Good morning Parents and Players!
I hope you all had an enjoyable, relaxing THREE DAY weekend!  I certainly did!

A couple of changes this week...
Homework this week will be reviewing for the math and science (grade 3) and any unfinished class work. No reading response. Check the agenda daily.
Geometry Test - Tuesday
Gr. 3 Science Quiz on Gravity - Wednesday
Mass and Capacity Quiz on Friday

Most students (with the exception of 5) completed the Great Poetry Race.  Thank you parents, for ensuring that your child read The Snake 3 times.
     A popular answer from the 5 who didn't do it was...
"I didn't have any time.  I was very busy."
So, we timed how long it took to read the poem once...
20 seconds each x 3 times = 1 minute total.  
We also calculated how many available waking minutes students had to do this 1 minute task over the 3 days off....
12 hours of awake time a day x 60 minutes = 720 minutes of awake time a day x 3 days = 2, 160  minutes of time available to do a 1 minute task....

Of course, life happens and if you write me note in your child's agenda why your child hasn't completed The Great Poetry Race, your child will be excused.

The Great Poetry Race will be assigned every weekend.   Parents, please find out if your child was one of the 5 who didn't do it and have a little talk about managing their time.  Our poem this week is very exciting, I look forward to listening to your child read it!

That's about all for today!

Coach Wilson


SECRET QUESTION:  I have ONE PAIR of parallel sides, 4 angles (2 obtuse, 2 acute), and two of my sides are equal. I am a polygon.  What 2D shape am I?

Happy Fake Friday!  (Actually, it's Thursday, but there's no school for your kiddies tomorrow)

Coming Home Tonight...

The Great Poetry Race - I only put a couple of copies of the recording log in each poetry book. Once this is full, please use any regular lined sheet of paper.  Record the title and sign for each time the poem is read.  Thanks for your support!

Gr. 3 Science Quiz:  Coming home tonight...some students needs to spend a little more time reviewing at home.  I gave two days of review in class as well as two days of review at home. This should have been plenty of time to prepare for a quiz.  Thank you parents for your support.  The next quiz on Gravity will be on Tuesday. I will show the video today and again on Monday and we have the quiz on Tuesday.



Gr. 3 Math Test on Geometry 2D Shapes - Tuesday.  I will send math duo tangs home tonight for the weekend and on Monday night for review. Here is an example of how a student should be able to describe a 2D shape...

             This is a trapezoid.  It is also a polygon.  It is a quadrilateral because it has four sides.  Two    of the sides are equal.  It has four vertices. It has four angles; two obtuse angles and two  acute angles.

• parallel lines/sides - lines or sides that do not intersect and if they went on forever, would not intersect
• quadrilateral - any 4 sided figure (such as a trapezoid, rhombus, square, and rectangle)
• polygon - any 2-D shape with at least 3 straight sides and angles
• parallelogram - a 4 sided figure with opposite sides parallel (such as a rhombus, square, and rectangle)
• congruent - shapes that are exactly the same size and shape 

Grade 2 Math Test: on Geometry 2D Shapes - Tuesday.
Students should be able to identify the shapes and describe them by these attributes:

• name
• number of sides
• number of vertices
• number of parallel sides

Also, students should be able to compare two shapes and discuss what is similar and what is different.

Monday next week, I will also begin teaching about Mass and Capacity.  This is part two of the Measurement unit that might help bump up some marks.

GRADE THREE KEY CONCEPTS:  

• Capacity = the amount of liquid a container can hold. 
• Capacity is measured in litres and millilitres.  
• 1L = 1000 mL
• a glass is approximately 250 mL
• 4 glasses is equivalent to 1L (250 mL + 250 mL + 250 mL + 250 mL = 1L)

GRADE TWO KEY CONCEPTS:

• Capacity = the amount of liquid a container can hold
• Estimate, measure, and order the capacities of various containers using non-standard units of measure

As you can see, the Grade 2 expectations are very simple and quite few.  I WILL BE TEACHING the class as a whole group, so the grade twos will learn how to identify containers that can hold more than a Litre and containers that hold less than a Litre.  

Math Quiz on Mass and Capacity - Thursday

Ok, that's enough for now...going to have a family movie night now!  Enjoy your long weekend!

Coach Wilson

SECRET QUESTION:  What is the total of 5 x 2 and 3 x 4?

Dear Parents and Players,
Reminders:  

• Tomorrow is our Music test!  Students must play a piece of their choice from their black Music duo tangs. If you would like to see the specific criteria by which the students will be assessed, please see the rubric in their music books.

• Also, I mentioned in an earlier post, this Friday is a PD day, so there is no school for students.  Therefore, our 2-D shapes test will be next week.  I will also be covering part of a unit on Mass and Capacity to help in bumping up some of the poor marks students may have received in  Time/Temperature/ and Calendar.  Both of these units are in Measurement, so this mark will factor in to your child's overall Math mark.   I am replacing part of our language block next week with Math so that we are able to cover the content needed to be covered by the end of term one.

• Many students are leaving important materials at home (agendas, math duo tangs, science duo tangs, music duo tangs, recorders, etc) and therefore unable to complete classwork at school.  Please make it part of your child's morning routine to pack their own backpacks for school before leaving home.  A checklist is always helpful for those who often forget.  Students LOVE to blame you, the parents, for not packing their work into their backpacks, however, I NEVER allow that excuse.  I tell them they need to be pack their own backpack themselves.  Thanks for your support.

More soon,

Coach Wilson

SECRET QUESTION:  Gr. 3 - Name one of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit.             Gr. 2 - Does air take up space?

Very disappointed...
A total of 9 STUDENTS did not complete their weekend homework:  The Great Poetry Race.  They were expected to read our Poem of the Week at minimum of 3 times and those who read it more competed in a Poetry read-off.  I am hoping that since it is new, many students simply forgot about this homework.  Next weekend, hopefully everyone will complete it!

Congratulation to Lea who competed and won in the poetry read off according to very specific criteria (eye contact, expression, keeping time, body staying still, decoding fluency).

Coach Wilson

SECRET QUESTION:  How many times does a student HAVE TO read the Poem of the Week for the Great Poetry Race next weekend? 

Hello Parents and Players!

This week the Homework will be a Reading Response (written in agenda as 'RR').  It will work the same way as a THRoW, meaning it will be given on Monday and due by Friday.  It consists of a reading passage followed by a series of questions; some multiple choice and some short answer.  The grade 2s will begin with a multiple choice only question format to begin.  I will slowly incorporate short answer questions as the weeks progress.  Please encourage your child to try to do this work independently.  If they have questions, assist them in working through it.  Goal for grade 3s - to answer the questions by referring to specific examples in the text when it states; Use details from the text to support your answer.  For grade 2 - the focus is to respond correctly in complete sentences.

MATH:   Please return signed Math tests.  We have already begun a brief unit on Geometric 2D shapes; describing properties of 2D shapes, how to compose and decompose shapes using other shapes, etc.  We will be having a quiz on Friday as well as a unit test the following week.  Your child might have incomplete math work to do if they did not complete their work in class.  If your child has their Math duotang in their agenda, check for unfinished pages.

ARTS:   This term, we will focus the following 3 strands of the Arts:  Drama, Music, and Visual Arts.  Please make sure your child keeps his/her recorder in their backpack EVERYDAY.  There will be a Music test this Friday on a piece of your child's choosing from their Music duotang.  Students will be assessed on posture, proper handling (left hand on top), keeping time with foot tapping, and reading and playing the correct notes.

SCIENCE:  We are learning about ...
Gr. 3 - Forces:  Gravity / Muscular / Friction / Erosion
This science unit is set up a little differently.  There will be a series of short videos that highlight key information that can be found on a review sheet in your child's green duotang.  Students will watch the video one day and have a short quiz on the next day.  This will continue until all 4 forces have been completed.  There will also be an end of the unit test that will be averaged with their quizzes for a final mark.  So, study up each night for the quizzes, it will help your child's overall grade!  I will post the videos as well if you wish to review them.
Gr. 2 - Liquids and Solids:  We will investigate the properties liquids and solids through a series of investigations and experiments.

Ok, that's all for now, off to play hockey!  (Yes, I do play organized hockey, but truth be told, I'm not exactly Wayne Gretzky!)

Coach Wilson

Secret Question:  What colour is the team that Coach Wilson plays hockey on?

Welcome back to the second half of our amazing year!  I hope you all had a chance to relax and enjoy some good quality family time over these past two weeks!  Sorry, it took me an extra day to get this blog up and running again, it seems I'm a little sluggish to get back into the regular routine!

This week....

Homework will be assigned on a daily basis and will likely be in Math or Science.  Please check the pages in Math or Science duo tangs marked with H.W. in pen at the top to know which pages your child should be completing for the following day.

Math test Friday - we will be wrapping up our unit on Data Management.  Focus on ...

Gr. 2 - Expected to be able to come up with a survey question, ask ten students in the class, collect the data on a chart, record the data using tally marks, create a bar graph, enter the data into the bar graph, correctly label the bar graph, and interpret the data in a variety of ways.

Gr. 3 - Is expected to be able to do the above as well as identify the MODE of a set of data (the number which appears most often), answer multiple choice questions about pictographs and bar graphs, compare date on graphs, and interpret the data in a variety of ways.

Also, as you noticed, we have switched from Song of the Week to Poem of the Week.  Be on the look out for the Great Poetry Challenge this weekend where students will be asked to read the poem of the week to as many people as possible.  The top three people who read the poem the most times will be selected to have a READ OFF in front of the class.  Then, our class will vote which student read the poem the best based on specific criteria (expression, time, pace, volume, eye contact, and use of body).  Winners will be treated to choose a prize from my prize box.  All readings must be signed by an adult to verify.  Happy reading!

That is enough for now...I want this to get to you as soon as possible!

Until later,
Coach Wilson

SECRET QUESTION:  What do we call a group of words in a poem separated by a space?

Dear Parents and Players,
        Well, today's luncheon was a huge success and enjoyed by all!  Thank you to all who made it possible by sending in desserts / plates / cutlery / napkins!  It was really nice to sit down together as a class team and share to what we are grateful for before sharing in a meal. Parents, you have beautiful children both inside and out.  I am blessed to be their teacher.  Thank you for the kind words and thoughtful gifts this week!  I am touched by your kindness.  Enjoy your family time these next few weeks!



Until next year,
Coach Wilson

Enjoy these pics from today!