The Grade 3 Lions at Pleasant St Primary School

Our Amazing Canvases and... The Christmas Fest!

2011-12-01T16:16:00.000+11:00

Just a reminder..... the Christmas Fest is tomorrow!

Woohoo!

The children will be leaving school at 3.00 p.m, and then hopefully coming back between 5 and 9 p.m. with their families to experience all our wonderful Christmas Fest has to offer.

Below are some pics from another terrific experience this year... the Arts Festival.

"Picnik Show"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

It's getting close to the end of the year! We're going to put our Christmas tree up soon, and we gave out a notice about Kris Kringle today.

Every child has a KK, and will need to buy a present up to the value of $5.00 to be wrapped and put under our tree.

We will be handing out the KK presents on Monday the 19th of December, and we'd like all the presents back to school by the end of the week before, preferably on the Thursday.

Exciting times!

In A Crowd....

2011-11-27T14:42:00.000+11:00

A few more shots from Camp Wyuna... these ones are 'crowd' photos!

"Picnik Show"

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It's Christmas Fest this Friday - YAYYYY!!!!

If you come along you'll get to partake in the massive rock climbing wall, all manner of rides and attractions (the camels are back!), scrumptious food, great shopping, give-aways, raffles, Santa Land, and so much more!

The choir will be performing too, including quite a few members of 3LO.

See you there!

Linda. :)

More Camp Snapshots.... Snorkeling

2011-11-18T15:50:00.000+11:00

Here's some more terrific snapshots from our snorkeling experience at camp! We had great fun even thought the weather wasn't perfect!

"Picnik Show"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

Paper Making...

2011-11-13T12:21:00.000+11:00

Last term (yes, more long lost photos) we spent a week or so making our own paper.

We were learning about how to write procedural text in our writing sessions, and 'How To Make Paper' was a terrific procedure indeed! We wrote a huge classroom version of the procedure, and then had great fun following the steps and making a bit of a mess (not to mention some fabulous paper).

Here we are holding out our paper for you to see.

Back to some more Camp photos soon.

Linda. :)

Some Photos To Catch Up On!

2011-11-09T13:48:00.000+11:00

I've got quite a few of photos on my camera that don't seem to have made it on to the blog... so I'm going to share a few here and there over the next few weeks.

These ones are from last term when we were using Smarties to help us do some work on fractions. Of course, the incentive for getting all work finished was the reward of being able to eat your Smarties!

Stay tuned for more Camp photos coming soon!

Linda. :)

******

Camp Photos Galore - The Marine Discovery Centre

2011-11-06T14:12:00.002+11:00

We've been back from Camp for a week, and I think we've all finally recovered. We had a few zombies walking around school on the Thursday and Friday after camp, so we took those days pretty quietly.

We had a fabulous time, and only one activity (the rock pool ramble) had to be altered due to inclement weather. Snorkelling, canoeing, night walking, building sandcastles, hiking, holding and feeling starfish and all sorts of sea creatures, learning about maritime history and marine facts... we did it all!

Here's just a few photos showing bits of our visit the the Marine Discovery Centre on day one of camp.

More camp photos to follow!

New Timetable...

2011-10-12T11:46:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone, it's been a while! We've been so super busy, especially at the end of last term with the amazing Arts Festival!

Well done to all involved... it was huge and a great success.

Our Grade 3 film was amazing, and thanks to the green screen editing by Kate, looked very professional.

I have stacks of photos on my camera from last term(weeks and weeks worth) I've not had time to upload, so I may try and squeeze them in here and there.

But, today, I just want to share the new timetable we're going to be working from this term on the days I'm in the room (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday).

We're going to be going 'flat chat' getting ready for Grade 4, and it'll be a fairly tight schedule. We'll still have fun (of course), but we'll have to get our 'super serious work hats' on for this last term.

This is a reasonably detailed rundown of how the days will basically run most of the week... but of course, sometimes things crop up, activities don't get done, or things get re-arranged!

On Wednesday, when Jasmine is in the room, the focus is on our enquiry topic, writing, maths, and the children watch Behind The News and get deeply involved in discussions, projects, sharing, reading, and writing using that information as a springboard.

