Week of September 5, 2025

 

We’ve had a wonderful start to our new school year! This week, we focused on getting to know one another and building our classroom community. Together, we shared how each of us learns best and worked on creating an environment where everyone feels heard, valued, and respected. This is just the beginning of an ongoing journey as we continue to explore our rights and responsibilities within our classroom community throughout the year.

Next week in Social Studies, we will be going on a community walk (weather permitting). Our planned date is Thursday, September 11, in the afternoon.

The school Terry Fox Run will take place on Friday, September 12th at 9:00 am. Students are encouraged to bring in Toonies for Terry to support cancer research. If we reach our fundraising goal of $1150, we’ll celebrate the following week with a special “Wear Your Favourite Sports Swag” day!

Literacy:

        Vocabulary: 

• After reading The Word Collector, we began collecting interesting words. Students added words like swagger, grating, and tongue-tied to their word collector page. Ask your child if they can tell you what these words mean!

        Novel/Reading:

•     We started a novel called "How to be cool in the 3rd grade". 

        Writing:

• This week, we did a spelling inventory so I can see how each student approaches spelling and better support their writing.

• Students also wrote a guided letter to me about themselves as learners and their interests. This is practice for our Friday Letter books. Starting next week, your child will bring home a blue notebook every Friday with a letter for you. Please read it, write back, and return it by Monday or Tuesday.

• These letters are meant to be a special conversation between you and your child. I won’t read them unless a student needs help with the writing. 

        Phonics:

• We began the week by reviewing word endings.
• Each day, we do a phonics warm-up that incorporates a variety of skills, including rhyming, isolating beginning and ending sounds, word ladders, syllable work, blending, and overall language awareness.

Math:

• In math, we started by learning some new games. The first was Clock (King) Solitaire, which will help us prepare for our unit on time next week. The second was Tetris, which introduces ideas we’ll use later in multiplication.
• Students also reviewed addition with regrouping, and we noticed this is a skill that needs more practice. We’ll continue working on it together over the next few weeks to help strengthen confidence and accuracy.

Science:

• We read the story Ada Twist, Scientist, and the students took part in a teamwork challenge: building a cup tower using only one hand on a piece of yarn attached to an elastic. This activity highlighted the importance of communication, sharing ideas, and perseverance. Many students felt moments of frustration—just like real scientists do before making discoveries. We discussed how experiencing frustration is a normal and expected part of learning, and that with persistence, those moments can lead to brilliance.

Social Studies:

• We read the story Me and My Sit Spot, where students learned about the importance of having a “sit spot”—a quiet place outdoors where they can pause, observe, and connect with the world around them. A sit spot encourages mindfulness, curiosity, and noticing the small details in nature. Afterward, the students took time to find their own sit spot, draw it, and pay close attention to the sights and sounds around them. We will return to these spots throughout the different seasons this year to notice changes and deepen our connection with the environment.
• Students also worked on an All About Me project, where they shared about themselves to help us get to know one another better and build a supportive, understanding classroom community.