Pioneer Christmas Crafts Come Alive

Having a "Ball" Making Pomanders.

We officially kicked off Grade 3 Social Studies (Early Settlements in Upper Canada) this week by learning about pioneers. Students have been learning about the countries pioneers came from and why they chose to settle in Upper Canada. We did some mapping today, identifying these countries and students learned about the "legend" of a map. We also began learning about the resources available to early settlers and what kinds of gifts would have been given at Christmas.
We talked about sanitation, how pioneers bathed and the need to make clothes smell fresher. Students made pomanders out of oranges and cloves. Our classroom had a nice, fresh smell by lunch.
It was hard, prickly work and not every student enjoyed the aroma of cloves, but they still were able to learn through doing and all had a good time.

Before the BlackBerry, there was the orangephone.

If your child's fingertips looked like pin cushions at the end of the day, now you know why.

I think this stylish Grade 2 tried to give his orange a clove "faux hawk."

Beautiful children - beautiful work!

One of those who wasn't thrilled by the aroma. Still, she carried on...

Raindrop design

Orange porcupine

Painted paper baskets dry while students deal with the pressing matter at hand:)

A Wreath Like No Other

This Crayola crayon wreath was featured on the blog Nesting Newbies. How original!

Crochet Anyone?

I am sending home a sheet tomorrow to see how many students in our class would be interested in a lunch-hour crochet club in the new year. If the interest is there, I'd be happy to run the club. It would be a good opportunity for boys and girls to learn a new skill and keep warm over lunch.

I'll ask that students who are interested indicate if they would be able to supply their own crochet hook or not. I can supply the yarn, but would be happy to take donations if you have old yarn or wool around the home.

My thinking is that we could start off with students from our class and possibly expand the club later on with our students being "crochet buddies."

Thank you,

E. Hawkins

Do You Have The Time?

Hello,

I gave the class a little "checking for understanding" quiz on time today. Most of the students have a good working knowledge of time, but the concept of "quarter to" and "quarter after" are still confusing for some. This is something that you can easily help your child with at home. Play some time games and ask questions. We made pie plate clocks in home last week. Students can take them home this week for extra help.

Thank you,

E. Hawkins

This Week In Santa's Pioneer Workshop

I got my first taste of pioneer life, Hollywood style. Did you watch Little House on the Prairie? I wanted to be Melissa Gilbert so badly. And wasn't Nellie Olesen despicable?

Hello,

I'll try to keep it short this week.

This week we'll be finishing up incomplete work in writing and reading comprehension. In Math, we'll continue with time and we'll work on nailing down the 3 times table. We will kick off Early Settlements In Upper Canada (Gr. 3 Social Studies), with some pioneer Christmas crafts. Of course, the Grade 2s will be included in this. We'll also be doing some more modern Christmas/winter crafts for fun.

I'm no Grinch, so there's no homework this week apart from recipes that did not come in last week.

We'll have a Holiday Party on Friday. You are welcome to bring in baked goods, chips, etc. I'll provide pop, music, etc.

Stuff we Need

#1 Lids

M. Demeter is still desperate for plastic lids. Margarine lids are too big, but anything smaller than that would be most helpful (yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.). Our class has art on Wednesday and she needs them by then. My husband is getting tired of me telling him to eat more yogurt.

#2 Old candles or wax

I'm hoping to have the children make hand dipped pioneer candles. I priced bulk candle wax at the art store and almost passed out in shock. I'm asking that families send in old candles (white, if possible, but I'm a desperate teacher, so I'll take anything). If you happen to have chunks of wax for preserves, even better.

That's all. I just know we're going to have a fun-filled end to this year.

Yours truly,

Erin Hawkins

Saying "Goodbye" to Mrs. Speed

Claire Speed is retiring for her illustrious career in teaching. Next Friday will be her last day. I know that she has taught siblings of several students in our class and I'm sure she'd be happy to see some old familiar smiles over the next few days. Please be sure to wish her your best.

Mrs. Speed gets her gloved hands dirty during yard clean-up last year.

