Mar. 30, 2016

It was a great morning for team building today. We began the day by taping the walls and setting newspapers on the floor, and then painted a beautiful line up the stairwells. Each house got to paint their color, and it looks amazing!!  Great job students!

After lunch, the houses got back together to make a banner with a logo on it. They look fantastic, and we can see that much teamwork was necessary.



HOMEWORK:
1) Spelling Test on Friday!
2) Social Studies writing assignment - DUE April 6th, however, you can work on it in pieces and hand it in any time you finish. Please be sure to double space and proofread your paragraphs. The assignment is:

Please write about Taiwan's and USA's government. Your 4 paragraphs will be: introduction, similarities, differences, conclusion. 
Explain/Describe the points in the Vehn diagram we completed together. 
You must type your assignment on the computer and can print it out, or email to me: elia.yaremchuk@gmail.com

You may use the following websites to do more research: 

http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/world/taiwan-government.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_the_Republic_of_China

FIELD TRIP TOMORROW!!
- please bring your National Health Card, and the other items that was on the list you brought home yesterday.
- the bus will leave shortly after 8:30am, so please arrive before 8:25am. Grade 3 students will return home in time for normal dismissal. However, they will leave Mr. Y behind to help supervise the Grade 4-7 students. Mr. Chao will be covering the morning classes on Friday.

Science Fair update
- according to our timeline, here's what is due soon:

• Form a conclusion, checking your hypothesis. (March 29-April 1)
• Communicate your results, writing about how what you learned applies to the real world. (April 4-8)

Please work on your conclusion and form your hypothesis. These can be completed in the worksheet that was handed out.

Have a great evening!

Mr. Yaremchuk

Mar. 29, 2016

It was our usual busy Tuesday today. Here's what we did..........

1. Language Arts / Reading and Phonics - got back into the Daily 5 routine and our focus lessons were: a) Introduction to how to write a story, b) subject pronouns, c) Cafe menu - Make mental images.  We have also been doing "Listen to Reading" as one of our options and studying, "The Jungle Book."
2. Math - reviewed telling time to 5 minutes, and then practiced telling time to the minute
3. Science - labeled the phases of the moon
4. Social Studies - completed research to compare and contrast the American and Taiwanese governments. 

HOMEWORK:
- Math p. 84
- English p. 100

NOTICES:
- the students have information of what to bring on the Field Trip this Thursday. As a reminder, we will be going to Tainan for a fun day of activities, and return home the same day.
- tomorrow is painting and movie day - please bring shoes and clothes to paint in, and also $70NT for the movie

Have a great evening.

Mr. Yaremchuk

Mar. 28, 2016

Welcome back everybody! Hopefully your spring break holiday was fantastic and a nice brain relaxer so we can now begin to focus on our last quarter of the school year.

This morning began with Assembly, followed by sharing time (talked about the week holiday) and then Reading and Phonics. Since it was such a beautiful morning, we went outside for Daily 5 and did Read to Self and Listen to Reading.

For Math, we practiced telling time to 5 minutes, and new time games were introduced and played with.

In Social Studies we did some research on Taiwan's government.

HOMEWORK:
1) Math p. 83
2) Reading Logs

NOTICES:
- Please bring back your Daily 5 binders, we will need them tomorrow, and please bring any homework that some of you forgot to bring today
- Wednesday morning we will be painting the stairwell. Please bring an apron, or some old clothes that are good for painting in.
- Wednesday afternoon will have us watching a movie. Tickets are on sale at lunch time for $70 and that will get you a snack and drink. Student council will be using the money from the movie sales to buy the paints and supplies needed for the painting project.
- Thursday will be our school-wide field trip. Students were given a short list of things to bring.

Have a wonderful evening!

Mr. Y

Mar. 18, 2016

It is time for Spring Break!  I think after writing all those final exams and the Iowa exams, the Terrific Third Graders are ready for a break. Excellent hard work by all of you!

Today was a busy morning.

The students wrote the final 2 ITBS exams on Maps and Diagrams and also Reference Materials.
In between those exams we explained the reasons for seasons, and compared Earth's revolution time to the other planets in our solar system.

Now, don't panic when you see the homework list below, it seems like a lot, but it's just enough to keep you students busy.

HOMEWORK:
1) Math Clock Hunt worksheet, let's see who can find the most clocks.
2) Reading Activity - Raindrops Reading Log - complete a raindrop reading activity for 10 minutes, cut out the raindrop, and glue it on the picture page. You DO NOT have to complete your reading log, as this activity replaces it.
3) Looking for something to read? You can start reading the new story we will study in Journeys called, "Yonder Mountain" found on p. 431.
4) Work on Writing - Please write another ending to a story you read. Describe what happens. You do not need to read a new story, it can be any story that you read before.

