(Final) Tips of the Week: June 22- 25

Dear Families, 

I am grateful to have had the privilege to work with your wonderful children this year. We have each learned considerably from one another, and have taught each other many valuable lessons. We will all take away incredible memories, loads of new information, and many, many laughs! It has truly been a fabulous adventure. 

Thank you sincerely for your support over the year.

This week: 

• Wednesday is our free BBQ lunch. Please ensure your child has returned their form so that they may receive their BBQ lunch (if desired).
• Thursday is our LAST DAY OF SCHOOL and we will have a class party on Thursday afternoon. Please keep and eye out for an upcoming note home regarding what students can bring (in terms of food).

Tips for the Summer:

Over the summer, children should have access to activities and experiences that allow them to practice kindness, cooperation, responsibility, problem solving, attentive listening. as well as reading, writing and math. 

Many of the activities, or even the routines that your child will be doing will already include those skills, and are just as valuable (if not more) than any workbooks. However a combination of practical experience and 'sit-down practice' is never a bad idea.

Math can be telling time, estimating temperature, calculating distance to various destinations, measuring weight, length, doing addition (receipts/bills), subtraction, multiplying (equal groups of items), practicing critical thinking, problem solving (ie. there are 7 people coming to the cottage but only 3 rooms, where will everyone sleep?). Math is everywhere.

Here are some practical examples of how to keep your child up to date over the summer months:

http://www.babble.com/kid/13-teacher-recommended-ways-to-keep-kids-learning-this-summer-2/

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev073.shtml

http://school.familyeducation.com/summer/family-learning/36089.html

In addition to the above, when your child has 'down time' (i.e. on a long drive, on a rainy day, etc.), encourage them to check out some of the MANY educational websites (I have listed tons in the menu to the right). Here is a quick list:

Reading everyday is highly encouraged and recommended. Reading is also everywhere and can be in the form of newspaper comics, articles, blogs, story books, comic books (including graphic novels), chapter books, poetry, recipes, instructions and much more. 

Writing can be as simple as buying your child a diary, giving them a journal to recount adventures, or dictating the weekly shopping list and having them record it. Having them check over their work for spelling, punctuation and whether their writing 'makes sense' is a great way to keep them up to date over the summer. 

As you know, children absorb their surroundings and look up to their loved ones. The best way to get them to do any of the above is to lead by example. Perhaps pull out a book every evening after dinner, or even share a few fun stories from a childhood diary.  You will likely have some good laughs, and in turn may inspire your child to write their own diary! :) 

Have a wonderful and safe summer together, and thank you again for a fabulous year! :) 

Warm regards,

Emily Sullivan

Tips of the Week: June 15 -19

This is our second last edition for the year of our class blog. I have had some nice reviews in student agendas- thank you! I hope to have a blog again next year, and will take into account the feedback that I received from this year in order to make it as useful as possible.

This Thursday afternoon is our school's Play Day. Students will likely need a change of clothes (in case of getting wet in water games). More info to follow via notes home.

This Friday afternoon (1pm) is our annual Park Lawn Idol. Throughout the last 2 weeks, students of all grades were invited to audition for the show (which is very much like a talent show), performing many acts including: piano, violin, dancing, gymnastics, live bands, stand up comedy, singing, magic tricks, and much more.  We can't wait to watch the wonderful show!

Language- This week and next, we are focusing on reading and writing skills in our reading groups, and students are encouraged to use checklists as they read and write over the summer. Here is a fun reading challenge for this summer's reading:

Here is a great and straightforward reading checklist that is simple to follow and provides a great reminder to children while reading. It's also a great way to determine if the book is too easy or too hard for the child:

Math- We have wrapped up all of our units for the year and are doing review this week and part of next. Students will be practicing core concepts such as multiplication skills, skip counting, place value, problem solving skills, addition and subtraction skills, and various mathematical terms and vocabulary. All of these concepts are wonderful choices when planning review for the summer. Here is a general list of the terms (associated with various areas of focus) for math from grades 3-5. It is taken from a U.S. site but is very much in line with our Ontario Curriculum:

Here are a an excellent (basic) checklist to use over the summer when practicing word problems:

Please encourage your child to use the games in the tab to the right to practice math skills over the summer (when possible).

~Thank you for reading. Have fun working and being together!~

Tips of the Week: June 8- 12

Tomorrow is our trip to Black Creek Pioneer Village. Its looks like it is going to continue to rain, so please make sure that your child is wearing waterproof shoes (rain boots ideally) and a waterproof coat. Umbrellas are fine but NOT necessary, and sometimes they get left behind accidentally! We will be outside most of the day, so layers might be a good idea. Please ensure that your child has a litter-less lunch, including a drink and snacks. Please also ensure that your child does not bring any electronics or other valuables, including cash (we will likely NOT visit the gift shop). Thank you in advance.