Claire has been a huge support for myself and I will miss her very much. She has amassed a humongous collection of teaching resources, which she has generously given to myself and other teachers at Clairlea in exchange for a donation to a charity of her choice. I am truly grateful. Your teaching will live on! For those students who had her as a teacher, remember Mrs. Speed by thinking back to all the things she taught you.

I was going to leave a soppy sad song to remember Mrs. Speed with, but I found something that sums her up better. Of course, there's a story... Mrs. Speed is extremely dedicated to her profession. She might even say crazily dedicated. Part of this dedication means staying super late to work on plans for her class. If you stay late enough, janitor Cheryl Hawkes cranks Q107 over the PA system. I found Mrs. Speed in stitches last week trying to sing this hard rock classic. The song was so ridiculous, yet she said it captured her state of mind after a busy day teaching Grade 1 French Immersion. I went to Mr. Church to find out the name of this song, and of course he knew. Here it is. "Black Betty." Rock on Mrs. Speed and have a rama-lama-ding-dong new chapter in your life.

Your friend,

Erin

Science and Birthday Cupcakes

"All together now. Happy Birthday to you..."

Despite the many happy interruptions, we're soldiering on with learning. This week we've been looking at time. Please talk about time with your child. Show them examples of digital and analogue clocks around the home. Students are wrapping their heads around "quarter past..." and "quarter to..." This is something easy to help with at home. Yesterday, following afternoon recess, students experimented with surface tension and buoyancy. Around this time, Therons' mother swung by the school to deliver delicious cupcakes. We managed to tidy up the science equipment and still have a little cupcake party for this great kid. Thanks again!

Making predictions...

Testing hypotheses...

Happy Birthday to Mr. Feel Good!

Who doesn't feel good when they see this kid bounding down the hallway?

December 7th is T.A.'s day. May the year be good to you. And don't forget to Rock On!

This Week in Room 108

Let's have a fun week...

Maybe not this much fun...

Perhaps not as much fun as the out of control German weather woman...

Let's just have a good time learning.

That looks about right.

Here's what we'll be working on this week:

Language: Reading - Question and answer relationships cont. We'll continue looking at questions with answers that can be found "There in the text." Hopefully we'll begin "Think and search" quesions by the end of the week.

Writing: We will be continuing with Procedural Writing. Most students have completed their rough draft of their independent piece of Procedural Writing. We will carry on this week with more examples. We'll also be doing more cursive at school and at home. Please help your child work on connecting letters together. * Below the homework, you'll find links for free cursive practise sheets you can print off.

Word Study: In grammar, we will be looking at adjectives and in spelling, we'll be investigating consonant blends.

Math: We're starting measurement this week by looking at measurement and estimation. Analogue and digital time will also be covered.

Science: Grade 3s will continue plant life with Miss Lowen. The 2s will be experimenting with surface tension.

Homework:

1. Reading Response Journal: Students will write two questions about their reading. They can be questions they'd like to ask the author or illustrator, questions they'd love to ask a character in the book, or just general questions that spring to mind after reading the book.

2. Each student is asked to bring in a recipe of his/her favourite foods that you eat at home. If possible, let it be a recipe that the child knows how to make on his or her own. I'd like to compile these recipes into a classroom cookbook. Parents can help by allowing your child to make the recipe this week and assisting your child with the names of ingredients. Your child is only responsible to bring in the bare bones of instructions (ingredients, measurements, instructions). We will work on the writing at school. Students are asked to create a picture of what the completed dish looks like. Have fun with this.

3. Cursive sheet.

Since we are starting a new unit on math, there will not be any math homework this week.

Cursive Resources: Free and the kids actually seem to enjoy the work.

http://www.kidzone.ws/cursive/index.htm

The next site is very good. There is a range of materials here including printing sheets, larger-sized cursive, and smaller-sized cursive sheets. Check it out.

http://www.homeeducationresources.com/FREEhandwriting.htm

December Newsletter & Flip Your Lid

M. Demeter is asking that students bring in lids from large yogurt containers for an art activity. If you have more than one, please send it in as some students may not be able to bring any. Cheers!

