Advent Week 1 - HOPE

It is hard to believe that December is upon us and that we have begun our Advent Journey.  Yesterday and today, we gathered as a class to bless our classroom Advent Wreath and learn about Isaiah and the message he delivered.  We talked about lighting the first purple candle that represents HOPE and the students began their own wreath in their Religion notebooks.   

The students in 3D along with the students in 3C (Mrs. Smith's Class) will be working together on a Christmas Hamper for a family of 7.  The family that we will be supporting this year consists of a mom and six children (Girls ages 15, 14, 1 and a  1/2 yrs. old - Boys ages 12, 6 and 4 yrs. old).  We do not know their clothing sizes or any other specifics other than they are a family from the St. Elizabeth Catholic School community.  Yesterday a letter went home with a suggested item your child wishes to contribute to our hamper project.  If there is a problem with that item or you would prefer to give something different, please don't hesitate to let me know.  In addition, if you wish to contribute additional items, some other things to consider are family board games, Christmas treats, Winter gear (hats, mittens, scarves, warm socks, etc.), gift cards to the movies, restaurants, Tim Hortons, etc.

All hamper items are due by the 11th of December if possible.  We do have a few extra days after the 11th but our goal is to have hampers prepared and wrapped within a couple days after that.  Thank you in advance for all of your support.  We all feel so blessed to be part of this wonderful project.  I know the students are very eager to help bring hope to this special family during this Advent Season.  

Advent Blessings,

Mrs. Caluori

Peace is...

Students reflected last week about what 'Peace is...' and what 'Peace means to them...'  We read stories of peace and participated in 'Postcards for Peace' in which students prepared postcards for our Canadian Veterans. 

Our latest Visual Arts project involved students learning about Pointillism and beginning a Remembrance Day Pointillism piece of art.  They are so beautiful and will be added to their Art Portfolio. 

On Friday we held our Remembrance Day Service here at St. Cecilia in our school gymnasium and it was a beautiful tribute to our beautiful country, Canada. 

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.  We will begin our school week rejuvenated and ready for learning!

A reminder that Progress Report Interviews are Thursday, November 23rd.  A message from the school will be sent home shortly, but just a heads up that all interviews are booked online.  Let me know if the 23rd does not work for you and I am happy to schedule an alternative date and time with you or schedule a phone interview if that works best for your schedule. 

Moving!!!

We are moving!!!

We have some exciting news to report in Grade 3D!!  We are moving into the school.

Our classroom will now be in the Blue Pod. 

This week we will be eating our lunch inside and over the course of this week and next, we will be slowly moving in as the space becomes available. 

Our schedule otherwise will remain the same.  If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.

GRIT!

We have been talking about collaboration, character, community and the importance of GRIT when faced with challenging learning tasks.  Mistakes in learning are important because it means we are growing as learners.  Here is a great video all about GRIT!  Love it! 

Enjoy and I hope everyone is outside and soaking in this beautiful Fall weekend.

We Scare Hunger!

Our 'We Scare Hunger' campaign begins on Monday!  Please bring in non-perishable food items so that we can scare hunger away. 

The Grade 6s at St. Cecilia are leading this initiative and can use all of our support.  Thank you in advance for supporting this important cause.

Picture Day!

Reminder:  Individual Photos will be taken this coming Thursday Oct. 5th

Gym Days

Our Gym Days are Tuesdays and Fridays during second block.

On those days it is suggested that students wear comfortable clothes suitable for active games and running shoes that can be tied safely.

RazKids and Dreambox

Good Evening 3D!  I hope everyone had a wonderful start to the school year.  I really enjoyed my day and loved getting to know each one of you better today.  I am looking forward to a year full of learning, wondering and discovering.


The usernames and passwords for both Raz and Dreambox went home today in your child's agenda (plastic front pouch).

In order to sign into the accounts, please use the links on the right hand side of the blog.  The Raz link is under Language Links and the Dreambox link is under Math Links.  You will need to scroll down some and you will find all of your blog links beneath the Twitter Feed.  Once you click on the link, you should see our classroom and then the passwords will work from there.

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

Mrs. Caluori

Welcome to Grade 3D!!!

 I am so excited to begin a new school year and I look forward to meeting all of our new grade 3 students on Tuesday!

On the first day of school, the students will be getting to know each other, myself and their new learning environment.

The focus of our first week of school will be on establishing routines, developing strategies that will help enhance our learning environment and classroom culture as well as getting to know each other a little better.

Please keep an eye out on the first day of school for our Classroom Newsletter, verification form, technology agreement, school calendar and concussion protocol, etc.  A lot of important information will be going home on the first day of school!

