We have reached the halfway point of the month and things continue to be bus and jam packed. This week was a short one due to Remembrance Day on Monday. Next week will also be short because there is a Professional Day on Friday, the 22nd. We hope you are all taking advantage of those days away from school, enjoying some rest and family time. We also hope you are using some of your free time to keep working on Xtra Math and your home reading. It is exciting to see so many of you reaching and passing the 1000 minute milestone. There are only a few students left who are not on the reading chart yet.
We went to the Scholastic Book Fair in the Library on Friday. For 1/2 hour we had the place to ourselves and many of you came prepared. Books, posters, and pens went flying off the shelves. 
In Science and Indigenous Education this week, we continued to explore how daylight savings time works as well as exploring seasons.
We specifically looked at how each of the seasons can affect plants and animals. Next week, Ms. Cummings will be coming in and helping us learn more about Seasonal Rounds. The seasonal round, also known as the annual round, is a pattern of movement that Indigenous peoples followed each year to gather resources. We will be making examples of our own seasonal round artwork starting next week as well.
Our glass workshop went well on Tuesday. The ornaments you all made looked really great. 
I can’t wait to see them all finished and melted. Starting in a few weeks, we will begin working on some ornament crafts for Christmas. We will be making some on our own in class and, we will be working with our buddies to make ornaments as well. Please keep bringing in those toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls that will help with the projects. Also, yarn will be a part of each of the crafts so bring in your balls of yarn as soon as possible too!
In Math, we worked through some more mental math strategies in partners and large groups and then I asked you to show me your understanding independently. 
Many of you were able to demonstrate that you can use at least one mental math strategy to solve addition and subtraction problems while some of you can even use several different strategies. Way to go. We are going to be practicing estimating whole number addition and subtraction problems in the coming weeks. I am confident you all will find this pretty simple.
In Language Arts, we are working on completing sentences and creating basic paragraphs. We are going to be working through paragraphs from brainstorming, to draft, to final drafts. 
I will be editing your first drafts with you, then you will edit your second draft with a partner, and finally, the final draft will be the one you are assessed on. Hopefully, the more paragraphs we complete, the more confident you will become as writers.
Speaking of writing, it is almost time for us to write your progress reports. This week, we asked you to reflect on your learning and growth so far this year. It has been a really full term with lots of new routines and expectations. We like reading your reflections because know one knows you better than YOU! We use your reflections to help us make sure we write a report that really represents your progress.
Sometimes, what we see is not what is the most important to you. By using some of your reflections in the report, we make sure your parents know EXACTLY how hard you have been working, what you are most proud of, and what you believe you need to work on most. We also let them know what we see in you, which is important as well, but together with your input, the progress reports really are a celebration of all you have accomplished so far this year.
We had some time with computers this week. You were able to practice typing and some of you also chose to play some math games. Computers, however, are not all about games. 
A lot of information can be gathered and work can be done using computers as well. This week, we started looking at digital citizenship and how important it is to be safe and respectful online. Sometimes, people think they can hide behind the screen so they act differently than they would face to face. It is important to understand how to stay safe and kind in the digital world.
Your Blog Response Question for this week is about your life behind the screen. Answer the following questions. Please use full sentences, capitals, and periods to respond to each:
- How much time do you spend on the computer each day?
- What kinds of things do you do on the computer?
- Do you have rules about computer use in your home? What are they?
- What is one thing you learned about digital literacy in Friday’s lesson?
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Mrs. Gil