Science Exploration!

It has been an exciting week in Grade 3 exploring soil, seeds and soil safety.  We had fun visiting the St. Cecilia Garden and collecting a variety of soils, sunflower seeds, small plant roots and even discovering a larva all of which was done in our very own school yard!  The children also made a list of their own personal wonderings and added questions, facts and new learnings to our class R.A.N. Chart.  All great stuff!  

Please take a look at our iMovie Science Trailer to see some of our adventures.  I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend:). 

Picture Day Info

Class photos will take place this Friday.  We will be having the pictures outside, on the new play structure!  Fun!

Individual photos will take place on Oct. 3rd for grades 3-6.

Raz-Kids & Dreambox

I have set up the links for both Raz-Kids and Dreambox on the right side of the blog so that they go directly to our class accounts.

The students will just need their personal login information to access their account.  Have fun!

Also, there are apps for both Dreambox and Raz-Kids.

Over the last week...

We have been very busy over the past week!  I would first like to express how wonderful it was to meet everyone at our Program Night on Thursday!  There was such a positive buzz in the room that evening and I know that it was very exciting for the children to have their families admire their kites, ID Cards and 'Giving Tree' responses.

In Language, we have been continuing our exploration of Recount writing.  We have been 'Word Detectives' finding all sorts of past tense verbs and time order words (first, then, next, finally, after, etc.).  While reading at home, encourage your child to find wwws, time order words, past tense verbs, etc.  Today we completed a shared recount writing of our last gym class.  The children did an amazing job putting everything we have been learning about recounts into our shared writing piece.  Afterwards, the students partnered up with a buddy and started a recount writing together.  I can't wait to see how they develop!  We have also read a few really great stories together such as,

The Giving Tree and Alberts Old Shoes.  While reading these stories we discussed Author's Purpose (Persuade, Inform, Entertain) and Author's Message.  In addition, we are making meaningful connections while we read.
We also have 5 new Word Wall Words this week.  Don't forget to practice your words:).

In Math, we have been continuing to look at Number Lines.  We have been practicing putting numbers on a number line as well as creating number lines.  Today we made number lines on white boards with the markers starting at 0, a middle marker of 50 and ending with 100.  The students were given a variety of numbers and asked to put the number on the number line where they thought it would approximately fit best.  This helped with the understanding of the 'bigness' of numbers.  Some students shared some great strategies on how to place their number more accurately on the number line.  Amazing!  We also practiced representing numbers using Base Ten Pictures (models).
We looked at some of the students' responses and figured out a variety of strategies to organize our work, draw Base Ten models accurately as well as efficiently.  There are so many ways to represent (show) a number.  We created an anchor chart to help remember all of the ways!  

In Religion, the students worked very hard and completed their 'All About Me Kites'.  They are amazing and the students should all be very proud of the effort they put into their work.  There are four sections to the kites and as a class we came up with the four topics to be illustrated 1)Family 2)Gifts/Talents 3)Favourite something 4)Faith.  Kites and Tents are the Religion symbols for Grade 3, so these kites will be soaring all school year in our portable:).

In Physical Education, we have been focusing on warm-ups by running a couple laps in the gym followed by some student led stretches.  Afterwards, we have been playing a variety of games such as Shark Attack, Cat and Mouse, Hulla Hoop Relay and Rubber Chicken Relay.  The students really enjoy our gym time with Mrs. Denyer's Grade 3 class.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Looking forward to another productive and exciting week in Grade 3!

WWWs Week 3

The Gathering Song Lyrics

The children have been singing 'The Gathering Song' and are learning the words to the song.  They almost have it completely memorized!  Here are the lyrics:).

The Gathering Song (link)

They sound like angels when they sing!

WWWs (Sept.15-19th)

Our Word Wall Words this week!  There will usually be 5 wwws each week, but this week we are doing a review of some important words with a focus on capitalizing days of the week and months of the year:).

Scholastic Book Orders Due Tomorrow

Scholastic Book Orders are due tomorrow for those that are interested in purchasing books this month.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  

See you tomorrow,
Mrs. Caluori

Check out the *NEW* Resource Section of our Blog!

I will be adding Anchor Charts, Success Criteria and other helpful activities and games in this section of the blog.  This is a great place to see some of the things we are up to in Grade 3!

Our Second Week!

We had a wonderful and busy second week in Grade 3!  I am really proud of the students and how they are coming along with our classroom routines and expectations.  Routines, active listening as well as transitions between activities will continue to be a focus throughout September.  Grade 3 is a year full of learning and the smoother our classroom runs, the less time we loose and the more we can accomplish.  Excellent!

