This Week in Room 108

Hello,

It looks like we'll have a slightly more "normal" five-day school week, not that there's anything wrong with those "abnormal" four-day weeks of late, but you catch my drift.

Many things we've been working on have been left hanging due to interruptions, so we'll get the ship back on course this week.

Language: Reading and writing poems. We'll continue reading and responding to poems about the African diaspora, even if African Heritage Month officially ends tomorrow. It's never the wrong time to read poems about the Caribbean. We're also going to begin reading poems by Irish poets and songwriters as we head towards St. Patrick's Day. Check out "Pride" by U2 at the bottom of this post. It's about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Our class will be reading it tomorrow.

Media Literacy: The History of Communication. This week, we'll complete our hieroglyphs and discuss what "the oral tradition" means.

Word Study: Our poor Greek prefix study keeps being pushed back, but we will complete our investigation this week.

Math: Fractions, fractions, and more fractions. Last Friday, students created equivalent fractions using straws. It was a big "a-ha" moment and I'm not talking about those cute Norwegian singers from the eighties. There will be homework connected to this straw activity. In class, we will continue problem solving through fractions. So great to see a whole class excited about math.

Social Studies: Grade 3s will continue learning about First Nations people during the time of early settlement in Upper Canada. They will also participate in an activity that will teach them about the things that Aboriginal Canadians taught the pioneers. Grade 2s will be learning about the tradition of St. Patrick's Day. I suspect the Grade 3s may join in for some of this too.

Homework:

Grade 2s only:

1. Reading response for borrowed book (in your child's Reading Response notebook).

2. Fraction questions connected to in-class straw fractions.

3. Spelling activities for new words.

Grade 3s only:

1. EQAO math and reading questions (due next Monday).

2. Fraction questions connected to in-class straw fractions (this will be a little harder than the Grade 2 homework).

3. Spelling activities for new words.

* I am easing off on the Reading Response activities for the time being for the Grade 3s to balance the homework load for EQAO preparation. If parents want MORE HOMEWORK, students are still welcome to carry on with the Reading Response questions. Students are still encouraged to borrow books from our class library and of course the wonderful library at Clairlea.

Cheerio,

Erin Hawkins - Best Supporting Actress for her work in The King's Speech. Alright, I made that up. I'd be lucky to win a Daytime Emmy. Sigh.

This Week in Room 108

Above: I brought in a book on place-based artist Andy Goldsworthy and EK was inspired by the artistic creations Goldsworthy makes in nature. She decided to make her own snow sculpture with twigs dividing the two sides. Amazing!

Below: These are pictures from our fractions centres two weeks ago. Keep scrolling down for what we're doing this week.

Hello families:

Last week was short and for the four days we were in school, almost half the class was missing due to illness. I too have been sick. This is a short week too. I hope that we'll all be back feeling healthy and happy. We didn't start any new lessons last week due to all the students who were away. We'll try to pick things up this week and hope for the best.

Language: Reading and writing poems.

Word Study: Greek and Latin prefixes

Social Studies: Grade 3s will be doing research into the customs of First Nations people when the new settlers arrived during Pioneer times. Grade 2s will be consolidation their knowledge of celebrations and traditions by comparing them on a chart.

Math: Equivalent fractions: problem solving and more hands-on activities.

Homework:

1. Students are welcome to bring a book in a bag home this week, but their reading homework will be to find an advertisement (from a newspaper or flyer) and answer questions that will be in his/her reading notebook.

2. Word Study activity for words that are still tricky to spell. Each student will have their own list of words. Students will be tested at home by a family member, since it will be too difficult to test 21 children separately in class.

3. Math problem to solve (fraction). Use numbers, words, pictures, charts, etc. to explain your understanding.

This Week in Room 108

Hello everyone,

Eight students were away today, so I'm imagining there's a bug going around. We still had a low-key Valentine's Day card party this afternoon. Get well everyone. There are treats waiting for you!

This week is very much a continuation of what we did last week, so please refer to This Week in Room 108 further down the page.

Due to the shortened week, Valentine's Day party and high number of absent students, I've decided to cancel homework and spelling words for the week.

Report cards went home today.

That's all.

I'm sick too, so I'm going to hop into a hot bath and get to bed earlier tonight.

Have a great week,

Erin Hawkins

Hurrah For Hundreds!

Plug your ears because Room 108's about to explode with numbers. If math were any more fun, we'd have to open an amusement park. Thanks to all of our students and families for helping make the hundredth day of school, cool, green, and educational. Many of these pieces will go on display in our room.

International numerical man of mystery.

CF in a moment of zen, contemplates the true meaning of one hundred silly bands on a piece of coral. Hmmm...
I think I saw this at the AGO recently in the same room that has the pile of rocks with the cheesies poking out from underneath.

Ginormous bunch of flowers coming right at you.

One hundred petals frame a pretty face.

A sheet of number sentences and patterns that give 100 some love.

And a bonus artistic collection of 100 beads that can double as a fashion accessory. Sweet!

