Class of the Week

Hi everyone! We had an exciting visit from 96.7 radio this week. We were chosen as the class of the week. The kids were super excited. Check out the pictures and follow a link to the actual clip from the radio with the kids!

Radio Clip

A little Christmas Spirit

Taking a little time today to help Ms. Nancy spread some Christmas Cookie Cheer!

Shape Attributes

I will be including some video for the students to watch. These videos support the concepts we are learning in class regarding attributes of shapes and how we can use these attributes to sort and classify 2d shapes and 3d solids. Just click on the link below to view the video.

VIDEO SHAPE ATTRIBUTES

Attributes of Geometric Figures

We have been working with identifying attributes of geometric shapes. Most students are proficient at naming a variety of shapes. Where they usually run into trouble is when we have to classify and sort shapes according to their attributes. We look at attributes like side lengths, number and types of angles and parallel lines. I have two examples of the anchor charts that are up in the classroom for the students to use as reference guides. Along with the anchor charts in the room, we also have a math strategies book that we put in all our math strategies for each unit. You may have seen a red booklet come home with them when they have math homework to complete, that's their math strategies booklet. The students are allowed to use their strategies booklet and the anchor chart when they have a test or work to complete. In the new year we will be working on measurement and probability.
    Now I have some homework for parents and kids to do over the holidays and into January. PLEASE start working on multiplication math facts. The best way to do this is to complete a Fact Family for each number. For example:

2 x 3 = 6     then 2 x 4= 8
3 x 2 = 6             4 x 2= 8   
6➗ 2= 3             8➗2= 4
6➗3= 2              8➗4= 2

By the end of grade 3 they should be able to know their multiplication facts up to 9 x 9 and the corresponding division facts. A little every day will go a long way.

Math Test Friday

We will be having a math test on Friday. I will send home their math text books every night this week with some review work for them to complete. I have a list below of some of the skills that they will be required to demonstrate on the test Friday.
They are allowed to use their math strategies notebook to help them and of course they can use any of the anchor charts that are in the classroom,

• should be able to find the missing number in a simple equation (4 + __ = 11)
• should be able to add and subtract 2 and 3 digit numbers
• should be able to use mental math strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems for examples (40 - 19=?, then show how they use mental math strategies to solve it)

40-19=?, I know that 40-20=20 , now add back the 1 to 20 and I get 21, so 40-19=21

• word problems that have to be solved using addition or subtraction
• be able to use front-end estimation and rounding to estimate a sum or difference
• the final  thinking question will involve using both front end estimation and rounding to solve a word problem. 

Comprehension Strategies

Reading goes far beyond just mechanically being able to read the information placed in front of you. Students need to engage with the text in order to comprehend the important ideas in the text. The way we do this is by teaching students  a variety of Reading Comprehension Strategies that they can use before, during and after reading. I am including a picture of all the strategies we teach over the course of the year. Along with the strategy there are short prompts to get the students thinking about how to use the strategy. To this point in the year we have taught then Predicting, Making Connections and Visualizing. How do we use this information?? Well your child should be reading for 30 minutes a night regardless of what else is happening in their day. Use this chart as a tool to ask good questions every few days. Sit them down and ask them to make a prediction of what will happen next in their story. What pictures do they see in their minds when they read certain passages? Don't forget to make them support their answers with evidence from the story. It's just a way for you to sit with your child and help them get a deeper understanding of what they are reading. Good luck and Enjoy the time with your child.

Practice can be fun!

The last few days we have been having some difficulty with rounding numbers to 10’s and 100’s.  Today we are playing a rounding game that hopefully help the students with practicing this skill.

Coding in grade 3

Check out the video of the students coding. They are learning how to use the building blocks of computer programming. Once we finish this initial coding practice we will be moving on to our Dash and Dot robots. Follow this LINK to check out more information and videos about coding.

Ontario Landform Regions

Our first unit in Social Studies will cover Ontario and the 3 landform regions that make up our great province. We will be exploring how we live, work and play in God's creation and how we are connected to the land. I am including 3 short videos that explore each of the 3 landform regions in our province. I recommend you sit with your child and watch the videos together as a way of introducing the topic to them. At this age, not a lot of children have traveled extensively in the province, so the videos are a good way to show them some of the sights and sounds from these areas.