In other news..... Camp is only a couple of weeks away... woohooooo!

Now THAT, will be fun!

Linda. :)

My Favourite Ecolinc Activity - By Trinity

2011-08-29T11:08:00.000+10:00

On Wednesday we went to Ecolinc to learn about water. When we got there we went inside and had a look around. We went to the science room to learn about the bugs that live in the water. When we got in there we sat at a table with a partner. Mine was Jackson. We got a spoon to get out the bugs. We started to open the box. There were a lot of bugs. We looked at the chart and saw all the bugs. And we found a lot. They had names, one was called a mayfly nymph, caddisfly larvae, dragonfly nymph, shrimp, diving beetle larvae, water boatman, seed shrimp, soldier fly larvae,
mosquito larvae. They were really cool. I had a really great time!

By Trinity.

More Vokis by Grace, Lily, Takumi and Luke...

2011-08-18T11:01:00.000+10:00

Here are some more Vokis to tell you about what we are doing in Enquiry. If you are a subscriber to The Lion's blog and you get your posts by email, you will need to click through to the actual blog to see the Vokis.

By Grace:

By Lily:

By Takumi:

By Luke:

More Vokis still to come!

5 Facts About Water Pollutants by Luke...

2011-08-15T10:57:00.000+10:00

Source

5 Facts About Pollutants I Learned At Ecolinc:

1. Chip packets float in water.

2. Lawn clippings float in water.

3. Fertiliser sinks in water.

4. Oil floats on water.

5. Plastic carry bags float in water.

None of these things dissolve in water. This means they are pollutants in our waterways.

By Luke

More Vokis To Listen To - by Ethan. M, Isaac, Trinity and Victoria...

2011-08-12T10:27:00.002+10:00

Here are some more of our Vokis linking to our enquiry unit of work...

By Ethan. M:

By Isaac:

By Trinity:

By Victoria:

More Vokis coming soon!

My Favourite Thing At Ecolinc - by Eliza

2011-08-12T10:16:00.000+10:00

My favourite thing at Ecolinc was when we scooped out the bugs. Victoria and I scooped out a leech and a caddisfly larva that bit Victoria.

We got to look though a microscope.

When we got to start, Victoria was so excited she knocked the tub.

At the start when we found our first bug it was a mayfly nymph. All the bugs were gooey. The water was really dirty.

I had the best day ever!

By Eliza.

Introducing VOKI - by Heidi, Milly, Thenul and Nic...

2011-08-11T12:24:00.000+10:00

We've been using a new internet tool called a 'Voki' to express some of the things we have learned about the environment over the last couple of weeks.

Here are some of the Vokis we did today.

By Heidi:

By Milly:

By Thenul:

By Nic:

There will be more Vokis to come, so stay tuned!!

Making Slime by Ashleigh-Kate!

2011-08-09T10:42:00.003+10:00

As a short diversion from our posts about our trip to Ecolinc, Ashleigh-Kate is going to share our recipe for making slime!

We are learning how to write 'procedures' as part of studying different writing genres, and we've been looking at how to make things and record our methods.

Last week we made green slime (I forgot to take pictures - doh!), and had lots of fun whilst doing it.

Here's Ashleigh-Kate's recipe for it...

Slime Recipe

To make messy gooey slime...

You will need:

1. Corn starch

2. Food colouring

3. Water

4. A bowl/A jug and a cup

Instructions:

1. One cup of corn starch into the bowl.

2. Add a little water and mix until gooey.

3. Mix in some food colouring.

4. Play with the slime.

The slime will get stickier as

you play with it.

By Ashleigh-Kate.

My Favourite Ecolinc Thing - by Isaac

2011-08-08T12:01:00.000+10:00

My favourite Ecolinc thing was when we made some bugs with the piece of plastic. We used plastic because it is re-usable. You can use it again and again. Riley and I made a scorpion. Its name was Snappy, and it had four legs. I also liked it when we caught the bugs with the spoon. We got a tad-pole. I thought it was really fun.

