Probability

In Math, we are learning about the probability of events occurring.  We are using words such as certain, likely, impossible, often, unlikely, etc.   In addition, we are using numbers to describe probability e.g.  There is a 2 in 3 or 2/3 chance of pulling a blue marble from a bag that has 2 blue marbles and 1 green marble.

Probability Games! (Link)

Here is a little probability video clip :).

EQAO Preparation

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!  It is hard to believe, but the end of May is arriving fast and therefore EQAO testing is quickly approaching.

Today you will find a letter from the school with further EQAO information as well as a letter regarding EQAO from the Grade 3 Team.  We have sent home a practice package that includes some Math multiple choice and long answer questions as well as some Language questions.  We encourage the students to work through this booklet over the next 2 weeks and use the links provided in the letter to check their answers and 'bump up' their work if needed.  The EQAO package does not need to be returned to school and is meant to stay at home to work on and use as your family sees fit.

Homework will also go home today and it is to be returned to school by Thursday May 21st.

An additional reminder that EQAO will begin in Grade 3 on Tuesday May 26th during 1st Block.

Your Partner in Education,

Mrs. Caluori

Thank you for coming to our Open House this morning!

It was so wonderful seeing many of you this morning!  I loved seeing how excited that students were to show off all that we have been up to over the course of this eventful school year.  It is hard to believe that it is already May.

It was a very busy morning so if you did not have a chance to add to our Padlet, please take a moment and share with us 'What Joy Means to You'. Padlet Link

Wishing everyone a wonderful remainder of the week.

p.s. If you are on Twitter, follow St. Cecilia Education Week with the #SCEedweek2015.

Your Partner in Education,

Mrs. Caluori

Education Week!

Today we kicked off Education Week with an action packed day of learning! We celebrated with our school's Education Week Liturgy and participated in a school wide Math Problem.

Remember to check our St. Cecilia Website for all school wide information and important dates.

St. Cecilia School Website

During Math today, we tackled our School Wide Math Problem.

How many toy cars are there in this image?   The students were put in small groupings and asked to come up with a strategy to count the cars and provide an answer to the problem.

During our school Open House, on Wednesday morning from 8:00-9:00 am, all of our solutions to the problem will be on display.  Ask your child about their strategy.  Each class in the whole school answered the same question!  Be sure to check out how some of the other grades answered the Car Caravan Math Problem.

Many students in grade 3, chose items and found the relationship between those items and the number of cars that the object covered.  Others split the circle of cars into equal sections and       counted one section and then multiplied to find the total.

In other news, the students have been working very hard on their Georgia O'Keeffe inspired flower art.  Their art will be on display during Open House inside of the school.  Each painting will have a QR Code attached which will link to a 'Path to Joy' prayer or poem written by each student.   Be sure to bring your personal device loaded with a QR Code Scanner:).

Fully Alive

Today a letter went home in your child's agenda.  The letter outlines the Fully Alive Grade 3, Theme Three Unit that we will be covering over the next couple of weeks.  All of the topics and vocabulary being discussed are included in the Family Letter sent home today.  If you would like to see a copy of the student text that we will be using, please write a note in your child's agenda this week and I would be happy to send it home for an evening so that you may read it with your child prior to our lessons. We will be starting this unit later this week or early next week.

Your Partner In Education,

Mrs. Caluori

Spring Is Here!

Welcome to the second week of Easter! The sun is shining and Spring is definitely in the air! It is an exciting time of the year after a very long and cold Winter:).  

This week, we will gather as a St. Cecilia faith community to celebrate our Easter Mass on Wednesday, April 15th at 9:30 AM in our gymnasium. All parents are welcome to join us for this special mass.

This week in Religion, students will hear the Gospel story from Sunday- John 20:19-31. Below is a short little video that captures Jesus' message this Gospel.

Literacy
We are finishing our unit on narratives. The students are continuing to 'bump-up' their responses to comprehension questions by adding more specific proof from the text and their own ideas.  We are certainly noticing improvements!  They are working hard.

Our next unit, on persuasive texts, will focus on further examination of non-fiction text features and the difference between facts and opinions.

Mathematics
The students are continuing to examine time relationships.  Looking at calendars at home would be beneficial.  Asking questions such as:

• What date will it be 3 months from today?
• What was the date 4 weeks and 3 days ago?
• What will the date be in 3 weeks and 2 days?
• See the Resource Tab on the Blog for a calendar to use.

We will focus more this week on money. Things such as:

• Show me $3.45 using the least number of coins.  Now, show it to me another way.
• Ben has $5.46 in his wallet.  He wants to buy a book that costs $9, how much more money does he need?

Our next unit will be Measurement.  We will examine how to measure to the nearest cm, the relationship between km, m and cm, along with area and perimeter.

Dramatic Arts
The students are learning about how to use their body and face to depict emotions.  We will focus this week on tableaus and 'wax museum' to display various sports and texts.

EQAO
The dates for EQAO are:
Tuesday, May 26th, Wednesday, May 27th, Thursday, May 28th & Friday May 29th (First Block each day)  AND Monday, June 1st,  and Tuesday June 2nd (First Block)

Please refrain from making appointments during the above times.  It is important that your child comes to school on time as we will begin right when they get in. As mentioned earlier in the year, your child has been exposed to the EQAO assessment through daily tasks.

For more information about EQAO including samples and scoring guides, please visit EQAO.com.

The Calendar Lottery:  Thank you for all of the money that has been coming in and the hard work that everyone has been doing to sell their calendars.  I think that the month of May will be very exciting as the winners are announced each day!  Just a reminder that all unsold calendars, stubs and money are to be returned by Friday of this week.

Please remember to check out the school's April newsletter.  Below is information about our upcoming Earth Week!

A.P.E. Reading Response

APE - Today we learned a new strategy to help answer Reading Response Questions!  The students really seemed to like this strategy.  We wrote the word APE on our reading response questions and then ticked each letter when we had completed that part of the question.  This poster provides some great sentence starters for each part of the response as well.