Science Review

Review and complete the information on this page to get ready for your test.

• Be able to label a picture with the parts of a plant
• Be able to name the two types of roots we learned about
• Be able to label the 6 major parts of a flower
• List three 3 jobs that roots do for the plant
• Be able to explain how plants get pollinated by bees
• Be able to name and explain the 6 things that plants need to survive.

Reading is great-Comprehension is better!

I always have parents ask me how they can help their child with their reading. Well I'd like to move beyond reading a little here and discuss comprehension as well. By grade 3 most of our students can read sufficiently well to read most short fiction and non-fiction texts. Yes we do have some students that aren't quite up to a grade 3 reading level (as measured by our pm benchmarks), but there are plenty of selections for students to read. The next concern is are they using the reading strategies we teach them effectively in order to promote a deep understanding of the text and the characters. That's is where comprehension comes in to the picture. It's very hard for parents to know how to help their child with that. Parents can usually give students ideas and support for reading and decoding words that are difficult for the child, but struggle with knowing what to do to help with comprehension. First of all, RELAX!! Anything you do with your child that revolves around reading with, to and for them is helping them master this difficult skill. I am including a short two page cheat sheet that has lots of great ideas for parents. The second page has great suggestions for questions and discussions you can have with your child regarding their comprehension of what they are reading. Try it out and have some fun with it!! We all have busy lives, but 30 minutes a night really goes a long way. Good Luck.

Okay I'm new to posting pdf files on my blog,so please just try clicking the link below. If it doesn't work let me know and I will print you a copy.

Reading Cheat Sheet

Gardening for science

It's always a bonus when you can tie our science program to actual hands-on activities. We have been learning all about plants, roots, seeds and pollination in science. In these pictures we are learning about tulip bulbs and what conditions they need to grow and flourish. After a little pep talk from Ms. Nancy, we examined the tulip bulbs and planted them in the front of the school. Next spring we will see how our work paid off. 

Math Videos For Review

This Friday we will have our first "math test". I put it  in quotes because we are constantly assessing the students on their skills and I don't want parents or students to get overly stressed about this one form of assessment. This 'math test' will be only one piece of the assessment puzzle. With that in mind, I am including some short videos for the students to use as a form of review. I will be sending home some homework sheets that cover  most of the material that will be assessed.

Practicing math facts

The W.E.C.D.S.B. is focused on improving of students math skills. We are putting a lot of time and energy into providing our students with the best data tested math instruction available. One of the key components of our math program this year will be to have students practice their math facts in fun, interactive play based activities. Earlier this year I posted some pictures of the students playing some numeracy games at the start of our math block. The pictures below are games that support the concept of place value. Place value is one of those foundational concepts that students must master before they move onto higher level mathematics in the junior grades. If you get a chance ask your child about the games in the pictures and what they are learning. Have a great day!

Estimation and Rounding

The ability to use estimation strategies is an important skill to develop in our young mathematicians. One way we use our estimation skills is in rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and nearest 100. Students struggle with these concepts and it takes a lot of good guided practice to make kids feel comfortable with rounding. I have a short video below that I like to show kids before we begin rounding in the classroom. I encourage you to watch it with your child and discuss any questions they may have. In the next few days I will post another video that discusses rounding to 100 as well.

Coding for Success

What's coding and what does that have to do with my kid? Every part of our lives are touched by computer code and our children are growing up in a world where coding languages will be as critical as reading and writing. Our school board has been at the forefront of this movement for years now and now it's time to bring our elementary students into the world of coding. We will be learning how to create short computer block codes that allow students to create virtual worlds by manipulating a series of coded blocks. We start off slow with games and puzzles and eventually through the years move onto programming languages (more high school). I have  three short videos below:

1. The first introduces the concept of coding by some of the most respected computer leaders in the world.
2. The second is a short video demonstration of me showing the kids how to code.
3. The third is a short video of our class totally engaged in a coding puzzle.

Terry Fox Walk

Check out some pictures and video from our Terry Fox Walk at Malden Park.We had a short prayer service and listened to some audio from Terry Fox then we started our walk around the pond.

