Just wanted to send out some quick reminders about Skating on Friday. We would love to have some parent helpers for getting skates on if you are available. We are going skating at 1:00 and returning at approx 2:30.
There is also a Spell to Write and Read seminar hosted by our school happening on Oct. 22. It is a free seminar for all new parents or anyone who is interested in a refresher! Contact myself or the school office for more information.
Students received their spelling tests back today. If you have not seen it yet, ask your child about it!
Also, on a completely different topic, I have a Sony tv that I am looking to sell. It is a tube tv so it is fairly large. However, it is in good working condition and still runs perfectly. It is a 32′ tv and comes with a remote. If you are interested, I am selling it for 100.00 obo.
Here is a hilarious video I am sure will bring a smile to your face! Enjoy and see you tomorrow. Don’t forget to check out the spelling information out below!
Our First Spelling List! Oh, This Is SOO Exciting!!!
Well, here we are! Our very first spelling list!!! So. Here is how it goes. Below, you will see the list of words. You can also get them from the box.net area on the right hand side. Or click here to download it if you can’t see it below. You should also have it glued into your planners. My goodness, so many ways to spell! Underneath you will also see a box with a “Start Here” on it. If you click on it, you will be taken to our Spelling Lists on Spelling City!
Spelling City is a great free program that allows children to practice their spelling lists online. You can play games with your words, test yourself, practice your words and also print out handwriting pages with your spelling words!! Huzzah!
The best thing is that you can get bonus marks for your spelling test! Here is how:
Click on the link below
Practice your words
Take the test on Spelling City
Get 100%
Print out the certificate with your perfect score or get your parents to write that you got 100% on your Spelling City test in your planners.
Show it to Mr. H before the spelling test and get 1 bonus mark on your spelling test!
That’s it. It’s that easy! Our first spelling test will be on Weds. Oct. 12.
Spelling City is only one of the many exciting tools that we will be using online and in-class. Stay tuned to see more resources t0 help your child explore learning outside the classroom. M-1
Here is the link to Spelling City. Just click on it to be taken there.
So, by now everyone should have seen the cryptic message in their child’s planner. “What’s that? My child wrote a test that wasn’t fair? And who is this Bob guy anyway?”
Hopefully your child sat you down in a nice comfortable chair and, in a comforting voice, told you all about the new unit we started in Science today. We started our Structures and Design unit today after learning all about how scientists work. As part of our introduction, we talked about how scientists need to conduct fair tests in order to get valid information from their experiment. To help illustrate this, I held a test involving several unfair elements including writing implements that did not work, more time given to certain people, etc. Needless to say, this test was not for any real marks but it was a fund conversation about how tests needed to be fair for everyone and, to do that, all the elements (or as many as you can control) need to be the same.
This concept will be very important as we look to experimenting with designs and materials to see what makes structures work. In fact, throughout this unit, students will be answering the big question:
What Materials and Designs Do You Need to Make Buildings Safe and Strong?
Students will be involved in many experiments leading up to our large project where students will be given a choice of building types to design and build. It is a great unit and one that students always get into. Tomorrow, we will be creating our Building Company and coming up with a name for our company. We will also be deciding which of the three types of buildings that want to choose for their final project and begin some preliminary designs.
Monday, Oct 3 will be Highroad Spirit Day in the High School. To get into the spirit of things, and to celebrate our great school, we will also allow the elementary students to wear casual pants with something Red. Students may wear jeans and a red top of their choice. The top should be MOSTLY red. No belly shirts and the shirt must have sleeves (short or long). If you have any questions, please email or come see me. If you don’t have a mostly red shirt, students can still wear their uniforms.
Recently, we have been looking at the properties of Oobleck. Do you remember what properties are? We can find the properties of objects around us by using our 5 senses; what we see, feel, hear, smell and taste. So,
Properties are the things or words we use to describe different objects so we can tell them apart.
We played with and investigated the properties of Oobleck to help us understand what made Oobleck different from other substances like water or play-do. You had some wonderful properties you discovered as you worked with the Oobleck.
I also had told you that Scientists themselves did not understand why Oobleck had such strange properties but they are working very hard to find out more just like we are!!!! However, the big announcement was that Oobleck was actually a combination of cornstarch, water and green food colouring. You can actually make your own.
1. Mix two parts cornstarch with 1 part water. Get your parents to help you with the measurements. You may have to add more of each to get it perfect. You need to have more cornstarch than water though.
2. Add a couple of drops of food colouring.
3. Play and have fun.
Here is a video showing what Oobleck does when you put it on top of a very loud speaker!!! What do you notice? Would water do this is you did the same thing? Why don’t you try it and find out?