By Isaac.

A Long Day - By Nic

2011-08-05T13:07:00.000+10:00

On Wednesday the 27th of July we went to Ecolinc.

When we got to Ecolinc, first we had a story. Then we learned about the Werribee River. Also, we had an activity where we had to see what dissolves, floats and sicks. Then we had snack.

After that we looked at the weather wall. Then we looked at the glasshouse, and then we went to the tanks. Then we looked at the wildlife. After that we looked at bugs.

After lunch we made a bug.

It was a great day and I learned alot.

By Nic.

Five Facts About What We Did At Ecolinc by Emily.

2011-08-04T14:10:00.000+10:00

· We made our own bugs with different body parts from other bugs.

· We went out-side and saw their glasshouse where they keep their seeds until they can grow out-side.

· They have a compost toilet so they save more water.

· We mixed litter in some clean water and we pretended we were dragon fly nymphs.

· We looked for bugs. My group found a may fly nymph, a caddis fly larva, a diving beetle, a damselfly nymph, a snail, a water spider and a seed shrimp.

By Emily.

My Visit To Ecolinc - by Thenul.

2011-08-01T11:13:00.000+10:00

Last Wednesday we visited the Ecolinc. My favourite thing at the Ecolinc was catching the bugs. First we went to a table and got in partners, and we tried catching bugs. I caught 10 bugs with Ethan K. We found a shrimp thing and you could see through it. There were hundreds of diving beetles. We found a hot dog thing, some worms, and we found a snail (but it didn’t move). We also saw a boatman and a seed shrimp.

By Thenul.

Our Ecolinc Excursion - By Heidi.

2011-07-28T14:51:00.002+10:00

Yesterday the Grade 3s had a brilliant day at the Ecolinc Centre in Bacchus Marsh.

Over the next few weeks we're going to present a short piece of work from every class member about what they saw, what they liked, or what they learned.

Today's piece of writing is from Heidi!

My favourite thing was putting the different substances in the river (which was really water in a container). I put in some plastic and my name was Barbie Que. When someone put in some oil it started to make some bubbles. Someone also put in some fake doggy doo. This activity helped us understand how different things pollute our rivers/ water systems. It was very fun!!!

By Heidi.

Check out more about Ecolinc at their website here.

A New Term, and Two New Junior School Council Reps!

2011-07-19T20:33:00.000+10:00

Welcome to the second half of the school year!

Grace and Ethan, our two fabulous Semester One JSC representatives have done a wonderful job over terms one and two. They've attended meetings, taken any of our concerns or ideas to those meetings, and reported back weekly to keep us all informed.

Well done Grace and Ethan, an admirable effort!

Grace and Ethan have now completed their time as JSC reps, and we welcome our two new representatives Lily and Takumi.

Lily and Tak were elected just before the end of last term, and I know they'll do an excellent job of carrying on Grace and Ethan's tradition of excellent representation on behalf of our grade.

Congratulations on your election Lily and Tak.

The Many Ways Of Reading In Grade 3!

2011-06-20T18:37:00.000+10:00

In our classroom, we spend lots of time reading in various ways, because reading is so important, and the best way to learn how to read is to do it!

Sometimes we read to ourselves.

Sometimes we read to a buddy.

Sometimes we read to a circle or a small group.

Sometimes we read to the teacher or a parent helper.

And, sometimes we read to the whole class!

Here are just a few pics of some of the different ways we read in grade 3!

1. SILENT READING: We read silently nearly every day for between 10 to 20 minutes (depending on how our day is going time-wise!). After we read, we often share comments or thoughts about our books in pairs or as a grade.

2. SPEEDY READING: We practise reading 'speedily' four times a week. We do this in groups of three so that one person can read, one can check the reader's progress, and one can time. Then we rotate so each person in the group gets a go at each activity. We try and reach the target time set for that piece of text, but our main goal is to see if we can decrease our time with every reading. The stories are usually short fables, and only take a minute or so to read! We usually use the same piece of text for at least 4 days. Before we read the text the first time we talk about the story, predict what it could be about, discuss the meaning of any unfamiliar words, and listen to the teacher read it. Then it's our turn!

