Newsletter Week of February 26th

The Chinese New Year Cultural Celebration at Melawati was a great day of fun and learning! In the week ahead we look forward to Book Week! Ms Suji has some special events planned. Remember to send in gently used books for the book swap by Wednesday. The "Book Character Dress Up Day" is now Thursday. Book Bingo takes place during the week. 

Thank you, parents,  for the delicious Teacher Appreciation luncheon we enjoyed on Thursday! 

We begin the week ahead on Day 1. 

Reading 

Students have selected their books for book clubs. They will be starting them on Monday. Look out for a blog post by your child on their book! Please help your child to remember to read and return the book to school each day. After looking at the "shape" of stories (we discussed a story mountain where main characters go up and down through the story) and readers are now attending to the role secondary characters play. We are also looking at how characters resolve trouble when they are tested in the climax of a story. 

Writing

Students are working on their first fairy tale adaptation. They are story-telling and acting out their story to improve their drafting. Please ask your child to tell you their story. The more times they tell their story the greater detail they will likely include in the written version. Students will work on balancing narration, action, and dialogue. You will get to see the drafting process at conferences. 

We will Skype with Josh Funk on Tuesday to learn more about how he writes fairy tale adaptations. 

Math

This week we are focusing on the attributes of 2D shapes, with particular attention to quadrilaterals. Some shapes can go by many names, for instance,  a square is: a special rectangle, a rhombus, a parallelogram, and a quadrilateral. 

Social Studies

We are continuing to look at social structure/government in ancient civilizations and will move on to belief systems and art and architecture. 

Student Led Conferences

Your child is busy preparing for their Student Led Conference next week. S/he will lead you through the agenda and be ready to share learning from across the curriculum. Ms. Julie sent out a recent email detailing what this will look like. Your child will communicate with you in the language that is easiest for all of you. Plan on spending about 45 minutes in the classroom and then 15 minutes at a few "specialist" classes. 

Thank you for your ongoing support. 

Home Learning

Week of February 26. Please complete 2 activities and bring in to share on Friday.

Math: Go on a shape hunt! Collect 5 or more images/pictures/sketches of the shapes you see this week. Name them.

Math: Choose a flat surface in your home and find the area. Sketch it in your notebook and label the dimensions. Show your thinking.

Language arts: Choose a character in a book you are reading (or read recently). What is the problem in the story and how would you solve the problem?

Language arts: Choose a favorite line from a book you are reading and write about why this line is important to you and what role it has in the story.

Social Studies: Choose an ancient civilization and learn about a toy or game from that time. Write a summary in your own words about it in your notebook or make a model of the game/toy to share.

Other: Spend time doing something you love with an adult. What did you choose?

Remember: Reading is just what we do. It is expected each night. Don't forget your book club book!

Newsletter Week of February 19th

Good morning parents, 

I hope you all had a fantastic Chinese New Year. We had a short but wonderful week wrapping up our opinion writing, math unit, and beginning to delve into fairy tales. Students are also commenting on classmates blogs, they know when they make a comment they need to be specific and can make connections or ask a question. Please take a look at your child's blog, post a comment! What did you like about their post? What questions or connections do you have?

Please be informed that Friday, the 23rd ISKL will have our CNY celebration with an assembly from 11:30-12:15. Come join us!

This week will start on day 2. 

Reading

Students will continue to study the characters in the books they read. Students will practice making predictions on what a character will do next, taking into account what they already know about the kinds of things he/ she tends to do, say, want again and again. Students will also begin book club groups. Students will choose which book their club will read and gather at the end of reading time to discuss what they read. Your child will come home with their book club book with assigned chapters to read. Please ensure the book goes back in their backpack when they finish so they have it for class the next day.

Writing

Students will begin writing fairy tales. During the first part of this unit, students will work on adapting a familiar fairy tale or myth. Students reread the selected fairy tales and/ or myths, deciding upon which story element they will adapt.  From this point on, they see that changing one story element has a domino effect and affects the entire story.  

For more information and ways to help at home please see our parent learning connection.

Math

We will begin our unit on Geometry. In this unit students will:

• Further, develop understandings of geometric figures by focusing on identification and descriptions of plane figures based on geometric properties.
• Identify examples and non-examples of plane figures based on geometric properties.
• Identify differences among quadrilaterals.
• Understand that shapes in different categories may share attributes and those attributes can define a larger category (example: rhombuses, rectangles, and others have four sides and are all called quadrilaterals).
• Expand the ability to see geometry in the real world.
• Draw plane figure shapes based on attributes.  
• Use data collected to make bar and picture graphs.
• Find the perimeter of polygons; use addition to find perimeters; solve for an unknown length and recognize the patterns that exist when finding the sum of the lengths and widths of rectangles.

