Tuesday 29 March 2016

Week of March 29th - April 1st 2016

mardi le 29 mars, 2016

Chers familles de division 6,

Welcome back to school! In French Language Arts today, students shared what they did during Spring Break, then wrote about it in their journals. Later in the day, some participated in small group reading while others did individual reading. Their afternoon Science presentation about owls was also in French. The next dictée will be on Thursday April 7th and it will be sent home and posted on Thursday this week. While Grade 3's study English with me, Grade 2's will begin a French novel study with Mme Rolston. More details to come.

In Math, grade 3's learned a new addition and multiplication card game. Grade 2's are continuing their program with Mme Rolston. This week they are reviewing addition strategies to 100 and starting subtraction to 100. In Science, we have started an owl unit with a special presentation from the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary. Students learned about 7 types of owls including their names, sizes and sounds. There were stuffed specimens, feathers, bones and body parts to touch. They also did an owl pellet dissection. This allowed students to discover first hand what owls eat. Using a sorting chart, the various parts of their rodent prey such as hair and bones are sorted and glued for display. Very fun and engaging stuff!

In English this week, Grade 3's will be reading short stories and answering comprehension questions with full sentences. Flat Stanley stories will be read at the carpet as projects come in. These projects are due Monday April 4th and students are asked to submit 3 things: 1) 5-8 photographs with Flat Stanley on his/her adventures, 2) a corrected, final copy write-up either 1-page in length OR 2-5 sentences describing each photo, 3) a blank poster board. Students are asked to put their name on all these items and we will be gluing them together in-class. I will provide extra glue and paper for students who need it. If you cannot print the photos, you can email me up to 5 photos and I can print them on black & white regular paper

In Arts, students did a drama activity with their replacement teacher. They also learned to make corner bookmarks using paper folding techniques. In Gym this week, students will start tennis lessons on Wednesdays. They will also have the PISE gym program for two more weeks on Fridays.

Please remember to sign and return empty report card envelopes. We can re-use them for term 3. I was away sick today and hope to be back as soon as possible.

Have a wonderful week,

Mme Garcin


Monday 7 March 2016

Week of Mar 7th - 11th

Chers familles de Division 6,

It's already our last week before Spring Break! In Language Arts, students are practicing their French oral language and public speaking skills as they present their family artifact and speech (due tomorrow which is Tuesday, March 8th). In reading, students continue daily individual reading and a weekly small group guided reading session. Students are encouraged to go to their local public library and continue to read often during the holidays. In writing and grammar, grade 2's continue to practice how to read common sight words using phonics. All students are learning how to conjugate regular verbs in the present tense that end in -ir and -re. They are regular because many -ir and -re ending verbs are conjugated with the same endings and therefore can be memorized. For example, regular -ir verbs include: choisir, finir, réussir, obéir, grossir, maigrir. Regular -re verbs include: attendre, prendre, répondre, vendre. Note that the verb avoir ends in -ir,  and aller ends in -er, but are irregular verbs because they do not follow the regular -ir and -er verbs endings, therefore they have been/are being memorized separately.

It is highly recommended that by grade 4, students own their own French verb conjugation reference guide, which is called a bescherelle. It is published by Éditions Hurtubise and "L'art de conjuguer" is the one with 12,000 verb conjugations in all tenses (present, past, future, etc). Most bookstores sell them and they are an invaluable writing tool. Below is an example of a regular -ir and -re verb in the present tense.

Choisir

Je choisis
Tu choisis
Il/Elle choisit
Nous choisissons
Vous choisissons
Ils/Elles choisissent

Attendre

J'attends
Tu attends
Il/Elle attend
Nous attendons
Vous attendez
Ils/Elles attendent

In Math, grade 2's this week are learning to add large numbers to 100 using the regrouping technique (eg. 23 is 20+3 or 10+10+3). In grade 3, students are continuing to learn about basic fractions with an introduction to decimals. We are comparing decimals to money by learning to convert a fraction with 10 parts into a decimal (eg. 3/10 equals 0.3).

In English, students are completing their grammar booklet by writing sentences using various parts of speech (subject, verb, adjective, adverb, ect). This booklet will come home and can be completed and returned to school for as sticker if parents/guardians can view it to make sure it is complete before coming back to school. Students have completed their novel study of Stuart Little, yay! Now we will begin reading short stories more independently and answering comprehension questions. This week, students will be introduced to the story of Flat Stanley, a little boy who was flattened by a bulletin board, who can now visit his friends by traveling by mail in an envelope. Look out for a description of our Grade 3 Flat Stanley adventure project coming home for Spring Break.

In Science and Art, students will be continuing their wildflower pastel drawings they began last Friday. We are learning to identify many local flowers and are discussing the importance they play in our local ecosystem. When we get back from Spring Break, we will plant vegetables seeds and watch them sprout in the classroom. In Social Studies, we are continuing our Canadian province book tour and are now in the Prairies. Last week we learned all about our maritime provinces, along with Quebec and Ontario. Many personal connections were made with our family artifacts, such as a war medal and maple syrup bucket from Ontario and an old family photo from Quebec.

Friday is our last day before Spring Break and is crazy hat and hair day! Students are encouraged to wear something creative on their heads and bring an optional donation for our chosen charity, War Amps. Students will also be bringing home term 2 report cards. Parents are asked to sign and return the empty envelope to school after Spring Break, for term 3 reports.

Many thanks for all your support at home for term 2. Have a wonderful holiday, St-Patrick's Day and Easter weekend. See you back at school Tuesday, March 29th 2016!

Mme Garcin



Saturday 5 March 2016

No dictée this week

Dear Div 6 families,

There is no dictée this week. Instead, students are asked to prepare a family artifact and French speech by Tuesday March 8th. Presentations will take place next week from March 8th-11th.