3. BUDDY READING: We do Buddy Reading two, sometimes three times a week. We each have a different book. We pair up with a buddy, and then one person reads for a set time (usually 30 seconds), while the other person listens. Then the person who listened asks the reader two questions about what they read. This means we both have to be thinking about the text as it's read! Then we swap.

We also do it without being timed so that we can share a whole story or our favourite part of the story with a friend.

4. CIRCLE READING: We do this a couple of times a week. It's a bit like Buddy Reading, but in a bigger group! Each person gets a go at reading for a set time. Then the other group members have to ask one question each of the reader (except for the timer). Then we rotate so everyone gets a turn at reading, asking questions, and timing.

5. READING GROUPS: We do these with the teacher. We all have the same story or piece of text to read. The teacher guides us through a session that focuses on a reading strategy, comprehension, text genre; or skills such as scanning, skimming, summarising, picking the main idea etc. We also sometimes get to read by ourselves to the teacher during this time.

6. READING TO THE CLASS: On occasion, we get to share a book we've read, or a favourite part of a book, with the whole class! Then we usually share our opinion of the book or answer a question they'd like answered.

Phew! That's a lot of reading. No wonder the Grade 3 Lions are such fluent readers and can answer questions about what they've read so well!

A Quick Announcement Re Library Day And Home Reading...

2011-05-28T15:18:00.000+10:00

Library day for the Lions has changed from Wednesday to Thursday every week. Library bags are necessary if the children wish to take any borrowed books home. I'll be encouraging all the Lions to borrow 4 books every week - two Lexile books and two non Lexile books. Two of these books can go home for reading, and two will stay at school for reading and use during reading related activities.

I'd also like to remind parents that the children's Home Reading Diaries should be returned to school every Friday so I can check them and keep track of how the children's home reading is going.

This is the children's responsibility, but a reminder every now and then would be really helpful. :)

Linda.

P.S. I've posted twice today, so in case you miss them.... there's some lovely swimming pics in the post below. So keep scrolling down!

Look What We've Been Up To On Tuesdays...

2011-05-28T15:04:00.000+10:00

Wow, it's been a while!

This term we've been super busy with NAPLAN practice, then NAPLAN itself, as well as an excursion to the Regional Library, Education Week activities, swimming, guest speakers (talking to us about their occupations), and around all of that.... general classroom work!

Phew.

Here's a few lovely pics of what the Lions have been up to during their weekly swimming sessions at the Ballarat Aquatic Centre. (Plus a few extras from the other Grade 3 classrooms!)

Tuesday afternoons have certainly gone swimmingly. :)

Linda.

Lions At Play!

2011-04-25T20:38:00.000+10:00

Here are some pictures of the Lions at play on the last day of Term 1. It was also the day of our treat, and the Lions got to wear casual clothes if they wished. No wonder they're all having such a good time!

See you later this week everyone. Enjoy the last few days of the hols!

Linda. :)

Easter Bonnet Parade!

2011-04-24T18:57:00.000+10:00

On this Easter Sunday (hope you've all had a lovely day), I thought I'd post some pictures of the Easter bonnets the Lions made in their Art class at the end of last term.

Didn't they do a marvellous job?

Happy Easter everyone!

Stay tuned for those 'Lions at play' pics I promised. I'll get them onto the blog before school goes back (hopefully!).

Linda. :)

A Healthy Breakfast and The Family Picnic...

2011-04-22T00:03:00.000+10:00

Well.... it's been a while since the end of the term! I hope you're all rested, getting ready to enjoy some yummy Easter eggs, and looking forward to coming back to school for a busy Term 2?

I thought I'd better get around to uploading some of the fab photos I took during the last couple of weeks of school.

Here we begin with some pics of our yummy 'Breakfast With The Stars'. This was a terrific way of celebrating the end of our Term 1 enquiry unit which was about being the best we can be, looking after ourselves, staying safe, and treating ourselves and others with respect.

