I am so happy to be a part of the grades 4 and 5 class this year! On the first day of school we made mini individual time capsules which contain our likes, dislikes and goals we set for the year. On the last day of school we will see if our favourite things have changed and if we have reached our goals! (and remember… they are keeping an ‘eye’ on you all year long) We started the year off by doing a lot of review in Math and ELA, just to get everyone’s brains moving again. We are doing some practice writing paragraphs in ELA and will be writing an autobiography in a couple of weeks! In Science, we are working on ways to better the environment and doing a lot of research about Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We have come up with some great ideas that we can do as a class to make a good impact on the environment! Math has started up again, and the Grade 5’s are working with Mr. Woods-Fehr while the Grade 4’s are with Ms. Rancourt. We are having a great time in our class and look forward to what is ahead! Please check out our class website (www.msrancourtsgrade45.weebly.com) where you will find what we are learning, educational games and even student work that are is in the process of being created!

Feel free to stop by anytime to see myself or the class!

I can hardly believe that we are in our last month of school! Time really does fly when you’re having fun! It has been such a pleasure to work with this group of students again this year. They are a funny, caring and a very capable bunch of individuals. I am definitely going to miss them! I would also like to say how great it has been getting to know all you parents. I have appreciated your support, advice and patience during our time together. I wish you all a wonderful summer and good luck during the 2011-2012 school year.
June will be a busy time, so bear with us, and feel free to call or write anytime with questions or concerns.

Here’s what we have on the go right now:
ELA – We are doing lots or writing during ELA. We are also working on our pioneers unit. Our last few spelling tests have been interesting – the kids get to pick the words. We’re hop- ing that this helps us to expand our vocabularies. We are also preparing feverishly for our Literacy Fair on June 23!
Social Studies – As afore mentioned, we are working on our pioneers unit. It was SO great to get to Pioneer Days at the WDM and actually try out some of the chores we have been read- ing about. Milking a cow is not as easy as it sounds! We are really looking forward to doing some beadwork with Ms. Rancourt during the First Nations portion of this unit.
Math – The grade 4s are working on long division and multiplication of longer numbers. The grade 3s have finished up multiplication and division and have moved on to data management. Please see the attached calendar for upcoming test dates.
Phys-Ed – We’ve been practicing some soccer skills as well as a few track and field events. We’re also doing some swimming lessons.
Science à Each student is researching the topic of their choice for a “Did You Know” book.

Can it really be true? Has spring finally started to…well…spring? I sure hope so! The grade 3/4 class is looking forward to a very busy month. Here’s how it’s shaping up:

ELA: Since we have finished our spelling lessons, we have decided to work together to develop our own spelling lists. This will help improve our vocabularies as well. We have begun practicing making inferences while we read – using clues we find in the text, illustrations and our sche- ma. We continue to practice our creative writing often and we finished up How to Eat Fried Worms before the break. We plan to combine some of our ELA time with Social Studies as we learn about the pioneers and First Nations people in early Canada.

Math: The grade 3s are working on multiplication and division. The grade 4s are working on decimals and will soon move on to multiplication and division of longer numbers. Please don’t forget that you have access to Mathletics.com from your home computer! This is a great way to practice and develop skills.

Social Studies: As mentioned above, we’ve started a unit on pioneers and First Nations People. We are really looking forward to having Ms. Rancourt come in and share with us about be- ing Metis.

Arts-Ed: We’re doing some dramatic Reader’s Theatre – lots of fun! We also recently completed some really neat colour wheels.

Phys.-Ed: We’re finishing up badminton and working on developing our running endur- ance. We’re also looking forward to our swimming lessons later this month. Please note that the dates have changed for swimming. We are now swimming May 24th and 25th.

On May 31st we are headed to the WDM for Pioneer Days in the morning and Flip Gymnastics for the afternoon – should be a lot of fun!

Thank you very much to the second group for sending our Easter potluck lunch! The students thoroughly enjoyed it – I was informed by several that more potlucks would ensure that my future students always like me!

Take care!

Here’s what’s happening in the 3/4 room these days…
Science: We had a wonderful field trip to Gardenscape where we planted some beans, learned about composting, insects and the parts of a plant. A very special thank you to Mrs. Leuschen, Mrs. Cory and Mr. Harder for coming along with us. We are just wrapping up our rocks and minerals unit and will be moving on to predicting weather, next.
ELA: We are just finishing the novel How to Eat Fried Worms. Our approach to this book has been a little different than the other novels studies we’ve done. This time around, each student was assigned on chapter (or two, if they’re short) to develop a presentation on for the class. It’s been really fun to hear each person’s interpretation of a chapter and to have them share their questions and connections!
We continue to focus on the writing process and grammar. We are getting quite good at proof reading – try to stump us! Of course we also continue to develop our phonics and spelling skills as well. Our current reading comprehension strategy is making inferences.
Math: The grade 3s are just beginning a unit on fractions. The 4s are also working on fractions as well as decimals.
Social Studies: We will be beginning a unit on Saskatchewan.
Phys-Ed.: We are developing some badminton skills.
We have also started on some triathlon training. Please watch for more information coming soon as the date is quickly approaching!

Sincerely,
Alana Wilson and the 3/4 Class!

We have moved…again…back into our freshly painted classroom! The grade 3/4 class did an amazing job at being flexible and adaptable during the painting process! We are glad to be back in our spiffy new digs! Here’s a peak at what else we’ve been up to…

ELA: We finished up Mr. Popper’s Penguins! A special thank you to the grade 4s for working with their grade 3 partners. You did an amazing job! We have been working very hard on our creative writing, and will be beginning a new novel study, soon. In grammar we have been learning about pronouns and fine-tuning our proofreading.

Math: Both the grade 3s and 4s are working on measurement units right now. Please help them to practice telling time on an analog clock, counting forward on backward on the calendar by days, weeks and months and using a ruler.

Science: We’re still working on rocks and minerals. We also have a wonderful field trip coming up on the 24th to the Little Green Thumbs Expo!

Arts-Ed: We have made some wonderful studies in contrast lately, as well as building some amazing leprechaun traps.

We are really looking forward to demonstrating some our skills at our student lead interviews next week. This is a new interview format for us should be interesting!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone!