Day 1: Summer Birthday Party and Last Day of Third Grade!

Today was the last day of third grade! For our synergizing activity, we had a summer birthday party for students who have a birthday in June, July or early August. We enjoyed popsicles and then went outside to say goodbye to our kindergarten buddies on the playground.

Goodbye students and parents!

Dear families,

This has been an amazing year of growth, learning and making new friends in third grade. Our class got along well and we are most proud of our growth as WRITERS! I hope you have the chance to look through each writing portfolio. Even though this writing curriculum was challenging at times, I have seen a significant improvement in the abilities of your children as writers. Don't forget to check out their latest pieces, the persuasive speech and the fairy tale!

I have sent home a few resources for you to use this summer if you wish.On Thursday, we discussed our love of reading and brainstormed fun/new places to read this summer. To prevent the summer slide, I have included information on how to keep your child reading this summer along with a 100 book challenge and a reading bingo board. Encourage your child to bring it back to school next year and show me! Also, if your child would like to write me this summer, I have included a letter and an address for them. These are the perfect activities to suggest when your child says, "I'm bored"! You could also encourage them to refer back to the blog with the math games, fact practice, websites, songs and activities.

Last but not least, thank you for entrusting me each day to help your child learn and grow. I love every minute of teaching third grade even though it flies by and is challenging! I have truly enjoyed teaching your child this year and thank you for your support during this year of transition in elementary school.

I hope you enjoy the summer and please encourage your child to come back and see me! They are welcome to e-mail me or write to me at anytime. I love them dearly and will miss them! :) Have a great summer!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Erin Craden

More synergizing activities!

On Day 4, the weather cooperated for a class kickball game. We won this reward for synergizing together so well during MAP testing. On Day 3 we moved our desk to wherever we wanted in the classroom and got to sit by our friends. It always amazes me how students chose to place their seats in rows when given the option! We also went to a play put on by Mrs. Garrison's 4th grade class. It was about Sacagawea! On Day 2 we made memory books and enjoyed meeting next year's fourth grade teachers. It was fun! This has truly been a great class!

Day 5: Field Day and a short movie!

Friday was our annual Field Day and the weather was beautiful! All of the activities were fun, but we especially loved the water activities! Please check out the pictures below!

Day 6: Pajama Day

We looked very comfy in our jammies today! 

Day 7: Mystery Reader

We had a mystery reader today for our Day 7 activity and it was... Coach Capizzi! Everyone loves Coach Capizzi and she used to be a third grade teacher for many years, so she was the perfect person for the job! Students went to the new outdoor learning space and Coach Capizzi read them her favorite book, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? We all enjoyed the beautiful morning outdoors with our gym teacher who we LOVE! 

Day 8: Gemmp Nature Reserve Field Trip!

Today our class took a field trip to the Gemmp nature reserve on Sappington Road. Did you know the Gemmp property used to be an old dairy farm? We did not know that... but we thought it was very interesting! We learned about maple trees and sap, honeysuckle and how it is invading Missouri's forests, and we saw a pond ecosystem complete with turtles, tadpoles, ducks, goldfish, frogs and birds! We also saw a turtle burying something in the mulch right before our eyes! Of course we saw a decomposing opossum, too (we stayed away)! Students completed a scavenger hunt with a partner and we enjoyed a snack and a book called Silver Seeds in the shade. Thank you to Mrs. Immer for accompanying us on this trip! :)

Day 9: Crestwood Park with Miss Chapman's Class!

For today's activity, we sharpened the saw (habit 7) and went to Crestwood Park with our friends in Miss Chapman's class. Everyone had a great time even though it got a little hot!

Weekly Update

Good evening!

I hope you scroll down if you haven't already and check out the Bubble Bus pictures from last Thursday! It was such a fun activity! This week's fun activity will be Field Day, and we are still in desperate need of volunteers! If you are interested in leading one of our field day stations on Friday, please click on the link below to be taken to Sign Up Genius. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!

 Field Day Sign Up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0F4FA4A923AA8-science

Important Reminders:

• On Monday, I will be taking the class to Crestwood Park to play from 1:40-2:15 P.M. 
• One other day this week (weather permitting), I will be taking the class on a short nature walk to the Gemmp Nature Reserve located just up the street from Long School. Since everyone had their permission slip signed, I will e-mail you and finalize a date and time when I know for sure the weather is going to cooperate. 
• We will have a math test over Chapters 12-14 (division) on Tuesday, May 20th. 
• We will have a social studies test over Chapters 9-10 (economics) next Wednesday, May 28th.
• All library books are due to the library this week and all fines must be paid before Friday. Thank you! 

