A Busy and Joyful Last Week Before Winter Break!

Our Grade 3 classroom had a wonderful and busy final week of learning before winter break, beginning with some outdoor fun in the snow! Students worked together to build and create in the snow, using teamwork, problem-solving, and creativity. Back in the classroom, students drew on this shared experience to inspire their writing. Using what they saw, felt, and did outdoors, students wrote five extended sentences, carefully adding adjectives and adverbs to make their writing more detailed and interesting for the reader.

We also spent time getting our bodies moving in Physical Education. Students worked in small groups to exercise different muscle groups while continuing to practice cooperation and perseverance.

Another highlight of the week was reading How to Catch a Gingerbread Man. After discussing the story, students used their imaginations to write about a trap they would design to catch the Gingerbread Man. Their writing showed creativity, clear explanations, and thoughtful details.

Despite the excitement of the upcoming winter break, students demonstrated strong focus and effort with the many writing tasks we completed this week. We are very proud of the growth they have shown as writers.

We ended the week on a special note by attending an assembly to say farewell to Ms. Scarrow. We also shared a heartwarming moment singing Christmas carols with our kindergarten buddies, celebrating connection and community within our school.

Talk With Your Child About Their Learning:

Here are some questions you can ask your child to help them reflect on their learning this week:

• What did you build in the snow, and who did you work with?
• Which adjectives or adverbs did you use to make your snow-writing more interesting?
• What muscles did you use during Physical Education, and why is exercising important?
• What kind of trap did you design to catch the Gingerbread Man? What materials would you use?
• What was your favourite writing activity this week, and why?
• How did it feel to sing with your kindergarten buddy?

We wish all our families a safe, restful, and happy winter break. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to learning together again in the new year! 🎄✨

Curriculum Connections – Grade 3 New Learn Alberta

English Language Arts and Literature

• Creating and extending sentences to communicate ideas and experiences clearly
• Using descriptive language (adjectives and adverbs) to enhance meaning
• Responding to texts by sharing ideas and creating written responses
• Building writing stamina through sustained writing tasks

Physical Education & Wellness

• Developing physical competence through movement and muscle-building activities
• Working cooperatively in small groups
• Understanding the importance of physical activity for overall well-being
• Collaborating respectfully with peers
• Demonstrating perseverance and focus during learning tasks
• Building relationships and a sense of belonging within the school community

Hip Hop Art & Music

Our Grade 3 students have been exploring the world of Hip Hop through Sound Creations, and this week they brought their learning to life in a creative and colourful way!

Students painted vinyl records to represent what they’ve learned about the roots, rhythm, and expression of Hip Hop culture. Each record tells a story—some show movement, some show emotion, and others show the energy of music and dance.

To go along with their artwork, students also created graffiti-style word art. Each student chose one word that inspired their painting—such as creative, love, fun or move—and designed it using bold lines, bright colours, and expressive lettering, just like real street artists do.

These activities connect beautifully to the new Learn Alberta Grade 3 curriculum, especially in the areas of:

Fine Arts: using different materials and artistic techniques to express ideas and emotions

Music: exploring rhythm, pattern, and musical traditions

Literacy: choosing meaningful words and designing creative text to communicate ideas

Well-Being: understanding how music and art help us express who we are and what inspires us

Our students have shown so much creativity, confidence, and teamwork throughout this project. We are so excited to see everything come together during their Hip Hop performance on Tuesday evening. We know they are going to shine!

We can’t wait to celebrate all their hard work!

Writing Complete Sentences

This week the grade threes continued working on writing strong and interesting complete sentences. To demonstrate their understanding of sentences, they followed the writing process. First, students used a word web as a planning tool to generate and organize ideas before writing. Then, we reviewed that every sentence needs a subject, verb, complete thought, correct capital letters, and end punctuation. Students also worked on (or will work on) adding adjectives and adverbs to make their writing more interesting.

As a class, we also looked at different levels of writing and determined what would make a seed, sprout, sapling, or tree. Then, students wrote at least five sentences about a topic and added clear, helpful details to add interest and description. To end, students edited their work, using teacher feedback and a checklist.

English Language Arts Learning Outcomes:

• I can use organizational processes, methods, or tools to support the creation of written texts.
• I can create written texts that draw upon a variety of sources of inspiration.
• I can include a variety of carefully selected words and to add interest.
• I can edit writing for spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
• I can include an adjective (word that describes a noun).
• I can include an adverb ( word that describes a verb).

Possible Questions to Ask Your Child:

• What is a subject (noun)?
• What is a verb (action, linking, or helping)
• Can you write me an interesting sentence about your picture prompt from last week (animal, sport, place or celebration)?
• What feedback did your teacher give you to work on?