October Newsletter

 

Learning Skills

For the Progress Report, which goes home in early November, the two learning skills that we will focus on are Responsibility and Organization.  The expectations for these skills will be discussed in class.  Below are the expectations that these skills entail.  If you could talk about them with your child and have your child tell you how they feel they are doing, that would be most helpful. These expectations will be sent home, discussed in class and will also be visible in the classroom. 

Responsibility: 

-I line up quietly when the bell rings. 

-I do not take or touch things that do not belong to me unless I have asked to use them. 

-I take care of my things and the class. 

-I keep my space clean and organized. 

-I admit when I have done something wrong. 

-I stay on task even when the teacher isn’t looking. 

-I do what I am supposed to do when I am supposed to do it. 

-I look at what everybody else is doing if I am unsure of the given direction or task. 

-I speak politely to my classmates and teachers. 

-I know what to do when I need help. 

-I come to class prepared with everything I need for the day. 

-I complete and submit homework assignments on time. 

-I am respectful when there is a guest teacher. 

Organization:

-I use the resources around the room to help me with my work (e.g., word wall, anchor charts, dictionaries).

-I keep my desk and cubby area tidy and can find the things I need easily.

-I put things away and hang things up without reminders.

-I make sure I have the tools and supplies I need for the day (e.g., pencil, eraser, coloured pencils).

-I bring things home and back to school on time (e.g., library books, homework, things to be signed).

-I manage my time well to ensure that I am not rushing, but that I complete my tasks in the allotted time frames.

Math

The strand in Math that we have been covering through September and that we will continue into October is Patterns and Relationships.  The expectations for this strand are the following:

 -identify and describe repeating elements and operations in a variety of patterns, including patterns found in real-life contexts

-create and translate patterns that have repeating elements, movements, or operations using various representations, including shapes, numbers, and tables of values

-determine pattern rules and use them to extend patterns, make and justify predictions, and identify missing elements in patterns that have repeating elements, movements, or operations

-create and describe patterns to illustrate relationships among whole numbers up to 1000

We will be moving on to our Geometry strand next.  The expectations for this strand are the following:

-sort, construct, and identify cubes, prisms, pyramids, cylinders, and cones by comparing their faces, edges, vertices, and angles

-compose and decompose various structures, and identify the two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects that these structures contain

- identify congruent lengths, angles, and faces of three-dimensional objects by mentally and physically matching them, and determine if the objects are congruent

- give and follow multi step instructions involving movement from one location to another, including distances and half- and quarter-turns

I have been observing the kids in class to see how they are doing and will continue to assess their knowledge through observations and "check-ins" (tests). 

Language

 We have been discussing paragraph writing and will continue to do so.  We have also practised writing simple and complex sentences that make sense using proper grammar, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation. 

Our focus right now in writing is Descriptive writing. The kids have really enjoyed writing about bubble gum and describing Mr. Twit’s disgusting beard.  We focus on the 5 senses when we are describing something along with all of the other features necessary to compose a descriptive paragraph. 

 For reading, we will be focusing on strategies that help us to better comprehend what we are reading such as fix-up strategies (e.g. slowing down, using context clues, making connections) and visualizing (the ability to create a picture of what we are reading about, in our head).  A big focus for reading this year is displaying comprehension through answers to questions about the text, in writing.  The children will learn to ensure that they have given enough detail from the text, and enough of their own ideas, to support their answers and demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of what the given text is about. 

Religion

We have finished our discussions and activities in regard to Samaritans on the Digital Road - This program is done throughout the board at every grade level, to engage students in learning about participating in the digital world in a proactive, responsible and compassionate manner.  We will continue to talk about being a good Citizen, treating others like Jesus would and to participate in SEL activities to promote positive mental health.

Science

We have begun with our Structures unit.  The students will participate in activities and experiments about what a structure is, especially focusing on the difference between the strength and stability of a structure.  One of the activities for this unit is an at home research project.  The students will investigate and find information about a famous structure and will present it to the class.  I will not be grading the actual project done at home, but I will be grading the  oral presentation which will reflect the oral grade on the February report card.  They will also have a test at the end of the unit.  More information with regard to the project and test will be sent home closer to the date of each activity.

Recycling

I will continue to ask the children to bring home any recyclables home.  The children can ask me for a bag if they need one, to bring home their containers in.  They are doing an amazing job with this and I thank you once again for your help with this process! 

