Nov. 2: Dictée, bring your black & white choir uniform to school in a labeled bag
Mon: Nov. 6: Scholastic due
Tues. Nov. 7: Remembrance Day rehearsal in the afternoon
Thurs. Nov. 9: Dictée, Remembrance Day rehearsal in the afternoon
Fri. Nov. 10: Remembrance Day Ceremony (morning)
Please check this week's email for information about an upcoming field trip.
Please check this week's email for information about an upcoming field trip.
This week's audio dictée:
Sunday 22 October 2017
Week 8 in Div. 11
Bonjour!
Events upcoming in Div. 11:
Mon. Oct. 23: PJ day, bring a book for Drop Everything and Read - a school-wide reading event, also, as mentioned last week, our class will work with a Francophone Theatre group from Vancouver, Cross-country jamboree for some students in the afternoon.
Tues. Oct. 24: P.E.
Wed. Oct. 25: Photo retakes
Thurs. Oct. 27: Dictée
Mon. Oct. 30: Halloween safety assembly
Tues. Oct. 31: Black & Orange day, P.E.
Thurs. Nov. 2: Dictée
This week's audio dictée:
Events upcoming in Div. 11:
Mon. Oct. 23: PJ day, bring a book for Drop Everything and Read - a school-wide reading event, also, as mentioned last week, our class will work with a Francophone Theatre group from Vancouver, Cross-country jamboree for some students in the afternoon.
Tues. Oct. 24: P.E.
Wed. Oct. 25: Photo retakes
Thurs. Oct. 27: Dictée
Mon. Oct. 30: Halloween safety assembly
Tues. Oct. 31: Black & Orange day, P.E.
Thurs. Nov. 2: Dictée
This week's audio dictée:
Sunday 15 October 2017
Week 7
Bonjour!
Looking at the weather for this week, Fall is definitively upon us.
Here's a look ahead at the next 2 weeks in our class:
- Tues. Oct. 17 - P.E.
- Wed. Oct. 18 - Choir
- Thurs. Oct. 19 - Dictée, the Great BC Shake-up (Earthquake practice)
- Fri. Oct. 20 - BC-wide Professional Development Day for teachers. I will be attending workshops in Vancouver on Friday and Saturday.
Week of Oct. 23-27
- This week, Willows French Immersion classes will be taking part in some "Art Dramatique" sessions with Theatre de la Seizieme, a professional Francophone Theatre company from Vancouver.
- Tues. Oct. 24 - P.E.
- Wed. Oct. 25 - Photo retakes, choir
- Thurs. Oct. 26 - Dictée
- Fri. Oct. 27 - Pizza/Sushi, Buddies
This week's audio dictée:
Looking at the weather for this week, Fall is definitively upon us.
Here's a look ahead at the next 2 weeks in our class:
- Tues. Oct. 17 - P.E.
- Wed. Oct. 18 - Choir
- Thurs. Oct. 19 - Dictée, the Great BC Shake-up (Earthquake practice)
- Fri. Oct. 20 - BC-wide Professional Development Day for teachers. I will be attending workshops in Vancouver on Friday and Saturday.
Week of Oct. 23-27
- This week, Willows French Immersion classes will be taking part in some "Art Dramatique" sessions with Theatre de la Seizieme, a professional Francophone Theatre company from Vancouver.
- Tues. Oct. 24 - P.E.
- Wed. Oct. 25 - Photo retakes, choir
- Thurs. Oct. 26 - Dictée
- Fri. Oct. 27 - Pizza/Sushi, Buddies
This week's audio dictée:
Saturday 7 October 2017
Week 6 in Div. 11
Bonjour!
This week on my radar:
It's the official yearly Fire Drill week at Willows, where we practice getting out of the building quickly and quietly.
Monday: Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Tuesday: Fire drill, P.E.
Wednesday: Official Fire Drill with Oak Bay Fire Dept. attending
French Home reading:
How is the home reading coming along? Is your child able to get his/her 10 minutes a day of French reading? Are you seeing books coming home? Please jot me a note in your child's agenda if he/she needs a reminder to switch-out French books.
