In the money

This week we have started money. Looking at the curriculum, students need to know how to count, show, make change, and solve problems with amounts up to $10. Skills for doing this include counting by 25's (this is the hardest for most children), 10's, 5's and of course 1's. You can help your child practice by making a game out of "paying" for things. Have a money jar and charge them for their supper or TV privileges, or electricity for their games, clean clothes, a drive to practice etc... Your child has to get the amount from a money jar and "pay" you. The money goes back into the jar of course. Start with amounts under $1, then $2 and so on if they are having trouble. Student who find it easier can begin with higher amounts. Then they can progress to making change.

As you can see our amaryllis has been growing beautifully and is eagerly checked each day! Thank you again Desmond for sharing this amazing huge flower with our class.

Words for this week focus on the sound "oi" and "oy". Everyone should be visiting www.spellingcity.com 3-4 times a week.

4 supports in the centre and an unbalanced  load. Look out!

More fun with structures included an activity where 4 supports were placed in the centre of a box. A load was placed on the box in a balanced way and an unstable way. Then the same idea was repeated with the 4 supports in the 4 corners of the box. The variety of pictures displayed on each child's posters was amazing. Everything from a snail shell to modern skyscrapers.

4 supports in the centre and a balanced load

supports in the corners and a balanced load

We talked about personal hygiene today: brushing teeth, brushing hair, bathing regularly, clean nails and so on.   Your child should now be leaving the house every morning in style! Well maybe... We did talk about presenting your best self to the world as you go about your day.

We will be setting personal goals for getting our hearts ready for Easter during the season of Lent. Soon our class will begin theme 3 in family Life. It will be a good time to have your own discussion on this topic. Parents are welcome to have their children bring home a copy of the book to know exactly what we will be covering.

We are currently reading Because of Winn-Dixie an engaging book that the students beg to hear every day. Parts are very funny but there are serious scenes too that have really touched the children's hearts. You can ask your child to tell you about the story. We will watch the movie when we are finished.





Please check and sign your child's agenda every night to see if there are any reminders or homework.

AGENDA --------- Signed


Look at our beautiful art! 

Finishing 3D shapes

This week we will focus on comparing prisms and pyramids using problems.  PBL (problem based learning) lets students explore ideas at first in small groups and then after enough practice they are ready to try on their own. We look at the solutions as a class and find the good ideas that each group has. These good ideas go onto an anchor chart which the students help to build. The anchor chart continues to evolve as we discover how best to solve a certain kind of task. When the anchor chart is complete and students are ready, a final, independent problem is done. Above is our first problem: Exploring the 2D shapes in a 3D shape.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/maths/shape_space/3d_shapes/revise1.shtml

Your child can learn the names of the 3D shapes. They are named after the base.

We looked at congruent faces on boxes. 

NEW WORDS FOR THIS WEEK:   people, friend, link, stick, bike. When should I use "ck"? When should I use a silent "e" at the end of a word.

Our Science unit (Stable Structures) fits perfectly with our Math unit! We looked at this model structure brought in by Jaden Smith.
Ask your child if they can see what makes the CN Tower a stable structure. Check that they have brought home the note that describes the 6-10 pictures they need for next Monday,Feb.27.

Look at the bulb that Desmond gave us to grow! It is an amaryllis and we will show you how much it has grown again next week! It will help us on the next Science unit on plants.

We have been focusing on "Asking Questions" in our reading. A good reader asks themselves questions before, during and after they read. You and your child can discuss what they are reading by exploring questions such as I wonder why the author wrote this text? I wonder if the text is fiction or non-fiction? Would the ending be the same if something else happened? I would like to know what happens to the main character after the story? I still have some questions about the topic. Discussing their reading with you will help your child become a better reader.

Grade 3's building structures!

This week our class has started a new Science unit called "Strong and Stable Structures". Our first enquiry was to use the brand new blocks to build one stable structure and one unstable structure. There was lots of energy and interesting talk among the groups as they built their structures. In small groups, students talked about the need for a foundation, not building too tall, making sure the bottom is bigger than the top,and we might need holes in it like the Eiffel Tower so the wind doesn't blow it down. Pretty amazing discussion as we began the unit! Students can begin to collect pictures of structures to mount on a bristol board. More info to come!

In Math we are almost finished working with 2D shapes. Students need to describe and compare shapes using Math language: angles, parallel lines, how many sides and vertices? any right angles? any equal sides? We will then begin 3D shapes and try to find the 2D shapes in a solid. Comparing prisms and pyramids again using Math language will be a focus. These shapes can be reviewed to help your child remember.

There are lots of giggles and smiles as we sing and play Valentine Songs! We have some interesting drums with kitty litter buckets played with chopstick beaters (to keep the noise level reasonable lol)


Words for this week are: think, crank, track, shake, clock