Hi parents and guardians! It was so nice to meet many of you during "Meet the Teacher Night" and on the first day of school! I look forward to working together this year to enhance your child's learning experience at RBES!
I'm so happy to present to you, the awesome students of 3A!
We had a fun filled first week in 3A! The students arrived on the first day of school eager and excited to learn. They began by working on a word search that included all of the names of the students in our class.
The first few days were spent learning classroom routines and participating in activities to get to know each other better.
The students had a great time creating their own Back to School "Fortune Tellers." This activity was a great conversation starter for the students to learn more about each other. They loved sharing their summer memories, as well as, their "likes and dislikes" using the fortune tellers.
This week I read a few books to the students to reinforce the behavioural expectations of my classroom and of the school. The first book was titled "What If Everybody Did That? by Ellen Javernick.
If you drop just one pop can out the window, it's no big deal.....right? But what if everybody did that? We discussed what it would be like if everybody disobeyed the rules and what the consequences would be if everybody engaged in thoughtless behaviour in the classroom. The students enjoyed coming up with their own "what if everybody" idea. Then they completed the sentence "What if everybody......" and illustrated their scenario.
We also read the story "My Mouth is a Volcano" written by Julia Cook. This a a great read aloud that teaches students about how to have self control and not interrupt or "erupt" when others are talking.
Favourite Summer Memory
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. The students were then asked to write a paragraph about their "Favourite Summer Memories."
I used a traffic light analogy to teach basic paragraph structure to the students.
The students wrote their sentences on coloured paper to correspond to the traffic light analogy. They completed rough drafts of their paragraphs and will be writing their good copies at the beginning of the week.
Home Reading
The students in grade three will continue to work on the necessary skills to grow further as readers. The best way to move from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” is to practice on a daily basis. In addition to the reading done during class, the students will also participate in a home reading program.
How does it work?
I ask that your child reads at least 20 minutes each night. Please record your child’s reading minutes in their home reading log. This log is to stay in your child’s mailbag. Students can choose their own home reading material from the library, our classroom collection of books, books from home, magazines and any other reading material that is considered a “good fit.” If your child is bringing home books from our classroom library, I ask that they only take one at a time. Please send the home reading bag back to school each time your child requires a new book. All reading logs are to be returned on Friday, regardless, so I can record their total minutes read.
As an incentive, the student will be participating in the “Amazing Race” challenge. The students will be accumulating their reading minutes or “air miles” in order to fly to from one country to another. They will require 600 minutes in order to leave Canada and fly to the first destination, which is India. From there they will continue to fly to Tunisia, Ukraine, Peru and back home again. These countries tie directly to our Social Studies curriculum. Rewards will be given at each pit stop. When the students return home, they will receive a book. The minutes required to fly around the world are 600, 1200, 1800, 2400 and 3000, respectively. Please highlight the row on the reading log each time your child reaches one of these pit stops so he/she can receive his/her prize.
This week the students coloured their airplanes and they are ready to take off to their first destination!
The students also had an opportunity to make book marks to go in their "read to self" bags that will be keep in the classroom.
We began our patterning unit in math this week. The students learned to find the difference or gap between two numbers mentally and/or by using their
fingers. They were also given the option to use manipulatives or 100 charts to support counting. We also worked on finding a number that is more than another number by a given difference. The students extended simple number patterns made by adding a constant difference. They also solved word problems involving number patterns made by adding.
In addition to working through our Patterning Unit in Math, we are also focusing on mastery of basic facts. The ability to recall math facts fluently, and with automaticity, provides a foundation for math success. Learning specific strategies helps students commit these math facts to memory, resulting in the ability to perform critical mental math tasks.
The students played "addition war" to practice their math fact strategies.
The story "Runaway Pumpkin" by Kevin Lewis was the inspiration for art project this week. The students created their own "runaway" pumpkin art by creating patterns using scrapbook paper. Our pumpkins are on display in the foyer of the school, as well as, in the hallway outside of our classroom.
Have a fabulous weekend everyone!
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