Inside shoes:
With the wet weather now here again, please make sure your child has a clean pair of inside shoes for the classroom.
Agendas
I use agendas in my class as an important communication tool between school & home. Please make sure to sign it every night. I tell students that it is their responsibility to ask you to read and sign it, but in reality these young people usually need a hand in remembering. Since we look at our agendas at least once a day, it is also a good place for parents to write reminders (exchange books, bring home water bottle, ...)
This week's dictée:
This week's dictée:
Tuesday 3 October 2017
Week 5 update
Bonjour!
Please see field trip information in the email.
This week in Div. 11:
Thurs. Oct. 5th - Dictée
Next week:
Mon. Oct. 9th - Thanksgiving
Wed. Oct. 11 - Fire Drill
Thurs. Oct. 12 - Dictée
Here's this week's audio dictée:
Please see field trip information in the email.
This week in Div. 11:
Thurs. Oct. 5th - Dictée
Next week:
Mon. Oct. 9th - Thanksgiving
Wed. Oct. 11 - Fire Drill
Thurs. Oct. 12 - Dictée
Here's this week's audio dictée:
Sunday 24 September 2017
Bonjour - Welcome to a new year!
Bonjour!
Thanks to everyone for visiting the classroom last Thursday night. It was very nice to meet everyone!
This week in Div. 11:
Library book return - Our book exchange system is changing this year. Students in our class will now be able to exchange their books Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, as needed.
Monday - Scholastic due (or Tuesday. Honestly, I don't usually get to it right away!)
Tuesday - P.E.
Wednesday - Choir
Thursday - Music, Dictée
Friday - Orange Shirt Day, buddies with Mme Hallam's class, new dictée words
Topics of note:
French - Writing sentences starting with a capital and ending with a period. Leveled reading in groups. We will also be starting a novel which we will read together, written from the perspective of a First Nations man in Alberta and his experiences growing up on the land.
Math - Pictograms, adding and subtracting (using a number line or a 100s chart if needed), patterns.
Social Studies - Continents and oceans. Willows will be observing "Orange Shirt Day" (http://www.orangeshirtday.org/) on Friday.
Please check the email sent for upcoming field trip information.
Please check the email sent for upcoming field trip information.
This week's audio dictée (you may hear Sammy-the-cat in the background near the end):
Sunday 9 April 2017
Week 28 update
Bonjour!
This week's happenings:
Monday - Library book exchange
Tuesday - Fire House visit, choir rehearsal
Wednesday - Swimming
Thursday - Lt. Governor Judith Guichon visits Willows, dictée
Friday - Good Friday (no school)
Next week:
Monday - Easter Monday (no school)
Tuesday - choir rehearsal
Wednesday - Swimming
Thursday - Spelling quiz
Friday - Pizza/sushi, Musical rehearsal
Please make sure your child brings a choir uniform ASAP as we are headed for "Musical season" starting soon.
Science
This week we started a study of Thermal Energy in Science. This is a new unit introduced to Grade 3s this year as part of the new BC curriculum.
We started by exploring new technical French words associated with this theme. Some of these multi-syllable words will likely be difficult for our young second-language learners. But I'm hoping that by defining them, illustrating them, and using them as part of experiments, we will all become more familiar with them and use them more fluently.
Our main goals are to find sources of thermal energy, as well as to know basic workings of conduction (heat transfer from a stove element to a pot), convection (heat transfer from rising hot air from a campfire to a pot above it ), and radiation (energy moving in the form of rays through space).
Math
We are beginning to work with multiplication, working with arrays and repeated addition (2+2+2, or 3x2=6).
Français
Over the next few weeks we will be practicing verbs in the present tense and playing games to help us remember them. We will be looking at avoir, être, faire, aller, pouvoir, and ER verbs.
Français/Sciences Humaines
To get into the mood for the upcoming May 9th election, we will quickly be looking at the steps a candidate must go through from a nomination meeting to a provincial vote.
