Welcome to Room 8

Grade 3

French Immersion

Curriculum Outline

2014-2015 Mme Pagliaro

Overview

Classroom Routines

Timetable

Homework Expectations

Field Trips

Curriculum content

Assessment, evaluation and reporting

Parent Communications /Volunteers

Websites

Classroom Routines

The students are expected to be respectful, have a good attitude, do their best and most of all be resourceful.

The students are expected to eat their recess snack and their lunch quietly at their desk.

The students work in the classroom in desk groupings, 3 tables. Each group is responsible for working quietly and cooperatively and for keeping their area tidy. On a regular basis groupings are changed to provide students an opportunity to work with various classmates.

We have a point system (I give out the $1 monopoly money) to encourage good classroom behaviour, working independently and cooperating, being helpful towards others, participating and providing leadership when working in groups.

Only French is spoken in the classroom.

The students have classroom tasks to help run the classroom. They learn what responsibility is when helping to empty the recycling bin, bringing down the attendance to the office, keeping our scissors and rulers accounted for etc.

The students are expected to arrive on time at school

When students return from an absence, they are responsible for completing the homework they missed.

our school (classroom) is nut-free

no electronics, cell-phones or expensive toys

Timetable /Technology

This year M. El Aziz is teaching Science to the class for 140 minutes a week and Mme Sadeek is teaching Music for 80 minutes.

All other subjects are taught by me

Physical Education is scheduled for two periods of 40 minutes every week and DPA (daily physical activity) for another 100 minutes a week, approximately 20 minutes a day

We have a book exchange in the school library once a week every day 1

In the classroom we have two desktops computers and 4 laptops. We also have a cart on the floor of 10 laptops computers that can be singed out if needed for whole class use.

Children will be using computers during literacy center time where they will be visiting mostly language web sites

They will have some practice with Microsoft Word, Microsoft Power Point and Google Maps throughout the year.

Homework Expectations

Homework is recorded in the agenda every day (No homework on weekends). Parents are asked to initial the agenda after their child has completed their work, on a daily basis

There is usually 30 minutes of homework on average, not including independent reading

homework usually includes exercises that are an extension of classroom work.

homework will be mostly math and grammar on a weekly basis; oral book report presentations and some special projects throughout the year

with minor assistance, your child should be able to complete the homework assignments independently and effectively within the time frame. Homework is always explained in class before it goes home.

Home Reading Program:

15 to 20 minutes in French every night

your child chooses books at his reading level from the classroom leveled- books bins every day before going home

books are to be recorded in the reading log (carnet de lecture) and should be dated and initialed by the parent. ( throughout the year, there will be a few oral book reports that the students will be required to present)

When homework is incomplete or not done, students will be asked to stay in to complete it , or it may be re-sent home to be finished for the following day.

Field Trips

Some of the field trips we are considering for this year include:

Community walk- (mapping skills) in the fall

Speaker from the Town of Markham planning & development department- in the fall

Bruce’s Mill- (Maple syrup production)- in the spring

The Pickering Pioneer Village - in May-June

All field trips and guests are carefully selected to complement the curriculum and enhance the learning of our students. They are considered an important part of our program and all students are expected to participate.

Curriculum guidelines

French Language/Literacy

Oral Language

drama/role-playing activities - through the use of a child’s natural interest in drama and role-playing we will practise speaking with expression and intonation by doing activities such as reader’s theatre, simple dialogues, role-play and dramatizations of stories.

book talk - learning to express ideas about stories read in the guided reading groups, with partners (literature circles), oral book reports

oral presentations – for culminating activities such as for social studies, presenting a project on topics such as pioneer life or comparison of some communities in Ontario.

Everyday class participation and group work.

Reading (a balanced program of shared, guided, independent)

The children will read daily through a variety of means: shared reading (whole class) with reading follow-up

activities that foster comprehension and increase students’ knowledge of story elements:

guided reading (with the teacher in small groups), where we will be using levelled books from our book bins so that the students will be taught reading and comprehension strategies with groups of students at the same reading level

During the literacy period the children will also be involved in other literacy activities at centers such as the computer centre, the independent reading/reading response centre, the word study centre and the writing centre.

Process Writing/ Printing

the children are expected to organize ideas, draft and revise their writing using different forms.

They are expected to edit and proofread their writing using their knowledge of language conventions and appropriate resources to correct their errors.

The children will practice sentence writing during the beginning part of the school year, and reading response activities, based on texts in the guided reading groups, will take place throughout the year. The children will be expected to print legibly. We will also learn cursive writing in grade 3.

Reading strategies and Writing forms

  Reading Strategies Forms of Writing

Term 1 September- January

-Predicting-Making connections-Visualizing -Summarizing -Identifying Important Ideas-Retell- story elements

-Autobiography -Biography -Narrative -Narrative with dialogue -Story retells ( resumé) 

Term 2 – February – June

Identifying Important IdeasRetell- story elementsQuestioningInferenceSynthesizing 

-Comic strips -Legends (First Nations) -Recounts,journals (Pioneers)

MathematicsThe mathematics textbook we are using is “La Chenelière”. This program focuses on problem-solving, whole class and small group work. The Mathematics provincial test (E.Q.A.O.) in May will be administered to the grade 3 students in French.

