Week of Dec. 3- 7

• Wow! It is hard to believe that we are into the first full week of December.
• I will be keeping the same spelling words as last week because we only had 2 days with them.
• Continue reading 20 min each night and continue with your math facts each night as well.
• Wed. December 5th is Disney Day. Everyone is asked to dress like your fav. Disney character.
• Dec. 12 and 13 will be candy gram sales for 50 cents a piece.
• We have started our Human Body unit in science.
• Please dress for cold weather and it wouldn't hurt to pack an extra pair of socks.
• Have a great week everyone.

Week of Nov. 27-30

• No school on Monday, November 26 due to a PD day.
• I am looking forward to meeting with everyone for interviews :o)
• Students handed in their social studies projects on one of the six physical regions of Canada on Thursday.  There were to complete a poster or a brochure.
• We are moving onto our first science unit "The Human Body"  this week!  Students are excited.
• I will be sending the last book order home before Xmas break later in the week.  
• Grade 4 words for the week are:  hole, whole, also, growing, slower, toaster, oldest, grown, throne, more, snowing, stolen, throat, ago, joke
• Please make sure you are reading 20 mins each evening.
• We are finishing up our fraction unit this week and we will beginning our decimal unit after that.
• Have a great week everyone.

Week of Nov. 13-16

• The parent teacher interview times are up.  Grade 5 students should make sure that they are signing up for Mrs. Toombs (language arts and math), and the grade 4's sign up for myself.
• We are continuing to work on our fractions unit in math.  Please review math facts nightly.
• I sent the book order in on Wednesday.
• Please be reading 20 min. each evening and record it in your duotangs.
• This week in writing we will be focusing on how to answer questions completely.  We should be able to tell what the question was from the answer we write.
• I will be going over a social studies project with the class on Tuesday.  We will decide on a due date then.  
• Grade 4 words for the week are the following: dear, piece, reading, repeating, agree, thirteen, speaking, breeze, relieved, eager, steam, slimy, funny, honey, thief
• Have a great week everyone!

Short Week! Nov. 5-7

• There will be no spelling words this week.  I am going to give the students the 103 high frequency word list throughout the 3 days.
• There will be no school on Thursday and Friday of this week due to PD days.
• Grade 4's math- please continue to work on your math facts each night.  We are continuing to work on our fractions unit.
• We will have a small match quiz on the 6 physical regions of Canada on Wednesday.
• 4's please read 20 min. each evening.  We have been discussing story elements in fictional books.
• Have a great week!

Week of Oct. 29-Nov. 2

• Please be reading 20 min. each night and record in your duotang.
• We wrapped up our adding and subtracting numbers to 10 000 unit this week. Quizzes will be going home at the first of the week.  Please sign and return. We are beginning our unit on Fractions next.  It is very important for the students to be reviewing their multiplication facts to 81 each night.
• I will be sending home new book orders on Thursday and they will be due back the following Wednesday.
• Spelling words for grade 4's are the following:  pancake, extreme, escape, beware, flame, stripe, globe, arrive, skate, smile, use, surprise, became, scrape, confuse. 
• We have been learning about the 6 main physical regions of Canada this week in Social Studies.  They will have a very small match quiz on Friday and I will be introducing a project to them later in the week.
• All of the gr. 4 assessment results went home with the students this week.
• The students will have no homework on Wednesday night....Happy Halloween!
• Have a wonderful week everyone!

Week of October 22-26

• The weather is getting much colder out there, so it will be very important for your child to be bringing warm outdoor clothing.  
• Grade 4's please be reading each evening and recording the title in your duotang.
• We are working on some descriptive writing in class and the students are doing an AMAZING job.  Our pieces should be finished up soon and will be going on display in our classroom.
• Please continue to practice multiplication and division facts each night.
• I will be handing back the health quizzes in the next couple of days.
• Book orders came in and I will be sending the November book order closer to the end of October.
• Gr. 4 spelling words are the following:  enough, physical, cough, paragraph, autograph, laughter, tough, laughing, photograph, phone, rough, laughed, enough, trophy, nephew
• Thank you for sending in your notes if there are changes in your child's after school plans.  You are all doing a great job with this so.....THANK YOU!
• Have a great week!

