Week of May 14

Hello 3EV Families,

This week is a return to a full week of school. Monday will be a Day 4. 

ASAs are finished for the year, except for Thursday/Friday of this week. With the recent unexpected public holidays declared, we are rescheduling our Thursday and Friday After School Activities (ASAs) to next week (Thursday 17th & Friday 18th May).

It is important that our students have proper closure to their ASAs.  Several performances have been scheduled, belt grading in our martial arts classes and the list goes on. Normal activity buses will operate for these two days only.  Track and field athletes who don't have an ASA on Thursday, will attend Late Sport Supervision in the library as they would normally.

ISAC track and field athletes as you missed training last week, we are extending this Tuesdays session to run from 2:45-4:30pm.  Parents will be required to be at school to pick you up at 4.30pm sharp Tuesday 15th. The pick-up time on Thursday will be the usual 5pm. 

ALL OTHER ASAS HAVE NOW FINISHED AS PER NORMAL SCHOOL CALENDAR.  ALL STUDENTS WILL TAKE THE 2:45pm BUS HOME this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Your child will be coming home on their normal 2:45 bus after school.

Ramadan is starting on May 15th. If your child is fasting, please contact me so that I know. If your child is fasting, they can read in the library during recess time if they choose, but will be expected to participate in some modified PE activities.

Our Learning Celebration is fast approaching. Please mark it on your calendar. As the celebration is during Ramadan we will not be serving coffee or food. 

Reading/Writing: Students will find poems with strong feelings and concrete details of life. Next, students will include sensory details to elaborate and revise their work.

Math: This is our final week for the fractions unit. We will review the main math concepts for this unit.

           They include 

• Partition shapes.
• Represent equal parts of a whole as a fraction.
• Construct visual representation of equivalent fractions.

• Identify equivalent fractions.
• Use a number line to order and compare fractions.

Science: This week students will build a satellite. The goal is for it to drop from a height while holding an egg and to land so that the egg does not break. We are looking for parent volunteers to have their child bring in hard-boiled eggs for this investigation. Please contact me if you are able to do so. 

Please check at home for any class library books. I need to start organizing for my move, so ask that all books be returned no later than Thursday, May 31. 

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Week of May 9, 2018

Hello 3EV Families,

Although it was a short three day week we were able to launch our poetry unit and explored the concept of gravity. 

A friendly reminder that we will be having a learning celebration on Wednesday, May 30th from 8:15-9:00. All parents are encouraged to attend. 

Monday will be a Day 5.

We do not have school on Wednesday due to the election. Despite this change in our schedule, we will not be changing our Melawati day schedule, so Thursday is Day 2, not a Day 1. 

Reading/Writing

Students will explore how poets see the world through special lenses. Poets see with both their hearts and minds, writing about the world in fresh, unusual ways. They will also try a few different ways of using line breaks, choosing where they put words and how they use white space. Students will continue to read poems and notice the way the authors craft their poems and try out those moves in their own poems. Please share favorite poems at home and encourage your child to bring them in to share as well.

Math 

Students will continue to work on fractions. This week they will work on ways to recognize and show that equivalent fractions have the same size, though not necessarily the same shape.

Science

Students will take the knowledge from their rocket ships and apply them to a new project, a satellite. The objective of this task is to have it land safely.  If anyone is willing to send in 10 hardboiled eggs for us to use on Friday, please email me.

Home learning is due this Friday. Please refer to the home learning tab for the home learning options.

Week of May 2, 2018

Hello 3EV Families, 

I hope you are enjoying the long weekend. This past week we were busy building and testing our rockets. We learned about the engineering process as we tested and revised our rockets. Check the photo section of the blog for pictures of our designs. 

Ms. Julie came around and spoke to the grade level about "the home stretch". We are entering the last six weeks of school. It is important that we stay focused on the learning and the tasks we need to finish before the break. Please help by ensuring bedtime stays consistent. At this time of year, students may need extra sleep. 

Next week we will begin our last unit in reading and writing. It will be a unit on poetry. We will be having a learning celebration on Wednesday, May 30th from 8:15-9:00. We hope you will be able to join us. 

A friendly reminder that we do not have school on Monday or Tuesday (Labor Day and bridging day). 

 Wednesday will be a Day 2.

Reading/ Writing

This week we will begin our poetry unit. We will begin our work on ways that readers identify characteristics of poetry (line breaks, white space, shorter, repetition, figurative language, punctuation, meant to be read aloud, emotional and so much more). Please have your child bring in a few poems (home language encouraged) to share.

Math

Students continue their work with fractions. This week we will compare fractions on the number line by reasoning about their distance from 0.

Science

Students will blog about their rocket launch. We will focus our short week on the concept of gravity.

