This week we have been preparing for the director's cut workshop.  We will be finishing our scripts and background pictures tomorrow so we will be ready for filming on Thursday.

In social studies the students have been busy researching information about a Canadian city.  Today the students used Pic Collage to show the important features of their community, including population, transportation, recreation, landmarks, and interesting facts.  Pictures to come shortly!

In math we have been working on patterning.  So far we have learned about repeating patterns, attributes, and growing patterns.  The grade 3s have done an excellent job creating and extending patterns.  Our focus is on the clear communication of patterns. Here are some pictures of the class hard at work (or showing off muscles ;) and some student samples of the kinds of math work we have done in this unit.

If you have access to an Ipod, Iphone, or Ipad, here are some apps we have used in class that you should check out!

Madagascar Math Ops (free)

Math Zombies (free)

Quick Maths ($1.99)

We had another busy day!

In the morning we used the ipads. Our task was to use an app called Pic Collage to show the features of Collingwood. Students were expected to include a title, population, transportation, recreation, and landmarks.

This is what the app looks like. Try it out on your home devices! Have your child show you how!

In preparation for Remembrance Day, we have been writing letters to soldiers, making poppies for our wreath, and creating a piece of artwork. Earlier this week I posted pictures of the first step of the poppy pictures with just glue outlines.  Today we used chalk pastels to colour in the picture. After that, students used paper towels to blend the chalk. They turned out really well!

This week we have started making inferences by looking at pictures. We combine the clues we see with our background knowledge, or schema, to find the message.

clues from pictures/words + background knowledge = inference

Here is an example of one we did together with Ms. Wiszniak's class.

We thought our bean seed experiment wasn't working because the seeds were not sprouting and the window was too cold.  So, we took them off the window and left them alone.  Then one day we noticed that half of them actually did sprout!  Today we transplanted the sprouts from the paper towels to soil. Those who did not have a seed germinate placed a new seed in wet paper towel, but put it in a paper cup instead of a plastic bag this time.  We are going to watch these closely to see if we can observe the sprout breaking out of the seed coat.

Remembrance Day is this coming Monday. In preparation, we are making poppies for a wreath that we will lay at the assembly. We are also starting poppy art. It is a multi-step process.  The first was drawing poppies and a background, and then tracing over the lines with white glue. When it all dries, we will be using chalk pastels to fill in the picture.