Good afternoon!

In today's class the students started off the day with their weekly spelling tests.  All students will be bringing home their marked spelling tests with them tonight.  I ask that all incorrectly spelled words be written ten times each (including the bonus word).

In our Unit of Inquiry today we switched gears from the fairy tales that we have been working on and instead became communicators and caring students during our Remembrance Day whole-school assembly.  The students watched a video about the history of Remembrance Day, listened to poems about Remembrance Day and wrote post cards to soldiers who are currently out there protecting our country.   When we returned the class we began exploring Remembrance Day poetry by looking at a variety of famous poems, such as In Flander's Field.  The students then had an opportunity to write their own Remembrance Day poems.  These poems are going to act as our class' submission for the Polar Expressions contest!

During math today the students had a chance to write their re-tests from Monday's unit test.  All students that wrote the re-test today will be bringing home their marked tests with them tonight.  There will be one final re-test for those students that scored an 84% or lower on Tuesday, November 12th, 2013.

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

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

Important information:   Tomorrow is a PD Day at SJA.  Students are not required to come to school on this day.

Monday, November 11th is Remembrance Day.  The school will be closed in observation of this important holiday.

Picture re-take day is on November 15th for those students who require re-takes.  The original school photos went home with all students tonight.  If you are interested in purchasing the original school photos, the order must be submitted by November 18th!

After-school Care Payment Request Forms went home with students tonight.  Please keep an eye out for these forms if your child attends after-school care.  The payment is due on November 12th, 2013.

We are excited to announce that St. Jude's Academy is going to be hosting an author visit for SJA students and their families!  Cecile Marie, a children's book author, will be visiting us on November 26th at 10am to share her stories, answer questions and sell her latest books.  Parents and family members are welcome and encouraged to join us for this fun event.  Cecile Marie's books will be for sale at the end of her talk for $10.  Half of the proceeds of the sale of her books on that day, will be donated to SJA for the purchase of books for our own school library.  Purchasing her books is optional and not a requirement of attending the author talk.   We look forward to seeing SJA grade 3 families out on the 26th!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Nelson

Good morning!

Posted below you will find the rubric we have been referring to while working on the fairy tale re-write.  This is the rubric I will be using to assess their stories.

Category	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
Knowledge & Understanding	-Identified topic, purpose, and audience with difficulty -does not include a beginning, middle, and end -characters, setting, and plot may be missing	-Identified topic, purpose, and audience in somewhat vague terms - beginning, middle, and end are not clear -Story contains characters, and or setting and or plot	-Identified topic, purpose, and audience accurately - beginning, middle, and end are clear -Story contains characters, setting, and plot	-Identified topic, purpose, and audience precisely - beginning, middle, and end flow smoothly -Story contains well described characters, setting, and plot
Thinking	-Little brainstorming of ideas in box provided -Made poor use of organiser for topic and developing sentences -Creative thinking process used with limited effectiveness -Almost no revisions made -rarely confirmed spelling -Much prompting needed	-Brainstorming of ideas in box provided to a certain extent -Made sufficient use of organiser for topic and developing sentences -Creative thinking process used with some effectiveness -Some revisions made -often confirmed spelling -Some prompting needed	-Ample brainstorming of ideas in box provided -Effective use of organiser for topic and developing sentences -Creative thinking process used with considerable effectiveness -Competently made revisions -regularly confirmed spelling -Little prompting needed	-Extensive brainstorming of ideas in box provided -Made full use of organiser for topic and developing sentences -Creative thinking process used with a high degree of effectiveness -Very efficiently made revisions -readily confirmed spelling -No prompting needed
Communication	-Story unclear -failed to use proper paragraph form and structure/organization, or provide a title -poor sentence fluency and use of dialogue	-Story satisfactory -Little use of proper paragraph form and structure/organization, as well as title creation -satisfactory sentence fluency and use of dialogue	-Story clear -Consistent use of proper paragraph form and structure/organization provided reasonable title -good sentence fluency and use of dialogue	-Well developed story -Precise use of proper paragraph form and structure/organization, provided creative title -excellent sentence fluency and use of dialogue
Application	-fairy tale from the perspective of the antagonist  insufficient	- fairy tale from the perspective of the antagonist  satisfactory	- fairy tale from the perspective of the antagonist  insufficient quite strong	-superior fairy tale from the perspective of the antagonist  insufficient

Good afternoon!