Student Agendas will also be coming home on the first day of school.  Please look through the agenda for more detailed information regarding school policies and procedures.  The Agenda will be an important communication tool throughout the school year.



Allergy Alert

In our classroom this year we have the following life threatening allergies.  Please check all food items carefully when packing food for school.

Peanuts, All Nuts, Fish, Eggs, Chickpeas and Lentils.




IMPORTANT DATES:

September 5th, 2017 - First Day of School - Class Lists will be posted outside by 8:45 a.m.
September 21st, 2017 - Meet the Teacher Night begins @ 6:30 p.m.
October 5th - Picture Day
November 2nd - Picture Retake Day


Home School Communication

On our classroom blog, there are a variety of links.  Please explore and have fun learning!  I will also post our weekly WWWs and a link to our homework once it gets started.  Homework and WWWs will also go home in the agendas and in a Homework Duotang each week.  On the right hand side of our classroom blog (you may need to scroll down some) you will find our Classroom Twitter Feed.  If you have Twitter, you can follow our learning and daily happenings by searching our Twitter Handle @lcaluori or if you do not have a Twitter account, you can still view everything we do via the live Twitter Feed on our Blog.

Also, please feel free to call me at the school or write me a note in your child's agenda.  I will get back to you as soon as I can.

I hope to meet many of you on the first day of school and to those that I don't get a chance to speak to, I will be making a phone call home to introduce myself in the next week or two.

I look forward to working with you this year to ensure your child has a successful school year.

Your Partner in Education,

Mrs. Caluori

Library Books and Upcoming Dates!

This week is the last week for Book Exchange.  All library books are due back on Monday.

 Also, just a reminder that this Friday is a PD Day.


Thank you to everyone who has sent in materials for building!
The students are having so much fun building their structures for Birch and Susie.  Students are using recycled materials to build strong and stable structures that can withstand force (wind and muscular force) as well as hold weight (hamsters).  We will finish up building this week and will start testing our purposeful structures next week.

The students are also designing a cereal box!  They are using a lot of advertising techniques that they have learned to persuade their target audience to buy, buy, buy!  Afterwards, we will film short commercials which highlight their fabulous cereals.  So fun, so creative and SO innovative!!!



JUNE:

June 9th - PD Day
June 14th - End of Year Mass (9:30 a.m.)
June 20th - Ottawa Public Library presentations to students
June 20th - Last day of Pizza
June 22nd - Upper Canada Village Field Trip
June 23rd - Grade 6 Leaving Ceremony
June 26th - Report Cards go home
June 28th - Last Day of School for students - Have a WONDERFUL Summer Holiday Grade 3D!!

EQAO Reminders

Hello Parents,

As you know EQAO begins next week. I just wanted to remind you about a few important things.

Please ensure your child;

• has had a good breakfast
• has an easy and nutritious snack they can eat while working
• arrives to school on time
• Has an interesting book to read (or puzzle book, etc.) for when they are done writing and others aren’t
• has a full water bottle

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs. Caluori and the Grade 3 Team

Persuasive Writing!

Check out your Language Folder in your Google Drive!!!

I shared a document with links to Persuasive Writing PowToon videos. 

If you have time, after watching the videos, try writing a persuasive paragraph, announcement, advertisement, letter, etc. about a topic that interests you!

Have fun 3D!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful 3D Mother's!!!

Transformational Geometry

Today we learned a new game!

Click the link below to play at home.

Enjoy :)

Transformational Geometry Game!!

Open House & Upper Canada Village Save the Date!

It was so wonderful seeing many of you touring our classroom and the school this morning!  

The students really enjoyed showcasing all of their hard work and accomplishments thus far this school year.

If you were unable to come this morning, ask your child about the work they are most proud of and their next steps moving forward. Also, scroll through our class Twitter, blog and their student Google Drive.  In addition, St. Cecilia has a wonderful Twitter account and the school website is a source for important information and happenings that occur daily here at school.

Many students were also excited to see some Grade 4 classrooms this morning.  I can tell they are thinking ahead to next year:).  

As we approach the latter part of the school year, we have EQAO testing beginning May 24th and our end of year Field Trip to Upper Canada Village in June.

If you are interested in volunteering for our class trip to Upper Canada Village, please save the date for Thursday, June 22nd, 2017.  More information will be provided closer to this date.  We have very few spots on the bus so we encourage parents who are attending, to carpool and meet us there.  It is a wonderful trip and the students love this special day.



Wishing everyone a wonderful day!

Go SENS Go!!!

Your Partner in Education,

Mrs. Caluori