Dec 15-19. 2025

  

                                     

We love those J-I-N-G-L-E Bells! As we enter the third week of Advent, we light the third candle. As many of you may notice, the third Advent candle is PINK and it represents the JOY that fills our hearts as the birth of Jesus is coming. Now is the time to fill our hearts with love for family and friends and to think of others as we await the birth of Christ. We should be joyful for what we have, rather than longing for things we do not, and remember, "tis the season for giving, not receiving".

This week is Spirit Week at St. Isabel. Students are welcome to dress up each day.

                    

In Language we will continue learning about how to share a good retell about a story we have read. Our new WWWs are: anyone, our, are, write, right.

Math: In our study of 3-D solids we are examining their attributes (faces, edges, vertices), and are creating and working with nets. 3D shapes are made up of 2D shapes. When we use a bunch of 2D shapes to make a 3D shape, it's called a net.

Extra thinking:

1. What 2D shapes are used to make a cube? How many of them do you need?

2. What 2D shapes are used to make this pyramid? How many of each shape do you need?

In Art, we will be working on a few more crafts for Christmas gift giving. 

This Week:

December 16: Christmas Play at 6:30 pm ( information has been shared with families via the Office. Tickets are still available!)

Friday Dec. 19: Last day of school before the holidays. Merry Christmas!

Looking Ahead:

Everyone returns to school on Monday, January 5, 2026

Homework:

Merry Christmas students - you have no homework over the holiday break. Please take some extra time to curl up and read a few good books with your family. Make sure to share what you like about the story you read and why you like it!

            

Wishing you and your family

a blessed Christmas 

and all the best in 2026!

December 8-12, 2025

                           

This week, we light the second purple candle on the Advent Wreath, symbolizing peace.

In Language we are working on retells and descriptive writing paragraphs. This week we will focus on reading comprehension and being able to identify the characters and setting in the text. Our new Word Wall Words: won't, can't, don't, couldn't, wouldn't

We have started presenting our Family Life slides to the class; students have appreciated learning about one another's traditions and the meaning of their last names.

In Mathematics, we continue to work on our unit on 2D shapes. We have learned about angles (right angles, acute angles, and obtuse angles), parallel lines, perpendicular lines, and other attributes of shapes. Our Show What You know will be on Thursday. Next week we will begin determining how 2D shapes are a part of 3D shapes!

In Art, we will be working on a few crafts for Christmas gift giving. 

Christmas Cheer For CHEO - the grade 6s are collecting gifts for the children at CHEO. Please click this link if you would like to help support this initiative - Christmas Cheer For CHEO

This Week:
December 9: Advent Liturgy at 1:00 pm

Looking Ahead:

December 16: Christmas Play at 6:00 pm (more information will be shared with families about this great event by the office)

Homework:

Word Wall Words: won't, can't, don't, couldn't, wouldn't

December 1-5, 2025

                            

                            

A very special season is upon us. It is the first week of Advent and we celebrate by lighting the first Advent Candle of Hope. We fill our hearts with hope in the weeks leading up to Christmas Day and the birth of Jesus. Parents are welcome to join us for our Advent Liturgy on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 9:15.

In Language we have been learning about contractions, homonyms, compound words and punctuation. This week we will continue to learn about descriptive writing and how we can use adjectives to paint a picture in the reader's mind. We will also continue our work on giving a detailed retell. 

Starting on Tuesday, we will begin presenting our Family Life slides to the class; students will love learning about one another's traditions and the meaning of their last names.

In Math we finished working on our unit on Algebra. We are now beginning our unit on 2D Geometry. You can help your child at home by quizzing them on all the geometric shapes found around the home (e.g. try to find something that is hexagon-shaped or rectangular around the house). Terms we will be focusing on with regards to 2D shapes are: parallel lines, right or 90 degree angle, obtuse angle, acute angle, equal length sides, regular shapes, irregular shapes, congruent, symmetrical, polygon and comparing shapes using their properties (number of sides, angles and vertices).

In Science we are learning about muscular force.

In Family Life, students have worked hard on their family traditions and family name projects (please ensure this project has been completed by Tuesday Dec 2). 

Health - we will be visited by 4 dental hygiene students from CNIH. They will be coming into our classes to help us understand proper brushing techniques, how often we should see a dentist, what plaque is and what things we can do to keep our teeth healthy. We will send home all of the info we learn in school along with a toothbrush from our guests!

