Weekly Update-October 30

Announcements

Please note the conference form in the Friday folder this week. If this date and time do not work for you, please let me know as soon as possible so we can reschedule. 

Thank you to everyone who volunteered for our Fall party! 

We will be taking a short field trip to the Rock Bridge High School Planetarium on Wednesday, November 11. We will be leaving around 9:00 and returning around 11:00. Due to space limitations, no adult volunteers are needed for this field trip.

Just a reminder, Weekly Journals were not completed this week and will not be completed next week either. They will resume November 11th. 

We had two more students get Comet Notes this week. Congratulations to Kyri and Nivedita!

In the Classroom

In math this week, we learned about tangrams. A tangram is a Chinese puzzle that uses 7 different polygons to create designs. Here are some pictures of students making tangram pictures.

We also completed a short unit on congruency and symmetry. We will assess over this unit and geometry next week. 

In health, we have been discussing germs. Students have learned about what they are, how they are spread, and what diseases they cause. We have also studied the difference between bacteria and viruses. We used a product called Glo-Germ and a black light to demonstrate the importance of hand washing.

Students are almost finished publishing their personal narratives in writing. We continued revising and began editing this week. Our blogger, Nikki, took pictures of students working on the second draft of their story after they finished revising.

We had our first assembly on Wednesday afternoon! The students had a blast listening to the special afternoon announcements from Mrs. Patton and Mr. Gabel. We sang, danced, and were reminded of the Comet Commitment. We also said thank you and good bye to Mr. Gabel, as Friday will be his last day. We will miss him!

Here is a video of the entire school singing thank you to Mr. Gabel!

Upcoming Events

November 2-No School, Teacher Work Day
November 3-No School, Election Day
November 5-Early Dismissal at 12:50
November 11-Field Trip to Rock Bridge High School Planetarium

November 12-Parent Teacher Conferences

November 13-No School, Parent Teacher Conferences
November 16-Toy Drive begins
November 20-Flu Shots

Weekly Update-October 23

Announcements

A big thank you for everyone returning their conference form! Teachers will be scheduling those next week, and you will receive a letter with your date and time Friday, October 30. Please let me know as soon as possible if this date and time does not work.

Please note the Fall party is next week. You should have received an email earlier in the month if you are signed up to help with the party.

We will be taking a short field trip to the Rock Bridge High School Planetarium on Wednesday, November 11. We will be leaving around 9:00 and returning around 11:00. Due to space limitations, no adult volunteers are needed for this field trip.

Students completed Weekly Journals this week, but we will be taking a 2 week break starting next week. Weekly Journals will resume November 12th.

In the Classroom

In math this week, students studied triangles and quadrilaterals. We learned about the different ways to name each of these polygons, as well as how to describe them using our new geometry vocabulary. Students also completed the math task for MU on Wednesday. Here are some pictures of students solving a problem on their iPads. They recorded their work as well as their explanation.

We started our Health unit this week. Students learned about different diseases by acting out various symptoms.

We also discussed the difference between infectious and non-infectious diseases.

In reading this week, our focus was on making connections. A large part of our discussion was about determining if it is really a connection, or just a coincidence. As you read with your third grader at home, look for parts of the story to connect to and have a discussion about those connections.

In writing, students are busy publishing their personal narrative. We worked on our rough drafts this week and are currently revising them to make sure we have a catchy beginning, a detailed middle, and an ending that wraps up our story.

Upcoming Events

October 30-Fall Room Party, 2:15-3:00
November 2-No School, Teacher Work Day
November 3-No School, Election Day
November 5-Early Dismissal at 12:50
November 11-Field Trip to Rock Bridge High School Planetarium

November 12-Parent Teacher Conferences

November 13-No School, Parent Teacher Conferences

Weekly Update-October 16

In the Classroom

In math this week, students continued their study of geometry. This week was all about the vocabulary! We learned many new words, and are using a variety of activities to help us. Our favorite one is Geometry Simon Says. Each word has a motion, and students enjoy following directions to stay in the Simon Says game. (You can play with your third grader! They know the motions for point, line, line segment, intersecting lines, parallel lines, ray, right angle, acute angle, and obtuse angle.) Each student has a vocabulary booklet where they are drawing pictures and writing definitions. On Wednesday, we used our bodies to act out some of these words! 

