KTS - Mrs. Njie - Grade 3 2020-21

One highlight of the week was the visiting circus. The funny duo taught us all about the importance of teamwork. They reminded us how when we work together, we can create something much more spectacular than when we work alone. They also talked about how we all have our strengths and challenges and the importance of helping others experiencing challenges and that when we do experience challenges we should persevere and not give up. After the performance we talked about what we learned and then journaled about the experience.

Here, he wanted to give up when he fell off his unicycle, but his friend gave him encouragement and he kept on trying.

 Working together they were spectacular!

 They did some very funny things!

 We have introduced free writing in class. Here we are gathering ideas. This will help us get right down to writing when we have our free writing time. We just jot down a key word that will help us remember a story. It would be great if you could help your child remember a few family stories that they can write about. Have them jot down one word to remind them about the story. Three story ideas would really help your child!

This is how we record our story ideas at school. Thinking about our favorite day has given this student 3 ideas already.

 This student has 2 ideas about Christmas.

 This student has lots of ideas about Christmas. I see 5 writing ideas!

 Now we are in grade three, we are really beginning to understand that there are two parts to reading. We can be great at one part and not so good at the other part. The class scored Mrs. Njie on her reading. Most people in the class gave her an A! They thought she read really hard words with no mistakes.They thought she read as if she were talking and she read with a lot of expression. Mrs. Njie had them fooled! It was only when someone asked her 'What did you just read?' that the class realized she did not have a clue! Her husband's Civil Engineering book was too challenging for her to understand even though she sounded perfect! Lots of students in the class explained how they have read books that makes them sound good but they were not sure what they were reading about.  It is important that students read books they can understand. You can check for this at home by asking them, 'What did you just read?'

We created this Reading Salad that shows just how much thinking is involved when we read. We should do more thinking than reading words on the page!

In math we have been working on our understanding of how numbers work in a pattern on the hundreds chart. For us to be able to do this we need to be able to skip count backwards and forwards from any number. For example, 34, 44, 54 or 56, 46, 36. This would be a good skill to practice at home.
We are using this skill to be able to add and subtract two digit numbers using the hundreds chart. Some students are able to work out a specific question, such as what is 34 + 23, using the hundreds chart. Some are able to give a general answer, such as 'When you add 23, you go down twice on the hundreds chart and move to the right three times. You go down twice because each time you go down you are adding ten.' Some students need support to use the hundreds chart. You can help at home by providing additional practice.

This is what our math game looks like. For the first example, the students fill out one box and work out what numbers go in the others. They check their answers using the hundreds chart. For the second example, they are given a number and have to fill out the blank boxes.

Here is a hundreds chart:

Next week we will be doing a piece of writing for our work on identity, which will tie in nicely with The Rights of the Child. Please can you orally rehearse information your child can use.

For example my child is named Craig. When my husband and I were choosing his name, we both wrote down a list of names we liked. Craig was the only name we had in common. His name comes from the Scottish Gaelic word 'creag', which means 'rock.' This is a good name for him as he can be very stubborn. You will not get him to shift his thinking once his mind is made up!  If he had been a girl, he would have been called Gabriella Jasmine.

Knowing the story of your name is fun but it is also part of your life story, so I think it is an important one to share.

Finally, Happy Thanksgiving to you all. How strange to see the fall leaves on top of the snow! At least a squirrel was still able to find some food before the long winter months!

Upcoming:

Tuesday - presentation about money!