I've noticed that this week has been a bit rough for some of the kids in the class. I know it's so hard with the changing daylight schedule, and the rain (aren't we all tired of the rain!!), but try to make sure students still get a full night's sleep. Many students are coming to school saying they're so tired, and it makes for a difficult day for them. Today especially, there were lots of behaviours that I don't normally see from this class! We had a good chat about what our body and minds do when we are tired, and how we react (crying when something small happens that wouldn't normally bother us, having a hard time following instructions, finding it more difficult to concentrate in school, being easily annoyed). We spoke about how to make good choices when we feel that way, such as choosing quiet time during centres, or listening to our body and maybe changing work positions. 

It's totally normal to have tired students as we near the end of the year, but I want to make sure they are still learning at school. That's why we spoke lots about strategies that will help them be their best! 

On another note, I recently acquired a bag full of tennis balls that I plan on putting on the bottom of the chairs in the class. If you have some extra time this weekend, come by to the portable and I can give you some tennis balls to cut with an exact knife. Your help would be greatly appreciated! 

Math update

Thank you for your patience as I get back into the habit of posting on the blog. I always find it takes some time to get back to posting after breaks.

We started a new unit in math last week - money! I love this unit because it is so practical for students. Last week we practiced counting money and learned different techniques. This week we started counting change, which can be a very difficult concept for some kids.

This is an easy piece of math to practice at home. If you have a spare change jar at home, dump it out and have the children count it by piling it to piles of $1. You can also see how many different ways to make $1. There are endless possibilities with making change as well.

New and improved dictee duotang

Yesterday, student came home with a new and improved dictee duotang. We are done dictees for the year (!!), and have moved on to weekly writing assignments. These will normally be given on Mondays, and are to be returned on Mondays. All the instructions are on the first page. Please let me know if you have any questions.

We spoke at length about adding detail to their writing, and making their writing stand out to me when I read it. To get the idea, I showed them this movie clip.

We have been doing lots of writing in class, and have started a new math unit. We are counting money! It would be great to practice this at home. It's as easy as pulling our a bit of extra change and seeing how much you have!

This comes a day late for international woman's day, but any day is a good day to talk about equality and empowerment. I came across this list of books with strong female leads. Some are young for grade 3s, but I know the students always enjoy a good picture book! http://www.todaysparent.com/family/activities/books-about-strong-girls/#gallery/12-picture-books-about-strong-girls/0

Thank you to everyone who has come to conferences so far. It's so great to see the students explaining everything. 

Please don't stress if you've missed your time! There are lots of open times, especially since it's student led conferences. 

Here are a few pictures of some exciting events the last few days 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

Hi everyone, we didn't get a chance to write in our agendas today. Only reminder is that seed orders are due tomorrow. We appreciate your support of this fundraiser of this garden 

Sorry I couldn't expand on this yesterday… I was quickly writing a blog post while I was in my own masters class last night. You may have seen that my conference schedule is a little bit different than usual. That's because I have commitments on Wednesdays and Thursdays that I can't skip that week. If the times posted don't work for you, please let me know and we can sort something out.

In case you didn't know, I coach special Olympics figure skating. Are used to coach mainstream competitive skating, but when I became a teacher I tried to scale back a little bit. Obviously it didn't happen. The athlete I work with is leaving on March 12 to compete at the Special Olympics World Winter Games to represent Canada. That's why I can't skip his training sessions this last week! Thank you so much for your understanding!

I promise the students I would post more information, so here is a link to the team Canada figure skaters that are travelling to Austria. The boy I work with is Alex, but I've worked with all of these athletes at training camps! http://teamcanada.specialolympics.ca/team-canada/figure-skating/

Speaking of special Olympics, tomorrow is the spread the word to end the word campaign. We will be speaking about this in class! 

Just a reminder that registration for conferences starts tonight at 7pm. You should have received an email with information from Mme Nixon 

Last week we had a great walk to the Fraser river. The kids did so well with road safety crossing marine drive, and remembered to be respectful of residents with their noise level. We walked all the way to Kent and Elliot, and of course at our furthest part is when it started hailing. We stopped along the way to talk about different parts of the eco system. The next day, we spoke at length about the Fraser river food web, and will be continuing on Monday. 

 
 
 
 
 

Here is tonight's homework!