Click here for the Clairlea December newsletter. Please note the request for parents to drop students off in the school yard in the morning. Should you need to enter the school, please start your visit at the office by signing in and receiving a visitor pass. There are many parents of Primary children entering the school - especially around the Primary doors and we are trying to do our part to keep Clairlea a safe school. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel...

We're having a great time learning about Hanukkah this week. Thanks to Shawna for bringing in her homemade menorah and informing the class about Hanukkah traditions. By the end of the week, we'll all be experts. I hope to have the class playing dreidel games Friday morning. Check out this YouTube clip. It gets funnier as it goes along. I wish I could multiply like the boy in the video. LOL

- Ms. Hawkins

This Week in Room 108

Hello,

First off, please join me in wishing Safwan a very happy belated birthday. This big guy on campus celebrated his seventh birthday last Friday with cupcakes for everyone. Rock on, Safwan! Enjoy your youth while it lasts. Secondly, congratulations to Aadil and Shawna who received certificates to recognize their demonstration of Empathy. They are both very deserving students and a constant reminder to the class about thinking about how other people feel. Way to go!

Now here's what's going on in our little space lab this week...

Language:

Writing: We're off to a rip-roaring start with Procedure Writing. Students composed a piece of Procedural Writing last week as my diagnostic to see what they could do so I would have an understanding of what we need to focus on. Students were given the rather dry suggestion to "explain the steps involved when you brush your teeth." Pretty much the whole class decided to come up with their own ideas and they were fantastic: everything from "How to go rock climbing," to Shawna's world famous Cesar Salad recipe. There were numerous shared writing activities and students sequenced the steps involved in carving a pumpkin. This week, we will take a close look at transition words and how to take a drab set of instructions and juice it up with descriptive writing. Students will learn how to write an inviting lead paragraph that makes the reader want to read on. That's the goal.

Word Study: We will continue our investigation of compound words.

Reading: We will be focussing on two areas in Reading this week: Firstly, we'll be wrapping up Visualizing. Students will use words and drawings to express the pictures that come to mind when they reflect on poetry and stories. They will create booklets to hold their completed work.

Secondly, we'll be looking at the different ways that we find information in books. This is called Question and Answer relationships. Sometimes the answer is "right there in the text." Other times, some of the information is presented in the book, but we have to do some of our own thinking. This is called "author and me." Sometimes we have to think and search for information throughout different parts of the text and put it all together. Finally, sometimes we have to find the answer "on my own." We'll start this week by looking at information that's "right there in the text," before moving on to more complex comprehension strategies.

Math: Transformations in Geometry. We will wrap up this unit this week. Students will be given a diverse range of tasks to demonstrate their understanding of reflections (flips), rotations (turns), and translations (slides). I am strongly motivating the class to use the proper mathematical vocabulary.

Social Studies: I am combining Grade 2 and 3 Social Studies this week by looking at Jewish holidays and urban and rural life in Israel. I hope to bring in a couple of special guests to talk about Hanukkah traditions. We will also be comparing Stone Soup (the version set in ancient China) with Bone Button Borscht which is set in a Russian Jewish community.

Science: This may be our last official week of Science until the new year. Grade 2s will be completing their model of a polluted community. Grade 3s will be observing plant life with Miss Lowen.

Homework:

1. Reading reflection questions in Reading Response Journal - this will be an extension of the visualizing we've been working on in class. * Please note that the activity is always either pasted into the notebook or written down by your child. This is why it's imperative for all students to bring in their homework on Friday - Monday at the latest.

2. Cursive practice sheet. I've decided to begin Grade 2s on cursive, due the fact that several 2s are already using cursive and the remaining students are expressing a desire to learn it now. It is not part of the Grade 2 Writing curriculum, just to let you know. I won't be drilling students on cursive, but rather would like it to be a fun and pleasurable experience that will hopefully make writing more comfortable in the long run.