What we are learning about this week:

Writing: finishing/sharing our fairy tales, cursive handwriting

Reading: Book Clubs with chapter books, review of skills and strategies learned this year

Math: wrap up division unit, test on Tuesday, review multiplication and division 

Social Studies: economics 

Be sure to check back this week to see more pictures of our synergizing activities! Thank you and have a great week! 

Day 10: Bubble Bus and Ice Cream Truck!

Wow, we had so much fun today! Our class enjoyed ice cream and blew bubbles. None of us really knew what to expect from the bubble bus, but it was a big hit! Even a little bit of rain couldn't bring us down! We had such a great time together!

Habit 6: Synergize and Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

With the end of the year approaching, our class will be doing a synergizing activity each day to celebrate our time together. We will pop a balloon each day for the last 10 days of school. Our focus is on sharing ten more experiences together rather than counting down to the last day of school... and today was day 10! The post above explains all about the Bubble Bus and Ice Cream Truck!

Weekly Update

Good evening!

Now that MAP testing is over we find ourselves learning cursive, finishing our math unit on division, beginning book clubs with chapter books in reading, writing fairy tales and studying energy and economics!

Upcoming Events:

• Long School talent show, May 14 from 7-8 PM. 
• Junior Achievement, May 13-14 in our classroom with Mrs. Cleary
• Bubble Bus/Ice Cream Truck coming to school on Thursday. Please send $1.00 to school with your child! 
• No School Friday, May 16 due to professional development. 
• Spirit Festival is this Saturday, May 17th at LHS
• Field Day is May 23rd... please send your child to school in appropriate clothing/shoes and with sunscreen (already applied) if necessary. 

Here is what we are learning about this week: 

Writing: narrative fiction, fairy tales; cursive!!!

Reading: book clubs with chapter books

Math: wrapping up division unit over Ch. 12-14. Test will be Tuesday, May 20th. 

Science: wrap up energy unit

Social Studies: begin economics unit. Test will be last week of school! 

Upcoming Field Trips/Special Classroom Events: 

• Weather permitting, one day next week we will be going to Crestwood Park to celebrate the end of MAP testing. Everyone returned their permission slip to go to the park, so I will e-mail you and let you know as the forecast becomes available which day we are likely to play at the park. 
• Also weather permitting, the class will take a field trip to the Gemmp Nature Reserve located just up the street on Sappington Road. We will walk to the nature reserve with the help of a few parent volunteers and possibly another third grade class. Everyone signed this permission slip as well, but I will email you possible dates before we go. If the weather looks like it will cooperate, I will e-mail you that day to let you know that we are walking up to the Gemmp property. 
• Summer birthdays will be celebrated the last week of school if you would like to send a treat with your child. If not, we will have a snack in honor of our classmates with summer birthdays! 

Last but not least, I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all parents who donated snacks for MAP testing. I really appreciate the support and the students enjoyed them after working so hard on their tests. THANK YOU again! 

Have a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Junior Achievement 2014

Today our class began a third grade Junior Achievement program called Our City. Mrs. Cleary taught us today about city zones, planning/development, sales tax and how people pay for goods and services. We really appreciate Mrs. Cleary taking the time to bring this program into our classroom and for teaching us about entrepreneurship, financial literacy and real life skills. She will be back tomorrow, so be sure to ask your child what they are learning about! For more information about this Junior Achievement program, please click here. 

 

How do light and matter interact?

Today in science we continued to learn about forms of energy and how energy can change. We got into groups and investigated how light is able to interact with different liquids (water and milk). We learned about how light refracts, reflects or is absorbed by matter and that objects in our world are either transparent, translucent or opaque. Tomorrow we will wrap up our energy unit, but today we enjoyed the last science experiment of the year!

Earth and Science Day 2014

On Friday, May 9, Long School celebrated Earth and Science Day. Students enjoyed several presentations and hands-on learning opportunities to explore science and nature. Our class attended presentations from a mad scientist, a gardener and a bee expert. We explored what insects and everyday objects looked like under the microscope, participated in an outdoor scavenger hunt and even planted seeds to take home. Check out the photos below, it was a lot of fun!