Week of October 15-18

• There will be no school on Friday, October 19th due to a PD day.
• Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Cross Country Meet last week and good luck to students heading to Provincials.
• Picture day will be October 18th.
• Gr. 4 students should be reading 20 min. each evening and they should be recording it in their reading log.  I should have their Recount writing back on Monday, so please sign their rubric and send back both the writing and rubrics.  We have started some descriptive writing this week.
• Words for the week focus on the short u and o sound.  They are: trusting, costume, suddenly, shock, crunch, octopus, fudge, clock, summer, plump, follower, drop, plucked, under, plump
• Health quiz was on Friday and we are now moving into a social studies unit.
• Book orders were placed last week and I am hoping they will be in sometime this week.
• Gr. 4 math- I have sent home a multiplication fact sheet and students should be reviewing these with the strategies we have learned for approx. 10 min. an evening.  We have been working on 4 digit adding and will be working on 4 digit subtracting.  Students have also been solving and creating word problems.
• Have a great week everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving! Week of October 9-12

• I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!
• Book orders are due on Tuesday.
• In gr. 4 math, we are now into adding and subtracting four digit numbers up to 10 000.  Students will be creating  and solving word problems and estimating.  Please practice math facts nightly.  I sent home a handout and it is in their agendas.
• Spelling words for next week focus on the short a,e, and i sounds.   The words are :  after, package, rapid, festive, spend, shelf, enter, activity, tricking, whisper, special, mixture, which, bringing, mix. Quiz on Friday.
• I have been enjoying reading the recounts and I hope to have them back on Friday.  Please sign rubrics and return.
• We will be having a short health quiz on Friday and then moving on to our social studies unit.
• Have a great week!

Week of October 2-5

• I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Hopefully not too wet.
• Our Terry Fox run got postponed due to rain and we will be having it on Tuesday.
• There is no school on Monday, October 1st due to a PD day.
• We had our math quiz today on comparing, ordering, and describing numbers to 10 000. I will be sending these home, so please sign and return.  Our next unit will be adding and subtracting numbers to 10 000. Students should be practicing their math facts nightly.
• Recounts will be due on Thursday. They will be having some time to work on good copy in class, but may have to finish up at home.
• I will be handing out the October book orders on Tuesday and they will be due on the next Tuesday.
• We are hoping agendas will be in and I will give the grade 4's their first list of weekly words.  Our quiz will be on Friday.
• Remember to be reading nightly for 20 approx.

Week of Sept. 24-28

• It is hard to believe that next week is our last full week of September!
• Our agendas are not here yet, but we are hoping for next week.  Then we will start to have homework copied nightly.  Students are expected to be reading for 20 min. each night and they are to be practicing their multiplication facts for approx. 10 min.  They know they are to be copying their nightly reading into their duotang.
•  We are continuing to work on our recounts in writing.  They have been practicing a variety of writing moves within their writing.  Ask them to share a few!  We will be deciding on the due date next week for the good copy.  I will also be handing out their rubrics for this assignment.  
• No weekly spelling words yet.  We are still working on some high frequency words.
• Friday, September 28 will be wear our school colors day and our Terry Fox walk will be in the afternoon.
• I am expecting our September book order to come in next week.
• We will be having a math quiz at the end of next week on outcome N1 and N2.  These outcomes are representing numbers to 10 000 and comparing/ordering numbers to 10 000.
• Have a great weekend!

Week of September 17-21

• Wow!  What a great first full week of school!  The students have settled in and are working hard.
• Thank you to everyone for filling in and returning all of the forms. I know have them all in :o)
• Meet the teacher will be this Monday, October 17th starting at 6:30 in our classroom. There will be a second session at 6:45.  Everyone will then move to the music room for a whole group session with Mr. Gallant.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone!
• Book orders are due on Tuesday.
• Grade 5's have Mrs. Toombs for language arts and math.
• I am asking the gr. 4's to be reading 20 min. each evening.  I am sending home their reading logs starting on Monday.  I have presented them with a challenge....if they read 30 books (variety of genres) and record them on their challenge sheet, then I will buy them a book from the book order.  They are excited and reading lots!   
• I will be working on some frequency words next week, therefore our spelling words for the week won't start until the week of Sept. 24.
• In math, we have been working with representing numbers to 10 000 by using base ten blocks and pictures, expanded form and word form.  We will also be learning about comparing and ordering numbers to 10 000.   Multiplication and division facts are big in grade 4!  When we write down "practice math facts" in our homework agendas (which didn't get here yet), I want them to be practicing the X facts.  We have learned strategies for 0,1,2 (doubles), 4's (double double), and 5's (clock facts) so far.  
• In health class we are studying a unit on relationship choices which deals with topics such as emotions, communication, stress and how to deal with it, roles and responsibilities in groups.
• Thank you for sending in any notes if there are any changes in plans at the end of the day.
• I am looking forward to another great week!

