Spelling Words (Week of Sep. 13)

 Spelling List A (Sep. 11 – 18)

has	take	walk	were	then
stop	her	by	my	put

 

Spelling List B (Sep. 11 – 18)

called	lose	fall	never	would
shown	drink	early	they	bring

 

Spelling List C (Sep. 11 – 18)

together	picked	lightly	grown	gone
kindly	started	born	Monday	know

More sight words this week. List C has gotten quite a bit harder, and I want to emphasize that these words are meant to be above-and-beyond what I would expect from Grade 3, and even Grade 4 students at this point in the year. Also, while I encourage students to challenge themselves, for these initial spelling lists, it is important that they already have a good handle on the words from lower lists before trying the harder ones. Generally the words on List A will be more commonly used in writing.

Good luck!

Friday, Sep. 11

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today. The students had a lot of work period time in the morning and most were able to finish all the work we started this week. We met with our Buddy class and played a get-to-know-your-buddy board game, which everyone seemed to enjoy. The students have been officially paired with a younger buddy for the year.

In Math, we did an estimation activity in which the students had to approximate where certain numbers would be on a number line from 0 - 1000. This exercise is a great way to help students build an understanding of 'relativity' when it comes to numbers. 75 might seem like a big number, for example,  but on a 0 - 1000 line, its actually a lot closer to 0.

The students did an excellent job on their spelling quizzes. Keep up the great work at home! Each week gives me a better idea of the class' spelling abilities, and helps me create lists that will hopefully challenge everyone.

Stay tuned for next week's words, and have a nice weekend!

Zac

Thursday, September 10

 Hi parents,

Today we did some more writing with conjunctions. I'm hopeful that building this skill so early in the year will help students use a wider variety of sentence structures in their regular writing work throughout the year. For today's task, students were given a simple sentence, and asked to use the five conjunctions we learned earlier to end the sentence in five different ways.

We did some printing practice to review proper letter formation for lower-case letters. There are a lot of students that write certain letters in unusual and inefficient ways. It can be pretty hard to undo these habits, but I thought a little review wouldn't hurt. In a few weeks, cursive will replace printing practice.

We also had our first French lesson of the year, and learned a variety of greetings. I was quite impressed with how much the Grade 3s remembered from last year. :)

In Math, we played the math game Race to 1,000. It's a very simple game that helps students review counting patterns, and remember that it doesn't go, "98, 99, 100, 200,  300..." Which is often how students count aloud.

Tomorrow is our spelling quiz. Have a nice night,

Zac

Wednesday, September 9

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today. The students did an awesome job with their first Fire Drill, and we learned some cool things in Science.

In the morning, we did 'Spelling Sentences'. This is my favourite weekly writing routine. Basically, the students have to write 5-10 sentences, with one of their spelling words featured in each sentence. As if that wasn't fun enough, each week's practice comes with a randomly chosen 'twist' - something they have to include in each sentence, always based on developing a specific writing skill. The twist is chosen with a dice roll.

Today the twist was that each sentence had to include a proper noun. This helped the kids build an understanding of proper nouns, and what words should / should not be capitalized in a sentence.

In Math, we've been working with the Golden Beads to practice representing numbers, addition, and regrouping. The Grade 3s are doing awesome with this concept and are almost ready for the standard algorithm. The Grade 4s clearly remember it from last year and are starting to talk about decimals. 

In the afternoon, we talked about natural vs. processed materials for science. We watched a cool video that showed the students 8 important indigenous inventions that were created solely from natural materials. The students brainstormed lists of other examples of natural and processed materials.

Have a nice night,

Zac 

Tuesday, September 8

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today. In the morning, we learned about 'conjunctions' (and, but, so, because, although), and how they can be used to combine two simple sentences into a compound sentence. Then the students wrote about their weekends using compound sentences. 

In Math, we used the Golden Beads to represent numbers, and we started learning about regrouping. The Golden Beads material is one of the best ways to illustrate the 'regrouping' aspect of the standard algorithm (also known as 'carrying the one').

In the afternoon we practiced the new spelling words, played tag games in gym, and had some quiet reading time.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of Sep. 6)

 Spelling List A (Sep. 4 – 11)

find	is	one	to	up
we	look	now	so	that

 

Spelling List B (Sep. 4 – 11)

all	went	think	any	going
those	gave	very	trying	done

 

Spelling List C (Sep. 4 – 11)

eight	isn’t	drawing	kept	today
longer	myself	growing	shall	warmer

This week's words are more essential sight words. List C introduces a few more suffixes (-er, -ing) to take those sight words and make them a little tougher. 

Good luck!

Friday, September 4

 Hi parents,

Today was a great way to wrap up our first week of school. We had Music and Work period at the start of the day, and then did the spelling quiz. I was quite happy with how the quiz went. It showed me that our class is very capable of studying for and writing a test. They listened attentively while I called out words and knew not to copy each other or talk during the quiz.

We met our Buddy Class, Ms. Adamson's Grade 1/2 class, and the students had some time to read and play outside all together. This gave us a chance to decide on official buddy pairings for next time. 

In math, I gave the class their first lesson with the Golden Beads material. This Montessori material is excellent for illustrating place value, and the relative sizes of numbers from 1 - 1,000. The students were really quick to grasp the lesson and I think we'll be able to move through the place value unit fairly quickly!

Stay tuned for next week's spelling words, and have a great weekend!

Zac

Thursday, September 3

 Hi parents,

We had another good day today. We attended the Welcome Back assembly in the morning, and talked about another big idea our school is focusing on this year - the idea of 'voice', and how you can use your voice to make the world a better place. Ms. Rooke and Ms. Watson read a book about this to the school.

