Category: We are readers.

Dear families,

What a wonderful week full of learning! We are so very blessed to be your child’s teachers. They truly bring us SO much joy each day!

We are writers.

We read a story called If I Built a House by Chris Van Dusen. Click here to watch the animated story on YouTube. Then both Ms. Kim and I worked together to support their writing development. First, Ms. Kim demonstrated writing that had little detail. Then she showed them the same piece of writing but with lots of detail that included the five senses. We noticed there were words that came up again and again that really helped us add details and visualize to paint a picture of what we imagined in our minds. Examples: like, when, with, and, so.

Students brainstormed by creating a web of all of the things they would add to their house if there were no limits. Here are some examples:

Students worked so diligently when they described their house. We felt so proud of their imagination and how hard they worked. When they were finished, they were encouraged to DYRIO and read over their writing three times.

This one strategy really helps them look for ways to make their writing better. We have noticed that students are catching themselves to add capitals at the beginning of sentences and finding where they need to add a period to end their sentences. What we love to see are the changes they are making when they are doing their second reading: Read it over like a revision expert. They actively look for ways to add more details or improve your message. This is such an effective way of helping them become better written communicators.

Ways to support at home: When your child practices writing at home, remind them to DYRIO: Read it over three times. Each time for a different purpose.

We are athletes.

Students LOVED their skating experience at Bill Copeland! Thank you to all the parents who came out to support us!

We are mathematicians.

We continued our learning about number concepts and place value. We learned there is a difference between a digit and what makes a number. There are also different ways to represent numbers.

We worked in groups of three to practice these four ways:

(1) standard form: 235

(2) written on a place value chart with hundreds, tens, and ones

(3) represented pictorially with a hundred shown as a square, tens as a line, and ones as a dot so 928 would look like this:

(4) expanded notation: 200 + 30 + 5 + 235

Here are some of our examples when we worked diligently and cooperatively in our groups! Can your child find their examples below?

How to support at home: Use a dice or deck of cards to create random 3-digit numbers like 537, 386, 187. Ask your child to show you the 4 ways to represent these numbers.

Math Fact Fluency

We created our own random numbers chart. It looks like this:

On one side, we have the digits 0-9. On the other side, 10-20. We will be using this to help us systematically learn strategies to add and subtract quickly. These will be practiced and reinforced so that it becomes automatic. We hear from many teachers in grade 4 and above that Math would be easier for students if only they knew their facts. It does take extra time and practice at home so we appreciate your support. We will be teaching them games as well to help reinforce.

To help you understand better, I recorded a video that explains how to use this Random Numbers Chart at home. CLICK HERE to watch. The video shows 0-20 on one side but since making that video, I found it more effective to have 0-9 on one side and 10-20 on the other side. One student decided to write the odd and even numbers in different colours and I thought that was absolutely brilliant! So I will be changing that when I teach this next year! (Thanks, Lara!)

Quick recall is in the grade 3 curriculum:

• At the end of Grade 3, most students should be able to recall addition facts to 20. We will provide opportunities to recall subtraction facts from 20 as well.

Last week, we learned about the commutative property, properties of zero, and properties of one. When adding or subtracting one, I don’t really want them calculating (adding or subtracting). To help with automaticity, I want them thinking what is the number that comes after (+1) or before (-1); in other words, counting on by 1s or backwards by 1. You will see more of these little strategy papers coming home in the future. I recommend you keep them all so your child can refer to them when needed. It’s a good reminder for you so you can remember the strategies too! 🙂

Ways to support at home: Ask your child to create one to practice at home. Then ask them to review or make it fun by doing it together.

We are scientists.

We finished our learning about thermal energy this week. We reviewed the three ways that heat is transferred: by conduction, convection, and radiation. To reinforce this learning, we watched a video. Click here to watch it at home.

We finished our Matter and Thermal Energy booklets by doing some self-reflection on our learning. We recorded (1) what we are proud of (2) what we would do differently next time (3) what we learned about matter and thermal energy OR what we learned about ourselves. They are excited to bring their booklets home to show you soon!

