Happy New Year!
I trust that everyone had a quiet and restful Christmas. It sure was a cold one, there weren't many outside adventures for me. Here's what's happening throughout the month of January.
Religion: Please ensure you have registered your child for 1st Communion. Contact the parish office if you have not registered your child and still need to. We will be beginning our preparations shortly. The following is a message from the Sacrament lead from St. Joseph's church: During the month of January students in grade 3 will begin instruction in the Sacrament of Eucharist. While all students receive instruction in this sacrament, only those whose parents registered them at the St. Joseph Parish, will receive the sacrament. If you missed registration, please contact the parish office at 780-532-2351 and they will assist you.
In French, we are continuing the speaking French incentive. When I hear students speaking French, they may receive Fernandes Dollars aka L’argent Fernandes. With this money they may purchase small candies or privileges in and around the classroom. Students can also gain other students' money by “catching” them speaking English. If you have any items you'd like to donate for the sale, feel free to contact me.
The students will be introduced to cursive writing. They will all recieve a booklet based off of Handwriting without tears. They will learn letters in an order that follows certain pen movements.
We will be continuing to work on reading including a variety of reading activities and guided reading.
English: We will be working on improving writing. The students will be working on developing their ideas. They will be learning on how to make their ideas clear, asking questions to build on a topic, choosing interesting details and focusing on a small topic.
In Science, we finished our unit on testing a variety of designs and structures. In February, we will be moving onto building and use what we have learned about structures to build our own structures.
In Social Studies, students will develop their competencies in using maps and world globes to find geographic places about the 4 countries under study. They will begin to determine the impact of geographic placement on the quality of life in these countries.
Math: We are ready to begin our unit of addition and subtraction. The objectives covered in this unit are to:
- Apply mental mathematics strategies and number properties, such as:
• using doubles
• making 10
• using the commutative property
• using the property of zero
• thinking addition for subtraction for basic addition facts and related subtraction facts to 18.
- Solve one-step addition and subtraction equations involving a symbol to represent an unknown number.
- Describe and apply mental mathematics strategies for adding two 2-digit numerals, such as:
• adding from left to right
• taking one addend to the nearest multiple of ten and then compensating
• using doubles.
- Describe and apply mental mathematics strategies for subtracting two 2-digit numerals, such as:
• taking the subtrahend to the nearest multiple of ten and then compensating
• thinking of addition
• using doubles.
- Apply estimation strategies to predict sums and differences of two 2-digit numerals in a problem-solving context.
- Demonstrate an understanding of addition and subtraction of numbers with answers to 1000 (limited to 1-, 2- and 3-digit numerals), concretely, pictorially and symbolically, by:
• using personal strategies for adding and subtracting with and without the support of manipulatives
• creating and solving problems in context that involve addition and subtraction of numbers.