December 18-22

Monday December 18

1.  Spelling Test (After the big concert night I decided to give the weekend for studying-there were lots of sleepy faces this morning! If you already studied, kudos to you :) and you will be extra prepared for Monday!) 

2. 8:30 am caroling in the gym, please join us if you are able. This will be held Monday ,Wednesday, Friday at 8:30 am

Tuesday December 19 is a very busy day at MMH! Don't forget ALL of following activities:

1.  Magic of Christmas (MMH gym: 6:30 pm) This event will showcase the MMH Senior Choir and Hand Bell Choir. Choir members should dress in their Christmas best and be at the school by 6:15.

2.  Wear Red and Green Day! 

3. Hot Lunch Day 

4. Assembly in the gym at 12:30 you are invited to come caroling with us!

Wednesday December 20

1. 8:30 am caroling in the gym, please join us if you are able!

Thursday December 21

1. Skating Fieldtrip to Nicholas Sheran! Thanks so much to our many driver volunteers! Here are your driving groups. We will leave at 9:30 to allow enough time to get skates on and be on ice by 10:00.

Geoff Sommerfeldt: Cooper, Gavin, Jayden, Rayna, Kada

Letisha Peterson Elliott: Jonathan, Sam, Dean, Zander

Laura Miller: Addy, Erinn, Ally, Legacy

Vanessa Steele: Calum, Caleb, Blake, Ronin

Lydia Shanks: Avery, Katie, Faith, Adelaide

Mrs. McClain/Mrs. Payne: Scott, Elizabeth

Remember your child will need skates and a helmet for this event. Thanks!

2. Assembly at 12:30 in the gym, please join us for caroling! 

3. Classroom Christmas Party in afternoon. Thanks to the many people who volunteered to send treats! We have 22 students and 1 pineapple allergy in our room. The kids will really appreciate these snacks after skating, thanks again!

Cheese and Crackers: Scott

Fruit Tray: Jayden

Veggie Tray: Dean

Cookies or muffins: Addy M.

Meat & Pickles: Sam

Juice & Plates: Jonathan

Friday December 22

1. caroling in the gym 8:30 am, please join us!

2. Dismiss for Christmas holidays at 11:35-Happy Holidays

Monday January 8, 2018

1. First day back to school

RED GREEN DAY CHANGED TO DEC.19, 2017

Hi everyone! We have had a small change to our December events. The red/green assembly has been moved from Dec. 21st to Dec. 19th and the spirit assembly will also be held at 12:45 on December 19th, which is also HOT LUNCH day!

We are still planning to go skating to NCSC leaving at 9:45am, skating from 10-11am.  Please let me know if your child needs skates and what size is best.  We currently have enough drivers to take 14 students and need help to transport 8 more. If you can help out please contact me. 

Our classroom Christmas Party will be held the afternoon of December 21st, if you signed up to send treats, I will be sending you a Dojo note soon! Thanks again for all you do for our classroom and our school!

Happy Holidays to all! See you at the concert tomorrow night!

GET EPIC

Thanks so much to everyone who came out for Parent/Teacher interviews. It was nice to see you and have a chance to talk.   Here is a quick access for kids to get onto Get Epic that you can use at home. Hope you find it useful.

Have a great weekend! Our class code is WKL-9120.

https://www.getepic.com/app/profile-select

Skating Fieldtrip

Also, just a glance ahead into December... we will be going skating to Nicholas Sheran Ice Arena on December 21st and will need drivers for that day. We will leave at 9:45, skate from 10-11, and then head back to the school.

Please class dojo or email if you would like to drive on that day. Also, if you have extra helmets or skates that you would be willing to share, they would be greatly appreciated. 

Christmas Concert

Our class will be performing on Thursday December 14 from 6:30-7:30pm at the College Drive Church (2710 College Drive South) across from the Enmax Centre. Concert time is approximately 45 minutes.  Your family will receive 2 tickets as seating is limited in the church.  If you require more than 2 tickets please stop by the office and pick up a hard copy of the "Extra Ticket Request Form" and return it to the office by November 30th. 