5) Science Fair update - you have a lot of time to work on your project over the break, so please use this time to meet with your partner if you're in a group. You are more than welcome to work ahead of our schedule. A reminder that on April 1st, you will need to have completed your experiment at least 2 times and have some data collected. You will also need to make conclusions and check it against your hypothesis. Please feel free to begin making a rough plan of your display on paper. The display will not be the same size as the picture in your Science Fair booklet because it is much too big. You can go to a stationary store (9 x 9) and purchase materials that are about 110cm x 80cm for the main section, and then get a second one that you can cut in half for the sides.

6) You can write the new spelling words in your Daily 5 binder in the appropriate places (word list at the front, and in each section), and please write the definition of any words that you do not know.
New Spelling Words:
quarter, minute, second, rotation, revolution, calendar, fourth, fifth, eighth, twentieth, fifteenth, fourteenth, thirteenth, twelfth, ninth, thirtieth, twenty-third, February, Sunday, thirty-first

NOTICES:

- report cards were sent home today

- Daily 5 binders were sent home for observation and for the small spelling words homework

- Movie Day is on March 30 in the afternoon. You will still be able to purchase your ticket for $70 after the Spring Break. The Student Council will be using the money collected for paint and supplies needed to complete a fun painting project which is also on March 30. 

- Here is a link of an eagle's nest in USA - the cameras are live, so you can watch and hope to witness the eagle's eggs hatching: http://www.eagles.org/dceaglecam/

Finally, have a wonderful Spring Break holiday. Please drive safely if you are traveling anywhere. If you have any questions about anything, please send me a Dojo message and I will respond when I have the chance.

Thank you, and I look forward to another fun and exciting quarter, but sadly the last one with this group of amazing kids.

Take care, happy holidays!

Mr. Yaremchuk

Mar. 17, 2016

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Wearing green is a tradition for this Irish holiday. If you don't wear green, you can get pinched.


This morning we began with the Social Studies ITBS test, followed by a review lesson in Math on telling time. After recess the students completed the Science portion of the ITBS testing.

For the last period, the students finished the shorter Math ITBS test, and then celebrated a very special day - Yoko's birthday. She generously shared some cupcakes with everybody. Thanks a lot Yoko!



We are currently sitting at 94% positive Dojo points!!  That's awesome, but we have one more day to see if we can get it to our goal of 95% to earn our top prize of having recess instead of class for one period in Q4.

HOMEWORK:
1) Math worksheet - Problem Solving with time
2) Reading Logs
3) Science Fair hypothesis (if you haven't already handed it in)

NOTICES:
- Summer Camp is still accepting registration until March 30th. It will run from June 1-30, with another session potentially in July.
- ITBS testing will be completed tomorrow (but if your child was absent this week, he/she will finish after Spring Break)

Science Fair Update:
It is good to see and hear that things are going well with your projects. Just an update on our proposed timeline for preparing our projects. Conducting the experiment, and recording data is your next goal, as you can see by the underlined sentence below.
I have sent home more helpful worksheets and information for this next step. You should use it as a guide and record the data on these sheets.
As for the size of the display, I will provide more information tomorrow.

Timeline for G3 Science Fair:

• Students find a partner and decide on experiment (March 1) DONE
• Form a question they want to find an answer to. (March 4) DONE
• Research the problem and form a hypothesis. (March 7-18) Most DONE
• Conduct the experiment to find out if you were right. Do your experiment at least twice and compile proof by recording data. (March 20-April 1)
• Form a conclusion, checking your hypothesis. (March 29-April 1)
• Communicate your results, writing about how what you learned applies to the real world. (April 4-8)
• Create science fair board. (April 11-22)
• Practice presenting in front of your family and classmates before the science fair. (April 25-27)

 Have a nice evening!

Mr. Yaremchuk

Mar. 16, 2016

Happy Hump Day! We are halfway through the week, and the students really worked hard today.

We completed four ITBS exams today (two for Language and two for Math).

In between the tests, the students were shown how the earth turns by watching a short video, and with a demonstration using our globe.

Towards the end of the day, we reviewed how to tell time to the hour, half hour, and quarter hour.

In ECA, we made a short message to send to our Pen Pals in Canada.



HOMEWORK:
1) Math worksheet and workbook corrections
2) Reading Logs
3) Science Fair Hypothesis is due on Friday. You can use the worksheet I handed out a few weeks ago.

NOTICES:
- Please return your final exams so we can review them
- Library tomorrow - please bring your ID and books
- Music tomorrow - please bring your recorder
- Next week is Spring Break, so we will have a week of holidays


Have a wonderful evening.

Mr. Yaremchuk

Mar. 15, 2016

Hope you stayed warm on this chilly, damp day today.

We began the morning in the gym for the Station of the Cross. It was obviously not nice enough outside to hold this event around the school.


 

The afternoon consisted of 2 ITBS Reading Comprehension exams, and a Math lesson on telling time to the hour, half hour, and quarter hour.

HOMEWORK:
1) Math p. 82
2) Reading Logs

NOTICES:
- the students will continue to do the ITBS exams during homeroom subjects
- PE tomorrow

Have a wonderful evening!

Mr. Y

Mar. 14, 2016

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and are preparing to work hard for one more week before Spring Break Holidays!

We were responsible for teaching about RESPECT to the school. We watched a short video and then each student shared their dream about how people can show respect. Good job, students.




There was also a special presentation for a couple of students that achieved success outside of school. Yoko and Jewel were recognized this morning. Yoko won a trophy for playing the piano. Good job, girls.



After Assembly, we shared our weekend events, and then practiced for the ITBS exams.

In Math, the students answered some questions about time and calendars as we will begin our next unit on Time and Temperature.

For Reading, we began the ITBS exam and completed the first section on vocabulary. So throughout the week, we will complete 14 small sections/exams that cover all subject areas.

HOMEWORK:
1) Reading Logs
2) Science Fair research and hypothesis (due Friday)

NOTICES:
- please have your child arrive to school no later than 8:25am as the Station of the Cross will begin shortly after 8:30am. As this time, the gate to get into the school will be closed for vehicles to allow room in the parking lot for the Station of the Cross.

Have a nice evening!

Mr. Yaremchuk

Mar. 11, 2016

Final exam week is officially over! Again, I want to say how proud I am of all the hard work you students have done, not only in quarter 3, but for the whole year so far.

This morning we completed a bunch of tasks again, such as:

• ITBS practice tests
• Show and Tell
• Practice for the Assembly

Show and Tell:

HOMEWORK

1) Science Fair - please research your topic and work towards building a strong hypothesis. Please refer to the handouts I gave out a couple of weeks ago.

2) Reading Log

3) Final Exam corrections

NOTICES:

Next week, we will have Mass on Tuesday, along with the ITBS tests. Pictures will be taken after the Spring Break holiday.

The final exams have all been handed back. Please have a look, make the corrections, and return them next week.

Have a splendid weekend!

Mar. 10, 2016

Brrrrrrrr, what happened to the beautiful weather?

This morning we completed a mish mash of tasks.

• practiced ITBS tests
• we are responsible for teaching students about RESPECT at Assembly on Monday, so we practiced for it
• reviewed Science experiment and Final Exam
• students also had rehearsal for the Station of the Cross in the afternoon as the teachers had a Professional Development meeting

HOMEWORK:
1) Final Exam - the second half of your Language Arts exam is due tomorrow. Please hand in your double-spaced Personal Narrative tomorrow.

NOTICES:
- please return your electives choices - Monday is the last day
- tomorrow you can wear your casual clothes, but please bring your PE clothes to change into
- some grades did not have the pictures taken, including us. Picture day will be rescheduled to next week and will be posted tomorrow.

Have a warm night!

Mr. Y

Mar. 9, 2016

Final exams are complete!!  Excellent hard work by all of you, I know the past 2 weeks have been very demanding of you. I'm very proud of your hard work again.

We began the day with the Language Arts and Spelling final exam. Math consisted of finishing up some homework and small stuff in combination with math games.

We practiced for the ITBS exam in Reading, and got familiar with how to fill out the answers.

In Social Studies, the students presented the flags they made for their own country. They explained the meanings of their colors and symbols, and some chose to sing the anthems they created.




HOMEWORK:
1) Personal Narrative good copy is due Friday, but can also be handed in tomorrow if you wish. Please proofread it a few times. PLEASE DOUBLE SPACE !!
2) Reading Logs - Dojo points are given for completing the reading log this week

NOTICES:
- tomorrow is individual pictures, so brush those teeth, comb your hair
- we will have another movie day sponsored by the Student Council later on in March. Tickets are on sale now for $70. Students are welcome to buy them and leave the tickets with me for safe keeping.
- we received a cool video from our Pen Pals in Canada showing us the outside of their school and how to make a snow angel.
- Library tomorrow - please bring your ID and borrowed books

Have a great evening!

Mr. Y

Mar. 8, 2016

Almost done!!

Two more final exams in the books, and only one remains...

Tomorrow the students will write the Language Arts and Spelling exam. Again, please review quotations, proper nouns, commas, and abbreviations. This exam will count towards 50% of your final exam mark. The other 50% will be from your Personal Narrative.

REMINDERS:
- tomorrow is back to a full day
- please hand in your Personal Narrative draft tomorrow (if you haven't already). Your good copy can be handed in anytime now, but the final due date is Friday.
- PE day tomorrow, wear casual uniforms
- Also, on Thursday we will be having individual pictures in the library for the yearbook. We all need to look pretty, or handsome, or cute, or beautiful, but that will not be a problem for any of our students.

