News for Week of March 4 to 8, 2024

March Spirit Week at St. Gabriel School:

OCSB STEAM WEEK:

This week is our third annual STEAM Week in the OCSB. We will celebrate Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math through a variety of hands-on and virtual events. 

Help Please

As part of one of our school community and inclusivity initiatives, we are working on a Kindness Mural in our school hallway. We need help from our parent community for this endeavor. In order to represent the diversity and multilingualism of our school community, we are asking for parent volunteers to help us create this mural. We are looking for parent volunteers to add the word "Welcome" in their preferred language (other than English) on the mural. If you are interested and available to help create our school mural on Wednesday or Thursday of this week, please use this Google Form . The same Google Form can also be used for parents who wish to share with us the language or languages their family speaks, other than English. 

Maple Sugar Bush Day Thursday, March 7th:

Our Learning

Math:

In Grade 3, we continue to learn how to estimate and calculate the perimeter of various polygons using standard units of measure (e.g., centimetres, metres). We will also learn how to find the area of a variety of two-dimensional shapes using non-standard units of measure.

Link to Perimeter MathUP parent summary letter here

Link to Measuring Area MathUP parent summary letter #1 here

Link to Measuring Area Using Grids MathUP parent summary letter #2 here

In Grade 2, we have begun our unit on adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers. In this unit, we will explore strategies for adding and subtracting numbers less than 100 (e.g., using a number line, hundred chart, manipulatives such as counters or ten-frames, drawing objects, and using mental strategies). This week, we will share different ways of adding 2-digit numbers such as counting on by tens using a hundred-chart. We will also practise adding by rearranging the addends and compensating in order to make friendly numbers.

Your child will also practise solving word problems that involve 2-digit addition and subtraction. We will review how to communicate and show our thinking (How did we determine our answer?; What strategy did we use? How can we explain our strategy?). We will review the steps to solving a problem, including writing the final answer in a complete sentence when solving a word problem. Please have your child practise adding and subtracting at home, with an important focus on encouraging your child to explain his/her thinking.  

Link to Grade 2 Adding Two-Digit Numbers MathUP parent summary letter #1 here

 

Here are some other strategies your child may use to add:

Language:

Our current UFLI phonics lesson is about the digraph sound /wh/, at the beginning of a word, as in the words which, whim, whip, when, whiz, and the digraph sound /ph/, as in the words phone, graph, Phil, Steph.

New heart words: could, should, would

Please have your child practise the heart words we have learned so far in class: the, I, a, said, to, do, of, see, he, be, me, from, you, what, have, look, book, are, was, your, want, go, no, so, goes, says, they, their, were, talk, walk, *could, *should, *would.

Spelling Check-In:

On Friday, March 1st, we had our first heart word spelling check-in. Your child is expected to know how to spell the heart words learned in class so far. The spelling check-in was sent home with your child on Friday. Please look at the assessment to see your child's strengths and next steps, sign it, and return it to school by Tuesday this week. At home, please continue to help your child by practising reading and writing the heart words. Remember, the heart words are high-frequency words so it is essential that your child learns to read and write them 'by heart".

In Writing, we will continue to explore the elements of persuasive texts and have fun exploring how to convince or persuade others that our opinion of a topic is correct.

Looking ahead:

March 4-8: St. Gabriel Spirit Week and OCSB STEAM Week

Wednesday, March 5th - Mrs. Maidment's class LEGO WeDo STEAM workshop a.m.
Sunday, March 10th: Daylight Savings time begins
Spring Break: March 11 - 15 

Monday, March 18: Return to school