 

Learning Goals and Success Criteria

You may notice pictures of your child on the floor or carpet doing math on a big chart paper. They are usually working  with a partner and working on an open ended math question. This is the start of one of our 3 part math lessons. We give students time to work collaboratively on a problem that we will later use to develop a set of specific success criteria. The success criteria are strategies we develop with the students to help them solve similar problems in the future. We are basically developing and highlighting successful strategies to solve math problems. The first picture is an example of the math problem that they worked on. What you are seeing is how a particular group solved the problem. We then take some examples from the work that they have completed and we use their own strategies to build a chart that they can use in the future to help them. Students go up as a group and explain their thinking and the strategies they used to solve the problem. We are also sure to include the reason we are doing this problem--the learning goal! Kids need to know why they are doing something. It's not because the teacher tells them to. We are doing this to learn a specific mathematical skill or strategy. The whole idea is that the students now have a resource to use in the classroom that will be there to support them during math class. These success criteria charts stay up throughout the unit and they are encouraged to use them during class quizzes or tests. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at the school, or just add a comment right to this blog post. 

Weekly Words on Monday

Good Monday Morning everyone!!

I just want to let parents know that today we started our weekly spelling and vocabulary words. Every Monday students will copy down anywhere from 12 to 17 words in their agenda. These are the words that we will be working with during the week. The words come from a combination of vocabulary words, dolce site words and our science or social studies units. The students will work with these words in their word work centres and get familiar with their spelling and meaning. I would encourage you to check the words every Monday. I send them home so they can practice spelling the words and begin to use them as part of their daily vocabulary. Have some fun with the words, have them spell them for you, or have them use the words in a sentences they create. They should take 5 minutes every night and practice spelling the words.

Thank you

Anchor Charts and Reading Strategies

Throughout the course of the year we will be working on a variety of reading strategies. These strategies are there to aid us to more fully understand what we read. As adults we naturally bring our PRIOR KNOWLEDGE to bear on any new material we read. We  understand that our life experiences and previous knowledge can help inform our understanding of what we are trying to read or understand. Our goal is to get our students to be able to do that as naturally as we do. We also do this by MAKING CONNECTIONS to what we are reading. If I'm reading a Hardy Boys novel I can reflect on similar books I've read. I can remember a t.v. program or movie that has similar scenarios and characters. The point is I use my prior knowledge to help me understand what I'm reading on a deeper level. We use our PRIOR KNOWLEDGE to help us make CONNECTIONS to what we are reading. In the picture we are reading a story about a father and son that use two old smelly potatoes to grow an entire garden full of new potatoes. Students make CONNECTIONS when they use their PRIOR KWOLEDGE and similar experiences to gain insight into the characters actions and feelings. A few students mentioned that they have grown other vegetables in a garden and they knew how much work it was to prepare the garden and raise their vegetables. They could understand what the character was thinking and feeling. That's the power of 'CONNECTIONS' -- they get you into the characters head. You can gain a deeper understanding of the characters feelings, hopes and desires. It's way to get a personal window into the characters point of view. We will be working on this throughout the course of the year.
All of our strategies, whether language or math, will usually have an anchor chart that accompanies them. Sometimes we create the anchor chart together with the students and some times I start the chart and the students add information as we gather more information. I've included a picture of an anchor chart here. These charts are a way of 'anchoring' their knowledge and understanding of the topic to a chart that they can refer to whenever they need. These charts stay up throughout the unit and are even accessible when the students are being tested on the material. Well I hope that help shed some light on some of the things we will be doing this year. A little later into the term I will post a picture of a Learning Goal and Success Criteria chart and explain how they differ from anchor charts. Have a great weekend!!

The Mystery of the Trinity

Good morning our St.James family. We are going to be examining the awesome Mystery of The Trinity to begin our religion program. This is a difficult concept for kids to understand-actually it's difficult for grown-ups as well. I have a fun little video below that will start them thinking about the concepts that we will be discussing in the classroom. It would be wonderful to sit with your child for a few minutes and discuss the video with them. Open up a discussion and then encourage them to bring their questions to class so we can share in the learning process together.

Math games as curriculum?

We are going to be building in a variety of math games into our math block this year. These are simple and fun games that the students will be playing at the start of the math class. Each game will allow them to practice their math facts in a fun interactive atmosphere. The biggest issue we have once we begin to move into the older grades is that students don't have a firm grasp of their math facts. The goal of these games is to build that math fact knowledge and their math fluency (how quickly they can process simple math facts). I would encourage you to ask your child to show you how to play these games and spend some time playing together. All you need for most of them is dice, a deck of cards and a pencil. You are more than welcome to ask any questions or comment directly to the blog entry.

