Spelling, Scholastic, Snow and Superheroes! (The alliteration just keeps coming!)

The students in Room 203 have been busy exploring the world of poetry.  Last week we talked about figurative language and literal meaning compared to the author's meaning.  Here are some pictures that the students drew about a person whose smile lights up a room...

This week's spelling words are...

Grade Three:

• oil
• boil
• spoil
• choice
• voice
• poison
• enjoy
• royal
• oyster
• loyalty

Grade Four:

• turtle
• birch
• world
• squirrel
• third
• squirm
• curve
• author
• circus
• nurse

Scholastic Update:

The November Scholastic orders have been submitted and I am expecting their arrival this week or next.  The orders will be distributed to the students unless other arrangements have been made. 

The December Scholastic order has gone out.  These orders are due back by December 2 in the hopes that the order will arrive before the holidays.  I will do my best to make this happen, but I can't promise that Scholastic will send them out on time.  

SPIRIT DAY IS THIS FRIDAY!  

DRESS UP AS YOUR FAVOURITE SUPERHERO...

or just make one up!  I'm looking forward to seeing who will be in our class on Friday!  It should be a very exciting day and a great way to start our weekend.  

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!

In case you haven't noticed, it's snowing!  Please make sure that your kids come to school dressed for the weather.  Please make sure that includes a pair of indoor shoes.  Let's enjoy the winter!

Upcoming Events

Students were able to share some of their weekend activities with the class today.  It sounds like everyone had a lovely weekend with sleepovers, trips to the new aquarium, the Santa Claus Parade, sleeping in and reading books. 

A number of students did not hand in their reading logs today.  I have told the students that I will accept the reading logs tomorrow.  Better late than never! 

Also, this week's homework and events...

Tuesday:  Read 15 minutes and reading log (if you didn't hand it in today)
Wednesday:  Read 15 minutes and Scholastic November orders due
Thursday:  Read 15 minutes and spelling homework due
Friday:  Read 15 minutes and pizza lunch money due

Have a lovely night!

Reading Logs

The Reading Log program has been changed.  We went through the changes in class today and I think everyone is on track but here are the highlights...

Students are no longer assigned a book to read.  They may read any book at their level that they find interesting.  All students are challenged to read a chapter book.  They should read this book for at least fifteen minutes each day.  They fill out their reading log every night and record the number of pages that they read that day.

The reading log folders are due every Monday.  The folder should contain their completed reading log and one task from the list that they have been given.  Students are allowed to choose their own task.  


Here are the options that students may choose from...

·       Create a comic strip about the part of the book that you read.

·       Draw a picture of the setting.  Be sure to include details.

·       Write a letter from one character to another.

·       Do a retell.  Don’t forget:  keep the treasure, leave out the trash.  Only tell me what happened in the part you read that week.

·       Make connections:  text to self, text to text, text to world (This reminds me of…).

·       Write a book review.

·       Make a prediction about what will happen next.

·       Change the ending.  Write a new ending for the story.  

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Homework and PA Day!

This week has blown by in room 203.  We've had a great time exploring reflections, slides, and rotations in math class and I've put up our mural highlighting various physical regions of Canada.  It's really brightened up our room.  As we learn more about regions of Canada and land use, we'll add to our mural.

Our poetry unit has also been a big hit.  I'm amazed at some of the work being produced.  We're learning to write as poets using language that is more interesting and descriptive.

Our after school math club was a big success this week.  We had a few students on Monday and that number doubled for our gathering this afternoon.  If I see the need arise, I will contact parents and let them know when we will be working after school again but right now I'm confident that everyone is on track.  If students feel like they need help, they just need to let me know and I will be happy to find time to work with them.

Homework:

• Spelling
• Sentences and one other activity due tomorrow
• I am hoping that all students hand in their spelling work in duotangs this week.  If a student can not find their spelling duotang, I will give them a new one tomorrow.  
• Test is tomorrow
• Reading Logs:  I am sorry that reading logs haven't been handed out yet.  They will be distributed tomorrow and are expected back by Monday, November 18.  Students are expected to read a book of their choice for 15 minutes each night after school.  If reading at home isn't working out, please let me know.  I have a number of strategies that might help.  

DON'T FORGET, FRIDAY IS A P.A. DAY!

Spelling List

As some of you know, we are moving along with only ten spelling words per week.  Spelling is still something that we need to work on, we'll just be using other methods.

• We will go ahead with our weekly spelling tests.  
• All spelling homework is still due on Thursdays.  This includes:
• Ten sentences.  One for each spelling word.  
• One other activity from your spelling duotang (alphabetical order, a story, etc.)

Because we only have ten spelling words, I expect everyone to do really well on their tests.  I also expect creative sentences and stories.  Remember, we are building our stamina as readers and writers.

Grade Three Spelling Words:

• gentle
• general
• giant
• giraffe
• jacket
• joke
• judge
• jump
• jungle
• jelly

Grade Four Spelling Words:

• garage
• pigeon
• ridge
• strange
• bridge
• geography
• geometry
• refrigerator
• gorge
• geranium

Good luck everyone!  I really recommend trying out this spelling website that Anisha passed along.  I tried it out and I think it will really help with your studying.  

