Merry Christmas !!!

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year. Thankyou for your support at home.Please enjoy the time off with your child.

IXL Math

IXL math is up and running again. We have the license until the end of the year thanks to our parent council and Mr. Simone. The login is the same except the number 218 comes after the username not 19 eg/ johnsmith218. The passwords are the same.Please use this wonderful resource to practise math skills.

Math Test Chapter 2- Patterns in Addition & Subtraction

We will have a math test on Tuesday November 27th. Please note that we covered only lessons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 13 and 14 of chapter 2. I am sending home a practise page of problems as well as a review "test". Some students struggle because they lack basic adding and subtracting skills. Please continue to take advantage of IXL math. This is a free program and we are looking at extending the license for the remainder of the year. It gives your child lots of opportunity to practise their skills and is directly aligned with the Ontario math curriculum.

Science Test

We will be having a science test on Thursday November 8th, 2012. Your child should have brought home a study sheet as well as their science notebook.

Remembrance Day Assembly

Mr Brick ande Mrs LaBute's classes will be presenting our Remembrance Day Assembly on Friday November 9th, 2012. Parents are invited to attend if they would like to. We will be singing songs, reciting poems and watching a video to honour our service men and women as well as our veterans.

Science Project

Your child will be bringing home details of a Science project that is due Monday November 12th. This will form part of the Science and Oral  Communications grades on the report card. If you have any questions please write a note in the agenda.

Orange and Black Day

On Wednesday October 31st we will have a quiet celebration in the afternoon. Your child is welcome to bring a game to play. If it is an electronic game please be sure that the games are child appropriate. Also please note that the school cannot take responsibility for loss, theft or damage to game devices. If you are sending treats please be sure that they are nut free.

Another Math Website Recommendation

Check out www.mathletics.ca.  It is interactive and fun. There is a cost to it but it may be well worth it, as it appeals to children up to the age of 18.

Math Test

We will be having a Math Test on Chapter 5 Sorting and Data Management on Friday October 12th. Your child will be able to bring the textbook home to study but the books must be returned each day so that we can continue with our math program. It has come to my attention that there is a great internet website that covers Ontario curriculum math questions and would be helpful to parents It is the IXL math program.

Math skills to practise at home

The grade 3 math program is very challenging. Problem solving, analyzing information and interpreting information form the majority of what we do. There are computation skills that are assumed and we will not have time to go back and reteach them. So, at home, you can work on +/- facts to 20 and counting by 2, 5, 10 and 25. This will help your child immensely. Thankyou for your support at home.

Great Terry Fox Run

We had a great Terry Fox run today. Thankyou to everyone who sent in toonies (we will collect them Friday too). Also thanks to everyone who volunteered to man the route so that the students were safe.

Great First Week !!

Well, we have made through our first week!! The students are settling in nicely to new routines and expectations. Thanks to everyone who has sent in the numerous monies and forms that are due. To recap, I should have received money for the planner and photos as well as these forms: health form, permission to photograph, computer use form and Harvest Fresh ( if you order this). In addition I invited every parent to write a short note about their child with any info you think I should know as well as your hopes and expectations for your child. We will be starting Take Home Reading within the next week or so. Remember to check the Blog often. Feel free to use the planner or call me at the school if you have any questions or concerns.

Welcome to Grade 3

I want to welcome everyone to grade 3 and to our class blog. Please make sure to check the blog regularly so that you are up to date on everything that is going on in our class. Important dates, upcoming events, tests, projects and tips to help at home will be posted here. I do not send home paper newsletters. Sign up as a follower and you will receive email notifications of new posts. I look forward to a great year.

Thanks  to everyone who came out to celebrate our Crossover. The grade 3's did a WONDERFUL job of their performance. We have a busy week coming up. Please remember to send in the permission form for our trip to Lacasse Park on Tuesday. You will be receiving class work and student work books during the week. On Wednesday we will be having a quiet class party in the afternoon. Your child is welcome to bring in a game to play with their friends. Report cards will be issued on Thursday, our last day of school.

A Busy Month

We will be done EQAO on June 1st!!!!!!! What a relief!However, we still have lots to do.Please check the Important Dates section so you can see all the events coming up. In addition, we are finishing our Math Unit on Patterning and our Science unit on Structures. We are also starting to practise for our Crossover on June 20th. Please make sure you have sent in photos for our slideshow.

EQAO

The students are working very hard during our EQAO testing. The days are long and they wil be coming home tired. Please make sure your child gets lots of rest. Also,just a reminder to avoid appointments, vacation time or other absences during this testing. All children will need to make up any portion of the test missed.

Trash Free Tuesdays & Wednesdays

Congratulations to Olivia, Abbi, Joshua, Kyler, Katie,Samantha and Claire who are supporting our Trash Free Tuesdays and Wasteless Wednesdays program. Remember that we are committed to being evironmentally friendly!!

Math and more Math !!!