Mr.Francia

Our first assembly

Check out some of the pictures from our first assembly!!

Our Community Agreements

We've had a busy week getting to know each other. There have been lots of laughs and unfortunately a few tears. During the course of the week we developed and posted our 3 Classroom Pillars. I will keep reinforcing these Pillars till the children make them their own. We need to live these agreements daily and model them consistently in our interactions as member of our classroom community. No real learning can take place till children feel appreciated, safe and cared for. Along with our Pillars for Mutual Respect and No put downs only appreciations, we have Attentive Listening. Children need to listen with their ears, eyes, bodies and hearts. They need to hear the feelings behind peers words to understand how their words and actions affect others. And of course they need to Listen attentively to the lesson in order to understand what is expected of them. I have some pictures below of the agreements and what each one Looks Like , Sounds Like and Feels like. If you click on the pictures it will expand for you to view more easily. Please scroll down to the bottom of the blog and enter your email address to register for the blog.

Thank You

Mr. Francia

First day of School!!

Hello and Welcome to our new school year!! You have found our class blog. This will be a window into our classroom for parents. I will post pictures, videos and curriculum we are working on . You can also register at the very bottom of this blog, that way you don't have to check back everyday. The site will automatically email or text you when there is a new blog post. There is a letter that will be in your child's agenda today that explains what will be happening in our room.

Thank you 

Mr.V.Francia

Swim to survive

Grade 3's having fun at swim to survive!!

Coding and Robotics

We had some fun today learning to code our robots and use the makey makey tool to create some interesting things. Check out the videos below.

Character counts Assembly

The kids did a great job on their character counts skits!!

Take a look

Roman Empire for Kids

There is a series of about 20 short videos link to this first video. These are geared toward the grade 4 social studies program. We will watch a few in class, but they can come here to view them in their spare time if they want to review.

Grade 3 Social Studies

These videos are for the grade 3 students. We are working on early pioneers to Lower and Upper Canada. It's interesting for the students to see how different life is now compared to the early 1800's.

The Castle in the Woods

We had a great time at the play today. The Holy Cross performers did an awesome job. Check out some pictures below.

Fractions, Improper Fractions and Mixed Numbers

We have been working with fractions the last few weeks in class. Students have learned that fractions are equal parts of a whole. They have also learned that fractions are always less than 1, unless they are improper or mixed numbers. I am including a few video below that the students can use for review.
                                                           

For this first video, stop at 1:25. 

Just meant for a brief introduction

       Great video to show them how to go back and forth 
between improper fractions and mixed numbers

                                       

Devilishly Difficult Division!!

We started to talk about division today. We discussed that division is basically just sharing things. We can share things in a specific number of groups. For example, I have 16 candies and I want to share them amongst 4 friends (4 groups really). So, 16 candies in 4 groups means that each friend gets 4 candies. I can also share things when I don't really know the number of groups, I just know how many of something I want each group to get. For example, I have 20 candies now and I want to make sure that there are 2 candies in each group. I take my 16 candies and make 8 groups of 2 candies. The division sentence for this example would be 16 divided by 2 equals 8 groups. It's a subtle difference but one that students need to understand. I have included some videos below to remind the students. The first video is simpler and has a catchy song. The second video is more exact in it's presentation and shows the difference between the two examples I discuss above.

 

Great Article on Coding

Interesting article on careers in coding for Canadian students.

CODING ARTICLE

MULTIPLICATION 911!!

As discussed in previous posts, multiplication and division are foundational concepts that students need to learn at specific times in their academic careers. Ask almost any grade 6 and 7 teacher and they will tell you how poorly students multiply and divide. This is a critical skill that only gets harder to learn later on. We are teaching them a variety of strategies to multiply and divide, BUT they must practise these skills.

Suggestions:
DICE GAMES

• grab two die and a piece of scrap paper.
• take turns rolling the die and multiplying the numbers
• the person with the highest product (answer) wins the point

CARD GAME

• grab a deck of cards
• pull out the face cards
• take turns pulling out two cards and multiplying them
• the person with the highest product (answer) wins the point

Good Old Flash Cards--nothing wrong with those!!

PLEASE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE