News from Learning Centre 3!

Welcome Mrs. Faulconer!

Welcome to Mrs. Faulconer, our new Educational Assistant in Learning Centre 3. Mrs. Faulconer brings such a positive energy into our classroom and we are happy to have her join our team for the remainder of the school year!

Sugar Shock!

One of the highlights in our classroom this week was our "Sugar Shock" experiment during Health. We have been learning about the importance of healthy eating and physical activity. This led us towards taking a closer look at the unhealthy habits in our diet.  Have you ever wondered how much sugar is in one can of pop? The students worked together to find out!

New Learnings in Learning Centre 3:

I'm so proud of the hardworking researchers we have in our classroom! We have been learning how to write a quality report about keeping our bodies healthy and are currently working on the Pre- Writing phase.  We have been learning how to choose current and reputable resources. As the students explore different research materials, they are "pre-writing" - jotting down their ideas and warming up their brains before they write!

Track Your Thinking!
We are learning to "Track Our Thinking" while we read. Not only does this help us with our "Pre-Writing" but it also helps us comprehend fictional and non-fictional text. Students have been documenting their thinking onto everything from paper to whiteboards to even post-it-notes tucked into their novels! In our daily small groups we have been learning to do a "close read" meaning reading the text multiple times. The first time we read a text we are merely breaking the surface and becoming familiar with the text.  Re-reading the text a second time gives us more information. The third time we read a text we begin to understand what we read enough that they can ask and answer questions, explain it to others and identify the main idea and key details.  Students are encouraged use the following symbols as they track their thinking:
?    Question
!     Interesting
*    Important
L    New Learning

Swimming Fun!

This week marks the end of our swimming lessons at the Lawson. It was exciting to see the students develop their swim skills over the last few weeks and create memories with their classmates for years to come!

The Science of Sound

Our classroom has been buzzing excitement, music and even duck calls! The students created their own pan flutes, and duck calls using straws, while exploring concepts such as sound vibrations and pitch.

A Visit from Elder Betty

On Friday we had a special visit from Elder Betty, who shared three First Nations stories of oral tradition.

Your Invited to our Knock on the Door for Literacy Event!

Monday January 27, 2014 (Family Literacy Day)

Anytime between 8:30-4:30

Please come to the school, knock on your child's classroom door and take your child to the Resource Centre for a 15 minute "Literacy Break". Children's Books and Word Work Games will be available for you and your child to use during this time. All families that attend will be entered to win a Scholastic Book Fair shopping spree for March 28th.

"Studies show beyond dispute that children's achievements in school improve with increased parent involvement in education" (Henderson, 1998)

Thank you for being involved in your child's learning journey!

Important Dates:
January 27: Family Literacy Day - Knock on the Door for Literacy Event
January 30: Parent Project Letters are Due
January 31: No School (PD Day)

Have a fabulous weekend!

Ms. Cameron