Newsletter Week of December 12th

Week of December 12-December 15th

It was a busy week at Melawati this week! It was so much fun to see all of our students share their learning in our different culminating events this week. The music concert and the swimming carnival were both huge successes and all of the kids should be so proud. Thank you to all of the parents that came out to support our learners. Also, a huge thank you to all of our parent volunteers for another AMAZING Christmas Around the World! We all loved it.Take a look at all the pictures from the event in the shared folder. I have also added a few pictures from the swim carnival.

This week we will also be a busy one for 3AH! We will be starting off with our field trip to Klang Valley to test the water and observe the human impact on an ecosystem near our campus. Thank you in advance to the parent volunteers who will be joining us. 3AH will be on the field trip on Wednesday, December 13th, so please take a look at the form again to ensure your child has everything they need for the trip!

On Thursday, December 14th is the grade 3 learning celebration. This is a time for the kids to share their work they are proud of with you. It will begin at 8:15 and last about 45 minutes. We hope that you can attend. If you would like to bring a treat to share with the class, please do, however, do not feel that it is required. We have ordered fruit, coffee, and tea for the parents.

Save the date for these upcoming events:

Wednesday, December 13th Field Trip to Klang Valley

Thursday, December 14th- Learning Share 8:15-9:00

Friday, December 15th-Last day of Semester 1

Monday, January 8th - First day of Semester 2 (Day 5)

Worm Holiday Care If you are going to be around over the holiday break and would be willing to take care of our compost worms, please let me know. We promise they take very little care and don’t smell (that bad)!

This week begins on a day 1

Reading Students will continue their research on different ecosystem topics to ask and answer their own questions. Students will use their new learning to teach others about the topic.

Writing Students will be reflecting on their first semester and create blog posts to share. They will also be writing informational books about their ecosystem topics they have chosen.

Math Students will continue to work on multiplication problems and applying their prior knowledge and understanding of place value to help with multiplying groups of tens. Students are also developing an understanding of sharing and grouping as they represent division. Students will be practicing these skills in new math fluency games.

Science We will be taking our science skills to the field! Students will be making observations, testing the water, and sharing their findings from the Klang River with others.

This week instead of home learning, here are some ideas of things the kids can do over the December break.

I would like to thank you for a wonderful 1st semester, it has been such a pleasure working with all of your children. We have built a wonderful learning community and I will be excited to see everyone in January. Enjoy the holiday!

Newsletter Week of December 4th

Week of December 4-December 8th

We have been busy in grade 3. Students explored the different adaptations that plants have that help them survive. We discovered these through a plant dissection. We loved taking a look at all of the flower parts, especially the pollen under our digital microscopes!

Students have been working on science-related writing projects that allow kids to apply all of our informational reading and writing skills. You will see all of these at our parent share.

This week we will have lots of amazing activities happening.

Some of these include:

• Monday, December 4th: Christmas around the World and Red/Green dress up day
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• Friday, December 8th: Swim Carnival (for more information, see previous announcement)

Save the date for these upcoming events:

Tuesday/Wednesday, December 12/13th Field Trip to Klang Valley water treatment site. This field trip will be conditional depending on the water levels. Some classes will be going on the Tuesday and some on Wednesday. Your classroom teacher will be sending home a permission form that will have more information in the next week.

Thursday, December 14th will be our learning celebration. It will begin at 8:15 and last 45 minutes. All parents are invited.

Worm Holiday Care If you are going to be around over the holiday break and would be willing to take care of our compost worms, please let me know. We promise they take very little care and don’t smell (that bad)!

This week begins on a day 2.

Reading Students will be applying their informational reading skills to research different ecosystem topics to ask and answer their own questions. Students will use their new learning to teach others about the topic.

Writing Students are in the publishing stage of the writing process, they will be excited to share their final informational books with you!

Math Students will continue to work on multiplication problems and applying their prior knowledge and understanding of place value to help with multiplying groups of tens. Students are also developing an understanding of sharing and grouping as they represent division.

Science We will be finishing our Ecosystems unit with a focus on human impact. Students will explore different concerns related to the topic (water scarcity, loss of habitat, pollution, etc).

Dec. 4-8th 2017- Choose 2 activities to complete before Friday to share in class.

Math: Teach someone at home how to play circles and stars and PLAY!	Language arts: Ask your parents to read a story or a chapter to you. This can be done in your home language. What did you read? What did you like about having read aloud time?	Language arts: Write a creative story in your home learning journal. Have an animal be the main character.
Math: Practice your basic multiplication facts (1-10).	Science If you could choose, what animal adaptation(s)  would you like to have? Draw a diagram of what you would look like and how your adaptations would help you in life.	Other: Build a fort and play a game or read a book in your fort.

Remember: Reading is just what we do. It is expected each night.

Newsletter Week of November 27th

Week of November 27th-December 1st

This Friday, December 1st is a holiday.

What a wonderful week we had with exciting science lessons and labs. Thank you to the ECO team that came into our classes and taught us about worms. Each class now has its own worm compost bin.

We also spent two days in the science lab doing our first experiment testing how animals survive in cold climates. Check out your child’s blog to see more!

Save the date for these upcoming events:

Tuesday/Wednesday, December 12/13th Field Trip to Klang Valley water treatment site. This field trip will be conditional depending on the water levels. Some classes will be going on the Tuesday and some on the Wednesday. Your classroom teacher will be sending home a permission form that will have more information in the next week.

Thursday, December 14th will be our learning celebration. It will begin at 8:15 and last 45 minutes. All parents are invited.

This week begins on a day 4.

Reading Students will continue to build on their knowledge of biographies. Students will think about biographies with a new lens. We will review how biography readers think “How is this person famous?” and narrative nonfiction readers ask “What is the timeline of events leading up to this accomplishment or disaster?”

Writing Students will understand that writers reread their pieces carefully looking for confusing or undeveloped parts to clear up for their readers. They need to role-play with a partner to make sure their writing is not confusing.

Math Students will continue to work on multiplication problems and being to apply their prior knowledge and understanding of place value to help with multiplying groups of tens.

Science This week we will have investigations about plants. We will go to the Science Lab to dissect plants to see the different parts of a plant and examine how those parts help them survive.

Nov. 27th-Dec. 1st, 2017- Choose 2 activities to complete before Thursday to share in class.

Math: Create a poster that explains multiplication. You should include pictures, numbers, and words. It might have example strategies like: equal groups, arrays, skip counting, repeated addition, turn-around, decomposing, (commutative property) etc.	Language arts: Read a biography. In your home learning journal, take notes on the person’s life: Who, Wanted, But, So, Then.	Language arts: Write a creative story of your choice in your home learning journal.
Math: Practice your basic multiplication facts (1-5).	Science Observe all the different things you and your family use WATER for in your house. In your home learning journal, rank them from most important use to least important usage of water.	Other: Build something out of recycled material that floats in water. (If possible, take a picture of it)

Remember: Reading is just what we do. It is expected each night.

Newsletter Week of November 20th

Week of November 20th-24th

In 3AH the students have been working hard in our new math unit: The Relationship Between Multiplication and Division. It was a unit that many of the students were eager to begin. This unit will be continuing after the winter break.

Please look over your child’s math assessment that was sent home this weekend. Please sign the front cover and return the assessment on Monday.

A friendly reminder to check your child’s blog. They have been commenting on their peers posts. It would be wonderful if you also commented on your child’s work and posts.

This Friday is a Free Dress Day. If your child will participate, please remember to send 5RM with them.

This week will begin on Day 5

Reading Students will continue to build on their knowledge of biographies. Students will think about biographies with a new lens. They will try using one lens to understand the story and the other lens to learn new information. As students read they ask themselves “what information am I learning here? What is the main idea and what are the key details? What boxes and bullets could I make?”

Writing Students will study mentor texts to see how authors have written their introductions. We will revise our writing pieces by including new introductions that we learned from our mentor texts. We will also work on setting new goals for the rest of this unit.

Math Students will continue to work on sorting objects into equal groups. For example, here are 20 beans. How could you sort them so that each group has an equal number of beans? How many different ways could you group them? We will also use the number line and arrays to solve multiplication problems.

Science This week we will have investigations about animal adaptations. We will be examining the concept of how an adaptation helps an animal survive in an ecosystem.

November 20th-24th, 2017- Choose 2 activities to complete before Friday to share in class.

Math: Write your own multiplication number story? Then solve it. Explain your thinking in pictures, numbers, and words.	Language arts: Read an informational book or chapter. What was the main idea? What were the supporting details? Write them down using boxes and bullets.	Language arts: You are a worm, living in a compost bin. Write a fiction story describing what your life is like.
Math: Practice skip counting by 2,3,4, 5, and 10. Time yourself to see how fast you can do it. Write your best times in your home learning journal.	Science Design a new made up animal. What is its habitat? What adaptations does it have that help it survive there?	Other: Play a board game or card game with your family.

Remember: Reading is just what we do. It is expected each night.

Newsletter Week of November 13th

Week of November 13th-17th

In the 3AH we have been busy with our non-fiction reading and writing unit. We will continue our work with this unit for the next few weeks. Next week we start our new math unit.

