Week of Nov 30th - Dec 4th, 2015

lundi le 30 november, 2015

This week in French Language Arts, students are now learning how to conjugate regular verbs in the present tense. We have started with verbs ending in -er (for example aimer et jouer). Next will be -ir verbs (for example finir, courir, choisir), followed by -re verbs (for example, rire, vendre, prendre). Students will learn to apply these verb endings depending on the subject of the sentence. Practice will take place in their journals, when writing stories and in January when we will begin writing letters to pen pals at  École Doncaster School. Students are continuing to read often, sometimes up to 3 times per day. Today they read to their little buddies and all participated in small guided reading groups. In guided reading we focused on using picture clues to de-code unknown words. We are also looking for verb conjugations and their endings. Students are encouraged to do the same with their at-home reading selections.

In grade 3 English Language Arts, students are learning about common and proper nouns. Next will be plural nouns. In grade 2 Math, students are continuing the same concepts as last week and also learning to count money. In grade 3 Math, students are beginning to learn the concept of multiplication as repeated addition (the relationship between 2+ 2+ 2= 6,  3+ 3= 6,  2 × 3 = 6, 3 ×2 = 6). They are also writing equations based on pictures, for example 3 groups of two equals 3 × 2 = 6.

In Science this week, students are predicting and examining the difference in texture, taste, colour and smell of raw and cooked carrots. By using their 5 senses, students will record their observations. In PE this week, students are walking and swimming. We will also continue to build on our ball handling skills by learning to use a basketball and learning to play team sports. In Visual Art last week we made beautiful snowflakes, which are now posted in the windows. On Friday, we will be making Angels with craft materials provide by the grassroots organization; African Aids Angels. Students will learn about the lives of children living in orphanages, and how the money they are donating will help to buy food, clothing and school supplies. Each student will dedicate their Angel to an African child and will keep it as a reminder of their generous support.

Have a wonderful week,

Mme Garcin

Grade 3 spelling: Thurs Dec 3rd, 2015

This spelling test is on Thursday Dec 3rd, 2015

1. save
2. give
3. have
4. live
5. move
6. above
7. alive
8. alike
9. to
10. two

Week of Nov 24th - 28th

mardi le 25 novembre 2015

Chers familles de Division 6,

Last week, students worked hard with Mme Derman and Mme Rolston. Students continued to build their readings skills through phonics and comprehension skills through games. They also continued to develop their writing skills in their journals by using the common sight words on our word wall. In Math last week, grade 2 students worked on estimating, symbols, reading and writing numbers, as well as mental math games. In grade 3, students have started to learn how to graph using an x and y axis. In Science, students did sink vs float experiments. In PE, students practiced their ball handling skills by playing dodge ball. In Art, students did a directed cartoon drawing activity around emotions. They also did a hidden number picture, which is posted on our bulletin board. Students created a beautiful mural drawing as a welcome home gift. Many thoughtful messages were included, thank you to all the students for this beautiful gift. Also, thank you to Mme Derman for organizing such a fun filled week of meaningful learning!

This week we are continuing our French Oral Language development though coral reading and guided reading groups. In our guided reading groups today, we practiced our fluency with punctuation. We talked about and practiced what our voices sound like when we come to the end of a sentence with a period, exclamation and question mark. Our guided reading groups will continue to tie in with our French Language learning by finding the conjugated verbs "être" and "avoir". We are continuing to learn how to integrate these verbs correctly into our writing. Later this week we will start learning about regular verbs that end in -er, for example "aimer" and "marcher" and how to conjugate them in the present tense with all the pronouns (Je, Tu, etc). The endings of these regular verbs are all the same (there are some exceptions of course, but we will learn the regular ones). Remember, that when reading a plural verb ending in -ent (for example "Ils aiment"- they love), the final -nt is silent.

Here is an example or a regular verb ending in -er:

aimer (to love)- present tense

J'aim e
Tu aim es
Il/Elle aim e
Nous aim ons
Vous aim ez
Ils/Elles aim ent

In Math this week, students are continuing with what they were doing last week. In grade 2: estimating, symbols, reading and writing numbers, mental math games. In grade 3: graphing, word problems with equations and a review of place value. In Science today, students did finger printing. They predicted whether or not their two thumbs and if the thumbs of others would be the same or different. We concluded that each finger has a unique pattern! In English, grade 3's will begin a grammar booklet. They will start by learning the difference between common and proper nouns. In PE this week we are going to our weekly pool lesson and we will play a variation of ball handling games such as dodge ball. On Friday we will have a unity circle to talk about virtues we like sharing with others and reviewing our new Quadra School expectation that we call "Respect Around Quadra".

Please note, report cards will be coming home on Friday. Please sign the envelope and return it empty. Many thanks!

Mme Garcin

Dictée: Thursday Nov 26th, 2015

 Please note, the grade 2 dictée will now have 10 words and one sentence.

Grade 2:

1. bon
2. bonne
3. le garçon
4. être
5. je suis
6. tu es
7. elle est
8. elles sont
9. trois
10. six

Elle est une bonne fille!

Grade 3:

1. Le garçon est mon ami.
2. Sont-ils drôles?
3. Trois plus trois égale six.
4. Je suis un étudiant sérieux.
5. Il est un bon garçon.
6. Elle est une bonne fille.

Please note, the word "égale" in number 3 has a silent "e" at the end.

Week of Nov 9th - 13th

lundi le 9 novembre, 2015

Chers familles de Division 6,

This is an exciting week with our Remembrance Day assembly on Tuesday at 10:30 am and our second swimming lesson on Thursday afternoon. Please note there is no school this Wednesday November 11th.

