Wednesday September 30th

 Here is what we did today (so far).

Periods 1 and 2 were all about goal setting.  We made goals for how much/far we could read and write...then we took the time to beat those goals.  We also read a few chapters from our Goosebumps novel.

Periods 3 and 4 were math.  The kids worked hard on completing this assessment (find the mistakes)...and then they had some more 'math time' to do either the mystery puzzle or coloured square practise. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1txC52XuakO6EDfyK5WHB6HO2SCiCqKRa/view?usp=sharing (assesment)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TT2rKNXiLsWLJNV98ay00JaGqkDi08hk/view?usp=sharing (puzzle)

https://www.coloringsquared.com/free-coloring-pages-math-for-kids/math-fact-coloring-pages/free-addition-worksheet-activities/#Mystery (coloured square)

we were able to get outside for a little play time before recess.  

Period 5 Is social studies.  We're going to read about the Hudsons Bay lowlands and work on our 'Living and Working in Ontario' title page.  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pm85wi733wkySWsLLBDD-Jak2KBn19XC/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17UwTVu7N21_6yJTRB61uzsZHr-bg6xy8/view?usp=sharing

Period 6 Mr. Woolley is coming in for French.

Wednesday September 30th

 Here is what we did today:

Period 1 & 2 we started by finishing up some outstanding work.  Then we read a little from our new class novel, Goosebumps.  Then we read about the 3 major landforms in Ontario:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pm85wi733wkySWsLLBDD-Jak2KBn19XC/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17UwTVu7N21_6yJTRB61uzsZHr-bg6xy8/view?usp=sharing

After that we had a bit of independent reading time.  We finished the period by breaking our 'Stamina Record' for writing for 10 minutes straight.  

Period 3 & 4 we had the chromebooks.  We worked off of Google Classroom, to explore Google Earth (and Ontario).  

Period 5 -Mr. Butt has them for tech.

Period 6 we'll keep the chromebooks and I'm going to give them some 3 digit addition questions on Math Prodigy

Monday September 28th

 Here is what we did today:

Periods 1 & 2 : Literacy

We started the day by sharing highlights of our weekend.  Then we talked about 'silent reading'...and making sure we bring books.  *Parents, make sure your kids bring a book(s) to read*.  We finished reading Sideways stories from Wayside school.  

Then we needed to clear our room for some 'sterilization' so we had a nice chunk of time outside before recess.

Periods 3 and 4:  Math

We started off by watching this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE-yrJv4TEs - song

Then we did a number of examples on the smartboard as a class.

Then we started working on these 3 digit addition sheets (with regrouping).   The class worked hard, but a few of them could definitely benefit from a little extra practise at home.

https://www.worksheetfun.com/Addition/add3Dgraph1.pdf

https://www.worksheetfun.com/Addition/add3Dgraph2.pdf

Period 5: Social Studies

We started off with a little Go Noodle.  We very briefly talked about Ontario, we shared what we know...Looked around on Google Earth.

Period 6: Music with Mrs. Haynes

Friday September 25th

 Here is my prediction on what will happen today...

Period 1: We'll start with this puzzle in the morning:

https://www.transum.org/software/SW/Starter_of_the_day/starter_September25.asp

Then we'll talk about writing, and how to continue to build stamina.  Then we'll write.

Period 2: Mr. Butt for some tech.

Period 3 and 4 is art.  We'll be looking at OP art (optical art).  We'll look at several artists, and a few cool optical illusions, then we'll try to create our own.

https://www.optics4kids.org/illusions -cool website

https://www.smore.com/h83wc-op-art-3d-hand -activity

Period 5 and 6 we have the computers.  I'm hoping to log into google classroom.  Make sure everyone is set up okay on their 'reading at home' log.  I also need them to rename their literacy folders.  After that I've got a few addition questions on Math Prodigy I'd like them to attempt.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday September 24th

 Here is what today looked like (mostly)

Period 1 & 2 we played a few rounds of word scrabble...the kids had a lot of fun.

https://www.turtlediary.com/game/word-scrabble.html

Then we looked at the solution from last weeks 'Problem of the Week' (we 'nailed it').  Then I read a bit from Wayside before we went outside to do some writing.  We weren't quite as successful as yesterday, but we had a great discussion about what we can do to be better.

Period 3 & 4

We watched this video and did a little more addition (with and without regrouping).  Most of us were feeling confident to attack regrouping, but other's are still working on adding without regrouping.  

https://www.worksheetfun.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/wfun16_graph_add_2D_T2_O_1.pdf FRONT

https://www.worksheetfun.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/wfun16_3D_NoR_1.pdf BACK

Regrouping

https://www.worksheetfun.com/Addition/addgraph1.pdf front

https://www.worksheetfun.com/Addition/addgraph2.pdf back

Period 5 Mr. Woolley is teaching them.

Period 6 we might dig into our 'Living and Working in Ontario' title pages (while I try to do some more reading assessments) 

Wednesday September 23rd

 Another great day almost in the books.

Periods 1 & 2:

We started the day by trying to remember as many characters as possible from Wayside. Then we came up with some class rules.  After that we did a class activity where we used our 5 senses to write a quick story about inside the school.  

Then we went outside, and tried the same thing on our own, observing nature.  We had a long talk about working outside (not being silly)...and the kids were amazing.  Really awesome stuff...here are I few I can recall.

Autumn:  I hear Mrs. Hayes beautiful voice

Lennon:  I feel the wind blowing on my face

Sam:  I hear the sound of crickets chirping

Kate: I hear the sound of a train bumping down the track

Violet: I feel the sun beating down on me

Period 3 and 4 we had math.  We played the game race to 50 (or race to 100)...you can play it at home to practise adding and regrouping:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_smXQAPbygQ (video)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3puGb9f50unUTRMNWxIMmJubFE/view?usp=sharing (game)

They worked really well during the game that we went outside for a bit of free time before 2nd break.

Period 5 we had a class talk about being 'kinder than is necessary' and how to make this class work like a real community.  Then we did some Go Noodle activities and watched an episode of Wayside before Mr. Woolley came in.

Period 6 was the Mr. Woolley show.

Tuesday September 22nd

 Here is what we did today.

Period 1 and 2:

We finished up some math and art at the start.  Then we read a couple of chapters from Wayside.  Then we went outside and practised 'socially distancing' while in the "J box".  After that we talked about our new 'Home Reading/Reading at Home' program (see below).  Then we did some writing.  We talked about building up our Stamina...and we wrote for 10 minutes.

Period 3 and 4 we had the chromebooks.  After a lot of hard work, we were all able to play a 'place value' game on Google Classroom and take a screenshot of our scores...then we added them to a shared document.  That was a lot of work!  Afterwards I gave them some Prodigy time.  The Place Value games we tried are on Google Classroom...lots of good ones to practise at home.

Period 5 Mr. Butt has them for Library/Tech

Period 6 I've got Social studies lined up, but I might have to change up the plans....celebrate their hard work instead!

So, because we can't really take out books, or share my classroom library, we'll need to adapt.  I love giving the kids time to read in class...but because of restrictions, I'm unable to do that (at this point).  So I'm relying on lots of 'home reading'. 

I've set the kids up on Google Classroom with a Home Reading Assignment.  Looks like this.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LadQ0jLxwEMY2ARl4q5wKrDses5O7lhCjtojp6Vc0bo/edit?usp=sharing

They'll need to track their reading each day (and parents can just need to type in their initials).  In order to access the 'reading log' your child will need to log into Google Classroom using their account.  

I told the kids that I don't give a lot of homework, but hopefully they can do this!  I'm trying my best to not make it too taxing!  

Monday September 21st

 Happy Monday everyone,

Here is what today looked like: 

Period 1 and 2:

We worked on our 'cubist trees' first thing.  Then we did a short 'Weekend Round Up'.  Not a lot of students wanted to share today.  Then we moved on to writing.  Today we looked at several famous author's and their 'writing spaces' and talked about our 'ideal' writing places.  Then we wrote about it.

