Another Busy Week!

September 7 - 11th

Language Arts

Making Words - Until our Words Their Way spelling program is underway I will have the students participating in hands-on activities to build their phonemic awareness and spelling skills.  This week I introduced "Making Words" in which the students select letters to build short and long words.  They were given 7 letters and worked to build as many words as they could with those letters.  Some of the students were even able to come up with the "secret" word that used all 7 letters!

With our home reading program up and running, it's important that the students know how to choose books that are a "good fit." In addition to our levelled books, the students have the opportunity to choose from a wide range of books grouped by interest, author or genre in our classroom library. By allowing the students to pick their own home reading books, we increase their motivation to read. When choosing interest books, it's important that we know if a book is a "good fit" for us. Please ask your child to demonstrate how to select a "good fit book" at home.

During Reader's Workshop we focused on the comprehension strategy "use prior knowledge to connect to text." Have you ever read a story and been able to connect on a personal level with the character or storyline? Do you notice that is is easier to read and comprehend something that you have background knowledge, or schema, of? This is because readers bring information from what they already know or what they have previously read about a topic and connect it with what they are reading. This increases their understand of the book and helps them remember what they have read. I used the story "Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians" by Jackie Hopkins as a mentor text to teach this strategy.  Most students have prior knowledge of the story "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" that helped them better understand and make sense of the story.

I also began my individual reading conferences with the students.  My intention is to read with at least 3 students one-on-one each day.  During the reading conferences we discuss individual reading strategies to help improve their reading.

"I Am" Art Project

This week we started our "I Am" art project.  First, I read the story "I'm Gonna Like Me" by Jamie Lee Curtis.  This is a great book about teaching children that the key to feeling good is liking yourself because you are you.

Then the class brainstormed a list of adjectives that describe themselves.  The students will pick their favourite adjective to write an "I Am" poem.  

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The poem will be written on the primary colour paintings that we did on Friday.  I will posted the finished product next week!

On Friday we filled in the first few pages of our "Back and Forth" journal. Please watch for these coming home next week. The students are so excited to share what they did in school during the week and they can't wait for you to write back to them! Thanks in advance for your participation.

Math

This year our class will be using the Jump Math program.  This program builds on the belief that every child can be successful at mathematics by promoting a positive learning environment and building confidence through praise and encouragement.  Jump Math allows students to achieve understanding and mastery of math by breaking it down into sequential, guided steps, while still allowing students to make new discoveries.

We began our math with a "Confidence Building" unit called the Fractions Challenge.  It is designed to help students become more confident about their math abilities and to raise their level of enthusiasm for the subject.  Prior to beginning, I had the students take a survey expressing their feelings about math.  I was so happy to see that all of the students were excited about learning fractions, including the ones who originally felt that math was difficult.  They were so proud of their work!

Chromebooks

This week the students were assigned their computers.  Email addresses and passwords for each student can be found at the front of their agenda.  In math this week, I introduced the students to a game called Prodigy.  I have also included Prodigy usernames and passwords in the front of the students agendas if they would like to play the game at home.  Prodigy allows me to assign any math topic for students to work on, and then I can get a detailed report on their progress!  I will send more information home on Monday.

Science

We also started our Rocks and Minerals Unit in science. On Wednesday, September 16th, the grade three classes will be going on a Rock Walk. The students will be gathering rocks in order to classify and compare the different types of rocks. Please remember to send in egg cartons for bringing the rocks back to school.

Social

In social we continued with our Mapping Unit.  The students learned about the compass rose, as well as, the difference between a map and a globe.