We had our first Music class today.

We also did some list writing, in which the students had to write four separate lists of their top 3 / 5 ______. For example, "Top 5 Movies", "Top 3 Foods", etc.

List writing is a great way to get reluctant writers started. Its generally less overwhelming to have to think of and write individual words than to write sentences.

In math, we reviewed and explored the concept of place value and the number '100'. Students worked in groups to create 10 x 10 grids of cards to show how 100 can be represented. We talked about the pattern of place value, and how 1, 10, 100, 1000, 10,000, 100,000 are all related. 

This year Grade 3s will be investigating numbers up to 100,000. Grade 4's will also do this, and they'll look at decimals too. The best way to understand these 'uncountable' numbers is to build a really strong understanding of numbers to 100, and apply those patterns to the less tangible number problems. 

Tomorrow we will be having our first spelling quiz of the year, and I'll send those home at the end of the day. We'll also meet our buddy class!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Lots of things on the work period wall for the first week of school

Wednesday, September 2

 Hi parents,

Today the students did some writing about something that brings them joy. We talked a bit about sensory vocabulary words and how kind of introduced the idea of a paragraph as a group of 3-7 sentences about a single topic, featuring a topic sentence.

We went outside to the garden and did some sketching, and then came back inside and learned some simple techniques for drawing faces in different styles.

We played a few literacy games, that the students will be able to use when we start doing Daily LA, and the Grade 4s did an awesome job of being role models and showing the Grade 3s how to play. We had did another spelling practice too.

In Gym, we formed the first iterations of our class kickball teams, and played a fun game of kickball. 

Tomorrow we're having a Welcome Back assembly, and students are encouraged to wear yellow, to celebrate joy.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Tuesday, September 1

 Hi parents,

We had another awesome day today. The students did a lot of work, especially for this early in the year, and I really wish I could share some of it but we've got to do the media clearance forms first...

This morning the students wrote Acrostic Poems using their names. They learned how to use bubble letters too. For each letter of their name, they wrote a word, or phrase, that connected to them in some way.

In math, we did a Math About me page, where the students found numbers relevant to their lives (for example, I am 34 years old, I have 2 siblings, I was born on the 25th day of, etc.) and then they wrote equations that corresponded with each number. For example, 30 + 4 = 34, I am 34 years old. I really enjoyed seeing how creative some of the responses were.

In the afternoon, we played Bench Dodgeball in Gym, did some quiet reading, and then practiced spelling again.

All in all we are off to a fantastic start to the year. I am really happy with how respectful and engaged the students have been. I feel like we'll do a lot of learning this year.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Spelling Words (First Week of School) & Info About Spelling

 Hi parents,

Here are the spelling words we're working on this week. I've also included the annual blurb explaining how spelling works in my classroom.

Spelling List A (Aug 31 – Sep 4)

a	I	and	the	not
in	my	for	come	see

 

Spelling List B (Aug 31 – Sep 4)

out	want	must	saw	please
well	there	again	does	use

 

Spelling List C (Aug 31 – Sep 4)

about	light	been	took	walked
which	could	don’t	found	pulled

And here is the needlessly long explanation about spelling practice and spelling quizzes in Room 3. If your child was in my class last year you probably already know all this! 

My approach to spelling is meant to help students learn common patterns that will allow them to accurately spell familiar and unfamiliar words when writing, as well as those high-frequency 'need to know' words that may not follow common patterns. 

They will also develop their ability to work towards learning goals through regular practice and study, as well as some basic test-taking skills in a low-pressure, low-stakes environment.

 

Students will have the opportunity to choose ONE spelling list to focus on each week. In the classroom, we have talked about how to effectively choose a list that is a 'good challenge' - not so easy that it won't teach you any new spelling concepts, but also not so difficult that it's overwhelming.  

 

Most weeks, the spelling lists will focus on specific letter sounds, blends, or patterns, as they appear in words of different complexities. For example, the practice words last week were all intended to review short-vowel sounds, though the words on List A were simpler than those on List C. This approach lets me teach the whole class the same spelling concept, but give the students an opportunity to apply that concept at a level that works best for them.

The main goal of spelling practice is not to memorize words, but to learn a wide range of common spelling patterns, which will then allow students to attempt to spell unfamiliar words more accurately. For example, a student who learns to spell 'hot' and 'rob', would hopefully be able to spell the unfamiliar word 'rot' as well, even though that specific word was not on their spelling list. 

There will however be some weeks where we just focus in on high-frequency sight words (the, said, they, where, and, etc.), that you just need to know how to spell. There will not be a specific letter blend or vowel combination that these words share. We will address those early in the year. 

This year, I'm hoping to also use spelling lists as a means to introduce and intentionally practice new vocabulary words! I went to some interesting PD sessions on this and I'm excited to try it out.

  

At the end of each week, we will have a Spelling Quiz. These quizzes are meant to be low-pressure opportunities for students to showcase their learning, and experience what it is like to study for and take a test.  I do not use the marks in my report card grades! However, seeing how students perform helps me to teach better. If many students perform badly on a spelling quiz, it tells me that we need to spend more time on that concept. If an individual student has a tough time with a quiz, we might review that concept a bit more one-on-one.

Practicing for quizzes at home is completely optional. We will practice throughout the week in class. However, if you want to also practice at home, that can be a great way to boost your child's confidence and reinforce their learning. It's totally up to you. I will post the words each week on Friday.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

            Zac