News from Grade 3           Nov. 30,2012

We continue to work very hard in Math on patterns using T charts. What several children are finding difficult is that they are not sure of their addition facts. So when a pattern continues up by 3 or 4 or 5 etc... it can be challenging. How can we help? 

Practicing the addition facts so that students can recall them quickly without counting on their fingers, is a huge advantage in many areas of Math. Begin with mastering doubles facts (6+6,7+7,8+8,9+9). Then move to near doubles: If I know 7+7 then 7+8 is one more. We have also learned the facts which add up to 10. The next step is to add 1,2,or 3. Then of course we will go to +4,+5. While many children in the class know their addition facts there are still several who are struggling. A few minutes spent every day will help. Soon we will move on to multiplication facts. 

Ideas that might help? Flash card games, dice (throw 2 and add them or throw one and add the number you are working on). Brock's mom and I also found several interactive games at this website http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/interactive/  Frequent brief practice sessions are best : ))

Our Math Word wall is always there to help spell and reinforce Math Vocabulary. Now that we are also graphing our patterns we will learn words such as data, axes, vertical, horizontal (we used horizon in art as well) grid, titles, key, labels. What is that beast up on the wall? Our class mascot, Math Mouse, lives in the hole in the wall : ))

In reading we are looking at non-fiction. We have checked many text features that help us understand what we are reading such as photos, captions, charts, labelled diagrams and text boxes. Now we are beginning to focus more on making connections with non-fiction. 

We read a text called The Terrific Triangle. Noah said he connected with the fact that there are shapes in nature such as a circle, or rectangle and why are things the shapes they are? Wyatt G noticed that these strong shapes such as a square and a triangle are used in building our houses and who makes sure these shapes are strong enough for our houses to stay up? Victoria thought that Science seemed to be connected with shapes and there seemed to be rules to follow. This text and the one we read today on building igloos will introduce our next Science theme. Teacher trick #352 in how to cover the curriculum.... integrate! Above is a photo showing students testing rectangles and triangles after reading a procedural text .....

This is a photo of the thoughtful writing your children did for Thanksgiving as part of our religion program! Same teacher trick:combine reading The Secret of Giving Thanks with writing, religion and covering our school's October value "Gratitude".

The class is really enjoying our read aloud chapter book Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. While we laugh at the antics of baby brother and pain in the neck, Fudge, we are learning about family relationships. The story takes place in New York City in the 70's and when Fudge was buying new shoes, the class REALLY wanted to know what saddle shoes and loafers looked like! You might be able to catch their interest with other books in the series like Super Fudge.









Our Science posters are completed and students will show them to the class. They will share with their classmates how forces of nature happen and how these forces can affect us. In addition to exploring the Science of forces, students learned how to present a well laid out poster and how to make and print a title with our netbooks.  Test on forces this coming Monday, Dec.3.

In Religion as part of All Saints Day, we learned about St. Kateri and made this poster to show the story of her life.

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Kateri was bullied because of her beliefs. She was finally able to go from Upper New York State to Montreal where she could be with other Christians.

Kateri worked with the sick and the elderly. She was beloved by her community in Montreal.

Gorgeous paintings! Our class takes their art very seriously and have enjoyed working with paint. 

Almost ready to video tape our bullying awareness skits. We saw a great live presentation last week that will help us focus our skits on what role bystanders can play. A bystander can be a cheerleader who encourages the bully, a watcher or hider who doesn't know what to do. THEN along comes the UPSTANDER  !! who is the superhero who gets help or steps in to help (if its safe).


The link below will bring you to a bullying awareness song/video that we watched: True colours
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzfYL51e3HI   Click on the link and another prompt will bring you to the youtube video.

Blog Number 2:  

First a picture of our Hallowe'en and Thanksgiving art!

  In Science we are almost finished our unit on forces. We will do a project in class, on forces of nature. Students need to bring pictures of the force of nature that they chose. They also will need to know enough about their force to tell how it happens, what kind of damage it causes, where it happens and any other interesting information. They can tell about a particular event such as Hurricane Isaac. It will be done during class, not at home, so that I can evaluate how well the students work on their posters.

 Students can prepare for a test by reviewing what forces do, knowing the 5 forces we covered and being able to tell a little about each. We are also answering problem questions that ask what forces are used in a particular situation: Example: A baseball player hits a run to first base and slides in and touches the base. (Muscular force hits the ball, the ball will now be pushed in the opposite direction, it will fly in an arc falling to the ground because of gravity where it might be caught and stopped by another player. Muscular force will be used to run to first base and friction will slow the player down as he/she slides to first.)

 Here are some pictures as we explored the force of magnetism.

In Math we are working on patterning which a very important topic. We are looking at number patterns and patterns in geometric shapes. A number pattern could look like this: 13,18,23,28, ___,____,____ . Students need to figure out the pattern and then continue it. They may use a number line, tape measure or hundred chart to help if they find it difficult to simply add or subtract. We will work with calculators next week. A trickier question would be to choose the correct answer from 4 choices.  This sample is taken right from last year's EQAO test.

 Look at the growing pattern below.
3, ___, ___, ___, 19

The pattern goes up by the same
number each time.
What are the missing numbers?
0 4, 5, 6
0 6, 9, 12
0 7, 11, 15
0 8, 13, 18

When we look at geometric patterns we talk about attributes that can be changed. The size, shape, colour or position of a shape can be changed. Patterns are described and continued.


 




















































Next week we will do activities on awareness of bullying. Our school is focusing on the upstander. That is the person who sees something happening and is proactive rather than passive. This person may speak up and tell someone to stop their negative behaviour or they may tell an adult what is happening to another student. We have already talked about bullying and inappropriate behaviour but next week it will be a focus. We will use picture books and role play to learn how to handle situations where one or more people are not treating someone else with respect.

We will also stress the difference between bullying and peer conflicts. We will learn if it is tattling or telling.

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Please continue to read every night with your child. If they are an independent reader, taking some time to ask questions will help your child voice their ideas. If your child needs help, they can read aloud for you and answer questions.
                                                  
We are working on the features of non-fiction: main topic, subtopics, captions, glossary, index, text boxes etc... and how they help us as readers. We are going to begin making connections with non-fiction also. Which facts do you connect with? Does this make you think of something else? How do you feel about this information? What questions do you still have?

Finally, here he group collection of the Thanksgiving and Hallowe'e art nthat we posted. Enjoy!