This week we spent a lot of time finishing up our Harry Potter book projects, watching the movie, and talking about differences we noticed between the two. Many students were surprised by how different the movie is from what they envisioned in their imaginations during reading. We also noticed lots of differences between what happens in the book and what happens in the movie. Now that we have finished both, our next step will be to write about which we preferred. I have also given students the option of writing about which they would prefer: to go to a school like Cranston that is always safe, or a magical school like Hogwarts that is sometimes dangerous. This will get us thinking about writing opinion pieces, as a pose to the narrative writing we typically do. We will learn more about that next week!
Our multiplication journey continued this week. We learned some new games that help us practice our facts and using the strategies we have learned. If you have dice at home your child can show you how to play race to 100! We also looked at the different parts of a multiplication equation, and learned what the multiplicand, multiplier and product mean. We also finished our Array Cities, I hope everyone gets the chance to check them out at parent teacher interviews. For Science this week we had a visit from a hearing and sound expert, who also happens to be a student a Cranston. This student has cochlear implants and came with his teacher to tell us all about why he has implants and how they work. The class was also introduced to the 4 countries we will be studying this year- Peru, India, Tunisia and the Ukraine. Students did some exploring about each and picked which one interests them the most, so that they can become experts on that country this year. A message from Ms. Thomas: Artist of the Week David Bowie- This week we will be listening to and celebrating the music and life of the late and great David Bowie. Through the diversity of his music, we will be talking about the profound impact he had on music, and creative thought. Also, we will be considering his perspective on identity and his unique “rebel spirit”. Grade 3 Choir Forms should be handed in no later than Monday if your child wants to participate. Rehearsals start next Thursday at lunch. Upcoming Important Dates: February 7 Fun lunch February 15/16 No School (Teacher's Convention) February 19 No School (Family Day) February 22 Math Night February 28 Fun lunch Have an excellent weekend, Ms.Brett I don't know if it was two weeks off, or being in a new year, but every student in this class has been such a rockstar when it comes to all the new things we have been doing. We have a new addition to our group of rock stars, a student teacher is joining us once a week for a couple of months. Her name is Ms. Marshall and she will be with us on Wednesday mornings. We are really excited to have her with us! In literacy we jumped back into literacy centers, guided reading and spelling this week. We are also working hard on wrapping up a Harry Potter project to retell their favourite part of the book. It has been awesome to see different kids working on different types of projects- plays, comic strips, stories and drawings. They are presenting them to the class next week and I can't wait to see the finished products. Next week we will start watching Harry Potter, and get started on our final activity. Please continue to support your child at home with their spelling words, the more practice they get, the better! We have continued talking about celebrations and traditions in Social Studies. This week students picked a celebration that their family celebrates and brainstormed all the traditions that their family has surrounding that celebration. Our Science unit is in full swing, and this week was all about learning more about how we hear and what we hear. Here is what our class learned this week: - Sound can keep you safe - AA - We drew a diagram of the ear - BC - If you put your hands on a balloon and talk to it, it vibrates - MW - We learned how the ear works - KN - The hammer the anvil and the stirrup are little tiny bones (ossicles) - LW - We watched some videos about how the ear works - QS - The pinna is the outer ear - MZ - The cochlea has fluid inside that takes the vibrates to the nerves. There is little hairs in there. - BC - The auditory nerve takes the sound from the cochlea to the brain. - KN - The auditory canal, also known as the ear canal, carries mounds of ear wax to prevent anything coming to damage your ear drum. -KN - The ear drum helps you so that you move the sound. - SB - The ear drum hits the ossicles and then the ossicles vibrate and go into the cohclea and then the auditory nerves send it to the brain. - SM - Your ear drum is very easy to damage because your ear drum is thin. - BC - Your ear drum is easy to damage because it is a thin piece of skin. - SB - I remember the hammer and the brain too - BT - When the ossicles vibrate from the ear drum they make the liquid in the cochlea to vibrate and while its vibrating the little hairs inside of the cochlea vibrate too and start to move. - KN - The cochlea looks like a snail shell. - BC - The whole cochlea, ossicles, ear drum and ear canal act like a group so that you hear and it goes really fast through them. MA - Our three parts of the ear are the outer ear, middle ear and inner ear. MB - I learned this week that if you stick something in your ear too far, like a q-tip, you might break your ear drum and then you won't really hear that well. -AF - On an airplane my ears sometimes hurt. -BT - On the bottom of your pinna, aka your outer ear, if you feel you can feel a large lump that carries cartilage and blood that has a special use. -KN - I can connect because one time my friend stuck a lego in their ear and hurt their ear drum. - MA This class has really amazed me with how quickly they have all picked up multiplication and this week was no different. We learned about the last two multiplication strategies that they need to know in grade 4: numberline/skip counting and array. We have been doing lots of fun activities to help us practice arrays because they are the trickiest to do! Next week we will move on to multiplication facts and using a multiplication chart, some classics you will recognize from when you were learning multiplication! What a week! Next week will be a short week, with interviews Thursday night (4-7pm) and Friday during the day (8am-12pm). I am looking forward to seeing all of you and touching base around all the progress your child has made this year.
