Hello Everyone!

What a busy week!

In Math, we concluded our 2D geometry unit. This will lead us nicely into 3D geometry. One of the ways this unit was assessed was a test the students had this past week. I will place them in their homeworks books for a parent's review and signature just as soon as they are marked. Stay tuned. Remembering that Number Sense is a math strand that the children are continually exposed to, the class has been working on strategies to assist with deciding which operation needs to be used to solve a problem. Currently, we are working on adding or subtracting.

In Language, the students got to practice what makes for an interesting introduction and conclusion in their writing. They now have more tools to refine their writing. These 2 anchor charts below will help with the paragraph they need to write in their homework.

An aside..... As stated in last week's blog, I was away on Thursday at a workshop. I left this activity for the children to do in my absence. They needed to write a paragraph as to where they thought I was as well as an illustration. Not only did I see progress in their paragraph writing, I had a giggle at how imaginative their ideas were. I wish I could post them all. They ranged from being sick to needing a day off because one of my daughters was getting married and I had to cook for the guests who came from Mars! I loved them all!

We topped off the week with the St. Rita Dance-a-thon! A great time was had by all. Thank you to the School Council for organizing this fantastic event.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER......

• This note about the St. Elephant White Elephant Sale went home with your child on Friday. Please look around your home for things to donate for the sale and please send those gently used items to school on December 5th and 6th..
• A reminder of Spirit Wear on sale on cash on line on the St. Rita website.
• The St. Rita Calendar says that it is a Popcorn Day this coming Friday. Stay tuned for more details.
• A reminder to return library books by Tuesday at the latest so we can be more efficient in the library on Wednesday.

Have a great week.

Hello Everyone,
It was so nice to see many of you again for parent teacher interviews this past Thursday. These meetings are certainly not confined to just that night. Please let's always feel free to keep in touch with one another via your child's agenda or a quick call to the school.

A short week but a busy one nonetheless.
We have finished up our unit on 2D geometry which puts us nicely on track for 3D geometry. This week we had fun with Mira boards, a math tool that assists us to find lines of symmetry in a shape. Some of our students were so proficient using this math tool that they taught other students how to use the Mira board as efficiently as possible.

We also had a math centre where the students needed to build another shape by only using what was contained in the ziplock bag. Ask your child how they could build a hexagon with only six triangles? The class has been reviewing all of the attributes of a 2D shape. Having said that, there will be a "show me what you know" math block this coming week to ensure the students have built enough of a foundation to move on to 3D solids.

In Language, the week was spent learning about 4 interesting introductions. We called them leads to hook the reader into wanting to continue reading the text. We also did some shared writing to model what a good descriptive piece looks like. This coming week we will look at clever conclusions. I am so sorry. I was really bad with taking photos this week.

In Science, we learned about struts and ties? It was so exciting to see what connections the students made to these words prior to our lesson, then, all the other connections they made after it. Ask your child what other meaning do they now know for the word tie? More specifically when we are talking about tension a structure feels when there is a load.

A few reminders.....

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday the school is still participating in Boomerang Lunch meaning all garbage is sent back home in the hopes that reusable items will be sent the next time. Take a look at the lunches below that are excellent examples of lunches that do  not produce any unnecessary waste.

• St.Rita Spirit Wear can be ordered on-line on the St. Rita website.
• Don't forget about the dance-a-thon this coming Friday. 
• This coming week our school will be having some in-depth presentations on social emotional learning.
• I will be at a workshop all day this coming Thursday. 

Have a good week! I know we will.

Hello Everyone,

We will always remember. 

In Math, we are still looking at 2d shapes. We spend so much time looking at attributes of 2d shapes because it will be the foundation needed to move forward to 3d solids. Below, we used a Venn diagram to sort our figures. Ask your child what happens if  a shape does not fit into either circle or in the overlapping circle?

We also explored what it means when shapes are congruent, similar or different than one another. Go on a shape hunt in your home to discover congruent or similar shapes.

In Science, we added new science vocabulary words into the files of our brains. Ask your child which student is showing an example of  TENSION and COMPRESSION?

In Language, we continue to work on our DESCRIPTIVE WRITING unit. This week we spent time investigating similies. You will see examples of this in your child's homework book this week. The class has been exposed to many examples of descriptive read alouds. Soon, we will have our first opportunity to put all our good learning to use to create our first descriptive writing task.


Some things to remember.......

First Term Subway: 

Nov. 6, Dec. 4, Jan. 8, Feb. 5

First Term Pizza: 

Nov. 13, 20, 27

Dec. 11, 18

Jan. 15, 22, 29

Feb. 12, 19, 26

• Photo Retake Day is November 13th 
• Parent/Teacher Interview this Thursday November 15th. Please sign up on line or call the school or write me a note in your child's agenda to book a longer time slot
• PD Day this Friday November 16th.
• St. Rita Spirit Wear (hats, sweatpants,sweatshirts) is for sale on the St. Rita website

Hello Everybody,
Another interesting week! We dug deeper into our polygon unit. The students practised sorting out polygons by their attributes. A polygon's number of sides, vertices and angles came very naturally to the students by remembering what they already knew and noticing a repeating pattern.

 The students had many opportunities to construct their own polygons and manipulate these attributes first hand.

More time was spent on exploring the type of angles polygons possess. Ask your child how the sticky note helps them to classify what angle they are looking at.

We also defined what parallel lines are. They are a set or pair of lines that are an equal distance apart that never touch one another. We looked at the sets of parallel lines a hexagon has. Ask your child what the mathematical symbol is to show that one line is parallel to another line.

We did a class experiment this week to know of another strategy to use to build a strong and sturdy structure. We already conducted experiments to know that the triangle is the strongest shape and that a wide base is beneficial as well. This experiment showed the students one more strategy.  Builders can alter the materials they use by adding layers to the material to reinforce its strength. Ask your child what happened to the first and second bridge we built.

A big shout out to Mrs. G who shared her Hallowe'en art lesson and materials with our class. Ask your child how All Hallow's Eve came about.

A few things to remember.....

• See, sign and return progress reports that went home with your child on November 1st.
• Interviews booked on-line this year-stay tuned for more details.
• Special lunches start this coming Tuesday- Subway lunch for those who ordered it
• Photos that your child brought home can be ordered on-line 
• Photo re-takes are on November 13th

Have a great week. I know we will!