If your family is (or may be) leaving ISKL at the end of the school year please inform the school so that we can do all we can to help make the transition smooth. Ms. Stone will start meeting with leaving students soon. 

Thanks for your ongoing support! 

Week of April 23

Dear Parents, 

This past week, students practiced creating podcasts. They used their understanding of planets as the topic and Garage Band as the format. Hopefully, we can get these published on their blogs later this week. Click HERE to find a list of podcasts that are great for kids to listen to. I especially recommend the one titled Wow in the World.

Students enjoyed sharing their fiction writing with other grade three students. Click here to see a few pictures of that event, as well as other recent photos.

Reminder: Students will be taking the reading portion of the MAPs test in the morning on Monday, April 23. Please make sure they get a good nights sleep Sunday night and arrive at school on time. 

Save the date: On May 30th from 8:15-9:00a.m., Grade Three will host a Poetry Parent Share. We look forward to seeing you then!

Monday will be a Day 3.

Reading

This week students will finish up comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences between the two planets that they researched. This will be followed by a summative culminating activity. The activity will provide students with different choices for how they want to synthesize and present their research to the grade.

Writing

Students will be using this writing time to create reports about our planets. Also, time will be spent during writing to plan and design a model of their satellite.

Math

Students will practice placing fractions between 0 and 1 on a number line. The will also practice putting fractions greater than one on a number line. They will also begin to explore equivalent fractions.

Science

Students will become engineers and use the design thinking model to think about satellites and how to build one and land it successfully. They will work in collaborative teams, using recycled material, to build a satellite.

Week of April 16, 2018

Dear Parents, 

This past week, students were fascinated to track the sunrises and sunsets of different cities around the world, noticing the differences from one day to the next as well as from one location to the next. They also studied their shadows at different times of the day to make connections between the Earth and Sun and how it impacts day and night. We have begun learning how to make podcasts via Garage Band. You may want to have a listen to Wow in the World with your child- it is a great podcast for families. Common Sense Media also wrote about podcasts recently. Your child will share their own podcast on their blog soon. 

Friday your child took home pre and post assessments for our fairy tale/fantasy writing unit. Please spend a few minutes looking over the rubric and work with your child. Math assessments went home the week before. 

This week is Earth Week at Melawati. Please read the newsletter from the GLC or the Panther News for more information on that. We need your help to send in photos and video.

On Thursday morning, April 19th, students will be taking the first part of the MAPs test. Please make sure that your child has a good night's sleep and arrives on time.

Monday will be a Day 4.

Reading

Students will begin research on a second planet this week. By the end of this week, they will have learned a significant amount about one inner planet and one outer planet. They will continue to engage in discussions with others to help further synthesize information. Finally, they will use the two planets to compare and contrast their similarities and differences.

Writing
We will be finishing up our fantasy writing unit this week. Students will have an opportunity to share their final drafts at the end of the week with other third graders. 

Math
Students will be comparing fractions this week. They will compare unit fractions by reasoning about their size using fraction strips and compare unit fractions with different sized models representing the whole. Has your child shown fluency with math facts? If not, please have her/him practice for a few minutes each day.

Science

Students will continue to look for predictable patterns about the Sun, the Moon and the Earth and how they interact.

Please continue to look for class library books at home. 

This week we welcome Eshani Gale to 3EV. She is moving here from the US. 

March Book Madness

Week of April 9, 2018

Dear Parents,

Students had lots of questions and were very eager to begin our new Earth and Space unit. The tuning in activities helped to generate wonderings and build excitement. 

Similar enthusiasm and wonderings came up as we started our final math unit of the school year on Fractions. Here again are the vocabulary words for the unit. The assessment for the previous unit was sent home on Wednesday, please ask your child to share this with you if you have not already seen it. 

We begin the week on Day 5.

Reading

Students will conduct research on a planet that they are interested in learning about. They will use a variety of texts and digital materials, synthesise the important information about their subtopics, and record it in their own words. You can find out more about this unit, including vocabulary and resources by clicking HERE.

Writing

Students are continuing with fiction writing. They will continue to write adapted fairytales but also may branch out into other fantasy and creative writing choices. Additionally, students will begin to look at writing longer and more detailed/complex sentences. 

Math

Students will continue to practice partitioning shapes into equal parts. They will explain a unit fraction as part of a whole. They will represent/show different fractions and explain their representation. Please encourage your child to continue to practice basic facts if they are not confident with them yet. Reflex is a subscription website that your child can use at home (please let me know if you need password information again).

Science

Students will take a look at some of the important technological developments throughout history that have enabled us to learn more about the solar system. They will explore how technology helps us learn about the solar system and beyond.

Please remind your child to look at home for books from the classroom library, as many are missing. As a general rule, your child should have one book a night out from the class library.

Students are encouraged to work on their Genius Hour project at home if they like.

Have a great week!