The 'Stars' in attendance were all of the children who now shine brightly with knowledge about how to look after themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Thanks must go to the wonderful group of mums from the Grade 3s and 4s who came in early to help us peel, chop, cut, slice, pour, and serve. Thanks so much!

And, to finish off and continue the theme of food, here's a few photos taken on the night of the Family Picnic during the last week of school. The light was beginning to get dark by the time these were taken, but we just snuck them in.

Stay tuned over the next couple of days for some lovely Easter Bonnets, and some playful Lions enjoying the outdoors.

Linda. :)

Harmony Day and The Sports!

2011-03-27T22:46:00.001+11:00

What a week last week was!

We had a lovely day at school on Monday for Harmony Day. The children enjoyed coming dressed up in the traditional dress of other countries, flag colours, or just orange for Harmony Day. Thanks to everyone for all the effort you put into your clothes/costumes, and the money we raised for disaster relief in Japan and New Zealand.

Great job!

We also had two goes at getting through all the events for our School Sports!

Due to bad weather, we had to postpone the Wednesday evening session (all the running events) and move it to Friday afternoon. The weather on Friday turned out to be perfect for running, not too hot and not too cold.

As I write this it's Sunday night, and we still don't know which house has won the shield! Mr. Poyner will have been busily adding up all the points over the weekend, and I'm guessing we'll find out the final scores at Assembly tomorrow morning. Good luck everyone!

The photos below were taken on Wednesday during the first part of the Sports when the field events were undertaken. There's a few 'ring-ins' from the other grade 3s included!

Some Lovely Work and Some Story Time!

2011-03-18T21:03:00.000+11:00

We've been really busy this week starting to work on our persuasive writing texts (Expositions), and learning all about how to convince someone to believe your point of view! You need strong reasons, strong words, and you have to get to people's feelings so you can change the way they think about things.

Some excellent speeches were given in an attempt to put forward strong reasons for and against the statement 'cats and dogs are great pets to allow inside your home'. Nic managed to persuade quite a few children to change sides!

We also added some work to our display about Crazy Hair Day.... here's a few pictures.

In the corridor, you'll also find some of our lovely Narnia 'pop-outs'! They turned out beautifully. You just need to lift the cover and the entire inside will 'pop-out' so you can view it.

Here's one by Trinity.

We've been learning about different reading strategies including 'self monitoring' (thinking as you read, and noticing any errors you make), and 'predicting' (thinking ahead as you read to help gain greater meaning from the text).

One small group even worked with a parent on some philosophy...... they had an interesting discussion, raised questions, and wrote answers connected to a fable about the meaning of happiness.

Maths has seen the introduction of 'addition', and some testing in the areas of skip counting and place value.

We've also had the pleasure of listening to some of our classmates read to the rest of us.

Once the children feel they know a book well enough and wish to share, they are invited to read the whole book, or a few pages (depending on length) to the grade.

Here's Mason showing everyone a picture from 'Hippos Can Swim', a great book about self esteem and being confident. We enjoyed his lovely expression as he read it!

Linda. :)

P.S: Remember Harmony Day on Monday.... what will you dress up in? A national costume? Orange (for Harmony Day)? The colours of your favourite flag?

Some News!

2011-03-15T22:26:00.000+11:00

Today I sent home a list of usernames and passwords with the children so they can access the main sites we use at school whilst at home if they wish.

We're just getting started with Study Ladder and Super Clubs Plus, so the children can hop on and have a play, but they'll be getting a more detailed tour in Computer sessions at school (the first related one of which will be this Thursday).

We prefer they do their Lexile quizzes at school, but you can have a look around their Lexile pages, and get a feel for the site.

Some children's Ultra Net passwords are not available yet as they may need to be reset from last year due to a glitch in the system. Once they're available, I'll reprint their sheet with the correct username and password.

You can find a link to all the main sites the passwords are for on this page, and also over there in the Main Menu on the sidebar.

Have fun exploring everyone!

Linda. :)

It's Been A C-r-a-z-y Day!

2011-03-10T18:31:00.000+11:00

Wow!

Today was Crazy Hair Day, and we had lots of super duper hair creations brightening up our room!

