Classroom Notes - October 2018

Charity Fundraising at St. Gregory's - On behalf of St. Gregory staff, I want to thank all parents who generously donated to all of our recent fundraising activities. From our Terry Fox Run, our United Way campaign and "We Scare Hunger, " our students are truly demonstrating and experiencing Catholic social teaching. Thank your for your support!

Swim to Survive - We have completed all three of our swimming lessons. Thank you for preparing your child each Friday with their swimming items. I know that all students had a great time. Also, thank you to all volunteers who came out to the Minto Recreation Centre to assist our class. 

Colder Weather Approaching - Just a reminder that all children go outside most days, so it is important that students are prepared for changes in weather. With the wet and cold weather approaching, it is recommended that your child keeps an extra pair of socks, mitts, etc. in their backpack in case their clothing gets wet during the day. Please label all clothing items.

Remembrance Day Liturgy - Our Remembrance Day liturgy will be Monday, November 12th. All family members are welcome to join us in the gym. Please read the weekly memo for more information.

Progress Reports - Progress reports will be sent home on Thursday, November 1. Our learning skills focus for this reporting period will be responsibility and organization. Progress report interviews will be held on Thursday, November 15th. Please ensure that you are reading the online weekly memos for interview booking instructions. At this time, teacher/parent interviews are limited to 10 minutes.

Lottery Calendars - If you are not using any of your lottery calendars, please return them to school if you haven't done so already. All calendars are numbered and recorded and must be returned.

PD Day - Our next PD Day will be Friday, November 16th. No school for students.

Always Learning in Grade 3...

In Math, our class has just completed a patterning assessment. Tests will be sent home next week. Please sign and return math tests after you receive them next week. We have started a unit on money. Grade 3's are learning to represent, add and subtract money amounts to $10. Counting coins at home is recommended since students need practice to develop their confidence with adding, subtracting and skip counting with coins/bills. 

In Reading, we are continuing to work on the "making connections" comprehension skill. Next, our focus will be "visualization." We are learning about text features in both fiction and non-fiction texts. In Writing, students have completed their "Haunted House For Sale" narrative. With a focus on narrative writing, students are beginning to organize and create a personal narrative based on a special memory. In this task, we will focus on using quotation marks.

Instructions for our natural forces take-home project was just sent home. Natural forces is a very exciting topic for students and I know that they will be engaged in this activity. If you have any questions, please write me a note in your child's agenda. We will continue working on the forces strand at school. Our next Science unit will be structures.

In Religion, we have been focussing on prayer. We just had our first Rosary Apostolate with volunteers from St. Maurice Parish. In Family Life, we have learned that we are all unique, but have similar likes, as well as dislikes. 

In Visual Arts, our class is finishing up their representation of autumn leaves with a focus on movement, colour, space and patterning. Amazing work!

Please continue to look at class activities on our Twitter page. I do not post pictures everyday, but try to highlight some of our learning.

Thank you for you continued support!

Mr. Blais