Today was a great day at SJA!

We started off the day today with language where the students had their weekly spelling test.  All students are bringing home their marked tests with them tonight.  I ask that all incorrectly spelled words (including the bonus word) be written out ten times each in their spelling notebooks.  During language we moved on to discuss and explore World Peace Day.  This important day takes place on September 21st (tomorrow).  In today's class we discussed the meaning of peace, what peace means to us, and why peace is important in the world.  During this class discussion the students raised issues like the conflict in Syria and the life of a solider.  It was a very interesting discussion.  The students were then asked to complete a comprehension activity regarding World Peace Day.  They also created an acrostic poem using the word PEACE which they turned into a pinwheel in art class.  Ask your child tonight to share with you what they learned!  Please see the pictures I posted below of the students working on their Pinwheels for Peace!
During our Unit of Inquiry today the students joined classes with Mrs. Haag's grade 4s where we watched a video on the ways that communities change over time.  The video discussed the pros and cons of development in communities, and the ways that these developments impact our lives today.  When we returned to class the students completed a quiz that was assessed to find their understanding of the video and its concepts.
During math today the children worked on their Abeka Arithmetic.  In today's lesson the students reviewed addition and subtraction, worked on telling time, measurement, and their 1 times tables. 

The students also went to PE, art and French classes today.

Homework: Read for 2o minutes and record in the reading log, re-write incorrect spelling words ten times each, and Abeka Arithmetic pages 7 - 8.

Important information:  A boy in our class came home with the wrong SJA uniform pants yesterday after changing in PE class.  His name is marked in his pants.  Please check your son's pants at home to make sure they are wearing the correct pants and did not take home the wrong pair..  This boy has a pair of pants he needs to trade back once his pants are located.

Please make sure that all articles of the uniform are clearly marked with your child's name.  It is almost impossible to tell these pieces apart once there is a mix-up.  The only way for your child's uniform to stay sorted is to ensure it is clearly marked.

The weather is beginning to get colder as I am sure you have all noticed. Please be sure that your children are wearing the proper uniform for the cooler weather. Long sleeved polo shirts, mock turtle necks, 3-in-1 jackets, the house sweat shirts and blazers (grade 4 and up) are the only long sleeves that are allowed to be worn in the school. Unfortunately sweaters and jackets that are not part of the SJA uniform are not allowed to be worn in the school. If you have any questions about the uniform or need to order additional pieces please contact Alpa at uniforms@stjudesacademy.com.


The Terry Fox run is happening at SJA on Thursday, September 26th. Students are asked to collect pledges for this event which will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. Pledge forms went home with all students last week. If you have pledge money collected please send it into the school. Pledges can be collected up until the morning of the 26th when the run takes place. For more information please contact Mr. Browning at rbrowning@stjudesacademy.com.


We are looking to have small boxes collected for an upcoming project in our Unit of Inquiry. The students are going to be asked to build small scale rural and urban communities. Please help us with this project by collecting and sending in small boxes that we can use. Please see the form sent home yesterday for more information.

The first casual day of the school year is taking place on Wednesday, October 25th. Students may come to school dressed in any casual clothing they wish as school uniforms will not have to be worn on this day.


Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

We had a fun and busy day in our Grade 3 classroom today!

We started off the day today with language where the students worked on creative writing. The students were asked to use their Creative Writing folders to write a story on a topic of their choice, but were asked to include at least 4 of their weekly spelling words.  The students then took turns sharing their stories with the class.  We heard a lot of very fun and interesting stories on topics such as aliens, royalty, crazy adventures and genies!  As a class we had a language lesson on how to use quotation marks and dialogue tags effectively in their writing.  This is something I encourage you to have your child practice in their writing at home.  The students also worked in their Language books where they practiced their rules of capitalization.

During our Unit of Inquiry today the students had a final opportunity to complete the research booklets they have been working on this week.  They worked so hard on these projects and had a such a fun time presenting and listening to the information their peers had gathered.  After the presentations the students took time to reflect and share one important piece of information they took from the presentations.  Ask your child tonight what they learned!  I have posted some pictures below of the students working, and some examples of their hard work for you to enjoy.

