Support during summer

Dear Parents,

Summer holidays are a time of rest and fun. As you enjoy the summer, please take time to do some review and enrichment.

Here are some Math and Language suggestions for the summer as well as some useful French websites. These activities can be done at various times of the day as you enjoy the summer and they will be of great benefit to your child as they prepare to enter next Grade.

Language Suggestions

It is important that students continue to be exposed to the French Language on a regular basis throughout the summer. There are French books and CDs at the public library and many bookstores. Most DVDs can be set to French.  Play dates with classmates are an excellent opportunity for your child to speak French! (Challenge them by telling them they are not allowed to speak in English with their friends.)

Spoken Language:

-         Call or Skype each other to speak in French.

-         Set regular French Only play dates with classmates.

Listening:

-          There are two good French channels: 12 - CBLFT and 13 - TFO.

-          Video (in the library), kids songs and animated films on YouTube.

Reading:

-          Read any French book

-          Using English books, practice retelling the story using Who, What, Where, When, Why.

-          Using English books practice retelling the story using beginning, middle and end.

-          Ask your child questions (Why and How or Explain) to see if they understand what they are reading.

-          Play word / sound / vocabulary games at www.logicieleducatif.fr

-       Study the Grade 3 and Grade 4 words on the vocabulary list package sent home.

Writing:

-          Write journal entries.

-          Write stories.

-          Play scrabble, hangman, boggle or any other letter/word games.

  

Math Suggestions:

-          Mental addition and subtraction.

-          Multiplication and division.

-          Cooking and baking (uses lots of measurement).

-          Measuring various objects using ruler.

-          Lots of money practice (e.g., counting coins)

-          Review the math workbook and handouts (complete and/or correct)

-          Play math games on www.logicieleducatif.fr

Audio-visual resources: tumblebooks.com      1. click on e-books for e-kids –                                   2. username = romeodallaire       password = reads                                   3. choose a language http://fslactivities.ca/kidsplayground/                                         www.envolerie.com/jeux/jeux.html www.tvokids.com/framestes/grownups.html                             www.pdictionary.com www.caillou.com                                                                       www.handwritingforkids.com www.momes.net                                                                       http://jeudeloie.free.fr/plateau.htm http://www.jeuxde,ots.providence.learningtogether.net/            www.miscositas.com www.prescolaire.grandmonde.com                                           www.tfo.org/gisou www.tfo.org.petitmonde                                                             http://www.ladictee.fr http://chez.com/jeudeloie/                                                         http://perso.orange.fr/jeux.lul

Additionally -

- Start practicing typing

- Explore and get used to Google products (Google Doc, Google Slides, etc.)

- Start thinking about which extracurricular activities they want to participate in as of September, as many opportunities will be open to them as they enter the junior division.

 I have had a truly fantastic year with all of your children and they must be really proud of their accomplishments this year. Thank you again for all of your support, it is very much appreciated. I wish you all a safe and enjoyable summer.

Bonnes vacances!

Enjoy your summer without forgetting French!!!

 M. Jung
Roméo Dallaire Public School, 2016-2017

Science Plant Presentation

Students have been researching on a plant of their choice and  putting together an on-line presentation using Google Slides. The success criteria included

1. Asking at least 3 "good questions" as we learned in our inquiry lesson. (e.g., not a yes-or no question, a question that provides information)

2. One of the question must be "how people can use / benefit from this plant?"

3. Includes a title and conclusion slide.

4. Includes a description of the plant.

5. Each slides contain precise and clear sentences, not a long copied-and-pasted paragraphs.

6. Letters are clearly visible and not too many colours/too much decoration.


Presenting will be done individually or in pairs (as they preferred). Presentation skills criteria are:

1. Makes frequent eye contacts with the audience, not just with the teacher.

2. Voice is clear, loud and appropriately paced for everyone to hear and understand.

3. Includes introduction and conclusion using set expressions taught in class.

4. Asks and answers questions at the end.

5. Does not read off the screen entirely.

6. Shows awareness of the audience by not blocking the projection.

These criteria have all been shared with the students.


Thank you for your support.

June newsletter

Dear Family,

Here are some curriculum updates and important information for the month of June.