Social Studies

Students will continue to look at the social structure of ancient civilizations.

Enjoy your week, Alasdair

Newsletter Week of February 12th

Good morning parents,

It was a busy week of character studies and wrapping up opinion writing! Students also participated in the global school play day. It was great to reflect afterward on all the things students learned from this afternoon of play. Many of our SLRs were included as students were communicating effectively and collaborating constructively. Here is a great article that speaks more about the importance of free play.

Coming up in a few weeks is Student Led Conferences. These are scheduled on Wednesday, March 7 and Thursday, March 8 and may take up to an hour. Your child will be the most important part of this conference, so they are required to attend. Please let me know by Wednesday in an email which day and what time of day would work best if you have a preference. 

Our week starts on day 5. Please note there is NO SCHOOL THURSDAY OR FRIDAY due to Chinese New Year.

Reading

We have begun our new unit on Character Studies. For more information and ways to help at home please visit our Parent Learning Connection Site.

Students will learn that readers grow inferences about their characters based on the character’s actions and words. Readers also notice patterns in their characters behavior, shifting and growing bigger theories about their characters as they continue to read. A reader’s initial theories about a character are usually the tip of much deeper thinking. Readers ask why the characters are the way they are.

Writing

We are wrapping up our opinion unit. Students will work on using the writing checklist to make their writing the best it can be, focusing on using grade level conventions, and saying more about each reason.

Math

We are finishing up our unit on Multiplication and Area. Students will continue to solve multi-step word problems and show their thinking on multiplication by building various area models.

Social Studies

Students will learn about the social organization of ancient civilizations. This includes government, leaders, and laws.

HOME LEARNING:

Math: 

• Make a multi-step word problem, one that involves multiplication and division. 
• Write down 2 multiplication/division fact families that you know and 2 that you want to practice. 3x4=12, 4x3=12, 12/3=4, 12/4=3

Language Arts: 

• Do you think the character in the book you are reading (home or school) would make a good friend? Write down 3 reasons on why or why not. 
• Choose a character in a book you are reading. Write down 2 observations about what the character says or their actions. What idea or trait can you give that character?

Social Studies: 

• Look at a map or globe. Pick a location where you would build a civilization. List 3 reasons why you would choose that location. 

Other: 

• Do one kind act that will help to make someone's day better. Do it without the person knowing it was you. 

Newsletter Week of February 5th

Good morning parents, 

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend. Grade 3 was lucky to have 2 parent experts come in and share their knowledge. We learned about the work an archeologist does and the process archeologists use when planning and excavating a dig as well as the legacy of hygiene that Ancient Rome left us to learn from and improve upon. What a week! 

Please note that ASAs start this week and the week will start on a day 6. 

Reading

We will begin our unit on character book clubs. Here students will get to know the characters in their book club book, making inferences and noting patterns in their behaviors based on actions, words, and thoughts. We will begin to apply character traits based on this. We will also begin to read aloud fairy tales in preparation for our next writing unit. Reading fairy tales at home and practice in applying character traits and talking about the characters in the books your child reads would be helpful.

Writing

This week in writing students will learn about petitions as another type of opinion writing. Students can say more by including interviews and surveys they have conducted. They will also learn that writers revise their introductions and conclusions, trying out several different styles before deciding which one will have the biggest impact on their audience.

Math

Students will continue to notice patterns in multiplication tables as well as continue their fact fluency. When learning new facts such as x6, students will develop strategies to become more efficient. Instead of skip counting by 6's students can multiply the number x5 then add x1. For 6x7, think 5x7 plus 1x7. Students will also begin to solve multistep division and multiplication word problems. Ask your child, how do they solve their x4, x6, x8, or x9 facts. Talk about what mental math strategies they could use.

Social Studies

This week, students will learn how geography and location effects ancient civilizations.

February 5th-9th  Choose 2 activities to complete before Friday to share in class.

Math:

• Play a math game that helps you practice multiplication and/or division. What game did you play?
• Teach someone at home about a pattern you notice in addition or multiplication. 

Language arts:

• Choose a character in a book you are reading (or read recently). What is the problem in the story and how would you solve the problem?
• Would you rather have more math time or more reading time? Write down 3 reasons why. Be sure to say more about each reason.

Social Studies

• Choose a problem that someone in an ancient civilization might have had and build something to help solve it (if you can not think of a problem you could use moving water). 

Other:

• Spend some time outside and sketch/write/daydream while you are there. Share something you liked about your time outside.

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