In French Language Arts, students are continuing to learn the concept of verb conjugation, beginning with the irregular verb "avoir" (to have) in the present tense. Next, we will learn "être" (to be). We will practice writing these verbs in our journals and memorizing them through song. Students are continuing to read with me one-on-one to assess their instructional level. They are also learning to apply reading strategies such as picture clues, re-reading and carefully sounding out words.

In English, grade 3's are learning about parts of speech and how to build a sentence. Subjects, verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, conjunctions (joiner words) and homonyms are some of the terms we have started to learn.

In Math, grade 2's are continuing to skip count, build numbers with base ten blocks, write and read numbers to 100, learn greater than and less than, estimate quantities to 100, recognize coins. They will also continue to review patterning and addition/subtraction up to 18. Last week, grade 3's did not get a chance to be introduced to graphing, therefore it will be happening this week. In preparation for the end of the term, for the next two weeks, grade 3's are reviewing what they have learned so far this term. This includes skip counting up to 1000, greater/less than symbols, place value, patterns and addition/subtraction of numbers up to 1000. Please review these at home as much as possible.

In Science, we are continuing our study of solids, liquids and gases. This week we will predict, observe and record what happens to cereal when exposed to water (expansion). In Social Studies, although our Environment unit is complete, we are finally getting worms for our worm bin. These elusive critters have been located, hatched and will arrive this week! We can now feed them with some of our food scraps and watch them turn our garbage into soil.  Our goal is to harvest some of this soil in the spring for our plants.

In PE, we are running and walking regularly. This Thursday we have our swimming lessons, so remember to pack swimming gear on Wednesday evening! Mme Derman will be in on Friday to replace me. Students will continue with their regular routines and learning activities while I am gone.

Have a wonderful week!

Mme Garcin

Dictée- Thurs Nov 12th, Spelling- Thurs Nov 19th

Grade 2 dictée (on Thurdsay Nov 12th):

1. ses
2. mais
3. bien
4. après
5. la fille

La fille est bien dans sa peau.

Grade 3 dictée (on Thursday Nov 12th):

1. Ses amis sont gentils.
2. Il a un oiseau, mais pas un chat.
3. L'élève étudie bien pour la dictée.
4. Après l'école, nous avons faim.
5. La fille est bien dans sa peau.

Grade 3 spelling: spellingcity.com/egarcin/ (on Thursday Nov 19th):

1. under
2. such
3. much
4. young
5. touch
6. use
7. your
8. you
9. unit
10. cute

Week of Nov 2nd - 6th

lundi le 2 novembre, 2015

Dear Div 6 families,

Students have an exciting week of learning ahead. In Language Arts we are continuing with our French phonics program, story writing and reading on a daily basis. For the next couple weeks, students are reading one-on-one with me to assess their reading level for term 1 report cards. New this week will be the introduction of verb conjugation. We will start with the irregular verb "avoir" (to have) in the present tense. We will learn it through song, visual and oral activities. By the way, the reason we don't say "Je ai" is because in French we drop the e when the following word starts with a vowel.

J'ai (I have)
Tu as (You have- singular)
Il/Elle a (He/She has)
Nous avons (We have)
Vous avez (You have- plural)
Ils/Elles ont (They have)

In Math, grade 2's are continuing to skip count up and down by 2s, 5s, 10s, and 25s. In the following weeks, they will be building numbers with base ten blocks, writing and reading numbers to 100, learning greater than and less than, estimating quantities to 100, recognizing coins and using coins to skip count.  They will also continue to review patterning, and work intermittently on speed and accuracy with addition/subtraction.  Gr 2s need to be able to add and subtract with ease and speed to 18, and have strategies to add and subtract to 100. Please consider practicing any and all of these skills at home as well:)

In grade 3 Math, students are continuing to practice addition and subtraction of large numbers up to 1000. They are learning and sharing many of their strategies, such as mental math, borrowing, making groups of 10 and rounding. New this week will be an introduction to graphing using candy and other topics of interest.

In English, grade 3's are practicing their spelling and learning how to make sentences with these words. They are encouraged to practice these words daily at home. If you have internet access, spelling words are posted at spellingcity.com/egarcin/. This is a fun way to do homework!

In Science, we are wrapping up our Environment Unit and starting our study of solids, liquids and gases. Starting with solids, students are making predictions about water volume changes when transforming water into ice (will it expand or contract?). As a fun extension activity today, students were given ice cubes with their little buddies to see how long they could prevent them from melting. There were some great ideas, such as shade, covering up it up with leaves and avoiding skin contact. We will continue to do some fun hands-on science experiments such as sinking vs floating and colour mixing.

On Friday, in preparation for Remembrance Day on November 11th, our weekly art activity will be poppy printing and painting. By the way, parents are invited to join us for our annual Remembrance Day Assembly in the morning of Tuesday, November 10th. Please note that Wednesday November 11th is a statutory holiday and there will be no school.

Last week we missed our gym block to do pumpkin carving! This week we will continue to learn and practice different ball handling and movement techniques in the gym. We will continue doing our regular jogs around the school. Starting this Thursday afternoon, we have a weekly neighborhood walk to the pool and swimming lessons. Please help your child pack their swim suit, towel, hair brush and hair tie on Wednesday evenings.

Have a fabulous week!

Mme Garcin

New dicée routine

Dear families,

I have decided to do dictée once every two weeks, alternating with the grade 3  English spelling. They will still be on Thursdays. This will allow more learning time in the classroom for other activities, give students more time to learn the words and grade 3's will only have one test to study for each week. Therefore, this coming Thursday is the Grade 3 English spelling. The following week there will be a dictée for grade 2's and 3's. If you have any questions or comments feels free to email or call.

Mme Garcin