The students and I have been working tirelessly this week to prepare for our Grade 3 Team assembly. I will be the first to admit I didn’t have much hand in the planning of our portion of the assembly, which is the way it should be! The students took full charge and ownership of their part of the program. I couldn’t be more proud of the responsibility they all took on with open hands.

What learning took place this week?

The Studio Bell field study took place on Monday of this week. If you have not had the chance to visit this building, please do, because it is beautiful. I am not sure how much the students enjoyed climbing the endless amount of stairs (in their mind) but what they observed and were able to explore when they got to each level was well worth it. Students enhanced their understanding of hearing and sound through various exploration opportunities. Students were also provided with a more intimate session with a music expert. The expert spoke about pitch, volume, and how different instruments are sorted based on how one plays them. It was amazing to watch the students ‘play around’ with the different instruments available. Perhaps a student will want to explore the story of one of these instruments even further.

We have completed reading the first 10 chapters of A Boy Called Bat. The writing task this week was a persuasive one, where the students were asked to place themselves in the shoes of Bat. They were asked to brainstorm as many strong arguments as possible that one could make if attempting to convince a parent to keep a pet. Please ask your child about the arguments they thought were the strongest. We also had a Skype call with our buddy class in Clay Centre, Kansas. The students were able to meet their pen pal buddy face to face. Both classes of students were extremely excited. I hope to communicate with the Clay Centre class on a weekly basis to discuss the content of the novel. The last item we focused on this week was the concept of mindfulness. We discussed how this applies to the novel and of children with autism. Students were then asked to think of a time when they feel nervous, anxious, or uncomfortable. Then they thought of what they could do to help when feeling this way. As students shared their calming strategies with me, I jotted them on big chart paper. We spoke about how your strategy could help another and that we should be comfortable sharing our strategies. I hope that students can independently select a listed calming strategy of their own or from the list if the opportunity presents itself.

We will be having our first Book Club on afternoon of Thursday, October 25th. This will include all of the grade 3 students. At this time, students will reflect on the first half of the novel (A Boy Called Bat) and engage in conversation with peers from other classes. We will be serving a beveridge and healthy snacks at this time. We would appreciate if any parents would be so kind in bringing in a snack for the students to enjoy while they have their discussion. Please be mindful that when selecting or making a snack that it has components of a healthy snack. Please let me know if you would like to bring in a snack and what type of snack, as I will try not to have duplicates. Thank you in advance.

We have now completed the review of all 20 bedrooms from around the world and how they reflect one’s quality of life. The engagement and level of verbal participation while having a group discussion was out of this world. Each day we spend at least 45 to 60 minutes on discussing the story of each bedroom and that of the child who sleeps there. I hope it was eye opening for the children and they understand just how lucky they are to be a citizen of Calgary, Alberta, and Canada. We then started working on a personal quality of life task, where students were to think of what makes them feel happy, healthy, comfortable, and safe. Students have started their task in their individual visual journals. This task will continue as we look into world geography.

Students now know all about Fibonacci and how it can be observed in several aspects of nature. We finished our look at this specific growing pattern by using our grid paper to show the Fibonacci spiral, that can also be seen in relation to our ear, snails, and hurricanes. It truly is amazing how this sequence is seen in nature on so many different levels. Students will now start to think of a unique way in which they can show their understanding of the sequence.

Upcoming Events…

*Thursday, October 25th - Book Club (afternoon)

*Friday, October 26th - Non-instructional Day (No School)

*Friday, November 2nd - FUN Snack

*Sunday, November 4th - Daylight Savings Time ends

It certainly feels more like fall this week. Enjoy your weekend!

Teresa Giffen