This Friday is our Volunteer Breakfast from 8:30-10:30am. THANK YOU to all of our fabulous volunteers! All volunteers are welcome to join!

Pizza orders are due by June 10. Pizza day is Wednesday June 17.

Language- Due to tomorrow's trip, Poetry will be due on Wednesday and new Poetry will be handed out Wednesday as well. This week's poetry homework will be completed during class time.

New Spelling was copied out today. This will be our second last week of Spelling practise, as next week will be our last list of words/ quiz for the year.

We have been working hard on our reading skills in our reading groups, and students are beginning to see the wonderful results of reading everyday, particularly reading aloud to one another. This week, ask your child about the books that they have been reading in their reading groups at school.

Ask them:

•  what they notice when they read aloud versus when they read silently to themselves
• which they prefer and get them to explain why

Talking about reading and showing an interest in reading can really create a positive association between the reader and the act of reading. Please promote and encourage reading at home as often as possible! 

Check out this handy checklist... hope it helps!

Math- We seem to be flying through our Fractions unit and students seem to really be enjoying it, maybe because we are talking about pizza all the time?! ;) 

We have been learning that a fraction is an EQUAL part of a whole. We are learning to draw fractions, and to write them as a fraction. We have also been learning the terms NUMERATOR and DENOMINATOR. Here are some images to give you a better idea:

Some concepts to practise at home (note the concept of equivalent fractions):

Finally, if you have been reading the blog and finding it useful, can you just write a quick note saying "I READ THE BLOG" in your child's agenda? I am hoping for some feedback on whether to continue using a blog next year. Thanks very much!

Thank you for your continued support! Have fun working and being together! :) 

Tips of the Week, June 1- 4

Happy June everyone!

Announcements:
This week is a short week as we have a PA day on Friday.
The students of the week this week are Lance and Dylan.
Our June Calendar will be sent home tomorrow (Tuesday). Sorry for the delay.
Thursday, we are hoping to welcome a special guest into our classroom! Vicki from the Humber Arboretum will hopefully be joining us in the afternoon to teach us all about the Arboretum, and will be bringing in her bearded dragon to show us!

Math- This week we are wrapping up our Probability unit, after many experiments using spinners and various scenarios involving probability, and will be creating our own spinners to show different kinds of probability.

We will then begin a unit on fractions. We will begin by using pictures of pizza and discussing dividing parts of a whole. Feel free to use the images below to assist your child at home with this new material.

Language- This week we are working on SLOWING DOWN our writing process so that we have really good quality writing. We are still using our editing checklist to assist with details and formatting, but we are trying to learn to take the time we need to really think out our ideas before putting them on paper. We are also focusing on PROOFREADING our work carefully before handing it in, and are specifically looking for items that may have been overlooked from the editing checklist, as well as whether our ideas are clear (and whether the piece of writing actually relays what we want it to).

A message from Ms. Manikas in the Library:
Dear Grade 3 Parents,

 The Grade 3 students have been working on an Inquiry Research Project over the past few weeks. We have spent time in class researching about First Nations and Early Settlers in Canada. Any research that still needs to be completed is due on Monday June 8^th. It is extremely important that your child brings their research pages back to school on Monday June 8^th, as they will be creating a “mini museum” during the week in class.

 Please see below for a list of wonderful websites to help your child complete their research!

 Thank you,

Miss. Manikas 

Grade 3 – Early Settler Websites

 http://www.projects.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/pioneer/home_eng.htm

 http://www.aitc.sk.ca/saskschools/intro.html

 http://www.blackcreek.ca/for-kids/homework-help/

 http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/pioneer-life/

 http://www.montessoritraining.net/elementary_program2/courses/canadian_history/sample_lessons.pdf

 Dear Grade 4 Parents,

 The Grade 4 students have been working on an Inquiry Research Project over the past few weeks. We have spent time in class researching about different Ancient Civilizations. Any research that still needs to be completed is due on Monday June 8^th. It is extremely important that your child brings their research pages back to school on Monday June 8^th, as they will be creating a “mini museum” during the week in class.

 Please see below for a list of wonderful websites to help your child complete their research!