During math today the children continued working on exploring the hundreds place.  In today's class the students took time exploring hundreds charts from 201-1000 and were asked to count in different ways to find patterns in numbers.  Today we focused on counting by 2s, 5s, 10s, and 25s and looked to see patterns we could find in the ones column once we had collected our numbers.  The students are bringing home their Homework book with them tonight to continue practicing finding patterns in the ones column while looking thorugh these hundreds charts.  The students also worked in their Abeka Arithmetic books where they worked on adding and subtracting digits, place value and decimals.

The students also went to PE and French classes today.

Homework: Read for 2o minutes and record in the reading log, practice weekly spelling words, Language pages 12 - 14, Abeka Arithmetic pages 4 - 6 and math pages 18 -19.

Important information: I am still waiting for a couple more permission forms for the Toronto trip our class is taking on October 3rd.  The deadline for payment was yesterday.  If you have not yet sent in the $14 with the signed forms please do so as soon as possible.

The weather is beginning to get colder as I am sure you have all noticed. Please be sure that your children are wearing the proper uniform for the cooler weather. Long sleeved polo shirts, mock turtle necks, 3-in-1 jackets, the house sweat shirts and blazers (grade 4 and up) are the only long sleeves that are allowed to be worn in the school. Unfortunately sweaters and jackets that are not part of the SJA uniform are not allowed to be worn in the school. If you have any questions about the uniform or need to order additional pieces please contact Alpa at uniforms@stjudesacademy.com.


The Terry Fox run is happening at SJA on Thursday, September 26th. Students are asked to collect pledges for this event which will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. Pledge forms went home with all students last week. If you have pledge money collected please send it into the school. Pledges can be collected up until the morning of the 26th when the run takes place. For more information please contact Mr. Browning at rbrowning@stjudesacademy.com.


We are looking to have small boxes collected for an upcoming project in our Unit of Inquiry. The students are going to be asked to build small scale rural and urban communities. Please help us with this project by collecting and sending in small boxes that we can use. Please see the form sent home yesterday for more information.

The first casual day of the school year is taking place on Wednesday, October 25th. Students may come to school dressed in any casual clothing they wish as school uniforms will not have to be worn on this day.


Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Happy Wednesday!

A great deal of fun and learning took place in the grade 3 classroom today!

During our Unit of Inquiry today the students had an opportunity to get back into their research pairs and explore the community they started looking at yesterday.  Students have a number of areas they are encouraged to look in to while exploring their community.  They will be completing a research booklet which they will be assessed on individually.  In tomorrow's class the students will have a final work period to finish their exploration.  Pairs will then present their community research to the class.  As a class today we also read a non-fiction text about urban cities.  As a class we discussed and reviewed the elements of an urban city and related the characteristics to the City of Toronto, where we are fortunate enough to be going in a couple of weeks!

During language today the students worked on writing a list as a method of using variety in their writing.  As a class we looked at a list I made up regarding things I need to pack to go to the cottage.  We then worked in our Ontario Writing books where the students explored another list as an example, and then had an opportunity to write their own list.  The students also had a 'catch-up' period for their novel studies.  Students were given extra time in the language period to work on the previous chapters we have read and add information to their summaries.

During math today the children continued working on their place value unit.  In today's class we began working on the hundreds place.  As a class we discussed when and how we would move our tens into the hundreds place.  We discussed how to show hundreds in a base ten number (4 hundreds, 6 tens and 5 ones = 465) and they also saw how to use stacks to represent different numbers.  The students worked on concepts in their math notebooks.  Students will be bringing home their math Homework and Practice book with them tonight to reinforce these concepts.

The students also went to PE, Art and French classes today.

Homework: Read for 2o minutes and record in the reading log, practice weekly spelling words, and math pages 16 -17.

Important information: The weather is beginning to get colder as I am sure you have all noticed. Please be sure that your children are wearing the proper uniform for the cooler weather. Long sleeved polo shirts, mock turtle necks, 3-in-1 jackets, the house sweat shirts and blazers (grade 4 and up) are the only long sleeves that are allowed to be worn in the school. Unfortunately sweaters and jackets that are not part of the SJA uniform are not allowed to be worn in the school. If you have any questions about the uniform or need to order additional pieces please contact Alpa at uniforms@stjudesacademy.com.


