Newspaper Stars!

Check out today's Oakville Beaver... eight kiddies from Room 209 wrote about their favourite family Christmas tradition and their entries were published! Congratulations Abby, Sierra, Kyle, Chris, Isabella, Kylie, Sophia and Veronica! I am so proud!

Oakville Beaver

Math Question 2!

Math Question!

Geometry Test Details

On Tuesday we will be having a math test for unit three: geometry.
The following will be covered on the test:

• Identifying 2D shapes by their attributes (parallel sides, side length, angles)
• Identifying angles as right angles, less than a right angle or greater than a right angle
• Identifying shapes: trapezoids, parallelograms, rhombuses, pentagons and hexagons
• Comparing shapes (how are they the same and different)
• Congruent shapes
• Describing 3D figures based on the attributes of edges, vertices and faces
• Identifying different types of prisms and pyramids
• Nets

Geometric Figures

Today we began learning about 3 D figures. In small groups we explored different figures and recorded everything we know about them. We mainly focused on the following attributes: number of edges, number of vertices and number of faces.

Give it a try with the figures below!

Geometry Test

Our Geometry unit is just about coming to an end. We are aiming to have a math test on Tuesday December 17. More details to follow!

Congruent Fun!

Find pairs of congruent shapes.
How do you know they are congruent?

Congruent

Last week we were introduced to a very sophisticated term for quite an easy concept!

The new word is "congruent."

Congruent means that two or more shapes are exactly the same size and shape.

Letter Writing

Over the last week Ms. Ostanal has begun a letter writing unit with the boys and girls. The Christmas season is always a fun time to learn this writing format so that we can write letters to Santa! We will begin our letters to Santa Claus this week so that he has plenty of time to write us back!

New Shapes

We have been learning about a number of new shapes to grade three. They are:

• trapezoid
• parallelogram
• rhombus
• pentagon (both regular and irregular)
• hexagon (both regular and irregular)

POTW Presentation

This week the boys and girls are responsible for practicing and presenting the POTW (Duke of Dodgeball) on Friday afternoon. As a group we came up with the success criteria for our presentations. Basically, this means that we came up with a list of things that would make a level three presentation. We will review the success criteria each day this week as well as practice the poem together. There will be no POTW test this week.

Welcome Back!

Today we very happily welcomed back Ms. Ostonal! We are so thrilled to have her with us until Christmas break... yippee!

PJ Party!

Friday was the best Fun Friday! We cozied up in our jammies with blankets, pillows, stuffies and popcorn to watch "Because of Winn Dixie." It was lots of fun... we will have to do it again soon.
The link below has pictures of our party. The password is in your child's agenda.

PJ Party

PJ Day!

Tomorrow St. Andrew is having their first Spirit Day of the year... PJ Day! Kiddies are encouraged to wear warm jammies to school (remember recesses will be cold). As a class we have worked very hard all of November so as a special treat I said that the chickadees could bring along their stuffies, pillows, blankets etc. and we would have a jammie movie afternoon after lunch. We just finished reading the novel "Because of Winn Dixie" so my thinking is we will cozy up for the movie tomorrow afternoon! I am looking forward to a great day!

More Angles!

Today we worked some more with angles. We used another math manipulative called pattern blocks to explore angles in 2 D shapes. As partners we solved a problem which allowed us to put our learning from yesterday into practice. I am thinking a "pop quiz" tomorrow on angles.

Glogster

I am bringing my keen learners over to the techy world! In Social Studies the boys and girls have been researching a different First Nation tribe with a partner. Now that all their research is collected, I wanted them to share their great learning with their peers. In the past I would have used "old fashioned" Bristol Boards to present their written information and pictures. In keeping up with the times, I realize that these type of presentations are not so popular and will probably never be used once the kiddies get to high school (which is crazy to think is in only 5 years!)This is when my wheels started turning and I have tried to get creative! I have turned to an online resource called "Glogster." This website allows users to create interactive posters (sorta like a Bristol Board). It looks like a poster, but readers can interact with the content. We can insert text, images, photos, audio, and videos into their glogs (a.k.a. posters) to generate a multimedia online creation! We began to explore the site on the Smartboard today and fiddled around with how it works. This week we will begin to create our posters with our partners... I can't wait to get "glogging!"

