Weekly Update 10/28/13 - 11/1/13

     I am looking forward to meeting with each of you this week! This first conference is a time to discuss not only your child's progress, but also your child's needs and any concerns you may have.  Together we can strive to give your child the best education possible!
     The Halloween party is this Thursday.  I'm not yet sure of what is all planned, but I do know that a lot of great treats for the party have already come to school.  Thanks, Moms and Dads, for all the hard work you put into these parties!

Here is the schedule for this week:
Writing - Most students are finalizing their big writing piece.  They have learned to focus on a small moment for their narratives and to tell a story as a storyteller rather than as a reporter.  Students are adding quotes and paragraphing.  Spelling is the final challenge for many.  I am very proud of everyone's effort and can't wait to read the published stories!
Math - We have a very good start in subtraction!  Everyone is on board, but this takes lots of continued practice.  We will test over this chapter on Thursday.
Reading - Our lessons continue with a study of character.   By considering the actions and words of a character, students are learning to predict what the character will do next.
Spelling - There will be a test this week for all groups.
Science - Students enjoyed our celery experiment showing how water moves through tiny tubes in a stem. Now we are learning more about plant reproduction.
S. Studies - Study guides went home this weekend.  Our test is Tuesday.  There is some memorization for this test.  Students need to know the seven continents and four oceans and need to be able to label them on a map.  They will also need to know the states bordering Missouri and be able to label them on a map correctly.  Please practice using the study guide!

Important Events:
Mon.- Library; Conferences;
Tues.- Social studies test; Spelling test for the Yellow Group;
Wed.- Spelling test for the Green Group;
Thurs.- Spelling test for Blue Group;  Math test over Ch. 5 Subtraction;  Halloween parties!
Fri.- No School!!!

Pictures from Botanical Garden Field Trip

Buddy Day Pictures!

  

We had a fun buddy day yesterday with our kindergarten buddies.  After decorating pumpkins and listening to our buddy's published stories, we taught them a Halloween joke so that they would have one handy for Halloween.

Weekly Update 10/14/13 - 10/18/13

     We have a busy and exciting week ahead of us!  This Friday is the end of the first quarter.  Students have worked very hard to adjust to third grade expectations, and I am very proud of them for their outstanding effort.  Conferences take place on Oct. 28th and 30th.  However, report cards will be sent home before conferences.  This will allow us more time to discuss progress as you will already be familiar with the card.  I look forward to meeting with you again! 

Here's what is happening this week:

Writing - Revising our stories to include more descriptive verbs, just right wording, some comparative language, and better leads.  So much to try to do!

Math - The chapter 4 test will be this Wed.  Look for the study guide on Tuesday.  This test will cover three and four digit addition with regrouping, as well as estimating by rounding to find the sums.  Students need to know the difference between a number sentence and an expression as well.  The word problems will be predict and test.  We spent extra time on these last week, but they are very challenging.

Reading -  We will review narrators and discuss how to tell if the narrator is someone in or out of the story. We will also revisit main idea and details.  Our reading letters will be due by Friday as well. 

Spelling - All groups will test on their words this week!

Science - We are making flip books displaying plant parts and describing the function of each part.  We will focus on roots and stems this week!

S. Studies - Lots of map work in this chapter!  We will finish the chapter by Friday, but will not test until next week.  Students must know the seven continents and states in the mid west region.  

Important Events:

Mon. - Library;  Reading Evaluate Test;

Tues. - Reading Evaluate Test;  Math study guide comes home;

Wed. - Math test;  Yellow Group Spelling Test;

Thurs. - Green Group Spelling Test;  Math Evaluate Test;

Fri. - Blue Group Spelling Test;   Field trip money and permission slip due for field trip Tuesday, Oct. 22th;            School dismisses at 11:40;

Olivia has a new brother!

Here is the photo of our class with the poster they made for Olivia! The students wrote notes to Olivia congratulating her on her new brother, Nathan, and all of these notes are on her poster! 

Weekly Update 10/7/13 - 10/11/13

     Welcome to Miss Krueger, a student from Missouri U.  She has been observing lessons and helping students in the classroom since last week.  She is also teaching students how to get into google drive so that they can start doing their reading assignment letters online.  Be sure to see the video that follows this weekly update as a guide to google drive.

     Also, a very happy welcome to Olivia, who is the sister of a new baby brother.  She shared her new brother photo album with us and passed out suckers to celebrate.  (Blue, of course!) 

 Now for some news about this week:

Writing - The students in my classroom are doing a wonderful job writing stories in their writing journal. We do these journal stories at school, while at home students are continuing to write in their writer's notebook. Daily practice helps the kids to be more fluent writers!

Math - The class did better on the Ch. 3 test.  All those rounding skills will be used again in Ch 4.  We will focus on addition with lots of regrouping as well.

Reading - We are focusing on how to write reading letters using google drive.  Our reading skill for this week is main idea and details.

Spelling - New words for the Yellow Group will go home on Tuesday, Green Group on Wednesday, and Blue Group on Thursday.  No tests this week.

Science - We are discussing plant parts and their important function, as well as learning about photosynthesis.

S. Studies -  We started chapter 2 - our country's geography.  However, stop by to see our beautiful projects from chapter 1 displayed on the hallway bulletin board !

Important Events:

Mon. -  D Day; Library; 

Tues. - A Day; McDonald's Night from 4 - 8.

Wed. - B Day;

Thurs. - C Day; Counseling Class in the morning;

Fri. - D Day;

Today's Spelling!

Cutting out new words, testing over words learned, and taking a spelling vacation day on the computers - all a part of spelling class!

Totin