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