Curriculum Updates

• Language

o We will continue to work on our persuasive paragraph.

o We will finish our dictation. We will have done 27 dictations by the end of this month.

• Math

o We will finalize our measurement unit with culminating tasks.

o We will do a short unit on probability.

• Science

o We have been working on our plant unit. We are learning characteristics of different plants and will investigate the relationship between living things and plants.

Important dates in June

5th, 12th, 19th Swim to Survive program after lunch at North Thornhill C.C.

8th RDPS annual Fun Fair + Wacky hair day!

22nd RDPS annual Talent Show!

23rd End of the year assembly

27th Report card goes home

28th Whole school play day! - AM

29th Half day – early dismissal – Last day of school

Reminder

• If your child will be away and will not be receiving their report card, it will be available to be picked up at the office on June 29th or 30th as the office will be open on these days. The office will re-open August 28th. Unfortunately, the report card cannot be mailed.

• As warm weather approaches, students are reminded to wear appropriate clothing. Items such as torn jeans, tank tops, tops with spaghetti straps, tops that leave the midriff exposed, halter tops and beach footwear (e.g. flip flops) are deemed inappropriate.

Thank you for your cooperation.

M. Jung

Mesure test result

Some notes on the test:

The very first question - both correct

Telling time question with clocks - two last questions weren't considered as the questions were a bit confusing.

Reminder: The final mark for measurement strand will be determined according to the triangulation of the data collected - Observation + Conversation + Product. The final mark is not entirely based on the test.

Rubric (disregard the descriptors on money)
- First low: planning skills for word questions.
- Second low: accuracy simple answer and multiple choice questions.
- Third low: accuracy in word questions.


Please review, sign and return

Thank you for your support.

Math tests - 2nd week of June

There will be two tests during this week, everything they have practiced a lot in class and as homework.

First test will be on measurement

1. Time
- read time to nearest 5 mins, indicate time using an analogical clock, solve problems related to time (duration of time)

2. Calendar

- solve problems regarding days, weeks and months.

3. Temperature

- read temperature in Celsius, including below zero. Recognize benchmarks relating to temperature (-10c is a cold winter day. 20c is a comfortable room temperature. 100c is when water starts boiling, etc)

4. Capacity and Mass

- recognize benchmarks for a gram, a kilogram, a litre and a millilitre. 

- solve problems relating to capacity and mass.

Second test will be on area and perimeter.

- know the difference between perimeter and area.

- calculate perimeter and area of a 2d shape.

- draw a shape that has x perimeter or x area.

- solve problems relating to perimeter and area.

March - May

Here are some activities that we've done so far since the end of the March Break.

1. Our field trip to the Pioneer Village

Students experienced the school life of the pioneer children in Upper Canada. This is part of our Grade 3 Social Studies curriculum. The experience was very authentic and the facilitator was a great teacher/actress! Students had a lot of fun!

 
 

2. Spring rain art activity

Students explored an interesting technique to express colorful rain. Students completed their work by adding more lines and colors with markers and adding a cut-out character as a focus of the space. Beautifully done!

3. Flower painting inspired by works of Georgia O'Keeffe.
Students learned to use their work space in a creative way by drawing an object that sticks out of the work space.

4. Paper plate woven tree art
In this work, students explored the ways to express distance in their painting of a scenery on a paper plate and combined it with a woven tree to create a mixed 2D/3D art work.

All the artwork will be sent home in June in their art portfolio. Evaluation rubrics will also be sent along.

5. Fractions of Pizza
Students read a book on fractions where the main character create different pizzas showing different fractions. Students become chefs themselves to create their own pizza, using their health / math knowledge!

6. Group work continues.. 

Students are sharing their ideas on how to support their opinion with rich examples and reasonable explanations to persuade someone. In this engaging activity called "graffiti," students are putting their ideas down on the chart paper before sharing them with their group and the whole class.

Students are solving a math problem in pairs using fake money cut-outs.

7. Math centres - essential part of a comprehensive math program.

Some centre activities continued on during these months. Through a variety of purposeful puzzles and games, students work collaboratively, practice their math skills and have fun at the same time.