Learning Commons

For now, the Learning Commons remains closed for circulation, however, the children have been borrowing classroom books.  I help children choose a book at the beginning of the week, and they return it to a bin in the classroom when they are finished. At the end of the week, I collect all the books that children wish to return so the books can sit over the weekend. I return them to the shelves on Monday to be recirculated. 

If your child wants to bring their own book to read at school, I highly encourage that. My library may not have anything that your child is interested  in reading, so if they have a book they enjoy, they are more than welcome to bring it. 

Gym

We are scheduled to go to the gym on Wednesday and Friday.  However, I have been trying to take them outside as much as possible and therefore, the days for now vary.  Thank you for sending them in shoes that they can run in.   We have started to play Soccer-Baseball and the kiddos really seem to be enjoying it.  We have had to modify the rules so that no one touches the ball with their hands, but it is working well. 

Distancing

The children have been doing a pretty good job distancing themselves and I give constant reminders to do so.  Recess can be a tricky time for them to stay away from each other.  If you could please reiterate to your child the importance of keeping their distance from others, especially when not wearing their masks, that would be appreciated.

Homework

Homework begins next week! The homework will be posted on our weekly Hapara site, so students will be easily able to access it. We will have our first WWW test on Friday, October 9, and will continue to do them weekly, on Fridays, unless otherwise noted. 

I want to thank you all for your support thus far this year.  It is a year like no other and it really helps to know that I have a great team of parents supporting me.  Thank you as well for all of the donations such as wipes, kleenex and any other donations that have been made to the class.  Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions . Thank you for a great start to a great year!

 Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,

      Mr. Pouliot 

Week 3 Update

 Please click this link to see the update for Week 3 - September 21-25, 2020.

Week 2 Update

We had another excellent week this week! This week, we continued learning about numbers patterns, talked about being good digital citizens and what it means to be safe on the internet, and began writing descriptive paragraphs. 

Math: 

In our patterning unit, we have been learning about identifying number patterns using number lines, hundreds charts and other tools, such as calendars. In grade 3, we learn about growing patterns, shrinking patterns and repeating patterns. When looking at growing and shrinking patterns, we learn that patterns increase by a consistent amount, and we learn how to describe a pattern rule. Here is an example of a pattern we may see in grade 3:

6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21          Rule: Start at 6, then add 3 to get from one term to the next. 

Students should also be able to use a hundreds chart or number line to show this pattern, or to extend the pattern further. We also learned how to create and interpret a pattern in a graph. This was very challenging, but we will be continuing to practice, and will revisit graphing again later in the year. Here is an example:

At home, you can help your child by helping to identify patterns you see in your community (eg. addresses on the street), or in the house (in tiles on the floor, or in wallpaper, etc). Also, here are some links that better explain what we have covered from the author website:

Patterns in charts and number lines

Relating a number pattern to a rule

Relating shape and number patterns

Language:

In Language, we have been reading “The Twits” by Roald Dahl as a read aloud, and learning about descriptive writing. We have been learning about writing longer sentences by joining two shorter sentences with a joining word. For example, a “Grade 1” sentence might be “I like pizza.” A grade 3 sentence would be “Pizza is my favourite food because it is so delicious.” 

We have also been learning about using adjectives to help describe people, places and things in greater detail. This week, we drew a picture of Mr. Twit’s disgusting, dirty beard with all the bits of food and other things he has collected in it. Here are a few examples:

Towards the end of the week, we learned how to combine a big grade 3 sentence that has adjectives with other sentences to write a descriptive paragraph. We began by writing one descriptive sentence for each of the five senses and then putting them together to write a paragraph. In class, we wrote this one together as a whole group:

Mr. Twit had a gross beard. It was long and scraggly and had many bits of dried up, crusty pieces of food in it. The beard smelled like a stinky, old octopus and disgusting farts. Mr. Twit’s beard felt like dried up bits of disgusting gravy and was as hard as raw noodles. It  rustled with the sound of mice crawling through a haystack, and when he slept his breath made the bristles whistle like a tornado. His beard was something that only a pig would eat out of, and tasted like rotten eggs. It was disgustingly gross. 

Afterwards, I asked students to write their own sentences for each of the five senses, and then put them together to make a paragraph. We will be continuing to work on this type of paragraph for a few more weeks, learning how to improve our writing a little more with each new paragraph. 

Samaritans on the Digital Road:

This week we spent a great deal of time learning about internet safety and how to use the internet to become good citizens. We learned about the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and identified ways that we can be good contributors to our community, both in person and on the internet. We also learned about advertisers and how many companies will provide excellent activities and games on the internet in order to get consumers to buy their products. Most important;y, we discussed never giving our personal information to anyone on the internet. On Friday, we began making short skits to demonstrate our learning, which I will video and post at a later date in the children’s google drive folders. 