The Terry Fox run is happening at SJA on Thursday, September 26th. Students are asked to collect pledges for this event which will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. Pledge forms went home with all students last week. If you have pledge money collected please send it into the school. Pledges can be collected up until the morning of the 26th when the run takes place. For more information please contact Mr. Browning at rbrowning@stjudesacademy.com.

A trip permission form went home with all children last week. The grade 3 and 4 classes at SJA are taking a trip to the city of Toronto! This trip is a part of our IB Unit of Inquiry that is inquiring into urban and rural communities. On this trip we will be looking at the different elements of the great urban city of Toronto, taking various types of transportation offered throughout the city, and visiting the Cadbury Chocolate Factory. Trip forms are due back with the $14 fee by this Wednesday, September 18th. We are looking for 10 volunteers between both classes for this trip who will be confirmed on a first come, first serve basis. Please make note of the allergy form that is attached to the permission form. This allergy release form must be signed and returned back to the school in order for your child to be admitted into the factory.

We are looking to have small boxes collected for an upcoming project in our Unit of Inquiry. The students are going to be asked to build small scale rural and urban communities. Please help us with this project by collecting and sending in small boxes that we can use. Please see the form sent home yesterday for more information.

The first casual day of the school year is taking place on Wednesday, October 25th. Students may come to school dressed in any casual clothing they wish as school uniforms will not have to be worn on this day.


Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!


Today was a lot of fun in our grade 3 class at SJA!

Unit of Inquiry: The students were given an opportunity to inquire and explore while researching new communities.  Students were put into pairs and asked to use books to explore communities of various designs such as mining, forestry, commercial and suburban.  The students are asked to complete a research booklet as they worked in their pairs.  This research booklet will be assessed with a checklist and presented to the class on Friday.  Marked research booklets and the assessment pieces will come home with each student on Friday.  Ask your child tonight what community they are researching!

Language: During language today the students worked on a creative writing piece.  The students were asked to create a humorous, fictional story about a time that they annoyed someone.  The students had a lot of fun working on their stories and sharing them aloud with the class.  Ask your child tonight what they wrote about!  We moved on in our language period to our novel study.  In today's class we read chapters 5 and 6 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  The students had a lot of fun reading and then discussing what was read in their novel study groups.

Math: During math today the children began focusing on ordinal numbers.  The students practiced counting and then using the place of various items to assign them an ordinal number.  As a class we found the ordinal numbers of various letters of the alphabet.  The students were then asked to work independently on finding the ordinal numbers of letters of the alphabet in their workbooks.  Each student has brought home their Practice and Homework book with them tonight to practice this concept.

The students also went to PE and French classes today.

Homework: Read for 2o minutes and record in the reading log, practice weekly spelling words, math pages 14 -15 and cursive pages 20 - 21.

Important information: The weather is beginning to get colder as I am sure you have all noticed.  Please be sure that your children are wearing the proper uniform for the cooler weather.  Long sleeved polo shirts, mock turtle necks, 3-in-1 jackets, the house sweat shirts and blazers (grade 4 and up) are the only long sleeves that are allowed to be worn in the school.  Unfortunately sweaters and jackets that are not part of the SJA uniform are not allowed to be worn in the school.  If you have any questions about the uniform or need to order additional pieces please contact Alpa at uniforms@stjudesacademy.com.

The SJA Cross Country Team is having their first meet of the school year. It is taking place this tomorrow from 4:00 - 4:30pm. The children are asked to meet in Ms. Elliott portable to head out for their first try-out. Many students from our grade 3 class have chosen to sign up which is great! Please make arrangements with your child to be picked up after the team finishes their meet at 4:30 tomorrow if your child is a part of the team. For more information please contact Ms. Elliott at melliott@stjudesacademy.com.

The Terry Fox run is happening at SJA on Thursday, September 26th. Students are asked to collect pledges for this event which will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. Pledge forms went home with all students last week. If you have pledge money collected please send it into the school. Pledges can be collected up until the morning of the 26th when the run takes place. For more information please contact Mr. Browning at rbrowning@stjudesacademy.com.