Please have your child arrive at the church between 6:10 and 6:20pm at the main entrance. Children are invited to wear Christmas formal attire or anything special they already have. 

The procedure for picking up your child will be announced at the end of the performance. Hope to see you all there!

October Newsletter 2017

It’s hard to believe that it’s already October! The first month of Grade 3 has flown by! We’ve been working hard on learning routines and have jumped into all our beginning units.  Here’s a quick peek at what’s been going on in the four cores!

LA:  I P.U.T. Reading First Home reading challenge

Reading Strategies: Read like books are gold! / Choose within reach books/Set goals

Writing Strategies: Crafting True Stories/ I remember/Map it out/ think about someone important

Math: Patterning Unit/Math Number Games

Science: Scientific Method/ Hearing and Sound Unit

Social: Mapping Unit coming soon

Themes: BFG, Fire Prevention Week, Halloween

                                                                               Big Ideas: Pay it Forward

Spelling Program

We are starting our spelling patterns program this month called Words Their Way and spelling lists will come home every other Monday in agendas and will be practised for 2 weeks. The students will be working on these words in school but will also have a list of activities to choose from for practise each night. Please take 10-15 minutes each night to help your child choose an activity for pattern practise. 

Spelling tests will happen every other Friday (unless there is no school, then we will have it on Thursday). I have completed a spelling inventory of your child’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to spelling patterns and have grouped them so each child is getting instruction on the patterns they struggled with. We do word sorts and hunts with these patterns throughout the two-week rotation with the goal to help your child recognize these spelling patterns and to apply them to other words rather than just memorizing for the test.  The goal is to apply the patterns during real world writing or typing. 

Thanks so much for your help getting this program up and running! Your time at home is greatly appreciated and I hope to see some great gains for our spellers this year!

Important Dates to Remember

Oct. 8-14 Fire Prevention Week “Every Second Counts: Plan 2 Ways Out”

Oct. 9 NO SCHOOL Thanksgiving Holiday

Oct. 10 NO SCHOOL Professional Learning Day

Oct. 13-17^th Scholastic Book Fair 8:00 – 4:00 / except Friday 14th 8:00 – 12:00.   

Oct. 13 Deadline for hot lunch orders

Oct. 18, 25 After school skating at Nicholas Sheran 3:30

Oct. 19 Dismissal at 11:35 today/NO SCHOOL in afternoon Professional Learning Day

Oct. 20 Professional Learning day: NO SCHOOL

Oct. 23 Picture retake day /4:00 clothing exchange at Wilson

Oct. 24 Hot Lunch Day Gr. 1,2,3: The Chopped Leaf/3:15-8:00 pick up fundraiser orders

Oct. 25 Fieldtrip to Helen Schuler Nature Centre 9:30-11:00/Drivers needed leaving at 9:15am

Oct. 26 Spirit Assembly 12:45

Oct. 31 Halloween parade 12:45 (kids change into costumes at lunch) (Thanks for volunteering to send treats for our party, if you signed up you will be receiving an email/dojo soon! We have 22 students and no nut allergies but 1 pineapple allergy!)

JUNE EVENTS

May 26 - District Pow Wow at Nicholas Sheran

May 29 – Clothing Exchange

May 30- Dress Rehearsal for Canada 150 Performances (10:30-11:30 & 12:45-1:45)

May 31 – Canada’s 150th Birthday Grade 3 performs at 1:15 in the gym, Gallery Walk to follow

June 1 – Wear Canada Colours Day RED TOPS and BLACK BOTTOMS /Flag photo and Canada Day Cake!

June 6 – Hot Lunch Day (FREE HOT LUNCH PROVIDED BY OUR GENEROUS LUNCH LADIES!)

