Good Afternoon!

In today's class the students we started off the day with our weekly spelling test.  Each student will be bringing home a marked spelling test with them tonight.  I ask that any incorrectly spelling words be re-written in their spelling books 10 times each.  In language the students also worked on the proper use of quotation marks, which is an area we have focused on many times before.  The students had a good time with this review.

In our Unit of Inquiry today the students completed their friendship stories from yesterday, and then had a chance to become teachers by peer editing their friend's story!  This was a great way for the students to become accountable for their writing, practice their editing skills, and work on reviewing the format for using paragraphs.  All students have their completed stories and marked rubric coming home with them tonight to share with you.

During math today the students worked on subtraction of three digit numbers.  This activity required the students to build on the concept of adding three digit numbers which was started in yesterday's class.  Today we did a review of borrowing and carrying over, and then the students had an opportunity to work on subtraction questions in their Homework and Practice books.

We also had a chance to meet up with our Reading Buddies today (Ms. Chang's SK class).  But instead of reading, the buddies got in to their pairs and created Halloween jack-o-lanterns!  All students will be bringing home their jack-o-lanterns with them tonight.  Please see a few pictures of the students working with Ms. Chang's class at the end of this posting.
The students also went to PE and French classes today.

Homework: Read for 2o minutes and record in the reading log, re-write incorrect spelling words ten times each, Math pages 48 - 49 and Language pages 40 - 41.

Important information: Picture Day is taking place on Monday!  Please make sure students are wearing their full, proper uniforms on this day. A form has gone home with all students that needs to be completed and sent back before Picture Day.

An important notice came home with all children earlier this week, and an email has gone out to all families indicating a temporary change to pick-up and drop-off beginning on November 4th.  The parking lot will be under construction and will not be able to be used at any point during the day.  Families are asked to pull up 'kiss-and-ride' style to the front of the building during morning drop-off or find parking somewhere on Campobello Road.  During the afternoon pick-up, parking will have to be found on Campobello Road.  We are very sorry for the inconvenience we know this will cause for families.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

SJA is holding a candy-drive at the school from October 28th to November 4th.  Families are welcome to send candy with their children to be dropped off in the collection bin.  The candy collected will be donated to the Eden Food Bank for families in need.  If you end up with extra candy in your house during the week of Halloween, please consider sending it in to be donated.  Students who bring candy to donate will receive house points during the morning assembly. 

Fall Festival tickets will be on sale until the event next Wednesday evening. Tickets are $3 each and will be sold for the event which takes place outdoors on Wednesday, October 30th at 7pm here at SJA. This will be a night of fun for the students, where they come in costume and play games with their peers. Dress warm! Parents are asked to join in for this event for $3 a ticket! Please contact Ms. Elliott at melliott@stjudesacademy.com if you have any other questions about the event.

The next Casual Day is taking place on October 30th.

Halloween/Harvest dress-up day is taking place on October 31st at SJA. Students are encouraged to come to school dressed in a Halloween costume or harvest colours. The school will be having a costume contest in the morning to find the best dressed students! We will be having a small Halloween party in our classroom on that day. Students are welcome to bring in candies and treats to share with their friends during the party. Please don't forget that all snacks and treats must be nut-free to enter the building! 

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Nelson

Happy Thursday!

In today's class the students started off the day with Bell Work.  The students were asked to proofread the incorrect paragraph on the board into a properly written paragraph in their Bell Work books.  There were 17 proofreading mistakes the students had to find, which meant that the students had to work very hard to find all the errors!  I am sending home some additional proofreading practice to work on for homework tonight for students who require extra practice with this skill.  We also had a class discussion on how to use apostrophes to show possession versus plural ('Mrs. Nelson's books' versus 'the boys went outside'). The students had an opportunity to practice working with this important language concept in their Language books.

In our Unit of Inquiry today we had a great time exploring genres.  As a class we read the story of Little Red Riding Hood which is a great example of the fairy tale genre.  The students had a lot of fun listening to this classic story.  As a class we moved on to reviewing the types of genres we have learned to date, and read a story from a new type of genre- friendship stories.  The students were then asked to create their own friendship story.  This activity will be continued tomorrow as it is a long process to plan and write an entire story.  The students were excited to hear that they will be in charge of assessing a peer's story tomorrow using a rubric and giving their peer a grade for their friendship story!

During math today the students continued working on adding and subtracting three digit numbers but using the various strategies we have learned so far in this unit.   The students were then given a chance to practice adding and subtracting three digit numbers in a dice rolling game with a partner.  They had a great deal of fun with this activity!

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, Cursive pages 32 - 33, and Language pages 38 - 39.

Important information: Hot lunch forms and monies are due tomorrow. I'm sorry but there will be no exceptions for late forms.

