Spelling words for Feb. 3-6

Dear parents,

Our spelling words for next week are words with "er". They are: paper, never, river, later, under, winter, summer, number, over, water, herd, person, very, every, America. We will have our Spelling test next Thursday as Friday is a Professional Day.

Our Theme Reading is about the people who play in a symphonic orchestra. Our words are: mirrors, symphony, beetle, stools, briefcase, cummerbund, baton, tuxedo, conductor, and orchestra. Please go over the meaning of these words with your child. 

Next Tuesday is Booster Juice day. Yummy! We also begin Square Dancing lessons on Tuesday. Please make sure your child has runners at school for this activity. 

On Wednesday we have another square dance lesson and the Family Barn Dance in the school gym from 5:45-7:30! It's free, so plan to come and have fun. 

As mentioned previously, Friday, February 7th, is a Professional Day. Monday, February 10th, is Family Day, so there is no school for your children on either of these days. 

Artifact projects continue to go well! Thanks for your assistance with these.

Thanks to all who donated food to the Harvest Project this week. We nearly filled the basket! Thanks to Maya and Linnea who cleaned up our school grounds today! Well done!!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Gerri Karr

More great "Artifact Projects"

Dear parents,

Here are some super photos of our oral presenters. We continue to work hard in Fitness! 

Thanks to the parents who came to the Outdoor School parent meeting after school today. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to talk with me personally. 

Best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

"Let's Talk" Day

Dear parents,

We had an in-depth, honest discussion about depression and other mental illnesses this morning. Today, Canadians across our nation, were encouraged to openly discuss these issues. As always, I was struck by the awareness and maturity of your children. You may want to carry on this discussion with your children at home. Please reinforce that when and if a mental illness gets too much to bear alone, it is necessary to talk to friends and family. Help is out there! 

Best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

More great SS "Artifact Projects"

Dear parents, 

We had two great presentations during Social Studies today. Thanks to Ella and Miles for giving well-prepared oral presentations. Please check with your child to ensure they have their artifact and are prepared for their presentation on their upcoming scheduled due date. 

I was intrigued with Ella's presentation when I heard a particular name in her Norwegian heritage. I have done some research using Ancestry.cim and I think we may be distantly related!! We both hail from Petersen farm families that immigrated from Norway to Minnesota in the late 1800's. Very cool!! 

Next week, our class has square dance lessons during the day and a family barn dance on Wednesday, February 5th. This sounds like fun!!

Best wishes, 

Mrs. Gerri Karr

Spelling words for January 27-31

Dear parents,

What a wonderful wacky day!! One has to love wild hat day!! 

Our Spelling words for next week are words that have "or". They are: fork, born, corn, horn, north, sport, shorts, storm, story, forgot, word, worm, world, worth, and worst. Our bonus words are effervescence and extravaganza. 

Our Theme Reading for next week is about music. Our vocabulary words are cause, volume, tighten, pitch, pedals, instrument, musical, struck, beat, and communicate. Please go over the meaning of these words with your child. 

Next week, we are in charge of keeping the school grounds clean. If you are available to assist with this cleaning with a small group of students first thing in the morning, that would be super. 

We are also responsible for contributing to the Harvest Project all next week. Please bring in non-perishable food items and place them in the basket in the front hallway by the office.

Our Social Studies "Artifact Projects" continue to do well. Congratulations need to go to all students who have presented so far. 

Next Wednesday we have early dismissal at 2:00 for teacher meetings. Please plan to make alternate arrangements to pick up your child at this earlier time. 

We have Wok Box Day on Friday, January 31st.

Best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

Parent meeting for Outdoor School

Dear parents,

All Grade 3 students were given a notice about Outdoor School. We will be holding an informal information session for interested parents at 3:30 on January 30th. Please do not feel obligated to miss work to come to this meeting. We can always discuss individual concerns at other times. 

If you can make it, super! See you then! 

Best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

Artifact Projects

Dear parents,

The students are doing an excellent job with their "Artifact Projects". I am really impressed! 

We have completed our Math studies in

Geometry. Once again, I am pleased to report that the students did very well on their chapter test. We are beginning a unit in Multiplication. Although we are only responsible for teaching facts to five, I intend to challenge them with facts to 12. It would be super if you could buy or make flash cards and review these with your child at home. 

Reminder that Friday is Crazy Hat Day and Pizza Day! Yeah!!

Best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

Next week reminders

Dear parents,

Our bonus words for spelling are fluidity and diversity. 

We are back to our normal gym schedule with the exception of Thursday afternoons. We will be eliminating this one. 

Next Friday, we will have Crazy Hat Day and our fun lunch is Pizza Day! Dig out those wacky hats!! 

I hope you have a great weekend. 

Best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

Spelling words for January 20-24

Dear parents,

Our spelling words for next week are: milk, pint, bees, colt, sting, stung, dozen, hogs, pail, wagon, honey, basket, rooster, pumpkin, turnips, and cabbage. 