June 26 – Div2 Sports Day: volunteers welcome! THANK YOU FOR THOSE WHO HAVE VOLUNTEERED, WE ARE IN NEED OF 2 or 3 MORE IF YOU'D LIKE TO JOIN US :)

June 27- Class Celebration Party

THANK YOU FOR VOLUNTEERING TO SEND TREATS ON PARTY DAY:

CHEESE & CRACKERS: JEN FLEXHAUG

FRUIT TRAY WITH DIP: MRS. PAYNE

VEGGIE TRAY & DIP: KIM EARL

PAPER PLATES & DRINK BOXES: SARA SMITH

June 28 – Grade Three Year End swim trip to Henderson Pool/Busses provided

June 29 – Last Day of School, 11:35 Dismissal

Canada 150 Invitation

May Newsletter and Spelling Lists

Here are some of the important dates to remember for May and a little sneak peek into June! We have a lot of fun celebrations and fieldtrips planned so thank you in advance to everyone who volunteers both in our classroom and driving on fieldtrips! A hard copy of this is also coming home soon, please check packs! :)

Some of the other news in our classroom for May is that we are starting to learn to cursive write and are embarking on a poetry unit in Language Arts! We are wrapping up multiplication and diving into division followed by Geometry and Fractions!  This month we will be learning a lot about the Ukraine as we continue our Amazing Race and fieldtrip to the Troyanda to watch Ukrainian Dancers. A HUGE HUGE thanks to all the volunteers who came out to help with the Pysanky egg creation! The kids did an amazing job and I was very grateful to have so many willing participants my first time ever making Ukranian Eggs! In Science we are learning more about Life Cycles and will be doing some Animal Research projects as well as creating an A to Z animal adjective/alliteration book as a gift to our preschool book buddies!

One of our big projects school wide this month is the Canada 150 celebration. The grade 3's will be displaying some work in a gallery walk on May 31st at 1:15. Please send The Family Tree homework project to school on Monday May 1st as it is part of this project.  The gallery walk is a drop in, casual type event for you to come and see what we've been working on. Hope you can stop by! Please have your child wear red on June 1st for the outdoor school photo and Canada day cake! yum!

If you would like to volunteer for our Science WOW! stations on May 23 (8:30-11:45) please Dojo me!

Also, if you can drive to Feel the Beat on May 24 (leaving at 9:30am) that would be much appreciated! Just send me a quick message.  Thanks again!

April News

I'm hoping everyone received the Newsletter that went home on April 3rd but just in case it went missing here's an update for April! We have had a crazy busy month so far! Here's a few of the things we've been up to....

 
1. hatched baby chicks and started our Life Cycles Science Unit/Chick City tomorrow!

2. created Easter bunny houses with the preschool

3. started our multiplication unit

4. learned to draw a baby chick and give feedback to friends in Art

5. Launched our Amazing Race PBL for Social Studies

6. Started Badminton in gym

7. Finished building 5 kinds of bridges: truss, beam, arch, suspension, and  cantilever

8. Continuing with Morning Math & Literacy Stations where our focus is contractions, homonyms, suffixes, vocabulary/comprehension sort,  greater than>less than and sum fluency

9. Writers Workshop focus on changing boring words like walked into exciting words like sauntered or paced

 

And there are more things on the horizon....

1. April 12th swimming fieldtrip...Please contact me if you are able to drive for our fieldtrip swimming next week on Wednesday April 12th leaving the school at 9:45. I'll need enough drivers for 26 kiddos!

2. Our Easter party is April 13th , thanks to those who have already replied to send items. So far, plates and napkins, veggie dip, carrots and celery, broccoli and cauliflower and 12 juice boxes are covered, but we are in need of everything else.

3. April 13th Don't forget to dress fancy for our spirit assembly at 2:00pm

4. April 26 Ukrainian Eggs! I am excited and terrified at the prospect of 26 students and open flames! Please contact me if you are brave enough to join us 10:15-11:45

Whew! Thanks for reading to the end! Have a good night!