In Art we will be working on a few crafts for Christmas gift giving. 

This Week:

Tuesday, Dec. 2 - Advent Liturgy at 9:15

Tuesday, Dec. 2 - Mrs. Brennen's class will be visited (10:30) by a group of dental hygiene students who will be teaching us how to keep our teeth healthy!
Thursday, Dec. 4 - Grinch Day for Gr. 3! Wear your green and get ready for a day filled with lots of Grinchy activities! We will hopefully be watching the movie in the afternoon! (reminder - if you do not want your child to have popcorn, please let us know).

Thursday, Dec. 4 - School Cash Online opens for re-order of pizza, popcorn and subway for the new year!
Friday, Dec. 5 - No school -PD Day for all students

Looking Ahead:

December 9: Advent Liturgy at 1:00 pm

December 16: Christmas Play at 6:00 pm (more information will be shared with families about this great event by the office)

Homework:

Word Wall Words: No new words this week. Please review all previous WWW from Sept. until now!

Review 2D shape terms with your child.

School Messenger Important Information-Action May Be Required: A reminder that, to receive email communications, newsletters, updates etc, you will need to create a School Messenger account and update your preferences to include messages from both school and teachers. Messages are no longer sent as an emergency message to all. You MUST have an active account with updated preferences to receive messages from the school and educators. https://www.ocsb.ca/parents/schoolmessenger/

November 24-28, 2025

                                     

In Math we finished working on our unit on addition and subtraction. We will complete a quick focus on algebra (balancing one side of an equation with the other side - i.e. 3+4 = 5+ ?) next. Keep practising those facts to 20!

In Language we are determining what makes a good retell. Here is a little video to help explain what we are trying to do when sharing a retell of a story or text we have just read: What is a Retell?  We also continue working on descriptive writing - creating a picture in the reader's mind using adjectives and adverbs! 

Some parents have been asking for tips on how children can hold a pencil to improve penmanship. Watch this youtube link for a few tips: How to Hold a Pencil. 

We are working on writing full paragraphs with 5 sentences. Here is a Printable Personal Dictionary for home (all students have one available at school). If the word isn't in their personal dictionary, you can write down.

In Science we are learning about push and pull forces as well as the force of gravity.

In Family Life, students have started their family traditions and family name projects (please ensure this project has been completed by Tuesday Dec 2). 

Coming up: 

Friday, November 28th - Dental Health students presenting in Mr. Spearin's class.

Grinch Day - Thursday, December 4th:

We will be celebrating the work of Dr. Seuss by learning through exploration of the story “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and will culminate this by having a “Grinch Day” on Thursday, December 4th. 

Students are invited to wear as much green as they can. Santa hats can also be worn (if you have one) to mark the special day. We will have lots of fun and at the same time learn about the author’s message of this classic story.

We will be offering popcorn for the last snack on Thursday Dec. 4th. If you would prefer your child not have any popcorn please email their classroom teacher. 

Sign up for School Messenger to receive the St. Isabel monthly newsletter:

https://www.ocsb.ca/parents/schoolmessenger/?utm_medium=school&utm_source=site&utm_campaign=schoolmessenger 

Homework:

Practise WWW: beautiful, before, recycle, discover, favourite.

Continue practising doubles in math and math facts to 20!

Important dates:

Mon. And Tues., Nov. 24/25 - Grade 3s will Preview St. Isabel School Book fair 

Wed./Thurs., Nov. 26/27- Grade 3s can Purchase at St. Isabel School Book fair
Sun., Nov. 30th: First Sunday of Advent

Friday, December 5 - PD Day (no school for students)

Dec. 4 - Grinch Day for Gr. 3! Wear your green and get ready for a day filled with lots of Grinchy activities!

November 17-21, 2025

             

This week is Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week!

What we’ve been up to:

In Math, we are almost finished our unit on addition and subtraction (with and without regrouping) as well as determining which operation to use when answering word problems. Since this has been a challenging unit for many (especially the subtraction part of it), please keep practising at home to help our children gain more confidence in their adding/subtracting abilities. They will need these skills again when we complete our unit on money! Next up, we will complete a quick focus on algebra (balancing one side of an equation with the other side - i.e. 3+4 = 5+ ?) before beginning our unit on 2D/3D geometric shapes and their properties. We will be looking at regular and irregular polygons and the different types of polygon names (triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, octagon) as well as naming 3D shapes and how we can identify them by the 2D shapes found on them!

In Language, we continue to work on descriptive writing - painting a picture in the reader's mind by including many adjectives and adverbs to help describe a person, place, thing and the action of each! Directly related to descriptive writing is visualization:

• Visualizing for comprehension means to formulate pictures in our minds based on the activities in a story.
• Creating mental images, as if watching a movie while reading, is important in reading comprehension because the reader is able to glean a deeper understanding of the story that will target long-term memory. (https://ortongillinghamonlinetutor.com)

We encourage your child to pause and create a picture in their mind as they complete their nightly read aloud with you to help improve their understanding of the text being read.

In Health - we return to learning about what makes our meals healthy by focusing on the food groups identified in the Canadian Food Guide. We are also going to look at the ingredient lists and nutrition information printed on all food packages. Please send in any food packages (empty and nut free) to help us learn about what is in the foods we eat!

Looking Ahead:

Thursday, Nov. 20th (after school)  - Parent teacher interviews

Mon., Nov. 24 - Thurs., Nov. 27- St. Isabel School Book Fair

Sunday, November 30th - First Sunday of Advent 

Friday, December 5th - PD Day (no school for students)

Homework:

Weekly Words (review week) went, when, their, there, they’re, first

Family Life: On Tuesday, we will begin a new family project as we continue to learn about what makes our family special (from our names to some of the special family traditions that make up different moments in our lives). Each child has been given 2 dedicated slides, to share with their class, the meaning behind their last name as well as some traditions that happen within our family units over the course of a year that are special to us. The slide deck (which will be posted on Tuesday) is in your child's Hapara Workspace (it is a pink card under the heading Family Life). We ask that this project be completed at home by Tuesday Dec. 2nd so that we can begin sharing the information at school with our peers!

Math:  Madison is reading a book that has 232 pages in it. She read 42 pages over the weekend. Then she read 30 more pages on Monday night. How many pages does Madison have left to read?

November 10-14, 2025

                                   

In Language, we will be learning a little more about Remembrance Day at the beginning of the week and then begin working on descriptive writing - painting a picture in the reader's mind. We will be using the technique of visualization to help us create a picture and then describe it using adjectives! Our new WWWs are: went, when, journal, hopeless, first. We will be learning about compound words and words that are often misspelled!

In Math, we are continuing to work on subtraction with and without regrouping, as well as addition and subtraction 2 step word problems. Students are asked to find important information in a word problem, show their thinking using equations (algorithm), and respond with a complete sentence.

In Science, we have finished our unit about Soil. Our next unit will be on Forces.

In Health, we continue to learn about nutrition and how to choose healthy foods. Please send in any packaging you have at home that shows the ingredients lists and nutritional values.

***Dental Health*** We are fortunate enough to have a group of dental hygiene students from CNIH (Canadian National Institute of Health) come to visit our grade 3 classrooms this year to help us learn how to best take care of our teeth.  The first visit will be in Mr. Spearin's classroom on Monday, Nov. 10 at 10:30- 11:45a.m. The first visit will be in Mrs. Brennen's classroom on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 9:15- 9:45a.m. They will just be visiting our room to observe how we learn best. They will visit again, at another date to teach us (we will post more info when that date is set). 

Looking Ahead:

Tuesday, Nov. 11th - Remembrance Day - please join us at 10:45 for our Remembrance Day Service in the gym.

Thursday, Nov. 13th - Report Cards will be available on the Parent Portal. Please look for a message coming from the school regarding how to access reports from home.

***Thursday, Nov. 20th (after school)  - Parent teacher interviews (more information on how to sign up will be available soon).

Mon., Nov. 24 - Thurs., Nov. 27- St. Isabel School Book Fair

Sunday, November 30th - First Sunday of Advent 

Friday, December 5 - PD Day (no school for students)

Homework:

Language: Read out loud to a parent for 20-30 minutes each night. Parents, please ask your child a question that they must use the text to show you where the answer is! 

Math: Practise answering out loud addition facts to 20 (17+3=20, 5+5=10, etc.) Review orally doubles to 20 (6+6=12, 8+8=16, etc.)

