EQAO starts this week! The students have been practicing strategies such as ROPES, KTAC, and using writing organizers for much of the year. I'm sure these will help them successfully complete the testing.

As a result, in Math, while focussing on fractions, the Grade 3s are getting basic refreshers on topics not yet covered this year. For example, they are playing probability games and like How Many Bears in the Bag and 21 and discussing terms such as impossible and unlikely. In Science the Grade 3s are fosussing their knowledge of forces and structures on the three kinds of bridges: beam, arch, and suspension. They continue investigating how shapes bear a load and ways they are used those shapes in a structure, such as a bridge. The Grade 4s are using makeshift gears to determine mechanical advantage. Students should have a basic understanding that a small gear which is meshing with a bigger gear will turn faster because it has fewer teeth. For example, a gear with five teeth will turn around two times when meshed with a gear having ten teeth that turns around once. The grade three students surprised the Shenkman activity leaders with their knowledge of dance elements. Now, with the grade 4s, they are impressing the Luv2Groove leader with their 'line dance' skils, which we have also been developing in dance. Grade 3s Healthy Living study of dangerous substances (safety symbols...) and the Grade 4 study of drugs (cigarettes...) are coming to an end. In Language  we are writing persuasive texts and relating them to media. For example, advertisements are a form of persuasive texts. We are looking at media (magazines, posters, internet video ads, television commercials, etc, and identifying techniques such as "bandwagon" and "pressure selling". We are also reviewing the grammatical structures learned such as using paragraphs (for each subtopic), varied sentence structures (compound sentences), and words (contractions).

Welcome to Catholic Education Week! We have many exciting school-based and grade-based activities happening this week in the coming weeks!

Monday brings a well-deserved breakfast for volunteers. A presentation with a seeing dog will teach us about kindness towards animals. Open House will give parents an opportunity to see our class modelling how we use inquiry and technology as an approach to learning. Inquiry learning begins with a question, follows with exploration, and ends with opinions or further questions. The students run the show! They volunteered to introduce the classroom stations and even came up with ideas for the stations!! Following the open house is a special liturgy. We have the Book Fair and Jump Rope for Heart this week too!!! 

Our Religious lessons center around the meaning of Easter, for example the symbols and how Easter touches people in our lives. In Math the Grade 3s move to learning division, and think of it as the opposite of multiplication. Look for examples of things that can be divided (we do not focus on remainders in grade 3). In Science the Grade 3s are building structures (with straws, paper...) and reinforcing them with struts and ties. They are investigating which shapes best bear a load and ways to use those shapes in a structure, such as a bridge. The Grade 4s will extend their understanding of how pulleys can help achieve work to how gears can too. For example, each can reach distances (think of a well), change the direction needed to lift, allow gravity to lift, or even provide a mechanical advantage. Your Grade 4 child should be familiar with these concepts and terms. Continue to bring home Science notes to review with you on an evening that you are not too busy or ask what activity was done (see class schedule for when Science occurs). We are applying the elements of dance in guessing games while dancing "phrases" that may be repeated. For instance, walking forward, bent, with strong and sudden movements, and a large body shape (giant). Grade 3s Healthy Living reviews safety symbols, and Grade 4s look more closely at cigarettes as a common, dangerous substance. Since dance is integrated in Physical Education, we will take advantage of the nice weather and develop soccer skills outside (trap, inside/outside pass...) when the fields are dry. In Language we have discussed the primary features of persuasive texts - get ready for a present soon!