Periods 3 and 4 we had math and the class worked well.  We played a couple of place value games:

Game: https://www.splashlearn.com/place-value-games

Bingo: https://www.abcya.com/games/base_ten_bingo

Then played 'Roll it, count it, cover it':

https://cdn.thisreadingmama.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/NPPVG-TRM.pdf

(some kids only felt comfortable with tens and ones, other's tried the challenge of using hundreds too)

We finished by trying the following worksheets...most kids finished.

https://www.k5learning.com/worksheets/math/1st-grade-base-ten-blocks-addition-tens-ones-1.pdf (front)

https://www.mathworksheets4kids.com/addition/two-digit/blocks1.pdf (back)

Period 5 we talked a bit about 'fair isn't always equal' and what that means.  Then we did some mindfulness deep breathing activities.  For the last little bit of time we went outside.

Period 6 Mrs. Haynes had them for music outside.

Friday September 18th

 So on Fridays, my prep. period is period 2...so I'm going to try and blog first thing in the morning...which means, these plans are subject to change!

Here is what I'm hoping happens today:

Period 1-we're going to do some drawing using the shapes of base ten blocks...then calculate what they're worth.  Then we're going to go over our 'kindness rules' again and talk about yesterday.  After that we're going to have a discussion about 'the zone's we're in' and how to manage.

Period 2 Mr. Butt has them for tech/library.

Periods 3 & 4:  We're going to look at Cubism, artists that inspired the movement (Picasso).  Then I hope to create some 'cubist autumn trees'.

https://kids.kiddle.co/Cubism

http://krokotak.com/2017/09/cubism-autumn/

Period 5 and 6:  We have the chromebooks, I'm hoping to get the kids to set up 'literacy folders' on Google Drive and have them share them with me.  Hopefully do a little writing on a brand new document.  After that, I'll give them a little time on Math Prodigy.

I hope everyone has a terrific weekend...stay safe!

September 17th

OK...round 2...apparently my first attempt didn't work.

Here is what we did today:

Period 1 & 2:

We started the day by doing a difficult 'problem of the week' question.  A lot of kids gave up, or said they couldn't do it...which led to a great discussion on just 'trying'.  It's all I ask, is that everyone tries their best.  I think they got it!

Then I tried to blow their minds with a game of 20 questions, but Milo made a guess on question 3 and got my mystery item, a Rubik's Cube.  Then I really tried to blow their minds by solving it quickly...but I choked several times and it took me 6 minutes and 34 seconds.  

After that we went outside to play a game of Emotional Charades.  

Period 3 & 4 we did some math.  We focused on Place Value.  Everyone worked hard and 'tried' their best.  We played these games and did the following worksheet (except I think it may be password protected...)

https://www.abcya.com/games/place_value_hockey (game 1)

https://www.abcya.com/games/base_ten_fun (game 2)

https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/place-value/rolling-numbers-hundreds-tens-ones_RGNBS.pdf?up=1589795082 (work)

We were able to sneak outside just before nutrition break (it was beautiful outside and some of the class is building a cool fort).

Period 5 Mr. Woolley had them for French.

Period 6 we played some hangman...then finished up some math and art from earlier.

Today was a great day (except writing the blog post twice)!

Wednesday September 16th

 Another great day (almost) in the books!

Here is what we did:

Period 1 & 2:  We practised memorizing our Halton Log ins...then we went over our 'kindness rules' from yesterday.  We read a book called 'Thunder Boy' and talked about what's in a name.  We talked about how being 'imperfect, is actually perfect' and how making mistakes is how we learn.  We started making name tags for our desks focusing on warm and cool colours.

Period 3 and 4 we did some math.  We focused on Doubles and Making 10.  We played these games and did these worksheets:

-Doubles

https://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/monkeydrive/addition/MDAddDoubles.htm (game)

https://www.k5learning.com/worksheets/math/grade-1-adding-doubles-a1.pdf (work)

-Making 10

https://www.mathplayground.com/number_bonds_10.html (game)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qx2_Kv76amWYxksWLB7_BnHeQsEYU8Ye/view?usp=sharing (work)

We got outside at the end of the period for a giant game of Everybody's It Dodgeball.

Period 5 we're going to do a mindfulness activity from yesterday that we didn't get to, and finish up our name tags.

Period 6 Mr. Woolley has them for French.

**NOTE: Unfortunately, due to our current circumstances, we're unable to use the library (or my own personal classroom library). It would be amazing if your child came with a book (or books) each day to read. I would love to start giving them independent reading time soon...(but we'll need something to read).