Overall, it has been a wonderful second week of school, and I think the students are adjusting very well to our new school environment. It is so nice to see them every day! 

If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s progress, or if you feel there is anything I can do to assist him/her better, please feel free to contact me. I will do anything I can to help. Next week, I will be calling families throughout the week to touch base and see if there is anything more I can do. Have a great weekend, and thank you so much for your support. 

Yours,

Chris Pouliot

Grade 3 Teacher

St. Anne

Welcome to Grade 3!

 

Dear Parents/Guardians,                                                           September 4, 2020

Welcome to a new school year! I know this year will be different because of what is  happening in our world with regard to the pandemic, however, we will work hard to make it as normal as possible.  I am looking forward to working with you and your child this year in Grade Three.  Our classroom is in Portable #6.  This is my eighth year here at St. Anne and I am very happy to be a part of the St. Anne community.  Below is some important information to keep in mind as we begin our journey.  This is the only newsletter that I will be sending home this year.  All other newsletters and important information will be communicated through school messenger, which will go directly to your email. I will be posting some of our daily activities on Twitter if you would like to follow our class. My Twitter ID is @MrPouliot. There may be links to my blog occasionally when I send a message.  Due to our present circumstances, there will be no meet the teacher evening this year.

We are also very fortunate to have an Educational Assistant in our class this year. Her name is Ms. O’Connell, and she has been at St. Anne for a number of years. We are very fortunate to have her in our class! I have put a picture of her and myself at the bottom of this letter. 

Our French teacher this year is Madame Caminiti. Her Twitter ID is @MmeCaminiti, and her website is  https://sites.google.com/ocsb.ca/mmecaminiti2020-2021/home . We are all looking forward to a fantastic year!

First Day Procedures:

This year, parents will not be permitted on the yard for the first day this year. This will make drop off a little more stressful I am sure! The “Kiss and Ride” drop off area will be limited to students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 who are being driven only, so we would ask that if you are walking with your child that you drop them off at either the rear gate near the soccer field, or park on a side street and drop off your child at the side gate at the other end of the school (near Glen Meadows Circle). Our portable is Portable #6. All of the teachers will be in the yard that morning standing by the wall with a large class list so students can see their name. There will be many teachers in the yard that day, so please ensure your child knows their teacher’s name and portable number. If you wish, write it down on your child’s hand with a non-permanent marker so he/she can show it to a teacher if they have difficulty. All teachers will be on the yard that morning directing students, so your child will be safe! The best thing you can do is ensure that your child knows who his/her teacher is and their portable number. In our case, it is Mr. Pouliot in Portable 6. 

At the end of the day, please ensure that your child knows where they will be picked up (You can also indicate this on the information form linked below). The buses will not begin running until September 14th, so all students must be picked up for now. Students will be leaving either from the back gate (if you live towards the rear of the school) or the front side gate near Glen Meadows Circle (if you live near the front of the school). If you have a child in Kindergarten, then you are welcome to pick up all of your children at the kindergarten gate, which is the main gate by the parking lot. A teacher will walk the students to their gate at the end of the day. Please fill out the Student Information Form below to let me know which gate you will be picking up your child from. I will make sure that he/she meets you at that gate. We will be dismissing at 3:30 for now, since we are staggering dismissal to allow for greater physical distancing. 

School Supplies: (Please label EVERYTHING!) Labelling is of utmost importance this year as we would like to prevent the mixing up of items.  Children will be asked not to share their belongings with friends for any reason.  Please reinforce this message at home.

All children are kindly asked to bring in a reusable water bottle (no disposable plastic bottles please).  The water bottles will go home every night.  Please be sure to wash, refill and send them back to school each day.  Because of the circumstances with regard to the pandemic, children will not be able to drink from the water fountains at the school, however, they will be able to refill their water bottles.

Please send your child to school with one pair of shoes that can be worn inside and outside.  We will not be asking the children to switch shoes for now.  The shoes that they come to school with will be worn inside and outside.  Please make sure that they have shoes that they can run in, to use for recess and gym class.  Should it rain and they are wearing rain boots, please have them bring their shoes for class. Sorry!

The children will not be using cubbies for now.  All of the items that they come to school with will be kept at their desks.  Please send only necessary items with your child in order that their desk area remains neat, tidy and uncluttered.  The use of cubbies will be revisited later in the fall.