Welcome Back!!!!!

• I am getting very excited to see everyone next week!
• Enjoy your last few days remaining days of summer and get ready for a great school year!
• See you Sept. 6th!

Week of April 30- May 3

• I hope everyone had a great weekend!
• There will be no school on Friday, due to Area Association Day for teachers.
• Picture day will be Thursday, May 3.
• Good copy of persuasive writing is due on Wednesday, May 2.
• There will be a very small short answer health quiz on Thursday, May 3.  We worked on a review in class on Friday.
• Spelling words:  gr. 3  ladybug, barnyard, cardboard, passport, underline, hallway, popcorn, seafood, jigsaw, everyone, keyboard, quicksand.     Gr. 4  skateboard, applesauce, clockwise, shipwreck, dishwasher, saltwater, strawberry, wallpaper, yearbook, passport, quicksand, dragonfly, hallway, popcorn, jigsaw
• A reminder that my first after school math help session will be Thur. May 10,  from 2:45 -3:45. Students must have a note to stay and have a ride home.
• Have a great week everyone.

Week of April 16-20

• I hope everyone had a great weekend!
• I am seeing more students fill in their reading logs which is awesome.  Please make sure they are getting filled in each night throughout the week for 15-20 min. of reading. We discuss all of the time in class.....the more you read, the better reader you become!
• Spelling words-  grade 3- another, path, brush, dishes, watch, hungry, enough, ticket, truck, drink, junk, ashamed      grade 4-  meaningful, peaceful, flawless, enough, powerful, useful, slowly, friendly, sadly, thankful, happily, painless, calmly, careful truthful
• Grade 3 math- keep working on those math facts nightly. We are continuing to work on our fraction unit. I will be putting 2 handouts into the orange duotangs this week. Please make sure they are completed by Friday.  I hope everyone had a chance to read the letter I sent home this week about extra math help!  I am hoping for a big turnout.
• Friday, April 20th will be School Spirit Day .....so wear blue and gold!
• We are also challenging students to bring a lunch that will not produce any waste.  So they could use reusable containers, compostable products, stainless-steel cutlery etc. The class with the highest percentage of waste free lunches will win a prize.
• We are still waiting back to hear on a date for the movie.
• Our school will be having our visit from the Easter Seals on Thursday morning.
• Have a great week everyone.

Week of April 9-12

• I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!
• Tuesday will be "formal day" at ACC.  There was a letter sent home with students laying out upcoming events that were rescheduled from before March break.  We are waiting for the date in which we will be going to the movies.
• Students should be reading and filling out their reading logs each night for 15-20 min.  
• Spelling quiz will be on Thursday this week (no school April 13 due to a PD day)  Gr. 3 words are:  shook, should, shimmer, thought, that, this, throat, them, children, why, whale, who      Gr. 4 words:  thoughtful, breathless, cheerful, wonderful, spotless, hopeless, creative, memorable, active, breakable, miserable, reasonable, remarkable, massive, impressive
• Gr. 3 math-  I will be putting in a new handout into the orange duotang and these will be due on Thursday.  We have wrapped up our unit on increasing/decreasing patterns and are now working on fractions.
• I will be handing out new book orders on Monday and they will be due the next Monday.
• Have a great week everyone!

Week of March 19-23

• Wow! It is so hard to believe that this is the last week before March break.
• I will not be giving any new words this week.  I will be reviewing some of the words from previous weeks that have been giving the students trouble.
• This is Winter Carnival week so there will be themed days. Monday- jersey day, Tuesday-hat day and/or backwards , Wednesday-Pj day,  Thursday- Formal day, Friday- School spirit day
• I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe March break! See you in April.

