Page 5 - SN March - Grade 3

EAL

MS. VISNJA PLECAS

Dear Parents,

Gr 3 students read texts linked to their Unit of Inquiry and we discussed the im-
portance of clean water in today’s world – how to preserve water, treat and reuse it. We
read about a couple who moved to the Kalahari Desert to study animals and discovered
what challenges they had to deal with in order to survive in such arid conditions. We in-
troduced the genre of persuasion and together worked on a persuasive piece of writing.
We first talked about the use of persuasion in their own lives and then read books that
exposed students to various forms of persuasion. I Wanna Iguana, Dear Mrs LaRue,
Click, Clack, Moo were just a few of the many books we read. In EAL class we chose a
topic close to their hearts – We need to play more games in EAL- and jointly construct-
ed a letter to myself, their EAL teacher, listing a number of arguments and supportive
details that would make me consider their request. We played oral language games – in-
cluding the use of picture cards to enhance oral language development. In What Would
You Do? the students were expected to say what would be the best action to take in cer-
tain situations and to justify their choice. This activity generated much discussion since
opinions varied as to the best course of action.