I will be posting highlights of the fun and learning we will be having in the classroom and beyond as the days progress.
This will take the place of traditional printed newsletters so please check back here often news (such as curriculum updates).
Friday, October 6
Today we made Thanksgiving Turkeys using geometric shape cutouts based on our class set of pattern blocks. This 'Math in Art' activity was a great introduction to the attributes of squares, rhombuses, trapezoids, and hexagons.
Check out some of the art pieces from last month. The kids were discussing foreground, middle ground and back ground as well as techniques to simulate three dimensions (layering).
Check out our new carpet. It's awesome!!
Cross Country
Mr. v and Mr. Shannon are very pleased with all the effort and dedication team members have been demonstrating since we started our practices at school. Please remember the upcoming meet at Rideau High School in Elgin is this coming Tuesday, September 26. Hopefully parents of team members have been reading the notes that have come home and understand that grade threes can only participate if they have a parent or guardian that can bring them back to the school (or home) after their race. Please contact me if this is not clear. Please make sure your child is well equipped with proper running clothes and shoes as well as a layer (like track pants and hoodie) if it happens to be cool in the morning. The forecast suggests heat will be more of an issue so packing plenty of water to stay hydrated is essential. Sunscreen and hats must also be worn and please pack some healthy snacks as well. We look forward to seeing the parents that can come out cheering on their awesome kids! 🙂
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Scholastic Book Orders
I recently sent home the first Scholastic Book orders. This is a great way to support your child's literacy skills while supporting our classroom resources. The more your child reads the better they become both at reading and writing. It also builds their vocabulary knowledge and skills. I showed the students all the shelves, books, and electronics that I have purchased through the years with Scholastic coupons that are sent to me after books are ordered. The bigger the order, the greater amount of coupons we get. So, while the primary reason for book orders is building your child's literacy skills, another benefit is the boost to the classroom resources.
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Fun Fair Theme Basket
As you by now know our them basket for the Fun Fair is "Sweet Tooth. Thank you so much for the donations sent in so far. Any sweet treat you can think of that is nonperishable should be appropriate. We had several cake mixes sent in so maybe we can focus more on things like candy, chocolates, fudge, or any other treats like that. Thanks so much for your donations. 🙂
Also, we are still short of parent volunteers so if you can consider donating your time that would be great! ☺️
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Agendas
Now that the agendas are here I would like to again emphasize the importance of checking the agenda for notes and homework each night and signing or initialling it. This shows me you are aware of important notes and homework assignments on a daily basis. Of course it is best to look to the website for more detail but only by signing the agenda can I know you are aware.
Please note: I'll keep encouraging parents to bookmark the homework page and check it each night if possible as I provided much more detail in most cases than what the agenda holds. I also suggested checking this "News" page often as I try to keep parents informed in more detail what is happening and what is coming up. There is also the "Plog" page that many of your children have taken advantage of to win prizes by identifying what is in the pictures I have taken.
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Spelling homework
This was explained at meet the teacher night and the homework page. You can also review the information sheet glued to the inside front cover of the Spelling notebook. Please contact me with any questions or concerns. It really just comes down to the list words being printed three times (in three columns) and choosing five words to use in an interesting and detailed sentence for each. Since most students should usually be able to print the words in class (and perhaps work on the sentences too) it will often just be the five sentences for homework. That is not very much considering it is assigned Monday and not due until Friday. Just remember that students should also be practising for the Spelling Dictation on Friday, so they shouldn't leave all their Spelling homework until Thursday night.
It would be great if you could provide a pocket dictionary (I think you can find a cheap one at Staples) to be used to assist with spelling while constructing sentences. We will work on dictionary skills in class this fall.
Remember, there is no Spelling homework during four day weeks (unless there are corrections to be done in the Dictation book. More on that later.
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What is the best way to contact me? My email is mikev900@me.com and I can see your messages any time of day. I can see them on my laptop, my iPhone, my iPad... your messages even pop up on my watch! Communication between teacher and parent is a priority to me. I hope you will take advantage of it.
Don't forget to send me the emails telling me about your child that I asked for in the first day letter from the teacher. Thanks to all the parents who have done that already. It really is a great help for me to have that background information on your child. It can be so insightful.
Stay tuned for information on upcoming events and curriculum news. It makes me so sad to say I am no longer able to post pictures here of what my students are doing for you to see due to new school board privacy restrictions. But maybe I can post some pictures of artwork and such for you too see. Keep checking back here for the latest!
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Welcome ! 🙂
Hello all! Welcome to the News page of Mr. v's Grade 3 class website. As I said in the first day letter to parents. There are no printed newsletters from our class. All the news will be posted right here. More importantly, you should bookmark the Homework page to stay on top of what we are doing in the class, what has been assigned for homework (if anything), important notes that are being sent home, and important dates of upcoming dates or deadlines.