3. Mapping sheet. We've been working on coordinates on a grid. Students really enjoyed this Geometry/Social Studies lesson last week. "Can we do some for homework?" Alright. You asked for it - you've got it. Grade 3s will be challenged to create their own grid. Explanations will be attached.

* There is a small, but very vocal minority in the class that are disrupting instruction and work periods. For this reason, I'm starting a "Three strikes and you're out" policy this week. Students who are talkative during these times (as well as walking through the hallway), will get a strike. If they get three strikes during the day, they do not get a stamp on their passport at the end of the day. Those students who have five stamps in their passport by the end of the week will be involved in "Freaky Friday." There will be a time set aside at the end of the week when these students who have worked hard to control their social talking, will get to do a bonus arts and crafts activity that connects to our learning. Students who do not have five stickers will be given grammar or math to work on quietly. I don't believe in punishing the whole class because of a few students. I hope that the whole class will be getting freaky on Friday. Please help me by reminding your child about the importance of refraining from social talking when it is time to learn.

Thanks so much.

Have a great week!

E. Hawkins

Homework/Friday Folders

Hello,

Please ensure your child brings in their Friday Folder on Friday with his or her Book in a Bag. The bag for the Book in a Bag, should be inside the Friday Folder. Whether they need their book for another week, their Reading Response Notebook should come in at the end of each week.

A few students didn't return their homework last Thursday and today they didn't have their Friday Folders with them. This is an organizational piece that seems to help students and some students were wondering where they should put this week's homework. Please remind your child on Friday morning to pack their Friday Folder.

Students know that they are to fill out one side of their Grocery Shopping List without any assistance. They should try to find the correct spellings on their own e.g. copy the name of a cereal down from the box. They do not need to fill out every section - especially if you don't have pets or babies around the house. I'm strongly encouraging students to make the list as authentic as possible so that the list can be used while grocery shopping. Take your children to the supermarket and have them read signs and use their shopping list.

Thanks. The week at a glance is below, including this week's homework.

Erin Hawkins

This Week in Room 108

One panel from Ellie's triptych of the class. Bravo!!!

Hello again,

Here's what we're working on this week:

Language: Remaining retellings of Miss Rumphius will be completed and we will be moving on to a short and sweet look at Procedure Writing. This is one of the dryer forms of writing, so I am looking for ways to make it fun and relevant for the class. I've told Shawna that she might be helping lead a Kootie Catcher tutorial for the class which will be turned into a piece of Procedure Writing. Thanks to Shawna for making Kootie Catchers for everyone in our class. Both Shawna and her dad looked extra tired on Parent Interview night. Now I know why...

In Word Study, we will be looking at letter blends and compound words. There will be action-packed activities to take the drudgery out of spelling. Speaking of spelling, students were quizzed on homonyms last week. Those words that they spelled out of context will be on their Words to Know list for this week. If students aced the quiz, they will be tested on compound words. Those who did so-so on the homonyms will have their Words to Know list topped up with compound words. Students shouldn't have more than 10 words on their spelling list.

In Math, we will be moving into Transformations (flips/slides/turns or as we like to say using Math language: reflections, translations, and rotations). I'm pushing our class to use proper math terminology, rather than watering down the program. This will serve them well immediately and in the future. We'll also continue working on double digit (Gr. 2) and triple digit (Gr. 3) addition and subtraction and problem solving.

Science: We are winding down science this week. The Grade 3s have been joining the 2s as they construct a local community with boxes to show how the Don River and Lake Ontario become polluted.

Social Studies: As Science peters out for the next few weeks, we'll have time to go deeper into cultural studies (Gr. 2s) and Urban and Rural (Gr. 3s). The big question that we'll be investigating this week is: What makes is a community?

Homework:

1. Reading Response Journal reflection questions from Book in a Bag reading. This sheet will be short and it will be pasted into your child's Reading Journal. Those who did not return their journal must bring the sheet home and paste it in later. If you do not have glue at home, please make sure the sheet is tucked into the journal so that I can find it.