In today's class the students started off the day with language.  The students were asked to proofread various sentences to find the spelling, punctuation and grammatical mistakes.  The students always have a great deal of fun with this activity!  During language the students also worked on sentence writing and the use of plurals in their Language books and the proper use of apostrophes in their Cursive books.

In our Unit of Inquiry today we continued on with the concept of 'perspective' that was started earlier this week. Students continued working in their pairs on their re-write of fairy tales using a new character perspective. In today's class the students continued with their brainstorm and completed their rough copies of their stories.  In tomorrow's class the students will be asked to complete their good copies which will be presented to the class at the end of the UOI period.  As a class we went over the rubric for this assignment together to prepare all students to receive their best mark.  Ask your child tonight what they are writing about!

During math today we had a math take-up period based on the numeration unit test from Monday.  We went through each question together and discussed the best way to answer each section.  Important concepts such as addition, subtraction, estimation and problem solving were all reviewed and reflected on today.  The math re-test for those students that scored an 84% or lower will be taking place tomorrow.

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 38 - 39 and Language pages 50 - 51.

Important information:   The math unit re-test will take place tomorrow for those students who scored an 84% or lower.

Friday, November 8th is a PD Day at SJA.  Students are not required to come to school on this day.

Monday, November 11th is Remembrance Day.  The school will be closed in observation of this important holiday.

Picture re-take day is on November 15th for those students who require re-takes.  The original school photos went home with all students tonight.

After-school Care Payment Request Forms went home with students tonight.  Please keep an eye out for these forms if your child attends after-school care.  The payment is due on November 12th, 2013.

We are excited to announce that St. Jude's Academy is going to be hosting an author visit for SJA students and their families!  Cecile Marie, a children's book author, will be visiting us on November 26th at 10am to share her stories, answer questions and sell her latest books.  Parents and family members are welcome and encouraged to join us for this fun event.  Cecile Marie's books will be for sale at the end of her talk for $10.  Half of the proceeds of the sale of her books on that day, will be donated to SJA for the purchase of books for our own school library.  Purchasing her books is optional and not a requirement of attending the author talk.   We look forward to seeing SJA grade 3 families out on the 26th!

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

In today's class the students started off the day with language.  As a class we explored 'hamburger paragraphs' and how using this type of graphic organizer when writing will lead to perfect paragraphs.  As a class we used the model of a hamburger paragraph to create a class paragraph about summer vacations.  The students were then asked to create their own hamburger paragraphs on a topic of their choice.  Marked hamburger paragraphs will be coming home with all students tonight.  In their Language books the students also worked on sentence writing.  They were asked to create their own sentences, and re-write choppy sentences to have them flow better.

In our Unit of Inquiry today we continued on with the concept of 'perspective' that was started in yesterday's class.  In today's class we read 'The True Story of the Three Little Pigs' which tells this classic fairy tale from the perspective of the wolf.  Students were then put into pairs and began working on their own fairy tale re-write based on a perspective shift. In today's class the students chose their topic, brainstorm story ideas and began their rough copies.  In tomorrow's class the students will be asked to complete their rough copies and then turn their stories into good copies which will be presented to the class.

During math today the students worked on their A Beka Arithmetic books where we focused on the three multiplication tables, and working with Roman numerals.

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 23 - 24 and Language pages 48 - 49.

Important information:  All students are bringing home their marked math unit tests with them tonight.  This test can now be used as the primary tool to study if your child requires a math unit re-test.  The re-test will take place on Thursday, November 7th.

