This Week At-A-Glance

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A Few Short Notes looking a head at the week:

  • Mondays are our Library Days, please ensure that Library books are packed in the back pack Sunday night. This week students will be encouraged to sign out a Robert Mensch book and a chapter book to carry them through the long weekend.

●  There is a PD Day on Friday, February 16th.There is no school for students and staff will be off-site attending Professional Development sessions. The main office is closed for the day as well.

●  Family Day is on Monday, February1 9th-the school will be closed this day as well.

  • There will be No Working with Words/ Spelling this week

On Wednesday, Valentines Day the students are encouraged to wear red, pink and white. As mentioned in a prior post we will have a small celebration in the classroom.

●  The sharing and giving of Valentine Cards is appropriate and an activity the students enjoy.We do encourage families to ensure that each student in the class receives a Valentine card if you are choosing to purchase or make cards. This will prevent students from feeling left out.

  • Please send in any EMPTY Kleenex boxes that you have lying around at home. We need 20 by Wednesday. I believe I am up to 7. We love to upcycle in room 216!

A Special Thank You!

We have been practicing YOGA in gym class with our grade 3/4 gym partners in Mrs. Robinson’s Class. This past Tuesday we had a wonderful treat of having a professional Yoga instructor come in – Mrs. Korali Gupta (Aurik’s Mom)!

Her passion and precision was clearly evident and it was a truly wonderful session! Look at the smiles on these kiddos faces …

 

Middle French Immersion Follow Up …

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Good afternoon parents,

I hope that those of you who attended the Middle French Immersion information session last night found it informative and helpful. I am missing 3 green forms (pictured below as a reminder) for our class. Once you make your informed decision regarding the programming for your child for their 4th grade year, please be sure to send it in. The deadline is approaching quickly.

Kindly,

Ms. Lewis

A Short Note & Valentine’s Day

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A friendly reminder that this week is a short week. There is NO school Friday as it is a PD day. There is no Working with Words – Spelling on short weeks. After patterning we will be moving into working with 3D shapes in Math class.

Some parents have expressed wanting to get a “jump start” on Valentine’s Day cards because of the long weekend ahead…

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! To help celebrate the special occasion, your child may want to give cards to his/her classmates on Wednesday, Feb. 14th! While children love giving these cute cards, they love receiving them just as much. With that said, I just thought that I would provide parents with a list of the names of the students in our class this year. We’ll celebrate the special day with a card exchange, some activities, and a short video!

Here are the students in our class:

Adrian, Eshaal, David C., Eric, Steven, Feifan, Aurik, Zara, Viaan, Kayson, Seyon, David N., Logan, Sofia, Stephanie, Clara, Alexander, Phoebe, Wenger, Kenny. Please keep in mind, if you give to one, you should give to all. PLEASE do not leave anyone out. The exchange of Valentines’ Day Cards is not mandatory.

WEJ Spirit Day – This Thursday!

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Our school, like our country, is made more beautiful by the many different cultures and traditions we welcome and enjoy. WEJ Wildcats are invited to take part in a Multicultural Spirit Day this Thursday, Jan. 25th. We invite all students and staff to showcase our school’s wonderful diversity by wearing the traditional clothing of their culture to school that day. Don’t have anything? That’s okay! Wear colours that represent your country by wearing the colours of your flag!

 

Strong and Stable Structures Unit Test – Thurs., Jan. 18th

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This Thursday (Jan. 18th), the students will have a test on our Strong and Stable Structures unit. Students should take the time to complete and review their notes in their Science duotangs (duotangs will be sent home this weekend). We will also take some time to review in class before the test Thursday. Please make sure the duotangs come back daily as they will be handed in for marking on Thursday after the test.

Your child can prepare for the science test by reviewing their duotang pages and answering/discussing the questions below:

  • Understand the meaning of the following words: structure, strength, stability, and load.

  • Name various natural structures and man-made structures.

  • Understand the difference between tension, compression, torsion, and bending.

  • In class, we did an experiment with cardboard tubes of different heights. What did we learn about the stability of tall objects by doing this experiment?

  • In class, we tried to build towers out of 50 cue cards. What were two things that the winning group did well with their tower design to make it so tall and stable?

  • In class, we did an experiment where we attempted to increase the stability of a regular cardboard tube. What did we learn about stability by doing this experiment? (How can you increase the stability of tall objects?).

  • In class, we did an experiment with toothpicks and gumdrops. What did you learn about strength from that experiment? How can you reinforce, or make structures stronger? What are struts and ties? What force does each deal with?

  • What properties of material do you need to consider when building the following: a) a car tire; b) a backpack; c) a roof for a house in Kanata, and d) a baseball bat.

  • How can a structure be made strong and stable? Use words like load, struts, ties, cross-bracing, layers, pillars, posts, support beams, balanced, materials, tension, compression, torsion, large base/foundation, etc. in your answer.

In addition….here’s a great link to help differentiate between struts and ties, aside from what we have already done in class:

https://prezi.com/juftog3u3m9f/grade-3-science-ties-struts-and-structures/

Middle French Immersion Information Session

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Middle French Immersion Information Session:  Tuesday, January 30th, 6:30-7:30 pm

If your child is currently in grade 3, you have the choice of having your child continue in the English program or join the Middle French Immersion (MFI) program in grade 4.  Both programs are excellent and follow the same curriculum, but the MFI program has more French instruction.  Students in both programs receive French instruction.  Students do not need to be approved for admission into the MFI program, and it is entirely a parent’s decision. If you have questions about the MFI program, please reach out to your child’s grade 3 teacher.  The information session is voluntary and parents do not need to sign up. Please join us in the library!

