This Week's Activities

Dear Parents and Students,

This week we are going to relax a little with various activities and spirit days.  On Monday we wear PJ’s to school.  Tuesday is dress as a Christmas Character day.  Wednesday is Twin Day, and there is a Movie buy-out for the afternoon.  Thursday is Nav’s Gear day.  Friday is Red and Green day.  We will also be skating Friday afternoon.  

Our class will have a Christmas Party on Friday morning.  During the party we’ll be watching Because of Winn-Dixie.  We will play a gift exchange game.  Each student needs to bring in a present from the dollar store.  It should be wrapped.  If you would like to send in some food or drinks for the party, you may.

I would like to congratulate all of our students for doing so well in their Literature Circles.  We read a whole novel in a little over 2 weeks.  This week we will be doing some projects to wrap up the novel unit.  

In Math we will have a Quiz on the topic of Adding and Subtracting.  That will happen on Thursday.  We’ll also have a Bible test on Wednesday.  Students have a test prep page that we completed in class.

Grade 3 spelling words:  way, these, niece, might, show, float, brain, mean, close, tried, cube, uniform, stayed, price, usually

Grade 4 Nifty Thrifty Fifty Words: continuous, valuable, nonliving, forgotten, swimming, unpleasant.  (This week I will also test students on “transfer” words.  These are words that will use the same patterns as the Nifty Thrifty Fifty words.)

I would like the students to complete the listening, reading, and quiz of 2 more books this week on Raz-Kids.  Students did very well last week.  Congratulations to Brianna who is the closest to completing her level!

Have a great week.  I’ll post this letter on our class blog.

Mr. Lee

Word Wall Spelling

This week we will be practicing word wall words for the week.  We will have a quiz on Friday December 9.

The words are:
are, anyone, everybody, everything, hidden, our, terrible, trouble, really, don't, can't, wouldn't, won't

Reading Homework

Dear Parents,

Well, we have a great “homework” program now: RAZ-KIDS.COM

Students can log on and listen, read, and take quizzes to prove that they understand.

Starting this week students will be required to listen to, read, and take a quiz on 2 books.  This will be due every Friday.  Work on the weekend will count for next week.  

Families can opt out.  I will send home 2 equivalent books with book report pages for students who so choose.

Enjoy reading.  Reading is great!

Mr. Lee

Literature Circles Letter

Dear Parents,

In the month of December we will be doing a prolonged activity in English called Literature Circles.  Each day students will read a portion of a novel with a small group of students.  They will choose to write some kind of journal entry that helps them to think about the portion that they have read.  Every few days they will also meet as a group to discuss their book.  In that meeting students will have roles to facilitate discussion.  They will have to come to the meeting prepared for their role.  

This is an exciting way for students to experience some great novels that they are interested in, but there is a good deal of work involved.  We will be able to finish all of the reading during class.  Some of the other tasks may come home for homework.

I also have the audio for these books that students could use in the evenings to reinforce the reading during the day.  If you are interested in using it you could send in a flash drive, get the audio from your local library, or purchase the audio off of iTunes.

I hope that this will be an exciting time for your child!

In Him,

Mr. Lee

Reading Homework

I have signed up our class to use Raz-Kids.  It's a captivating reading website where you earn stars by listening to books, reading them, and by answering quizzes.  I will send home passwords.  Watch for them.

Raz-Kids

Math Quiz

Wow!  We had another great Math result.  In our most recent Math quiz/test no one lost more than 3 marks.  Also, there were three perfect papers!  Excellent work everyone.

Can you Add and Subtract 4 from any number?

All you have to do to add 4 to any number is: add 2, and add 2 again!
To subtract 4, subtract 2 and subtract 2 again!

Week at a Glance

This week we are beginning Literature Circles.

Grade 3 students have a handout to finish by Friday as homework.  Their spelling words are: swimming, swam, getting, coming, came, having, doing, ended, happened, happening, started, joked, received, smiled, smiling.  There will be a test on Friday!

Grade 4's spelling words are: beautiful, classify, community, communities, electricity, happiness, prettier.  There will be a test on Friday!