We will be using these words to write a story. 

Our Theme Reading will be about "Life in the Sea". Our words are: beneath, vast, areas, plenty, surface, depths, scarce, enormous, mammoth, and average.

Please remember there is no school on Friday.

Best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

Inquiry-based learning.

Dear parents,

We did a session of inquiry-based learning in Social Studies today. The children worked in cooperative groups to pull facts from book resources on pioneer living. We will finish these and present them to the class next week. The children did a good job on these. 

Please remember we also begin our Artifact Project presentations next week. Please help your child prepare for his/her oral presentation. 

We had our last tennis lesson today. I am so impressed with the skills the children have acquired during these past two weeks. Thanks to Markus, our tennis teacher. He did a super job! 

We held elections today for 2nd term class representative student council elections. Thanks need to go to all people who offered their name for nomination. Congratulations go to Sean and Samantha for winning the elections. We also need to thank Lily and Miles for their dedication as first term representatives. 

Best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

Games Day

Dear parents, 

We had a fun Games time today! The children choose many diverse activities, but they all get along and have a nice time.

Just a reminder that Friday, January 17, is Curriculum Implementation Day. There is no school for students on this day. 

Best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

Theme Reading

Dear parents,

Our Theme Reading words for this week are: whale, mammals, birth, calf, weigh, creature, diet, underwater, tons, and massive. They are all about whales.

With thanks,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

No new spelling words next week

Dear parents,

We've reached our review week for Spelling, so there are no new words next week and there is no test to study for! Yeah!! The children did really well on their test today. Thank you for helping them with these words. 

Next week, our theme reading is about whales. Perhaps, have your child do some extra research on this topic on the weekend. I will publish the words on Monday's blog. I forgot to bring them home! (My bad!) 

We had a recognition assembly and welcoming slide show first thing this morning. It's so heartwarming to see so many of my former students taking leadership roles in Grade 6 and 7! I hope that your sons and daughters will be as involved in the running of our school when they are older. 

Today, Latash, our First Nation's support worker, came in to share three stories. My favourite was the one about the halibut and the raven! It made me hungry for fish and chips! :)

We started an art assignment using pattern blocks today. They had fun doing this!

I'm planning on having the last 15 minutes of the day as a quiet reading time. Behaviour has been a little frantic near the end of the day, so I'm going to reign them in a bit. Please make sure your child has reading material for this part of the day. I have mentioned this for a few days now. Please review behaviour expectations with your child. 

Thanks for everything and best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

Nice quiet reading

Dear parents,

Our quiet reading times have shown dramatic improvement this term. Please congratulate your child for this! 

The children continue to experiment with and have fun with "Garage Band" in computer class. Their keyboarding skills are improving also using the "All the Right Type" program. 

Please review the Spelling words with your child for tomorrow's test. 

Best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

Social Studies project

Dear parents,

Today, I sent home a Social Studies assignment titled the "Artifact Project". Please check your child's school bag if they haven't shared this news with you. I'd like you to assist your child in choosing an artifact that has been in your family and has a story to tell. The work for this project will be done at home. Your child will need help in choosing an interesting artifact, writing a brief description of it on the index card I provided, and rehearsing his or her (1-3 minute) oral presentation. If the artifact is extremely valuable, your child may bring in a picture of it for their report rather than the actual object. The artifact will only be on display for the day that your child is doing the presentation. Look for the presentation date at the bottom of your child's notice.

If you need further clarification after reading the assignment sheet, feel free to email me or talk to me at school. 

Best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

Tennis Classes

Dear parents,

The children had fun in tennis today. We have an amended gym schedule for two weeks to accommodate all classes getting four lessons. We have tennis next on Thursday from 12:55-1:40. Next week we have lessons on Wednesday and Thursday from 12:55-1:40. 

We have Library tomorrow. Please have your child return any books that are still at home. 

Ask your child if they need a new drawing book. We have used all of the blank ones that came in the school supplies. If they need one, please purchase one for them and have them bring it to school.

Thanks so much and as always, best wishes!

Mrs. Gerri Karr

Welcome Back

Dear parents,

It was good to see the children again today! They were eager to share their holiday stories.

Our bonus words for Spelling this week are "doozies"! They are curriculum and implementation. 

We are carrying on with our Pioneer unit in Social Studies. Any reference books you can take out on this theme from local libraries will benefit your child. 

Miles did a very cool title page for this unit today! 

Our class earned Kinder surprises for super lunch time behaviour from Mrs. Ellis. Thanks need to go to the children for their efforts!

We sent home pink "Munch a lunch" order forms for fun lunches for the upcoming term. If you wish to order these, please go online. Online ordering will be open from January 6-10.

Tennis lessons begin tomorrow! What fun! Please make sure your child has runners at school. 

Best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr

Happy New Year!

Dear parents,

Just a little note to wish you and your family a happy and healthy 2014! I'm looking forward to seeing all the children on Monday, January 6th. 

Best wishes,

Mrs. Gerri Karr