Our Science research is well underway and students are learning a lot about the endangered animals they have chosen to build an enclosure for. Students have been using books, videos and websites to gather as much useful information as possible. We have been working on posing questions to support our research and recording our findings through writing and diagrams. Using scientific vocabulary has been very important in our research. Some of the terms all students should be familiar with are; temperament, sedentary, active, social, solitary, territorial, carrion, predator, prey, adaptation, migration, consume, habitat, vegetation, carnivore, omnivore, herbivore and camouflage In math we have been learning about division. We have been sharing numbers into equal groups and exploring the relationship between multiplication and division. When working through math tasks students have been encouraged to use their knowledge of multiplication to solve division problems. In Grade 3 students are required to know up to and including the 5 times table and the corresponding division facts. Please practice times tables up to 5x10 at home. Students will be required to know these multiplication facts by the end of next week. Our writing work has been integrated into Science, Social Studies and Math work. Students have been writing about their rights and responsibilities in the different communities they are a part of. We have been working on writing as a means of expressing what we know. It is important that students see writing as a real life function and not just fictional narratives. Often, students forget the conventions of writing when working within a different subject area. In Grade 3 we have been reinforcing the importance of quality writing in all subject areas. We have many field studies coming up! Please watch blue folders for student consent forms.
The weather is finally getting better and we have certainly been enjoying it! Our Field Study to Inglewood Bird Sanctuary was a great experience. Students learned all about how animals survive in the different seasons. We had an opportunity to explore the park and learn all about the animals that make their homes there. We were luck enough to see an osprey, an owl, some prairie dogs, a hawk, bald eagle, ducks and Canada geese. We saw how insects make their homes in trees to protect them from the harsh environment and predators. Our guide, Chelsea, taught us a lot about animals we can find in this area. We cannot wait to return for another program in 2 weeks. Our field studies are fitting nicely into the science work we are engaging in. Students have begun researching an animal of their choice that is currently threatened or endangered. The purpose of this research will be to help each student design an enclosure that could be used by a rehabilitation program or zoo to help regenerate this animals population. Students are expected to be able to gather in-depth information in the following categories; Habitat, Food, Behavior, Life Cycle, Physical Features. Students must use more than one source (book, magazine, video, webpage) to gather their information and it must not be copied directly from the source. We have continued working on multiplication this week. We have been learning how to express a multiplication equation in a variety of ways. We really like using arrays to show equal groupings. We are beginning to study the relationship between multiplication and division. By working through 3- Act Math tasks, students have opportunities to see how multiplication and division can be used in real world situations. Below is a link to a 3-Act Math task we recently worked on. https://gfletchy.com/fruit-nut/ We are continuing to write from another person’s perspective. The boys and girls are doing an amazing job empathizing with another person and expressing how they may be feeling. This week students are writing a diary entry pretending to be another person. We have been working on making our writing more interesting for the reader by showing how a person is feeling rather than telling the reader. For example, instead of writing: “I felt nervous when I entered the room” students may write, “My hands began to shake and sweat ran down my forehead as a cautiously walked into the room.” Some upcoming dates to remember: May 15: Guest Speaker in Room 15 May 16: Field Study to Inglewood May 22: Field Study to Calgary Zoo June 1: Volunteer Tea June 6: Field Study to St. Patricks Island June 11: Room 15 to Ralph Klein Park June 19: Community Walk June 21:Sports Day June 28: Last Day of School It has been a great first week back after Spring Break! We were all excited to see each other and get back to our learning. In math we have begun learning about multiplication. We have looked at the relationship between multiplication and repeated addition. Students wrote multiplication equations and solved them using objects to physically represent the equation. Students were also required to write the corresponding repeated addition equation. It is helpful if students memorize times tables, however it is most important that students have a deep understanding of this operation and its relationship to addition and division. Much of our focus will be on solving complex problems that require students to identify multiplication as the most effective operation for solving. We have been looking closely at point-of-view. Students have been writing from a particular perspective, thinking about how our quality of life and life experiences would affect how we view a situation. This work has been very closely liked to our Social Studies and Language Arts curriculum. Students are required to write paragraphs from the point-of-view of another person who may have a very different life experience to their own. Next week we will begin our final science unit on Animal Life Cycles. Please see our links section to find a list of the outcomes we will be covering. Today we participated in an Earth Rangers Assembly. We learned about the importance of conserving Canada’s wildlife and got to see some of the animal helpers the presenters brought along. Valley View School has been very fortunate to receive a sizable grant from Education Matters to help improve our Learning Commons. This work will begin in August 2018 and it is very important to us that the students of Valley View have a voice in the changes that are made. Rooms 12 and 15 have been brainstorming ideas to create a space where our community can gather, collaborate and learn. We have begun drawing blueprints that outline our suggestions. Reminders:
