Daily Update:
We began our day on the mat, reflecting on yesterday’s work and aiming for continuous improvement. Our spelling word for today was "Episode," and the "Show, Not Tell" phrase we worked on was: "The fish was dead." What 3 sentences did you write? We then played some Heggerty listening games before sketching another eerie scarecrow silhouette—this time picking up the pace! Our exercise for the day was side leg lifts while lying down, which was fun to try. During our literacy rotations, we worked on a creative writing prompt: "If I had a pet dragon, I would…" We also focused on blending and segmenting sounds, especially spelling endings like "ff," "ll," "ss," and "zz," which have double letters but only make one sound.

Math:
Math was a bit shorter today due to our Roots of Empathy session. Before Allison’s visit, the Grade 3s practiced representing numbers in different ways using manipulatives. The Grade 1s worked with ten frames, while the Grade 2s explored substituting groups of tens using base ten blocks to represent numbers.

After Lunch:
We had a special guest, Mr. Whalen, for music class. The highlight was that our class wrote an amazing Halloween song together! I can’t wait for him to come back so we can record it and share it with everyone!

In PE:
Mr. Ross took the students outside to the basketball court, where they practiced dribbling, passing, and shooting. It was great to see everyone working on their skills!

Day End:
To close out the day, we wrote in our Book of Gratitude with today’s prompt: "Something that made me smile today was…." Afterward, we signed our Home to School Books and had a bit of free choice time before the buses arrived. Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

Picture of the Day:
Allison from Roots of Empathy led a session on emotions with a book about feelings. What feelings do you think make babies cry?

Daily Update:
We started the day by reviewing and grading Friday’s work. As the year progresses, the expectations are going up—what was a 3+ or a 4 last month might now only be a 3. Time to keep challenging ourselves! Our spelling word for today was "accurate," and our "Show, Not Tell" sentence was: "He was hurt." We also got into our Heggerty listening games—if you’ve ever been curious about what those look like, check them out here. We doodled a spooky scarecrow silhouette and did some standing cross-body reach exercises. During our literacy rotations, we talked about our weekends for our Work on Writing session, worked on word recognition, and practiced printing and spelling with the teacher. We even brainstormed names for the school's new bookworm!

Math:
The Grade 3s worked on reading three-digit numbers without saying the word "and," along with a bit of money-counting practice. Meanwhile, the Grade 1 and 2 students were focused on place value, using base ten blocks to represent numbers symbolically.

After Lunch:
We dove back into "The One and Only Ivan." Do you remember what happened to Stella in today’s chapter? After that, we had a fascinating science lesson about the history of scarecrows. I always thought they were just for decoration, but they’ve been used as far back as ancient Egypt! What do you think they’re really for?

In PE:
Since it was raining, we had our PE class indoors. We played a new game called "Defend the Castle." Let’s just say there were some very sweaty defenders by the end!

Day End:
To finish the day, we reflected in our Book of Gratitude with today’s prompt: "I felt brave today when I…" After that, we signed our Home to School Books and had a few minutes of free choice time before heading to the buses. Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow!

Picture of the Day:
These are the paintings the students created with Mr. Simmons on Friday! I was so impressed when I saw them this morning—I nearly dropped my coffee! They are INCREDIBLE!

Daily Update:
We kicked off the morning by reflecting on yesterday's work, discussing ways we could improve. Our spelling word today was Empathy, and our "Show, Not Tell" sentence was: "She had just learned to walk." After some Heggerty Games, we quickly doodled a fall scene at 1.75 speed before trying out a new exercise: Knee Raises. Literacy time included reviewing our "Work on Writing" outcomes, rotating through writing (the prompt: "Baby Kade is..."), Read to Self, and UFLI sessions focused on vowel sounds, the blending board, and spelling practice. The room was buzzing with concentration!

Math:
Mr. Ross's group tackled skip counting and worked on representing numbers in multiple ways: concretely, pictorially, symbolically, and with expressions and words. Meanwhile, Mr. McCallum's group engaged with base 10 blocks to represent numbers, followed by skip counting practice. Both groups made great progress.

After Lunch:
We continued reading The One and Only Ivan, where one of the elephants shared a powerful story about falling into a human-made hole. We discussed how the humans reacted—were they helpful or harmful? We also started a new 3D print project and are hopeful it turns out well!

In PE:
Mr. Ross led us in some running drills, jumping jacks, and a tag game with a twist—you had to tag someone with a ball, but couldn’t throw it. Everyone had fun strategizing and getting their heart rates up!

Day End:
At the end of the day, we reflected on surprises that made us happy, adding those thoughts to our Book of Gratitude. After signing our Home to School Books, we made sure fundraising tickets from Home & School were sent home. We wrapped up with a little free choice time before catching the bus. Can't wait to see everyone tomorrow!

Picture of the Day:
I went outside to investigate yesterday's games and found a tag game I could finally understand!

Daily Update:
We kicked off the day by reflecting on last week's work—it's a new month, which means we're raising the bar! Today's spelling word was substitute, and our "Show, Not Tell" sentence was: "He was scared." After completing our Heggerty games, we got creative by doodling a fall scene and practiced holding a plank position for our exercise of the day. In literacy, we rotated between Work on Writing with the prompt "On the weekend I…", Read to Self, UFLI word chains, and sentence writing. We also did a quick writer's workshop about Makayla losing her glasses—remember, small problems make small stories, and big problems make big stories!

Math:
Grade 3 students worked on spotting mistakes in skip counting sequences and took on a challenge with some multiplication and money counting exercises. The Grade 1s and 2s explored numbers 1-10 using iPads and Smart Notebook. It was a bit bumpy since it was our first time using them, but we're confident we'll improve quickly!

After Lunch:
We had a change in our routine as Mr. Martini filled in for Mrs. Robichaud today. We read a book and talked about how setting healthy boundaries is an important part of any relationship, but its not always easy!  Learning how to stand up for yourself and still being respectful takes lots of practice! 

In PE:
We tried out a game called "Steal the Balls"—while that may not be the official name, it perfectly describes the goal! With lots of red faces and sweaty foreheads, it's safe to say everyone had a great workout.

Day End:
To wrap up the day, we spent some time writing in our Book of Gratitude, with the prompt: "A moment today that I felt peaceful was…" After that, we signed our Home to School Books and sent home the October calendar. We also squeezed in a quick Smartboard quiz and had a few minutes of free choice before the buses rolled in. See you all tomorrow!

Picture of the Day:
These two are fearless!