Nov. 30, 2016: Wednesday

It's the last day of November and the Talented Third Graders are preparing for the last few weeks of classes and exams.

To start the day, the students began writing a compare/contrast essay. They will be working on it during the Daily 5 time and the final, good copy will be completed by the end of next week. They also practiced using the helping verbs "has/have."

During Reading, the students completed the Science quiz, so that in Science at the end of the day, the students put their brains to use in research. They were given their Final Exam, which will be a fun project where they can make an ecosystem using clay.

 

Here are the pictures of their lovely food chains they created yesterday:

    

HOMEWORK:
1) English p. 52
2) Journeys p. 111
3) Secret message - December!

NOTICES:
- field trip Friday - please refer to the handout that was give last week regarding what to bring on the field trip. Check that you have everything today, and then you'll be ready to bring it on Friday. This will include your national Taiwanese health insurance ID.
- Yellow house you will be getting a pizza party tomorrow
- ALL students please wear your House shirts tomorrow.

Have a great evening!

Mr. Yaremchuk

Nov. 29, 2016: Tuesday

It was a beautiful fall day today!

The Talented Third Graders were rather busy in the classroom and dreamed of playing outside all day. Here's what they did:

• Language Arts/Reading - made a Venn diagram which will be used to write a compare/contrast essay, practiced the strategy "Predict what happens next," and used the special verb "be" in past and present tense. 
• Math - used different ways to multiply when 2 is the factor

 

• Social Studies - understood that people have different viewpoints
• Science - investigated food chains, and created a food chain

HOMEWORK:
1) Math p. 49
2) Language Arts - spelling questions - choose 7 spelling words and write a question using each of those words. Your questions should be at least 6 words long. Ex: Did you see that famous singer at Dream Mall?
3) Reading Logs

NOTICES:
- Science quiz tomorrow
- Spelling test Thursday
- Field Trip is on Friday all day

Have a nice evening!

Mr. Y

Nov. 28, 2016: Monday

Good afternoon/evening parents and students. It's great to hear the students, parents and teachers all say how lovely the Thanksgiving lunch was on Thursday. Thanks again for your generosity, and I hope you all had a great weekend.

This morning during Assembly one of our Talented Third Graders was crowned the Angel of the Week!  Congratulations to Ahmrae for earning the award for being a great helper and always having a positive attitude. Great job, Ahmrae!

 

We jumped into Reading and Phonics class by reviewing vocabulary and learning some new ones. We finished "The Harvest Birds" and discussed the story.

In Math, the students made arrays to multiply.

Social Studies consisted of stating the duties of the legislative branch of government.

For Science, the students investigated food chains and began an inquiry lesson. They made their own food chain and completed the exercise in the text.

HOMEWORK:
1) Math p. 48
2) Reading Logs - you can read "The Harvest Birds" from Journeys

NOTICES:
- Secret Message - It's snowing!
- Science quiz on Wednesday - Unit 4
- Spelling test on Thursday
- PIZZA Party for the Yellow House will be on Thursday - congratulations again on winning the house cheer competition
- Field Trip on Friday - please make sure you have the list of things to bring because we will be away from school all day

Enjoy your evening!

Mr. Y

Nov. 24, 2016: Thursday

Happy Turkey Day!!

We had a spelling test to start the day and then we had Thanksgiving Mass.

Following Mass the students had a nice, long recess and then it was Thanksgiving Lunch time!!

Thank you to everyone for sharing and bringing such amazing food for the whole school. There were many yummy dishes, including the lovely Thanksgiving turkeys. I am glad you could make it out and share this special day with the students, teachers, and other parents.

Following the extended lunch, we still had to do some learning in Math. We began the new unit on Multiplication and used repeated addition to model multiplication.

New Spelling Words for Dec. 1
- activity, consumer, business, advice, dentist, borrow, patch, serious, famous, talent, zipper, uncle, prey, watermelon

HOMEWORK:
1) Science p. 177-178
2) Math p. 47
3) Reading Log

NOTICES:
- Science quiz Wednesday
- Spelling test Thursday
- Field trip on Friday - please return the permission slip and the $$ on Monday.
- December is right around the corner, that means final exams are super close. The study guides will be handed out next Friday

Have a wonderful long weekend, and safe travels if you are going anywhere. Happy Thanksgiving!

Mr. Yaremchuk

Nov. 23, 2016: Wednesday

I can smell the turkey right around the corner....................but before we get to have a lovely family feast, we still have things to take care of.

Today, the students reviewed the importance of writing a conclusion for a compare/contrast essay and used verbs in the future tense. We also began a new story in Journeys, "The Harvest Birds," and introduced some new vocabulary.

In Science, the students explained and defined the parts of a food chain. We had some fun doing activities on the SmartBoard.

ECA - we have begun to practice for the Christmas performance.
Secret message of the day - gobble gobble

HOMEWORK:
1) LA - Future Story - please write a short paragraph about what you want to do/be when you grow up. You must use 7 spelling words in your paragraph.
Ex: When I grow up, I will be a hockey coach and I will live in a beautiful house close to a mountain.
2) Reading Log
3) Study for the Spelling test

NOTICES:
- tomorrow's schedule is as follows:
9am - 10am - Thanksgiving Mass
10am-10:30am - recess
11-1:30pm - Thanksgiving potluck lunch with the whole school and parents
1:30pm-4:10pm - regular classes
- Friday is a holiday to celebrate Thanksgiving
- please return all your signed quizzes

Enjoy your evening!

Mr. Y

Nov. 22, 2016: Tuesday

It was a busy, busy Tuesday in the classroom that had the students using their brains all day. Here's what we did:

• Language Arts/Reading - wrote an introduction paragraph to a compare/contrast essay, used verbs in the past tense, wrote a pop quiz on verbs
• Math - wrote a quiz on probability and had an earthquake drill
• Social Studies - identified the three branches of government: executive, legislative, judicial
• Science - described and explained a food chain and photosynthesis

HOMEWORK:
1) English p. 44
2) Journeys p. 89
3) Reading Log

NOTICES:
- reminder that the Thanksgiving Lunch will begin at 11am. Please bring food with you when you arrive shortly before 11am, or you can bring the food with your child, but refrigerator space is limited. If you are wondering how much to bring, try to bring enough food that will feed about 9 students.
- G1, G2, and G3 will be taking another Field Trip this quarter on December 2. It will be a great opportunity for the students to have some fun outside of the school at Vanilla Leisure Farm. Please read the information and return the permission form and fee of $400 by next Monday, Nov. 28.
 - Secret Message - pumpkin pie
- the students have a bunch of quizzes that were sent home today/last week, please review them, complete the corrections, have a parent sign it, and please hand them back to me. Thank you.

Have a lovely evening.

Mr. Y

Nov. 21, 2016: Monday

Welcome back to another November week! This week will be shorter due to the Thanksgiving holiday on Friday. We will have a Thanksgiving Mass on Thursday and all are welcome.

This morning after Assembly we shared what happened over the weekend, and then wrote a quiz on What Do Illustrators Do?

Math was a review class on probability in which we played a game called "Greed."

 

After lunch the students put their brains to work again for a quiz in Social Studies.

In Science, the students discovered living and nonliving things in part of an ecosystem. We went outside and each student found a small area to count the living and nonliving things inside it, and complete the lesson questions.

Pre-investigation:

 

Investigating:

   


ECA - we had our K2 reading buddies come up for a quick read.

HOMEWORK:
1) Science p. 161-162
2) Reading Log

NOTICES:
- Math quiz tomorrow
- Spelling quiz Thursday morning - start to study your words now
- Secret Message - pizza is yummy
- Thanksgiving lunch is Thursday and it will begin at 11am and finish at 1:30pm, and then the students will return to regular classes.

Have an amazing day!

Mr. Y

Nov. 18, 2016: Friday

What a great show today from everyone at DISK!!  I think our Talented Third Graders did an amazing job!  Great job kids!!  And thank you again to the parents for helping with the lines.

The day began with a spelling test and then one last rehearsal for the performance.

In Math class, we used the results of experiments to predict outcomes.

For Science, we watched videos on fresh and salt water environments and the students worked in groups to make a Venn diagram to compare/contrast them both.

The rest of the afternoon was of course, Student Showcase!  It was quite the Crazy Story that our puppets shared with the audience. Everybody did a wonderful job.

Here's a picture of the stage...................




Spelling Words for Nov. 24
coach, blink, lettuce, spaceship, paddle, ocean, forest, because, separate, harvest, borders, ashamed, desert mountain

HOMEWORK:
1) Think Tac Toe - please choose 1 square from each column. Please write all answers in your Reading notebook.
2) Reading Log

NOTICES:
- Monday quizzes - Reading (What Do Illustrators Do?), and Social Studies (questions will only be from the booklet p. 1-15)
- Tuesday quiz - Math - Probability
- Spelling Test - Thursday
- Thanksgiving Mass and lunch - Thursday
- Thanksgiving Holiday on Friday - No School
- Secret Message - Run Mr. Y

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Mr. Y

Nov. 17, 2016: Thursday

Good afternoon/evening everybody!  Well, I think our Talented Third Graders are all ready for the Student Showcase. They have worked so hard at home remembering their lines (with the help of you parents, thank you), and also in school practicing the play itself. The puppets look amazing, too.

This morning in Language/Reading, we used verbs in the past tense and practiced the end sounds. We then worked on our puppets for the play.

In Social Studies, we explained the duties of local government and had a city council meeting where they had to vote on a new law. We also reviewed to prepare for the quiz on Monday.

 

In Math, we used probability to decide if a game is fair or not.

HOMEWORK:
1) Science flip flap book - vocabulary words: habitat, community, ecosystem, population. Under the flap, please write the definition and draw a picture of that word.
2) LA - verb hunt - when you complete your reading for the Reading Log, please find 5 sentences in your book that have a past tense verb. Write the sentences in your notebook.
3) Practice your lines for the play one last time - remember to speak slowly and clearly

NOTICES:
- tomorrow is the last day to hand in your Thanksgiving Lunch form. I still need a few more, please.
- tomorrow is Student Showcase!  Please come and watch the DISK students give you a wonderful performance. It will begin at 2pm, so you may arrive anytime after 1:45pm and find a place in the gym. We hope to see you there.
- Spelling Test tomorrow
- please return your quizzes with a parent signature

Thank you.

Have an excellent evening!

Secret Message: Break a leg!

Mr. Y

Flip Flip example:

Nov. 16, 2016: Wednesday

Welcome to mid-week, and that also mean we are nearing the Student Showcase on Friday.

The students used more verbs in sentences and practiced adding 'es' or 'ies' to special verbs. We also read some of the Journeys story and then practiced our puppet play.

In Science, the students described mountain, desert and arctic ecosystems.

 

In ECA today, the teachers had a meeting and the students practiced the songs for the Thanksgiving Mass.

HOMEWORK:
1) Journeys p. 245 "Write your opinion." Please write at least 5 sentences.
2) Eng. p. 40
3) Reading Log

NOTICES:
**There was some confusion about a question in the last Science quiz regarding matching an adult animal with its young. Growing up on the farm, we used to refer to new born ducks as chicks, and then as they grew up, we called them ducklings, and then ducks. Sorry for the confusion. As a result, this question is not fair for the students, and I have removed that question from the test.**

- please hand in the Thanksgiving form that tells us how many of you are coming to the lovely Thanksgiving turkey lunch next week, and what kind of food you will bring. Again, we are responsible for bringing side dishes.

Have a wonderful evening!

Mr. Y

Nov. 15, 2016: Tuesday

The Student Showcase rehearsal went very well today. Each class did a fantastic job and know we all know what we need to work on this week to make it even better!

We started the day with Language Arts and used verbs in the present, and then proceeded to the gym for the rehearsal until lunch time.

The Talented Third Graders did a fantastic job in the rehearsal. Just one reminder that we all need to be sure to speak slowly and loudly.

We began making our puppets during Social Studies (we will make up this class later this week).

In Science, the students defined and explained a population and community. Some students acted out animals so we could guess their habitat. We also had small groups deciding what populations (different colored paper clips) live in a community and interact.

  

Secret Message: Lego is cool

HOMEWORK:
1) Vocabulary Story - please choose 8 spelling words and write a short story, or be sure the sentences have a connection with each other. Please double space.
2) Reading Log

NOTICES:
- please hand in the Thanksgiving meal form telling what kind of food you will be bringing to the Thanksgiving meal next Thursday, Nov. 24.

Have a nice evening!

Mr. Y

Nov. 14, 2016: Monday

It will be an exciting week getting ready for the Student Showcase on Friday!

After Assembly we had Reading and Phonics in which we reviewed the vocabulary words and the story What Do Illustrators Do?

In Math, we continued the probability unit and calculated the probability of an event.

The students read timelines and then began to create their own life timelines.

After reviewing the Science quiz, we began a new unit on ecosystems and defined some new vocabulary words (environment, ecosystem, habitat).

HOMEWORK:
1) Social Studies p. 97
2) Reading Log
3) Secret Message - ecosystem

NOTICES:
- yes, the Student Showcase is this Friday at 2pm! We are putting together the last pieces for our performance and again, it's looking fantastic. I hope you can all make it out for the show.
- only test this week will be in Spelling

Enjoy your evening!

Mr. Y

Nov. 11, 2016: Friday

It is Remembrance Day in Canada which is an important holiday for us Canadians. However, there was no holiday for our Talented Third Graders today.

We began our busy morning with sharing our plans for the weekend, followed by a spelling test, and then a quick Math lesson on recording and displaying the results of a probability experiment. The students got to flip a coin 50 times.

   

Before lunch, the students wrote their Science quiz on unit 3.

After lunch, we got to practice our performance with the microphones. We're really excited about next Friday. Great job students for working hard on remembering your lines, and thank you parents for helping out. I hope you can all make it out to the performance next Friday.

After practicing, we came back to the classroom and finished the Math lesson. We compared the results from different groups to see if "heads" or "tails" was the more common outcome.

HOMEWORK:
1) Math p. 43
2) Compare/Contrast writing. Please write 2 paragraphs using the similar to different method (choose any topic you want). You can follow the sentence frame in your booklet, but please write your paragraphs in your notebook. Remember to double space.
3) Reading Log

NOTICES:
- remember to bring your Library books on Monday
- Next Friday is Student Showcase and it will begin at 2pm

Have an awesome weekend!

Mr. Y