Salad Day

On Wednesday, we had the pleasure to enjoy the fruits, or should I say "vegetables" of our labours!  The three Grade 3 classes came together as a community and harvested the lettuce that has been growing in our Tower Gardens.  We shared some delicious and healthy toppings and enjoyed a nutritious lunch.  We will try to send some fresh basil home soon for you to throw into your own home cooking!

Looking at roots and learning how to harvest.

Here we are harvesting our lettuce.

Here is our final product and enjoying the yummy veggies!  I think they like it!

Measurement

We have now begun our unit on Measurement.  We will begin with Linear Measurement where the students must learn to do the following:

• estimate, measure and record length, height, and distance using standard units (cm, m, km)
• draw items using a ruler, given specific lengths in cm
• compare standard units of length and select and justify the most appropriate unit to measure length
• compare and order objects on the basis of linear measurements in cm and m (100 cm=1m)

Practise these skills at home by asking your child to estimate the length of an object in your home, and you give an estimate too.  After, measure it using a ruler or measuring tape and whoever is closest wins 10 points.  First person to 100 wins!  You can also choose an object and ask your child if they would measure that in cm or m.

Here is our in class anchor chart:

We will try to do a quiz on Tuesday or Wednesday next week so we can move onto Area and Perimeter.  The expectations for these measurement skills are as follows:

• ·        estimate, measure, and record the perimeter of 2D shapes using standard units
• ·         estimate, measure, and record area
• ·         compare and order various shapes by area using congruent shapes and grid paper
• ·         describe the relationship between the size of a unit of area and the number of units needed to cover a surface

You can help your child practise these skills by asking them to estimate the perimeter of their bed, their dresser, the table, and the backyard.  Ask them how many post-it notes they would need to cover a book, the kitchen floor, or front of the refrigerator.

3D Quiz on Monday

This site has some fun games to play as practise for our 3D Quiz.  Remember to look through your flip book as well.

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/shape-position-and-movement

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today we watched a video and read a book on Martin Luther King Jr.  The students had many great thoughts about "justice" and excellent questions about history.  You can watch the video here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xXZhXTFWnE

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!  Hope everyone enjoyed some safe and relaxing holidays!

We are continuing to work on Geometry and will be doing a 2D Quiz this Thursday.  We will then move on to 3D figures.  The expectations are as follows:

• I can identify and compare various polygons (triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, heptagons, octagons) and sort them by their geometric properties (# of sides, side lengths, # of interior angles, # of right angles)
• I can use a reference tool to identify right angles and to describe and compare angles as greater than, equal to, or less than a right angle
• I can compare and sort prisms and pyramids by their geometric properties
• I can construct rectangular prisms and describe geometric properties of prisms
• I can solve problems requiring the greatest or least number of 2D shapes needed to compose a larger shape in a variety of ways
• I can explain the relationships between different types of quadrilaterals 
• I can identify and describe the 2D shapes that are found in 3D shapes 
• I can describe and name prisms and pyramids by the shape of their base
• I can identify congruent 2D shapes by manipulating and matching concrete materials

This week's homework will be the last week to incorporate reading response questions.  We will be moving onto writing a Hamburger Paragraph.  The students will be given a topic in which they must come up with 3 interesting details, an opening sentence and a closing sentence.  See the anchor chart below.  Math will remain the same.

We are continuing to work on Narrative Writing in our Language program.  You can ask your child to tell you who the characters are, or the setting, or problem and solution when reading fiction books aloud.  

In Science, we are closing up our Plants unit and will begin to study Soils.  Look at how well our lettuce and basil Tower Gardens are doing.  They really sprouted over the holidays!

Please continue sending your child to school with snowpants, mittens, hats, and boots that are labelled as we go outside 3 times a day and many things seem to go missing.

Mrs. Fraser's class has begun the Swim to Survive program.  Please note that Mrs. Mediema's class will  be going in February and Ms. Ferrarotto's class will be going in March.  

As always, feel free to communicate through the agendas or write a note to let us know to give you a call if you have any questions or concerns.