We will be sending home a paper form on January 18th for you to fill in with your choice and return to your child’s homeroom teacher by February 9th. 

Heather McAtamney

Designing, Building, and Testing Strong and Stable Structures

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It has been an exciting time in grade three as the students in my class and Mr. Jackson’s’ class worked collaboratively in groups of 4-5 to design and build a stable structure that measured 60 cm in height, consisted of three levels, and which could sustain the load of as many math textbooks as possible. Together, the students in each group came up with a name for their group’s design and construction company, designed a company logo (media literacy task), and made blueprints of and modifications to their plans. All groups were provided with the same type and amount of materials to work with (large cardboard squares cut from pizza boxes, masking tape, and paper towel tubes). It was amazing to watch these young minds at work, literally thinking outside of the (pizza) box!

Our student construction teams tested the strength and stability of their structures on Tuesday and Wed. of this week. During the test period, the students first presented their team logo, then highlighted where they thought their structure was strong and reinforced… and then where they thought their structure would fail (the failure location(s)). Each team also predicted how many textbooks they thought their structure would hold before collapsing. The height of the structure was measured before testing (again, each structure had to be exactly 60 cm tall). Finally, the load was added…and the fun began!

Congratulations to Build Better and its group members: David C,  Marwah, Kayson, and Ziyi! Their structure tied the all-time grade 3 record of supporting a load of 22 textbooks before collapsing!

 

 

 

Happy New Year and a Few Updates …

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Happy New Year!
I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season. I know I did, but I am very excited to see the students tomorrow. There will finally be snow for them to frolic in during recess too.
When packing your child’s back pack tonight please ensure that indoor shoes come back as well as agendas and blue Friday Folio’s. The library is finally back up and running so please do have a quick scan at home for any overdue library books from back in October. You may also choose to pack an extra pair of mitts and socks to protect wet hands and feet during this cold snap we are having.

Starting this week, your child will be learning about patterns: both repeating patterns and growing or shrinking patterns. The goal will be for your child to identify, describe, extend, and create patterns. For repeating patterns, the focus will be on naming attributes of patterns and how those attributes change. The focus for growing or shrinking patterns will be on the start number and the amount that is added or subtracted each time.

Throughout this time, you and your child may engage in activities such as the following:

  • Your child can look around for repeating patterns and create a list of these. They can ask and answer questions about the patterns, such as “What attributes are changing in the pattern?” (for example, colour and size) and “How are those attributes changing?” (for example, colour: blue, purple, blue, purple, repeat; size: small, big, big, small, repeat) and “What is the part of the pattern that repeats (the pattern core)?”
  • Your child can decorate items using repeating patterns. For example, they can create their own notepaper or cards by making a repeating pattern around the edge. They can use shapes, names, and colours for these patterns.

Your child can make and use a 100 chart at home to show growing or shrinking patterns. For example, they can start with an item that costs $4, then add eleven $3 items to the “bill.” (They can use the repeat function on a calculator, if possible, to find each new number.) After they mark the numbers on the 100 chart with counters or circles, they can describe the pattern they see and explain the pattern rule.

Our Spelling groups will be up and running this week and Friday Spelling tests will be a regular occurrence. Words are written in the agenda and the group work activities with each week’s words happen at school Monday to Thursday.

Students are also excited for our literacy unit on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!

Our NEW Science Unit for January is – Forces in Motion. We will be looking at gravity, muscular force, buoyancy, magnetic fields, friction as well as some natural forces. We will begin this strand as soon as we wrap up our STEM Stable Structure design challenge with Mr. Jackson’s students this week.

Special Dates:

On January 18th we will say goodbye to our afternoon Co-op student Miss Kahlan.

WEJ Spirit Day is Thursday January 25th – Cultural/Heritage Day

Next Friday, January 26th is a PD Day – there is NO school.

Scholastic Book Orders will be coming home this week and are due online by January 30th. Our class code for ordering is  RC199370

 

Biography Presentations – Schedule

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The students have been working hard on their biography poster projects. Many of them have nearly completed their poster (writing and colouring). The posters and biography books are being sent home with the students today. This will give the students plenty of time to refine/finish their poster, plan their costumes, and rehearse (memorize?!) the information on their poster before the presentation week (the week of December 18th). The schedule for the student presentations is below. Parents need to know too so that you can double-check your child’s backpack on the morning of their presentation to ensure that the costume, props (if any), and poster are 100% packed (please!)

Here is the schedule:

Monday, December 18th –Feifan, Logan, David C, Alex, Eshaal, Seyon

Tuesday, December 19th – Zara, Adrian, Steven, Aurik, Viaan

Wednesday, December 20th – Kayson, Clara, David N, Stephanie

Thursday, December 21st – Kenny, Wenger, Sofia, Eric

The students are SO excited to see each other’s presentations and costumes. Please make sure your child returns his/her biography book to me on their presentation date!

Here is the formal RUBRIC we will be using to assess the Biography projects:

Biography-Poster-Rubric-1yl1zfn