I am thrilled to be teaching a grade 3 / 4 class and look forward to a wonderful year. With your participation, we can look forward to a productive, creative, and fun year together. Below is some important information regarding the day-to-day activities in our classroom.
Daily reading
The students are using a “Moi, je lis” calendar to record their recommended 15 minutes of reading each day. Reading aloud is recommended, however silent reading is alright. We are alternating reading one week in French and the next in English. Reading materials are usually obtained from the school library, home or public library or books used in daily lessons. The latter should be brought back to school every day. Our classroom library is reserved for our Silent Reading Block. The monthly goal is to read for a minimum of 300 minutes. Students can return their “Moi, je lis” calendar at the end of each month to receive a “gotcha”. In term 2, students will be completing a reading passport every week, alternating in French and English.
Math
In Math, we are focusing on multiplication, division and graphing in Term 2. Students should have enough time to complete their work in class; however, there may be occasional homework when students have not finished their work. Students are encouraged to review these concepts at home, especially learning their numbers in French to 999 for grade 3's, to 9999 for grade 4's and quick recall of basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts.
Spelling and Dictée Weekly Tests
We will coordinate Spelling and Dictée with our Daily Reading Program. Weeks when Daily Reading is taking place in French will be a Dictée week and weeks that Daily Reading is taking place in English will be a Spelling Test week. A list is given on Monday and the test will be on Friday (Thursday if it is a short week). Dictée words usually consist of commonly used words, as well as vocabulary words taken from our classroom reading. We are now using a new Spelling Program called "Words Their Way". This is a teacher directed, child-centered plan for vocabulary and spelling development. Students are not encouraged to memorize these words, but rather focus on the patterns they are learning and learn these. The number of words per week will vary depending on the child's level. Five words following the pattern being learned that week will be added to the Spelling test on Friday. If there are spelling errors on the 5 new words, these will be carried over to the following week's words. Students need to have fewer than 3 errors to move on to the next level.
Agenda / Homework
Students have an agenda in which they record important events and daily homework. Homework should take approximately 1/2 hour not including their daily reading. It is intended to reinforce skills and concepts, not cause frustration. I ask that you please sign your child's agenda daily after your child's homework is complete. Please write me a note in the agenda if there are any difficulties with homework (ie. frustration, unable to complete due to family event, etc.) This way, I will be able to help your child accordingly.
Daily Physical Activity & Healthy Living
Students will be participating in Daily PE, running, walking, games, etc. prior to our nutrition break. Our PE blocks are every Tuesday and Wednesday. Please ensure that your child has proper indoor and outdoor footwear to be able to participate fully.
Library Exchange
Our library exchange is every Thursday. Please help your child remember to bring his / her library books to school for our exchange.
Computers
Our class has their computer block on Thursday!
Volunteers
I appreciate you coming in to see if I need a helping hand. Volunteers may be needed in various areas such as field trips, putting up bulletin boards, photocopying, pasting, cutting, etc. If you have some free time, please check with me a couple of days before so that can have things prepared in advance. I appreciate all of you who have already come in to help out this year. It is really wonderful.
Daily reading
The students are using a “Moi, je lis” calendar to record their recommended 15 minutes of reading each day. Reading aloud is recommended, however silent reading is alright. We are alternating reading one week in French and the next in English. Reading materials are usually obtained from the school library, home or public library or books used in daily lessons. The latter should be brought back to school every day. Our classroom library is reserved for our Silent Reading Block. The monthly goal is to read for a minimum of 300 minutes. Students can return their “Moi, je lis” calendar at the end of each month to receive a “gotcha”. In term 2, students will be completing a reading passport every week, alternating in French and English.
Math
In Math, we are focusing on multiplication, division and graphing in Term 2. Students should have enough time to complete their work in class; however, there may be occasional homework when students have not finished their work. Students are encouraged to review these concepts at home, especially learning their numbers in French to 999 for grade 3's, to 9999 for grade 4's and quick recall of basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts.
Spelling and Dictée Weekly Tests
We will coordinate Spelling and Dictée with our Daily Reading Program. Weeks when Daily Reading is taking place in French will be a Dictée week and weeks that Daily Reading is taking place in English will be a Spelling Test week. A list is given on Monday and the test will be on Friday (Thursday if it is a short week). Dictée words usually consist of commonly used words, as well as vocabulary words taken from our classroom reading. We are now using a new Spelling Program called "Words Their Way". This is a teacher directed, child-centered plan for vocabulary and spelling development. Students are not encouraged to memorize these words, but rather focus on the patterns they are learning and learn these. The number of words per week will vary depending on the child's level. Five words following the pattern being learned that week will be added to the Spelling test on Friday. If there are spelling errors on the 5 new words, these will be carried over to the following week's words. Students need to have fewer than 3 errors to move on to the next level.
Agenda / Homework
Students have an agenda in which they record important events and daily homework. Homework should take approximately 1/2 hour not including their daily reading. It is intended to reinforce skills and concepts, not cause frustration. I ask that you please sign your child's agenda daily after your child's homework is complete. Please write me a note in the agenda if there are any difficulties with homework (ie. frustration, unable to complete due to family event, etc.) This way, I will be able to help your child accordingly.
Daily Physical Activity & Healthy Living
Students will be participating in Daily PE, running, walking, games, etc. prior to our nutrition break. Our PE blocks are every Tuesday and Wednesday. Please ensure that your child has proper indoor and outdoor footwear to be able to participate fully.
Library Exchange
Our library exchange is every Thursday. Please help your child remember to bring his / her library books to school for our exchange.
Computers
Our class has their computer block on Thursday!
Volunteers
I appreciate you coming in to see if I need a helping hand. Volunteers may be needed in various areas such as field trips, putting up bulletin boards, photocopying, pasting, cutting, etc. If you have some free time, please check with me a couple of days before so that can have things prepared in advance. I appreciate all of you who have already come in to help out this year. It is really wonderful.