Week of March 12-16

• I am so proud of all of our students for handing in their brochures and stories in on time!  Ms. Paynter is very proud of everyone as well.....way to go!
• I will have the spelling quiz from Friday on Tuesday next week (I am out at a meeting on Monday).
• A huge thank you to Ms. Paynter who will finish with us on Tuesday.  We have been very lucky to have her with us and we wish her the best of luck with her teaching career.
• Spelling words for this week:    Gr. 3    neighbor, weight, tail, said, airplane, goalie, waited, believe, field, does, where, were       Gr. 4     chief, field, neighbor, weight, ceiling, airplane, trivia, claim, tail, goalie, nailed, waited, said, believe, millionaire
• Gr. 3 math - we will be wrapping up our division unit mid- week and will be working with increasing and decreasing patterns for the next couple of weeks.  I will have a couple of new sheets for their orange duotangs for homework this week.
• Purple reading folders-  please make sure students are filling them in nightly to record their nightly reading.
• Art lessons for the first session start on Monday, March 12th.  Parents, please write me a note (one will do) that says your son/daughter has permission to stay after school for the art classes if they have registered.
• Have a great week everyone!

Week of March 6-9

• I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!  Third term here we come!
• No school on Monday, March 5 due to a PD day.
• I wanted to say how much I enjoyed meeting with all of you at interviews.  It was wonderful to discuss the progress that your children are making. 
• We have a busy week this week in gr. 3/4!  I will be asking the students to take home their "Secret Shortcut" stories to read out loud on Tuesday evening.  When they do this, they pick up on missing words, errors, etc.  Also, it is a great opportunity for you to hear their great stories. :o)  The good copies of these stories will be due on Friday, March 9.  They will have some time in class, but some may have to be finished up at home.
• In Social Studies, the students have been working on a brochure on a continent with Ms. Paynter.  They have had 2 computer sessions to research and will have some time to work on it in class.  This project will be due on Thursday.
• Words for the week: gr.3 scrape,scrub, scratch, splat, splashing, split, spring, sprint, square, squad, string, strong          gr. 4 squinting, squashed, squiggle, squirm, squat, quieter, liquid, quotation, quiver, quarter, question, inquire, questioning, square, squad
• Have a wonderful week everyone!  

Feb. 20-23

• I hope everyone had a wonderful Islander Day weekend!
• Some dates to remember- Friday, Feb. 23 is wear red and white to support Canada day!  
• Feb. 28 is wear pink to stop bullying day.
• Please have students fill in their nightly reading duotangs with the title of their book and for how long they have read.  
• Gr.3 math- I am sending home our multiplication quiz on Tuesday.  Please sign and return to school.  We will be working on our division unit over the next couple of weeks.  I will be sending home 2 pages in their orange duotangs this week to be completed by Friday.
• Spelling words -Gr3.  lunches, flowers, ducks, games, millions, noses, rivers, sharks, streets, teams, boxes, windows.       Gr.4-  churches, beaches, clouds, flashes, blankets, peaches, wishes, buildings, boxes, bubbles, wrenches, buses, phones, rainbows, millions
• Ms. Paynter has been teaching the students our next form of writing....narrative.  The students have been coming up with so many wonderful ideas.  The students will have a story to be handed in and graded, but that hasn't been assigned yet.  
• The students will have a match quiz in social studies on Thursday and a map quiz that will include the seven continents and 5 oceans on Friday. We will be sending home a review sheet for them to study off of.  
• Book orders are due on Thursday, February 22.
• Have a wonderful week.

Week of Feb. 12-15

• I hope everyone had a very nice weekend!
• I would like to welcome Sara Paynter from UPEI.  She will be a student teacher in our classroom until March 13.  
• No classes on Friday, Feb. 16 due to a PD day and Monday, Feb. 19 is Islander Day!
• Spelling words for the week looks at R influenced vowels.  Gr. 3- sharp, start, germ, after, morning, birth, swirl, first, burst, torn, sports      Gr. 4- spurt, lurch, blurt, scorn, sworn, thirst, burst, porch, storm, swirl, sharpening, thirsty, bursting, started, sports.
• Sara will be starting a new social studies unit next week along with a Narrative writing unit.
• I will be handing back Science quizzes on Monday. Please sign and return.
• Explanatory writing pieces titled "My Fav. Dessert"  will be due on Tuesday (good copy).
• Students should be reading 15-20 min. each evening and recording it in their duotangs.
• Have a great week!

