Good Morning Everyone!

Did last weeks seem so long, yet so short to anyone else? Funny how time can feel that way sometimes!

Here is a peek at what we did last week and what’s coming up this week 🙂

-We had 3 Book Club sessions and have completed reading our books! Throughout the process of introducing Book Clubs (to some and revisiting them for others) we have been focusing on comprehension (understanding what we are reading). Reading the words on the page (decoding) is only one part of reading and it is really important to understand what we’ve read. We have practiced this in many ways such as:

-Making predictions (at the beginning of the novel and in the middle): What do you think will happen? Why do you think that what happen? When we use the clues in the book to make a prediction we are actually making an inference. Our predictions do not have to be right, but they are not a wild guess either

-Wondering: What are you wondering about? Why did the character _______ do_______? How will they solve the problem? Why did they make that choice? We make wonderings all the time and might not even realize it! We took some time to talk about that and then put our wonderings on paper and share them with the group

-Connections: Making connections between the text and ourself, to other text, the world around us and to media help us to deepen our understanding of the story and also of what the author is trying to convey

-New Vocabulary: The students were asked to write down any unfamiliar vocabulary as they read and we began each “meeting” by sharing these with each other and explaining what these words meant. It was really important for us to do that and remind the kids that it’s okay not to know some of these words (how to pronounce them or know their meaning), but we should take the time to learn them!

-Retelling: Being able to read a paragraph, a page,  a chapter, or a entire book and being able to retell the main parts of the text to others is a great way to check for comprehension. If the students are not able to retell what they’ve read, they either do no understand or they are simply reading the words and not thinking about the text at all

-Reading with me! I read with each student during the past week and then listened to their retelling of the page they read and talked about a connection with the book. By doing Book Clubs with more adults we are able to keep our group sizes smaller. We (the 3/4 team) would like to thank Murray, Stacy and Ginny for helping us out with Book Clubs during our Common Learning Time!

We aren’t quite done yet! We will spend the next 3 sessions to plan and create a mini maker project that we will share (during the last week before the holidays) with the other students in Grade 3/4. Don’t worry…we will have videos and photos to share via Seesaw!

-We’ve been working on doing the traditional algorithm for addition and subtraction! The students are actually quite excited to pull our their mini whiteboards and get practicing! We will have some practice books to start this upcoming weeks and make sure we fully understand the concept of regrouping! When students have a deep understanding of place value it really helps with the algorithm. It is also so important to know the basic facts . When students know their facts it takes a lot of the thinking time out of doing the math problems. If your child is still working on recall for fact fluency I suggest doing some flashcards for a few minutes a day to help build their skills and confidence!

-We’ve been working on Mental Math quite a bit at school. I have designed 3 different practice opportunities, each with a narrowed down focus on specific strategies. We have done this in October/early November and again at the end of November and the students are so pleased when they compare how they’ve done. We use a timer, but the timer increases in time instead of counting down. As the students finish they write down their time. They also write out the facts they need to practice and name the strategies that we’ve used on that particular task. Their goal is to increase their accuracy and decrease their time each “round”. This way they are not feeling like they are competing with each other. They want to make improvements in their own work. If they get the same amount of questions correct, but do it in a minute less time, then that is an improvement, etc.

-On Monday we will do some Math groups with 122. We have created 4 different groups which focus on something different, but each student is placed to target a specific goal. We will do this 6 times until Winter Break and see how it worked out!

-On Thursday I sent you all a Seesaw message about “costumes” for the Winter Concert. Thanks to those who replied back to let me know you received the message. This helps me to keep track of who I might need to communicate with in other ways to make sure that everyone is “in the know”! Reminder: Dark top (long sleeved preferred, but short will work), dark bottoms, shoes they can dance in and the rest of the outfit will be provided by the school. *Black is great, but anything dark will work *If we need to turn clothing inside out that is fine too

Students need to wear this on December 10 for dress rehearsal and December 12 for the 3 shows (10:00, 1:30, 7:00)

Ticket information was also sent out this week!

-We are about 70 pages into the second Fitzgerald-Trouts book! I wonder if we can finish before the holidays?!

-We’ve written persuasive letters about our ideas for a fundraiser for our Senior’s gift. Although the students might have forgotten all the “ins and outs” of writing a persuasive letter (which we will practice again soon!) it does seem like the majority of the group wants to watch a movie, eat popcorn, drink hot chocolate and wear PJs. The good news is…I can make that happen! On Friday, December 6th in the morning we will watch a movie and have all trimming stated above! Students may bring one stuffy as well. We are asking students to bring in a loonie or a toonie to cover the cost of Fanny’s gift (warm socks, hats, mitts scarf and cookies). If anyone wants to take care of the popcorn (pop it for us and bring it in) or have some hot chocolate they want to donate please let me know. If not, no worries. I am trying to remember that sometimes people want to help out these ways and I should offer 🙂

-Our trip to the library was really fun! It was nice to see so many students with library cards and also nice to be able to get new cards for a few students. This is the first time we’ve down this with out learning buddies! I love doing a variety of activities with our buddies. They really do look up to our students and it’s nice to make connections and create leadership opportunities.

-This week’s Ask Me question is…to spend some time outside and let us know what you’re up to AND to leave a comment on the photos I will post from our Assiniboine Forest field trip earlier in the month (sorry for the delay)

Until next time,
Danielle

Hello Everyone!

