Mme Kennedy's Grade 3 Class Website

September 5th

Hello Grade 3 families!

My name is Marlo Kennedy and I am excited to be your child's teacher this year. I am a native Haligonian and a graduate of both Saint Mary’s and St. Francis Xavier Universities. I also completed a Masters of Education in Literacy Education from Mount St. Vincent University and an Integrated Diploma in Classroom Management and Differentiation with courses from several universities. This is my 17th year teaching, one of which was a year abroad teaching English in France. I look forward to getting to know you and working with you over the course of the year. Your children and I are set to have a fantastic year!

On the first day, I will be outside in the quad area to greet your child. Our entrance door is the breezeway door, exit F on the map sent to you previously. In order to have a smooth dismissal at end-of-day, please fill out the google form here to let me know where your child will go at dismissal time on the first day and for their regular routine.

I invite you to visit my class website. Here you can find my class blog, periodic updates, important dates, some notices and documents, photos of what we are doing in class (no children’s faces), as well as valuable links and other useful information. You can access the website through the Rockingham website under “staff directory” or by clicking here. Continue to check back throughout the year. You can also follow me on X (formerly Twitter) @MarloLK.

Students should have indoor sneakers (to be left at school) and a refillable water bottle for school as well as a recess and lunch daily. Our recess time is 10-10:15 daily. Our lunch is 11:30-12:35 daily, with students playing outside first and eating in the classroom for the second half of lunch. A reminder that we are a peanut/nut-free school. You can find our grade 3 French Immersion school supply list on the school website here. It would be helpful for students to bring their supplies on the first day as we will begin organizing our materials. A gentle reminder to label your child’s belongings including sneakers, outerwear, lunch bag, water bottle, etc. as this help keep track when items are left or go missing.

Our schedule:

PhysEd is Monday, Wednesday & Friday with Mr. Lewis.

Music is Wednesday and Friday with Mr. Creaser.

Library will be scheduled soon with Ms. Coldwell.

Caring Schools on Tuesdays with Mme Purcell.

Book buddies on Tuesdays with Mme Tighe’s class.

Please remember that students need proper clothing to participate in gym, including indoor sneakers.

IMPORTANT NOTES

Classroom Expectations

Students are expected to be responsible for their choices. Their choices have an effect on the atmosphere in the class, their work and workspace, and their relationships with others in the class. I will guide students in making good choices and I look forward to working together with you to help your child receive the best education possible.

En français

The goal of the French Immersion program is to help students develop a high degree of proficiency in French. It is my personal goal to also help students develop a love of the language. Students are required to speak only in French in class, with the exception of English language arts class. As well, students are encouraged to speak as much French as possible outside the classroom to continue to improve their language skills.

Dismissal changes

If, for any reason, your child has a change to their regular routine, please send a note with them that morning or email me in advance. Please call the office with a last-minute change. If you email during the day, I cannot be certain to see it as the day is often very busy.

Classroom volunteers

I love strengthening that home-school connection and welcome volunteers to assist with our class. If you are interested in volunteering in our classroom on occasion, or attending any future field trips, it is important that you have a Criminal records check and Child Abuse Registry on file with us. These can be found on our school website here.

Homework and Parent Communication

I ask that you check your email routinely for emails from mysel and the school. Homework will begin a bit later this month, once we are settled in. Weekly homework will focus on reading and writing. Expectations will be clearly outlined to students before our program begins, but essentially students will practice reading their assigned books and write a short reading response. I will be sending out more information shortly on our reading program. As well, math games and activities will be sent home periodically to practice and reinforce skills taught in class as well as spelling/word study practice at times.

I look forward to working with you and your child this year. We are set for a fantastic year together!

Sept. 13th

Well we've certainly hit the ground running in grade 3 Kennedy and are off to a great start. Thank you all so much for sending in your school supplies and for making sure your child has indoor sneakers and a water bottle. If they forget their water bottle I do have re-usable cups, so not to worry.

Tomorrow schools across HRM will celebrate Stand Up Against Bullying Day by wearing pink. We've begun engaging in conversation already about why we are going to wear pink, and how we can always treat each other with kindness. I am connecting this to our equity statement of "At Rockingham I can accept and include others and treat everyone with respect, regardless of our differences".

I have a few updates for you...

-Our PhysEd class will still be Mon/Wed/Fri, but we now have Mr. Boudreau, not Mr. Lewis as I previously stated.

-We've gone over lunch time expectations, but please remind your child that they are responsible for eating their own lunch at their own seat, and should stay calm during eating time. This is a safety issue, so thank you for your support with this.

-This week I will be sending home a copy of the numbers in French. I am noticing many students are struggling with naming numbers, so any practice at home will help. I encourage you to make a game of it (ie. you write a number and your child says it, or they point to a number they see somewhere in your home and name it). In grade 3 we practice numbers to 1000.

-Keep Sept. 20th open as we will have curriculum night on that evening. More info to follow soon!

Thank you all for making our "back to school" so smooth! I look forward to seeing you on the 20th!

Sept. 15th

Your child is bringing home 3 things today.

1-a small plastic container and a white cue card: We will be beginning to explore soil in our first science unit. I'd like students to bring in a soil sample from their home or any place nearby their home. The soil can be any type they collect from somewhere in their neighbourhood. They should collect the soil in the container and close the lid. On the cue card they can write or draw where they obtained this soil (for example- le parc/derrière ma maison/dans mon jardin, etc.). Please bring to school on Monday.