Week of Feb.5th- 9th

• I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!
• Our spelling words will stay the same as last week.  I didn't have enough time with these words and prefixes and suffixes are a very important principle that I would like to have some more time with.
• Students are continuing to work on their Explanatory writing pieces throughout this week.  Their topic is "My Fav. dessert."  We have decided on the due date of Tuesday, February 13th for the good copy. I will have their rubric to them by mid-week and they should be reading their piece aloud at home to be sure it sounds the best it can.
• Congratulations to the 3's and 4's for winning the PEI Sumdog math contest!  We have won a subscription for 6 months.  This site is a great way for students to practice math at home!  They set a goal.....and achieved it. Way to go!
• We will be having a students teacher start with us next week.  Her name is Sara Paynter and she is currently attending UPEI.  She will be with our class until March 13.
• There will be art lessons being offered by Maurice Bernard in the upcoming weeks. Check the school website for more information.
• A reminder for each student to be filling out their nightly reading log.
• Have a great week everyone!

Week of Jan. 29-Feb.2

• I hope everyone had a great weekend!
• There will be no school on Wednesday, January 31st due to a PD day.
• The grade 3 and 4 math classes are entered into a math contest through Sumdog (a great math website).  This contest ends on Feb. 1st and if we win, we will win a subscription.  Great job to everyone so far!  Mr. Quinlan and I can track how many questions are being answered and the students are doing an amazing job so far!
• We are continuing to work on multiplication with products up to 36 this week.  I will assign a couple more pages in their orange duotangs.
• Students have completed a whole school writing prompt last week and we are currently working on the text form of Explanatory writing.  I want to thank everyone who handed in their biography posters on Friday.  We will continue to present these throughout the week.
• Spelling words this week (prefixes) are the following:  Gr. 3-  dislike, dishonest, unbutton, rewrite, replace, reheat, disagree, react, rewind, uncover, replay, unable.        Gr 4-dislike, replace, unknown, unlike, removed, recharge, untangle, review, rearrange, unable, disappear, disagree, uncover, regroup, unwrapped.
• Maurice Bernard will be offering art lessons here at ACC!  What a fabulous opportunity!  Check out the school web page for more information.
• We will be wrapping up our Science unit and we will be having a small quiz on Friday.  I will be giving the students a review sheet tom. at school.
• Please pack some extra socks with it being so wet outside!
• Have a wonderful week everyone!

Week of January 22-26

• I hope everyone had a great weekend!
• Please make sure students are reading 20 min each night and recording their books in their duotangs.
• In language arts, the students will have their biography posters due on Friday.  They will also be presenting these orally, so it would be a good idea to practice reading the sections out loud at home.
• Spelling- principle is confusing/commonly mistaken words     gr.3-  does, their, there, they're, are, our, dessert, desert, where , what, would, could      
•  gr. 4- their, there, they're, super, supper, are our, does, dessert, desert, your, you're, brake, break, February
• Gr. 3 math-  please continue to review adding/subtracting facts to 18- these must be a 3 second recall by June :o).  We are also beginning our unit on Multiplication.  In grade 3, the focus is on showing a multiplication equation as an equal groups picture, an array, repeated addition and skip counting.   Very imp.    3x4=  we would say 3 groups of 4
• We are about to wrap up our rocks and minerals science unit. The students have been doing various activities in class. We will be having a quiz soon.  The students and I will decide on a date next week.  I will give them lots of time and have some review notes typed up for them as well.  
• Have a great week everyone!

Week of Jan. 15-19

* Sorry for not updating the blog last week!
*  This Monday the book orders are due.
* Please be sure that students are reading 20 min each evening and record it in their reading duotang.  They have been very excited about the biographies that are reading.  They will have an assignment (poster) to complete based on the biography they have read.  We will decide on a due date this week.
* We will also be starting our Explanatory writing unit next week.  I found that the last time I asked the students to read their piece out loud at home to a parent, the students found errors on their own.  I will probably do this again...it helps so much.

*Grade 3 spelling words (contractions)  I'm, I've, isn't, aren't, shouldn't, couldn't, haven't, they're, hasn't, we'll, they'll, I'll

*Grade 4 spelling words-  isn't, aren't, couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't, haven't, hasn't, you've, they're, they've, they'll, you're, I'm, we'll, I'll

* We are into our Rocks and Minerals unit in science.  We will be having some in class activities this week along with a homework assignment.  The homework assignment will be due on Wednesday and I will give it out on Monday.  We will have a small quiz on this unit, but I will type up some review notes and the students will have lots of notice.
* Have a great week everyone!