2. Create a shopping list. I'll be sending home a double-sided shopping list. The first side should be completed by your child. Have him or her look for food items you are running low on or out of. Let them do it by themselves and have fun. On the back, students can write a good copy of the list with spelling mistakes corrected. They are encouraged to find the correct spelling words on their own. Parents can offer hints if needed. Try to make this an authentic list that actually makes it to the grocery store. It would be even better if your child can go grocery shopping with you and read off from the list. I'll make a copy on Friday and send it home so it can be used. This is an authentic learning experience.

3. There will be a single-sided math sheet for each grade to practice addition.

That's all. Have a great week!

Erin Hawkins

* P.S. Check out the link on the previous post for free online talking books from Scholastic. My son read some books for kindergarten and really enjoyed them. There are books of different levels as well as word games, author biographies and more. This is a great way to keep reading going at your home. The words are highlighted as the story moves along, so it's something your child can do independently. The password is included in the last post as well.

Book Flix Reading Resource - Check it Out

My sister passed along this resource from Scholastic. If you follow the link, you'll be able to access a selection of grade appropriate stories that your child can read along with at home. This is another way to foster reading at home. Now if you're busy cooking dinner, your child can read a book with support.

Check it out. http://auth.grolier.com/login/bookflix/login.php?bffs=N

Your login is: tdsb

Psdw: trillium

Erin Hawkins

Hello Hello

Mapping with Google Maps earlier in the fall.

I just wanted to say thank you to all the parents whom I've been able to sit down with so far. The students of Room 108 really are great and I'm proud to be teaching all the boys and girls in our class. We have a lot of fun learning and I know that this will be a year of huge leaps and bounds in all subject areas. We get our hands really dirty in our class, which may explain why the room looks so lived it. I feel like if the room is hospital clean at the end of the day, something was not quite right with the day. I'm happy to hear you tell me that hands-on learning helps your children understand concepts and that they are retaining and applying information in different areas. It really is worth the extra effort.

Thanks for you warm support. I look forward to the few remaining interviews next week.

Have a terrific weekend.

Erin Hawkins

This Week in Room 108

Was it really just a month ago that we were sitting outside in the sun, sketching the tree in front of our classroom?

Hello,

Due to our involvement in last week's Remembrance Day assembly, many of my plans from last week had to be carried over to this week in Language especially. Please refer back to last week's plans to see what we'll be continuing with this week. Don't forget that there is no school this Friday due to parent/teacher interviews. I'll be sending home interview times tomorrow for those who have returned the interview request slip. If you haven't sent the slip in, please do so ASAP.

Thanks so much.

Homework for this week is due Thursday and it will only consist of reading. Your child should have a new book in a bag along with questions in their Reading Response Journal.

That's all for now. Next week should be a more normal week.

SmartBoard = Smart & Not Bored

Today Room 108 was a Demonstration Math Lab. Mr. Steers and I co-taught a lesson on symmetry for guest teachers. We were also joined by our Math instructional leader and former Clairlea teacher/librarian Susan Pitre. We packed in a lot of learning and the boys and girls were SUPER engaged. Awesome!

We got the party on the go with a symmetry game on the SmartBoard. Students categorized shapes as symmetrical or non-symmetrical by dragging the shapes into their chosen vortex.
Circle of infinite symmetrical lines about to be swallowed into the "Symmetrical" vortex. I've had nightmares where this has happened to me.

Students were presented with a problem to solve. They were asked to design a book cover using pattern blocks. The design had to have at least one line of symmetry. Three pairs of students had their designs brought to the high tech projection tool called Elmo (I'm not making up the name). Using Elmo, their designs were captured on the SmartBoard. Students then had to draw lines of symmetry on their designs using a line tool with their fingers. What learning. What fun!

This group came up with a minimalist design, but the class discovered that it had four lines of symmetry. Vocabulary that came out of today's math class included: congruent, horizontal, vertical, and diagonal.

Symmetry is #1!