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!