It was a wonderful week of learning and celebrations. Our international flag parade was a huge success and showcased how fortunate we are at Melawati to have such a diverse group of students. Check our class blog to see the pictures of the parade and assembly.

Thank you to all the parents who came into school to help with making our Christmas ornaments. These decorations will be placed on a Christmas tree and displayed in the hallway during the holiday season.

This week will begin on Day 6

Reading Students will begin to read biographies. Students will rev up their minds by asking and thinking: What sort of text is this? What will this most be about? What parts/subtopics? Recall prior knowledge and build expectations Students will also practice summarizing narrative nonfiction by including only important details and keeping the characters/subjects motivations and problems in mind.

Writing Students will work on connecting the information in their chapters by balancing facts and ideas. We will revise our work and use strategies that will focus on word choice and structure. If we do not have enough interesting facts, we will become researchers who can research and find more information to enhance their informational books.

Math Students will begin our new unit in math. This unit focuses on multiplication and division and the relationship that they have with each other. It begins with students solving problems that ask them to think of ways they can share into equal groups a given number of items. For example: “How many apples are in 4 baskets of 8 apples?” The students will work on grouping the apples into 4 groups of 8. Lastly, they will count all the apples to find the answer.

Science This week we will have composting and worm experts come to our room. Students will examine the concept of decomposition by looking at how worms play a vital role in the process of composting our food waste. Each class will have their own container of worms to study throughout the weeks. This investigations will help students better their conceptual understanding of the interdependent relationship in an ecosystem.

November 13th-17th ,2017- Choose 2 activities to complete before Friday to share in class.

Math: Solve this problem using pictures, numbers, AND words! Four children are playing tennis together. They all brought seven balls. How many balls do they have total?	Language arts: Read a few non-fiction text and write down your observations on what makes a great introduction.	Language arts: Pretend that you are either a plant or an animal in the food chain. Write a story about your life as either a producer, herbivore, carnivore, or decomposer.
Math: Solve this subtraction problem using at least 2 different strategies. 654-391=	Science: What did you learn about worms? What role do they play in our ecosystem? Teach someone!	Other: Have a conversation with a family member or friend that lives in another ecosystem. Ask them questions about how it is different?

Remember: Reading is just what we do. It is expected each night.

Newsletter Week of November 6th

Week of November 6th-November 10th

In 3AH we have been busy with our nonfiction reading and writing units. We were fortunate to have skyped with the author Melissa Stewart. She sparked our excitement for information writing and taught us that nonfiction writers revise, revise, revise! The students were able to ask questions and comments with the author. This was a special opportunity for them to meet an author we have been studying in class.

This past week we celebrated Deepavali. It was a wonderful day of performances and hallway activities. Please check the class blog for pictures from this event.

Next Friday, we will have our annual International Flag Parade. Your child can come to school dressed in either the traditional attire or the colors of your passport country. Each student will be given an individual flag based on the passport they are enrolled with at school. We will walk around the school and field for a flag parade. Parents are invited to attend this wonderful ISKL tradition. The flag parade will be from 8:15-9:00.

This week will begin on Day 1

Reading Students will continue their work on talking about texts in conversation with their reading partners using prompts such as: This makes me think that.. I wonder.. It is important to notice that… Students will also determine perspective. One of the questions they will ask themselves as they read a text is: “Is the perspective or point of view of this topic different from the reader's’ point of view?” This foster the concept that authors can write about the same topic, but have varying perspectives.

Writing Students will work on connecting the information in their chapters by using different transitional strategies, phrases, and words. They will continue to study mentor texts to help develop ideas on how to best transition in their own informational books.

Math Students will begin to look at different subtraction strategies for three digit numbers. They will be using place value, number lines, decomposing, and a standard algorithm. As students become more familiar with subtracting strategies, they will select a strategy that they feel is effective. We will also begin to work on rounding when solving subtraction problems to check the reasonability of their answer.

Science Student will examine the interdependent elements of an ecosystem. (The consumers/producers, food chain, food web and the competitive relationships that help promote adaptation in the ecosystem.

November 6-10th, 2017- Choose 2 activities to complete before Friday to share in class.

Math: Write a 3-digit by 3-digit subtraction number story. Solve it and show your thinking	Language arts: Visit the website of the author Melissa Stewart and explore! Melissa-stewart.com	Language arts: As you read a nonfiction book, use these sentence starters to determine perspective: The author seems to feel… about this topic My evidence is… I agree/disagree with this perspective because...
Math: What is this? What math do you see? What questions do you have?	Science Draw a model of how living and nonliving things depend on each other in an ecosystem. Think: sun, plants, water, soil, animals, insects.	Other: Make something that will help you organize your things( pencils, artwork, toys).