Over the past 4 weeks we have:
enjoyed a READ ALOUD every day! During read alouds, we focus on great readers strategies like:
paying attention to character traits
checking for understanding and backing up and rereading
setting a purpose for reading
sharing in a love of reading!
focused on writing proper paragraphs during our Flashback Fridays! Students are really excited to share these with you each weekend! Please take the time to read them with your child, have a little conversation and then leave them a little note to see the following week.
completed all of our literacy screeners. I will be entering all of their scores in PowerSchool for you to see. Students complete:
a writing screener (This year, they had to write about their favourite thing to do.)
a reading comprehension screener (They read a sentence and have to say whether it is true or false.)
a sight word screener (They have to read as many words as possible in 45 seconds.)
a phonics screener (They have to read as many nonsense words as possible in 45 seconds.)
learned how to write our clock climbers (a,c,d, g and q), kite strings (i, t, j, o, p, r, s, u, w) and loops (e, l, f, h, k, b). The students are loving learning how to handwrite! We just have our hills and valleys left and then we will have covered the entire alphabet in lowercase letters!
completed many journal entries! Students have the freedom to write about whatever they choose and I always write back!
working through lessons on Reading Eggs.
Over the past 4 weeks we have:
completed the numeracy screener.
reviewed a few basic addition and subtraction fact strategies.
learned how to use Touch Math with both addition and subtraction.
practiced How Many Ways for several numbers.
Touch Math is my favourite addition and subtraction strategy! Over the past 27 years, I have watched it give students the confidence and skills to solve addition and subtraction questions with consistent accuracy and speed. They get to avoid the embarrassment of using their fingers in the higher grades and they never have to put down their pencil. It's quick and easy!
They only need to know two things:
The location of the spots on the numbers
How to count on or back from a given number.
You can ask your child to show you how Touch Math works or you can watch this video that I created. It shows you how to use Touch Math with simple addition questions.
Over the past 4 weeks we have:
explored the properties of solids, liquid and gases.
investigated the changes in state with the three states of matter.
enjoyed a few yummy experiments!
learned the difference between natural and processed materials.
researched how natural materials are processed into a variety of products (clay bricks, steel sheets, rubber, paper).
explored the difference between nonrenewable and renewable resources.
learned about the natural materials that were commonly used by Indigenous people and how they showed respect when harvesting things from the land.
This experiment allowed us to explore the characteristics of a solid (ice cream), liquid (pop) and gas (carbon dioxide).
This experiment allowed us to see changing states of matter. The see-through kettle allowed us to watch the water turn into water vapour. We added ice to the hot hello mixture and it melted into water. After leaving it in the fridge for a while, the liquid turned into a rubbery solid...JELLO!
Ask your child to explain this experiment to you. It all started with some white vinegar and an alkaseltzer tab!
IMG_1822.MOVInspired by Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, our first project was all about the students' names.
Students created self portraits and then wrote their
three main goals for the school year.
3B proudly raised $60 for the Marathon of Hope!