September Classroom Connection
Wow!!! What an awesome start to the 2014-2015 school year. The children have arrived,
and we are busy getting to know each other!
My name is Michelle McMillan and I will be your child’s teacher this year. I am very
excited to teach the combined Grade 3/4 this year. I have been teaching for 15 years and
have taught many grade levels including JK, Grade 1, 3, 5 and 6. I am thrilled to dive back
into learning and growing with your child this year.
This is the first newsletter of the year. The newsletter will come home at the beginning
of the month and will outline the major units of study for that month as well as some
specific learning expectations in Math and Language. Along with the newsletter you will
receive a calendar with important school and classroom dates.
Homework: Your child will experience three different homework components this year.
The first is Home Reading. Your child will be expected to read each night for
approximately 15 min. Beginning this week, Please record the amount of time
read in your child’s planner each night. The program officially beings in
October (your child may use books from home, library, as well as from our
Home Reading Library). NOTE: We will ONLY use planners for recording
reading minutes this year. You can record on each day as you sign, or in the
special reading record pages at the front of the planner.
Journal Writing will also be an aspect of your child’s homework. Watch for
journals to come home in the beginning of October with further instructions. This will be
sent home roughly twice a month. On the opposite weeks your child will bring home a
“Home Fun” duo-tang with worksheets that correspond to our learning goals at school.
Stay tuned for more information on these exciting homework opportunities!
Planners: Planners are to be signed and returned to school each day. I will be
encouraging the students to take on the responsibility of making sure that the planner is
seen by a parent each night. Your job is to read any notes your child has written, record
your child’s reading minutes, and sign it each night. The planner is a wonderful opportunity
for us to communicate as well. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to jot a
quick note in the planner and I will get back to you. It is an expectation that your child
will write in their planner each day.
Physical Education and Health: It is really important that your child has a CLEAN pair
of gym shoes to wear on gym days. Gym shoes are encouraged to stay at school each
night. These can be used as indoor shoes as well. Students are encouraged to wear
comfortable clothing on these days. Our gym schedule is still in the works! We will write
our gym days in the planner once they are set.
French/Music/Health: This year your child will be taught French by Mme. Woods who is
currently on Maternity Leave. Mme. Petean will be teaching French until Mme. Woods
returns in the new year. They will have French once a day. Music will be taught by Mme.
Seperic. They have music twice a week. Health is being taught by Mrs. Stevens this year.
Health is taught once per week.
Library and Computers: The exact days for these subjects are unknown at this time. We
will have a scheduled Library time each week as well as Computers. Once this information
is available I will let you know!
Balanced Day & Allergies: Students are encouraged to bring enough food for
TWO Nutrition Breaks. Students will have 20 min. to eat and 20 min. of outside
play, twice daily. All lunch and snack foods must be PEANUT/NUT FREE. We have
many students in our school who have severe peanut/nut allergies. Lackner Woods
also promotes the BOOMERANG LUNCH PROGRAM; Where your child uses reuseable containers and takes home any left over garbage. Students are encouraged
to have a water bottle at school, and are encouraged to eat fruits and veggies throughout
the day in the classroom.
Unified Messaging: If you need to speak with me you can write a note in the planner or
you can leave me a message and I will return your call as soon as possible. 519-570-8096;
Mailbox # 6875
Reminders
• Day 1 to 5 Schedule: Lackner Woods is on a Day 1 to 5 schedule. The first day of
school is Tuesday September 2nd which is a Day 1.
• Indoor Shoes: In order to keep our school and portable clean, I strongly recommend
that your child keep a pair of indoor shoes at school. I suggest running shoes as these
can be used for Gym as well. With the wet and snowy weather approaching it is
extremely important that we keep the floor clean and DRY! Thank you for your support!
• Calling all Kleenex boxes!!! Please send a Kleenex box into school with your child for
the cold and flu season. You are welcome to send in wet wipes and/or unscented hand
sanitizer for your child to use at school in order to promote hand washing.
Curriculum Corner
Language: This month in Language we will be setting up our independent
reading routines, developing cooperative learning strategies, beginning our word wall/
spelling activities as well as reviewing decoding and fix-up strategies. Our focus
comprehension strategy will be Making Connections. Grade Three students will begin to
learn about paragraph writing as well as review sentence punctuation and rules for correct
use of capital letters. Grade Four students will review paragraph writing and begin to
focus on summarizing and main ideas when reading.
Grade 3 Math: We will start the
month with Data Management.
Students will look at data presented on
bar graphs and pictographs will. They
will take surveys to graph results and
learn to accurately interpret data
including the Mode. We will also
investigate numbers to 1000 and
discuss ‘Place Value’ terms (e.g., ones,
tens, hundreds, thousands, flat, rod).
The students will read, order and
compare whole numbers and
demonstrate an understanding of
magnitude by counting forward and
backwards from various starting points.
We will investigate rounding numbers as
well as ordinal numbers. We will also
review adding and subtracting without
regrouping using a variety of strategies.
Grade 4 Math: We will start the year
with Data Management by investigating
primary data and displaying the data on
charts and graphs which will include
stem and leaf plots and double bar
graphs. They will continue to build on
their skills to read, describe and
interpret primary and secondary data.
They will investigate the range of data
as well as the Median. The Grade Four
students will also investigate numbers
to 10, 000, rounding to the nearest 10,
100, 1000 and demonstrate an
understanding of place value in whole
numbers and decimal numbers from 0.1
to 10, 000 using concrete materials,
drawings, number lines, etc. Two and
three digit addition and subtraction will
also be reviewed.
Social Studies and Science: For the next two months our focus will be on Communities in
the early 19th Century (1780-1850) for Grade Three and Early Societies (3000 BCE - 1500
CE) in Grade Four. We will alternate between Social Studies and Science topics
throughout the year. Students will investigate and compare ways of life among various
groups from these time periods by looking at key concepts such as environment,
interrelationships, social organizations, daily life etc.
I look forward to meeting you on Thursday September 18th at
Meet the Teacher night!
Michelle McMillan
Michelle McMillan
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