The Passage of Time

It's hard to believe that we are starting the month of November this coming week! It was great to meet with you and your child for goal-setting conferences. I have copied the goals and support plans. These will be sent home with your child on Monday. Please look for them in your child's planner. Speaking of planners, with all the excitement of Halloween in the halls (and classroom) on Friday, we completely forgot to record any reminders. The grade 3 students had learned a high-low target game in math and were to teach it to a parent or sibling. Please check the calendar as well for any assignments due or other important reminders. I try to keep this updated regularly.

Our science unit on Structures is in full swing. We had fun this week investigating which materials and shapes make strong building frames. Our first experiment involved testing popsicle sticks and straws as beams and posts. Later in the week, we did another hands-on experiment to determine which shape was stronger: the arch or the square. We then added a triangle to support the square and found that it added strength.

In our Health &  Career unit on Nutrition, we learned about serving sizes this week. Students had to classify foods into the correct food groups, identify the food groups in combination foods, and determine whether a food was 1/2, 1 or 2 food guide servings. Next week, we will be looking at our 3 Day Food Records. Students will be analyzing their records to determine if they are eating the required number of foods in each food group. Then they will create a Nutrition Plan. We have received a $100 grant from the BC Dairy Foundation to allow us to have a fruit and veggies taste-testing session.

In Physical Education, we have been working on getting our heart rates up doing some active games like Crows and Cranes or Cooperative Hoop Tag. Students have also been working on following directions and moving safely in the gym space. All classes will also have the opportunity to work with a gymnastics teacher in mid-November for a three week period. This program is usually provided every two years. It is a wonderful opportunity for students to develop balance, strength and flexibility.

In Reading, we have been working on several skills. One of the most recent is how to do a good retell of a story. I have taught students to use the Somebody-Wanted-But-So format to help them retell the main characters and events in sequence. As well, I am encouraging them to focus on the main problem and the solution in relation to the character. We are also beginning to look at asking questions as a strategy that good readers use to help them comprehend. Students are excited to begin our new read aloud: To the Top of Everest. This nonfiction story is an exciting recount of a Canadian mountain climber.

We are continuing to explore the trait of Ideas in writing. We are still working on finding a topic and have also begun to work on focusing our topic. The next steps will be developing the topic and adding details. Please take a moment to read our poems about fall leaves which are displayed outside the classroom. Our Free Write Fridays are just about in full swing now. Each Friday, students are given complete choice of what to write about and how to write. They have a menu of possibilities to choose from or they can think of additional ideas on their own. Here are some examples: writing a letter, a poem, or a song; writing an information report or a how-to book; creating a comic or graphic novel; or writing a creative story. Students are also given the option of working with friends or on their own. 

Both grade 3 and 4 students have been working on maps in Social Studies over the last week: world maps and maps of British Columbia. Grade 3 students will be looking at three communities in British Columbia in more detail this coming week. We will be using four categories to describe these communities - population, location, environment, and community life. This will be the last week for students to bring in any photos of BC communities they have visited or know about. All photos will be returned. Finally, remember to return any BC maps on Tuesday please.

Last but not least, we are busy in Math. Grade 4 students are making their way through a unit on Patterns and Algebra. We are finishing up number patterns this week by investigating increasing and decreasing patterns. Next, we will be learning about attributes and examining patterns with shapes. We will be also learning about T-tables, which are important for students to understand when they study algebra in the older grades.