In Language, we have been reading an inspirational story of hope, determination and perseverance. This story also focuses on the power of following your dreams no matter how difficult they may be to achieve. The Story of Terry Fox is a meaningful recount and true story and the students have been really invested in and therefore have been able to make very meaningful connections.

The students really admire Terry for all that he did to raise awareness and raise money for cancer research.

In Math, the students created a "Me By Numbers" page.  The students really enjoyed this activity and were very creative!
We also played some new math games such as, Addition Competition, What Number Am I? and How Many Ways?  Be sure to ask your child about them!  These activities were a hit with the students and are great games to play at home too!

In Religion and Family Life, the students started their 'All About Me Kites'.  The children have decided to include illustrations about their 'Favourite Something', their Family, Faith and Gifts/Talents.  Each student also illustrated a picture of themself in their Religion notebook and described some of the things about them that makes them unique and special.  We are learning that God knows each of us by name and loves each of us as unique individuals.

Looking forward to an exciting third week!

Reminder:  Meet the Teacher Night is this Thursday beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Gym.

Hope to see you there.

Your Partner in Education,

Mrs. Caluori

                                                                                                                                         

St. Cecilia September School Newsletter

September School Newsletter

Great start to the week!

In Language, today the students listened to a Read Aloud called The Librarian of Basra.

  We discussed how the characters might be feeling in this story and we talked about why it is a good example of a 'Recount' text.  In reading, we will be focusing on Making Connections while we read.  In writing, we will be focusing on Recount writing.  Please take a look at the 'Homework' tab and check out our 1st set of WWWs this week.  Our word wall words are linked nicely to our study of Recount writing.  Also, here is a link to a video read aloud of our story today. The Librarian of Basra (Read Aloud)

In Math, the students came up with reasons why we might have Open Number Lines.  We also came up with some of our own!  We created number lines that skipped by 5s, 10s and 100s and we also created some that didn't start at 0 or 1.  In addition, the students thought about some questions such as, How many groups of 25 make 100?  How many groups of 10 make 100?  How many groups of 100s make 1000?  How can these questions be linked with coins and counting money?  A lot of great wonderings today!   Our new starter activity that we tried today is called "The Answer Is...".  I gave the students the answer '42' and they each had to come up with a question on their post-it.  We had so many great questions!!

Today was also our first Gym day!  We had a great time playing Shark Attack:).

Physical Education

Gym Days are Monday & Wednesday!  

This Monday will be our first gym class.  It will be so fun sharing our gym time with Mrs. Denyer's Grade 3 Class!  

Reminder:  Indoor shoes

Important Dates and Forms Sent Home

Forms Sent Home:

Verification Report
Anti-Spam Note
Insurance form


Meet the Teacher/Program Night: Thursday, September 18th - 6:30                    in the gym

Our First Week in Grade 3!

What an Exciting Week!

It is hard to believe but the first week of school is almost over!  Wow!  It was so fun getting to know each other this week and building our classroom community.  The children worked so hard all week and it is very evident that they are excited and engaged in their learning.  

This week the students came up with all the important 'Look Fors' in our class e.g., what snack, lining up, and participating in a school assembly looks like.  

We also shared our favourite thing about grade 3 so far.  There were a lot of wonderful responses!  Way to go 3D!  

In Language, we read one of my favourite books called "First Day Jitters".  This is such a fun story that both the children and myself could connect with.  Ask your child about the surprise ending!  

In Math, we have started graphing data.  We learned how we all come to school and graphed our data.  We also learned a new fun game called "Race to 100".  All you need is a pair of dice, a partner to play with and a paper to add up the totals!  The children had a great time playing with their partners.  

In Religion, we have been talking about how special and unique we all are and that we are each one of God's children.  We learned a new song called the "Song of Gathering" and the children really enjoyed singing and dancing to this song!  It is sure to be a class favourite this year.  We have also been very busy making a name tag and decorating it with all the things that we love and that represent us.  We certainly have some artists in our class!!!  

Lastly, we got together with all the other grade three classes and practiced our Grade 3 Song!  There is nothing more wonderful that hearing children sing!  It was pretty amazing and we were all so impressed with how quickly they learned the lyrics.  We have a pretty amazing group of grade 3 students at St. Cecilia!!!  

I hope everyone had a wonderful first week of school and that you all enjoy the upcoming weekend.

(Click on the link below to listen:)).

Our Grade 3 Chant!

We're In Grade Three!

We're in grade three.

Starting Today

We're gonna do our best

Each and every day.

(Repeat)

We're in grade three.

And we're first rate!

There's lots of learning to do.

And we can't wait.

(Repeat)

We're going to spread God's love.

We'll let our gifts shine through!

We'll restore each other

By what we say and do.

(Repeat)

We're in grade three.

Starting Today

We're gonna do our best

Each and every day.

(Repeat)