Have a wonderful day!

Mr. Yaremchuk

Mar. 7, 2016

Happy Monday!!

The students came in with a lot of energy and completed the final exams for Social Studies and Math.

HOMEWORK:
1) Personal Narrative draft - please make sure you double space
2) Study
3) Please bring all your workbooks and notebooks to school tomorrow

NOTICES:

• Tuesday is also a half-day, please arrange to have your child picked up at 11:45am
• tomorrow's exams are Science and Reading
• Wednesday's exam is Language Arts
• Friday - Show and Tell

All of you students have been working very hard to complete this quarter. Keep going, you're almost finished!!

Have a good day.

Mr. Yaremchuk

Mar. 4, 2016

Welcome to Friday everybody!

This morning we had the Spelling Test, and then shared our plans for the weekend. We also reviewed some Daily 5 strategies and had one rotation in the Daily 5.

In Science we played a review game.

We reviewed some Math rules for the final exam, and then the students got to make a math story which included a problem.

For dessert after lunch, we got to celebrate Grace's birthday with a lovely cake. Thanks so much for sharing.

HOMEWORK:
1) Science p. 320-321
2) Personal Narrative first draft is due Tuesday. I will check it over and students can edit if they want to before the final due date of next Friday. They can also hand in the first draft on Monday if they wish.

TESTS:

Monday - Social Studies and Math
Tuesday - Science and Reading
Wednesday - Language Arts

Please follow the study guide.


NOTICES:
- Monday and Tuesday will be half days and dismissal is at 11:45am. Please make arrangements to have your child picked up at this time.

- We will begin practicing for the ITBS tests next week and the week before spring break we will be writing the exams.

- Finally, individual pictures will be held next Wednesday.

Have a fabulous weekend.

Mr. Yaremchuk

Mar. 3, 2016

On this overcast day, the students worked really hard and completed 3 final exams (Christian Living, Chinese, and Music).

In the morning, our focus lessons in Daily 5 were:
1) Writing your personal narrative with voice - try write sentences using feeling and emotion so the reader/audience can understand the story better
2) Reviewed the Cafe menu strategies

For Math we continued the multiplication and division games.

In Science, the students completed their weather investigation and water cycle posters. They presented how the water cycle works while referring to their art.

 

HOMEWORK:
1) Personal Narrative - please write 2 opening sentences for your narrative
2) Science p. 319

NOTICES:
- spelling test tomorrow
- tomorrow's final exams include PE and Computer (feel free to wear your Sports Day shirt)
- individual pictures for each class will be held on March 10
- please hand in your Field Trip permission form by tomorrow

Enjoy your night.

Mr. Yaremchuk

Mar. 2, 2016

Good afternoon, everyone!

In this morning's Daily 5, we had the following focus lessons:
- create a timeline for your personal narrative. For the Work on Writing rotation the students completed p. 118 in the workbook.
- reviewed how to use prior knowledge to connect to text

We continued practicing different math problems and playing multiplication and division games to prepare for the final exam.

For Science, we gathered all our data from the past 2 weeks and began to answer the questions in our weather investigation.

Social Studies was a review period for the final exam.

HOMEWORK:
1) Personal Narrative timeline - please write 4-5 main events on a timeline that will go in your personal narrative. Please include at least 2 supporting detail to each main event. Here was the example we had in class:



2) Study for tomorrow's exams: Christian Living, Chinese, Music
3) Spelling test on Friday
4) Reading Log - while you're studying, you can write your textbooks as your reading in the log

NOTICES:
- just a reminder to return the permission slip for our school Field Trip that will occur at the end of the month
- please hand in your question for the Science Fair before Friday


Have a terrific evening.

Mr. Y

March 1, 2016

Welcome back from the nice, long weekend where the weather cooperated.

Our busy Tuesday went like this..............

• LA/Reading - focus lessons were how to read good fit or just right books, planning ideas for the personal narratives using the 5 senses, and quotations review.
• Math - this whole week will give the students lots of review opportunities playing numerous multiplication and division games. They were introduced to some new games today and got themselves familiar with them.
• Science - students almost finished their water cycle pictures. I also met with them to discuss their Science Fair projects.
• Social Studies - students pretended they were the President of their own country and showed patriotism by designing a flag with a short poem that could be used as an anthem

HOMEWORK:
1) Social Studies workbook p. 31
2) LA personal narrative - draw 4-6 pictures of your narrative with a sentence describing that picture.
3) Reading Log
4) Study for Health

NOTICES:
1) Health Final Exam tomorrow
2) Thursday's exams include: Christian Living, Chinese, and Music

Have a great evening!

Mr. Yaremchuk