Thursday, May 27, 2010.

HANDWRITING
Today's riddle was:
"How did the invisible boy upset his mother?"

MATH
The students worked on labelling fractions using words and numbers.
For example:

2/10 or two tenths

We also discussed that the numerator is the top number that shows the number of parts being counted or shaded. The denominator is the bottom number that shows the total number of parts.

ROUGHRIDER PEP RALLY
We went to the gym and cheered on our nominees Dawson and Jessica. Honorable mention went to Megan and everyone showed their pride and had some Rider green on today. The winner who will ride on the float was Jessica! Good job grade three!

SCIENCE
We watched a BrainPop video on changing landforms by erosion or weathering. This might be the wearing away of rocks, shoreline, or soil by wind and water. It also showed us how caves are formed and how plants and expanding ice can crack and breakup rocks.

SHOW & SHARE
This week's theme is pets and we got to meet Jessica's dog, Lazer, and heard about Easton's dog, Ranger, Thomas's cats, Boris and Paul, and Kale's dog, Buddy. We also heard about some pets who passed away or went to live elsewhere.


* Tomorrow is Track & Field if the weather cooperates. If not it will be classes as usual. Mrs. McKinney is subbing for me Friday and Monday.

* I'm not sure when the next Spelling test will be as it depends on the track meet but Mrs. Soloski will let the class know on Monday.

*The answer to today's riddle was: He kept appearing. :)

Wednesday, May 26, 2010.

HANDWRITING
Students copied the following riddle, answered it, and wrote the date.
"What do you get when you cross a zombie with a boy scout?"

FRENCH
The students practiced their new vocabulary words for insects and their hiding places.

MATH
The students finished working on page 192 and many had time to work on their extra practice booklets for multiplication and division.

SCIENCE
Today we discussed how air, water, plants, and animals all help to make soil through erosion, decay, and tunnelling among other things.

LIBRARY
Ms. Hatzel read us a book about a boy asking to keep the many animals he brought home. Then we signed out new books.

* Tomorrow is Rider Pride Day so wear your green. The biggest U.P.S. Roughrider fan will be chosen and the winner will get to ride on a float during the Rodeo Parade on Saturday, June 5th. The committee is videoing the event to make it a part of Unity's bid for Riderville.

* The answer to today's riddle was: A creature that can scare little old ladies across the street. :)

Tuesday, May 25, 2010.

HANDWRITING
The students copied the following riddle, guessed an answer, and wrote the date once.
"Why did the boy take a clock and a bird out on Halloween?"

MATH
The students continued working on fractions.

COMPUTERS
The students started using the Scratch programming language today. You can download a version for home use at the web site. The students don't have accounts yet as we are just practicing on our school computers.

POWER OUTAGE
Our afternoon was a little skewed with 2 short power outages so we finished another chapter and a half of our 39 Clues novel.

* Tomorrow is library class so remember your books. Rubber boots might also be a good idea.

* Today's riddle's answer is: It was for tick or tweet.

Friday, May 21, 2010.

HANDWRITING
The class copied the following riddle, answered it and wrote out today's date.
"Why did the vampire bite the computer?"

FRENCH
The students practiced saying, hearing, and writing the names of the insects that they are using in this unit.

MATH
The students used Cuisinaire rods, which are different coloured rods with each colour being a different length. They compared one colour to another and made fractions for the different lengths.

For example 1 white rod is 1/10 (one tenth) of an orange rod.

SCIENCE
We read a book on BookFlix about different kids of worms and read the book "Diary of a Worm." We discussed how worms create tunnels that help the soil have more air, eat items in the soil to add to its richness, and need to come to the surface when it rains.


SHOW & SHARE
We saw track and field ribbons and heard about the student's favourite and least favourite events. We all wrote a message for Riley and Miss Riddell posted them to the "Rallying for Riley" page on Facebook. We also started "Get Well" cards for Mr. Middleton who has been away all week.

*Have a great long weekend!
*The answer to today's riddle is: "He wanted to get on the Inter'neck'.

Thursday, May 20, 2010.

HANDWRITING
The students copied the following riddle, an answer, and the date.
"Why did the cat sit on the computer?"

MATH
The students used pattern blocks to cover shapes. They realized that if a shape can be totally covered with one other type of shape you can make a fraction. For example:
a hexagon can be covered with 6 triangles and therefore each triangle is one sixth of the hexagon.

The students then did a page of questions labeling fractions.

SCIENCE
The students are starting a new unit of soils. Today we watched a Brain Pop on soils. We learned that soil comes in three basic layers: topsoil, subsoil, and bedrock. Soil that contains lots of humus is darker and moister. Humus is the matter in soil that contains bits of decomposing plants and bugs. Soils may be sandier or have more clay in certain areas.