 Thank you,

Miss. Manikas

 Grade 4 – Ancient Civilizations Websites

Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, Incas, Aztecs

http://ancienthistory.mrdonn.org/

 Egypt

http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html

 http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_egypt.php

 Greece

http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/

 http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_greece.php

 China

http://www.ancientchina.co.uk/menu.html

 http://www.ducksters.com/history/china/ancient_china.php

 Rome

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/romans/

 http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_rome.php

 Egypt, Greece, Rome

http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/

 Inca

http://incas.mrdonn.org/

 Maya

http://mayas.mrdonn.org/index.html

 Aztec

http://aztecs.mrdonn.org/index.html

 Aztec, Maya, Inca

http://www.ducksters.com/history/aztec_maya_inca.php

Tips of the Week May 25- 29

Thank you to those of you who have sent back the forms and $14 for our upcoming trip to Pioneer Village (June 9th). Please try to have the forms returned no later than Thursday June 4th so that we can complete our registration process in advance. Thank you!!

Thank you to those of you who are able to volunteer in our classroom for our Scientist's visit on May 28th in the morning. Please meet in our classroom (Room 3) that morning at 8:35am. We will go until 11:35am. Thank you!

Math- We have started our Probability unit and are learning about all the various words that we can use to discuss and understand Probability. We then placed the words on a continuum in order to understand when to use them.

E.g.      impossible -- unlikely -- possible -- likely -- certain.

Students will be recording in their notebooks what we created on chart paper as a whole group. This week we will create spinners, and will begin to experiment with probability, along with recording our findings.

At home: Look for ways to show probability in everyday life. Ask your child to do the same and to show you their findings!

Language-
Reminder!

• Several students have misplaced their blue spelling journals, or are missing the activities page. 
• Please check in with your child to ensure that they have their spelling journal, as well as the page with the weekly activities (which should be pasted in the front cover). If either is missing, it would be so helpful if you could made a note in your child's agenda and I will replace the missing item/s. Thank you kindly for your assistance.

Reading at home- In class we are working in our reading groups on punctuation. Specifically, we are working on reading punctuation, in other words, how the meaning changes (or is lost) if we miss or mix up a period, comma, exclamation mark or question mark.

* When reading at home with your child please listen as they read ALOUD. Please pay close attention to how your child reads punctuation, and ask them to stop and re-read the sentence to include the punctuation if it has been missed. Ask them if they notice how the meaning is changed or lost when the punctuation is missing!

Have fun working and being together!

Tips of the Week: May 19 - 22

I hope that everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather on this past long weekend!

Upcoming:

• Park Lawn Palooza is coming up this Friday!!! I hope to see many of you there!
• We are having a scientist in our classroom on May 28th. Volunteers are welcome (please write me a note in the agenda or return the note I sent home with YES circled. Police check mandatory).
• Our final class trip will be to Pioneer Village on June 9th to compliment our 'early settlers' and 'industrial development and environmental effects' units. A permission letter will be going home today.
• EQAO is postponed until further notice. A package of homework to prepare students, along with a 'parent package' with the answers to all the homework and 2 letters (one from the Principal and one from Mr.Quance and myself) went home on Friday. This work is in lieu of the weekly EQAO homework and is to be completed at home and at your own pace. It does not need to be submitted to school for marking.

Language- This week Spelling Quiz will be on Friday, as opposed to Thursday.

Several students have misplaced their blue spelling journals, or are missing the activities page. Please check in with your child to ensure that they have their spelling journal, as well as the page with the weekly activities (which should be pasted in the front cover). If either is missing, it would be so helpful if you could made a note in your child's agenda and I will replace the missing item/s. Thank you kindly for your assistance.

Reading at home- In class we are working in our reading groups on punctuation. Specifically, we are working on reading punctuation, in other words, how the meaning changes (or is lost) if we miss or mix up a period, comma, exclamation mark or question mark.

* When reading at home with your child please listen as they read ALOUD. Please pay close attention to how your child reads punctuation, and ask them to stop and re-read the sentence to include the punctuation if it has been missed. Ask them if they notice how the meaning is changed or lost when the punctuation is missing!

Math- We are wrapping up our Measurement unit on area and perimeter. Both our Pixel people and our dream homes are almost finished and they look great!! They will be coming home in the next little while for you to see and enjoy!

We will soon begin a multiplication review for BOTH grades (Grade 3s will be acquiring new techniques as well as reviewing prior knowledge). Grade 4s will also be working on division facts.
*Please review the multiplication tables at home with your child to help keep the facts 'fresh'!

We will soon begin our Data Management unit on Probability. Stay tuned for more info...

Science- We are transitioning from learning about life systems (after our great trip to Kortright), and are moving into a unit on growth and change in plants. We were introduced to our new unit while creating our mother's day gifts (we hope you enjoyed your beautifully planted tulip bulbs!), and will now continue to learn much more about plants. We will be planted some fruit and veggie seeds this week or next!