8. Students were also lucky to be the very first class to check out the Maker Space at Learning Commons (AKA library). This is a special program run by our awesome teacher librarian Mr. Mittelstaedt, in line with the board's STEAM initiative (science - technology - engineering - arts - math). Students completed special tasks related to the ministry curriculum expectations.

9. For our soil unit, we have been investigating the effect of artificial substances on the growth of plants.

Students will continue to observe the plants watered with three different types of water (tap water, salty water and water with fertilizer) to draw a conclusion on the effect of salt and fertilizer on plants.

10. Our class was one of two classes that participated in 20-minute makeover, an initiative by the City of Vaughan and our school EcoClub. While participating in this activity, students also found a couple of killdeers protecting their eggs. This led to our lesson on how to ask good questions to start an inquiry process.

For more information, click: https://www.vaughan.ca/cityhall/environmental_sustainability/Pages/20-Minute-Makeover.aspx

11. G Suite workshops.

We have started using G Suite products (Google Slides and Google Doc) to get students used to working on computers. We have so far explored how to control texts and images on Google Slides and how to complete a writing task and submit it to the teacher using Google Doc. These workshops are to continue until the end of the school year combined with different subject areas.

May Newsletter

Dear Family,
Here are some curriculum updates and important information for the month of May.

Curriculum Updates
• Language & Health
o We are working on our opinion / persuasive writing unit combining the writing activities with health curriculum expectations on avoiding bad habits.
o We are learning to ask “good question” for inquiry projects and while reading.
• Math
o We are learning to estimate, measure and record length, perimeter, area, mass, capacity, time and temperature using standard units. We will also be learning to compare, describe and order objects, using attributes measured in standard units.
• Science
o We are almost finishing our soil unit. We have been learning to identify and describe different types of soil and their characteristics. We have also been discussing the relationship between living things and the soil.

Important dates in May
19th Funky Hat & Diversity Day : Wear funky hats and traditional clothing.
22-26th Scholastics Book Fair / EQAO tests. Specific dates to be announced.

Reminder
• We are still collecting BBQ related items to put a basket together for a silent auction during our Fun Fair this year. It is a great way to raise money for our school. Thank you for your support!



M. Jung

Science Test - Soil

Students are expected to know:

1. How soil is formed and what  different elements are found in soil (les matières organiques, les organismes vivants
2. How to 3 different types of soil particles (le sable, le limon et l'argile)
3. Characteristics of soil when they are wet.
4. How different living things help soil.

Some materials to look at are found in their science duotang.

Thank you for your support.

April newsletter

April 2016 Newsletter

Dear Parents and/or Guardians,

I hope you and your family had a relaxing week off in March. Thankfully, spring is slowly approaching! Here are a few updates for the month of April:

Housekeeping:

          Yearbooks are now on sale through cash online. They can be purchased for $20 until April 14.  

With the rainy season upon us, please ensure your child has weather appropriate extra clothes for if they get wet at recess.

            A reminder to students to continue to read daily and complete their reading log. Daily homework completion and reading is essential to reinforcing concepts taught throughout the day.

Curriculum Corner:                                                                                              

• Math

We will be continuing to work on our unit of Number Sense and Numeration where we will be learning about fractions. Our next math unit will be Measurement.

• Language

In Writing, we are working on our letter writing unit. We will soon start working on our persuasive letters with strong arguments and strong word choice.  In Reading we are continuing to practice how to make inferences and we will begin to work on asking questions while we read to deepen our reading comprehension.

• Science

In Science, we are investigating different types of soils and the relationship between the soil and living things.

• Health

In Health, we are learning to make healthy eating choices using different information available to use such as the food labels and food guides for different communities. We will also learn about the role of legal and illegal substances and making good decisions.

Mark your calendars for these important dates:

April 4 - Cookie and popcorn sales starting
                 Wear blue for World Autism Awareness Day

April 6 – “Trois petit cochons” presentation

April 12 – The International Day of Pink – wear pink to show your support to stand
                   against bullying.

April 14 – Good Friday - no school for students

April 17 - Easter Monday - no school for students

April 25 - Spirit day - TWIN day

M Jung

Postcard writing

Students will be completing a writing assignment where they will be writing a postcard from a trip. Students are to think about from where they want to write it.

They should know the name of the city/country, and a famous place there. It is recommended that they use a place that they have actually visited. We used Paris to practice.

Students can optionally bring images (by April 4th) of this place to help them visualize their experience and write. They can also discuss this experience with you to help  brainstorming for the writing activity. Do not write anything at home!

Thank you for your support!

Math - Addition and subtraction test March 24th

Students should be able to do:

1. Addition and subtraction with 3-digit numbers, with and without regrouping, using different strategies. Some strategies include:

For addition
-Using the sums of 10. (instead of 9+8, do 10+7)
-Using doubles. (To do 7+9, do instead 7+7 and then +2)
-Separating 100's, 10's and 1's (to do 497+286, do 400+200, 90+80, 7+6 and then add the three sums)
-Using images of base 10 blocks
-Using standard algorithm and explain it with words using correct math vocabulary (dizaine, centaine, unité)

For subtraction
-Counting forwards or backwards to make one of the numbers 10 and then adjust the difference. (To do 43-25, think of 40-25 and then add 3 after. Or to do 48-39, think of 50-40 and then subtract 3 after.)
-Using images of base 10 blocks
-Using standard algorithm and explain it with words using correct math vocabulary (dizaine, centaine, unité)


2. Estimate using rounding. (When asked  for the estimated sum of 389 + 410, think of 400+400)

3. Opérations réciproques (25-6=19, 25+19=6, 19+6=25, 6+19=25)

4. Word problems using the problem solving model (4C) and various strategies.

Ideas to support your child during the March break.

It would greatly benefit your child if they could continue doing academic work during the break. It is not mandatory.

Literacy

1. Read everyday for 15 or more.
2. Go through the materials from term 1 and complete if anything is unfinished.
3. Go through the materials from term 1 and make a list of words that they want to use.
4. Write a journal entry daily.

Math
1. Use the resources given to practice subtraction and addition.
2. Use online math worksheet creator to practice subtraction and addition (especially those with regrouping).
http://www.softschools.com/math/

3. Use the following website for challenge questions
Sudoku for kids
http://www.kidsmathgamesonline.com/sudoku/printableworksheets.html

KenKen puzzle
http://www.kenkenpuzzle.com/

Printable KenKen puzzles
https://krazydad.com/inkies/

4. Watch the videos that explain how to do addition and subtraction to review.
Youtube channel : KhanAcademyFrancais
2-digit addition with regrouping  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4XOMUfa5_M
2-digit subtraction with regrouping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJuprEsWbAM


Have a great March break!

March Newsletter

March 1st, 2017
Dear Parents and/or Guardians,
 Here are a few updates on the curriculum and important dates for the month of March.
             
Curriculum Corner: 
 Math
We will be continuing to work on our unit of Number Sense and Numeration where we will be working on operational sense – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division using different strategies. In Grade 3, students will be expected to be able to:
- Add and subtract with 2-digit numbers with different mental strategies.
- Add and subtract with 3-digit numbers using concrete materials and different algorithms.
- Add and subtract with money up to $10 using a variety of tools.
- Use estimation when adding and subtracting.
- Relate multiplication and division of 1-digit number to real-life situations.
- Multiply to 7 x 7 and divide to 49 ÷ 7 using different mental strategies.

 Social Studies
Students have started a unit on Pioneers and Indigenous People in Upper Canada.

 Language
In Writing, we are wrapping up our unit on paragraph writing. We will soon start our letter writing unit. In Reading we are continuing to practise how to make inferences and we will begin to work on asking questions while we read.

 Science
In Science, we are wrapping up our unit on Forces as we finish presenting our toys. We have started our unit on Soil and the impact of living things on it.

Mark your calendars for these important dates: 
Wednesday, March 1st Field trip to Heritage Schoolhouse
March 13th – 17th March Break – No school!
Monday, March 20th – Back to school!
March 23rd – Spirit day: Back in time / throwback Thursday

Some reminders:
o We have physical education on Day 3’s and 4’s. Students must wear appropriate clothes and shoes.
o We have our library visit on Day 5’s. Every day 5, students are asked to bring their books to exchange. Please encourage your child to log their daily reading on the log sheets in the red binder to track their achievement.
o If you are not receiving the Remind App messages (for example, your phone changed), please notify me through a written note in your child’s red binder or give me a call so that I can resend you the instruction to join the group again.
o In order for our school to become more eco-friendly, we encourage every member of our school community to use reusable containers, water bottles and utensils to reduce garbage.

