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