May 11- 15

Good Tuesday morning! My apologies for the late post, as I was absent yesterday.

Thank you to our wonderful volunteers for joining us on last week's visit to the Kortright Centre. We spent the morning outdoors exploring a pond and all of its' creature inhabitants. In the afternoon, we spent our time hiking out into the woods searching for various animal habitats, followed by getting to touch and hold real furs and skulls. So neat, and great to be out in the open air!

Our next event will be having a Scientist in our classroom! Volunteers are more than welcome to join us for our half day session with the scientist. (Program content and date to be confirmed... stay tuned!)

Math- This week we are getting back to our Dream houses for our Measurement Unit. Last week was so busy that we only got as far as sketching the house itself! This week we will measure and calculate our perimeter and area. Please do encourage your child to peruse the math sites (listed in the menu to the right). There are many great games and activities on these sites that will help reinforce the measurement concepts that we are learning in class!

Language- This week we are finally getting to our good copy of our persuasive letter writing. We have chosen the topic "Should there be Zoos?" to choose sides and write about. Students will be using a checklist to help them with both letter writing AND persuasive writing techniques. We will be sharing our letters with the class later this week, and then will send them home to be shared at home.

~Thank you for your continued support!~

-E. Sullivan

Tips of the Week May 4- 8

*This Thursday is our trip to the Kortright Centre. We will be taking a school bus there and the bus will leave promptly after attendance is taken. Please ensure that your child is on time that morning! If you are volunteering, please don't forget to being a litterless lunch and drink for yourself as well as for your child. Volunteers will be receiving a little reminder letter with further info that will be sent home TODAY.

*The Sound of Music has come and gone and was a HUGE success. Thank you all for attending and making it such a special night/s! It was so wonderful to see our students performing and even better to even their beautiful voices singing together! So much fun! :)

* EQAO is FAST approaching (approximately 1 month away) and we are working hard during our numerous weekly dedicated EQAO periods to prepare. PLEASE continue to assist and encourage your child with their EQAO homework. It is intended to support what we have been learning in class and is set up to reinforce learned concepts. Thank you for your continued support!

Language- Please note the NEW spelling routine and Homework:

Grade 3s :

• Have 15 list words each week and are to choose 5 activities from the list to complete as homework. 
• This week's words begin with ALSO and end with BECOME. 
• Homework is to be completed in the blue spelling journals.

 Grade 4s :

• Have 20 list words each week and are to TRY to complete all 6 activities on their list. 
• This weeks' words begin with ANNOY and end with AWESOME
• Homework is to be completed in the blue spelling journals.

This week we are beginning to wrap up our persuasive writing and will be choosing an issue (and target audience to deliver it to) to write a persuasive letter to. Please encourage your child to use the anchor chart in the previous posts to assist with their in-school persuasive writing.

Math- This week we have begun creating our dream homes, as well as beginning to calculate their Area and Perimeter! This task is proving to be loads of fun and has spurred a ton of creativity. (See steps and one example below):

Directions:

o   Outline your dream house by drawing the outside walls. Your dream house should be a compound figure with all right angles.

o   Partition your dream house into rooms. Each room must be a rectangle.

o   Label and colour each room.

o   Find and record the area of each room.

o   Add the area of all your rooms to find the total area of your Dream Home.

o   Measure and record the distance around the outside of your dream home (the perimeter) and record the total perimeter of your Dream Home.

   

(image courtesy of Pinterest!)

Have fun working and being together!

Tips of the Week: April 27- May 1

The Sound of Music  will be ringing out the doors of the GP room and throughout our school hallways this Wednesday and Thursday evening. Our class will be performing in the choir on Thursday evening (except those who have made requests to change to the Wednesday night performance). Students are asked to arrive to the school library at 6:30pm on the evening of the performance, dressed in white tops and black (or dark coloured) bottoms.

Upcoming next week: Our class trip to the Kortright Centre will take place next Thursday, May 7. Thank you to all of those who were able to volunteer. I will send home a letter with a few pieces of info for our volunteers (on Monday) once all the forms are in.

Language- We will now begin a new procedure for our weekly spelling quizzes. Students have received a small blue journal and a page with a master list of words. On the master word list, is a list of activities for students to do as homework with there weekly spelling words.Every Monday, students will copy down their new spelling words into their blue journals in class.

Spelling Homework:

Grade 3s will have 15 list words each week and are to choose 5 activities from the list to complete as homework. (This week's words are the first 15 on the list. The first word being 'above', last being 'already'). Homework is to be completed in the blue spelling journals.

 Grade 4s will have 20 list words each week and are to TRY to complete all 6 activities on their list. (This weeks' words are the first 20 on the list. The first work being 'able' and the last being 'ankle'). Homework is to be completed in the blue spelling journals.

We are continuing our persuasive writing and have been working hard to use persuasive words to formulate a strong opinion. Please encourage your child to use the anchor chart in last week's post to assist with their in school persuasive writing.

Math- We have started our unit on Measurement, and are currently working on Perimeter and Area. Last week we began by discussing and counting pixels (which grew from the extreme interest in Minecraft). We then then discussed on we could more effectively count the number of pixels in an image, which led us to talking about counting around (perimeter) and inside (area). We then created our own Pixel People! (Images below are from online examples, courtesy of Pinterest):


We then calculated the Area:
A= l x w
and Perimeter :
P= l + l + w + w OR l x 2 + w x 2
of our pixel people, and learned that there is a formula for are as well as for perimeter. We will be thoroughly learning the formulas this week in order to create our own 'Dream Homes'!

Stay tuned... :)
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 A Note from Ms. Manikas in the Library/ Social Studies:

Student's have been working on a mapping unit the past few weeks and their final project is to create a map of their choice. Some students finished during the designated class time and the rest will have 1 final period to work this Thursday. Any student who needs more time to complete their map may do so, and hand it in by Friday May 1.

Students are reminded to include the following on their maps:

- Title

- Map key/legend

- Labels

- Compass Rose

- 3 statements about their map on the back (i.e. My bed is south of my dresser)

- Remember to be as neat as possible (use a ruler, print legibly, colour in the lines)

Thanks!

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Thank you for your continued support with all of our school endeavours!

Have fun working and being together !
Ms. Sullivan

Tips of the Week- April 20- 24

This week we have lots of forms and money being sent into school for various upcoming events. Please help your child make sure that all forms are back by the due date/s:

• Monday, April 20th Scholastic orders (for April) due
• Monday, April 20th tickets for the sound of music begin being sold (they are first come first serve as last year we sold out!)
• Wednesday, April 22 Pizza form and money due
• Monday, May 4th permission form for our class trip to the Kortright Centre and $15 due (Please make sure to note on the permission form whether you wish to volunteer. A short note with information for volunteers will go home prior to the trip.)

Math- This week we will begin our Measurement unit. Students will use various manipulatives and experiment in various ways to build on and extend their knowledge of: 

Grade 3s- estimating, measuring and recording  length, perimeter, area , mass, and capacity

Grade 4s- estimating, measuring and recording  length, perimeter, area , mass, capacity and volume

Units of measure (cm, m, km), (g, kg) and (ml, L) will be our main focus this week, as we refresh/ begin to expand upon our prior knowledge.

Language- This week we are working more in depth on our persuasive writing, and forming solid opinions with support and justification from various resources. We have discussed issues that are relevant for our students, such as "should we have longer recesses"? Why or why not? As well as, "should we support a place like Ripley's Aquarium, or see animals in their natural habitat, thus supporting a place like the Kortright Centre"?

Next week, our Spelling will change. Spelling List #30 is the last list in the familiar/regular format that students will receive this year. Starting next week, each weekly list will be REVIEW words created by previous weeks' lists, handed out on Mondays with a quiz every Thursday (as usual). Homework will be different as well. It will no longer be 3 pages of activities, but rather a list of different tasks to choose from to practice the different words each week.

Thank you for supporting our classroom learning through supporting your child at home!

Kind regards,

E. Sullivan

Tips of the Week: April 13- 17

What beautiful weather we had this weekend! Let's hope there's plenty more of that on the way!

THE MUSICAL: The Sound of Music tickets will go on sale beginning next Monday. Please check for letters home regarding show times, dates, ticket sales, choir and choir attire, and costumes.

CLASS TRIP: Our class will be heading to the Kortright Centre to participate in a Pond study and a Habitat study on May 7th, 2015. Volunteers are welcome. Please look for the permission form coming home by the end of the week.


Math- This week we are working on identifying REFLECTIONS (flips), ROTATIONS (turns), and TRANSLATIONS (slides) using 3D geometric solids. Here are two images to assist with understanding these terms:

Please review these terms at home using various shapes, solids and objects!

Language- This week we are continuing our work on persuasive writing. Students have been practicing being persuasive both orally and in writing, and now are focusing on making their position STRONGER. Here are some words we have been trying to incorporate when stating our opinions/ persuading another person/ group to see our position.

Here is an example of how we are learning to STRUCTURE our persuasive writing:

Please help your child practice structuring their opinions using persuasive words both orally and in writing.

Thank you for your continued support!