November 3-7, 2025

 

Remembrance Day Ceremony 

Our St. Isabel Remembrance Day Ceremony will take place on Tuesday, November 11th, at 10:45 AM. Over this week and next, our students will be learning about what Remembrance Day is, why it is important for us to 'Remember' those who have come before us as well as think of those who continue to serve us in Canada in order that our country remain the peaceful and safe nation it is. The St. Isabel community is invited to share the names and photos of family members who have served, or are currently serving, in the Canadian Armed Forces. Feel free to send their name and a photo for a slide show display in the foyer on Remembrance Day.

Daylight savings time ended today on Sunday, November 2nd. The clocks have gone back one hour.

In Math, we are learning about addition and subtraction (with and without regrouping). Be sure to encourage your child to practice problem solving at home. It is very important that your child is able to quickly know their facts to 20 (16+2=18, 19-3=16). Knowing their doubles helps them as well (3+3=6, 7+7=14).

In Language, we will make time to focus on reading and determining important ideas about Remembrance Day. We will be learning how to write a postcard to thank our Canadian soldiers. If any parents are in the military, please contact Mr. Spearin or Mrs. Brennen as we would love to have you deliver our postcards personally!

This week:

Friday, Nov. 7 - PD Day - Students do not go to school. Enjoy the long weekend.

Looking Ahead:

Tuesday, Nov. 11th - Remembrance Day Ceremony 

Thursday, Nov. 13th - Report Cards will be available on the Parent Portal. Please look for a message coming from the school regarding how to access reports from home.

Thursday, Nov. 20th - Parent teacher interviews (more information on how to sign up will be available soon). Teachers will be reaching out to parents to schedule meeting times in advance for those that may require longer than the allotted 10 minutes on the evening of the 20th.

Homework:

- nightly reading out loud: 20 minutes/night

- practise WWW nightly: their, there, they're, let's, enough

- math facts to 20: (5+4=9, 12+7=19, 18-6=12, etc.)

- math doubles to 20: (6+6=12, 8+8=16, etc.)

Math Challenge:
Marlee and Haylie were picking apples at a nearby orchard. Marlee picked 344 apples and Haylie picked 371 apples. How many more apples did Haylie pick than Marlee? How many apples were picked altogether?

October 27-31, 2025

               

We hope everyone enjoys a safe and fun Halloween on Friday! Please refer to the email/newsletter that Mrs. Smith sent home regarding appropriate costumes to be worn at school for Halloween (should your child choose to wear a costume). Students may also simply wear orange and black that day! Also to note: please save all of the candy/treats collected for home consumption as we are focusing on healthy eating here at school!

In Language, we are working on visualization and we are continuing to work on answering comprehension questions in full sentences.

In Math, we are finishing up Place Value (our SWYK will be Tues./Wed.) and then we will begin our work on three-digit addition and subtraction with and without regrouping along with word problems. At home, please challenge your child with word problems involving addition/subtraction with and without regrouping. There is an example at the bottom of this week's blog. It is important that students are able to know all of their math facts to 20. Daily oral practise (asking the question verbally) with an adult, of simple equations (i.e. 5+4) will help your child to become more confident when answering math problems on their own. 

Science - we are finishing up our study of soils in the next few weeks and will begin forces next!

Drama/Music - We are having so much fun dancing, singing and acting out the song "There Was an Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything". We will hopefully be presenting our 'act' to the children in the daycare here at St. Isabel on Thurs.!

Homework:
Word Wall Words: crash, drink, eating, made, nice

Important dates:

Nov. 7 - PD Day - no school for students

Nov. 11 - Remembrance Day

Nov. 13 - Progress Reports available on the Parent Portal

Nov. 20 - Parent Teacher Interviews (more details coming soon)

Math Challenge
1) There are 127 dancers in the Nutcracker Ballet. Another 176 people design costumes, manage the stage and sell tickets. How many people are needed all together to create the Nutcracker performance?

October 20-24, 2025

                                     

We hope everyone has enjoyed being outside the last few weeks to experience this fabulous fall weather we have been having! We know colder days are ahead but for now we will enjoy these beautiful days and stunning colours!

Math: Our Place Value unit will hopefully be finished this week and we will have our 'Show What You Know' as soon as we are done. By the end of the week we will have learned about estimation and rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100 (54 rounds down to 50, 627 rounds down to 600, 67 rounds up to 70 and 356 rounds up to 400). 