Here's a few shots of the Lions going a little 'crazy' and having fun.

(Stay tuned for a more serious note after the pictures.....)

Ahhh, yes, you know you're having a good day when your teacher actually says you CAN poke your tongue out in a picture.

And, don't worry, Alex isn't about to swallow a marble... it's a grape.

Onto more fun and frivolity...

As you can see, a happy day was had by all!

On a more serious note however, the Lions spent a session this morning writing a rough draft, and then typing a good copy during their computer time, about the Leukaemia Foundation, the reason we were actually having Crazy Hair Day, and what our money might be used for.

It's a subject close to my heart, as I lost my Dad to leukaemia almost 13 years ago.

The treatment at the time for his type of leukaemia was not anywhere near as successful as it is now.

Thanks to wonderful fundraising efforts (like ours), and the ensuing research programs, there is now a much more effective drug for the specific type of leukaemia he endured.

Days like our Crazy Hair Day really do help!

We didn't overly dwell on the sickness part of the disease, but we did talk alot about what our money could be used for, and why days like this one are so important.

We'll be making a display of our writing and Crazy Hair Day/Leukaemia Foundation work in the corridor, so we'd love you to drop by next week and take a look.

I'll post some photos here once the display is up.

And, congratulations to Tom Kerr from Grade 5, who had his almost shoulder length hair drastically trimmed down to a '2 and a half'! The whole school watched his adventure, and we appreciated his determination and guts in regards to raising money and helping out.

What a day it was!

Our Gallery Of Great Work Begins!

2011-03-09T18:01:00.002+11:00

Well, it's taken a little while, but 'Our Gallery Of Great Work' is finally underway. Not all elements are in place yet as mentioned here.... but we're getting there!

We'll pop up some new work monthly (hopefully), and next time we'll have some little written pieces of information to go with them.

The first exhibits in our gallery were done with the children by Jasmine. Some lovely 'organic shapes' turned into some very imaginative images.

Come by and have a peek for a better close up!

We hope to see you 'viewing' our great work!

Linda.

Crikey!! It's Been So Long...

2011-03-07T23:32:00.000+11:00

Crikey, (yes that word actually IS a part of my vocabulary), it's been a good two and a half weeks since the blog's been updated.

Phew.... time flies!

Thanks to all those parents who attended the Information Night, it was lovely to see you there, and great to have the chance to meet new parents.

I'll be sending some notes home soon for Parent Helpers for those interested in coming into the classroom and helping out. Can't wait!

Here's a few random bits and pieces from the last couple of weeks to give you a glimpse into what's been going on.

We had the Life Ed Van visit (which was enjoyed by all), and the children soaked up the information and fun that the van provided. We got to use some resources back in our classroom too, as evidenced by the photo below! This was a big skeleton jigsaw puzzle the children had fun putting together before school one day. (Keen little things aren't they!)

We've had heaps of fun playing various maths games over the last few weeks (easy to forget all the good learning that goes on when playing an intriguing game), most of which revolved around number patterns, place value, and ordering 3 digit numbers.

We've also learned a bit about temperature and how to measure it!

Not to mention the serious business of spelling tests, reading tests, a lexile test, a maths test.... you get the picture. The test below is a reading comprehension test (done today).

The start of the year sure is busy and intense!

Everyone's been doing a great job with their homework, and I've really enjoyed the comments in the children's reading diaries.

Oh, and after much reading, questioning, going to and fro, and frustration, Victoria finally figured out that my third favourite 'O' animal was an......... ocelot! Yay! She stuck to it and persisted until she had an answer. Well done Victoria!

Image from World Zoo Today

Within the next few days I'll post an update about our Gallery Of Great Work. It's underway, and if you come in to visit you can take a look.

Linda. :)

Dressing Up And Talking About The Floods...

2011-02-18T20:27:00.001+11:00

Special thanks to all the children today for coming dressed up and with money in hand to support the Victorian Flood Relief Appeal.

We had an in-depth and thoughtful discussion about all the people who helped during and after the floods, and what the roles of many of those people entailed.

Can't wait to find out how much the school raised.

