News

September 29-   Hello everyone! On Wednesday I will be sending home a package of work that we call "moing work".  I just wanted to explain to you ahead of time, what this work is.  

When students arrive at school, they have a morning routine to get them settled into the day.  They are reminded to have their water bottles and homework bags in the classroom, use the washroom if needed, sharpen a pencil and exchange books for reading time/ reading homework.  The children have very quickly picked up on this daily routine 🙂.  

Their next step is to sit in their seat and start their “morning work”, which is a worksheet that reviews concepts that have been taught.  They are expected to try their best and finish what they can. Throughout the day and the rest of the week, they are reminded to finish any outstanding morning work if they have some free time before they colour, draw or do other free time activities.  Not every worksheet will get completed, and that’s ok.  If I feel  enough work is not being completed because your child is wasting time,  I will let you know.  If incomplete worksheets come home and you want your child to finish them, that is entirely up to you but not required.

We have been doing this routine since the beginning of September but this is the first package of morning work I am sending home because I wanted to give the students some time to settle into the expectation. I collect morning work every Friday and it goes home the following week.  This batch happens to be math, but that changes throughout the year.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out! - Tiffany

September 22-  Greetings from Grade 3! We have had a wonderful first month together at SKC! I am starting to feel like one of the gang with this group :) The kindness and caring that these students show one another on a daily basis is truly special! We have taken September to ease back into school, learn some new routines, and warm up our learning muscles after the summer break. We are really ready to roll now, so here is what's happening...

-In math, we have been focusing on the N2 and N4 outcomes which involves representing numbers in different ways and learning what 1000 looks like.  Ask your child how many hundrends make 1000, how many tens make 1000, and how many ones make 1000. For more details on these outcomes, check our math tab at the top. We are going to start the N3 and N1 outcomes next, which teaches using place value to compare and order numbers and the N1 gets into skip counting.  Skip counting will lay the foundation for mulitplication and division later in the grade 3 year. 

-Today we launched the first official writing unit "Crafting True Stories".  In this unit, students are introduced to the use of a Writer's Notebook.  The Writer's Notebook will become our place to keep writing ideas, try out different ideas, draft stories, and practice revising.  Today they were so excited to get their notebooks and create their own personal "shields" to decorate the front page. You can ask your student what they put on their shield and what their writing goals for grade 3 are.  One student's goal is to write a chapter book, and another student shared that they would like to know how to stretch their writing out more.  During this first unit, students will write true stories that really happened to them. Sometimes we call these stories "retells". We will learn some strategies for coming up with ideas for these stories, focus on clear beginning, middle and ends to our stories, and learn how to focus our writing to bring the most important parts to life!  For more information about this writing unit, check out the writing tab.

-During our reading time, we have been practicing the routines of the Reader's Workshop time.  During this time, we have been revisiting strategies for being independent readers such as book choice, how to tell if a book is just right, when to abandon a book, and expectations for independent reading time.  Now that the students are able to sustain independent reading for 25 minutes, I have begun guided reading groups.  Guided reading allows me to read with small groups of students and target the reading skills they need to continue to grow as readers.  Next week, we will begin our first reading unit, "Character Studies".  For more information about this unit, check out the reading tab.

-Social studies is our first subject in Humanities.  In grade 3, we spend time learning mapping skills, and trying to get a sense for where PEI is located in Canada.  Time is spent learning about our PEI culture by looking at elements such as history, arts, dance, food and language.  

-Fundations has begun! Woo-hoo! I can feel the excitement!  We spent a week doing a quick refresh and now we have begun Unit 1.  The program will run similarily to past years. Most units take 2 weeks to cover and has a check-in at the end to see if futher teaching or review is needed before we move on.  I will be sending Fundations "homework" home, but I consider this work to be optional extra-practice. 

-Last but not least, we have filled out class marble jar for the first time! This means we will have a class reward in the very near future.  Stay tuned!

That's all for now, if you have any questions about what we are doing in grade 3, please feel free to reach out! Take care- Tiffany

September 10-  Hello everyone! I hope you have all been settling into the school routine now that we are almost a week in.  We are moving and grooving in Grade 3! The students are doing an exceptional job with learning the expectations of the classroom, figuring out where things go, and rising to the demands of listening and focusing throughout the day. I am one lucky teacher!  

This is just a quick note to let you know a few things:

-We will have our first fieldtrip on September 19th.  This is a half day fieldtrip where we travel to several farms in the area to learn about agriculture.   There will be a permission form coming home today with all of the details.

-Cross country has begun and grade 3 is the first year students can join.  There are many excited students in the class who have signed up.  Cross country involves almost daily runs at first recess, taking part in the district race (held at SKC) and possibly going on to provincials in Mill River.  For more information about cross country, please contact Mr. Bell or Mrs. Campbell.

-Homework will begin next week.  In grade 3 homework consists of 15 minutes of reading each evening. I do not require students to fill out a reading log or have parents sign anything.  A big focus for reading in grade 3 is learning to choose a "just right book", so I don't monitor or choose the books students choose for home reading. I give advice and suggestions while they choose books, but I prefer to mimic the experience of going to the library and choosing a book for enjoyment.  Sometimes the books they choose will be better shared with a parent or read by a parent, and that's okay too. If your child has a book from home or local library they prefer to read, that is also okay.  If you are finding the selection unsuitable, please let me know!  Fundations homework will not begin for another couple of weeks, because we are starting with a review in class. When we are ready to begin Unit 1, I will send an email to let you know to expect the home practice.

Take care and please feel free to reach out at anytime- Tiffany

September 3- Congratulations! You made it to our Grade 3 website!  As explained in the Welcome to Grade 3 email, this is the place where I will be posting news and information about what's happening in grade 3.  I do not post school wide news and reminders here, as it is just too difficult for me to keep on top of it.  For school news, make sure to visit the SKC website or Facebook page.

To get the ball rolling, we will be engaging in some activities to get the students back in to the routines at school.  We will review some concepts from Grade 2 during our math lessons and then begin with the  3N1 and 3N2 outcomes in math.  To become familiar with these outcomes and see how you can help your child at home, please check out the math tab on this website.

I am going to combine the reading and writing to get us started in the first 2-3 weeks.  We are going to explore the well loved authors Robert Munsch and Kevin Henkes during our reading time and use these stories to springboard into writing about our own personal experiences.  This unit will also give us a chance to practice the expectations during reading and writing time and refamiliarize the students with writing conventions (letter formation, spelling, punctuation, complete sentences).

Our afternoons are mostly comprised of  Fundations, Humanities, Gym/Music, Read Aloud of class novel and flex time.

Please check out the home tab on this website to learn more about homework expectations in grade 3.  When homework gets started  I will send out more information.

Reminders- Please make sure your child has a water bottle and headphones (dollar store brand works great).  We have 1 microwave in the class for heating lunches.  Please note I do not have condiments or bowls/plates for the students and the kitchen also does not supply these.

That's it for now, but if you have any questions about what's happening in grade 3, please get in touch!-Tiffany