Math

We have just completed our unit on Data Management. Students learned how to survey their fellow classmates and display that data on a variety of graphs.  We are now moving on to a unit in Geometry. Students will be looking at the properties of 2-D shapes and investigating angles.

Interviews

Thank you to all who attended the interview days.  It was wonderful to watch the students be so enthusiastic about the work they are doing in class.  If you have any other questions or concerns please to not hesitate to contact me at the school or by email at mrsnolette@gmail.com.

Remembrance Day

We watched a few videos today to honor Remembrance Day.  Following the last video, we observed a 2 minute moment of silence.  The class was very respectful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvwlVz8WPH0&safe=active

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86J_RTfg_zQ&safe=active

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=CA&safe=active&v=2kX_3y3u5Uo

Grade 3 Structures Project

The Grade 3 students have been working on a Famous Structures Project for the past few weeks in class and in the computer lab.  I have now sent it home for it to be completed by November 12th.  Students have completed most of the research and are now required to write a brief report based on those points.  Parents are welcome to lend support to their child.  Feel free to help your child edit their work or prepare for their brief presentation to the class.

Waste Reduction Week Posters

Congratulations to Jamie H., Skye and Perrine.  They were the class winners of The North Renfrew Site Liason Committee's poster contest.  They will be awarded an environmentally friendly prize and have their photo taken for the NRT.  Great job!

Kidblog

The students have now created their own blog to share their thoughts and respond to the thoughts of fellow classmates.  You can find their blogs at:
www.kidblog.org/mrsnolettesclass/

Global Read Aloud

We finished reading "The One and Only Ivan" on Friday and the class was a little sad to say goodbye the novel.  We have continued to Skype other classes to discuss the novel and the students are excited to learn more about endangered species and mankind's impact on the environment.

Pizza Day

Just a reminder that tomorrow is Pizza Day.

Email

Just a reminder that if you would like to get a hold of me by email, the address is:
mrsnolette@gmail.com

Pizza Forms

Just a reminder that all pizza forms are due by Friday, October 26th. No late orders will be accepted. Pizza will begin being delivered on Wednesday, October 31st at first nutrition break.

Photo packages

Please note that the photo packages are due back in on Friday, October 19th.

The One and Only Ivan

The students continue to be captivated by the novel The One and Only Ivan.  We have had some great discussions and the students have contributed some excellent responses to our Edmodo page.
Below is a "linoit" canvas we created together on our thoughts regarding the death of a character.
Linoit canvas

Math

We have now finished our unit on Patterning and have moved on to a unit on Place Value.  The class is using Base 10 materials

to help compose numbers and develop a better understanding of how numbers are formed.  We will move on to addition and subtraction in the next couple of weeks.  Please take the time to help review mental facts to 20 (i.e. 7+6, 2+9, 11-5, etc.) with your child.  We will be working with three and four digit numbers and if students are quickly able to recall math facts, they will find it easier when adding and subtracting larger numbers.  

Last Week

Last week, the grade three students built towers with the help of local scientist John Wills.  They learned how to make structures more stable and tested them for strength with containers of water.  They did a great job and had lots of fun in the process.

On Thursday, 3/4N students participated in the Terry Fox run.  We ran the track with the other primary students.  Some students in our class completed the loop over 15 times!  Students were provided with stickers to write down who they were running for.  Some chose a family or friend, some chose Terry Fox.  Making this connection seemed to give them more of a sense of purpose towards the run.  

The Global Read Aloud

Tomorrow is a big day for 3/4N!  We will begin participating in the Global Read Aloud.  This is an activity where classes from around the world read the same novel, at the same time, for a month.  This year's novel is The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.  It is the story of a silverback gorilla living at The Exit 8 Big Top Mall for years, and his life suddenly has purpose when a baby elephant arrives.  The novel is fiction, but is based on true events.  The students have been watching the book trailer and have become captivated with the story.  To view the trailer, click the link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYIMuxq-tL0
Through a math lesson, the students determined that when the book begins, Ivan has lived at the mall for 27 years.  Students were stunned and saddened by this fact, and have already developed empathy for the main character.  A great start to connecting with the novel!
This week, our class will read the first 78 pages of the novel.  We will correspond with two other classes via Edmodo (a social media website for teachers) and Skype.  One class is located in Houston, Texas, the other is in Stony Plain, Alberta.  We are looking forward to hearing their different viewpoints regarding the novel.

September

September is coming to a close and we have been very busy.  In Language, the class has been working on The Daily Five and developing stamina in both reading and writing.  As part of their Read to Someone portion, students have been going in small groups to read to the kindergarten students.  In Math, we are wrapping up a unit on patterning.  Students have been developing skills (counting up, using a hundreds chart etc.) to find the gap between numbers.  This helps them identify patterns and further develop their addition and subtraction skills.  In Science, the grade three students have been learning about strong and stable structures and experimenting with how to pose with stability and balance in gym.  The grade four students have been learning about pulleys and gears.

The class is beginning to work more collaboratively and students have become more confident in sharing their thoughts and ideas.

Open House

I am looking forward to seeing many families tonight at the Open House.  This is a time for students to show you all around the classroom and describe some of the activities they have been working on in the first few weeks of school.  See you tonight at 6:30p.m.!

Scholastic Book Orders

I have extended the deadline for Scholastic Book Orders until Monday, September 17th.  If you would like to place an order, please send in the order form and cash or cheque by Monday.  Thank you.
Mrs. Nolette

Milk program and cafeteria

The milk program has started at MCS.  If you would like your child to have milk at lunch time, tickets are available for purchase at the office at a cost of $10.00 for 10.

The cafeteria is open for food purchases for students in the junior grades.  This means that the grade four students in 3/4 N are able to go to the cafeteria at first nutrition break!  Items available for purchase include daily specials, bagels, pizza slices, cookies, juice, water, etc..  The grade four students will continue to eat lunch in our classroom, they will only go to the cafeteria to pick up their food items.

First Day

We had an excellent first day in room 131! We have a lovely, cooperative class. Thank you to everyone who returned their signed forms, we are only missing a couple.
The only school supply I require (other than writing tools), is a one inch binder. Please send one in over the next couple of weeks. I have some extras in the class for those who are unable to pick one up.

Welcome to Room 131

I would like to welcome everyone to the 2012/2013 school year.  This year I am attempting to incorporate greater technology in our classroom.  I have created this blog to help keep families informed of what is happening in the classroom and at MCS.  I am looking forward to the year ahead!!