Over the next several weeks you will see an emphasis on our math curriculum. We have tried to time things so that we covered all the concepts thoroughly. We have left a few short topics until the end (we must have completed the curriculum by May 23rd which is the beginning of EQAO).These are relatively easy and fun topics such a Probablility. However, we will be testing the students on these topics so it may seem like a lot of testing.Thankyou for working with your child at home. If your child is absent we will likely ask you to catch up by taking the textbook home and working on the missed work.

Technical Issues

There have been some technical problems udating the Blog as the website is apparently being "upgraded". I will have to let you know of important dates etc by way of posts. We are having a Math Test on Friday April 20th on Chapter 6 Measurement. Also, when we were building bridges yesterday in Science, Samantha, Olivia, Max and Katie built a bridge that held 359 50 cm screws. That s a lot of weight !!!

Happy Easter

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy four day holiday. Enjoy this special time with your family.Remember to sell those pizza kits for our SAC fundraiser. The winning class gets a trip to Slinky's for ice cream!!

New Things Happening in Grade 3

We are starting our new math unit "Measurement". Students will be learning about the calendar, time to the 5 minute interval,temperature, money and making change,as well as mass and capacity.In writing we are continuing to work on our adventure stories which will be published in book form and shared with the younger students.In reading we are working on making inferences and will be learning how to summarize a longer piece of reading.In science we are very excited to be learning about "Strong and Stable Structures". We will be building bridges and learning why strength and stability are both key to creating a successful building project.

Tomorrow

We are having a quiet celebration tomorrow afternoon as we count down to March Break.Your child is welcome to bring a board game to play.

Upcoming Math Test

This is a reminder that we have an upcoming Math Test on Wednesday March 7th. It covers Chapter 4 Multiplication and Division.We thought it best to have the test before March break while the information is still fresh.Textbooks were sent home on Friday and will be sent home each night until the test.

Pioneer Projects

On Thursday February 23rd, 2012 we have invited all the other classes at Victoria to "tour" 3L and 3B Pioneer homes. After that your child is free to take their project home. Please make arrangements to pick up your child's project as many of them are heavy and bulky.Thanks again for all your support at home which made this a great success.

Upcoming Tests

We will be having a Social Studies test on Wednesday February 29th,2012.The test will cover our Pioneers Unit. I have sent a study sheet home, however, we are still working on some areas. The notebook will be sent on Monday. Please read over the notes with your child but focus your efforts on the study sheet.
We will have a Math Test on Wednesday March 7th. This will cover Chapter 4 Multiplication and Division. Again, we are still working on this chapter.The textbook will be sent home next week. Please continue to practise multiplication facts to 12 for speed and accuracy.

Family Day

Please remember that Monday is a holiday. I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable weekend.

Pancake Day

Thankyou to everyone who volunteered to send in ingredients for our pancakes on Tuesday. Please send your items in on Tuesday morning as we will be starting right away.I have highlighted the white information sheet so you can see what we need.

Upcoming Events in February

Thankyou to those who have sent in Pioneer Projects. They may be sent in any time this week or early next week.This is an oral presentation but your child must be able to answer questions about the construction of the pioneer home.
In math we are studying multiplying and dividing. Our goal is to know all of our multiplying facts to 12. Please practise at home. They are listed in the back of the agenda. We are expecting students to know 1x, 2x, 5x,and 10x. We are talking about the number patterns in these facts. So, our focus will be on 3x, 4x, 6x, 7x, 8x and 9x,11x,and 12x.
In word study we are talking about homophones (words that sound the same but have different meanings). Your child has a list in their agenda which we have divided into 3 parts. On Monday February 6th, I will quiz them on the first list.

Take Home Reading

For those people participating, I am sending a new sheet of ideas to help you assist your child with reading comprehension.It is called CAFE which stand for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expand Vocabulary. We have covered many of the ideas and are currently working on "infer and support with evidence". An inference is a situation where the reader has to "read between the lines" eg. If the bell sounds and everyone exits the building I can infer that it is a fire drill.

Math

There will be a Math Test on Chapter 3 Geometry on Wednesday January 25th. I will send the textbooks home on Thursday but we are still working to finish the chapter.
Today, I am also sending home the first problem in our Take Home Math Program.I have included an evaluation rubric, as well as a vocabulary list, to assist you in helping your child complete this problem. I know many parents are anxious about math. Not to worry!!!! Help your child provide their best answer and we will take it up in class.This program also gives you a better idea of what is expected of your child in grade 3.Please return the completed problems each week on Wednesday.

Pioneer projects

We started our Social Studies unit, Early Settlers in Upper Canada, before Christmas. We always welcome books, pictures and any other items that can support our studies in class.Pioneer projects are due Friday February 3rd.Today I am sending home the rubric that shows how the project will be graded. Please remember to guide your child but do not do the project for them.

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a restful and joyful Christmas Break.Please remember to return your child's pencil box restocked with school supplies. We particularly need stick glue. The school does not supply this and yet we use it often. Also, a pair of inexpensive running shoes that can be left at school for indoor shoes,would be very helpful.