My Special Rock

Grade 3s and 4s began their day working on their spelling lists in preparation for Friday's spelling test. In arithmetic they continued to review concepts we have learned this week. We took time to discuss common mistakes students are making, such as not paying attention to the operation and adding when they should be subtracting. In math, the grade 4s practiced a strategy called Guess and Check. Ask your child to describe this strategy to you. We used this strategy to solve equations where there are 2 and 3 unknowns. The grade 4s will be writing a unit test on patterning this Friday. They should review, complete and correct  pages 1 to 11 in their MMS Practice and Homework Books to prepare. Students should see me for any help they need before the test day. The grade 3s used Base Ten Blocks to model numbers. They recorded numbers as Base Ten Block pictures using lines to represent a rod and a circle to represent a cube.
The children learned that telling sentences are also called declarative sentences and that asking sentences are also called interrogative sentences. They practiced identifying and writing different sentence types and add the corrected end mark to the sentences. They were reminded that proper sentence structure is expected in all subject areas.
We ended our day with our inquiry into rocks and minerals. The children began one of the summative projects for this unit. They each chose a rock that they found to be unique from the collection of rocks that have gathered over the past week. The project is called My Special Rock. The children will be investigating the physical properties of their special rock, how people could use their special rock and how humans affect the landscape where their rock is found. Today they used their senses to describe their rock using attributes such as shape, size, texture, colour, lustre, weight, etc. The children have shown enthusiasm for this unit and their excitement is contagious. Many students are still using recess time to rockhound and are asking for class time to present the rocks they have collected. Let us know if your child is exploring their interests about rocks at home by becoming a follower to this blog and by posting comments.
The children attended gym, french and drama class today.

Homework:

• Spelling
• Arithmetic p. 11 & 12
• MMS 3 p. 12 & 13
• MMS 4  Study pages 1 to 11 for Friday's unit test