On Friday, we used straws and pipe cleaners to build polygons and 3D shapes. Our blogger for the week, Kyri, captured some pictures. 

We finished our Economics unit this week by discussing taxes and assessing on Friday. We will begin our Health unit next. 

In reading, we started our literacy stations. Each student rotates through 4 stations throughout the week: independent reading, word work, writing, and meet with the teacher. With this model, students are always engaged in one of the four activities. I am also able to hold a reading conference with each student. This week in writing, we studied endings and transitions. We also chose one of our personal narratives to take through the publishing process. Look for these finished pieces of writing around conference time.

Jayla earned a Comet Note this week for always helping to keep the classroom picked up and clean!

Congratulations Jayla!

It is already time to start the conference scheduling! You will find the form in the Friday folder this week. Please make every attempt to return this form Monday. It is an expectation that we have a face to face conference to discuss your third grader. Although Thursday, November 12th and Friday, November 13th, are the scheduled conference days, we will work together to find a day and time to meet.

The annual Food Drive begins next week. Our class set of goal of bringing in 100 items of food. ($1 equals 4 cans of food.) Please consider helping our class reach this goal. There is a letter in the Friday folder with more information. 

Upcoming Events

October 30-Fall Room Party, 2:15-3:00
November 2-No School, Teacher Work Day
November 3-No School, Election Day
November 5-Early Dismissal at 12:50

November 12-Parent Teacher Conferences

November 13-No School, Parent Teacher Conferences

Weekly Update-October 9

In the Classroom

It was so wonderful to be back in the classroom for the full day! In math this week, we finished our subtraction unit. We assessed over this unit on Wednesday. These assessments will be sent home early next week. We also began our next unit, Geometry. We started this unit by looking at different shapes and their properties. Students sorted the shapes in a variety of ways and used known vocabulary to describe how they did it. Here are some pictures of our activity.

Our blogger for the week, Sam, took pictures of the class playing Capture 5 on the 300 chart. 

We continued our study of Economics in Social Studies. We learned about opportunity cost and economic decision making. We also read a book called The Pickle Patch Bathtub. This book is about a family in the 1920's that saved up their money to buy a new bathtub. Students then decided what they wanted to save up for and the steps they would take to get there.

In writing this week, students practiced zooming in on a small moment story. We learned how to focus on one event and stretch our story out by using strong details. In reading, students continued practicing their independent reading and filling out their reading logs. We also used the iPads to read from MYON Reader. Your third grader can log in at myon.com or through the myon app to access various books.


Upcoming Events

October 9-Hearing and Vision Screening
October 14-Picture Retake Day
October 16-5th Grade Vocabulary Parade
October 30-Fall Room Party, 2:15-3:00
November 2-No School, Teacher Work Day
November 3-No School, Election Day
November 5-Early Dismissal at 12:50

Weekly Update-October 2

In the Classroom

We continued our work with subtraction this week, as students practiced with 3 digit numbers and subtracting across a zero. We will assess over this unit next week. We did not have a word study unit this week, but will resume next week.

Make sure to look in the Friday folder for the Communities test in Social Studies. We also began our next unit, Economics. Students learned about goods and services and how to determine if they are public or private. We also studied the varying kinds of taxes and where tax money is spent.

In writing this week, students looked at different kinds of leads. They focused on crafting a beginning for their story that would catch the reader's attention and keep them reading. Students read a play called "A Home for Nellie" during shared reading time. They focused on story elements and how to read a play.

Friday was a very bittersweet day for us all in room 215! It was my last day of working only the mornings. I am thrilled to be returning to full days and being able to spend more time with the students, but we are all going to miss Mrs. McClelland greatly! I am very thankful I was able to be with my son Eli while knowing my students were still getting high quality instruction and compassion. We said goodbye to Mrs. McClelland with a Par-Tee on Friday! She is an avid golfer so we knew she would love the theme. We started with some snacks.

Then it was time for some golf fun! We played Pin the Ball on the Tee...

Students showed off their putting skills...

And we played Golf Ball Stack from Minute to Win It...

We had a great time!

Upcoming Events

October 9-Hearing and Vision Screening
October 14-Picture Retake Day
October 16-5th Grade Vocabulary Parade
October 30-Fall Room Party, 2:15-3:00