Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween! 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?ebc=ANyPxKrRmCG4ZvKJSBJECGshcy7sLGbGFptIOO1jZjiP0YmR6isErNZ7qBWgeMaXYghg3QAdIqB0YbLUCHVbn_d4w-78U8hiHQ&v=ibUzDIWhsFg&time_continue=23

Thank you for all your well wishes!! It is wonderful to be back at school, and the students' warm welcome this morning was amazing. I definitely missed the students, but I'm so glad I took the time to be with my family who flew in from all over to celebrate with us. We spend a good 45 minutes this morning catching up on everything that happened in their lives while I was away, and I promised them I would show them pictures tomorrow. There were also lots of sweet and innocent questions if I have a baby now that I'm married, and if we received a baby as a wedding gift. I can assure you that I will not be going on mat leave any time in the foreseeable future!!

Today we spent the whole day with our pumpkins...their worksheet came home, along with one more page to finish tonight. We did lots of math with our pumpkins as well! 

Remember to vote today!!

Just a reminder that tomorrow is our field trip to the planetarium. Please make sure you pack a healthy snack and lunch, and send your child in comfortable clothes. We will be leaving the school at 9:45 and will be arriving back around 3. 

We spoke extensively about the election today. I enjoy covering this part of the curriculum!! We spoke today about different levels of government, some of their roles, and also about how political parties work. Tomorrow morning, before we go to the planetarium, we will start looking at the parties platforms. I find it is of utmost importance for me to stay neutral when teaching this, but I encourage you to talk to your children about your political opinions. It's always great for students to hear from others about voting! 

We will be doing the actual vote on Thursday. I will need two volunteers to be our election officials. If you are free between 11 and 12, please let me know!

I have to keep the results of the vote secret until the official results are announced, but I will make sure to post our results as soon as I am able to!

Finally, just so you are awake, my last day before my wedding will be this Thursday. If you have any questions or concerns you want to address before I go, please let me know!! Otherwise I will be back on the 27th. 

So much to be thankful for

Yesterday, we did one of my favorite projects of the whole year! We spent the whole day talking about what we are thankful for. The list they came up with amazing!

I hope everyone had a great weekend, and got to enjoy this wonderful weather we are having! 

We had a very busy week last week. Here is some of the stuff the kids have done: 

We have almost made it through learning facts about all the planets, as well as patterning in math. We are now in full swing daily 5! 

If you are looking for some cool space stuff, the CSA YouTube page is great! I also recommend finding astronaut Scott Kelly (I personally follow him on Instagram). He is part way through a year in space, and is helping NASA learn about how the human body functions in space. His twin brother is on earth doing similar tests. 

Today, the students brought home their new dictée words, as well as our home reading program! It is now in the front of that duo tang. There are institutions, maps, distances, and many pages for logs. This is not mandatory but, I can't stress enough how important it is to read at home!!! If you have any questions about home reading!

Students also brought class books home today. These are very precious resources so please take care of them! I will have book bags for the students tomorrow. Students can exchange these books any time during our travail du matin. 

Both grade 3 classes will be participating in the CIVIX Student Vote program. This is an election program that is run parallel with the federal election in October. You can find more information here: http://civix.ca/main/

I love this program, since it is so important that young people vote in any election. I encourage you to talk to your children about voting and why it's important!

In class, we will be learning about the electoral process, and will be learning about every party's platforms. When I teach it, it is definitely a simplified version and we don't get a chance to talk about every election issue. That would take up our whole grade 3 year!! 

If you are looking to help your child figure out who they would vote for, CIVIX recommends two different quizzes. I know they are still a bit advanced for grade 3, but with your help, they could take it through it!!

They can be found here https://votecompass.cbc.ca/ and here https://pollenize.org/canada

It was so heart-warming to come back to school on Wednesday (I appologize for being away - I was so so sick with a cold) to hear how wonderful the class was with the TOC. She had nothing but wonderful things to say about your children. They were helpful, polite, hard workers, and friendly. They should be very proud!

It was also wonderful to come back and hear all of the lunar eclipse viewing stories!

This week, we have started our daily 5 routine in full swing! Students are picking different literacy activities, and working very well on them!

In math, we are working on advanced patterning and will be doing a 'célébration' soon! 

Just a reminder that tomorrow is dictée as well as library! Please make sure your children bring their library books and dictée duo tangs