2-copies of a hundreds chart, other hundreds charts to 1000, and the names in French for the numbers. I'd like students to keep these at home and begin practicing numbers in French. You can make this into a game by pointing to a number and they name it, or can even play race to name the number, etc. In grade 3 students should be able to name and record numbers up to 1000. All the numbers to 100 are on the sheet named in French. If you wish to name a number in the hundreds the pattern is as follows: name thefirst digit in the hundreds, add the word 'cent' and then name the rest of the number. For instance 456 would be 'quatre cent cinquante-six' (4 cent 56). Please keep this at home for your reference to practice throughout the year. You can also use this for skip counting ie. by 2s, 5s,10s,100s from different starting points.

Thank you for helping us connect our learning to home and for supporting your child.

Wishing you all a safe weekend...I hope this storm is kind to us!

Sept. 18th

Today your child is bringing home 4 forms. Please fill out the inclement weather plan, the close proximity permission slip, and the consent form and return to school. The last sheet is information on ordering popcorn if you wish.

A reminder that Wednesday is our Curriculum night from 6:30-7:30 here at the school. This is a nice opportunity to see our class room space and hear about the curriculum in grade 3.

Tomorrow we will be having a lock-down and hold-and-secure practice. I'd invite you to discuss with your child about these practices.

Tomorrow will also be our first time visiting our book buddies from Mme Tighe's grade primary-one class. Book buddies is an excellent way to foster positive relationships with others at our school, and allows our older children to take on leadership roles as they help the youngers. We're all really looking forward to it.

It is now confirmed that our library day will be every Thursday. Your child brought home one English and one French book. Please ensure they take god care of these books and return them every Thursday.

Sept 21st

Dear Parents/Caregivers:

We are excited to announce that our school will be proudly taking part in the 2023 Terry Fox School Run, scheduled to take place on Monday, September 27 in the afternoon (rain date Wednesday, September 29). There will be two afternoon events: Primary – Grade 2 at 12:40 to 1:20pm and Grades 3 – 5 at 1:30 to 2:00pm. Students will assemble in the gym, listen to a few details about Terry Fox, watch a video and then head outside to the field for the run/walk. The PSA will be dropping off ice cream (or popsicle) treats for student to enjoy afterward. Thank you PSA!

This event will support cancer research while also building incredible school spirit for our students. Let’s all show the great strength and resiliency of our school community with your support of one of our greatest Canadian heroes, Terry Fox. Rockingham School placed in the Top 10 fundraising schools in Nova Scotia for the 2021 Terry Fox School Run. Rockingham raised $5,642.35 in Terry’s name. Way to go!

The Terry Fox Foundation has created an online fundraising page for our school. We are encouraging all donations to be given online as our school is becoming a cashless school. Please go to our school website (rkh.hrce.ca), scroll down and click on the picture of Terry Fox.

Donate online at: https://schools.terryfox.ca/EcoleRockingham

· Click the link above to donate or search for our school name at terryfox.org

· There is no minimum donation, every dollar counts!

· Receipts are issued immediately to donors by email

We are very excited to be a part of this year’s Terry Fox event. This is our opportunity to “Try Like Terry” and go the distance for this year’s event. Please consider donating to the Terry Fox Foundation and join us to support cancer research while building incredible school spirit for all of our students. Thank you in advance for your support!

With love and hope,

Ecole Rockingham School

September 22nd

I have re-activated our class Scholastic Book orders for purchase of book in French and English should you wish to take advantage of this. I will periodically send out links to the digital flyers in both languages as well as let you know of a deadline for orders. The books will be shipped to the classroom at no cost to you, and I will send home with your child. This is completely optional, but can be a good way to get books at a cheaper price. Should you wish to order books as a gift and don't want your child to see, just send me a message and I will keep them at school until we can arrange a time to get them to you. Below you will find the link to the digital versions of the book flyer (for September English French). You can order online by using our class code RC192305

The deadline for orders for the Fall order will be Oct. 20th.

Oct. 4th

We've officially begun our homework program! Students have now all brought home a set of books to practice at home. They should be reading the books throughout the week, and take time to write a response to one of the books. They then return their reading pouch on their designated day. If we miss school on your child's reading day, please have them bring it the following day. Thank you so much for taking the time to support your child's home practice.

This Friday will be our picture day here at school.

A reminder there is no school Monday for Thanksgiving. This week we will be focusing on thankfulness in our writing and in a special art project.

Here is the link for the Scholastic October flyers. A reminder that the deadline for this Fall order will be Oct. 20th and our code is RC192305.

https://bookclubs.scholastic.ca/s/cec-ca/en/digital-catalogues

Oct. 11th

I hope you all had a relaxing long weekend and that you were able to take time together.

Toys and games have been appearing more and more in our class lately. Many students are bringing toys to school daily. This can often be a problem as it is a distraction to our learning. It can also cause problems as students navigate including others in their play, when not wishing to share their personal toys with others, or only playing with those who brought similar toys. Finally, toys also bring rise to equity issues as there can be disparity around what toys children have and this can highlight who has/has not in an obvious way to students. This inevitably ends in some students feeling left out. I have also been seeing some students choosing to play with toys instead of eating their lunch, which is also an issue. I ask that you monitor what your child is bringing to school daily and I request your cooperation with respect to toys and games to school.

If we have an indoor recess or lunch, or if students are done eating, I have many choices of classroom activities for students, such as board games, lego, colouring, puzzles, etc. These options are available to all during indoor recess or appropriate times.

Thank you for your support with respect to this matter as we continue to focus on learning and ensuring all students feel comfortable and included in play.