This Friday, 9/28/12 there is no school for students... but that evening is All District Night at Lindbergh High School. Some of you might remember from year's past that each elementary school competes in what is called a "chariot race" across the football field. I am proud to announce that two students in our class were selected to participate in the chariot races! I hope to see you there! :)
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Weekly Update
Good evening!
Welcome to the second half of first quarter! This post will be shorter than the others. I just want to remind you that it is a four day school week. On Friday, 9/28 there is no school because teachers have a professional development day. We will be focusing on technology. There will be no library this week, so if students would like to switch out their books, I will send them up before Thursday. On Monday, I will be sending home a permission slip for our first field trip. This field trip is actually music related, as Mr. Kassulke takes the third grade to the Sheldon Concert Hall to view a program on Folk Music. The date and cost of the field trip is listed on the permission slip. Unfortunately, there is no room in the concert hall to accommodate parents (other third graders from different schools also attend). If 3rd grade goes on a second field trip this year, this will likely be the time when parents will be able to attend. Thanks and if you have any questions, please just let me know.
Important events this week:
9/25: Math test over chapters 2 and 3
9/26: Be There Day (good attendance is promoted on this school day each year)
9/27: Picture Day ( we are scheduled to have ours taken after lunch, around 1:30 P.M.)
9/28: No School
What we are learning this week:
Math: addition of 3,4,5 and 6 digit numbers
Social Studies: exploring the continents and oceans
Spelling: daily word work activities
Reading: making deeper connections between texts and sequencing events in a story
Writing: writing a 5-7 sentence paragraph with indenting, topic sentences, closing sentences, sent. variety
Welcome to the second half of first quarter! This post will be shorter than the others. I just want to remind you that it is a four day school week. On Friday, 9/28 there is no school because teachers have a professional development day. We will be focusing on technology. There will be no library this week, so if students would like to switch out their books, I will send them up before Thursday. On Monday, I will be sending home a permission slip for our first field trip. This field trip is actually music related, as Mr. Kassulke takes the third grade to the Sheldon Concert Hall to view a program on Folk Music. The date and cost of the field trip is listed on the permission slip. Unfortunately, there is no room in the concert hall to accommodate parents (other third graders from different schools also attend). If 3rd grade goes on a second field trip this year, this will likely be the time when parents will be able to attend. Thanks and if you have any questions, please just let me know.
Important events this week:
9/25: Math test over chapters 2 and 3
9/26: Be There Day (good attendance is promoted on this school day each year)
9/27: Picture Day ( we are scheduled to have ours taken after lunch, around 1:30 P.M.)
9/28: No School
What we are learning this week:
Math: addition of 3,4,5 and 6 digit numbers
Social Studies: exploring the continents and oceans
Spelling: daily word work activities
Reading: making deeper connections between texts and sequencing events in a story
Writing: writing a 5-7 sentence paragraph with indenting, topic sentences, closing sentences, sent. variety
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Weekly Update
Hello everyone! I hope that you have enjoyed your weekend. On this week's progress report, you might have seen your child's score for September's eValuate tests. In case you forgot, eValuate is a district-wide standardized assessment that is administered once a month to ensure each child is mastering and progressing with grade level skills. Even though we have not covered most of the curriculum yet, there are questions on the test that cover harder concepts such as multiplication and division, geometry, and etc. Keeping this in mind, most students did not score above an 80% on the math test this time around, and that is perfectly o.k.
The goal is for them to score an 80% or above by the end of the school year, because that demonstrates proficiency. A score of 60 % or above for math demonstrates a solid foundation at this time. For reading, a solid score would have been 70% or above for the month of September. Please do not panic at this time if your child was slightly below! I teach both reading and math in small groups, and this allows for me to better suit the needs of each student. We will spend some of those group times going over this assessment and coming up with strategies. In the eValuate section of your child's binder, there is a bar graph where we have recorded our score and set a goal for next month's test on the back. Also, as soon as we are finished going over the test, your child will put both copies in that section of their binder and you will be free to go over it with them anytime at home.
WHEW!!! Now on to this week's learning topics and activities:
Math: comparing, ordering and rounding numbers using <,>, and =. up to 10,000
Social Studies: identifying and locating the world's continents, oceans and various landforms
Reading: Improving our comprehension by making connections, predicting, and using the skill sequencing
Writing: adding details to sentences, writing paragraphs with topic and closing sentences
Special Event this week: On Wednesday, 9/19, students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades will be getting their hearing screened.