  Strand Term 1 Term 2Number Sense and Numeration  

Number line, base ten, 3 digit addition and subtraction, counting and writing # to 100

-Multiplication to 7 introduction to the concept of division,-Money

Measurement  

Linear measurements, time -Measurement of calendar, capacity, weight,

Geometry  

2d, 3D figures -Location and Movement on a grid:-Coordinate System-Translations, reflections and rotations 

Patterning and Algebra  

Increasing/decreasing numeric patterns, patterns on the hundred board, the regularity in numeric patterning

Attributes and non-numeric patterns

Data Management   

Graphs, bar graphs, pictographs Simple probability theory

Social Studies

The new Social Studies program for grade 3 is organized into two strands: Heritage and Identity and People and Environments: Living & working in Ontario.

First Term: students will learn about the major landforms in Ontario; identify on maps the regions and cities that have been established in Ontario. Students will become familiar with the connection that exists between the natural environment of a region and the type of community that has been established there, including land use and employment opportunities in that community.

Second Term: students will be learning about early Canada. They’ll learn about the life of the First Nations people in Upper and lower Canada during 1780- 1850, the pioneer settlers and the communities they established.

Science

The Science program for grade 3 is organized into four strands: “Life Systems”, “Matter and Energy”, “Structures and Mechanisms”, and “Earth and Space Systems”. A science series entitled Sciences et Technologies will be used as the basis for science discussions and activities.

Music, Drama, Dance and Visual Arts

For music Main focus: Understanding melody. Units: Music in my life, soundscapes, listening, melody maps. Instruments: Non-tonal percussive and tonal ORFF instruments.

For Drama the children will have opportunities to create Reader’s Theatre sketches, dramatize vignettes in various types of stories

For Dance they learn a variety of Canadian folklore dances moves and we also invite into the school a teacher for Hip Hop dance

In Visual Arts, they will have the opportunity to use a variety of materials and be familiarized with the elements of design; line, shape and form, space, colour and texture.

Health & Physical Education

The students will participate in activities in the gym and occasionally (weather permitting) in the school yard. They will participate in cooperative games, aerobics activities and learn to use different kinds of gym equipment such as hoops, scooters, skipping ropes etc.

Topics addressed in the Health portion of the curriculum include safety at school, at home and in the community, nutrition, human development, and identification of substances which can be addictive (e.g. coffee, nicotine, etc.)

Assessment, Evaluation & Reporting

Reporting: Reporting will take place three times throughout the school year (mid-November

2014, mid-February 2015 and end of June 2015). The November report card is an Interim report, not as detailed as the other two. Parent-teacher interviews, however, will take place in November.

Evaluation and Assessment of Work: The evaluations that you will see with your child’s work will include the following: rubrics for important assignments (evaluation grids with levels 1, 2, 3, 4) written comments outlining areas for improvement

Evaluation Levels: 4+, 4, 4- (exceeds the provincial standards – at the grade level) (A) 3+, 3, 3- (meets the provincial standards)**** (B) 2+, 2, 2- (slightly below the provincial standards) (C) 1+, 1, 1- (far below the provincial standards) (D)

 

Parent Communications Volunteering

Monthly newsletters will be on the school web site or a hard copy will be sent home. They will include explanations of our units of study during that period, important dates and field trips that will be taking place. Class quizzes, tests will be sent home when graded. At some point during each of the terms, your child will also bring home the work completed in the different subject areas. Please initial the work your child shares with you, before returning it to school.

Should you need to contact me at any time, you may write a note in your child’s agenda, or call the school and leave a message on the voice mail. I will get back to you as soon as possible. The phone number and my extension are 905-294-3562 ex 208. Please, do not leave voice mail messages for same day issues – kindly call the office directly for that.

Absences need to be called directly to the school Safe Arrival number 1-855-203-2994, before 8:15 am. Even pre-scheduled absences need to called in to the number, whether you have writing a note in the agenda or not.

Should I need to contact you, I will either write a note in the agenda call you directly on the your phone.

If you can read French, we are always in need of parents who can listen to the children read, as this is the area where we can use a parent’s help.

We are also looking for a parent who can come in once a week to do the laminating for the school on our laminating machine, located in the basement.

If you have an expertise that is relevant to our curriculum, please let me know and we can arrange for you to come to speak to the class.

Some parents have already volunteered, we need a parent for laminating

Websites

www.yrdsb.ca/schools/franklinstreet.ps http:/www.edu.gov.on.ca (for Ontario curriculum

documents) http:/www.cpf.ca (Canadian Parents for French)

Educational web-sites Language tumblebooks.com (username: franklinstps, password: books),

choose ‘French’ explore read-aloud stories in French languagesonline.org.uk (choose French on left side of screen)

grammar based activities www.duplaisiràlire.com (more grammar-based activities) le conjugueur.com (for verb conjugation, a becherelle online) http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk wordreference.com (translation site)

Websites (cont’d)

Math

linktolearning.com (choose Mathematics, then Math 3

Under the Sea) -a wide variety of interesting activities

in all subject areas

mathfactcafe.com

a wide variety of computation drills Social Studies

collectionscanada.gc.ca/settlement/kids

games related to Aboriginals of Canada

Thank you for

coming