We have been working really hard this week! Brains have been challenged, and have risen up to the occasion! We have been working on two big things:

We started a research project on a Canadian Aboriginal people. We had a great discussion on Wednesday about reconciliation (this is a huge word for young brains), the importance of learning about others, and respecting different cultures. The main message from this discussion is that we are learning about Aboriginal people because it is important that our society recognizes that they were here first, and that our job is to respect their territory since we now live on it. The topic of injustices done towards Aboriginal peoples came up, and the main message I want students to know, is that we are all learning about some of the tough to hear history so that it doesn't happen again in the future. Students now will be making decisions in the future and their responsibility is to make sure no one else is treated that way. The topic of guilt came up as well. We spoke about it the same way - that feeling guilty is normal, but not a productive feeling in this situation. We are working on turning that guilt into awareness so that such injustices do not happen again.

Students are in groups and are working through books on a certain Aboriginal people. This project will be spanning a few weeks, so I will get students to write the name of the people they are researching incase you want to encourage extra research at home. If students find links (maybe a song, or video about the people) you can email it to me and I will have it to show the rest of their group.

We also started learning how to re read our own writing. It is important that students practice re reading their own work for mistakes and clarity. I've given them a tool to use, incase you want to use it at home as well.

Today we had the chance to visit the fire safety house that the Vancouver Fire Department brings to schools. Students learned about the importance of having a plan at home in case of a fire. Students have the homework of creating a plan with their families. When they bring back their plan, I have a certificate and sticker for them!

We also didn't have time for dictée! Ahh! Students were working so hard on a piece of writing that we just didn't get to it. We will do it tomorrow instead.

I had a few people ask more about the yoga and just dance that we do for movement breaks in the class. The yoga is called Cosmic Kids Yoga and you can find her channel on yYouTube. I find the longer story ones are if a great level for grade 3 kids.

You will find that if you look on YouTube for just dance videos, some will have moves that aren't quite appropriate.

A couple of the ones off my playlist that I know are appropriate are:
Da Funk
Just Mario
In the Summertime
Happy
Prince Ali
Let It Go
Rock and Roll (Will Take You To The Mountain)

If you find some others let me know!

I've had a couple of people ask if they missed term 1 report cards. No you didn't! The first of two report cards are coming out next week. They are a new format, so I'm sure there will be lots of questions. You can find a powerpoint explaining the new reporting system here. This is a learning curve for all of us, so thank you for your patience.

I'll also be sending some writing home soon with a rubric attached.This is a part of  'communicating student learning', an important part of the new reporting system.

We spoke today about changing our mindset around some of the common phrases we might use. I've attached an example in english of similar sentences to those we spoke about.

We started talking about growth mindset in class on Friday. This is a buzz word in education right now, but is worthy of it's buzz. It's such an important mindset to practice. I'll keep posting more as we continue learning. For now, we watched, then discussed and summarized a series of 5 movies. They might be nice to watch at home to give you some foundation to talk about this. If you go on youtube, search for 'Class Dojo Growth Mindset'. There is a series of 5 great videos.

It's been a busy start back to the school year. I always love this term. Students know expectations in class, and we can really delve into deeper learning.

This week, we have done a STEM challenge making paper chains.

We started learning multiplication (in grade 3 we technically only have to learn up to 5 times 5), and started making flash cards.

Dictées are changing now to sentences. An explanation came home on Monday with this week's sentences.

Tomorrow we are going to start learning about growth mindset. I'll make sure to post more as we work on this.

A big discussion this week was about treating others with respect. Before the break, there were lots of little incidents where students weren't being horrible to others, but weren't being the kindest they could be. We are working as a class to be extra conscious of the impact of every action and every word we say. As I explained to the class, this isn't the kind of lesson that goes on report cards, but instead it is one of those life-long lessons that will hopefully be with them for a long time.