We will begin working on adding and subtracting 3 and 4 digit numbers with and without regrouping using a wide variety of strategies that we have learned (using the hundreds chart, number line, manipulatives, drawing out images). We will also begin including word problems that involve addition and subtraction. Once we show our thinking (how we determined our answer), students must write the final answer in a sentence for all word problems. Please review these concepts at home as many students find this a very challenging unit and will benefit from extra review!

For a resource that explains the importance of math fundamentals and how parents can help at home please take a look at the following Link.

In Language, we continue to work on our recount writing unit. This week we will also incorporate a few media literacy lessons (next week is Media Literacy week in the OCSB schools). Media Literacy is when we use our critical thinking skills to help us determine if what we are reading/seeing in the media world is accurate or credible. 

Each week we focus on different features (context clues, determining important parts, new vocabulary, fiction vs non-fiction) to help us with our reading and comprehension. Next week we will incorporate the idea of how visualization helps with our understanding. We encourage our students to read nightly and to apply what they have learned in Language to their daily lifestyle.

Health - last week we did a big lesson on fire safety. Did you make a fire safety plan with your child?

This week we are beginning to learn about nutrition. We will be talking about Canada's Food guide and discussing the importance of healthy eating. We are encouraging healthy snacks and meals in our lunch bags that we bring to school. Please save all of the Halloween candy collected next week, to eat at home, where children can brush their teeth right after eating and help us promote our healthy eating habits here at school!

Homework:

• Nightly reading out loud (students can access extra books via Sora on the student portal)
• Math facts (doubles, addition facts to 20)
• Practise new WWW: countries, was, to, too, two

Challenge:

Math

What number goes in the question mark space to complete the following number sentence?

6 + ? - 5 = 20

Looking Ahead:

Wednesday, October 22nd: Class Photo and Picture Retake Day

Friday, October 24th: St. Isabel Halloween Dance Party (family event)

Friday, November 7th: PD Day (no school for children)

Thursday, November 13th: Progress Reports available on Parent Portal

Thursday, November 20th (4 p.m. - 8 p.m.): Parent Teacher Interviews (more info will be shared in the coming weeks)

October 13-17, 2025

                 

In Language Arts, when reading, we are discussing the terms: genre, making connections (to help with understanding), context (how it helps us know how others are feeling) and visualization! 

There won't be any new Word Wall Words this week. Review last week's words for our SWYK on Fri.

We will also be learning about recount writing. A recount, in writing, is a retelling of something that happened in the past. Each student will be choosing an event to write about using transition words (first, then, next, after, finally) and describing the event in order. Our last sentence is an opinion about the event.

Students are able to reserve popular books online using Sora. Students use their OCSB student login information to reserve books for 14 days. Students can read reserved books on any device. Sora can be found on the student portal.

In Math, we are writing numbers in different ways (e.g. base ten pictures, expanded form, etc.). The place value of numbers help us compare numbers. Our addition unit will be underway soon and we will move into regrouping with three- and four-digit numbers. Practice your math facts daily. Do you know your doubles (6+6, etc.)? Can you skip count by 2's, 3's and 4's fluently?

Zorbits is a math game you can play at home. Zorbits can be found on the student portal.

Homework:

30 minutes of:

- reading out loud each night (parents, please ask your child questions to check for understanding).

- skip count by 2's, 3's and 4's 

- adding doubles to 20 (4+4, 8+8, etc.)

- Review WWW: exciting, laughed, community, country

Looking Ahead:

Friday, October 24th: St. Isabel Halloween Dance Party

Thursday, October 22nd: Class Photo and Picture Retake Day

Thursday, November 13th: Progress Reports available on Parent Portal

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0E49A9AE23A0FF2-51596852-stisabels 

October 6-10, 2025

                                      

Language: Our focus in writing is creating our own paragraphs using 5 sentences (opening sentence, 3 supporting details, and a closing sentence). 

Math: We have completed the Data Management Unit and will be having our SWYK (Show What You Know) on Tues. Last week we learned about the Mean (average or fair share) and Mode (the item or number that occurs most often in a set of data). Please help me review these two math concepts! Our next math unit will be on Place Value. We will focus on representing numbers in different forms (standard, word, numbers & words, pictures and expanded). We will also learn to compare numbers (greater than/less than) and order numbers from least to greatest and vice versa. 