SMC went to town creating a Lego-fied model of Clairlea P.S. and the number 100 using hundreds of Lego pieces. Amazing! I'm moving in. Wait, I already live at the school.
She even included a Canadian flag and Elmer the Safety Elephant flag.


RG created 100 hundreds. Ryan guessed correctly that it would add up to 10,000. We checked the math and jaws hit the floor. Great work boys.

More amazing math on display. Good golly - Grade 3 you say?

The new Jack Nicholson shows off some rocking multiplication.
And now a brief interlude. This song is dedicated to the boy below. It's his new theme song.

Newspapers from Bangladesh with numbers skip counting by tens all the way to 100. Awesome!

EK's awesome collections of books, numbers, and more. Notice the huge painting behind her that she made.

100 paperclips. These may come in handy.

A sticker for a job well done.

You're a superstar, yes that's what you are. Wow, someone's got sore hands from cutting out 100 stars. Fantastic!

100 very Tim Burton-esque skulls. Perfect.

Why is this boy grinning?

I think it's because his hand stopped cramping after writing 100 words from A-Z. How original!

A movie featuring 100 or more dogs.

Muslim prayer beads.

And a pretty 100 sign that matches EP's outfit today. Terrific!

Class List For Valentine's Day

You want it - you've got it. I've asked our students to make a card for everyone in the class if they're going to bring in cards. That way, we have lot's of smiles and no hurt feelings. We'll have a little party too. Nut-free treats would be swell, but you're under no pressure to spend Sunday night baking.

Thanks,

Erin Hawkins

Here's a disco-fied lovey-dovey song by Roxy Music to keep you happy while you copy down names, which are below:

Theron, Kamal, Mia, Madison, Rishikkesh, Safwan, Cassie, Bradley, Emma, Adam, Arsal, Maria, Lyndsay, Zach, Aadil, Keesha, Ryan, Austin, Caleb, Ellie, and last but not least... Shawna!

*Cassie is away right now, but let's not forget her. She can have some cards to welcome her back next month.

This Week in Room 108

Thanks to Theron and Shawna for sharing family traditions and lot's of information about Chinese New Year last week. Oh - thanks also to Ellie for bringing in dragon fruit. The class enjoyed sampling.

Speaking of Chinese New Year, I took my son down Spadina Avenue today and here's what we stumbled upon...

A crowd gathered outside a Vietnamese sandwich shop. Hmm...

Clanging drums and cymbals. Hmm...

Two dragons suddenly backed out of the sandwich shop. It looked like the shopkeepers were giving the dragons lettuce as an offering.
The dragons danced about for a few moments...
After that, they paraded down to the next store. Cool. It's unexpected moments like this that make Toronto such a great city. Do take your kids down to Chinatown some time. Eat something different, support the local economy and have a good time.

Back to this week in Room 108:

This week we will be working on the following:

Language: Writing/Reading/Oral - We will begin a unit on poetry with love poems. Students will read a variety of poetry from Shelly to Neil Young. They will begin writing love poems too. Move over Emily Dickinson.

Word Study: We will wrap up Greek prefixes and we will also review vowel diagraphs: oo, au, and ea.

Grammar: We will return to verbs and adverbs.

Media Literacy: This week we will carry on with the History of Communications by looking at Egyptian Hieroglyphs. We didn't get to it last week because of the storm that wasn't. Students will make imitation papyrus and paint hieroglyphs on it. They will compare the hieroglyphs to the petroglyphs and pictographs already made.

Math: We will finally launch our unit on fractions this Tuesday. As well, we will be wrapping up data management by creating a big line graph based on the mode of daily temperatures in January, collected by the class. Students will also be examining the results of a multiple intelligences survey they completed last week as part of our investigation of the brain.

Social Studies: The Grade 3s will look at the ways First Nations people helped the pioneers. They will also be looking at the tools used by pioneers and comparing them to what we use nowadays. The Grade 2s will be looking at the history of St. Valentine's Day.

Homework (both grades)

1. Spelling activity with new words to know.

2. Reading Response. This week students get to choose how they'd like to respond to the book they've brought home.

3. Addition sheet, math (different one for 2s and 3s).

All of the above is due Friday please.

Grade 3s will bring home their EQAO duotang and answer the reading questions and compare their answers to the exemplars. Miss Torres will be working with the Grade 3s on Monday, so please make sure they are in your child's backpack.

Thank you.

Have a great week.

Severe Weather Tomorrow

Hello there,

I just wanted to share the TDSB's information blurb about severe weather in light of the storm coming our way tomorrow. Do check the news tomorrow morning to find out if Clairlea will be closed.

If there's no school, I wish everyone a happy Snow Day and hope that everyone finds child care if needed. Make the most of it. Go back to bed, make pancakes and keep the Deep Heat handy for post-shoveling. Otherwise, I'll see you all tomorrow.

Regards,

Erin Hawkins

TDSB Severe Weather Guidelines: What you need to know

Snow, snow and more snow! Environment Canada is calling for up to 30 centimetres

of snow and gusty winds for Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

The TDSB is monitoring the situation and will provide updates early

Wednesday morning at www.tdsb.on.ca if school transportation is cancelled.

Any school, class or program cancellations will be announced as the day ... More