This week we have been researching about James Orbinski. Ask your child about him, including what organization he works for, how he helps people and most importantly who he helps.

We continued our water theme and are deepening our understanding of the importance of clean water. We took another look at The Rights of a Child and discovered links to many of the articles.

We cannot help the way James Orbinski does, so we are beginning to think about the way ordinary Canadians can help make this world a better place. So far we have thought about charities. That led us into an interesting dilemma. Mrs Njie said she might buy us caterpillars so we can look at their life-cycle. A few people have done this before at school but most people wanted to do it again! Then we contemplated that maybe we should donate the money it would have cost, to a charity. Most people decided this would be demonstrating goal citizenship by thinking about those people who do not have clean water.

Tomorrow we will continue this conversation and look at examples of charities that help people in other countries, such as UNICEF and the Red Cross.

On a lighter note, we took part in our shared art project. Today we went to another grade three class and made some Indian peacocks. We have now made Ukrainian Pysanki eggs, Peruvian weaving and Tunisian mosaics!

In math we are looking into different types of graphs. We are getting good at interpreting graphs (but some questions are harder than others!), drawing our own graphs and making up our own questions. Your child can practice these skills at home by surveying the family! Find out more about everyone's favorite color, animal, sport etc. Draw a line plot or a bar graph. Write some questions about your graph.

Don't forget that daily reading with your child is still very important even if you feel your child is a great reader. As well as practicing reading, you can take on Grand Conversation roles (like you did at Student Led Conferences). This will help your child develop their comprehension skills.

Housekeeping:

Please return swimming forms ASAP
Remember, we need volunteers (particularly men!)
In house field trip from Calgary Humane one Friday
Please make sure your child knows if you ordered a fun lunch for them.