Science: We are continuing to learn about the components that make up soil and how living things can help and even harm our soil.

Looking Ahead:

This Week:

October 10th: PD Day (no school for students)
October 13th: Thanksgiving Day (no school for everyone)

Homework:

-30 minutes of reading out loud each night (ask your child questions about what they have just read to check that they are listening to themselves and paying attention to the details)!

-practise adding doubles to 20 (4+4, 8+8, etc.)

-We will be using the same WWWs for the next 2 weeks as both are short weeks. Please practise:

WWW: laughed, exciting, community, country

September 29-October 3, 2025

                        

Friendly Reminders: 

* Please send your child a pair of headphones to school to use with our technology. This enables students to fully take advantage of hearing the sound on interactive activities and using speech to text features. Having their own headphones helps to keep each student from sharing germs, head lice, etc.

St. Isabel will collect items for the Kanata Food Cupboard from September 29 - October 9. 

      

• Canned tomatoes

• Canned green beans

• Dried kidney beans 

• Dried red lentils

• Soda crackers

• Miscellaneous crackers

• Rice

• Juice boxes

• Lunch snacks (granola/cereal bars)

• Cooking oil, flour, sugar

• Toilet paper

• Feminine hygiene

• Dish and laundry soap

• Toiletry items (shampoo, toothpaste, soap)

• Canned Fruit

In Language, specifically in writing, we will continue working on our paragraph writing. In reading, we continue to work on answering questions about a text we have read in full sentences, using examples from what we have read to support our thinking.

New WWW: pretty, prettier, prettiest, schools, city

In Math, we are learning how to find the mode and mean in a set of numbers or on a graph. 

In Science we are continuing to learn about soil. Ask your child to share what they have learned so far (the different layers of soil, what the 3 types of soil are, what makes loam).

This Week:

Tuesday, September 30th: Orange Shirt Day (Nation Day for Truth & Reconciliation) is an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come. Wear an orange shirt.

Friday, October 3rd: Terry Fox Run at St. Isabel. Please send your child dressed appropriately for the weather and with a water bottle. 

Looking Ahead:
September 29th - October 9th: Canned food drive
October 10th: PD Day (no school for students)
October 13th: Thanksgiving Day (no school for everyone)

Homework:

Language: Read for 30 minutes every night. Remember to ask your child questions about what they are reading. Practice writing the word wall words five times each night.

Math: Practise adding/subtracting numbers to 20 (15+2=17, 18-3=15, etc.)

September 22-26, 2025

                                            

We can’t believe that we are about to finish our first month of school! The month of September went by in the blink of an eye. The Grade 3 students have had a great few weeks together and we look forward to seeing what October holds in store.

***Parents - please check the school-cash on-line site as you are now able to order pizza and subway****

*** The Terry Fox run for St. Isabel will take place on October 3rd. We won't be using cash online this year, instead we have a link already set up with our school. All money collected will go directly to the foundation!  

Please click the link below to add your donation to fight cancer today!***

https://schools.terryfox.ca/107375

This coming Friday., Sept 26th is Franco-Ontarien Day. This day officially recognizes the Francophone community's contributions to the cultural, historical, social, economic and political landscape of our province. Please wear green and white on Friday!

Tuesday, September 30th is Orange Shirt Day and National Truth and Reconciliation Day. We shall commemorate it here at St. Isabel by learning what we can about the past and how we can make the future better for those who have suffered unjustly. It is a day created by Phyllis Webstad in recognition of the effects of residential schools and as part of Truth and Reconciliation. You can check out her story here:
                               

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3vUqr01kAk

On Tuesday Sept. 30th, please wear an Orange shirt to show solidarity with Phyllis and all Indigenous people.

What we’ve been up to & where we are going:

In Math we continue to work on data management - we have learned about vertical and horizontal bar graphs, how to ask a survey question, collect data and graph the results. Pictographs will be next on our learning adventure. Students are encouraged to practise their counting (forward and backwards) by 2's, 5's, 10's and 100's to 1000. They also must be able to count by the same numbers starting with a different number on the 100 chart (i.e. start at 27 and count up by 2's: 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, etc.).