In Math we are going to be learning how to add large numbers together.

Our Trip to 1908

Adding and Subtracting 3

To add and 3 to numbers, just add 2 then add 1 more.
To subtract 3 from numbers, just subtract 2 and subtract 1 more.

November 21 - November 24

Hello Everyone!

This week is going to be another exciting one!  In PBL we are putting the finishing touches on our journals and we're having a bit of a party on Tuesday.  We'll wear some Pioneer clothes.  We'll bring in a vegetable each so that we can make soup with.  We'll play a few Pioneer games!

In Language we will be beginning Literature Circles.  The way they work is that students choose a novel to study.  Then, each day they'll have some work to do that will get them thinking about their book.  Once a week, students will get together to discuss their book and share their thoughts.

In Math the grade 3's will be comparing numbers, counting by 2's and 5's.  In grade 4 we'll be comparing numbers and adding with regrouping.

We are having a grade 3 spelling test on Thursday.  The words came home Monday with some homework to complete by Thursday.  Grade 4's have new Nifty, Thrifty, Fifty words!

This Week's Activities

This week we will be finishing our Pioneer Journals. We will read them to each other on Friday!


We are going to have a quiz on Genesis 12:2-3, 7 Friday.


We are going to have a spelling test Friday too. The grade 3 words are save, give, have, live, move, above, alive, alike, to, two, too, know, do, blew, blue.


The grade 4 words are Nifty Thrifty Words. They are expensive, governor, impression, depression, independence, submarine, transportation, unfinished.

Mental Math Practice

Can you add 2 and subtract 2 from any number?  Prove it!

This Week

This week we are preparing to go to a 1908 classroom.  I have sent home a couple of info pages that say how to dress in period clothing.


We are going to be writing journals for PBL.  Each student will create a character and write about 5 days in a pioneer life.


In Language we will be performing our Reader's Theatre plays for other classes!  It is great to hear how the fluency improves with practice.


Everyone did very well on the Math test last week.  The class got straight A's.


We are going to have a spelling test on Friday.  The words are:
beautiful, before, discover, enough, first, hopeless, journal, let's, recycle, went, when, float, how, mail, name, rain, skate.


Our memory verses are Genesis 12: 2-3, 7

² “I will make you into a great nation 
   and I will bless you; 
I will make your name great, 
   and you will be a blessing. 
³ I will bless those who bless you, 
   and whoever curses you I will curse; 
and all peoples on earth 
   will be blessed through you.”


⁷ The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” 

Weekly Review Nov 4

         We performed a play called Chrysanthemum.  We are going to start doing reading buddies.  We are going to do a christmas play.  We are also going on a field trip to a museum that will help us with our pioneer topic.  We had a math test and we all got A's.  We had some high school student's come to our class.  We are doing a Pioneer project.  We also had a spelling test.Mr.Lee is doing a half marathon.  We play soccer at recess.
       By Meera and Caleb.

Class Trip November 10

Dear Parent,

We have a great learning opportunity happening Thursday November 10.”  Our class will take a field trip to the Jordan Historical Museum.  

The cost is $5.

This field trip is an important part of our Pioneers unit.  The full day program that they run is called “Strict But Nice: A 1908 School day”.  Through role-playing, children will recreate authentic lessons and daily routines experienced by turn of the century students, including the traditional “3 R’s”, a spelling bee, work on slates, penmanship, memory work and traditional games. 

Because the success of “Strict But Nice” stems largely from active role-playing, students are encouraged to prepare simple costumes and historically correct lunches for their visit.  We won’t be able to buy food on site.  Outdoor games will be played  during the day, so they will need to have appropriate clothing.

We will also need to have parent drivers for the day.  We need a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 drivers.  Please let me know if you would be available.

In Christ,

Mr. Lee

Class News

We've been having a great week so far!

In Language we have been practicing for a Reader's Theatre Play!  It is called Chrysthanthemum.  The script has a number of female roles.  I had to change the script, but I didn't want to waste the paper, so I sent the unedited script home.  Next week we'll be performing our play for other grades!

We will be doing a Math Test Thursday.  Last test all the students got an A+.  I think that we can all get an A on this test too!

In PBL we've been learning about Pioneer times.  We are becoming experts on different Pioneer occupations.  On Friday we are going to share our expertise with our groups.  Next week we will be writing a journal from the perspective of a Pioneer person.  We will have a trip next week on Thursday.  Details to follow!

Important Change in Dates! Bible Test on Thursday!

I have changed the Bible test to Thursday!  On Friday we will be at Chapel during the morning.  Students have done a test prep today and I told them to take that home, and I went around checking that they did.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

The Week of Oct 24 - 28

Hi parents, students and followers!

This week we will be performing conversations for our classmates to show our skills in French.  We will have a short quiz and project on Friday to show what we've learned in Bible.  Students will need to know Genesis 6:5 and 6:8.

We will be spending a fair bit of time to complete some standardized testing.  These tests are important for myself and for the school so that we can assess how we are doing.

In PBL students have an interview page to complete regarding how your family came to Canada.

Our spelling words are going to target y endings this week.  They are:

pretty
prettier
prettiest
city
cities
cry
cried
friendliest
sunny
worry
family
lazy
chilly

Needed items:  We need cushions or bean bag chairs for reading on.  We could also use items that were used in the early 1800's.

New Bible Memory Verses

Genesis 6:5
The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.


Genesis 6:8
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.


I am hoping to test the students on Monday October 24.

Spelling Words October 17-21

This week we will be learning new Word Wall Words.  They are:

was
city
getting
pretty
prettier
prettiest
countries
laughed
to
two
too
exciting
community
schools

Race Day

On Friday we travelled to Brantford to race a challenging and trecherous course.  The rain stayed away, we enjoyed each others company and everyone conquered the course.  Our top runner was Sebastian who finished 7th in his race.

Celebration Time

Everyone did very well on our Math test and earned an A+.  

I am proud of how hard everyone has worked.  I am sure that we are going to have a great year.

Are you excited to see what we can do together?  I am.

Questions we have about spotted turtles

If you know the answer to any of these questions, leave a comment!

Changing Both Denominators to Add Fractions

Nifty Thrifty Fifty (till Sept 30)

Grade 4

1. composer
2. discovery
3. encouragment
4. hopeless 
5. musician
6. richest
7. unfriendly
8. impossible

Spelling Words (to Sept 30)

Word Wall Words
(Grade 3 and 4)

1. there
2. they're
3. their
4. right
5. write
6. off
7. until
8. very 
9. again
10. who 
11. have 
12. people
13. friend

Adding Fractions with DIFFERENT Denominators

In this example you only have to change one denominator!

Adding Fractions with the SAME Denominator

Trip to the Water Festival!

We had fun squirting water into a generator.  We liked pouring out the gunk into bins.  The bumps and talking on the bus was extremely fun.  Halle enjoyed sleeping on the bus.  We enjoyed racing and learning about recycling.  Running down the terrifying hill was great!

We learned that some toilets use more than others.  We learned we should conserve electricity and water.  We need water to survive.  Plants and animals need it to survive too.  We should care about the water and not pollute.   It is very easy to litter in water which pollutes it.
 
In Ontario there are some Hydro dams.  Inside the pipes the water makes turbines turn.  That makes electricity, just like we made electricity.

We drank to cups of water.  One was tap water and the other was bottled water.  Most of us liked the tap water best.  We learned that tap water is very controlled and has a high quality.

It was better than school!

First Writing Assignments

This year we began with a writhing assignment where students were required to write about something that they are an expert on.  In this post and others I will display this assignment.

Trident, by Aeriel
My hamster Trident is funny and smart.  When I feed him he takes the food runs around his cage and eats it.  He has red eyes and a dark brown stripe on his back.  His legs are white and his chin is white and the rest of him is brown.

Welcome to the New Year!

Hello everyone,

This is where our class blog is going to be.  Soon we'll have reports and links and all sorts of fun things.

Mr. Lee