Mrs. Rowein's Blog

 Yesterday it became apparent that many students don't quite understand where in the world they live. For homework, students are to explore maps! They can use Google maps, a road map, or an atlas. Once students have found Calgary, and explore the provinces and territories of Canada, they can begin exploring the world. Enjoy!

 Today was Orange Shirt Day. Students spend the morning learning about Canada's residential school history. We watched a video that was a first hand account of a man's experience in residential schools. We also read the book, When We Were Alone, that talked about all the things that were taken away from Indigenous children in residential schools. In Math, grade threes are learning about place value. Today they used based tens to give them a concrete example of place value. For homework, parents can write own 3-digit numbers and have their child say the number out loud. Yesterday in Social Studies we began our new unit: Quality of Life Around the World. The first country we will be learning about is Peru. Students looked at pictures for clues about the quality of life in Peru.  The last two days in Science, students have been learning about the life cycle of amphibians. We have learned that amphibians go through metamorphosis. Students created labelled scientific diagram to sho...

 Happy Monday :) Today we continued on our novel study, Fantastic Mr. Fox. Students learned what cause and effect relationships are, and identified different ones within the novel. In Math, grade three have started their new unit on place value. As a review, we practiced counting by 10s and 100s while starting at random numbers. Then, students organized 3 digit numbers into place value charts. Finally, students learned how to make Egyptian Numbers. Egyptian numbers are a great representation of place value. For homework students were asked to teach a family member how to make Egyptian numbers. Unfortunately last week we had some issues with bullying and name calling at lunch and recess. We continue to talk about respecting diversity as a class, and the golden rule. Today we read the book One, which has a strong message about standing up for others.  All students have now finished their Social Studies presentation on Quality of Life in Alberta. Parents can check out their child...

 I am so proud to announce that Grade 3&4 raised a total of $61.00 to donate to the Terry Fox Foundation. We completed our run as a team this morning, and celebrated meeting our goal with a movie party this afternoon. Reminder: there is no school tomorrow because of virtual meet the teacher. Have a great long weekend! :) Mrs Rowein

 Monday in Language Arts we started our novel study: Fantastic Mr. Fox! Throughout this novel students will complete a daily activity that connects to a comprehension skill (i.e., predicting, connecting, inferring, summarizing, visualizing, questioning, analyzing). They will also be answering comprehension questions. Today students began writing their persuasive letters about animal care. Our big goal is to simply take information researched and put it into complete sentences. Some other goals for this assignment include proper capitalization, using our spelling dictionaries, and using specific words. In Social Studies, students have done lots of work on their Google Slide presentations. They are quick learners when it comes to technology! Being a strong typer will be helpful this year, as we do use the computers quite often. Students can practice proper typing at home by going on www.typingclub.com. In Math this week, both grades completed the Math Programming assessment. This is ...

 Don't forget to sign up for our virtual meet the teacher night! A message was sent via school messenger with instructions last week. I will be calling families who did not sign up for a virtual meeting. :) Mrs. Rowein

  I am very excited to announced that as of today we have hit our Terry Fox fundraising goal! We have raised $54.70 to donate to the Terry Fox foundation. Students still have until next Thursday to contribute if they wish to do so. Our Terry Fox Run, and celebratory movie party will take place on Thursday September 24. Yesterday in Science, students finished their Animal Care research. Students goal was to be able to paraphrase information into their own words. In Math, grade threes continue to work on extending patterns through addition and subtraction. Grade fours have a similar focus. They have been practicing skip counting and adding on through games and activities. Today in Social Studies, students learned how to access Google Classroom and create a Google Slides presentation. Their presentation will demonstrate understanding of our big question: "What factors continue to a good quality of life here in Alberta?" Parents now how access to sign up for Meet the Teacher. Thi...