Happy weekend everyone. :)

Linda.

Two Down.... And One To Go!

2011-02-17T20:09:00.002+11:00

A couple of days ago, I happened to mention as part of a conversation about animals in our classroom, that my three favourite animals all began with the letter 'O', (funny that).

Two of these have been guessed by the children. One was pretty easy as there's a few of them perched around the room, (owls), the other was guessed after some rather serious and intense discussion, (otters), and the third seems to have caused rather a stir, with several students going home and coming back with lists of 'O' animals the next day.

Not to mention, me hearing.... "Linda, is it a _______ ?" at every possible opportunity.

We've had suggestions of Ostrich, Ox, Okapi, Octopus, Ospray, Orca, Opossum, Orangutan, and many more.... but still no 'banana', so to speak!

So if you're suddenly getting bugged about which animals start with the letter 'O', now you know why!

The third one, which no-one has guessed yet, has to be one of the most pretty and beautiful animals to look at (in my opinion). I've always adored them, and love trying to see them when I'm at the Melbourne Zoo, but they're usually asleep hidden away in their enclosure somewhere, and camouflaged by the bushes and trees.

It'll be interesting to see who guesses it first!

Linda. :)

P.S. Seals and squirrels are pretty darn cute too!

Both pics from Cute Overload!

A Couple Of Dates and Some More Info!

2011-02-15T18:09:00.000+11:00

Well everyone, our second week back has been great so far! We had a lovely time talking about people we care about and why we appreciate them yesterday (Valentine's Day), and we've also gotten stuck into some of the real 'nitty gritty' and 'nuts and bolts' work involving spelling, maths, reading, and writing - so that's been tiring but interesting for all of us.

Just a brief reminder that weekly homework isn't due in until the Friday of each week.... so that's heaps of time to get it done without any anxiety!

Also, we'll be procuring a book to keep our homework in so that it doesn't get lost or disappear easily (wink, wink).

Outside the classroom within the next few days, I'll place some plastic pockets to put in extra notes, homework, Bookclub leaflets etc, so if anything gets lost, check at our classroom first to see if there's spares.

The timetable is still getting shuffled around a little bit as the whole school settles in, so I'll post it here when I'm sure it's pretty solid. There is one outside our room, but there's a few arrows (showing changes) cluttering it up now!

Our Life Ed Van session is next Thursday, which will be wonderful! If you'd like some extra info about the sorts of things Life Ed Covers, here's a good link to some of their modules.

And, finally, our Parent Info Night will be next Tuesday, the 22nd of Feb. It would be wonderful to see as many parents there as possible. We'll be meeting in the new building at 7.00 p.m., then splitting into year levels after that.

Hope to see you there!

Warm Regards,

Linda.

Home Reading Congratulations, And A Nodding Doll!

2011-02-12T22:00:00.000+11:00

Congratulations to all those Lions who read for 4 or more nights last week!

I very much enjoyed reading all your comments and finding out what sorts of books you like to read.

Keep up the good work!

For those who didn't get to read the MINIMUM of 4 nights last week..... I want you all to answer the following question the same way the doll below is!

"Are you going to read for at least 4 nights next week?"

See you on Monday!

Linda. :)

A Reminder, Some Dancing, And Happy Things!

2011-02-10T17:38:00.000+11:00

Hello everyone!

A little reminder to those reading... there are still about 6 children who haven't handed in their permission slips for the Life Education Van. They are due in by tomorrow (Friday), but if they come back very early next week it will be OK.

I'll hand out a few extra notes tomorrow for those who've misplaced theirs.

On to the dancing.....

Today in our Class Circle Time, we did a few minutes of dancing to a song from the movie Happy Feet! You can see it down there on the left in this blog's sidebar.

Great stuff! And, a good energising way to start the day.

We did it in our circle, altogether, whilst holding on to our class elastic (it's a big elastic band that fits around ALL of us), and it was a good way to work out how to move as a team and enjoy the dance together.

Here we are....

We then had a lovely discussion about what makes us happy, and a few of the little things that make us feel good.

