Wednesday September 14th...

 What a busy day...I'm ready for a nap.  

Lots to blog about.

1- Field trip forms are coming home tonight.  The office sort of messed up our forms, so I asked the class to modify them with me....Just to be clear, we're going to Burlington Public Library on October 5th.  We'll be walking there (Aldershot branch).  The forms are BLUE.

2. Friday they're asking the kids to bring a Toonie for Terry.  

3. Sending home a pink 'weekly lunch' form with the youngest or only kids too.

Here is what we did today.

Period 1- We read aloud.  Then we fixed the permission form.  After that, we had reader's workshop, where we talked about 'if you don't know, guess' with unfamiliar words.

Period 2 was writer's workshop.  We continued to build stamina.

Period 3 we stayed outside for a bit.  Then we came in and tried another take of willoughby wallaby woo:  Townsend Ave 2.m4a

Then we made our own base ten creations and counted how many blocks we used.  Check out the photos (we never got to the work)base ten creations

Period 5 is French with Madam O'Neil.

Period 6 we have library with the other Grade 3's. 

Tuesday September 13th

So Tuesdays Period 1 they have music...which means this will be my only time to blog today (before I even see them).  

So here is my predictive blog:

Today is going to be great!

Period 1 we have music with Mrs. Haynes.

Period 2 we'll do 'reader's workshop', focusing on building stamina, with a mini lesson on 'going back and rereading' when something doesn't make sense.  

Period 3 and 4 is math.  We'll be talking about place value (looking at the value of each digit in a number...e.g., 1234, the 2 is worth 200).  We'll play this game (you can play at home with cards or dice):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R7UYwiR6Q5aLlkUlorLgEz5O9bEpV4qT5zTmWMICnIo/edit

Period 4 we'll use dice to do this sort of work: https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/place-value/rolling-numbers-hundreds-tens-ones_RGNBS.pdf

Period 5 is writer's workshop.  We'll look developing stamina.  We'll do a fun little activity where we try to use some of our favourite words in a phrase.  

Period 6 we'll start our first science unit on Forces that cause Movement.  We'll talk about what a force is, and hopefully start work on a title page.  

Cross country forms (yellow)are due to Mrs. Smeaton by tomorrow.  

Monday September 12th

 Here is the plan for today:

Period 1 we did our first 'weekend round up' where we sit in a giant circle and share the highlights (or lowlights) of our weekends.  

Period 2 we sang 'the walking song' before we had reader's/writer's workshop (student choice) while I read with kids at the blue table.

Period 3 (now) Mr. D has the class in the gym.

Period 4 if it stops raining we'll try to get outside for some fresh air.  After that we'll do a little math.  Try and shake the rust off and practise our doubles and near doubles..  Here is the work we'll do:

https://superstarworksheets.com/wp-content/uploads/AdditionDoublesWorksheet2.pdf

https://superstarworksheets.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/AdditionDoublesPlus1Worksheet2.pdf

Period 5 we'll use the computers to log into 'Math Prodigy' for the first time.  We'll practise logging in and figuring out what this program is all about.  

Period 6 we'll put away the computers and hopefully cruise into some free time.  

Friday September 9th

 Friday?  We made it!

What a great week.  Thanks for raising such great kids.

Here is what we did (or we've done).  

Period 1- we read aloud (Sideways Stories From Wayside School).  Then we practised reading with partners (Elbows to Elbows, Knees to Knees). 

Period 2 -we went outside because it was so beautiful.  Then we came inside and practised building our 'writing stamina'.  

Period 3 we did another 'Esti' mystery and played a class game of Sum it Up.

Period 4 we had our first assembly.

Period 5 Mr. DeStephanis is teaching the first gym lesson of the day.

Period 6 we using the computers for the first time.  We'll log into google classroom and join our class.  Then hopefully enjoy a bit of free time!

NOTE:  Some kids will be coming home with Cross Country permission forms. 

Glenview's Terry Fox fundraising link is: Glenview Terry Fox Fundraising Page

Have an amazing weekend everyone!

Thursday September 8th

 It's only period 4...but already another great day!

Period 1 we did a fun math activity to get our brains ready for the day:

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

Then we read a chapter of Wayside School.  Then we did reader's workshop, continuing to build stamina.  We broke our record from yesterday, 12:53 seconds. 

Period 2 we attempted Willoughby Wallaby Woo...and I recorded it...but I think we can still do better.  Keep tuning in.  Then we did our first writer's workshop.  We wrote for 10 minutes, trying to develop stamina.

Period 3 We played outside for an extra 10 minutes.  When we came inside we learned a new math game called 'Sum it Up'.  You can play it at home too...just need this paper and a couple of dice: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1krMht5rRAHa61ruRE7XFbnzNLyK4qofEU8Q9tK20g3o/edit

Period 4 is Music. 

Period 5 and 6 we'll stay outside for a bit of extra time before we start art.  For art we'll be talking about Cubism (Picasso) and we'll attempt our own cubist trees.  http://krokotak.com/2017/09/cubism-autumn/

Wednesday September 7th

 Another great day almost in the books!

Here is what we did today:

Period 1: We played the 'blanket game', reviewed some school and class rules.  We talked about how "fair isn't always equal".  Then we tried to build up our independent reading stamina.  

Period 2 we sang 'Herman the Worm' then did a quick 10 word spelling test to see how the kids spell.  

Period 3 we stayed outside for a bit of extra time.  Then we came in and tried to sing some Raffi songs (it wasn't a big hit).  After that we did an esti(mation) mystery.

Period 4 we worked on warm and cool colour name tags.  

Period 5 Madam O'Neil taught them French. 

Period 6 we had a bit of free time before we went to the library.  

Welcome

 Hi everyone,

Welcome to the blog.  If your kids are anything like my own, your dinnertime conversations go something like this:

Parent:  How was school today?

Child: Fine.

Parent:  What did you do today?

Child: Nothing.

So I'll do this blog each day (hopefully) to post what we've done/we're doing.  Maybe it will even help you probe a little deeper at the dinner table?  Today was a great first day!  It truly was.

Period 1 and 2 we read the book 'First Day Jitters' and talked about how we felt (I was nervous). We drew pictures and wrote about our feelings on the first day of school.  We went over some class and school rules and introduced ourselves (and ate a little popcorn).  Then I wowed them with my version of 'Herman the Worm'.  Addy even said 'Wow, you're awesome at guitar!'.

Period 3 and 4 we came up with our own class rules: 1. Be respectful 2. Respect Others 3. Try your best 4. Have fun.  Then we played outside for a little extra time.  We came in and read the first chapter of 'Sideways Stories from Wayside School' and played with Play d'oh (some of us tried to make an elephant).

Period 5 we'll stay outside for a little more play time.  Then we'll come in and explore the resources around the room and hopefully ease into a little 'free time' practising putting materials back where we got them from.

Period 6 is Music (today only).  Normally we'll have music Period 1 on Tuesdays but for the first day of school Mrs. Haynes was nice enough to move things around for me. 

I'm sending home a quick introduction letter and tenative class schedule...as well as a 'concrete' HDSB school calendar.  

NOTE:  It would be really helpful if (new)parents could email their contact information...or at least their email addresses...it would save me a considerable amount of time tracking it down!  I've had a few parents already reach out and let me know some details about their child, please don't hesitate to contact me.

My email address is: crossa@hdsb.ca