Angles!

Today's math learning goal was to identify angles as either a right angle, greater than a right angle or less than a right angle. In grade three we do not actually need to name the angles or measure them using protractors... this is saved for grade four.

Hook Your Reader!

In our writing blocks we have been working on writing "a good hook." A hook is the opening sentence in our writing. When we write a good hook we get a reader interested in our writing so that they  will want to read on!

Last week we learned about a type of hook called "The Checklist Hook." We had a lot of fun experimenting with this kind of hook both in small groups and independently. 
Here are a few examples of this type of hook:

Soccer ball? Check. Uniform? Check. Lucky shoes to make me score?
Check. This is what happened at my soccer game this weekend.

Hat? Check. Snow pants? Check. Mittens? Check. Plenty of snow to attack my sister with snowballs? Check. Let me tell you about my adventures in the snow!

Today we learned and practiced a second type of hook called "The Question Hook."
Here are some examples of this type of hook:

Have you ever heard of a dog that could dance? Well I have one and her name is Champ!

Have you ever wondered what it's like to get stuck in a car wash? It happened to me this weekend and I'm going to tell you all about it!

As you can see these hooks require creativity and some thinking "outside of the box." Opening up our writing with a good hook really sparkles up our writing and makes it our own! 

Attributes

We have been learning about the different ways to describe 2 D shapes. We came up with the following list of attributes:

- type of lines (curvy or straight)
- number of sides
- length of sides
- parallel sides

Today for our math warm up we were introduced to a math manipulative called a Geoboard. On this board students can make their own shape using an elastic band. Our task was to make any type of shape we want and then on a sticky note describe the shape using the above attributes. Some of us had a chance to show their shape under the document camera on the Smartboard and share the attributes with the class.

Math Test

Today we wrote our math test. I have marked about half of them and I am so thrilled with the results!!! We have all done so well. I have a bunch of addition and subtraction rock stars in this room!
We will begin Unit 3: Geometry this week.

It's Here...

It is official... cold and flu season is here (ugh!). Many of us are coughing and sniffling in Room 209 (me included). I remind the boys and girls to cough in their sleeve and to wash their ands frequently (especially after coughing in their hands and blowing their noses).
Let's help stop the spread of germs!

Math Problem #3

Last night's practice page was another great problem that is "math test worthy" *wink wink.*
Here are a couple that could be practiced over the weekend:

Manny read 18 books in the Read-A-Thon.
He read seven books in the first week.
How many books did Manny read in the second week?
Explain your thinking.



A bake sale sold 145 cookies on Monday and 93 cookies on Tuesday.
Round to the nearest ten and tell about how many cookies the bake sale sold over the two days.

 

Problem #2

Mickey has 600 trading cards in his collection. Minnie has 387 fewer cards in her collection than Mickey.
How many fewer cards does Minnie have than Mickey?

Math Problem

In October Sammy the Squirrel collects 136 acorns. In November, he collects one hundred seventy-four acorns.
How many acorns does he collect in all?

* Talk together about how you know to add or subtract.

Math Test

Our Unit in Addition and Subtraction is coming to an end. We will write a unit test on Tuesday November 19. I will post various word problems over the next few days that the boys and girls can practice at home to help them study.

The following will be covered on the test:

- adding and subtracting strategies (make ten, doubles, near doubles)
- fact families
- find the missing number
- mental math
- estimation
- adding and subtracting with and without regrouping (up to three digits)
- word problems (it is important that the students can identify whether they should add or subtract)

Remembrance Day

To sum up our Remembrance Day liturgy today in one word it would be "beautiful." I can confidently say that the kids touched the hearts of everyone present. The readings were read clearly, the songs were sung with passion and the story was read with expression. It truly was remarkable.

Remembrance Day holds an extra special place in my heart. My (baby) brother Kyle is a proud member of the Canadian Armed Forces. He is stationed in CFB Edmonton. Days like today I miss him more than anything and am so proud of what he does for our country!

Reseach

Today we began a mini research project in social studies. This activity will be completed only at school. I am very excited as this project is going to be one of those "hit many birds with one stone" sorta activities. We will cover curriculum expectations in the areas of:

- reading
- writing
- social studies
- media
- oral visual

I anticipate a lot of great learning to take place. I can't wait to share the finished projects with everyone!