SHOW & SHARE
Today we heard about favourite events, saw track ribbons, and examined a pair of track shoes with spikes.

ROUGHRIDER PICTURE
The whole school, wearing white shirts, joined UCHS and St. Peter's to create a giant white "S" on the football field. Mr. Soloski and Mr. Feser took pictures from a cherry picker. The mosquitoes weren't too bad and the picture should look very cool.


* The answer to today's riddle is: So he could keep an eye on the mouse.
* Don't forget that tomorrow is Spelling test day.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010.

COMPUTERS
The students finished up posters showing a multiplication and a division story problem. We also started to use Twiducate, which is a micro-blogging site where the students can talk to their classmates. To login students need to type in grade3 and their initials.

FRENCH
We wrote notes on the places an insect might hide from the rain.

MATH
Students worked with shapes that were either divided into equal or unequal pieces.

FINE ARTS
The students made "les papillons" otherwise known as butterflies. Our classroom has many flying friends above our heads.

*Remember to wear a white top tomorrow for the Roughrider picture.
*Mrs. Leclerc, her husband, and new baby visited the school today. Tinsley is so tiny and sweet. :)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010.

HANDWRITING
The students copied the following riddle, an answer and the date.
"Why was the computer in pain?"

MATH
The students started a new unit on fractions. Today they dsicussed how to share things equally.

SCIENCE
The students wrote their Matter exam.

SHOW & SHARE
This week's theme is Track and Field.

*The riddle's answer is: It had a slipped disk.

Monday, May 17, 2010.

HANDWRITING
The students copied the following riddle into their books, answered it, and wrote the date.
How do computers make a sweaters?

FRENCH
We started a new unit on "La Goutte de Pluie" which is about insects caught in a rainstorm.

MATH
The students and I went through their Math tests. The students did very well. The class average was 87%,

SCIENCE
We were going to practice for our test but over half the class couldn't find a sheet we needed so we cleaned desks instead.

LIBRARY
Ms. Hatzel read us a Robert Munsch story about "Cookies".

*I will be gone tomorrow and Mrs. McKinney will be subbing for me.

* Remember to study for Science and bring back you study sheets.

PS The answer to the riddle is "They make sweaters on the Interknit." :)

Friday, May 14, 2010.

HANDWRITING
The students brainstormed "wh" words such as where and which. They chose three to write three times and wrote the date once.

MATH
The students wrote the Unit 8 test on multiplication and division.

COMPUTERS
The students started to create posters of one multiplication and one division story that they wrote for Math class.

SCIENCE
The students did a little finish-up on their study sheets and worked on story problem sheets from Math.

* Have a great weekend!

Thursday, May 13, 2010.

HANDWRITING
Today the class brainstormed "ch" words such as cheer and each. The students chose three words to write three times and wrote the date once.

FRENCH
The students worked on several extra zoo animal pages to wrap up our unit.

MATH
The students worked on solving story problems written by their classmates. Tomorrow is our test on Unit 8.

SCIENCE
The students worked on a review sheet about matter. We are going to have our test on Tuesday. I'll send the study packages home tomorrow.

SHOW & SHARE
We saw and heard about special memories from when the students were babies, about dinosaurs, about hockey keepsakes, a puppy, and everyone's most special person . . . our Moms.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010.

HANDWRITING
The class brainstormed "th" words such as with and Cathrine. They then chose three words to write three times and wrote the date once.

MATH
The students continued to work on the "Show What You Know" section in preparation for our test on Friday.

SCIENCE
The students completed a word search, a crossword, and a page of riddles on matter and its states. Our test will be next week.

SHOW & SHARE
We saw a favourite rock with a part that looked like a moon, a book about monstrous plants, pictures, and toys from when the students were babies.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010.

ASSEMBLY
We had a short assembly this morning where we celebrated birthdays and had a few quick announcements.

FRENCH
The students wrote their Zoo animal quizzes and did quite well. Many knew that the bonus sentences:
Il est jaune, brun, et moyen.
Il a une criniere.
described a lion.

MATH
We reviewed writing division word problems. These are tricky as the students need to make sure they can divide the item they choose into groups that make sense. Dividing a dog into legs just doesn't work.

An example of a good division story problem might be:

There were 15 dogs. There were 5 kennels. How many dogs would go in each kennel?

15 ÷ 3 = 5

OR

There were 6 pizzas. There were 2 delivery trucks. How many pizzas did each truck deliver?

6 ÷ 2 = 3

SHOW & SHARE
Today we saw baby pictures and a special hat that were special items about memorable moments.

