Tuesday, October 27, 2009

October 27, 2009

(Review) word of the day: gratitude

Reminders:
1. Students need a clean, empty tin can or cereal/cracker box for tomorrow's art project.
2. Students are invited to bring items for the Food Bank drive.
3. Students are reminded that UNICEF forms are due back next Monday. Thanks for supporting this very worthwhile program.

The class has been busy writing "Witch Rules" and recipes for "Sandwiches" in class this week. Drop in for a look at their efforts - if you dare!!!!!

Grade Three's problem solving questions include:
1. Frankenstein had 16 bolts in each arm and 14 bolts in each leg. How many more bolts did he have in his arms than in his legs?

2. Cameron got 17 loot bags on Hallowe'en. 5 had chips in them, 3 had gum, 4 had peanuts and the rest had chocolate. How many had chocolate?

3. Hilda the Witch flew to a friend's home. She traveled for two hours to get there. She made it home in 97 minutes. How many minutes did she spend traveling altogether?

4. The temperature on Hallowe'en was 12 degrees. Last Hallowe'en it was 2 degrees. How much warmer was it this year?

5. The Great Pumpkind flew over 3 dozen house in Transylvanis and then flew over 28 houses in Jasper. How many more houses did he fly over in Transylvania?


*** Please remember that each problem needs a number and a word sentence.

Monday, October 26, 2009

October 25, 2009

(Review) Word of the day; famished

Parents,if you haven't been in yet to check out the witch hat creations, try to slip into Room 4 in the next little while. Everyone did a wonderful job decorating hats this year. We could open up a store!

Also, as a special Hallowe'en activity, Jasper Elementary School is collecting for the local food bank. If you'd like to donate, please send non-perishable donations to school with your child. Thanks!

Reminders:
1. Students need a clean, empty tin can or food box (cereal box, cracker box, etc.) for a Wednesday afternoon art project.
2. There is no spelling homework for Grade 3 this week, but there will be a test of special Hallowe'en words this Friday. The words are: spooky, ghost, skeleton, zombie, cemetery, Frankenstein, mummy, vampire, witch, pumpkin, devil, cauldron, and coffin.
3. We will be having a Hallowe'en party this Friday afternoon. Students are invited (but not required) to dress up for the afternoon on Friday. As well, anyone who would like to send cookies, cupcakes, or other snacks for the party is most welcome to do so - with our thanks! Students should also bring a small fruit juice for Friday afternoon's party.
4. Grade 3 math problem solving sheet is due tomorrow. For absent students, the problems are:
1. Wolfman used special shampoo. His shampoo regularly cost $4.98 but was on sale for $0.50 off. What was the sale price of the shampoo?

2. Bart the Bat flew 15 km. on Wednesday, the same amount on Thursday and 23 km. on Friday. How many kilometres did he fly on those 3 days?

3. The mummy's bandages kept falling off. One strip was 95 cm. long. How much longer would it have to be to be one metre long?

4. The Count and his wife ordered 2 bat-wing, chicken foot pizzas for supper. Each pizza had 2 dozen bat wings and 30 chicken feet on it. How many fewer bat wings than chicken feet were there altogether on the 2 pizzas?

5. Hilda the Hag had 16 purple hairs in each of her two false eyelashed. She had 194 purple hairs in her dress-up wig. How many purple hairs did she have altogether?

Thursday, October 15, 2009

October 15, 2009

Word of the day: nefarious

Reminders:
1. Spelling test tomorrow.
2. Photo retakes tomorrow.
3. Grade 3 math sheet is due tomorrow.

Information and pledge sheets for UNICEF fund raising were sent home today. Please note that you are under no obligation to participate in the UNICEF fund raising effort, but that any efforts to support UNICEF are greatly appreciated.

We've been working on subtraction questions using "borrowing" in Grade 3 math. Examples of these questions are 347 - 189 and 206 - 568. The students are practising showing all the steps to complete and check the questions.

Problem solving questions for today for Grade 3 math are:
1. Harriet the Hag bought new bristles for her broom. She also bought a new headlight for her broom. The bristles cost $3.15 and the headlight cost $10.00. What would Harriet's change be from $20.00?

2. Harriet invited 2 goblins and 1 ogre for supper. The ogre ate 5 bowls of bat soup and the goblins each ate 3 bowls. How many bowls of soup did Harriet serve her guests?

3. Harriet's striped socks were a little mismatched. The left one ahd 13 stripes and the right one had 15 stripes. How many stripes were there altogether?

4. Harriet cackled a dozen times Saturday night and 2 times more than that on Sunday night. How many cackles did she cackle altogether?

5. Harriet's broom can travel at 35 km per hour. Her sister's broom can travel at 42 km per hour. How much faster does her sister's broom travel?