Here is a quick look at what we’ve been up to and what’s coming up for the next week!

-We are LOVING the Fitzgerald-Trouts and should be able to finish next week!!! I’m so glad that the students enjoy our read aloud time. In fact, many of the students say it’s one of their favourite things to do in class. It is also my favourite thing to do with the students! Sometimes we forget how much kids enjoy being read to once they are able to read on their own. Reading to the class offers an opportunity to model what good readers do, develop new vocabulary, create comprehension (understanding), make connections (text to text, text to self and text to world) and exposes the students to books that they may.not have chosen on their own. If you aren’t reading with your child at home…consider doing it! This will give you a chance to listen to your child read, give your child a chance to associate you as being a reader and you will make wonderful connections just like you did when they were young and listening to storybooks!

Once we finish the first Fitzgerald-Trouts I am confident that the students will want us to continue the series!

-Common Learning Times Round: Target #1 is complete and Target #2 has begun! After targeting patterns, representing numbers, equality, mental math, conventions, presentation, word choice and ideas….the students have shown growth in their math and writing skills. Our new target is on comprehension and really making connections between what we read and what we have experienced. Each student is in a Book Club! We have 10 Book Clubs in total and have 5 adults leading the groups. The students have met with their Book Clubs twice now and will continue to do so every Day 2,4,6 from 9:30-10:30 until the winter break. During our first session we really wanted to focus what a Book Club is and what each member’s responsibility is within the Book Club. Students have time at school to read and complete tasks, but if they are unable to complete the tasks within the time provided they will have to take the books home to read. One of the most important parts of being in a Book Club is to keep up with the reading so that when we meet and chat about what is happening then everyone is “on the same page”. No reading ahead and no falling behind. This will be a good opportunity for students to practice responsibility with making sure their book is where it needs to be as well (taking it home means bringing it back :))

-Our time with rocks and minerals is coming to an end! We celebrated by doing a “fossil hunt” on Friday with our friends in 122 and Erin. This was a great way to integrate what we’ve been learning about inside and taking it outside. Our learning space is so much more than just 4 walls of the classroom!

-Wednesday was World Kindness Day! We talked about what we could do at school and at home to add a little kindness to someone’s day. We also talked about how kindness should be spread each and everyday and not held to just one day a year 🙂

#SpeadKindnessLIkeConfetti

#It’sCoolToBeKind

-Room 123 students have decided to call the interesting words we use in speaking and writing “MAGICAL WORDS”!!! This is part of your Ask Me question for the weekend…what are some of your favourite “Magical Words”? These aren’t things like spells or manners, but words like saying meandered instead of walked or describing someone’s look as fierce to help paint a picture!

-Thank you soooooo much for your fundraising efforts! I’m very proud that we brought in the most pledge money and will get to play board games against the teachers! Hmmmm…on that say will I be a 123 member or a staff member?!? More details about a date for the games to come!

-Just a reminder that report cards and conference appointment times will be sent home on Monday. If you are unable to make the time that you had previously selected or were given, please give Jocelyn a call to reschedule. My Thursday evening is VERY full. I think I have 15 appointments with one 15 minute break to grab something to eat. Please arrive on time and keep our appointments to 15 minutes so we can keep on schedule. Thanks! *Also-reminder that this is a tri-conference, meaning that it is a conversation that includes student, parent(s) and teacher. Students will have a selection of a few pieces of work to show you so we’ve had to not post some things on Seesaw so they’d be a surprise!!

Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy the mild weather and sunshine 🙂

Until next time,

Danielle

Hello Everyone!

We’ve had a super busy week and are preparing for another busy week to come! Read to see what we’ve been up to and what’s happening next week!

-Baby spider plants have been repotted in repurposed milk cartons and have been added with a pretty cute spider! I hope they all made in to their new homes safely!!

-We have completed 17 green screen projects to represent ourselves as Super Flex and 3 more are waiting to be green screened. We are waiting for the final few background illustrations to come in so we can finish the project. If you have not completed your green screen background please do so we can get the green screen set up again and finish up.

-We are in our final round of Common Learning Times for this cycle! We will finish up on Wednesday and then redo our initial diagnostic assessment. The following week we will begin book clubs with 122 & 126 during the same time slot on Days 2,4,6.

-We are working on Mental Math strategies and developing instant recall for basic addition and subtraction facts. Have flashcards at home? Check to see if your child is able to name these basic facts in three seconds or less!!

-We are also learning more about Canadian provinces & territories and their capital cities as well as where they are located on a map of Canada! The Ask Me Question for this weekend is to do some research on a province or territory (with the exception of Manitoba as we did that one together!). Check Seesaw for more details!

-Now that Hallowe’en is over we will be focussing on Remembrance Day and peace. The schools Remembrance Day assembly will take place on Friday, November 8. You are welcome to join us at 11:00 if you are able.

-Did you know that the carpets are getting taken out at school?! Room 123 is scheduled to have ours done on Wednesday and Thursday (Nov 6&7). We will be spending our time in the library and the MPR as well as in the great outdoors!!! *The 3/4 team is going to Assiniboine Forest on Wednesday, November 6 in the afternoon! We will leave shortly after 1:00 and return just before 3:30!! You will get a reminder early next week, but please know that students are asked to dress for the weather, bring a snack and a bottle of water. We are looking forward to our first Friuluftsliv forest exploration of the year!!!

Have a great weekend and don’t forget about the time change!!!

Until next time,

Danielle