Dear 3C,

Enjoy some pics from our Christmas festivities today:

Today we put our structural and geometric knowledge to the test and invited our parents in for a building challenge. The goal: build the tallest possible free standing skyscraper using only newspaper and tape. I thought the ceiling was the limit, but clearly you proved me wrong as step ladders were brought up and ceiling tiles were removed! Congratulations to each of our five skyscraper teams. Enjoy a slideshow of our afternoon and a few pictures. 

A huge thanks to our 14 parent volunteers: Chi, Teresa, Priyanka, Paula, Brenda, Caroline, George, Farah, Debra, Richard, Andy, Scott, Helen, and Jese. Thank you to our wonderful class moms Jese and Paula for recruiting volunteers and providing us with homemade goodies, prizes, and certificates!

 

Here is a link to the rest of the pictures from our building challenge: http://www.flickr.com/photos/72070920@N04/

 

This morning we talked about how the shape of a structure is designed to fit its purpose. When we talked about stadiums we talked about viewing points and how the area inside of a circle or oval compared to the outside perimeter is larger compared to a square or rectangle. Ewan made a very neat connection, and asked if that was the same for spheres and if that was why the Earth was designed in a sphere (wow! someone should investigate).   

Questions:

If a circle or oval gives us the most space, why do you think the pool above is NOT shaped in a circle or oval. Think about the purpose for this pool?

 

 What do you notice about this roof? Why do you think it is shaped the way it is?

 

 

What's going on in the picture? What does this tell you about the reindeers' digital footprints?

Our final year performing in the Christmas Potpourri took us all around the globe. From the sights and sounds of Las Posadas, to the calls of Kwanzaa, to the Grade Ones rocking out to Up of the Roof Top, the stage was aglow with colour and music.

You did an incredible job with your singing and with your lines (what wonderful expression!). Was today the best day this year, or what?!

Enjoy a few clips (thanks for recording, Ms. Ullman).

Three years ago I put the K'Nex bridge set on our Gala Wishlist. The last two years 3C has attempted the bridge for a couple days and then given up. This year, though, we're a determined bunch! Under lead engineer Taka, we persevered and built not one but two bridges... a suspension bridge, and a replica of the Sydney Harbour bridge. Construction finished today. Looks like we'll have to have our resident race car expert Marek in to test out our finished bridges.

At Mulgrave we talk a lot about the action cycle. We ask ourselves what we're going to do with what we're learning, and we practice thinking, acting, and reflecting on these choices. Here is a great example of five 3C students taking action!

For our summative assessment on volunteering, Alyza, Jaden, Victoria, Jenny, and Gabi decided to volunteer as reading buddies to the Grade Ones during Tuesday and Thursday E.R.I.C times. Our U.O.I was over in early October, but these girls asked to keep volunteering, and are still going strong twice a week in 1B.

Last month Gabi reflected on their progress and worried that some of the students weren't enthusiastic about being called out to read. The girls held a meeting together on their own, and came up with some ideas to make their program more exciting. Some of the ideas they put into action included:

Recording the words the students were having difficulty with and emailing the list to Mrs. O'Byrne after fininshing, having the Grade Ones practice writing and reading their 'challenge words' on their iPads after reading, and allowing the students to draw a picture from the story on the Draw4Free app after showing improvement. Here is what our five have to say about their progress:

"The kids are all excited to read with us now!"

"We came up with some ideas to make it more fun for the children."

"A girl named Anabella always asks me to read."

"I think it's going awesome and we've had a big improvement! Can we do it all the way until Grade Five?!"

 

Look out education, we've got five enthusiastic teachers in the making!

Kaden wants to be an architect when he grows up. Which subject do you think it is more important for him to learn in school - Math or Art? Or both?

Explain why you think so. Also, what kind of math would be important for him to learn in Grade Three?

Dear 3C families,

Today was an exciting afternoon in 3C - our Scholastic classroom books were finally delivered! We are really looking forward to ERIC time on Monday when we can begin reading them. Your generosity is always very much appreciated and we are grateful for your support. Here is what some of our avid readers had to say about a few of our many wonderful new books:

Gabi: I can't wait to know why doughnuts have holes in the First Big Book of Why.

Alyza: Thank you for donating Maps and Mapping. I love maps, and I hope people will love this book.

Jed: I'm looking forward to reading Smile and knowing what it's all about.

Ewan: Slime is a book all about slugs and slime. Our class once had a slug (editor's note: definitely more than one!), but it escaped (slug still at large).

Jaden: Thank you for donating Chester's Masterpiece. I bet lots of people will be interested in it. Sometimes I think I'm Chester!

Yash: I've always liked haunted books and I can't wait to read This House is Haunted

Jenny: I can't wait to try out the experiments in Science Rocks.

 

Go Ms. Mitchell, Go! Rock that 3:10 marathon.

Love,

3C