Two Digit Subtraction

We have done so well with three digit addition with regrouping this week that I felt very confident moving on to two digit subtraction (also with regrouping)today. After a bit of practice and review of our Grade 2 skills, we all quickly remembered how to subtract with regrouping. We will learn how to apply this skill to three digits tomorrow and practice into next week. I am thinking that late next week, or early the next, we will be ready for a unit test. I will post an exact date by Friday. 

Addition With Regrouping

Math today was a lot of review from Grade Two. We reviewed how to add two digit numbers using a standard algorithm (stacking the numbers on top of each other) both with and without regrouping.
Later this week our learning goal will be to add three digit numbers. Home practice and review of two digit adding with regrouping over the next few days would be quite helpful!

Online Practice

Remembrance Day

Next Monday we will be hosting the Remembrance Day liturgy for the school.
Some of us will be doing readings. These went home tonight and should be practiced nightly until the day of the liturgy. We will also be singing a beautiful song called "Little Red Poppy." Below is a Youtube link to the song. I encourage the kiddies to practice singing it at home too!

Little Red Poppy

Happy Weekend!

Today we got off to a bit of a slow start... I am thinking all the extra sugar and later than usual bedtimes last night (I know I was feeling it too). But we quickly "woke up" and picked up the pace. We were all able to finish our animal paragraphs based on the research we did with a partner last week. I am really looking forward to reading them as I know they will all be jammed packed with all kinds of "treasures."
In the afternoon we worked on a Halloween reflection page. We will collate all the pages and turn it into one of our famous classroom created books!
On November 11 our class is in charge of the Remembrance Day prayer service. We began learning a song today. Student readers will receive their parts on Monday.
I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. Hopefully the winds calm down and we can all enjoy some outdoors. Have fun and be safe!

Boogie Bones

On Friday we created our own dancing skeletons based on a book called "Boogie Bones" written by Elizabeth Loredo and Kevin Hawkes. We got very creative with our dance moves... just see for yourself!

Boogie Bones - 2013

Boo Hoo...

Ms. Ostonal's last day is tomorrow. She is such an amazing addition to room 209. I wish we could keep her forever! The good news however, is that she returns for another three weeks starting December 2nd. Let the count down begin!

Busy Busy Busy!

Over the last few days we have been busy little bees in Room 209! Our reading blocks have been full of making meaningful connections to various texts as well as guided reading with the teacher. During writing block we have been working on including interesting details in our work. We have been reading samples of work and deciding what are "treasures" (details that are interesting and worth keeping) and what is "trash" (the stuff that is sorta boring and we can get rid of). After lots of whole and small group practice we were ready to start something exciting today! As pairs we chose a non fiction animal book to read. After reading the text the boys and girls were to go back and discuss what facts really stood out to them as treasures. Finally, they were to record 5 - 7 treasures in jot note form in preparation to write their own paragraph about that animal. The buzz that was taking place in the classroom was amazing! Everyone was engaged in their task and thrilled to record only what they found most interesting. Next week we will continue our jot notes and begin writing some very interesting paragraphs.  

Because Of Winn Dixie

On Tuesday we (finally) finished reading our class novel "There's a Boy in the Girls Bathroom." I have been reading this book to my kiddies now for five years and I think I actually love it more and more each time I read it. It is such a rich text with many complex yet loveable characters. I think that as a class we would all agree that we really connected emotionally to Bradley Chalkers. It was almost like he was the 20th kid in our class! We were sad to end our journey with him but very excited to begin our next novel.

Yesterday we began "Because of Winn Dixie." This is another fantastic story with so much to love! I can tell that the kiddies are all already hooked and excited to listen to this story unfold. Have a mentioned that I love reading and the magic it brings to the classroom... it's priceless! 

Making Meaningful Connections

During our Reading Block, Ms. Ostonal has been teaching the boys and girls how to make

meaningful connections to the texts they read. Good readers connect to the big ideas / lessons is the story rather than the small details. For example: connecting with the way a character felt after being teased versus connecting to the idea that you too have a red sweater like the main character gives a reader a deeper understanding of the author’s message. These deeper connections help us better understand the texts we read, and therefore, make us better readers! I encourage the boys and girls to try and make meaningful connections when doing their nightly reading at home!