An important notice came home with all children earlier this week, and an email has gone out to all families indicating a temporary change to pick-up and drop-off beginning on November 4th.  The parking lot will be under construction and will not be able to be used at any point during the day.  Families are asked to pull up 'kiss-and-ride' style to the front of the building during morning drop-off or find parking somewhere on Campobello Road.  During the afternoon pick-up, parking will have to be found on Campobello Road.  We are very sorry for the inconvenience we know this will cause for families.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

SJA is holding a candy-drive at the school from October 28th to November 4th.  Families are welcome to send candy with their children to be dropped off in the collection bin.  The candy collected will be donated to the Eden Food Bank for families in need.  If you end up with extra candy in your house during the week of Halloween, please consider sending it in to be donated.  Students who bring candy to donate will receive house points during the morning assembly. 

Fall Festival tickets are still on sale this week! Tickets are $3 each and will be sold for the event which takes place on Wednesday, October 30th at 7pm here at SJA. This will be a night of fun for the students, where they come in costume and play games with their peers. Parents are asked to join in for this event for $3 a ticket! Please contact Ms. Elliott at melliott@stjudesacademy.com if you have any other questions about the event.

Picture Day is taking place on Monday, October 28th. Please make sure students are wearing their full, proper uniforms on this day. A form went home with all students tonight that needs to be completed and sent back before Picture Day.

The next Casual Day is taking place on October 30th.

Halloween/Harvest dress-up day is taking place on October 31st at SJA. Students are encouraged to come to school dressed in a Halloween costume or harvest colours. The school will be having a costume contest in the morning to find the best dressed students! We will be having a small Halloween party in our classroom on that day. Students are welcome to bring in candies and treats to share with their friends during the party. Please don't forget that all snacks and treats must be nut-free to enter the building! 


Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

We had a great deal of fun in our grade three class today!

 In today's class the students started off the day working on a language activity.  As a class we reviewed the steps to writing a perfect paragraph (topic sentence, developing sentences and a closing sentence) by creating our own class paragraph on 'The Zoo'.  We discussed how paragraphs may only be about one topic, and that 3 - 4 developing sentences are the perfect amount to fully develop the topic.  The students had a chance to practice writing their own paragraphs in their Ontario Writing books.  Ask your child tonight what their paragraphs were about!  In language the students also worked on reviewing the proper ways to use periods and commas.

In our Unit of Inquiry today we continued exploring the concept of genres.  We reviewed what we know about genres so far, and added some questions we have about genres that we hope to answer.  The class was then broken into groups and given a number of books.  The students were asked to use some sort of method of sorting the books out.  When the groups presented their sorting technique, we saw how useful genres are when sorting and organizing books!  Using the assortment of books the students saw examples of genres such as non-fiction, horror, fairy tales, adventure, and westerns.  Each group then created a poster to advertise a different genre of writing!  Ask your child tonight what genre they were responsible for creating!

During math today the students used their knowledge of mental math solutions to work on estimating totals of large numbers.  The students were asked to look at the sums and differences of large numbers and estimate what they think the answer might be using their mental math strategies from previous lessons.  As a class we discussed the importance of estimating, when we use estimating, and how estimating does not have to have the correct answer.  The students worked on practising the concept in their Homework and Practice books.

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 Homework pages 44 - 45, Language pages 36 - 37.

Important information: Hot lunch forms and monies are due on October 25th (this Friday). I'm sorry but there will be no exceptions for late forms.

An important notice came home with all children yesterday, and an email went out to all families indicating a temporary change to pick-up and drop-off beginning on November 4th.  The parking lot will be under construction and will not be able to be used at any point during the day.  Families are asked to pull up 'kiss-and-ride' style to the front of the building during morning drop-off or find parking somewhere on Campobello Road.  During the afternoon pick-up, parking will have to be found on Campobello Road.  We are very sorry for the inconvenience we know this will cause for families.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

SJA is holding a candy-drive at the school from October 28th to November 4th.  Families are welcome to send candy with their children to be dropped off in the collection bin.  The candy collected will be donated to the Eden Food Bank for families in need.  If you end up with extra candy in your house during the week of Halloween, please consider sending it in to be donated.  Students who bring candy to donate will receive house points during the morning assembly. 

Fall Festival tickets are still on sale this week! Tickets are $3 each and will be sold for the event which takes place on Wednesday, October 30th at 7pm here at SJA. This will be a night of fun for the students, where they come in costume and play games with their peers. Parents are welcome to join in for this event for $3 a ticket! Please contact Ms. Elliott at melliott@stjudesacademy.com if you have any other questions about the event.

Picture Day is taking place on Monday, October 28th. Please make sure students are wearing their full, proper uniforms on this day. A form went home with all students tonight that needs to be completed and sent back before Picture Day.

The next Casual Day is taking place on October 30th.

Halloween/Harvest dress-up day is taking place on October 31st at SJA. Students are encouraged to come to school dressed in a Halloween costume or harvest colours. The school will be having a costume contest in the morning to find the best dressed students! We will be having a small Halloween party in our classroom on that day. Students are welcome to bring in candies and treats to share with their friends during the party. Please don't forget that all snacks and treats must be nut-free to enter the building! 


Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

 In today's class the students started off the day working on language.  The students were asked to work on a creative writing story on a topic of their choice.  We had a lot of interesting topics submitted today which made the story share time a great deal of fun!  The students also worked on practicing the use of periods and commas in their language books. 

In our Unit of Inquiry today the students continued on with our new unit on the elements of writing.  The students had a review of what 'genres' means, and examples of different genres of books.  Ask your child tonight what they know about genres!  The students then moved on to their adventure stories that were begun yesterday.  All students completed this first example of genre writing today.  Their marked adventure stories will be coming home with them tonight.  Please keep an eye out for them!

During math today the students continued working on mental math strategies for subtracting two digit numbers. In today's class we reviewed the method for subtracting two digit numbers mentally- linking the ones and tens columns and subtracting. The students continued working on this concepts in their Homework and Practice books. 
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 Homework pages 42 - 43, Language pages 34 - 35.

Important information: Hot lunch forms and monies are due on October 25th (this Friday). I'm sorry but there will be no exceptions for late forms.

Fall Festival tickets are still on sale this week! Tickets are $3 each and will be sold for the event which takes place on Wednesday, October 30th at 7pm here at SJA. This will be a night of fun for the students, where they come in costume and play games with their peers. Parents are welcome to join in for this event for $3 a ticket! Please contact Ms. Elliott at melliott@stjudesacademy.com if you have any other questions about the event.

Picture Day is taking place on Monday, October 28th. Please make sure students are wearing their full, proper uniforms on this day. A form went home with all students tonight that needs to be completed and sent back before Picture Day.

The next Casual Day is taking place on October 30th.

Halloween/Harvest dress-up day is taking place on October 31st at SJA. Students are encouraged to come to school dressed in a Halloween costume or harvest colours. The school will be having a costume contest in the morning to find the best dressed students! We will be having a small Halloween party in our classroom on that day. Students are welcome to bring in candies and treats to share with their friends during the party. Please don't forget that all snacks and treats must be nut-free to enter the building!

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Happy Monday!

It is great to get back to the classroom.  I learned a great deal at the Annual IB conference I attended this past week, but I am very happy to get back to work with the grade 3 students at SJA.  

In today's class the students started off the day working on spelling.  They copied down the new weekly spelling words and began working on reinforcing the words in their spelling books.  Spelling words this week focus on the long 'E' sound.  In language today we also read more of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  The book is nearing its end and has become very exciting!  The students cannot wait to see how the story turns out.  

In our Unit of Inquiry today the students presented their hard work from last unit's summative projects.  The pairs of students presented their information to the class and the class provided each pair with compliments and questions.  This was a great way to end the unit, as we got to see the terms, concepts, and ideas put into use throughout the presentations.  See below for some pictures of the students presenting.  We also started our new Unit of Inquiry today which is based on the central idea 'Imaginary worlds can be expressed through story telling'.  In today's class we brainstormed the types of genres we already know about, and the kinds of subjects we might see in those stories.  We spoke about perspective and how story telling allows us to understand the perspective of others.  We also began looking specifically at one type of story- adventure stories!  Ask your child tonight to tell you what they know about genres!

During math today the students had a review of addition and subtraction rules in a class discussion. We focused on what to do when digits need to be carried over or borrowed from another column.  The students worked on addition and subtraction questions in their Abeka Arithmetic books to reinforce this concept.  As a class we also reviewed the multiplication tables we have explored to date ( 0, 1 and 2 tables) and students practised these facts in their books.

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 19 - 20, and Spelling Workbook pages 34 - 36.

Important information:  Hot lunch forms and monies are due on October 25th (this Friday).  I'm sorry but there will be no exceptions for late forms.

Fall Festival tickets are still on sale this week! Tickets are $3 each and will be sold for the event which takes place on Wednesday, October 30th at 7pm here at SJA. This will be a night of fun for the students, where they come in costume and play games with their peers. Parents are welcome to join in for this event for $3 a ticket! Please contact Ms. Elliott at melliott@stjudesacademy.com if you have any other questions about the event.

Picture Day is taking place on Monday, October 28th. Please make sure students are wearing their full, proper uniforms on this day.  A form went home with all students tonight that needs to be completed and sent back before Picture Day.

The next Casual Day is taking place on October 30th.

Halloween/Harvest dress-up day is taking place on October 31st at SJA.  Students are encouraged to come to school dressed in a Halloween costume or harvest colours.  The school will be having a costume contest in the morning to find the best dressed students!  We will be having a small Halloween party in our classroom on that day.  Students are welcome to bring in candies and treats to share with their friends during the party.  Please don't forget that all snacks and treats must be nut-free to enter the building! 


Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Today is the first day of our new Unit of Inquiry!  We are going to be entering into our 'How We Express Ourselves' unit.

 In this unit we will be exploring under the central idea 'Imaginary worlds can be expressed through story-telling'.  This is a great unit that will focus on various types of writing!

The three lines of inquiry that will direct us through the unit are 1. The different genres of story telling 2. The elements of a story 3. The process of story writing.

I am very excited to begin this unit to see how creative our students can get!

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson