Monday 12 June 2017

Week Beginning June 12th

Dear Parents,

In Language Arts,  we have been focusing on analyzing characters: what traits the characters have with evidence from the text and how the character interacts with other characters.  We have also been focusing on identifying nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in sentences.

In Math, we have finished up with recognizing money (both coins and notes), counting money, adding money and finding change.  We have now moved on to fractions. We have talked about the role of the numerator and denominator.  We have written out and drawn fractions.  They are now working on finding a fraction of an amount.

Religion

We have begun the program, I Am A Gift From God. Please discusses and sign pages 1, 2 and 3 in their books. We have talked about taking care of our bodies. We also discussed that body parts that are covered by bathing suits and our mouths are considered private parts. It is important that students know the proper names for these proper parts. I will not be teaching them these terms in class, but it would be very helpful if you went over the correct terms with them at home.  We have also talked about the 5 steps they can take if they are in a situation that is inappropriate, unsafe or uncomfortable.

Friday 19 May 2017

Week beginning May 15th

Sorry for my hiatus from the blog. I was having trouble singing in and just got it worked out.

The month of April was devoted to writing the stories that the children are getting published.  It was a lot of hard work.  The books are going to be wonderful!

In Language Arts we have continued to work on reading comprehension and have begun practicing summarizing.  The class is using this flow chart to complete the summary: Somebody (who is the main character?), Wanted (What did the character want?), But (What was the problem?), So (How was the character solved), Then(What was the resolution to the problem?).

In math we have been working on money, specifically pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.  We have begun looking at menus and ordering items (adding).  We will continue ordering next week being finding change.

In Religion we have been focusing on the Trinity.  We compared the trinity to the parts of the apple (peal, flesh, core).  They all have different roles but are part of the same apple.  We then explored the characteristics of God the Father and God the Son (we also looked at the incarnation of Jesus and how he is both divine and human).  We will continue next week with who is the Holy Spirit and his role in our life.

In science, we have begun researching our animals.  We will be creating a food chain and completing a research report on their animal.

Have a wonderful long weekend!



Sunday 9 April 2017

Week beginning April 3rd

This week the focus was on writing our stories to be published. The children have been working very hard and enthusiastically! We focused on different ways to start a story, making sure we have at least three events in the story and write using descriptive language (adjectives, adverbs, and similes).  Next we will be editing the first drafts of the stories making sure the correct punctuation, capitalization, interesting words and description has been used.  They will also be working on their  illustrations for their stories.

In Math we looked at pictographs this week.  We learned the symbol being used in the graph should be connected to the data that is being represented and the importance of the value of the symbol being clear.  They interpreted pictographs, matched pictographs to data tables and represented data by creating their own pictographs. Our next topic will be money. We will be completing a project that requires adding and subtracting money.

In Religion this week we prayed the stations of the cross after learning about the stations last week. We also began taking about Palm Sunday and Holy Week.  We will continue to focus on this in depth.

Correction:
In the post last week I wrote that our class trip to the Surrey Nature Center is on June 13th.  This is incorrect.  Our trip is on April 24th. Your child will have brought a permission form home on Friday about this trip.

Up Coming Events:
-Praise and Worship Club every Monday from 3-3:30pm
-Over 18 Screening - April 19th 6:30pm
 

Saturday 1 April 2017

Term 3!

We are on to the last stretch of Grade 3! The students have come a long way and I am very proud of all the hard work the have put in.

Term 3 will be a busy term.  For the month of April our class will be busy writing stories to go in our very own books, which will be published by Student Treasures Publishing.  We have two field trips planned and we will use the researching and writing and presenting skills we have been working on in the last 2 terms to begin and complete our passion projects.  More information on all this topics will be provided soon.

This week we were very focused on planning our stories in Language Arts.  We discussing the purpose of our stories and what themes they many have.  Before Spring Break we planned in detail who our main character(s) and villains were.  This week we reviewed this and focused on developing a detailed setting and planning out the plot of our stories.  We also continued to practice our reading comprehension and have begun our spelling tests once more.

In Math this week focused on data collection this week.  We asked questions, recorded the answers using tally charts and then represented the information using bar charts.  We will continue to work on data collection next week.  We will be focusing on representing information using pictograph.  We will also focus on interpreting bar charts and pictographs.  It is very important that students continue to practice their basic math skills all year round.  we will be working on basic math skills through out the term.  Please practice these skills at home as well.  xtramath is a great way to have your child practice their basic math skills.

In Religion this week we have focused on the Jesus' passion through the Stations of the Cross.  We will continue to do this next week and also focus on Paslm Sunday and the Triduum. 


Student Treasures and Publishing Books:
As mentioned above, we are writing stories that will be published.  It is wonderful that the students have the opportunity to go through the steps that writers go through before they finish a piece novel.  They will also be their own illustrators. The children are very excited about this and are putting in a lot of hard work. You will be receiving the following notice and an order form next week:

Hello parents!

