Writing

Grade 3 is often an exciting time for young writers as many students transition from writing sentences to bringing together ideas and stories and presenting them in a way that is interesting. In addition to dictée and practise of frequently used words, we have regular writing books we will use, each with a different purpose. Les journaux are intended to focus on clarity of the points they are making, spelling/grammar and neatness of writing. Our livres du Canada are intended to focus on elements of writing style, including central idea, organization, point of view, and  expression. Our journaux de nature will include various forms of writing, especially recorded observations, thoughts, reflections and poetry. The amount of time spent writing in all these books will vary depending on the projects we are working on and the writing we are doing in other subject areas. 

Reading

Listening to your child read and reading to your child is important for their development. My experience has shown that children that read with a caring adult outside of school hours, show very evident gains both at home and at school. My intention is to facilitate a positive home learning experience that can fit into your family's daily routine. If it becomes stressful or a chore, please contact me and I can try to offer some suggestions.

Students are encouraged to read each evening. For every evening completed, please initial an empty space on the tally bookmark. Once the bookmark is filled in, return it to class. Their name will then be put in a draw for prizes. My preference is that you spend at least some of the time each week on the levelled classroom books from our class. This will help me to track their reading development over the course of the year.

Your child will come home with 2 or 3 books that they have picked at their level and their tally sheet in a ziplock bag. If the books seem too easy or too difficult, please add a note in the home reading zip lock or their agenda. They can practise these books at home for 1- 2 weeks. When they bring their bag back to school, I will meet with them during our reading period. We will discuss if the books were a good fit difficulty-wise and we will discuss what levels they should choose from to take home. It is important that the students understand what they read. Re-reading is an important part of building up their fluency. In fact, I encourage them to read the same book 2 or 3 times (unless it is a longer chapter book). Discussing the book will help comprehension; if the person the child is reading to doesn't understand, they can explain what happened to them in English.In addition to this, I encourage you to include other reading experiences where you read to them in English or French or they read a library book in English or French. Every reading experience is beneficial, regardless of language as it helps to build comprehension and a culture of reading at home. The trick is to keep it positive and not overdo it if it becomes a battle. I have also included some audio of phonetic sound segments we refer to in class. Click here to access the audio. 

Dictée

In our class, the weekly dictée is intended to help students improve spelling of frequently used words, to work on grammar in context with what they are learning, and to practice reading. This year, dictée will not be sent home to practise as homework. I have decided to reduce homework and promote rest and relaxation in the evenings so students are energized for the school day (see section on this website here titled 'homework'). However, if you feel compelled to practice dictée at home, I am okay with their work going home, provided it comes back each day. 

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I will hand out our dictée practise sheet on Monday. Throughout the week we will have 3 or 4 sessions in class to practice aspects of the dictée. These activities vary (individual/group work/spelling/grammar/games/oral/written etc...)

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On Thursdays or Fridays (depending on the week) I will give the dictée test, which students will self correct (I check to see that they found their mistakes) and I will record. They will empty the duotang at the end of each term. So a flawless duotang will have each dictée practise sheet followed by the corrected test for the entire term in order by date. I aim to send the duotang home periodically, just to show how they are doing. 

Our weekly dictée will alternate between frequently used words, and sentences highlighted by students in a magazine-style article or story. The stories help to engage the student and integrate the grammar into the learning. As there is more to remember in the sentences, they will have more mistakes, but the difficulty allows the range of ability levels to be challenged. 

Throughout the year I will remind kids to try their best without comparing their results to other students. It isn't about getting perfect, but showing improvements from week to week, while considering the difficulty of the text on that particular week. My mantra throughout the year: Mistakes + reflection = learning

Math

I was taught Math in Elementary school much differently than I teach it today. Many adults share the experience of Math through elementary and secondary school for them being about memorization. Memorization of the math facts (times tables etc...), memorization of formulas and memorization of the steps involved in solving a particular problem. I wasn't taught why I carried the one to the next column... I just did, because that's what you need to do to solve the equation. 

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Today, teachers are taught to focus on the deeper thinking, conceptual understandings and reflective nature of math. We explore the 'WHY' of Math much more. That said, math facts have an important role to play, as they are the tools we use to develop these skills. Problem solving and a capacity to think laterally between concepts and make new connections and discoveries is where the magic happens. Often, I notice the types of students that have success with this are patient, persistent and resilient when they make mistakes. These are some "mathematical virtues" we aim to improve this year. Will we also need to learn our facts for addition and subtraction? Yes. 

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Rather than myself as the teacher and the students as learners having an expectation of where they need to be skill-wise at the end of each unit, we will focus on keeping ourselves in a place of optimal growth. Always easier said than done, but I aim to keep both motivation and confidence high regardless of where they are at. Rather than comparing abilities, I aim to coach kids to think in terms of themselves on a continuum of learning in Math.

Visual Arts

Our partnership with the Art Gallery is a highlight of our study of fine arts. We will visit each exhibition at the art gallery throughout the year - 7 visits in total. At the time of writing, we are working out the schedule, but aim to organize pickup from the gallery at the end of the day. Each visit is followed by an activity at the gallery led by gallery staff and usually connects to a larger project we are working on in class. We often have a number of artists visit our class throughout the year to help us make further connections and provide us with a one session workshop. Visiting the gallery helps us explore the question, 'What is Art?'

Science and Social Studies

Science and Socials will be used to integrate all aspects of the curriculum including reading, writing, oral language, math, problem solving and cooperative learning. In Science our biggest area of focus will be biodiversity, using the subunits of classification, phenology, animal tracking and gardening/farming. We will also spend time studying landforms and thermal energy. In Socials, the major focus will be Aboriginal studies and aim to partner with the Neskonlith Band and some of their Elders to help deliver this curriculum. Our school's Aboriginal Educator, Michelle Kuster will also be supporting this part of our learning. Subtopics are included here in my working year plan.

Physical Education

PE will vary greatly. Sometimes our walk down to the art gallery or a hike to a nearby green space will be our PE for the day. We will start the year with many team-building and cooperative games. Sports covered will include soccer, basketball, handball, skating, swimming and gymnastics. We will also play many chasing games (capture the flag type spin offs). Outdoor recreation activities include hiking, biking, snowshoeing and cross county skiing. We also hope to try some climbing on a climbing wall this year. PE units often evolve based on the interest, the progression of other units and the weather of the day. 

Outdoor Learning through the curriculum

As mentioned in my principles and values page, outdoor learning is a big passion of mine and where my greatest experience lies as a teacher. The natural world will be our greatest learning resource this year, helping to weave together our various areas of study. I am looking forward to a fun and engaging year of learning outdoors!