Yesterday was a blast! Literally! To end off our look at Oobleck we took alook at Mars. Now you may be asking what does Mars have to do with Oobleck? Well, that would be a good question!! We talked about Mars because the scientists who created the Mars Rover had to go through the same process to create the Mars Rover that the students did to create their Oobleck Machines.
In the first part of our Oobleck unit, the students had to think about Oobleck, play with it, explore, discover, experiment, test, observe and use their senses. Scientists had to do the same thing. They had no idea what Mars was like and yet had to use what they had (pictures, etc) to come up with a machine that could withstand anything that might happen.
The scientists held a convention to share their ideas, discuss, argue, put ideas together and listen to each other. The students had to do the same thing to create their rules for Oobleck. Finally, both the scientists and students had to use all their observations and ideas to create and design a machine they thought would be able to function on Mars or Oobleck. We had an amazing time discussing and sharing ideas and pictures.
I also showed the students an awesome video showing the Mars Rover leaving Earth and landing on Mars and all the things the Mars Rover had to do in order to land safely and function properly on Mars once it got there. Here is the video:
As part of how we are striving to keep you up-to-date and informed, we have added the memory verses for the ENTIRE YEAR on to the class calendar. You can access the Class Calendar to see the memory verses by going to the very top of the page and clicking on the Calendar link. This will take you to our calendar where you will see, not only the bible verses but also lots of other important dates as well!
The calendar can get quite crowded so you may see things like +2 or shortened names with …. after it. Just click on the events to see the full name and any details that may be included.
Our memory verses are always given out on the Monday and students will say their verses to me on Friday. WE ARE STARTING MEMORY VERSES NEXT WEEK!
A fun thing we are doing with memory verses this year is to have the students bring in their own or family favorite verses to memorize. These verses are often very important to families for many reasons and it is fun to see the verses that have impacted the lives of our families!
FOR SOME FUN
Here are some fun memory verse printables you can print out, cut out and put together to make some great memory verses for fun!
As you may have read last time, the class wanted to give the parents a tour of the class to tell you all about the fun things we have going on in Grade 3.Today, we wanted to show you one of our Language Arts boards, which includes the Home Reading Program board, the Calendar board and the computers.
The Calendar board allows us to highlight important dates and show the students how quickly we are moving through the days. While we don’t highlight it everyday, it is still useful for showing students how far away certain events are and remind students of the calendar skills they learned in the previous years. One of the important areas on the board is the “Goals for the Week”. We just started doing this this week and is an important way for students to think about behaviour and the expectations of the class so that we can all work together as a team. These are tough goals this year and we have been working very hard on them. The students come up with the goals themselves. At the end of the week, during class meetings, we will go over the goals and discuss how they went and whether we achieved our goals.
Setting goals is an important skill for children. We will be setting many goals for a variety of things this year, particularly in our Home Reading.
Speaking of which, our next board is for our Home Reading program. Every students has a space that corresponds to an online website called Pockettales. Pockettales allows students to find and share books with their friends. As students read books, they add them into the system. As students read books, they get badges to show their achievements. When they finish their books they can also share them with their friends in the class. We used Pockettales for the first time last year and the students had a lot of fun with it. It is still fairly new, so the Pockettales team is still adding features and working out the kinks. This will be one part of our program which will be starting in October.
As you can see, we also have a computer in the class! I have scrounged up some computers including my old computer, an old computer from the computer lab and the old laptop belonging to my wife. I am still working on getting everything up and running so the students have not had much chance to use it yet. Once they are up and running we will have a number of online and offline resources we will be using on them. It is very exciting to have lots of great opportunities for using technology in the class. Also, if anyone has a 75w power cord with interchangeable ends on it for a laptop, would you please let me know? We seem to have lost the one for the old laptop and I need something that will power it. Thanks!
Tomorrow, we will have some exciting news about our Science program! Stay tuned. Here is a bit of a hint of what we are learning about.
Tomorrow, students will be participating in our own special brand of the Terry Fox Run. Sometime during the day, we will be taking the students outside to do some running to recognize the special contribution and legacy that Terry Fox left us in the fight for a cure for cancer.
As part of this special event, we are asking students to bring a toonie or loonie as a way to support this cause. We will be providing refreshments for the students after the run as well.
Here is a video highlighting his accomplishments. Terry Fox was an amazing man and an inspirational hero. Take some time to talk to your children about him and why what he did was important.
Just wanted to send out some quick reminders about Skating on Friday. We would love to have some parent helpers for getting skates on if you are available. We are going skating at 1:00 and returning at approx 2:30.