The following supplies are recommended for each child to bring to school every day in their own pencil case: 

⦁ 2 or 3 pencils 

⦁ an eraser 

⦁ colouring pencils or markers

⦁ a sharpener 

⦁ 1 dry erase marker

⦁ a pair of scissors

⦁ a small bottle of sanitizer (this can be refilled at school)

⦁ a small package of kleenex  

Because of the pandemic, the children will not be sharing any supplies, therefore they will need to have their own.  If it is not possible to supply any of the above items, please let me know and I will be more than happy to give your child what they need.

School Supplies Wish List: (Optional)

We greatly welcome additional supplies for class use:

⦁ Kleenex - small individual packages if possible

⦁ Baby Wipes/disinfecting wipes - There is no access to water in the portable, so these come in handy to clean dirty hands.  They work well to clean whiteboards as well!

⦁ Ziploc Bags 

Thank you in advance!

Lunches and Allergies:

All students need to bring a lunch with at least 3 snacks.  Healthy snacks are encouraged and children will be asked to eat their healthiest snack in the morning.  Please refrain from sending your child to school with food containing nuts.  Remember to check all packaging for this ingredient as we have students who are highly allergic to nuts.  To keep students safe, students are not permitted to share food with others.  

Classroom Website: 

The address for our classroom blog is: www.grade3pouliot.blogspot.com

All important information will be found on this website.  You do not need to check it regularly, as I will send you an email each time I update it. Be sure to look at all the pages of the website, especially the homepage which will have my Twitter feed (@MrPouliot).  You can follow me on Twitter if you have an account, but you do not have to have a Twitter account to see the Twitter feed through the class website. You can also get to the class site through St. Anne's website by going to Our Schools and clicking on my name.

All future monthly newsletters will be emailed to you through school messenger, and will also be posted on my blog.  (there will be no more paper copies sent home). School Messenger will send you an email directly. 

Communication:

All students were sent home with an agenda.  Please check and sign the agenda nightly and have your child return it each day in the Ziploc bag provided.  Any notes or other information to be sent home will be placed in this bag.  You may use the agenda to share any questions or comments with me and I will do the same.  If you have a private concern, you can call the school and leave a message for me: (613) 271-0308.  I will get back to you as soon as I can.  I feel that communication between parents and teachers is of utmost importance in providing the children with a successful learning environment.  Please don't ever hesitate to contact me.  

Student Information Sheet:

Please click  this link and fill out the student information form. This will greatly assist me in getting to know your child a little better, and will let me know where you would like to pick up your child. Thank you!

Homework:

Homework will begin in October once we have settled into our daily routines.  It will be assigned on a weekly basis and it will follow our learning goals.  Homework will be shared electronically with the children.  It will be due each Friday and will be submitted electronically.  More information regarding homework will be provided closer to October.

Recycling:

Being in a portable is wonderful, but it also has its challenges.  Because we don't have access to water in our classroom, the children are unable to rinse out their plastic containers.  In turn, the containers cannot be put into the blue bin and end up in the garbage.  I ask every year that the children bring these recyclables home.  This year, this will be a school wide routine as we are trying to reduce the amount of activity and movement happening in the school.  As well as recycling,  to reduce the amount of movement within the classroom, children will be asked to bring all garbage from lunches and snacks home. This will include cores, peels and recyclables with food remaining inside.  Please provide a container/bag that your child can fill and put back in his/her lunch bag to bring home.  If you forget to pack a container/bag that your child can use to collect his/her garbage and recycled items,  I will provide your child with a plastic bag for that day.  I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you in advance for your cooperation with this process!  

Masks:

As I’m sure you are all aware, face masks are not mandatory in Grade 3, but are highly encouraged.  If you decide to send your child to school with a mask, please have them practise wearing it at home and putting it on and taking it off.  Also, please let me know if it is important for you to have your child keep the mask on all day.  Face shields are a good idea as well, however, they are not an alternative to a face mask.  It may protect the wearer, but does not prevent droplets from spreading to others.

I hope that your child's experience in Grade Three will be a happy and positive one, despite the unique challenges that we are facing today.  I have been able to separate the desks (seat to seat) approximately one and a half meters.  All children will be facing forward and will remain in their seats for most of the time in the classroom.  Please remind your child the importance of remaining in their seats and the necessity to social distance from the other children.  I will reinforce this at school as well.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.  I will do my best to alleviate any worries or concerns that you may have.  Thank you in advance for your support and I look forward to a great year with you and your child.

Sincerely,

 Mr. Pouliot