We are readers.

Our reading groups are well on their way now. Each group is working well together in supporting each other. We have been learning phonic rules that help us learn how to approach words that we find more challenging to sound out.

Upcoming Fun Community Opportunities

• Friday, December 6 at 5 to 8 PM – CARNIVAL hosted by Burnaby North’s Christmas Cheer Club. This is an annual event full of games, concessions, arts & crafts and more. To learn more, click here.
  • Location: Burnaby North Secondary School
• Sundays, December 1-22 at 10 to 11 AM – STORYTIME & CRAFTS at Brentwood Mall: Enjoy a family friendly program with festive music, games, and holiday fun!
  • Location: The TAB LAB located on Level 1 of the Interior Centre, across Telus.
• Every Saturday & Sunday from December 7 – December 22 – MOVIES ON THE PLAZA: Showings start at 3pm. Movie Schedule: 
  • December 7 and 8: Arthur Christmas
  • December 14 and 15: Frozen
  • December 21 and 22: Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Live Action)
  • Location: Brentwood Plaza

Dear Division 11 Families,

We are looking forward to our first skating field trip coming up on Tuesday! 

• Thank you to the families who have volunteered to be our drivers. If you have not already done so, please return the volunteer driver form by Monday. Click here to download a copy.
• Read the email that was sent on Friday from Ms. Chan about how and what to prepare for our skating field trip.

• Family Reading will be canceled since our skating field trip will take place on Tuesday. We will resume Family Reading after our field trips. 

Here are some highlights of the exciting learning happening in our class: 

Indigenous Education
On Wednesday, we joined the district-wide Indigenous education session via Zoom. Our students listened to the story The Moccasins by Earl Einerson and had the opportunity to design their own moccasins. Click here to watch the story read to you.

We are Mathematicians.
We are demonstrating our understanding of fractions by representing them in multiple ways: as parts of a whole, parts of a set, on a number line, and in word form.  Each student is working on their own version of the image to show what they know.

We continued our learning about number concepts and place value. We learned the difference between a digit and a number. Digits are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Digits become a number when we give the digit a value. Using our own place value charts and a deck of cards, we worked with partners to compare who had the larger number.

How to support at home:

• Quantities to 1 000 practice: Flip over 3 cards to make a number. Flip over 3 more cards for a second number. Flip over 3 more cards for a third number. Then ask the following:
  • Compare and order the numbers – Which number is the largest? Smallest?
  • How many hundreds, tens, ones in the first number, second number, and third number?
  • What is the value of the hundreds, tens or ones in each number?

We are writers using Triple Scoop Words.
In writing, we learned how “triple scoop words” can make our writing more engaging. Instead of using simple words like good, mad, or sad, we are choosing more vivid words like fantastic, furious, or devastated. This helps make our writing more engaging for readers and expands our vocabulary! Students will use this strategy when editing their own writing during DYRIO: Did you read it over? If you need a refresher as to what DYRIO means, click here to read a previous post that explains our system for re-reading our writing 3 times to make it better each time. Many students in the school are learning about DYRIO too!

We are readers.

We are gathering in reading groups to learn how to read better, support each other as readers, and make connections to what we read. So far, they have learned how to guide their classmate when they come across a word they mispronounced or are struggling with sounding out. They are instructed to not just tell them what the word is. This robs them of the opportunity to try sounding it out with scaffolded help. This is also such a great opportunity for the others in their group to teach, coach, and encourage the one who is trying to sound it out. I loved seeing the kind support so far!

Ways to support at home: When reading with your child and they come across a challenging word, please do not just tell them what the word is. Instead, guide them through noticing which letters are consonants/vowels, breaking up the word into syllables, reminding them that every syllable has a vowel, and figuring out whether the vowel is a short or long vowel sound, which remember the spelling rules (like when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking and says its own name).

Feel free to review last week’s blog post for how to break up longer words into syllables.

Social Studies
This week, our students explored the topic of breakfasts around the world, thinking about similarities and differences compared to their own experiences. 

We are Scientists.