In Language we have been working on paragraph writing, determining important ideas to share orally with others and writing in complete sentences (starting sentences with uppercase letters and ending with proper punctuation). This week, we will begin working on answering questions using full sentences and developing our reading strategies to help decode unknown words. Please review our weekly WWW (word wall words) that are written in our Hapara workspace slide deck (each Monday) every day. These are words that students should be able to spell and read independently in grade 3!

New Grade 3 WWW: into, off, very, want, who

In Gr. 3 Science, we are continuing our unit on Soil. Towards the end of the week, ask your child about the different layers that make up soil and what three types of soil, along with humus create loam (the best soil for many plants to grow in).

Last week we discussed how each child got their name (please return the name sheets that was sent home on Tues.) in Family Life.

Upcoming important dates:

September 25th: Photo Day

September 26th: Franco Ontarien Day - wear white and green!

September 30th: Orange Shirt Day (Nation Day for Truth & Reconciliation) is an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.

September 30th: School Council Meeting: 7 p.m. in the Learning Commons

October 3rd: Terry Fox Run at St. Isabel
October 10th: PD Day (no school for students
October 13th: Thanksgiving Day (no school for everyone)

Responsible Use of Technology form - please complete today and fill out the permission to post as well as it needs to be done every year.

HOMEWORK 

Language:

Read for 30 minutes out loud every night. Ask your child a question about what has been read that cannot be answered with a yes/no statement. All answers should include the word because ("I know this because....).

Daily review of WWW in preparation for our Friday S.W.Y.K.

Math: 

Practise reviewing double sums - ie. 2+2=, 4+4=, 5+5=, all the way to 10+10! Nightly practise of counting by 2s, 5s, 10s to 1000.

September 15-19, 2025

                        

Welcome to our third week of September! It was so wonderful to see many of our families at Meet the Educator Night this past Wednesday. Here is a link to the slide deck that was shared with parents: Meet the Teacher Night You can also access this slide deck on the right hand side of this blog at any time. Students have been shown how to login to the student portal and access their Hapara Workspace.

By following us on Twitter, you will see pictures of what we are doing in class. Each class has their own twitter account, please follow your child's teacher's account to see what we are doing each day! *N.B. Mrs. Brennen's class twitter is private for the parents of her students only (parents must request to follow her class account).

We had our first WWW Show What You Know (S.W.Y.K.) on Friday. Please sign and return your child's sheet on Monday (they are in the mailbag in their backpacks). We will have a  SWYK every Friday and will send it home to be signed & returned each week. The list for the entire year's Word Wall Words can be found as a link on the right hand side of the blog.

Scholastic book orders were sent home on Friday. Orders must be made online by Wednesday, September 17th.

In order to login from home, students must use their email account (firstname.lastname@stu.ocsb.ca). A copy of your child's log-in information was sent home last week in your child's mailbag. 

***Please access the Student Technology Agreement Form via the Parent Portal.*** Technology Form Instructions

In Math, we are continuing to work on data management. We are learning about bar graphs and pictographs.

In Language, we are continuing to work on paragraph writing, with particular attention to developing interesting opening and closing statements and detailed sentences in between. We will be adding descriptive (juicy) words to our writing.

New Gr. 3 WWW - people, they, could, favourite, until

In Gr. 3 Science, we are digging deeper into the layers of the soil.

In family life, we are learning about how everyone is unique in their own way.

**Reminder to please send in indoor shoes to be kept at school - as the weather changes, it is easier to keep students safe from slips and falls if they have shoes designated for indoor use only! Also, please send an email to your child's teacher or call the school to let us know of any changes to your child's usual routine (picking up early for an appointment, picking up in person rather than taking the bus, etc.). This will help ensure smoother transitions and allow us to keep your child safe.

Homework:
Students should be reading 30 minutes every night. Practising our weekly WWW (word wall words) nightly is highly encouraged to be ready for our SWYK (Show What You Know) each Friday! Also, please remember to review math facts to 20 every night.

Looking ahead:

Last Day to Order Papa Jack Popcorn: Thurs. Sept. 18

Thursday, September 25: Photo Day

Tuesday, September 30: Orange Shirt Day (Nation Day for Truth & Reconciliation) is an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.

Friday, October 3 - Terry Fox Run at St. Isabel

October 10: PD Day (no school for students)

October 13: Thanksgiving Day (no school for everyone)

September 8-12, 2025

 

Our Grade 3 students had a busy first week together at St. Isabel! We are working on getting to know one another and developing wonderful classroom communities.