 
This year your child will be getting their writing published into their very own book!  The company, Student Treasures offers us to give each child a FREE published paperback book and you have the opportunity to get an extra copy(s) if you wish (which will be hardcover).  Even if you do not want to order a copy, please send back this order form by checking “no” and sign as we must send in all those forms in order that your child gets their FREE book.  Please have the order forms in by Thursday, April 13.  The order form has the prices in US dollars but if you wish to pay with Canadian cash, no extra exchange rate will be necessaryJ. 


Field Trips: 
- Fort Langley : May 5th
- Surrey Nature Center : June 13th

As always, please feel free to email me any questions you may have!


Saturday 18 February 2017

Week beginngin the 13th of February


In Language Arts the class presented their Poems this week.  The class did really well over all! It was evident everyone had been practicing a lot.  We also continued one with our Monthly News and also began looking at story writing. The class really enjoyed writing their stories this week and will continue on with their stories, as well as continuing on practicing their reading strategies during silent reading and the novel study.

In Math, we continued to practice our multiplication and began looking at how division is connected to multiplication and sharing out the quantity equally. We will continue on with this next week.

Skating:

We will be going Skating on Monday afternoon.  Please ensure your child comes to school in uniform, but with coats, hats and glove to keep them warm while skating.  If you did not send money to school for rentals, please ensure your child comes to school with their skates and helmet.  It would be very helpful if skates are brought to school in an easy to carry bag as we will be walking to the skating rink.

Thank you to the parents who offered to walk to the skating rink with us. We will be departing from CCS at 11:45. Please bring your own skates and helmet or money for rentals if you would like to skate.


Student Led Conferences:
Student led conferences will be on Thursday and Friday this week. This is a chance for your child to share with you the learning they are proud of. If you would like to have a meeting with me I am happy to schedule a meeting with you for another day.


Upcoming events:
Feb. 20th - Praise and worship club from 3:00 - 3:30
Feb. 22nd - Public Speaking Assembly at 2:00 pm
Feb. 23rd - Student Led Conferences begin after school
Feb. 24th - Student Led Conferences - NO SCHOOL
Feb 28th - Shrove Tuesday - Non-uniform
March 1st - Ash Wednesday
March 3rd - Report Cards go out







Friday 10 February 2017

Skating

 

Our Skating Date is:
Monday, February 20th – Grades 1, 3 and 5 @ 12:30pm

Please return the signed form to the school by Thursday, February 16th.
 
COST TO THE STUDENT:  Skates $3.00/student; Helmets $2/student payable to Cloverdale Catholic School with permission form.
 
WHAT TO BRING/WEAR: Wear uniforms to school and bring skates, helmets (bicycle helmets are okay), gloves, warm clothing, boots (for walking).  Students will change back into their school uniforms following the skating sessions.  Girls may want to bring pants.
 
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:  Use your own skates & helmets if at all possible rather than renting as sizes run out.  Students will walk with their class to and from the Cloverdale Arena, 6090 176 Street.  We need parents willing to walk with the class.  Please indicate on the permission form if you can help and you will be contacted.

Monday 6 February 2017

Week Beginning January 30th

This week we spend 3 sessions creating our dream gardens with our Grade 6 buddies. First they created a rough copy with their ideas and then a final copy to which they added materials such as feathers, beads and buttons. They have done such a great job and I invite you to come see them displayed in the classroom if you have the chance. 

In Language Arts we are continuing practicing writing paragraphs with a clear topic sentence and 3 descriptive supporting sentences.  We are finishing up practicing using capital letters in the correct places and will be moving onto when we use a and an.  I have also begun testing the children on the top 100 and next 200 high frequency words. They will begin practicing the words they were not confident in. In reading we have been reviewing and practicing the rules we have learned in January.

Speech Arts
We completed the Bible reading portion of Speech Arts this week.  All the children did very well! It was evident they have been practicing.  I am very excited to see them perform their poems on the 14th and 15th of February!

Next week will only be two days.  We will continue to practice writing, reading and move further with our novel study.

In Math this week we continued to practice our multiplication facts. One of the games we played is Multiplication squares. The class really loved it.  Please have your child practice their basic math facts on xtra math.  They have their pins taped to the plastic pocket in their planners. 5-10 minutes every day will help them with their speed and accuracy in math.

We will continue practicing our multiplication facts next week and then begin to look at division using fact families and arrays the week after.

Catholic Schools Week:


Tomorrow, Tuesday the 7th of February will be silly hat and crazy hair day.  It will also be a non uniform day. Children are asked to bring in $1 to donate to our RC Challenge Club.  They are fundraising for some school equipment.

Wednesday the 8th of February will be Funky Socks & Shoes Day. This is a uniform day.

There will be No School on Thursday and Friday due to the Catholic Educators Conference for
staff.


Other Upcoming Events This Month:

February 13th - No School (BC Family Day)
February 14th - Non-uniform Day (Valentine's Day)
February 14 &15 - Poem Performances in class (Speech Arts)
February 20th - Skating
February 22nd - Public Speaking Assembly
February 23rd - Student led conferences 3:15 pm - 7:15pm
February 24th - Student led conference 9 am - 12pm
February 27th - Skating
February 28th - Non-uniform (Shrove Tuesday)
March 3rd - Report cards sent home