What are we working on in Room 30?
Literacy
- Daily 5- We have been working hard on learning to rotate through four direct focused literacy centers using the Daily 5 method.
- Daily 5 consists of:
- Work On Writing-focused on writing proper sentences. Right now we are working on keeping our letters on the line and not floating on the paper, remembering to use capitals at the beginning of sentences and periods at the end. We use friendly language like "finger space" "skip a line",
- Word Work- during Word Work, students are building words using letters. Starting with a three word CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) and moving onto more complex six letter words. Word work can be hands on, students use banana grams and scrabble pieces to create words.
- Listen to Reading - listening to someone else read to you has always been shown to develop fluency and accuracy when speaking aloud. Listening to a reader change tone and volume allows the listener to develop strategies for confident oral literacy. During listen to reading time, students can read with a partner (EEKK-Elbow. Elbow, Knee,Knee) or listen to audio books on the classroom i-pad or listening station.
- Guided Reading- One of the best parts of Daily 5 is Guided Reading, the center where students have an opportunity to have direct focused reading with each student while they read and use reading strategies. The u-table is used for instruction from the teacher while members of the group sit around the table and read their Fontas and Pinnel leveled book.
- Read To Self- While Read To Self isn't a direct focused centre during Daily 5 time, (since we practice reading to ourselves when we have Drop Everything and Read time daily after lunch recess) students may choose to Read to Self during Daily 5 time.
- We have been working hard on place value and rounding numbers to the nearest place value.
**In grade 3, the Alberta Programs of Study, the focus on numbers is 1-1000, using math daily with your child increases their mathematical literacy.
- Our class learned so much about the Canadian Residential School System using children's literature and story telling. We were able to have beautiful classroom discussions, create short pieces of writing and looked at the differences between education now and throughout history. I am happy to report that all of the students in room 30 are blossoming social justice warriors! The way they inquire about history and their own identities is so beautiful-their energy and passion makes me so proud to be Indigenous!
- Inquiry on apples
*We have been talking about harvesting food before the winter, and have looked at twelve different types of apples from all over the world and right here in Alberta. Did you know that the crab apple is the only apple fruit to be considered Indigenous to North America?
We will be starting a rocks and minerals unit- the students will have an opportunity to learn about different rocks and minerals in the territory and around the world.
- Students use their visual journals as a free-draw. During read-alouds they use the journals as a reflection piece.
- Students have made all about me collages and name art over the last month.
- Stop Now and Plan!
- Using SNAP as a self-regulation tool
November Updates
- Thank you so much for coming out to parent-teacher interviews! I enjoyed meeting with many of you, I am in awe at how kind and caring your kiddo's are-I love spending the day with their wonderful spirits.
- Now that December is around the corner, it is the season for chilly mornings-please dress your child for the weather, if your child needs a jacket please let the school now. Remember: we head out onto the land as often as we can. Snow or shine.
- Our Winter Solstice celebration will be on Wednesday, December 4 at 9:30. Join us-there will be a light bagged lunch following the performances.
- Our classroom champion, Brigette Laquette is going to be coming to visit us on December 5, We cannot wait to tell her about our community kindness goals.
Updates in room 30
- Remind your child to dress for the weather-we try to get out onto the land at least once a week. We were so blessed to have a large bald eagle fly over us on our last walk about. We each placed some tobacco on the ground and gave thanks for the blessing. I was most impressed to hear the students ask for tobacco-they know the protocol we have set up and they follow through!
- We have been having monthly visits from the Calgary City Police and the Calgary Public Library. They run a program for us called, "it's a crime not to read", they come in and read to us and then let us borrow books that we keep in our desks for the month. Next month is special because they are not coming to us, we are going to them! (trip to the Central Library) More details to come.
- Club Friday's has begun!! Your child has taken part in a voting process to decide which club they would like to attend on Friday mornings for an hour. We have a cooking club, a science club, a sewing club and a drama club.
Science
- We have finished our Rocks and Minerals unit-the students have learned rock properties, classifying rocks, and how rocks are used in everyday life. The beautiful stories that the students have shared about how rocks are used in their own lives has been beneficial for their deeper understanding.
- We are working on our "quality of life" unit. Many of the students are curious about children their age around the world, We will explore nations around the word, looking at similarities and differences. I am beyond amazed at how empathetic and kind our students are towards our vulnerable people. We did some book studies on the homeless population, I am so proud of them for using kindness and compassion during that unit.
- We are working on subtracting from zero. Please practice this with your child when you can as many of our students are struggling with the concept of borrowing from zero. I like to sing them the Beyonce song, "to the left to the left, we need to borrow ten from the left" this reminds them to borrow ten and add the ten to the zero. Some of our students are working on using word problems to assist. For example, "Ms,Kelsey has 320 pieces of lego, she magically lost 145 pieces, how many are left"?
- Daily 5 continuous
- Parts of speech
- Long and short vowel sounds
- Compound words, synonyms, antonyms, fragments
Oki! Tansi Spring !!
Here is the link to Epic books online- Please use our classroom code-> kag9748
your child has their own login, you only need to enter the code! They should know their F&P level :)
HAPPY READING!!
https://www.getepic.com/students
your child has their own login, you only need to enter the code! They should know their F&P level :)
HAPPY READING!!
https://www.getepic.com/students