Friday, October 9

Classroom Update

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

Math - In math this week, we continued focusing on addition and subtraction.  We practised subtracting when the bigger number has a "0" in it (804 - 342).  We also continued to work on place value ideas and started a "weekly problem" where we will be working with a bunch of different math skills.  This weeks problem involved drawing, doubling numbers and adding.

Home Practise:  It would be great to review addition and subtraction of multi-digit numbers.  For example 842 + 495 or 931 - 273.  A few questions after school would solidify understanding.

Language Arts - In word work, we focused on words that end with the suffix "ist" (dentist, artist).  We also started writing an October story.  Many of the students are incorporating spooky ideas into their stories.  We are focusing on the following: writing an interesting beginning, making sure our story has a middle and end and ensuring we are using capital letters and punctuation in appropriate places.

Science - We started to discuss how landforms change and what processes change them.  We started with quick changes and how floods, wildfires, tornadoes can change the landscape in a short amount of time.

Social Studies   - We continued to build understanding of treaties with a focus on how Treaty 7 was created.

Upcoming Events

October 12                     NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving

October 13 - 16              Yoga Residency for all grades in phys. ed.

October 19                     NO SCHOOL - Non-Instructional Day

October 28                     Fun Lunch - Domino's

October 29                     MTS Celebrates Halloween 

Friday, October 2

Classroom Update

Math - In math this week, we started focusing on addition and subtraction.  In grade 3, we focus on 3 digit by 3 digit and we also use zero's in our numbers.  We will be talking about subtracting with 0 next week.  For example 804 - 342.  We also continued to work on place value up to and including the ten thousands place and did a little bit of work with the symbols for greater than >, less than <.  

Home Practise:  It would be great to review addition and subtraction of multi-digit numbers.  For example 842 + 495 or 931 - 273.  A few questions after school to solidify understanding will support the students when we start using larger numbers.

Language Arts - In word work, we focused on those words that end in "or" and "ar" but sound like they end in "er".  Students were asked to pick 3 words ending in "or" and 3 ending in "ar" that they would like to remember.  We also did a little bit of quick writing.  

A lot of our time on Monday and Tuesday was spent preparing for our Orange Shirt Day assembly.  Students did a great job with various roles including public speaking, choral speaking and acting.

Science - The focus this week was on computer science and coding.  Students are learning how to give instructions so a computer will do what they want.  We talked about using "blocks" to program a character to move on the screen.

Social Studies - Students continued work on land rights and how people make agreements.  Right now, our conversations have been about the playground and how space is shared among many.  This will move us towards understanding treaties.

*Weather permitting, our class will be going on a community walk next week.  

Upcoming Dates

October 7                       Picture Day

October 12                     NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving

October 13 - 16              Yoga Residency for all grades

October 19                     NO SCHOOL - Non-Instructional Day

October 28                     Fun Lunch - Domino's

October 29                     MTS Celebrates Halloween 

Friday, September 25

 Classroom Update

Math - In math this week, we continued to work on place value up to and including the ten thousands place.  We worked on finding numbers using place value clues (what is the number if a 2 is in the 10's place and the number in the thousands is double the tens place - 4 020).  We also started our review of multi-digit addition and subtraction.

Home Practise:  It would be great to review addition and subtraction of multi-digit numbers.  For example 842 + 495 or 931 - 273.  A few questions after school to solidify understanding will support the students when we start using larger numbers.

Language Arts - We focused on why some words double the final consonant before adding the er ending.  We finished our first opinion writing assignment.  The assignment started with "Would you rather play in the snow on a mountain or the sand on a beach?"  Students had to choose which one they prefer and write a paragraph that gives three reasons why they picked the one they did.   We spent some time practising for our Orange Shirt Day assembly.  We have readers, actors and a chorus section.

Science - We continued discussing landforms and how Alberta is filled with various landforms that fit in the following categories: mountains, hills, valleys, deserts, prairies, plateaus.  Students finished working on an assignment where they show / write the following: What activities do you participate in outside?, What are some special places you have visited?  How do you take care of the land?

*Weather permitting, our class will be going on a community walk Thursday, October 1.  

**The grade 3 classes will be leading the Orange Shirt Day Assembly on Tuesday, September 29.  The assembly will start at 9:30.  You are welcome to join us.

Upcoming Dates

FRIDAY                          NO SCHOOL - Non-Instructional Day

September 29                Orange Shirt Day

September 30                NO SCHOOL - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

October 7                       Picture Day

Friday, September 18

 Classroom Updates

Math - In math this week, we continued to work on place value up to and including the ten thousands place.  Students have been working on using a variety of ways to show the value of digits in a large number.  For example: in the number 3 429, the 4 is worth 400.

Home Practise:  It would be great to review addition and subtraction of multi-digit numbers.  For example 84 + 49 or 93 - 27.  A few questions after school to solidify understanding will support the students when we start using larger numbers.