Tuesday September 15th

 Another great day almost in the books!

Here is what we've done so far:

Period 1 & 2: we did a little 1 truth, 2 lies; what did you have for breakfast today? Then we read from Sideways stories from Wayside School.   After that we read the book "Be Kind" and talked about how to be kind and help our classmates and build a strong community.  We had enough time after that to go outside and play big game of Everybody's It Dodgeball, and we discussed what worked well, and what didn't.

Period 3 and 4 we had the chromebooks.  I was able to get everyone to successfully log into Google Classroom!  Woo Hoo!  Then I posted a link to a math website called Math Prodigy.  The kids really seemed to enjoy playing.  I encouraged the kids to copy down their passwords onto stickies and bring them home so the can play at home too...side note: It took me 20 minutes to disinfect all 18 chromebooks.  Teaching is very different this year!

Period 5 Mr. Butt has them for 'library/technology'.

Period 6 we're going to do a 'mindfulness' activity called "Be the Pond".  

Monday September 14th

 A great day so far!

Period 1& 2: We started the day by reviewing some of the new rules and routines around the school.  Then we did our 'weekend round up' and the kids that wanted to share the highlights from their weekend did.  

We went outside and played a fun 'name game' to try and get to know our classmates just a little better.

Then we came inside and started working on our 'Behind the Mask' self portraits.   

Periods 3 & 4: We read a couple of chapters from Wayside School.    Then we played a fun addition game called Sum it Up...it was difficult to play in partners, but we remained socially distanced and everyone had their own dice (no sharing).  You can play at home too (page 2):  

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1krMht5rRAHa61ruRE7XFbnzNLyK4qofEU8Q9tK20g3o/edit?usp=sharing

We went out side and 'rocked out' a class version of Willoughby Wallaby Woo...Check it out:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18-VCKUgqxFwOMtpLcV-w2xdMFKsnW0tp/view?usp=sharing (I hope that works).  

Then the kids had a bit of time outside to play either SPUD or Everybody's It Dodgeball while I took some 'first day photos'.  

Period 5 I'm hoping to finish up our Behind the Mask Art activity and maybe just a little time to 'chill out' before Music.

Period 6 we have Music with Mrs. Haynes.

September 11th

 Today was another great day.  We only had 6 students, but we had a lot of fun.  All 6 of them did an excellent job following all our new rules, routines and procedures.  Everyone stayed safe and made me very excited for a great year of teaching ahead.  I hope everyone has a great weekend and finds time to relax.  

September 10th

 Well we had our "first" unofficial day of school today for all the kids with last names that start with letters from A - L.

The kids were amazing.  There were a lot of new rules, routines and procedures, but I really felt like everyone 'got it'.

We had a lot of fun.  It's been a while since I've been able to flex my 'dodgeball muscles', but I did today!  

The 7 kids that showed up today gave me a lot of hope that this is going to be a really terrific year.  Looking forward to seeing them again on Monday!

Wednesday September 9th

 Hey Everyone!

It's almost 'welcome back' time!

For everyone's safety, we're really trying to limit the amount of stuff that is going back and forth between school and home this year.  

I'll be supplying everyone in my class with everything that they'll need (e.g., pencils, erasers, scissors, ruler, glue stick, paper, clipboard, highlighter, etc...)....however, I know a lot of children like to bring their own supplies (e.g., makers, pencil case, etc...).  Your children are welcome to bring and use their own supplies, but I just ask that they keep them at school instead of bringing them back and forth from home.  Also, make sure whatever supplies your child does bring are properly labelled.  

I will try to update this blog each day, just to give parents an idea of what we're doing in class.  When I ask my own children "How was your day? What did you do?"  I usually get "...it was good.  We did stuff...".  

I'm looking forward to meeting you all soon!  Stay safe.

Happy New School Year!

 Hi everyone!  Welcome to my blog.  

I was pretty good last. year about updating it each day...so please check here regularly to see what we're doing in class.

This is going to be a bit of a different year, but I promise I'll do the best job I can to make your child have a wonderful Grade 3.  

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone soon.  Please don't hesitate to send me an email or post 'comment' below if you have any questions.  

See you soon, stay safe!