 Students are excited about fundraising for the Terry Fox Foundation. We have already raised $36.05. We are getting very close to our goal of $50.00! This week in Language Arts, students received their first project. They will be researching animal care, which is part of our Science program of studies. Studies must research an animal of their choice, then write a letter convincing their parents to let them get a pet! (Sorry parents- but some of them are very convincing!) Students have also been continuing their focus on specific words. As a class we have compiled specific words we have used to describe colors, and will continue to add different categories to our "master" list. In Math, the grade threes are continuing to create patterns by adding and subtracting. They have practiced this skill in games, their Jump Math, morning warm-up, and word problems. This week we started training for the Terry Fox Run! As a class, we are working on building stamina with running. Some stra...

Our Language Arts structure is such that we alternate between focusing on reading, and focusing on writing skills. Of course, we continue to discuss and learn how to be good readers and writers all throughout our day!  Yesterday in Language Arts, students learned about non-fiction books. We looked at all the different text features we can use to help us learn. We will be using non-fiction books and articles to help us research during our upcoming Science unit. Today in Language Arts we continued our focus on choosing specific language. Students did a mad-lib style activity where they filled in specific words in order to make an exciting and detailed paragraph. Then they were given a chance to revisit a paragraph they wrote last week, and see how it could be improved by adding more specific language.  In Math, grade threes are now practicing extending number patterns through subtraction, or counting backwards. I am so impressed with their math skills and how quickly they have b...

 Happy Tuesday Everyone :) This morning we started our day with a refresher on all the new COVID-19 rules. In Language Arts we learned about specific words. This should be review for students who were in my class last year! Students helped me revise a piece of writing that had very vague and basic vocabulary. Then, they came up with lists of their own specific words and used them in sentences. In Math, grade threes have been focusing on "finding the difference." Today they built on this skill by extending number patterns after they had found the difference between a set of numbers.  Our chapter book challenge is off to a great start! Three grade fours have already finished one chapter book. Once students finish a book, they complete a template to do a book talk and share it with the class. In Phys. Ed we are playing cooperative games outdoors for the next two weeks. Today students played Capture the Flag. The boys were undefeated against the girls! Better luck tomorrow ladies...

 Today we started off with our "walk and talk." This will be a routine every Friday until winter arrives. As a class we get some fresh air, and a chance to just chat!  In Language Arts, students showed off their writing skills with a short writing assessment using a fall picture prompt. Writing is one of my favourite subjects to teach, and I can't wait to see how we grow this year! In Math, grade threes have started their first unit of counting on. As a full class, we played Difference Dual. Its an easy game to play with cards at home. Flip two cards over. Find the difference between the two. For example, if you flip a 4 and a 7, the difference is 3. Whoever says the correct answer first keeps those cards. At the end of the game, the winner is the one with the most cards. Students were also introduced to the concept of Quality of Life in Social Studies. This will be our focus for the first few months of Social Studies.  Once again, I am SO proud of how flexible the studen...

 Our staggered entry has been a success, and all students have now come back to school! I was so impressed with how well students have adjusted to our "new normal." Everyone had a positive attitude, and did their best to follow the new rules and routines. Both grades participated in a short Language Arts activity, and showed what they know about number sense in Math. Lots of time was spent getting to know each other, and making our classroom beautiful and personalized! Parents, please remember to send a water bottle to school with your child, as fountains are closed.  Tomorrow is our first day all together! We will start to get into our regular class schedule. I will be outside at the basketball courts again in the morning to meet everyone. Mrs. Rowein :)

  How Parents Opt-In To opt-in: parents use their cell phone to text YES (or Y) to the six-digit number 724665. (The cell must be one of the numbers in SIRS.) Instructions for parents are included on   cbe.ab.ca/subscribe . Their opt-in applies indefinitely (unless withdrawn) for all their children at all CBE schools, so long as their cell number stays the same. If their cell changes, they need to tell the school (to update SIRS) and opt-in with the new email. They can opt in or out any time. To opt-out, parents text STOP to 724665. Opting-in is optional. If parents have multiple cell numbers in SIRS, texts will go to whichever number(s) they opt in from.