Friday, November 8th is a PD Day at SJA.  Students are not required to come to school on this day.

Monday, November 11th is Remembrance Day.  The school will be closed in observation of this important holiday.

Picture re-take day is on November 15th for those students who require re-takes.  The original school photos will be coming home with each student shortly.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Happy Monday!

We started off the day today by working on spelling.  The students were asked to copy down their new weekly spelling words and work on reinforcing them in their Spelling workbooks.  Today's list deals with consonant blends.  We also had a finish-up period with our Charlie and the Chocolate Factory novel studies.  As a class, we went back to the novel study rubric and discussed the ways that each student can ensure that they receive a level 4 on their novel study.  The students then had time to edit, review, modify and add to the summaries they have been working so hard on over the last few months to ensure they reach their level 4 goals.

In our Unit of Inquiry today we had a discussion of 'perspective'.  As a class we discussed how perspective can change depending on the person who is viewing the situation.  As a class we used examples such as two students in an argument with different views of the situation based on their perspective, and two different people at the same event with a different reflection of the event based on their perspective.  This led in to our discussion on our next assignment in our Unit of Inquiry- re-writing popular fairy tales from the perspective of the antagonist.  In today's class we read 'The Giant and the Beanstalk' to see an example of how the story can shift when you change perspectives.  In tomorrow's class the students will be asked to write their own fairy tale perspective shift!  Help your child brainstorm ideas for their story tonight!

During math today the students had their unit test on the number sense and numeration unit they have been working so hard on over the last few weeks.  Marked unit tests will be coming home with each student shortly.  A re-test will be available for all students that scored an 84% or less on Thursday, November 7th, 2013.

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, and Spelling Workbook pages 42 - 44.

Important information:  Thank you to all parents who made today's morning drop-off so smooth!  Please remember that this temporary change to pick-up and drop-off due to the parking lot being paved will last approximately two weeks. Families may either 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. 

Friday, November 8th is a PD Day at SJA.  Students are not required to come to school on this day.

Monday, November 11th is Remembrance Day.  The school will be closed in observation of this important holiday.

Picture re-take day is on November 15th for those students who require re-takes.  The original school photos will be coming home with each student shortly.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Rubric

                                                     4                                  3                                 2                                1

Listening skills while reading	Excellent. Listened very well with no interruptions.	Very good.  Listened well with few interruptions.	Fair.  Listened good with interruptions	Poor. Was not able to listen due to interruptions.
Quality of group work.	Excellent.  Worked well in their group at all times.  Consistently participated well with their group members with no distractions.	Very good.  Worked well in their group most of the time.  Usually participated well with their group with little distractions.	Fair. Sometimes worked well in their group.  Participated with their group a few times.  Often was distracted.	Poor. Was not able to work well in their group. Did not participate well with their group and was consistently distracted.
Quality of written work.	Excellent.  Showed excellent cursive. No errors throughout the writing.  Main points were always well summarized in each chapter with no missing information. Proofreading was consistently evident.	Very good. Showed very good cursive.  Few errors.  Main points were usually well summarized throughout each chapter with no missing information. Proofreading was usually evident.	Fair. Cursive requires improvement. Writing had some errors.  Main points were loosely summarized, with missing or incorrect information throughout some chapters. Proofreading needs improvement.	Poor. Poor quality cursive, with many errors.  Main points were incorrect or missed in a majority of the chapters. Proofreading was not completed.
Quality of illustrations.	Illustrations were always meaningful and reflected the information presented in the corresponding chapter.  Title page showed great effort.	Very good. Illustrations showed good effort and usually reflected the information from the chapter.  Title page showed some effort.	Fair. Illustrations were attempted and sometimes reflected the information from the chapter.  Title page showed little effort.	Poor.  Little to no illustrations that did not reflect the information from the chapter.  Title page was not complete/ had no effort.