ART
We made butterflies using mirror images of our names. The students also listened to another chapter in our "39 Clues" book.

* The first part of the book orders arrived today. We are expecting another box soon.

Monday, May 10, 2010.

HANDWRITING
The students braintormed "sh" words such as shoot and push. They chose three words to write three times and wrote the date once.

MATH
We discussed how some word problems can be solved with a chart and by multiplication.
For example the problem:
If Megan has 2 shirts and 3 pairs of pants, how many outfits can she make?
can be solved by making a chart:

TOPS-----BOTTOMS--------OUTFIT
shirt 1------pants 1-------------1
shirt 1------pants 2-------------2
shirt 2------pants 1-------------3
shirt 2------pants 2-------------4
shirt 3------pants 2-------------5
shirt 3------pants 1-------------6

or 2 shirts times 3 tops equals 6 outfits

2 x 3 = 6

We also started our SHOW WHAT YOU KNOW section. We will be ready for a test at the end of this week or the start of next week.

SCIENCE
We did a discovery activity on items that absorb water. Cloth, cotton balls, cardboard, and newspaper all absorbed water. Wax paper, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, and styrofoam did not absorb water. It is useful to know what will absorb liquids if you are drying dishes or cleaning up spills.

ART
We made some colourful fish to fill up our bulletin board and listened to more "39 Clues: One False Note".

*Remember to study for the French quiz tomorrow!

Friday, May 7, 2010.

HANDWRITING
The students brainstormed open e words with a long e sound such as she, he and be. They wrote three words three times and the date.

FRENCH
We watched our improved Zoo photostories. Our zoo animal quiz will be on Tuesday, May 11th. A study sheet was sent home today.

MATH
The students continued working with arrays, multiplication and division questions.

SCIENCE
Students attempted to float the boats that they had designed earlier this week. Most floated quite well.

LIBRARY
Ms.Hatzel read the class a story and the students took out new books.

I forgot to send home the Show & Share schedules so we'll move Day 2 sharers to Day 3 next week.
Have a great weekend and enjoy your Mother's Day surprises!

Thursday, May 6, 2010.

HANDWRITING
We brainstormed open o words that end with an o and have a long o sound such as hello and silo. The students wrote three words three times and the date once.

MATH
The students continued working with arrays and related multiplication and division sentences. For example:

3,4,12 could make the array

XXXX
XXXX
XXXX

or

XXX
XXX
XXX
XXX

and the sentences:

3 x 4 = 12
4 x 3 = 12
12 ÷ 3 = 4
12 ÷ 4 = 3

COMPUTERS
We redid our recordings for the Zoo Photostories. The pronunciation was much better this time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to KAITLYN!

**Remember that tomorrow is library day. Please bring back your books!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010.

HANDWRITING
We practiced handwriting "Happy Mother's Day!" on bags in which to put our presents.

FRENCH
We viewed everyone's zoo PhotoStories and discovered we need to redo our recordings so that our pronunciation improves.

MATH
We finished up yesterday's page. A few students have homework to complete.

SCIENCE
The students designed boats that we will test tomorrow to see if they float or sink.

SHOW & SHARE
We saw a robin's egg, a nest, a goose's egg, a drawing of two bugs and a bird, and a toy bald eagle. We also heard some facts about peacocks.

The pizza lunch was a big success. ;)

Tuesday, May 4, 2010.

HANDWRITING
The students brainstormed "ow" words that have a long o sound such as yellow and fellow. They chose three words to write three times and wrote the date once.

MATH
The students further explored created arrays to help solve division problems. An array is an arrangement of objects in equal rows.

SCIENCE
The students performed a discover activity about items that float and sink. They discovered that wood, candles, corks, paper, plastic spoons, styrofoam, and toothpicks float and that rocks and metal spoons sink.

SHOW & SHARE
The students discussed bees, ladybugs, bald eagles, hawks, piders, and cardinals in our bugs and birds theme.

* Pizza lunch tomorrow!

Friday, April 30, 2010.

COMPUTERS & FRENCH
The students added music to their Zoo PhotoStories and finished them up. We will post them to their blogs next week. The students also explored a great new web site for practicing Spelling words called Spelling City. It has fun games to practice the word's correct spelling and the word's meaning. One game is Hang Mouse and it is really neat.

MATH
The students finished up the pages from yesterday and many spent time working in their extra practice duotangs.

FINE ARTS
What we did today is a secret as Mother's Day is coming soon!

*Remember that there is no school on Monday as the teachers have a PD Day. I'm at a conference so will also be gone on Tuesday. Mrs. McKinney is subbing for me that day. Have a great weekend!