Language Arts - We continued to work with the "er" suffix in language arts this week.  We focused on why some words double the final consonant before adding the er ending.  We also started an opinion writing assignment.  The assignment started with "Would you rather play in the snow on a mountain or the sand on a beach?"  Students had to choose which one and write a paragraph that gives three reasons why they picked the one they did.  As part of the writing assignment, we also discussed some of the things that make a good sentence.

Social Studies - This week we started to talk about Treaties and what a treaty is.  Students took part in a playground activity that spoke to the idea of territory and what happens when we have to share a space.

Science - We started our Earth Systems unit in science by discussing landforms and how Alberta is filled with various landforms that fit in the following categories: mountains, hills, valleys, deserts, prairies, plateaus.  Students started working on an assignment where they show / write the following: What activities do you participate in outside?, What are some special places you have visited?  How do you take care of the land?

*Weather permitting, our class will be going on a community walk Thursday, October 1.  

**The grade 3 classes will be leading the Orange Shirt Day Assembly on Tuesday, September 29.  The assembly will start at 9:30.  You are welcome to join us.

Upcoming Events

September 23                           Fun Lunch - Subway

September 23                           Terry Fox Run

September 24                           MTS Open House 5:00pm - 6:30pm 

September 25                           NO SCHOOL - Non-Instructional Day

September 29                           Orange Shirt Day

September 30                           NO SCHOOL - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

October 7                                  Picture Day

October 12                                NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving

Friday, September 11

 Classroom Updates

Math - In math this week, we have been reviewing place value up to and including the ten thousands place.  We have also been reviewing and practising our skip counting by 2,3,5,10.  We usually start our math lesson with a warm-up activity, then work on our weekly lesson material and end with a game or a math project.

Home Practise:  It would be great to review addition and subtraction of multi-digit numbers.  For example 84 + 49 or 93 - 27.  A few questions after school to solidify understanding will support the students when we start using larger numbers.

Language Arts - In grade 3, we focus on a few affixes (prefixes and suffixes on words) and how they change the meaning of the root word.  This week we focused on the "er" suffix and how it changes words like small into "smaller" and bake into "baker".  We also did a writing assignment titled "My Unbelievable Summer" where students could tell about something that really happened in their summer, an exaggeration of something that happened or a completely made-up story of what happened.

Social Studies - In grade 3, we explore Alberta today and through history.  To begin, we looked at where Alberta is in Canada and talked a little bit about what Alberta was like before it became a province. 

Science - This week we talked about the land around us and spent some time outside in the new seating area.  Students saw ladybugs, spiders, mushrooms and many other small things that are living in our school field.

*Weather permitting, our class will be going on a community walk Thursday, September 17.  We will be participating in sketching and mapping activities.

**The grade 3 classes will be leading the Orange Shirt Day Assembly on Tuesday, September 29.  The assembly will start at 9:30.  You are welcome to join us.

***Community Walks in PE

Starting Wednesday, September 16th, we will be introducing a regular community walk routine as part of our PE classes. These walks will provide students with an opportunity to be active, get outside, and enjoy our school community.

Please ensure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather on walk days. Parents will be notified at least 48 hours in advance whenever a community walk is planned.

If you are interested in volunteering to help with community walks, please note that an updated police clearance is required every year. Our Parent Council Volunteer Coordinator has sent out a Sign-Up Genius for those interested in volunteering. 

Upcoming School Events

September 23                           Fun Lunch - Subway

September 23                           Terry Fox Run

September 24                           MTS Open House 5:00pm - 6:30pm (More Information to Follow)

September 25                           NO SCHOOL - Non-Instructional Day

September 29                           Orange Shirt Day (grade 3's leading assembly at 9:30)

September 30                           NO SCHOOL - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

October 7                                  Picture Day

Friday, September 4

 Welcome to a new school year.  

It has been wonderful meeting your children and so many of you.  Thank you so much for your patience as we adjust to new routines and organization.  I hope you all had a fun, adventurous summer.  I spent part of my summer driving across the prairies to the family farm near Weyburn, Saskatchewan, out to Winnipeg and then into B.C. to visit family.  

This week, we spent some time getting to know each other.  Students shared a little about their summer, some of the things they like to do (at school and outside of school) and some of their hopes for grade 3.  We did a little bit of review (talking about place value and skip counting in math and showing what we can do in writing).  We also worked on an art project - you can see the beginning of our project below.

I am looking forward to our year together.  Please feel free to contact me anytime.  The quickest way is through email bdbossenberr@cbe.ab.ca but you are welcome to call the school or stop by at the end of the day.

Upcoming School Events

September 7                             NO SCHOOL - Labour Day

September 23                           Fun Lunch - Subway

September 23                           Terry Fox Run

September 24                           MTS Open House 5:00pm - 6:30pm (More Information to Follow)

September 25                           NO SCHOOL - Non-Instructional Day

September 29                           Orange Shirt Day

September 30                           NO SCHOOL - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

October 7                                  Picture Day