Long and Short Vowels

Last Thursday's practice page required us to do two things. Identify the syllables in a word and identify whether the vowel was long or short. Most of us have syllables down pat. However, I have noticed that many of us are confusing our long and short vowels. We will continue to review this concept daily during evening meeting using our POTW. Students should also practice distinguishing between long and short vowels at home using texts such as our POTW and the words of the week.

Math Strategies

We have been (pardon the pun)... adding to our math tool belts over the last few days. I have been introducing the boys and girls to different strategies that might help them out for various addition questions. We are trying to rely less on our fingers, counters and calculators and more on our quick mental math strategies.
Here are a few of our new nifty strategies:

1.Doubles(these are just our double facts that we need to work on memorizing)

2.Near Doubles(e.g.7 + 8…

  You can do 7+7=14 + 1 = 15)

3.Make Ten (example 9 + 6 …

  You can do 10+6 = 16 – 1 = 15)
 

These are all wonderful strategies that, with practice, lead to quick mental math. Your child should regularly practice their doubles facts to help them solve doubles and near double questions quickly.

Weekend Fun!

How did you spend your weekend?
For us it was swimming lessons and a birthday party on Saturday. Sunday was Harvest Festival at Springridge Farm! I hope you were able to get out and enjoy the beautiful sunshine today.
It was a busy weekend but lots of fun!

Fun Friday

Friday was a lot of fun! For "Fun Friday" we set up three different math game stations and rotated with partners through them. Station One was math apps on the iPad, Station Two was a version of the card game "War" using dice and addition and Station Three was another awesome addition dice game called "Face Off." The kiddies had a blast and little did they know they were learning a lot at the same time! Mrs. Linse is sneaky sneaky I tell ya!

Special News!

Today I shared some very special news with the boys and girls... The Linse family is growing! We will be welcoming the newest member of our family at the end of March. Baby Ashleigh is thrilled and can't wait to meet her little brother or sister!

Math Unit 2

Today we began unit two in math: Patterns in Addition and Subtraction.
In this unit, your child will develop strategies for adding and subtracting whole numbers by using addition charts, mental math, estimation, base ten blocks, place value mats and pencil and paper. The ability to use a variety of strategies to add and subtract leads to the development of strong number sense. Numbers are all around us and the skills taught in this unit are essential for daily living (Math Makes Sense, 2004).

 

Some ideas for home practice:

-     Practice doubles facts regularly

-     Add and subtract two digit numbers with and without regrouping

-     Solve word problems that require students to show their work and / or explain their thinking

 

Practice Pages!

Tonight each child is bringing home their Practice Page homework duo-tang. As mentioned on curriculum night, Practice Pages go home each Tuesday and Thursday night. They are always a review of concepts and skills already taught and practiced in class. Therefore, they should never require teaching or help from mom and dad.
  
The students are expected to complete the Practice Page neatly and return it to school the next day. I have explained that if there is ever a time that they cannot complete their homework, that decision is up to mom and dad and requires a note in the agenda. Thanks so much for your support in this area.  

Ready for Research!

Yesterday we integrated our Social Studies lesson with Media. As mentioned last week, we are learning all about the First Nations. Yesterday our focus was on how a new village is built. Many First Nation People built and lived in longhouses. Instead of just telling the students all the information about these homes, I had students go on a web hunt with a partner. Using the iPads, I first taught the kiddies how to get onto the web and do what we call a "smart search." Once we found some websites that looked good, the kiddies read and researched information in pairs about longhouses. They were to come up with two facts to share with the class. I was amazed at the learning that took place. It seemed much more effective than me standing up front of the class and listing off the facts to the kids. This was definitely much more engaging and memorable this way! Next week we will share our research and make an anchor chart all about longhouses. I look forward to developing our research skills as the unit unfolds!

Pop Quiz

Over the last week we have been working on finding and describing patterns on a hundreds chart. Today we had a small pop quiz to demonstrate our learning so far. Tomorrow we will begin using number lines to identify, describe and extend patterns.
As part of our math warm ups we often visit the following math site:

IXL MATH

Choose the Grade Three window and then the math skill you would like your child to practice.
Our next unit is going to be addition and subtraction for anyone who would like to get a head start!

Fluency Fun

Our Reading Workshops this week will focus on fluency. Today we learned that fluent readers pay attention to punctuation. We had a lot of fun practicing this with something we all know very well... the alphabet! I added various punctuation to it, which changed the way it was read. We worked with partners to perfect our fluency. Here is an example of what our passage may have looked like:

ABC?
DEF.
GH?
IJKL.
MN!
O?
PQ!
RSTU.
VWX?
YZ! 

Patterning Problems

In math we have been identifying and describing patterns on a hundreds chart. The students have been asked to always:

- describe the pattern in the ones digit
- describe the pattern in the tens digit

Then they should include anything else they see (are they odd or even numbers, is the pattern in a column or row etc).

The more math words we use... the better!

Welcome!

I am so excited to share that we will have a student teacher joining our classroom as of Monday! Her name is Ms. Ostonal and she is coming from Queen's University.
Nine years ago when I was embarking on my teaching journey I had three phenomenal associate teachers. They all taught me so much about the teaching profession and how to be the best teacher possible. Each year my hope is to be that same mentor to a new teacher candidate.
We look forward to meeting Ms. Ostonal on Monday and welcoming her into our little family in Room 209!

Patterning

Today in math we began a mini unit in patterning. This tends to be one of the students least favourite math units so it is sorta nice to get it out of the way nice and early in the year. In this unit students will:

- identify and describe patterns on a hundreds chart

- identify and describe patterns on a number line

Today we solved a problem similar to the following:

Find the diagonal where the ones and tens digits add up to 6. Use orange to colour it.

Social Studies

Last week we began our first unit in Social Studies. For the first part of the year we learn about First Nation Communities and Early Settlers (pioneers). We spend from now until around Christmas learning just about the First Nations. The kiddies are thrilled and very enthusiastic for this unit. As a special treat, some Grade Six kiddies came by today to share with us some of their research of two different First Nation Tribes. They had put together beautiful dioramas that gave us a great visual of village life. Seeing the older kids hard work really intrigued the wee ones and you could feel the interest growing in the room. I think everyone will really enjoy this unit and lots of great learning will take place!   

Rounding Problem

Here is a rounding problem that the family can solve together!

268 students went on a trip to the apple farm.
Each child got to take home one apple.
Round to help you estimate how many bushels of 100 apples will be needed.
Show your work.

What's The Big Idea?

Today during our Writer's Workshop we learned that good writers always stay on topic. You can easily pick out their main idea...in fact, it's almost as if it pops right off the page!
An important part of the writing process is planning. For the first three weeks of school we worked on writing "sparkly" sentences. These are sentences that are detailed and interesting. We used charts to help us organize our ideas.  
Now we are learning that a web can be useful tool to organize our ideas. First I modelled how to make a web using my doggie Champ as my main idea. The kiddies then picked a manageable topic of their choice and got to work! This week we will work on putting all our web ideas together to write a polished paragraph!

Rounding Fun

Today we learned all about rounding to the nearest ten. I can't believe how quickly all of us grasped this concept! We even learned a catchy song to help us remember the rounding rules.
We talked about rounding our age. The boys and girls discovered that they are all "about ten." However, not such good news for the moms and dads who's age rounds up.... the kiddies quickly aged ya in class today and thought it was hysterical!

We survived!

We survived our first math test of Grade Three! We all worked hard to complete it and had a collective sigh of relief when it was all done! I am so proud of all my chickadees for their hard work throughout this unit. Tomorrow we will start a mini unit in rounding. I have some cutesy songs that I teach to help us remember the rounding rules! It is lots o' fun!

They're not the same!

There, their and they're have been our word study focus of the week. We have been learning how to use each one and have been putting them to practice each morning in some Smartboard fun! I encourage the kiddies to practice not only spelling these words at home but using them correctly in practice sentences as well!

Practice Sentences

Building Community

One of the ways that we build community in our classroom is through our weekly star of the week presentations. Star of the week not only helps us learn more about our friends but it also helps build self esteem and confidence in the star! Last night I had an "ah ha" moment and decided this year to add another component to our star of the week. At the end of each week, each child will fill out a page about the star and this will be included in the book with the stars "all about me pages." I will put all sheets together as a book and at the end of the year it will be a special keepsake for each child! Here is what our new star component looks like! I can't wait to see how both Kylie's (last weeks star) and Sophia's book turn out!

Visualization

Over the last 16 days of school we have been learning about the different things that good readers do. Today our focus was on the reading strategy of visualization. This is a big word for "making a picture or movie in your mind." When good readers do this, they are better able to understand the text and therefore, make more meaning from what they are reading!
I love when we are able to make a very clear connection between reading and writing, and today was one of those days! During our Writer's Workshops we have been learning how to "sparkle" up simple sentences. Good writers use interesting words. When you use interesting words you help make a picture in the reader's mind. Teaching about visualization in reading today really helped me emphasize the need to "sparkle" up our own writing!
This week's P.O.T.W. is great for practicing this reading strategy. We illustrated some pretty funny pictures of what Tillie may have looked like eating that bowl of chili! It was pretty hilarious! Also, I did so much visualizing myself that I just had to go home and make my own chili for dinner tonight... yum yum!

Math Test

Today during math we did lots of review to prepare us for Wednesday's test. We started with some whole group review, followed by a small group problem and then some independent practice. Each child has received and started a copy of a practice test. Usually I just post these to the blog but in being our first one I thought I would get us started! The practice test is very similar to our test on Wednesday. I like to do this for the first test to really help build our test taking confidence! I encourage the boys and girls to work through the practice test a bit tonight. We will have more time during math tomorrow too.

Comparing Numbers

Over the last few days we have been very busy learning how to compare and order numbers. 
We have learned how to use the mathematical symbols of < and >. Not only do we know how to use the symbols, but we also know how to correctly read a math sentence that uses these symbols. 
For example kidddies, tell mom and dad how to read...

534 > 521

Here is a problem that the whole family could have fun with:

There are 2 jars of candies. 
The number of candies in each jar has the digits: 2, 5 and 6.
Jar A has fewer candies than jar B.
How many candies could there be in each jar?
How do you know?
How many ways can you find?

Have fun!

Whiteboards

Yesterday we received one of our "lowest tech tools" that we will use in Room 209... our own personal whiteboards! I like to call these our "slates" (sorta like what the pioneer kiddies used back in the 1800s). We will use our slates daily to solve problems, practice skills and show our learning (this is also a great way for me to "check in" and ensure that all kiddies are understanding new concepts and skills). 
We were all thrilled to receive this new tool and put it to great use over the last two days. Isn't learning fun?! 

Schema

Today we learned a big sophisticated word for something that we already know all about! That special word was schema. Schema is all the information already in your head. We use our schema all the time. In addition, we are constantly adding to it too. We tried to imagine our schema like a huge filing cabinet inside of our brains. In this big cabinet are zillions of files. When we need the information, our schema goes to that file and we can recall what we need to. We will learn how schema is particularly important for reading. It helps us to make predictions, connections, inferences, and make pictures in our mind. Overall, when we activate our schema, it better helps us understand the texts that we read! Also, the more you read, the more you add to your schema! So kiddies... snuggle up with a good book tonight and activate that schema of yours!

Autumn Art

Oh my... where did the weekend go?!? I can't believe it is already Sunday night. This weekend went by extra quick having a very sick toddler at home (*groans at daycare germs*). I hope you had a happy (and healthy) weekend!

On Friday we had lots of fun with some art. I have a group of some very skilled artists in my class!

Partner Practice!

Today during math we began by reviewing the "Four Step Problem Solving Plan" from yesterday's lesson. Then we all gathered on the carpet to discuss and create a chart for what working with others looks like, sounds like and feels like. We came up with many fabulous ideas! Finally it was time to put these ideas to practice by solving a problem with a partner. I was extremely impressed with all my chickadees. Each and every one of them were spectacular group members. The class was buzzing with meaningful math talk!
Way to go kiddies!

Solving Problems

In math we have begun learning about how we solve problems. I introduced the boys and girls to a "Four Step Problem Solving Plan." Together we created an anchor chart to help us understand what each part of the plan means. Over the next few weeks we will practice, practice and practice solving various problems. We will practice as a whole group, small groups and independently to solve problems using this plan. My math program is very problem solving based as it is my philosophy that rich and meaningful problems help develop and foster higher level and critical thinking skills.  
Here is an idea of the Four Step Plan

Step 1: Think
- read and reread the problem
- highlight what you know (what is important)
- highlight and think about what you need to find out

Step 2: Plan
- make a plan (what should I do?)
- choose a strategy
- gather your materials

Step 3: Do
- follow your strategy
- solve the problem / find the answer
- show your work clearly using pictures, numbers OR words

Step 4: Look Back
- check your answer
- add more detail to clearly show your thinking
- think if there is a different or better strategy you could use next time

          

First Library Visit

Today we had our first library visit of 2013. Mrs. Murray went over library expectations and this year the kiddies were thrilled to learn that they can take out two books at each visit! Mrs. Murray went over how to choose a "just right book" and was thrilled that my smartie pants class already knew all about choosing these! Hearing them tell Mrs. Murray everything we have been learning in our reading workshops over the last few days put a big smile on my face! Way to go chickadees!

Library will continue to be each Wednesday morning this year.

Let's Fill Buckets!

Today I used a beautiful book to teach a pretty important lesson to the boys and girls. The book is called "How Full Is Your Bucket?" The moral of the story is that we all want to be bucket fillers, not bucket dippers.
The "bucket" concept is that we all carry around imaginary buckets with us all day long (moms and dads too!).
When your bucket is full, you feel more confident, happy and positive. When your bucket is empty, it contains few, if any, positive thoughts or feelings. When your bucket is empty you become sad, negative, nervous, angry, worried and afraid.
Our job as God's children is to help others keep a full bucket, and when we help fill a bucket, ours too will remain full! It's a win win scenario!
Some ways we can Fill Buckets:
- Using actions or words that show that you care about someone.
- Saying or doing something kind.
-Giving someone a heartfelt smile.
-Using names with respect.
-Helping without being asked.
-Giving sincere compliments.
-Showing respect to others. 
There are TONS of wonderful ways to fill buckets. We will continue to discuss how we fill buckets each day!

Picking a Just Right Book!

Over the next few weeks our reading workshop focus is on what good readers do. We have already discussed the following:

- good readers take care of books
- good readers do not switch their books very quickly
- good readers read a variety of different books
- good readers don't flip through books too quickly
- good readers know how to choose a book that will interest them
- good readers know how to choose a "just right book"

Below is a link for moms and dads that give some great tips about choosing "just right books" to read at home.

Choosing a Book

Happy Reading!

The Kazooers!

And here you have em'... the crazy group of kazooers! 
Happy Friday everyone!

Fun Friday!

This week has been spectacular! All students are getting used to my classroom expectations and rules which is making for a great learning environment where students can get the most out of the lessons I deliver.
We wrote our first P.O.T.W test this morning. We filled in all the answers together. It was sent home for you to look over and get an idea of what the children will see each week. All questions asked are covered in mini lessons throughout the week during the evening meeting so there are never any tricks!
This afternoon we had our first "Fun Friday." This is something that we look forward to all week. We get to watch a video while we eat lunch and then in the afternoon we do some extra fun activities. Today we played Place Value Bingo and then we each received our own special kazoo! We played some funny songs and shared many laughs. Keep an eye out for us folks... I think we are ready to take our show on the road! 

Even Steven and Odd Todd

Today's math lesson was all about odd and even numbers! We came up with some really neat ideas to help us understand and identify these numbers easily. Here is what the kiddies came up with:

- Even numbers always end in 0, 2, 4, 6, 8.
- Even numbers can be shared fairly with someone else.
- If you add an even number with another even number the answer will also be even!
- Odd numbers end in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9.
- Odd numbers cannot be shared evenly with someone else... there is always leftover.
- When you add an odd number with another odd number your answer will always be even!

Talk about some great thinking for only the third day of school!

