Sunday, 3 February 2019

February News



Reading: Character Studies

We have started our next Reading Unit called Character Studies and are deep into Because of Winn Dixie.  We’ve been learning that good readers notice how a new character talks and acts and gets to know a character as a friend.  We will learn to follow a character’s journey and eventually be comparing and contrasting characters across books



Writing Strategies: Changing the World/Opinion Writing Unit continues.  We’ve worked on finding and solving problems both large and small and just last week wrote letters to our librarian to persuade her to purchase a favourite book series. I must admit they had some convincing arguments! We will continue with this type of writing for February introducing the OREO format: Opinion, Reasons, Examples, Opinion (restated)/brave bold thesis statements/ consider your audience



Math: We’ve finished skip counting and continue a weekly practise of basic facts and have started multiplication! In Grade 3 kids need to know their times tables facts to 5X5.  We are learning that if we can skip count, we can learn our facts quickly! We know the parts of a multiplication equation including the terms product and factors and talked about the identity property which tells us that any number times 1 is just itself!   



Science: Looking at Lethbridge Project! We are becoming Engineers for our Building With a Variety of Materials unit. We were lucky to have had Abby Slovak, Land Development Manager for the City of Lethbridge come to our school to talk about some of the inspiration, criteria, costs, and constraints of building in Lethbridge followed this week by Jessie Potrie, the architect who helped design Coalbanks Elementary. He will present some inspiring designs and share some 3D models of his work to get the kids excited about their own building projects. The kids are doing their surveys this week to find out what type of building is most needed on the west side. The surveys will help them narrow down their choices and help them come up with their number one building choice.  There will be a letter coming home soon asking for materials to build the final project. We will be drawing up blueprints in the next 2-3 weeks and construction will be underway soon!



Social: Traditions and Celebrations in all 4 countries continues! We have created some Peruvian Llama art pieces and are finishing our Tunisian Doors this week. We learned that Arabic and French are the primary languages in Tunisia and that much of the architecture (arched doorways) comes from Roman influence. We know that Diwali is a popular celebration in India and we created some traditional henna hand art which is often used at weddings and other special days. Ukraine had many traditions similar to Canada including Christmas and Easter. The kids will be having an open book quiz soon to review and solidify all the traditions and celebrations we have learned about.



Word Work Themes: Valentines Day



 7 Sacred Teachings: Peace



Skating Fieldtrip: Thanks to those who have already volunteered to supervise at NCSC arena for skating on Feb. 14th . We are in need of a few more so please return the bottom of the included form if you are able to help out, or email/Dojo me! Thanks so much!


Important Dates to Remember in February!

Feb 1 – World Read Aloud Day! We chose a Groundhog theme!

Feb 7 – Wear a Sweater Day! / Booster Juice Day!



Feb 14 – Skating to NCSC /Crazy Hair Day/Assembly 12:30/V-day party!

Feb 18 - No School Family Day

Feb 19-22 No School- Reading Week & Teacher’s Convention


Feb 27 – Pink Shirt Day


Thanks to our volunteers who are sending treats for our Valentines Day Party on the afternoon of Feb. 14th.  Emma Dieser is sending cheese and crackers and Patrick Bible is sending a fruit tray with dip. Thanks to Jace Mitchell for sending the veggie tray with dip. Please dojo if you are able to help out 😊  Thanks also to Sydney Conrad who is bringing juice boxes and Emmy Brausse Elgie who is bringing paper plates! Thanks so much for helping out!

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