Weekly Homework Note

Dear Parents

Weekly homework in a homework folder will not be sent home on a consistent basis for a variety of reasons. Instead, please make family time your number one priority! Now that your child is in grade 3, I’d like to encourage them to take responsibility for their own learning and make use of online platforms to practice their skills. A link to websites for practice or for wonders is available on the blog. Math reviews will be sent home prior to the end of unit math quizzes. If you are looking to help your child on a nightly basis, here are a few suggestions.

1. Check our class Twitter (of Blog) every day for class updates, school information, learning goals or experiences we share
2. Read the agenda every night
3. Read!! Read a book each night for a minimum of 15 minutes. Try to find “just right” books at your child’s reading level. Read on RAZ Kids, a library book or anything of interest. 
4. Play word games with your weekly Word Wall Words (see below for word game ideas)
5. Math Games - check the Blog for math game links or try Zorbits (available on the Student Portal)
6. Buy your child a journal and have them write about what they’ve read or write their own stories.
7. Nightly homework with your child, should be limited to no more than 30 minutes each night

WORD WALL WORDS (WWW)

Each week your child will be given words to practice at home based on the spelling pattern, science topic or math strand we are working on in class. In class, students will play word games with these words. At home, students are encouraged to continue their learning by playing these and other suggested games at the bottom of the page. The WWW will be posted on Twitter each week and will also be copied in your child’s agenda at the start of the week. 

We have all heard how important it is for our children to read and write for pleasure. Reading and writing daily helps to build vocabulary, improve fluency and promote a love of reading!  The more the children read, review, spell and interact with these words in meaningful ways, the more confident they will become when reading and writing. Please note, we will not have weekly spelling tests with the WWW.

How can you support your child at home? Here are some things to do with the Word Wall Words...

⦁ use a whiteboard, use a keyboard, use magnetic letters, etc. Be creative!

⦁ Play Scrabble or Bananagrams

⦁ Spell each word aloud three times, by the third time, try and close your eyes!

⦁ When spelling the words, snap on the vowels and clap on the consonants

⦁ Make a sentence with each word

⦁ Write out each word 5 times using different coloured markers or crayons

⦁ Choose three of the word wall words and try to use them in the same sentence

⦁ Have a spelling challenge with an older brother, sister or friend

⦁ Choose a word and hunt for it in a book, magazine or the newspaper

⦁ Write a short story using all 5 word wall words. Remember your capital letters and

  punctuation!

Yours in Education,

Mrs. Ciampa

Parent Information

Meet Mrs. Ciampa

Hello and welcome! My name is Maria Ciampa and I am very excited to be your child's Grade 3 teacher for the rest of the school year. I am just coming back from maternity leave and am excited to join this journey with grade 3D for Term 2. This is my third year teaching at St. Emily School and I look forward to continuing to grow and learn with our class and with the school community. 

With my husband Joe and our two children Michael & Emilia.

I have a passion for educational technology and collaborating with others for shared learning opportunities. We will experiment with STEM tasks and work towards weekly collaborative learning activities. My goal is to encourage the class to think critically while learning how to communicate, collaborate with their classmates and possibly interact online on a local or global scale. We will also have some flexible learning spaces in our room. Remember, flexible learning happens not just in their physical classroom space, but beyond our classroom walls too! 

We will keep some of the same routines that Ms. Sande introduced this year. We will continue to meditate throughout the week as well as practice quiet entry by modeling how to read silently (DEAR time), reflecting in our mindful journals and completing brain snack math problems daily. Students will be encouraged to use their agenda to stay organized. Nightly homework will focus on reading, writing and family time. Students will be encouraged to demonstrate their responsibility by choosing to either review their word wall words, read on Raz Kids or complete the occasional math review. Please check the agenda daily for important notes or information.  Class updates will be shared daily on our class Twitter (@MrsCiampaClass) written by myself and your children! If there is a note in your child's agenda, please ask them to show me in the morning as we may not always get to our agendas until later in the afternoon.

Your child will get the opportunity to share their learning on a variety of online tools including our class Twitter (@MrsCiampaClass).  Check our Twitter daily to see what our learning goals are and how you might support your child's learning online. 

If you haven't already, please ensure that your child has a set of earphones to use while working on our various tech devices. Students are also encouraged to come to school with a water bottle. Below are some suggested, optional items that you can chose to donate to our classroom to help keep it clean and organized:

-Kleenex

-hand sanitizer
-baby wipes

-pencils and erasers

 If you have any questions, please write me a note in the agenda and remind your child to show me! 

Yours in Education,

Mrs. Ciampa