 If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call me at the school (905) 585-0001 ext. 127 or by written communication in your child’s red binder.  Thank you for your support and cooperation.

M Jung

Term 2 Organization

Today, students took home all their math and literacy worksheets from Term 1 home. Here are some ideas on what do to with this pile of paper.

1. Go through them with your child to discuss successes and areas of improvement.
2. Collect all the unfinished work (if any) to put together an extra work binder.
3. Keep helpful sheets (such as vocabulary sheets) for future reference and practice.


*** The red communication binder should not accumulate miscellaneous sheets!! ***

Thank you for your support!

Science toy project presentation dates and expectations

This week, students will be presenting their force toys to the classmates. The expectations for speaking are the same as the last presentation.

Knowledge & Understanding

-  Sentences used are rich and varied (less repetition, use knowledge of complex sentences with adjectives, adverbs, etc.)

- Sentences make sense.

Thinking

- All three items were brought to the presentation.

- Length of the presentation is about 2 minutes.

- Shows evidence of planning and practice.

Communication

- The volume is appropriate.

- Makes eye contact with the audience.

- Speak fluently so that the presentation flows at an appropriate rhythm.

Application

- Clear introduction and closure as studied in class.

- Uses learned language structures and vocabulary specific to oral presentation.

- Makes meaningful personal connection to the objects.

On top of the speaking expectations, they must:
- Display their toy clearly.
- Explain each force that their toy uses and what the effects of the forces are.
- Demonstrate with their toy how it uses different forces.
- Suggest ways to improve their toy to allow it to use the forces better (remind the experiment they did with the Logics Academy - land yacht building where they discovered using bigger sails allows better use of the wind force)

The presentation dates:
Tuesday 28
C.P., J.M., J.K., Al.L., B.G., D.B., H.F.

Wednesday 1st March - our field trip - No presentation

Thursday 2nd
L.Y., M.B., G.G., S.F., A.M., Ka.K., M.W.

Friday 3rd
Ko.K., J.C., N.K., An.L., E.F., M.K., A.G., D.K.

Students have written a paragraph about it and they should have the sheet in their red binder. Students can choose to use this sheet to guide their presentation but are encouraged not to read the whole text during their presentation.

Thank you for your support!

M. Jung.

January & February

1. Math.
In January, we started our Data Management unit where we studied how to interpret and collect data and represent it in different forms.

Students collectively creating bar graphs and interpreting them. After, they looked at other groups' work to check if every element is present and provide feedback. Assessment as learning.

After, we have done an individual survey project where we created different representation of data. Students enjoyed collecting data from classmates and other students from the playground.

After this unit, we have been working on our Geometry unit where we have been exploring the attributes of 2D and 3D shapes and comparing them using different tools.

Building 3D shapes using these net manipulative blocks was a lot of fun!

2. Science

We had special guests from Logics Academy who ran an exciting robotics projects. We used our knowledge from our Forces unit in Science. 

Students built miniature versions of land yachts with Lego parts and got to test them and come up with ideas to improve their yachts.

Using the knowledge from our classes and the Logics Academy workshop, we started our forces toy project to apply what we know. This project is also intertwined with our literacy focus - making effective presentations and writing a paragraph.

4. Visual Arts

 Through our sunshine painting activity, we explore primary and secondary colours.

This work decorated our hallway for the month of February.

For Lunar New Year, I decorated our door with Korean, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin simplified, Mandarin traditional) and Vietnamese Calligraphy. Students learned that this is celebrated by several different cultures/countries.

This collective art work decorated our hallway. Four classes worked on it together.

 Students also made a lantern with pieces of tissue paper in primary colours. They explored mixing them to create secondary colours by overlapping different colours. 

 They are beautiful on our windows with natural light from behind.

 5. Health

We have started our healthy eating unit where they will be exploring different food guides, importance of local consumption and difference between processed and natural food to learn to make informed food choices.

 To start off, we reviewed different food groups using grocery store flyers.

More exciting learning moments will be shared throughout the second term!