Music: Artist of the Week: This upcoming week brings us our second female and first country artist — Shania Twain! In the 1990’s, the Canadian singer received commercial success with her country album “The Woman In Me”. She then began to blend genres with her pop-country album “Come On Over”. We will be exploring the genre-specific instruments, themes, and patterns heard in the first album. Another musical note- Ms.Thomas and Mrs.Jackson are starting an optional choir that will meet at lunchtime, students who are interested are being asked to meet with them on Monday to talk about choir and what the expectations are for people who join. Upcoming important dates: January 24 Fun Lunch January 25 Parent Teacher Interviews 4-7pm January 26 No School Parent Teacher Interviews 8am-12pm February 2 Club Friday February 7 Fun Lunch February 15/16 No School (Teacher's Convention) February 19 No School (Family Day) February 22 Math Night Hello room 74 families! 2018 is off to a great start, we are getting back into the swing of things and we have jumped right into some new units in Math, Science and Social Studies. In Science we have begun our unit on hearing and sound. We started out by creating a sound map of our school and thinking about how and why sounds are different in different places. throughout the unit we will explore why sound is important and what role it plays in our lives. Our Social Studies unit on celebrations and tradition has also begun, and will lead us into our exploration of different countries around the world. For now, we are looking at celebrations and traditions in our own lives. Room 74 is full of multiplication rock stars! We started looking specifically at multiplication this week and learning different strategies that we can use to multiply. Although we only technically need to know facts up to and including 5 x 5, we will be using bigger numbers as well. Once we have learned all of the strategies we will start to look at multiplication facts and working on learning as many facts as we can. This week we looked at two strategies: repeated addition and equal groups. They look like this: A note from our gym teachers, Ms. Macmillan and Mrs. Sedgewick:
We have begun our gymnastic unit in our regularly scheduled physical education classes. This unit lasts until the first week of February. To begin this unit, we review safety procedures with each class. When participating in gymnastics we ask students to be dressed and prepared to participate. We ask you to consider the following: - Clothing that allows freedom of movement (no special uniforms or outfits are required – sweats and a t-shirt work best). - Loose fitting/baggy clothing may get caught on equipment when climbing. - Tucking shirts in may help to prevent an accident. - All jewelry that could get caught on equipment should be removed (left in classrooms or left at home). e.g. watches, rings, necklaces, etc - Students with long hair should have their hair tied back. Tying hair back with elastics (scrunchies) is recommended. - Students may wear shorts under clothing if they wish. - Students continue to wear indoor running shoes (first preference). Students may also participate in bare feet or with gymnastic slippers. Thank you for helping your child come to school dressed safely for gymnastics! A note from Ms. Thomas about the next Artist of the Week for music: The Beach Boys: The Beach Boys are a most commonly known for pioneering the “California Sound”, otherwise known as the surf rock sub genre. Through the 60s, The Beach Boys evolved from a “youth-culture” themed pop group, to being highly sophisticated rock innovators with critically acclaimed albums like “Pet Sounds”. Now for some important reminders: - Please remember to send blue folders and TWAS books back to school on Monday - Scholastic book orders came home today, they are due back January 19 if you would like to order anything. - Please return report card folders if you have not already - The next fun lunch is Wednesday, January 24 - Parent Teacher Interviews: January 24 (4pm-7pm) & January 25 (8am-12pm) - No school for students January 25 Have a great weekend! Ms.Brett |
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