Previously, we learned that thermal energy can be transferred in 3 ways. One way is conduction. This week, we learned about convection: heat is transferred by the movement of liquids or gas (like air). After learning about this, we watched a short video to make it more visible. Click here to review with your child.

Thank you, families, and have a restful rest of your weekend! 

 Grateful for you, Ms. Kim and Ms. Chan

Dear families,

Last week, our students learned about Remembrance Day and its significance. Their understanding of the day’s importance was evident in the respect they showed during Friday’s assembly. They also did a fantastic job on our wreath art project. After reading Todd Parr’s The Peace Book, each of us wrote on a leaf to express what peace means to us.

Math

Our students have been expanding their understanding of place value by using base-ten blocks. We’ve also been practicing comparing numbers by playing a fun game called Beat the Teacher. As a class, we roll one die, and each player decides whether to place that number in the ones, tens, or hundreds place. I then reveal my combination, and if they have a larger number than mine, they get points for that round. This time, they didn’t manage to beat me, but I don’t think that will last long; they already came up with so many brilliant strategies!

We’ve also continued our lessons on fractions. On Friday, our students worked in groups on a matching activity, then challenged themselves to see how quickly and accurately they could sort the cards.

Ways to support at home: Review concepts taught at school. Ask your child to teach you what they learned so far.

Social Studies

Our students now have pen pal buddies! We’re connecting with Grade 6/7 students in North Vancouver who are inquiring into ancient civilizations with topics similar to those we’ve discussed in our classroom. Our students wrote letters sharing what they’ve learned about different cultures and some questions they have about certain ancient civilizations. They’re excited to hear back from their buddies soon!

Thank you for your continued support at home.

Sincerely, Ms. Kim

Dear families,

We hope you enjoyed your extra hour today!

We are writers.

On Monday, Ms. Kim and I had our second opportunity to team teach. We carried on with our lesson about paragraph writing (about gratitude) to learn about how to reflect on our writing to make it better. We introduced DYRIO? This stands for “Did you read it over?”

This is something I created many years ago when I was on Staff Development teaching writing strategies. I noticed that when I taught it to other teachers, many would message me the next day telling me they tried this and loved it because it worked immediately! In my own practice teaching grades 1-5, I noticed that student writing greatly improved with this one small change: Ask students to re-read their writing at least three times before handing it in.

Click on the DYRIO image to view the full PDF.

On most days after Heart Time (soft start), we review a morning message where we fix Ms. Kim’s or Ms. Chan’s mistakes. We practice editing so they are developing editing skills when they look at their own writing.

When students hand in work, they are asked, “DYRIO?” This is what it means:

• Read – 1st time: Read it like a reader as if you are reading someone else’s writing. The key to any writing is clarity. You can have the right spelling or use proper punctuation but if the message isn’t clear, it is difficult for your audience to understand.

• Read – 2nd time: Read it like a revision expert. Your job is to look for ways to improve your writing. We have many mini-lessons planned to help with this like learning about adjectives, adverbs, synonyms, word choice, etc. Often, I will ask them to show me what they made better. Last week, Ms. Kim taught them how to write “super sentences” to learn how to add more details and “triple scoop words”. “Triple scoop words” is a term used to encourage students to choose rich, descriptive vocabulary, similar to getting a “triple scoop” of ice cream instead of a single. These words go beyond basic language (like “good” or “nice”) to provide a fuller, more vivid picture, adding “extra flavor” to writing.For example:
  • Instead of saying “happy,” students might choose “ecstatic” or “overjoyed.”
  • Rather than “big,” they could use “enormous” or “gigantic.”

• Read – 3rd time: Read it like an editor looking for capitals to start sentences and for names, proper punctuation, spelling and grammar.

This process is actually what publishing companies do when they edit books to be published. Check clarity, make it better, and lastly, editing.

Ways to support at home: For all students, we have a goal to improve written communication skills so writing at home is a great way to improve. Students can keep a journal or write a letter to someone (This is so novel now!). You can have fun co-writing a story together! Bookmaking is one of our student’s favourite activities in school so try it at home with them! Then after they write, ask them to DYRIO to reinforce reflecting on their message clarity, working on improving it, and then editing. Read it with them and talk through your thought processes. You are modelling what a writer thinks during revision and editing stages.

