Welcome back to school!  It was a chilly, snowy start to January, but we are getting back into our regular routines!

The students are bringing home information forms about Bowls for Beds. Everyone in our class will be painting bowls for this fundraiser on Monday. If you wish to purchase your child's bowl, please complete the form that was sent home and send in $25. If you do not want to purchase your child's bowl, it will be sold to raise money at the Bowls for Beds fundraiser.

Our library day will be on Tuesdays for the next few weeks.

In math this week we are working on subtraction. We have explored a variety of strategies such as using base ten blocks, drawing pictures, and stacking to find the answers. To check the reasonableness of our answers we have used estimation and calculators. We will finish off our subtraction unit early next week and then move on to a measurement unit.

In language we are starting procedural writing. The students have already seen a variety of procedures this year for activities and art lessons. Now it is their turn to write some procedures. We explored the features of procedures and created success criteria. Today, the students wrote their first "How to" piece with a group. We will finish these tomorrow and give feedback to the groups.

Congratulations to the students on a job well done at the Christmas concert!!

This Thursday we will have a holiday celebration in the afternoon. Your child may bring a snack/treat to share with the class if you wish, but please do not feel that you need to. There is always a lot to go around.

Thursday will also be a spirit day. The theme is jersey/sports day. House points will be counted for students who participate.

December has been rushing by.  I can't believe next week is the last week of school before the holidays!

Here is some important information for the concert that I was hoping to send home today.  However, since it was a snow day, the blog is probably a better way to get the information out.  Students are having a dress rehearsal on Monday for the school.  On Tuesday there will be 2 concerts for families to attend.  The first is at 12:00 p.m.  The second is at 6:30 p.m.  Students are asked to wear a white top (any colour for bottoms), sunglasses, and a winter hat on both Monday and Tuesday for the concert.

Our time in Santa's Workshop will be on Wednesday, December 18.  Please send permission forms along with $1.00 if you have not had a chance to yet.

We have had a lot of fun making Christmas decorations for the concert and to brighten up our school halls. We have also started a special Christmas ornament too.

In math we have been adding 2 digit numbers and working with fact families. We are moving on to 2 digit subtraction next.

My apologies for the time that has passed since my last post.  I have had to be away several days over the past couple of weeks.

In math we have finished our patterning unit and started a number sense unit.  So far this week we have been working on improving the recall of simple addition facts by playing card games, using the Ipads, and completing timed math challenges.  We have also begun adding 2 digit numbers with, and without, regrouping.  We will continue this unit over the next couple of weeks.

In language we have been writing letters, making inferences, and participating in literacy centres.  To continue our school-wide focus on no tolerance for bullying, I have been reading "How to Handle a Bully" to the class.  It is a short chapter book.  During and after readings we have had some good conversations about what to do when faced with a bully, and how bullying makes everyone who is involved feel.  Next week we will write friendly letters to other students in the school.

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.