Our next field study will be on April 24th. We will only be needing 1 parent volunteer from each Grade 3 class. Those parents who are chosen will be given the Volunteer Consent form to fill out. Valley View Math Fair will be held on the evening of April 19th at 6:00pm-7:00pm. We hope to see you there. Fun Lunch is on April 19th. Have a great weekend! Last week we continued working on our final Hearing and Sound projects. Most students have completed their research and have a rough draft answer to most questions. This week students will work on editing their writing to ensure they are producing clear and detailed paragraphs that share their understanding. This week students will also begin working on the presentation portion of the projects. In Grade 3 a successful paragraph would include: Last week’s math focused on problem solving. Students were challenged to solve a problem entitled, “All Aboard”. If you are interested in the types of problems students are required to be able to do, please click on the links below, to see this particular problem and others that are similar. https://gfletchy.com/all-aboard/ https://gfletchy.com/3-act-lessons/ Our Artist in Residence has arrived and work is underway on our felt mural. Room 15 has had two sessions with Ms. Leah. During our first session we learned about the tools and techniques we will be using while felting. During our second session we had the opportunity to begin working on different aspects of the mural using a variety of felting techniques. During Exploration Time we have planted our first round of seeds so that we may grow healthy food in our classroom. Students have been engaged in robotics challenges and marble runs have been very popular. On Monday we attended our second National Geographic Presentation at Jack Singer Hall. Our class was inspired to spend more time in nature observing the beauty of animals. A Wild Life with photographer Bertie Gregory Whether camping with coastal wolves on Vancouver’s western beaches, pursuing peregrine falcons in London, or filming leopards in the streets of Mumbai, Bertie Gregory captures the essence of what it means to coexist peacefully—with respect and humor—alongside the magnificent creatures of the natural world. Host of National Geographic’s Wild Life, as well as the winner of the 2015 Scientific Exploration Society Zenith Explorer award and 2012 Youth Outdoor Photographer of the Year prize, Gregory is a passionate advocate for the natural world. Join Gregory as he takes us into the lives of the animals in our own backyard, in hopes of inspiring us to protect them. Friendly reminder that Tuesday we have a field study to Glenbow museum. Thank you to all of the parents who have already volunteered to joins us. Don't forget to sign up for Parent Conferences. The online timetable is now open! Mrs. MacNeil Mrs. Montgomery Hello Parents/Guardians:
Next Tuesday, May 13 2018 we have a field study planned for the Glenbow Museum. It directly relates to our Science curriculum - Rocks and Minerals, as well as our Social studies and Language Arts curriculums. Due to our low class numbers, this will be our most expensive field study costing approximately $27.50. We are ensuring that it is still within the $200 Science Program fees. If you have any concerns about the price of this upcoming field study, please e-mail Mrs. Montgomery at [email protected] or Mrs. MacNeil at [email protected]. Also if you are free to volunteer for this upcoming field study, please e-mail us or send us a written note. Thank you for your ongoing support. Mrs. Montgomery Mrs. MacNeil This week we have begun work on our final Hearing and Sound projects. Students are able to choose how they would like to present and share their learning. Their choices include, Google Docs, tri-fold poster presentations, videos, essays and oral presentations. The students came up with a set of questions that would need to be addressed in their project. The questions are:
Demonstrate and explain how sounds are made. Why are some sounds loud and some sounds quiet? What causes some sounds to be high pitched and some sounds to be low pitched? How do sounds move through solids, liquids and gas? How is animal hearing the same or different from human hearing? How does the human ear work? We have been reading many texts about hearing and sound to support our science work. Students have been collecting information and writing to record their learning. Students have asked if they can work on their projects at home. Students are welcome to research and learn at home but the majority of the work should be completed in the classroom. All final projects will be on display at Parent Conferences. In math we have continued working on addition with regrouping. This week most of our work was around the “New Group on Top” method. It is very important that when students are learning this method that they have a strong understanding of Place Value and are not just learning a “trick” to write a 1 on top. This week in Science we have continued our work on Hearing and Sound. Our focus has been on how the ear works. Students used their research skills to examine books, websites, videos and diagrams to build their knowledge about how an ear works. During Exploration Time many students chose to create 3D models of the parts of an ear. We have also begun to explore how sound can travel through a variety of materials, including solids, liquids and air. Our math work has been centered on addition of 2 and 3-digit numbers with regrouping (carrying). It is essential that students understand the process of regrouping and how and why we do this. Developing a good understanding of place value will help students understand why we need to regroup numbers. We have been building our understanding of this concept by using base-ten blocks. The illustration below demonstrates regrouping with base-ten. Students have been given many opportunities to read a variety of materials across subject areas. We have been working on identifying the important events and information in a text. We have been reading to deepen our understanding of the topics we are learning.
During Exploration time we have been really interested in Dash Challenges. Today we were challenged to program Dash to move through a course that included a ramp and a bridge. The school is closed on Thursdays, Friday and Monday. Enjoy your long weekend! Stay tuned for upcoming Field Study dates- They will be posted next week. This week our students participated in a field study to The National Music Centre - Studio Bell. Our students were able to explore the many interactive exhibits within the museum. The Grade 3 students explored different pitch and volume throughout the different instruments that they were able to interact with. Pitch describes the highness or lowness of a tone. Volume describes the loudness or quietness of a sound. Our students have been learning about safe and unsafe decibels and safety measure they can take in order to protect their hearing. Students in Room 12 have been creating different musical instruments during exploration time, as well as creating a physical representation of the ear system and how it works.
We have begun to explore some Social Studies topics this week such as quality of life. We discussed needs versus wants and what important traits make us feel happy. In Math this week, we have been exploring "How much is 1000?". Our students chose an object to measure in centimeters and then they had to multiply it by 1000. Once they had completed their math, they were required to find a popular building about the same size as their items if they were stacked on top of each other. We are using Keynote to create book pages about our "How much is 1000" problems. Ask your student to share their math sentence with you. Mrs. Montgomery and Mrs. MacNeil
Hi Parents,
Thank you so much for all of your interest in joining us on our upcoming field studies. Our field studies provide students with an in-depth understanding of topics we are covering in our classes and allows them to have hands on experiences. Parents, please do not take time off work for a field study until you have confirmed with either teacher to ensure that you are needed for a specific trip. We have such wonderful parents in our school community and we greatly appreciate your interest, however at times we have too many volunteers and are unable to accept all of them. When a field study form comes home, please fill out the bottom for your interest in volunteering for a trip and the teacher will contact you to confirm your attendance. Thank you so much! Mrs. Montgomery Mrs. MacNeil |
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