Classroom Notes - September 2016
- Spelling Homework – Spelling homework will always go home on Monday and it will be due on Friday. Please ensure that students familiarize themselves with the list words since we will have a Spelling quiz every Friday. As previously mentioned, it is important that you check in with your child to ensure understanding of homework tasks. Your assistance at home is greatly appreciated and your efforts will contribute to the learning development of your child. I send home Spelling Quiz booklets about once a month for parent signatures.
- Reading at home - Students should read at home on a daily basis for 15-20 minutes. Our class Raz-Kids account will be activated shortly. I am just waiting for notification from the Board. If you do not have access to the internet at home, or a device, please write me a note and I can send books home at your child's reading level.
- Extra clothing - With unpredictable weather, it is recommended that students keep an extra pair of socks in their backpack, just in case. As the weather cools, students can always keep extra hats and mittens as well. Please be aware of daily weather since students go out for recess most days and they should always be dressed appropriately. All student clothing should be labelled. It is amazing how quickly our lost and found gets full of clothing and most items inside do not have names.
- Opening School Mass - Our opening school Mass with be Thursday, September 22 at 1:15. Please celebrate with us if possible.
- Agendas - Please check and initial agendas daily. I have informed students that their agenda is their responsibility and that they should show you agenda notes each night. Thank you for your cooperation.
- A Special Thanks – Thank you to all families who contributed items to our classroom such as kleenex and zip-lock bags. Our shelves are full thanks to your generosity!
Always
Learning in Gr. 3
We
have had an amazing start to the year!
In
Math,
students are learning to count
forward by 1's, 2's, 5's, 10's , 25's and 100's to 1000. We have been
playing some exciting games in Math to practice this concept. We are
also learning to count backwards from 100 by 2's, 5's and 10's. We
will begin to discuss place value (e.g. ones, tens, hundreds, etc.)
and practice composing/decomposing numbers to 1000 using base 10
materials.
In Language, we have been working on descriptive words/adjectives and learning to "bump up" our work in order to write super sentences. We will begin a larger descriptive writing task in the near future. In Reading, we have been having some shared reading of fiction and non-fiction texts and we have discussed some of the text features in both.
In Science, we have started our unit on forces. Students have already learned about several types of forces, including gravitational, magnetic, friction, muscular and electrostatic.
Our
current discussions in Family
Life
will focus on the the theme “Created and Loved By God.” We have
discussed how God knows and loves each person. We have learned that
God calls us by name and that our names are special and unique. Today, I sent home some questions regarding your child's name and it will need to be returned to school by Thursday,
September 22.
Please take some time to talk about why their name was chosen and
assist in answering the questions.
In Religion, we have been discussing the communities that we belong to and we will expand on our Catholic community. Our new spiritual theme, "Sent to be the good news," will be discussed throughout the year.
Please write me, or Mme. Kealey a note in the agenda if you have any questions. Enjoy the warmth and sunshine while it lasts!
Thank you for your continued support!
Mr. Blais