Great Resources to Check out!

Book flix

Amazing Animals Grolier Online

Pebble Animals Science and Social

Life Cycles- Power Knowledge

True Flix

GRADE THREE AMAZING RACE LAUNCHED TODAY

Handmade Diya as might be found in India for the celebration of the Festival of Light. The kids worked together to read and measure the ingredients to make the dough for this little light which represents the triumph of good over evil.

What is PBL? It stands for Project Based Learning. The grade 3 classes launched our PBL today to give the kids more in-depth exposure to all the countries we will study this year: India, Ukraine, Peru, and Tunisia. Since all the classes are working together, students got to choose a partner from another classroom who will go on all the amazing race challenges with them.  Each classroom is transformed into a country and the students work together to complete a variety of either roadblocks or detours! Check out our blog on the link below for more information on the project and for pictures that will be coming soon!

We made Canadian backpacks and duct tape wallets filled with bills from each country. Those who trek through the countries and have money at the end will get to shop for a surprise! The way to keep money in your wallet is to stay on task, help and encourage each other, and solve all the roadblocks/detours!

The kids divided up and travelled to different destinations today with their buddies and came back excited to do it again on Tuesday! Our classroom is India and we had so much fun making diyas and rangoli and learning about animals, clothing, landmarks, and daily life in India. It was great to see the kids so excited and motivated to research and create things together! In the words of one of our students "it was the best day ever!!" Here's the link!  Great job Grade 3's!!!

Click here to go to the Grade 3 Amazing Race Blog

spelling list!

MARCH NEWS!

Hope everyone had a nice reading week! I picked up a ton of great new books for the kids at teacher convention and had time to make some exciting materials for a big PBL project happening later in March called The Amazing Race with a Social Studies theme! Stay tuned for more information! Our launch day will be March 21st!

Also, we have invited a new student into our classroom from Syria and had a presentation by our District ESL teacher David Fuller and his friend Mohammed to help everyone with the transition.

Now our that we have the basics of materials and designs down, we get to start our big building projects as part of our Building With a Variety of Materials Science Unit! We'll be building everything from hanging cup holders and basketball towers, to playgrounds and famous landmarks! Thanks to everyone who sent in building materials! Keep'em coming!

In Social we are learning about Peru and the kids were so excited to make their woven bookmarks for Valentine's day! They did such a good job and some even made extras for their brothers and sisters! This week we are making a woven bowl so I am asking that everyone brings a ball of coloured yarn to school for Wednesday.  If your child would like to do more than one colour, feel free to send a few.

In Math, we are deep into double and even triple digit addition with regrouping! We keep practising our Monday Mad Minute facts as the kids should know addition to 18 fluently by the end of grade three.

In LA, we are wrapping up our study of the novel Stone Fox and of course Crenshaw! Next we have an author study of Patricia Polacco who is an American author and illustrator. She struggled in school because she was unable to read until age 14 due to dyslexia; she found happiness expressing herself through art. For a list of her books check our her website at patriciapolacco.com

 

Your newsletter is coming home soon!

One School One Book Donations to YWCA Harbour House

Greetings Mike Mountain Horse families!
We sincerely hope that you are enjoying our One School, One Book selection: Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate. A great many themes surface in this remarkable read, and, as you may have already noticed, there are also some very sensitive topics addressed. Though sometimes difficult to discuss, hardship and homelessness are realities in today’s world and we encourage you to take these opportunities to engage in conversation with your child (children) about these concepts. What better way to learn than through quality literature?
 With awareness of poverty and homelessness growing, we invite our school population to participate in two charity efforts for local individuals and families in need: 
1) Donations of personal care items and/or packages for YWCA Harbour House. YWCA Harbour House provides shelter and care for families in crisis.  Items to donate or include in a large Ziploc freezer bag: (see display case across from the office)

*full size shampoo and conditioner  *soap *first aid supplies (i.e. band-aids and ointment)  *toothbrushes and toothpaste  *deodorant/antiperspirant  *hand lotion  *slippers for women and children 

ITEMS CAN BE BROUGHT IN TO CLASSROOM TEACHERS ON OR BEFORE  WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 15TH.