Quick Question: Is your child actually using his or her math notebook at home? What are your thoughts on the notebooks? My goal was for students to use it as an invaluable resource, and use it at home if they are working on homework or studying. Thanks for your input. You can comment right here on the blog if you do not mind.
I hope you have a terrific week! :)
The goal is for them to score an 80% or above by the end of the school year, because that demonstrates proficiency. A score of 60 % or above for math demonstrates a solid foundation at this time. For reading, a solid score would have been 70% or above for the month of September. Please do not panic at this time if your child was slightly below! I teach both reading and math in small groups, and this allows for me to better suit the needs of each student. We will spend some of those group times going over this assessment and coming up with strategies. In the eValuate section of your child's binder, there is a bar graph where we have recorded our score and set a goal for next month's test on the back. Also, as soon as we are finished going over the test, your child will put both copies in that section of their binder and you will be free to go over it with them anytime at home.
WHEW!!! Now on to this week's learning topics and activities:
Math: comparing, ordering and rounding numbers using <,>, and =. up to 10,000
Social Studies: identifying and locating the world's continents, oceans and various landforms
Reading: Improving our comprehension by making connections, predicting, and using the skill sequencing
Writing: adding details to sentences, writing paragraphs with topic and closing sentences
Special Event this week: On Wednesday, 9/19, students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades will be getting their hearing screened.
Quick Question: Is your child actually using his or her math notebook at home? What are your thoughts on the notebooks? My goal was for students to use it as an invaluable resource, and use it at home if they are working on homework or studying. Thanks for your input. You can comment right here on the blog if you do not mind.
I hope you have a terrific week! :)
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Science Review Game
Here is the link to a science review game that I created to help the class study for the Living Things/ Plants test on Friday. It is modeled after Jeopardy. Enjoy!
http://jeopardylabs.com/play/living-things-plants-jeopardy
http://jeopardylabs.com/play/living-things-plants-jeopardy
Monday, September 10, 2012
Weekly Update
Good evening, everyone! It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through first quarter! Even though I send a progress report home every Friday, all teachers are required to send one this week. Here are some of the other important events taking place this week:
- Math eValuate: Tuesday, 9/11/12
- Early Release Day: Wednesday, 9/12/12 at 1:40 P.M.
- Reading eValuate: Thursday, 9/13/12
- Buddy activity with Mrs. Fink's kindergarten class: tentatively scheduled for Thursday afternoon
- Science test over Ch. 1: Living Things/ Plants: Friday, 9/14/12
- Library on Friday
Please remember that you can log on to our class Moodle to access the online science textbook. Of course, if you would like for your child to bring home a physical copy, they can sign one out from me as well. We will be completing the study guide tomorrow so that they have a few days to study, but please have them look over the papers in their binders in addition to their study guide. If you have not already, please sign and return their plant quiz! As usual, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me!
Lastly, our classroom experiences a weak wireless internet signal at times, especially in the afternoon. This can be a problem when we are logged into the computer, working on something, and then we get kicked off. Our time is precious and we just do not have time to sit and re- login to websites and to wait for the computer to stop processing. The technology department is aware of this and they are helping me resolve the issue, but this is why the Moodle is not completely being utilized at this time. I will keep you posted!
P.S. We gained a new classmate today! Her name is Chloe and she comes from Tampa, Florida. We are now up to 14 girls and 6 boys. :) We are looking forward to getting to know Chloe and helping her settle in at Long. Have a great week!
Monday, September 3, 2012
Weekly Update
I hope everyone had a great 3 day weekend! These are the things that we will be working on in school this week:
- Math: composing/decomposing numbers and place value of digits up to 999,999
- Science: sequencing the life cycle of plants and identifying their parts
- Spelling: meeting in groups this week for the 1st time and getting our word sorts
- Reading: making connections and activating background knowledge
- Writing: writing complete sentences, identifying different sentence types and components
- We will have our first visit from the school counselor, Mrs. Maddock, this week and we are very excited! We will also be going back to the library on Friday.
We continue studying plants and their life cycle. We began growing lima beans in baggies on our classroom windows and they sprouted! Here are a few pictures of our classmates measuring and examining the seeds with their partner. Please feel free to comment if you would like! Enjoy!
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