Mrs. Stringers Blog

  Due to our short week last week, I have combined the last two weeks into this post! In literacy last week, we completed our unit on non-fiction writing.  The grade threes used a rubric to mark themselves on their writing before handing it in.  They also created a Holiday poem about Valentines, using their 5 senses. Then this week we focused our discussions and writing around Pink Shirt Day and Anti-bullying.  The grade three's wrote a poem about bulling from different perspectives, either the Bully, the Bullied or the Bystanders.  They discussed with their classmates how each person would feel, would see, and would be thinking in a bullying situation.  They then used these ideas to fill in sentences starters to create a poem.  In our reading power lessons, we continued to discuss how good author's paint pictures in our mind and we as readers need to VISUALIZE these pictures as we read.  Together we read a picture book and different students drew...

 In literacy this week, we continued our work with Non-fiction writing.  The grade 3's choose another topic and began their dash facts research.  In reading, we continued our discussion about 'Connecting' with our books.  This week we focused on making different connections, connections with the world, ourselves and other books we have read.   In math this week, we began another big idea, multiplication.  This we learned that multiplication is repeated addition and that the multiplication sign means 'groups of'.  We also learned that multiplication is a lot like repeated addition and what an 'array' is.  We explored and created different arrays with coloured tiles and transferred our arrays onto graph paper. In Science this week, we concluded our Hearing & Sound unit.  We build instruments that can create a sound, change pitch and volume.  The grade 3's also presented their instruments to their classmates and were wonderful audi...

  Thank-you once again to the wonderful parent volunteers who were able to attend our field trip to Studio Bell this week!! In literacy this week, we finished our descriptive paragraph about our animal.  This week, we focused on writing an effective ending and revising our work.  Then we wrote a good copy of our report and drew a diagram of the animal. In math this week, we concluded our measurement unit of time. We compared the units of measure, seconds, minutes and hours.  Then we worked through different activities for a minute and compared them with our group.  On Thursday, we had a quick quiz showing how you can read an analog and digital clocks. In Science, we had a wonderful trip to Studio Bell on Wednesday.  The grade 3's learned that an instrument must have a vibration to make a sound.  They learned that instruments must be either plucked, struck, blown or electric as it's source of energy.  They explored the different levels to the sound...

In literacy this week, we took are 'dash facts' about our animal and learned how to turn them into a paragraph or report about animals.  We talked about 'hooking our reader' with an interesting beginning and adding voice and reaction into our fact writing to keep the reader interested.  We also created a list of 'fancy fact starters' so that each fact is presented differently.  In word work this week, we focused on 'Bossy R' words, that make the vowel in front of them make the long sound.  On Thursday, we used our letter tiles to build words with 'Bossy R's' in them.   In math this week, we began talking about time.  We learned about the different parts of a clock, the hour hand and the minute hand.  We learned that each number represents 5 minutes on the clock and how hours and minutes are related.  On Friday, we did our 1st clothes line math activity, using our skills reading analog clocks to put the different times in order. In Science thi...

  Happy Lunar New Year!   In Literacy this week, we began looking at non-fiction writing.  We discussed the different types of non-fiction writing and the purposes behind them.  Then we looked at non-fiction text features, things like glossaries, indexes, captions, maps and titles.  Next, the grade 3's completed a scavenger hunt looking for these features in their non-fiction books.  On Thursday, we began researching our favourite animal using Dash Facts, looking through books and websites to find answers to our big ideas or questions. In Math this week, we continued our work with subtraction of 3-digit numbers.  We focused on using our skills to solve word problems and questions that require double regrouping with zeros.  We also played a game, using a spinner to create a target number and then creating a problem that gets them closest to the target number.  We also looked at a 'quick image', to get our math brains working, and had a gr...

In Literacy this week, we began with some self-reflection. We read a book called the Bad Seed and talked about how we can learn to grow and change.  Then we created a ME Tree, writing about the people who support us, the things we are grateful for and what we love.  Later in the week, we reviewed what syllables are and how many syllables are in each word.  We used this knowledge and skills to write a Haiku poem about the Birch Trees we created in art.  In word work this week, we completed a quick quiz on some high frequency words we need to know in our writing. In math this week, we continued our study of subtraction.  This week, we reviewed subtraction with 2-digit numbers and began learning about subtracting larger 3-digit numbers.  We used base ten blocks and a place value chart to learn why it is important to regroup numbers to allow for subtraction.  On Friday, we played a game called 'subtraction stacks' to practice our basic fact fluency. In Soc...

 Happy Last Full Week until holidays!! This week in literacy, we continued our work on Event stories.  Each student chose a different event in their life to write about.  This week we focused on 'stretching out a key moment' in their stories and creating a 'satisfying ending'.  In word work, we focused on the 2 different sounds 'oo' make in words.  We completed our first closed word sort with a partner, using the 'oo' words. In math this week, we continued with our data management unit.  This week, we continued to look closer at line plot graphs, analyzing them and creating some of our own using first and second hand data.  We also began talking about measurement and worked on a measurement project, measuring different body parts and comparing them to our classmates by creating line and bar graphs. In Social Studies this week, we continued with our study of Peru. This week we talked about the economy in Peru, including the difference between llamas and...