****Students should show a number sentence and a word sentence for each problem. If they're stuck, students should reread the problem several times. If they're still stuck, they should try drawing a picture to go with the problem. They should always ask themselves if their answers make sense when they finish a problem.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

October 6, 2009

Word of the day: succulent

Reminders:
1. Please sign and return the U of A permission form regarding Dr. Simmt's visit to our class tomorrow, if your child has permission to participate the research project. Thanks.
2. Grade Three parents: please sign and return your child's math test from today.


The class brainstormed 20 different ways to say the word "walked". Some examples were "tiptoed", "scampered", and "stomped". For those student who were absent today, try to think of 17 more ways to say "walked". (Parents, you're allowed to help out here!)

Also for the students who were absent today, you can work on the following Thanksgiving problems:
1. Grandma and Grandpa Goodbody had company for Thanksgiving. One carload had 6 people in it and the other car had 5 people in it. How many people did Grandma and Grandpa have to feed? (Don't forget about Grandma and Grandpa themselves.)

2. Four grandsons helped peel potatoes. One peeled 4 potatoes. One peeled 3 potatoes and the other boys each peeled 2 potatoes. How many potatoes were peeled altogether?

3. The family had pumpkin pie for dessert. 3 people had pie with ice cream, 6 had pie with whipping cream, and 2 (on a diet!) had plain pie. How many pieces of pie were consumed (that means eaten) altogether?

4. Grandma served after dinner mints after the meal. She put 2 dozen on a plate and passed them around. Only 4 were left on the plate at the end of the night. How many mints were eaten?

5. Granpa gained 2 kilograms over Thanksgiving. He used to weigh 76 kilograms. How much did he weigh after Thanksgiving?

Please supply and number and a word sentence for each problem. (An example of a number sentence is 8 + 9 = 17. The corresponding word sentence might be "They ate 17 after dinner mints.") If you're stuck, try re-reading the problem several times. If you're still stuck, try drawing a picture that shows the information in the problem.

When you're finished the problem, ask yourself if your answers make sense. Check each question carefully!

Monday, October 5, 2009

October 5, 2009

Word of the day: repast

Congratulations to Braeden for getting 100% on today's spelling pre-test. Anyone who gets a perfect score on their spelling pre-test is awarded "Immunity" from the weekly spelling homework, and is exempt from Friday's test. So Braeden can relax while the rest of the class slaves away on the spelling this week. Well done, Mr. V.!

Reminders:
1. We will be having a taste of Thanksgiving stew this Thursday afternoon at about 2:30. Please send 1/2 cup of cut-up veggies (frozen peas or corn will work as well) with your child Thursday morning to contribute to our pot-luck stew. Thanks!
2. Grade 3 has spelling homework due Thursday.
3. October's book order has been sent home. If you'd like to place an order, please return the forms by this Thursday. Thanks.


The class wrote journal entries regarding last week's Terry Fox Run. There were lots of great writing samples. Megan's was particularly good - well organized and well written.
The third graders worked on "expanded notation" today in Math. We talked about place value (thousands, hundreds, tens and ones), practised writing 4 digit numbers -including ones with missing hundreds (like 2,078), missing tens (like 4,309) and missing ones (like 5,340). We also reviewed breaking numbers up (like 8,976 = 8,000 + 900 + 70 + 6 and putting them together (like 3,000 + 50 + 400 + 6 = 3,456). We should be ready to test for this in the near future. Stand by for a test to come home for Parental Perusal!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

October 1, 2009

(Review) word of the day: liberty


Reminders:
1. If you haven't done so already, please send a paint shirt to school for those messy art projects we always seem to have on the go. (If you want to drop in to see our latest art creations, they're on the bulletin boards outside our room. Grade 23 is FULL of creativity!)
2. Spelling test tomorrow
3. Library book exchange tomorrow
4. A newsletter was sent home with the family heads today.
5. Please sign and return the science test that went home today.

We reviewed expanded notation today in math class: writing/reading numbers such as 4,780 and 4,078 and 4,708 - and then broke the numbers into their components. An example would be 6,089 = 6,000 + 0 + 80 + 9. We also practised solving equations like the following: 3 + 4 = _ + 5. To solve this kind of question, the students first asked themselves, "What do I know about this question?" They should then recognise that they know what 3 + 4 add up to, and that they know that = means "equal", so both sides of the equal sign must be equal. The answer, therefore, must be 2.

We've also been working on math facts practise and have concentrated on the addition facts that use 9 or 2 as one of the addends.

In Language Arts, we expanded our list of homonyms (words that sound the same but have different meanings and different spellings). We also reviewed quotation marks, and worked on our novel studies.