Joyeuse Pâques!
This week's dictée:
This week's happenings:
Monday - Library book exchange
Tuesday - Fire House visit, choir rehearsal
Wednesday - Swimming
Thursday - Lt. Governor Judith Guichon visits Willows, dictée
Friday - Good Friday (no school)
Next week:
Monday - Easter Monday (no school)
Tuesday - choir rehearsal
Wednesday - Swimming
Thursday - Spelling quiz
Friday - Pizza/sushi, Musical rehearsal
Please make sure your child brings a choir uniform ASAP as we are headed for "Musical season" starting soon.
Science
This week we started a study of Thermal Energy in Science. This is a new unit introduced to Grade 3s this year as part of the new BC curriculum.
We started by exploring new technical French words associated with this theme. Some of these multi-syllable words will likely be difficult for our young second-language learners. But I'm hoping that by defining them, illustrating them, and using them as part of experiments, we will all become more familiar with them and use them more fluently.
Our main goals are to find sources of thermal energy, as well as to know basic workings of conduction (heat transfer from a stove element to a pot), convection (heat transfer from rising hot air from a campfire to a pot above it ), and radiation (energy moving in the form of rays through space).
Math
We are beginning to work with multiplication, working with arrays and repeated addition (2+2+2, or 3x2=6).
Français
Over the next few weeks we will be practicing verbs in the present tense and playing games to help us remember them. We will be looking at avoir, être, faire, aller, pouvoir, and ER verbs.
Français/Sciences Humaines
To get into the mood for the upcoming May 9th election, we will quickly be looking at the steps a candidate must go through from a nomination meeting to a provincial vote.
Joyeuse Pâques!
This week's dictée:
Sunday 26 February 2017
Week 24 Update
Bonjour!
Upcoming dates to remember:
Monday Feb. 27 - Library-please return books, buddies, ***return swim lesson intent letter
Thursday Mar. 2 - Dictée (see written words in email, also see below for audio dictée)
Friday Mar. 3 - Field trip (please see email)
Mon. Mar. 6 - Author Sigmund Brouwer visits Willows at 9am
Thurs. Mar. 9 - Spelling quiz, Square Dance in the Gym at 9:50, Family Dance in the evening
Fri. Mar. 10 - Theatre presentation in the morning, Pizza/sushi lunch, Report cards sent home
Mon. Mar. 13 - Return Student-led appointment forms (given in the report card)
Wed. Mar. 15 - Student-led conferences (1pm to 5pm)
Tburs. Mar. 16 - Dictée, Student-led conferences (1pm to 5pm)
Fri. Mar. 17 - last day of school prior to Spring Break
Field Trip
Please see email.
There is room on the bus for 4 adults from my class to accompany us. If you would like to join us please let me know ASAP (preferably by email).
Swim lessons
Late last week you will have received a letter regarding upcoming swimming lessons for Grade 3s. Every year at Willows, the school organizes swim lessons for students during the school day. Many years ago when my own kids were students at Willows, municipalities used to pay for Grade 3 students to learn how to swim. Somewhere along the way the municipalities stopped to fund this initiative, but the school continued to facilitate the lessons. Please see the letter sent home for an approximate cost of the lessons. Participating students will not be missing any classwork as typically most, if not all, students participate. Non-participating students will remain at Willows with another teacher and will be given activities. Please return the bottom portion of the letter by tomorrow.
Academics
Français - recognizing and writing nouns/adjectives in the singular and plural forms, writing stories or journal entries with interesting beginnings. Planning/writing an oral presentation.
English - reading "The Stone Fox". Discussing similarities and differences between European and First Nations cultures. Looking at the role of government and taxes in society, working with words with a "u" sound.
P.E. - hockey and various playground games.
Social studies - learning about Inuit culture, and starting projects. These projects will be on display during the student-led conferences March 15/16th.
Math - addition and subtraction with regrouping. Problem solving with addition and subtraction.