In order for students to use technology in the schools (chromebooks, etc) we ask that you fill in a Responsible Use of Technology agreement Form with your child. You can do this easily by following these steps: Responsible Use of Technology Form

Here is a quick snapshot of the flow of our day:

 

We are working on our Digital Citizenship lessons and are beginning to have a very good sense of how to stay and be safe when using technology. If something inappropriate pops up on our screen, we know to click the X and tell an adult. Ask your child what other safety tips they can share with you!

Our focus in Math for the next few weeks will be on Data Management (specifically, collecting & organizing data and creating graphs to show the information. Students must also be able to make conclusions from the information depicted on a graph).

Determining important questions, developing interview skills, along with learning to write a paragraph, are our foci in Language Arts for the next few weeks. Our new Gr. 3 WWW (Word Wall Words) are: have, said, again, because, about. We write sentences using each word and learn about our new WWW throughout the week and then have a little WWW Show What You Know (SWYK) on Friday. Please help your child prepare for this by reviewing the words nightly. If your child does not finish writing their sentences on Monday at school, we ask that you allow them time at home to finish their work (sentences are written in the class Workspace).

In Science, we are beginning our inquiry on soils.  We look forward to sharing our “wonders” and brainstorming ways to meet our learning goals for this unit.  

**Please follow your child's teacher on twitter (X). We post most days about the learning that has happened and include pictures of the fun we have while doing it! We like to track, as a class, how many likes our tweets get so please make sure you 💓each tweet!

Important Dates:

Wednesday. Sept 10 - Meet The Teacher Night 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.

Passport To Learning Night

Friday. Sept. 13 - International Dot Day - please wear dotted (polka dots) attire to school today. We will be celebrating this special day with many Dot Day activities! Dot Day Website

Homework:

1. We encourage nightly reading out loud (either your child reading out loud to an adult or an adult reading out loud to their child). Please ask questions as you read together - focus on questions that cannot be answered with a yes or no answer. Ask why your child thinks the way they do. Can they use proof from the text to support their thinking?

2. Nightly review of weekly Word Wall Words (see above).

3. Math Facts to 20 - i.e. doubles (8+8=16), addition (3+12=15), subtraction (18-3=15) 

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!

Mr. Spearin and Mrs. Brennen

(Your Gr. 3 Team)

Welcome to our 2025/2026 Learning Year!

             

Hello and a very warm welcome to Grade Three!

It is a new school year for our St. Isabel Eagles and we are so happy to have you in our classes. Mrs. Brennen, Mr. Spearin and Mme Ingrid will be your grade 3 team and we look forward to an exciting year! This blog will be updated weekly (every Sunday evening) and will include all the news, learning goals and updates for this school year. Please check it every week so you are aware of what will be happening in your child's learning environment here at school!

Over the next few weeks we will be creating various learning workspaces for students in their student Hapara website so we can learn both on paper and digitally. Please be patient while we become organized and learn together with your children!

We are aware that student's keyboarding skills are just developing and this can cause frustration for some students and their families. It is recommended that children use the following typing program on their device  Typing Club to help develop these skills.

French

All information this year will be sent home from your child's french teacher through a welcome letter that will be sent to families directly via email (through School Messenger).

Please refer to the links in the sidebar to access the French St. Isabel Website.

All parents should have received our beginning of the year newsletter via email, but here is a little reminder of some things to send in with your child! 

"All items brought from home, for classroom use, will be stored in your child’s individual bin on a classroom shelf. If possible, please send the following items with your child: pair of gym appropriate shoes, 2 boxes of tissue, box of large ziplock bags, pencil case, 2 white erasers, 2 glue sticks (Lepage/Elmer’s brand), 10 pre sharpened pencils, box of sharpened pencil crayons, 5 black whiteboard markers, scissors, ruler (30cm), pencil sharpener with shaving case and personal headphones (over the head style).

Feel free to also pack a labelled Ziplock bag with extra socks, underwear, pants and a shirt for emergencies in your child’s backpack.

That is all for this blog post. Please look for a few letters, etc. coming home in the mailbag this week and next. We will create a new post each Sunday evening so please check here regularly to see all of the exciting learning we will be doing each week!

Thank you for your support and we look forward to working together with you as a home and school team,

The St. Isabel Grade 3 Team