Other homework tonight is work that was unfinished during class time.  This includes a Diamante poem and some math questions.  The questions should be written down in the students workbook.  Some students will be staying after school today to work on their math.  Everyone is welcome to stay on Wednesday from 3:15-3:50.

Thanks!

Monday, Monday

We had a lovely week in Room 203.  Some highlights include:

• creating a class puzzle
• learning about different regions of Canada
• working on a beautiful mural (to be revealed at a later date)
• playing Treasure Island
• working on poems for our portfolio

Time to get ready for next week...  

Remebrance Day

Our school will be holding a Remembrance Day ceremony on Monday.  Each student will receive a poppy and have the opportunity to make a donation to the Royal Canadian Legion.  Donations will be accepted until Friday, November 15th.

Math Help

Our classroom will be open and available for any students who would like to stay for math help on Monday and Wednesday of next week.  I will bring the students down for dismissal at 3:15 and bring the remaining students up to the classroom to go over some of our math work.  We will be finished by 3:50.  Please let me know by email at rebecca.purvis@tdsb.on.ca or in your child's agenda if you would like them to participate in this extra help group.  All students are welcome.  

Scholastic Orders

All Scholastic orders are due on November 20th.  

Looking for something to do this weekend?

Know Your Nature Family nature walk. 10:30 am. $2-$5. High Park Nature Centre, 440 Parkside, highparknaturecentre.com.

 Marvelous Mammals Hike with a naturalist to look for mammals in the forest. Saturdays and Sundays 1 & 2:30 pm. Free w/ admission. Kortright Centre For Conservation Pine Valley and Major Mackenzie (Kleinburg), 905-832-2289.

 A Monkey Ate My Pancakes Storytime with author Raj Gill, illustrator John Stuart and voice actors. 11 am. Free. Indigo Manulife, 55 Bloor W, chapters.indigo.ca.

 Robots Rule See and test robots of all shapes, sizes and skills. 11 am-4 pm. Free w/ admission. Ontario Science Centre 770 Don Mills, 416-696-1000.

 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Livestock barns, horse shows, animal theatre, agricultural competitions, a petting farm and more. Nov 1 to 10 Mon-Sat 9 am-9 pm, Sun 9 am-6 pm. $14-$20, under 3 free. Ricoh Coliseum, Exhibition Place, royalfair.org.

 Day Of The Dead Mexican cultural festival featuring traditional music, food, stories and more. Free. Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W, harbourfrontcentre.com. Nov 8 to 10

 An Afternoon With Lemony Snicket Presentation and book singing with the author. 2 pm. Revue Cinema, 400 Roncesvalles, chapters.indigo.ca.

Have a great weekend!

Science Project Marks

I've had a few questions about the students' science fair project marks.  I've checked with Ms. Bensalam and she informed me that the students received their marks and put them into their science duotangs.  If you would like to see her comments and marks, students are welcome to bring home their science duotangs for the weekend.  I'll let the class know on Friday. 

I hope everyone's ready for the spelling test tomorrow! 

Have we got a joke for you!

I've been learning that the students in Room 203 have a fabulous sense of humour!  Look at the comments below for your daily chuckle.  

(from funnyjokes.blogspot.com)

Riddle me this...

Good Morning,

I'm glad that so many students and their families checked out our blog last night.  I think it will be a great way for us all to keep in touch.

A few things coming up...

• Reading logs are due on Monday, November 11th
• Our students will be taking part in our Remembrance Day ceremony on November 11th
• Friday, November 15th is a board wide P.A. day
• Scholastic orders are due on November 20th 

As you may have noticed, we are expanding our classroom library.  There are many exciting new titles in addition to the books that are already available from our school library.  Each student has been given the challenge of reading a minimum of fifteen minutes every evening at home.  We are trying to build our stamina as readers.  I've already heard from a number of our students today that they read a lot more than this last night.  I couldn't be more proud!  

If you have any books in good condition that you're looking to pass on to other readers, we'd be happy to give them a home in our classroom.  

The brilliant students in room 203 decoded these riddles this morning.  Can you figure them out?

It's a pleasure to be here...

Thank you for making me feel so welcome!

The students in Room 203 have been so helpful and respectful since I arrived in their classroom on Thursday.  I am very excited to spend the next couple of months working with these brilliant children as we explore, learn, play and grow together.  

I've had the pleasure of meeting a few parents already and I'm looking forward to speaking with more in the future. 

I will be updating this blog regularly.  Please visit often if you have any questions about homework, upcoming events, spelling words or what we're up to in Room 203. 

This week's spelling words are especially challenging but I'm confident that our class will work hard to study them carefully so that we can all experience success this coming Friday. 

Grade 3 Spelling Words:

• sentence
• minute
• diamond
• box
• slide
• rectangle
• square
• riddle
• November
• lock
• talk
• shape
• circle
• book
• Toronto
• Ontario
• Canada
• remember
• Ms. Purvis

Grade Four Spelling Words:

• police
• coast
• cemetery
• cough
• kitchen
• peaches
• addition
• collection
• invention
• vacation
• dock
• shrank
• diamond
• wishes
• knapsack
• knife
• during
• suit
• caught
• Ms. Purvis

Don't forget...   Your spelling homework is due on Thursday, November 7th.  I'm already looking forward to reading your creative stories and sentences!