Social responsibility - For the anti-bullying day on Feb. 22, students from my class each made a poster with at least 8 tear-away tabs, each containing a compliment, in French or in English. We placed the posters in the hallways throughout the school so other students could take a compliment with them if they needed a one. These were a big hit with Willows students and all the tabs had disappeared by the end of the day.
Audio dictée
Sunday 15 January 2017
Week 18 Update
Bonjour!
It's hard to believe that we only returned from the winter break two weeks ago, because we have done so much in class since then!
Firstly, let me wish everyone a Happy & Healthy New Year!
I am always excited to teach from January to March because it seems to be the most productive part of our year. The students have matured since their grade 2 selves in the fall, have settled into routines, and are not yet distracted by warm, sunny days.
Before I forget, please check details of an upcoming field trip in the 2 most recent emails.
This is what we are working on in class:
We started the year by learning how to wish each other "Bonne Année" and how to give a good handshake, not too hard and not too soft.
French - We have just completed a unit on "les noms" (common and proper nouns), and have started to work on the concept of singular and plural. I expect to be working on this for the next few weeks.
Last week we also started working with transition words in French such as: d'abord, ensuite, puis, après, enfin, ... Students practiced using transition words by writing and illustrating what they did over their winter break.
Dictée - The theme of this week's words is "skating" so the students learn French words related to our upcoming field trip.
Cursive writing - While this is no longer in our Grade 3 curriculum, I have decided to continue introducing students to cursive writing. We will not spend much time on this but I believe that it is empowering for children to learn new skills. I plan to chip away at the alphabet when we have 10 minutes here & there.
English - Our spelling list last week included words with the sounds "ea, e, ...". We have also started to read a novel together called "The Stone Fox". I have taught this story many times and it is always a favourite with students. Not to give too much away, the story takes place in winter and involves a dog-sled race.
Social Studies - We are starting to learn about the Inuit.
Science - We held a few experiments in class this past week looking at which objects would float or sink, making predictions beforehand. We also tested what would happen to a sugar cube when dropped into water.
Math - Counting by 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 25. We will soon be starting to add larger numbers such as:
235
+749
____
P.E. - hockey
Upcoming:
Monday - library checkout
Thursday - dictée, P.E.
Here's this week's audio dictée:
It's hard to believe that we only returned from the winter break two weeks ago, because we have done so much in class since then!
Firstly, let me wish everyone a Happy & Healthy New Year!
I am always excited to teach from January to March because it seems to be the most productive part of our year. The students have matured since their grade 2 selves in the fall, have settled into routines, and are not yet distracted by warm, sunny days.
Before I forget, please check details of an upcoming field trip in the 2 most recent emails.
This is what we are working on in class:
We started the year by learning how to wish each other "Bonne Année" and how to give a good handshake, not too hard and not too soft.
French - We have just completed a unit on "les noms" (common and proper nouns), and have started to work on the concept of singular and plural. I expect to be working on this for the next few weeks.
Last week we also started working with transition words in French such as: d'abord, ensuite, puis, après, enfin, ... Students practiced using transition words by writing and illustrating what they did over their winter break.
Dictée - The theme of this week's words is "skating" so the students learn French words related to our upcoming field trip.
Cursive writing - While this is no longer in our Grade 3 curriculum, I have decided to continue introducing students to cursive writing. We will not spend much time on this but I believe that it is empowering for children to learn new skills. I plan to chip away at the alphabet when we have 10 minutes here & there.
English - Our spelling list last week included words with the sounds "ea, e, ...". We have also started to read a novel together called "The Stone Fox". I have taught this story many times and it is always a favourite with students. Not to give too much away, the story takes place in winter and involves a dog-sled race.
Social Studies - We are starting to learn about the Inuit.
Science - We held a few experiments in class this past week looking at which objects would float or sink, making predictions beforehand. We also tested what would happen to a sugar cube when dropped into water.
Math - Counting by 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 25. We will soon be starting to add larger numbers such as:
235
+749
____
P.E. - hockey
Upcoming:
Monday - library checkout
Thursday - dictée, P.E.
Here's this week's audio dictée:
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