A Visit to Hogwarts

It was a special day for our students as they handed in their tickets and traveled to Hogwarts, passing through Platform 9 & 3/4 and into the wonderful world of Harry Potter.

Students embraced their characters, posed for photos, ate some delicious goodies, drank some Polyjuice Potion, and enjoyed the movie for the afternoon. We left with certificates in hand as graduates of Hogwarts and will go home to talk about our fun for days to come.

A celebration like this couldn’t have happened without the help and support of parents, so a BIG thank-you from all of us!

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April 10

Book Tasting: Part Deux

Our last book tasting in November was a big hit, so it only made sense to do it again! Last week, our students came in hungry and left STUFFED with ideas for books to read.

What was on the menu this time around? Well, Chef Sully, who flew in all the way from Paris, complete with a fancy French accent, was serving up some delicious genres that included:

Books in a Series
Nonfiction
Poetry
Fantasy
Picture Books

What’s on YOUR reading menu these days?

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April 4

Let’s Make S’more Inferences

What better way to celebrate our learning about inferences than to EAT?! We’ve been exploring several short stories and have been using paper s’mores to break apart the pieces of an inference:

graham cracker = Background knowledge
graham cracker = Text clues
marshmallow = inference
chocolate = another inference

We remember that BK +TC =I and that we make inferences all the time and don’t even know we’re doing it. Way to go grade 3s!

Aren’t edible inferences delicious?

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March 28

Mystery Reader…Revealed!

Today, our special guest was…Mrs. Cheeseman! She read to us a book called JoJo the Giant by Jane Barclay. It was the story of a boy who is eager to grow bigger. He wants some new running shoes after seeing them in a store window, but they are too expensive. He decides to enter a race to see if he can win the pair, but is racing against bigger boys, including a bully. In the end, JoJo learns about believing in himself and that we can grow in more ways than one!

A huge thank-you to Mrs. Cheeseman for reading with us today! We loved the story of JoJo the Giant and thought you were a great reader.

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March 18

BK +TC = I

What does BK + TC = I mean? It looks like a math equation but really it means

Background Knowledge + Text Clues = Inference

Today we talked about inferences and specifically looked at 4 different commercials where we could practice making inferences.

Did you know that we make inferences all the time without even knowing it? You can make inferences walking down the street, in the grocery store, when watching a movie, and so on. Sometimes adults refer to it as ‘reading between the lines’. Others refer to inference as an ‘educated guess’. In general, an inference means that someone can make a conclusion on something based on their own experiences and other information. We will be working on transferring that skill to reading text over the next several weeks…and beyond.

Have a look at these commercials and see what you can infer. Some of them are quite funny!

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February 13

Biographies

When setting up my classroom each September, I get the inevitable question from at least one person that asks…

My answer is: a teacher can never have enough books! We had the pleasure of adding even more new books to our class library. After opening the packages, the students noticed a theme with these new books…Biographies!

We were introduced to what a biography is and read one together. After several days of reading and sharing the books, students have finally selected one person they are interested in learning more about. The goal is to complete a presentation called Biography in a Bag and teach the class all about their person of interest. Check out the students exploring the huge selection of biographies…

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December 4

Our Last Mystery Reader for 2018 is…

Many students guessed correctly…it was Mrs. Jones! She delighted us with not 1…not 2…but THREE Robert Munsch books! Munsch is certainly a favourite Canadian author among many of us!

We loved participating in the reading of each book and laughed and gasped at all the right spots.

Thank you, Mrs. Jones! You were fantastic and we loved you visiting us today.

Category: Reading Workshop, Teacher Talk | 4 Comments

December 1

Mystery Reader…Revealed!

On Friday, we had our most recent mystery reader come and visit with us. We welcomed Mrs. Fitzpatrick! She did a fabulous job reading the book called Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and illustrated by Robert Lawson.

It was originally published in 1936 so this is a story that has been loved and read by children for many years! It tells the story of a Spanish bull named Ferdinand that does not follow or define himself in the way other bulls do. Rather, he is quiet, peaceful, and happy just sitting under the cork tree, enjoying nature. When he is selected to fight in the bull fights in Madrid, you can imagine what he did…or didn’t do.

The story reminds all of us that we all should be our own unique selves and not who others think we should be.

Here are some fun facts about the book you may not have known:

In WWII times, Adolf Hitler ordered the book burned in Nazi Germany, while Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, granted it privileged status as the only non-communist children’s book allowed in Poland.
Mahatma Gandhi called it his favorite book.
Leaf wrote “The Story of Ferdinand” in less than an hour one rainy fall afternoon as a gift to his good friend Lawson.
The story was adapted by Walt Disney into a short animated film entitled Ferdinand the Bull in 1938. Ferdinand the Bull won the 1938 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons).

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November 22

Meeting Viola Desmond

Today, we read a wonderful biography called Meet Viola Desmond by Elizabeth MacLeod. Viola Desmond is considered by many Canadians to be a hero. The book tells the story of Viola’s rather famous moment in history when she bought a ticket to the movie theatre in 1946 in Nova Scotia. Viola bought a ticket and sat in the whites-only section of the theatre. She was told to move to the balcony where black people were supposed to sit. Instead, Viola was determined to sit where she wanted, and as a result, she was jailed, went to court, and found guilty. Viola died in 1965 at age 51. In 2010, the government of Nova Scotia pardoned Viola and apologized for what happened to her.

A few students connected Viola’s story to Rosa Parks from the U.S.A. Indeed, their experiences are very similar!

Years later, Viola’s sister, Wanda, shares her story and is proud to hold the new Canadian $10 bill where Viola’s portrait will be printed starting next week.

Check out this article from the London Free Press!

Who is someone else that you think should be on a Canadian bank note?

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November 21

Mystery Reader Revealed!

Our most recent Mystery Reader was…Jake’s dad! He did a fantastic job reading to us a wonderful story called The Book of Gold written and illustrated by Bob Staake. It tells the story of a boy named Isaac who isn’t a curious boy until he meets an old shopkeeper who tells him about The Book of Gold. This special book, hidden somewhere in the world, holds all the answers to every question and turns to solid gold when opened. Isaac hunts all over the world for this book, thinking it will make him rich. As Isaac ages, he continues his search for the golden book but along this journey, he learns a whole lot more! Read the book for yourself! You won’t regret it.