September 5 - 9th

We had a very busy week in 3A. Following is the curricular summary for the week:

Language Arts

Summer Selfies

The first writing project this year involved having the students write about their summer vacation.  We read the story "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" by Mark Teague as a mentor text.  Then I asked the students to respond to the phone text "How Was Your Summer?" Their response was to focus on a special or their favourite memory from their summer.  The students loved taking "summer selfies" to put on the front of their iPhones!

The Amazing Race

Our "Amazing Race" home reading program began this week.  The students coloured their airplanes and they are ready to take off to their first destination,

which is India.  Details about the "Amazing Race" reading program came home on earlier in the week.

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 4 students one-on-one each day.  During the reading conferences we discuss individual reading strategies to help improve their reading.

The students were so excited to start handwriting this week!

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!

I also introduced the students to an activity called "How Many Ways." The students are given a number and asked to create as many equations as they can equalling that number. The goal of the “How Many Ways” activity is to encourage students to explore all

the operations in a safe, creative environment. When this happens many students create their own meaning and understanding of numbers and how numbers work together in complex patterns. 

Social Studies

The first unit we will be doing in Social Studies this year is "mapping."  To introduce this unit, I read the story "Mapping Penny's World" by Loreen Leedy.  

This week we discussed the difference between a map and a globe. The students also learned that a compass rose is used to display the orientation of the directions on a map: North, East, South, and West—and their intermediate points - NE, NW, SE, SW.

Art

In art this week the students worked on primary colour paintings. They will be writing "I Am" poems next week and writing them on the paintings.  Be sure to take a look at the blog next week for the finished product!

PE

The focus of PE this month is cooperative games. One of the games the students really enjoyed playing this week was "Cowboy, Hotdog, Pizza and Timbits!" 

We also celebrated one of our friends birthdays this week. Happy Birthday Mr. E!

Have a great weekend everyone!