Our First Novel

We end each day as a little family with something that we call "Evening Meeting." This is my absolute favourite time of the day! During Evening meeting we always gather at the carpet. We share some stories, talk about our day and the learning that took place and we always have some good laughs. It is a perfect way to end our day as the little family that we are! We also practice our P.O.T.W and then I read to the kiddies from our class novel. Our first novel of the year is one of my faves! It's called "There's A Boy In The Girls Bathroom" by Louis Sachar. Every year the kids fall in love with the book and all the characters. We just started the book yesterday and I can tell many of us are hooked already! 

Fun With Place Value

Today we had our first math lesson. It was all about place value. Place value is a tricky concept for young learners to grasp, so lots of hands on experiences and review help build a better understanding. Today, our first "hands on" fun was with the Smartboard! I created an interactive lesson where the boys and girls could come up and show numbers a variety of different ways using base ten blocks or numbers. They had a lot of fun manipulating the objects on the board and writing with the "magic" pens. If you are unfamiliar with what the Smartboard is, it is basically a large interactive computer! A projector projects the image from my computer screen onto the board.  This allows students to come up to the board and "touch" it. They can write on it, move objects around and really interact with the screen. I guess the kiddies sorta become the "mouse." I love this tool and we use it every single day!
Today everyone had a blast testing it out and I am confident it helped us better understand place value too!

A little review for moms and dads who are saying ..... ummm what is place value?!
Here is an example:
The number 132 is 1hundred, 3 tens and 2 ones
You can show it with base ten men too!

There are other ways to show this same number but we are keeping it simple for now!

First Day Back!

We had a wonderful first day in Room 209! I must say we were a bunch of eager beavers ready to learn and start our day. This made for one smiley teacher!

Our day started with an explanation of routines and expectations and we worked on a fun "All About Me" booklet. In the afternoon we took a tour of our classroom library and did some relaxing reading. The day ended with our evening meeting where we practiced reading our Poem Of The Week (P.O.T.W). Each week we will receive a new poem and as part of our nightly reading we are to practice reading it fluently and with lots of expression. At the end of the week we have a P.O.T.W test. This week we will write it as a class so that everyone knows what to expect on future tests. We are always more than prepared come Friday and everyone does well!

I am sure everyone is nice and tired after a day of getting back into routine... or at least I know I am! I look forward to a great year ahead.

Some Pictures

I have posted a few pictures of our classroom that I took on Friday. Soon we will fill up those empty bulletin boards with work that we are very proud of. I look forward to meeting my 19 new chickadees!!

The album is called "Classroom." It is not password protected (but the others are). I will share our password in the agenda this week!

Classroom Pictures

Back to School Shopping!

This is a shared blog post from Mrs. Linse and Mrs. Mihalides.

So are you havin' a great summer?  We hope you've enjoyed your's as much as we have. It's nice to get caught up on all kinds of different projects, visit with friends and enjoy some down time isn't it?  

If some of that down time includes shopping, then perhaps you're thinking about what's needed for September.  No matter how old you are, it's hard to resist the temptation to buy new goodies this time of year!  Mrs. Mihalides and I think kids of ALL ages (wink, wink) should get themselves a brand new pack of markers and spend the last few weeks sitting on a patio, with some iced-tea, some good music and just doodle away. Doesn't that sound like fun?  

If you are going into Grade Three at our wonderful school this year, then here are the things your teachers would like you to have so you are well prepared and ready for success:

First, let’s start with the stuff you’ll need:

• a good set of pencil crayons (Crayolas/Rose-art are cheap, but they're not very good and break a lot, so we recommend you avoid those.
• a set of good quality markers (in this case, Crayolas are great)
• a good pencil sharpener with it's own case so you can sharpen your pencils at your desk and not make a mess
• a good water bottle and be sure to label it!
• indoor shoes that will stay at school in your locker -you need these for the first day of school
• 2 boxes of Kleenex
• one container of liquid soap

Now for the items are not required and we ask that students not bring them to school:

• binders (please don't bring them)
• crayons (we no longer use crayons to colour in Grade 3)
• notebooks, duotangs, folders
• permanent markers such as "Sharpies"
• a math set
• a calculator
• a lock for a locker

What's provided by your teachers and school:

• duotangs
• notebooks
• pencils
• ruler
• eraser
• paper

We hope you enjoy the rest of your summer and we can't wait to meet our new group of Grade Three students in September!

Feel free to post questions related to this "Back to School" post in the comment section.   

See you soon!