A trip permission form went home with all children last week. The grade 3 and 4 classes at SJA are taking a trip to the city of Toronto! This trip is a part of our IB Unit of Inquiry that is inquiring into urban and rural communities. On this trip we will be looking at the different elements of the great urban city of Toronto, taking various types of transportation offered throughout the city, and visiting the Cadbury Chocolate Factory. Trip forms are due back with the $14 fee by this Wednesday, September 18th. We are looking for 10 volunteers between both classes for this trip who will be confirmed on a first come, first serve basis. Please make note of the allergy form that is attached to the permission form. This allergy release form must be signed and returned back to the school in order for your child to be admitted into the factory.

We are looking to have small boxes collected for an upcoming project in our Unit of Inquiry. The students are going to be asked to build small scale rural and urban communities. Please help us with this project by collecting and sending in small boxes that we can use. Please see the form sent home yesterday for more information.

The first casual day of the school year is taking place on Wednesday, October 25th. Students may come to school dressed in any casual clothing they wish as school uniforms will not have to be worn on this day.


Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Happy Monday!

It was a great start to what I know is going to be a wonderful week here at SJA!

Unit of Inquiry: In today's class we continued working on exploring concepts in our rural and urban communities unit.  The students were introduced to the concepts of land and communities and explored the link between the two.  As a class we explored a map of Canada and discussed the reasons we felt that communities were developed in the places that they have been.  We discussed important features such as physical features, climate, resources and transportation and their link to the formation of communities.  The students were then asked to complete a comprehension activity where they showed what they have learned about the link between land and communities.

Language: During language today the students copied down their new weekly spelling words.  Their spelling notebooks will be brought home with them every night to help them study for Friday's spelling test.  In language we also worked on our Spelling Workbooks where the students were asked to explore syllables, short vowel sounds, solve riddles and write stories all using their spelling words.  The students also worked on journal writing where they wrote a summary of the events that happened over their weekend.  To conclude their language period the student practiced their cursive writing.

Math: During math today the children continued working on place value.  The students were asked to explore the multiple ways that we can represent a number such as in written form, in numerical form, using pictures and using base ten blocks.  The students are asked to practice these concepts in their Homework and Practice book.

The students also went to PE, Art and French classes today.

Homework: Read for 2o minutes and record in the reading log, practice weekly spelling words,  math pages 12 -13 and Land and Communities worksheet if needed.

Important information: The SJA Cross Country Team is having their first meet of the school year.  It is taking place this Wednesday from 4:00 - 4:30pm.  The children are asked to meet in Ms. Elliott portable to head out for their first try-out.  Many students from our grade 3 class have chosen to sign up which is great!  Please make arrangements with your child to be picked up after the team fnishes their meet at 4:30 on Wednesday if your child is a part of the team.  For more information please contact Ms. Elliott at melliott@stjudesacademy.com.

The Terry Fox run is happening at SJA on Thursday, September 26th.  Students are asked to collect pledges for this event which will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. Pledge forms went home with all students last week.  If you have pledge money collected please send it into the school.  Pledges can be collected up until the morning of the 26th when the run takes place.  For more information please contact Mr. Browning at rbrowning@stjudesacademy.com.

A trip permission form went home with all children last week. The grade 3 and 4 classes at SJA are taking a trip to the city of Toronto! This trip is a part of our IB Unit of Inquiry that is inquiring into urban and rural communities. On this trip we will be looking at the different elements of the great urban city of Toronto, taking various types of transportation offered throughout the city, and visiting the Cadbury Chocolate Factory. Trip forms are due back with the $14 fee by this Wednesday, September 18th. We are looking for 10 volunteers between both classes for this trip who will be confirmed on a first come, first serve basis.  Please make note of the allergy form that is attached to the permission form. This allergy release form must be signed and returned back to the school in order for your child to be admitted into the factory.

We are looking to have small boxes collected for an upcoming project in our Unit of Inquiry. The students are going to be asked to build small scale rural and urban communities. Please help us with this project by collecting and sending in small boxes that we can use. Please see the form sent home yesterday for more information.

The first casual day of the school year is taking place on Wednesday, October 25th.  Students may come to school dressed in any casual clothing they wish as school uniforms will not have to be worn on this day.


Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson