It's Half Time

• It is hard to imagine but this week marks the half way point of grade three. This year is passing by so quickly!
• Over the past couple of weeks the students have been working hard on learning strategies for 2 digit subtraction and this week we will move onto 3 digit problems. We have been also really focusing a lot on problem solving and I am witnessing great improvements on student's ability to work through a problem and decide how to reach the answer.
• This week we will start our first class novel called, Strange Lake Adventure. I do apologize in advance for the condition of some of the books. The book has been out of print for many years, but each year the children love the story so much, that they forget about the fact that it does not look new. We will be reading a majority of this book in class, however, for home reading I would like them to re-read the chapter we read that school day to improve their fluency and develop a deeper understanding of the text. Some chapters are longer that others, so as long as they read for at least 15 minutes that is fine.
• We are also starting a new Science Unit on Magnetism. It is usually a favorite in which the students become Scientists and make their own hypothesis and conduct experiments to test out their thinking. 
•  There is no School this Friday due to a Professional Development Day for Teachers.

Family Literacy Week

     This Friday is Family Literacy Day and last year I invited any family members who would like to come in and share one of their favorite books with the class to do so. We had a Mom, a Dad and a Grandmother come last year and the kids LOVED it! So once again this year I would like to invite anyone who would like to come into our class to read to do so. Friday is the official Family Literacy Day, however, I am at an In service that day. So anytime this week besides Friday or next week we would love to have anyone who is interested to come visit us and share a book.
     The students will also be doing Book Talks this week on their own favorite book and share them with the class.

Winter Warm Up

• What a beautiful Winter Week we had. It was wonderful for the kids to get back outside during Recesses and enjoy making snow forts and sliding.
• As you know in Health we have been discussing making Healthy Choices with our eating and activity habits. It is really exciting to see how the children have been really conscious about making good choices for themselves. It is recommended that children get at least one hour of physical activity a day so we thought it would be neat to chart our activities for the remainder of the month of January to see how close we are to the target. It is not a contest it is just for fun to see how active we really are. On days that the students do not have Phys.Ed we plan to go to the gym for 15 mins to contribute to our recommended hour of physical activity each day.
• In the Newsletter that just went home and in one of our Health books one lunch suggestion was to make mini pizzas using English Muffins as they can incorporate all four food groups from Canada's Food Guide. So as a class we decided to use those suggestions and have a Pizza Party for lunch on Monday. So Great News Parents.... on Monday you only need to pack a snack for your child's lunch and we are making our own lunches.
• For anyone interested our book order is due Tuesday.
• Also, last week I forgot to send out a HUGE Thank You to Ethan's Dad, Cory who transported all the Grade 3's Skates and Helmets to & from the rink when we went Skating before Christmas. It was very thoughtful and really lighten everyone's load.

Happy Birthday to Keagan who turned 9 on Thursday!



Happy 2013 Everyone!

• I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with your families. It is such a special time of year. I really want to Thank Everyone for the special messages and gifts that you sent in for me. They were very kind and appreciated. 
• A big Thank You to Lydia, Claire, Quianna, Matthew and Jeanna for taking in Christmas Treats for the class. They were all very sweet and delicious. 
• Even though it's hard to say goodbye to the holidays it sure is nice to come back to work with such an awesome group of kids. I was so excited to see them all yesterday and many of them even looked like  they grew up over the 2 weeks.
• This Monday is Food & Drink Order Day for the month of January.
• In Math we are starting to concentrate on Subtraction, so focusing on basic facts at home would be very beneficial.  Under Helpful Website there is a site with tons of subtraction games to make practicing a little more fun. 

Happy Be-Lated Birthday to Colton. 

I hope you have a great Party tomorrow!