Comfort zone circles

I have been wanting to teach this lesson since September. This is one of my signature lessons on growth mindset! Teacher2Teacher loved my story that they interviewed me and published a blog post about my Comfort zone circles lesson. Feel free to read the blog post. It is titled “A Simple Way I Show Students They’re Growing Every Day.”

I don’t call the red zone the panic zone anymore. It’s now called “Not Yet Zone” which is more appropriate for a growth mindset approach.

We played a game where I moved the carpet to the middle of the room to represent our comfort zone. Then I called out different scenarios for them to decide how comfortable they were doing it. Then they had fun taking turns to come up with scenarios for their classmates. For example:

• riding a bike
• going swimming in a pool, lake, or ocean
• speaking in front of the whole school

Afterwards, students created their own comfort zone circles listing things that were in their comfort zone, stretch zone, and not yet zone.

The key to this lesson is learning that we want to be in our stretch zone. This is optimal and where most learning happens. When things are too easy, we don’t feel challenge and we don’t grow much. But in our stretch zone, we experience productive struggle, take risks, and overcome the hurdles and learn that we can do hard things. We talked about affirmations and shared ideas about what affirmations we can say to ourselves:

• You can do this!
• I am doing my best.
• You can do hard things!

Follow up story: We read a story that one of my friend’s wrote: Cannonball In by Tara Martin. From Amazon:

From the shallow end of the pool, Olivia watches the flippers, the graceful divers, and her favorite—the cannonballers! Wave after wave, she wishes she could make a splash.

But she’s afraid! In the deep end of the pool, she can’t reach the bottom. Plus the dabblers are there, sitting on the side of the pool and laughing at her!

With a little encouragement from her dad and a whole lot of gumption, Olivia heads to the diving board. But will she be brave enough to take the leap?

In this beautifully illustrated picture book, Tara Martin inspires young readers to find their courage and cannonball in—no matter what the naysayers (and the voice of fear) are chanting.

Ways to support: Have a conversation about being brave to take risks.

Diwali

We greatly appreciate Ziya who shared how she celebrates Diwali with her family. We learned about who celebrates around the world, when, why it is celebrated, what it means, and how they celebrate while also learning some variations depending on where they are in the world.

Diwali, the “Festival of Lights,” celebrates the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. Families decorate with oil lamps and colorful rangoli, light fireworks, share sweets, and exchange gifts. It’s a joyful time of gratitude, reflection, and togetherness.

We are mathematicians.

Students finished up their personal pattern books by doing their self-reflection on their learning. They are proud of their books!

This week, we will begin our unit on number concepts and place value. There will be opportunities to play games and support at home. Stay tuned!

From Ms. Kim:

Dear Division 11 Families,

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend so far!

Here are some of the fun learning happening in our classroom:

Math: Our students have been practicing reading fractions. We took our learning outside, where they drew fractions on a large number line and then jumped to each fraction after reading it aloud. Some were so proud of how long their number lines were and how they could divide them into so many equal parts!

Social Studies: This week, we explored how different cultures honour the passing of loved ones. Many students shared how their families or friends’ traditions they know connect to the traditions we’ve been discussing. I love when students make connections to the real world, so please continue having conversations with them about topics we discuss in class.

Art/Writing: For Halloween, our students were asked to create the “best pumpkin in the patch.” They then worked on descriptive writing about their pumpkins. We were so impressed by their creativity and the detail in their writing!

We are always so grateful for your support too. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Warm regards,
Cailyn

Patterns Art with Ms. Kim:

Field Trip: Ice Skating!

The field trip notice was sent home on Friday, November 1. Please consider helping us out by being a volunteer driver. If you can skate, it would be very helpful if you can go on the ice to support. Thank you!

We are so grateful for your continued support at home. We are always available to speak to you about how we can work together to better support your child.

With much gratitude, Ms. Chan