May

May Newsletter

Dear Parents/Guardians,

The month of April has come and “gone with the wind!” Despite the fact that May is a lengthy month, we have packed it full of activities and events to make it zip by! Thank you once again for sending in various things to make our Easter Celebration such a funtastic success! Decorating hard-boiled eggs was a hit and everyone enjoyed the egg-cellent and oh-so-sweet chocolate eggs for several days! Thank you for always sending items to support our other learning adventures too, like items for our story dioramas. So many of them turned out really well!

EQAO News

As many of you know, the Grade 3 EQAO Assessment (Education Quality and Accountability Office) is coming up. This year, grade 3’s will write the assessment on May 24, 25, 26. Contrary to rumour, this is NOT life-threatening and does not require any more concern than any other school day! In fact, your child has been geared up and preparing for the assessment since school started.

Although your child will be engaging in these independent assessment-type activities, there is NO need to panic! We’ve been and will continue practising the same style of work so we’ll be ship-shape for the task when it arrives. To ease your mind, you may be happy to know that absolutely NO part of the assessment is used to report on your child’s progress at school. However, since it is a series of lengthier reading, writing, and math activities, your child will require plenty of sleep, and they may acquire a larger appetite to keep their energy levels up. Water is also a valuable source of stimulation to the brain. Water bottles have always been invited in our classroom. Refills are free and endless at our nearby fountains! During the assessment, I encourage you to avoid scheduling appointments for your child and allow them to get plenty of rest each night.

Lastly, although we do our best to make the assessment as “day-to-day” as possible, there are chunks of time where students will be required to sit and work for longer periods. To alleviate this routine, and to make these days more enjoyable (and tasty), I’d like to suggest a volunteer snack program. If you would be interested in providing a snack to energize us on any given day of the assessment, please feel free to sign up on the slip below. It would be GREATLY APPRECIATED! As long as the snack is nut-free, feel free to send it in! We have 18 students in our class.

***Don’t forget to visit our class website or your child’s Google Classroom to check out our ongoing photo galleries.

Dates to Remember

May 3 – Sundaes for April Home Reading BINGO

May 6 – Children’s Museum Guest: Learning About Seeds

May 12 – BBQ (purchases made through cash online)

May 8 - Mother’s Day

May 23 - Victoria Day (no school)

May 24-26 – Gr. 3 EQAO Assessment

***Students are no longer required to record home reading (H.R.), however they are encouraged to continue reading regularly as part of a routine they have hopefully built this year.

*********************Please sign and return by Thursday, May 19**********************

Student’s Name: __________________

o I am willing and able to provide a snack on: (circle one) May 24 25 26

_____________________

Parent Signature

Curriculum Connections

Science: It will be exciting to see what’s popping up in our room! Grade 3's will soon be starting our final science units on Plants and Soils. This will wrap up our year, and with some luck and “green thumbs,” they’ll come home with a bean “stalk” ready for planting at home.

In Math, we’ll be conquering algebra and mastering and reviewing various math concepts learned throughout the year. We are also practising some fun tricks to strengthen our multiplication (and division), addition & subtraction facts. It is exciting to see how much improvement has taken place in such a short amount of time. Be sure to encourage your child in different ways to practise, practise, practise!

Multiplication and addition are foundations of many aspects of math that will continue to be used as your child moves through each grade. The sooner and more easily they familiarize themselves with the “facts”, the easier things will become as they attempt new math challenges. Regular home practice is beneficial.

We’ll also start spending some time on the ixl.com website this month (login details will be written in planners). Students are encouraged to log on and practise at home! I get to view progress reports and monitor areas of strength and weakness, which makes the program extra valuable. IXL is a great online program that would even be worthwhile to visit throughout the summer. You can get a free 1 month trial or sign up for a fee. 10-20 minutes daily, or as often as time permits would prove beneficial in keeping up with math (and language) over the summer months. Be sure to check it out and mark the site as a “Favourite” for quick and easy access this month.

The Genre BINGO will be a tasty success as most students have earned their way to a sundae reward, which will be enjoyed on May 3^rd. Students may not have realized perhaps how many new and fascinating genres they were able to “eat up” this month! Thank you for your ongoing support of our reading goals this year. As noted earlier in this newsletter, recording Home Reading (H.R.) will no longer be required, however, please encourage your child to keep up this valuable routine!

Thank you for supporting your child’s learning in the ways that you have and continue to do!

Enjoy the spring weather!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Wiebe

Class Website: https://sites.google.com/gotvdsb.ca/wiebeweaselwebsite/home