Dear parents and students,

We have had a short, but very busy week this week. We began Awareness Week with an assembly for Grades 3 and 4. At the assembly, we discussed different ways to combat bullying, with a focus on trying to use kindness as our main approach. This lead to a very interesting discussion, as it is quite difficult to be kind to somebody who is hurting you or making you angry!

We then read the first part of our featured book, Enemy Pie. In this book, the main character wants to get rid of an enemy. His father suggests baking an “enemy pie.” At first, we thought that enemy pie would have to be something disgusting or dangerous. But after reading the rest of the story, we found that Enemy Pie was really about doing something nice for your enemy.  So how do we get rid of an enemy? We turn them into friends!

With only four days in the week, we managed to get a lot done. We brainstormed what ingredients would go into an enemy pie (the first pie would have been disgusting, but the next one, using kindness, would be delicious!) We wrote various endings to the story, Enemy Pie, we created our own scenarios of what to do when confronting a bully, and we made virtual comic strips, using ourselves as characters, to present to the Grade 3 class.

Finally, we had a closing assembly, where we all shared pies that we had all cooked on Wednesday (which was Dress in Blue Day, to stand up against bullying).

As if that wasn’t enough to accomplish in one week, we also managed to get all of our regular classwork done!

In Math, we had a test for Topic 3, and I am pleased to report that everyone did very well. We are now halfway through Topic 4, and will have another test on Wednesday.

We have been studying ecosystems in Science, and have begun learning about interdependence, and how all living things rely on each other to survive. A test for Chapter 5 is scheduled for Wednesday, but we will first make sure that we have full understanding of what we are studying, before we move on to Chapter 6, in which we will look at food chains and food webs.

Our writing has been largely dedicated to our journals this week. I have been very pleased with the progress in this area. The next major assignment will begin the week after next. Next week we will be refining our grammar skills, with a focus on nouns.

We have also been dedicating more time to the Raz Kids reading program. Parents, you have all been invited to register, so that you can follow your child’s progress. Many of you have registered already. Thank you! I hope to see the rest of you online soon!

I hope you enjoy your long weekend, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Dates to Remember:

·        Friday, October 10    – 10/10 Day No School!

·       Mon, October 13        – Spelling test List 6

·       Wed, October 15         – Math test: Topic 4

–      Science test: Chapter 5

Awareness Week Comics:

Maria, Moe, Momoko, Shin, Shunta, Taichi

Antonio, Bevis, Edison, Gorden, Jacob, Wilbur

Abigail, Alexander, Ayden, Bill, Hannah, Julia