 2) Monetary donations in the form of sponsorship as our school participates in the ‘Coldest Night of the Year’ walk taking place on the afternoon of February 15th (held in conjunction with our annual ‘Winter Walk)’. This fundraising effort will benefit Streets Alive Mission which battles poverty in Lethbridge and the surrounding communities by offering free services, clothing and aid to anyone who needs it. 
 
MONEY CAN BE BROUGHT IN TO CLASSROOM TEACHERS ON OR BEFORE  WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 15TH.

 *Donations will be presented to YWCA Harbour House and Streets Alive Mission at the One School, One Book Closing Assembly taking place in our gymnasium on Thursday, February 16th beginning at 2:15pm. 

January Spelling Menu Choices and Lists!

Hello! I thought I would post the January Speller's Choice Menu just in case anyone needs it! The lists for the week of Jan. 23-27 are below as well.

                                    January Speller’s Choice Menu

Choose one activity each night during the month of January in order to prepare for your spelling test on Friday. Please write the name of the activity at the top of the page and then complete the activity. 


                             ** Please choose a different activity for each night!** **  


1. Air Words:  Use your finger to write each word in the air. Have an adult do the same. See if you can figure out their word! Please be sure to have someone sign the Speller’s Choice page to say you did it!
  
 2. ..  . Where are the vowels? Write your words but draw a line instead of putting the vowels.
(a, e, i, o, u)      Ex: b l – –– –    c k c k c k c k    
  
 3. Sweet & Salty Words: Be sure an adult knows you are going to do this activity! Put some sugar or salt on a plate. Use your finger to write your words in the sugar or salt.

4. Spelling City: : Go to the website http://www.spellingcity.com and Type in your list and choose pretest, game or post test. Write “Spelling City” on the Speller’s Choice page and have an adult sign it to say you did your words on Spelling City!

5. Computer Fun:  Use your computer to type your words. Use different fonts and make it look really fun! Be sure you print it out and bring it to school. Or you can type your words in an email and email it to me.

6. Other Handed : If you are right handed, rite your words with your left hand. If you are left handed, write with your right!

Lists for Jan. 23-27

BLUE GROUP
1. winter
2. fossil
3. reptile
4. foggy
5. turkey
6. duty
7. final
8. napkin
9. rival
10. cozy

Some of these words follow the VCCV pattern (winter) and some follow the VCV pattern (cozy). Can you sort which are which? Do any break the rules?

GREEN GROUP
1. rain
2. hay
3. tray
4. snake
5. tape
6. ax
7. add
8. crab
9. trap
10. fan

Some of these words have Short a patterns and some have Long a patterns. See how many different long a patterns you can find. (ai) (ay) (a-e)

RED GROUP
1. toast
2. goal
3. boat
4. loan
5. toad
6. home
7. rode
8. pose
9. drove
10. cone

All of these words have the long o pattern. Can you find and sort all the ways to make long o? (oa, o-e)

Don't forget Tuesday is Hot Lunch Day and our big One School One Book reveal is happening this Thursday Jan. 26th along with our Family Literacy Night where we will collectively read the first 3 chapters of our mystery novel!  6:30-7:30pm.   If you are unable to attend, simply read the first 3 chapters at home with your child so they'll be ready to discuss it with their friends at school the next day.  Your brand new copy of the book is coming home in......4 more sleeps! ;)

Here's your hint at the title!

Skating Fun!

Thanks to all the drivers, skaters, and people who sent extra skates and helmets! Here are a few pictures from our skating day. I'm sure we will be a little more streamlined next time we go on February 14th now that we know the layout and capacity of the brand new ATB facility!