Here's what everyone said in answer to the question 'What makes you happy?':

"Coming first in a race." (Isaac)
"Winning soccer." (Takumi)
"Riding my motorbike." (Mason)
"Any dancing except ballet." (Ethan. K.)
"If it's a sunny day!" (Lily)
"Having my birthday." (Grace)
"Flowers." (Heidi)
"Cooking desserts." (Milly)
"Cooking cookies and cakes." (Eliza)
"Riding my bike out the back with my dog Jasper." (Caitlin)
"Holding my little sister." (Trinity)
"Having a massage from my mum." (Victoria)
"Playing with my baby brother Jacob." (Ashleigh-Kate)
"Any sort of dancing." (Ethan. M.)
"Winning soccer." (Ethan. P.)
"Winning soccer and playing with my brother." (Nick)
"Playing cricket." (Thenul)
"Eating cake." (Luke)
"Making it in to the finals of soccer." (Alex)
"Playing Little Big Planet on the Play Station." (Jackson)

And, we all had a happy day!

******

Welcome Back Everyone! A Few Classroom Pics....

2011-02-07T18:26:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone! It's been a very busy and lovely first 2 days back at school with the children, and we've been doing heaps of 'getting to know you' activities and trying to find out all about each other.

All the grades (throughout the entire school) will be focusing on these sorts of activities this week to re-engage the children and build a solid foundation for a stellar year's work!

Here's a few sneak peeks of what our room looks like in its infancy!

Also, a timetable will be up on the blog soon so you can see your child's daily basics, but there's already one outside the classroom near the door if you'd like to check it out.

I'll be calling for some Classroom Helpers too at some stage soon.... after we've settled in a bit more and we've got our routine going.

In the meantime, if I haven't met you already, I'd love you to drop in before school starts or after school and say hi. It's always good to put faces to the names on my list!

HOMEWORK:

Homework starts this week with the 'What's In The Bag' activity (thanks to all those whose children have brought their bags already), plus reading at home nightly and filling out your child's Home Reading Diary (or hopefully, getting them to).

The Lions have Library on Wednesdays with Jasmine, (I have them every other day - 4 days in all), and will borrow some Lexiled library books then. One will be to read at home, and one will stay at school for classroom reading and activities.

For tonight and Tuesday, any book or reading material you have at home can be used for their 'at home reading'.

Stay tuned for more pics and updates as we get 2011 rolling!

Warm Regards,

Linda.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2010-12-24T15:32:00.001+11:00

Hello everyone!

It's Christmas Day tomorrow, so I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of you a wonderful Christmas filled with peace, love, and joy.

I hope you enjoy the holidays and have loads of fun!

See you in the New Year.

Warm Regards,

Linda.

Hello And Welcome!

2010-12-13T11:44:00.000+11:00

Hello everyone, and welcome to the official blog for Linda's Lions!

Next year at Pleasant Street Primary, these 'grade three lions' will be congregating in Room 9, which is the third room along from the Meeting Room in the main corridoor.

We got together for the first time today to introduce ourselves properly, and to have a chat about what grade three might bring, and it was great to see so many smiley faces!

We're looking forward to having heaps of fun, but most importantly, learning an amazing amount of new skills and information. There'll be lots of independent learning tasks, specialised group instruction, and specifically tailored learning for all the Lions.

Along with Mrs Jasmine Oldaker (who'll be taking the class for one and a half days a week), I'll be taking photos of classroom happenings, introducing you to what's going on during our daily activities, posting special invitations, giving you timetables and rosters, plus many other things, all right here on the Grade 3 Lions' Blog.

And, the Lions themselves will get to post on the blog too!

In order for you to make sure you receive every update, it'd be great if you would enter your email in the box up there on the left. Once you do that, every time something is posted here, you'll receive a copy of it sent straight to your email inbox!!

You won't miss a thing!

And, if you want to email me about any important matters throughout the year, you'll find the details under the 'Contact' page in the Main Menu up above.

We're absolutely thrilled to be guiding your children's learning this year, and can't wait to see their growth and progress.

Warmest Regards,

Linda Ogier.