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. 

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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?