Gingerbread Houses

The class did a great job on the gingerbread houses! Thank you to all of the helpers. It was a lot of fun. Happy Holidays!

December 15, 2013

I hope everyone enjoyed the snowy weekend! We have a fun week planned. We will be making gingerbread houses on Wednesday and Thursday. Please send in supplies by Tuesday. Thanks to all the volunteers! We will also have our annual holiday sing a long on Friday! Please remember to send snow pants, hats, gloves and boots for recess and also for sledding in PE.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season with your families. Enjoy the break!

This week...

Reading
We will start a new read aloud this week, Trumpet of the Swans by E.B. White. We will continue to work on non-fiction in reading groups and will be reading a variety of winter/holiday poems and reader's theaters this week to practice fluency.

Writing
We are starting to read informational books in preparation for the informational writing unit that we will start after the break. Students will also do a self evaluation of their writer's notebooks and I will collect them to assess them after that.

Math
We will finish the 7s, 8s and 9s this week. Please continue to have your child practice these facts each night. They can use the flash cards and go on any of the websites I have listed on this blog.

Social Studies
We will finish the Celebrations of Light unit this week. Students have learned about Hanukkah, Divali, St. Nicholas Day and St. Lucia Day. This week, we will study Christmas in Mexico and the Philippines.

Homework:
Reading-read and record each night
Math-practice times tables; practice sheets throughout the week
Spelling-Look, Say, Name, Cover, Write, Check each night; practice test on Thursday

December 8, 2013

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Next week, we will be making gingerbread houses and your child came home with one ingredient to bring in for decorating. The class voted on the types of candy and the supplies will be set up by table groups so your item needs to cover 6 kids, not the whole class. Please have these in to school by next Monday, December 16th. If you cannot get the item listed, please just let me know.

This week...

Reading 
We are continuing to read independently and look at characters. In my guided reading groups, we have been reading non-fiction articles and practicing multiple choice questions. We are also reading winter poems. For read aloud, we are reading holiday books. We read Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, which the class loved and right now we are reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and the class is getting a big kick out of it!

Writing
We finished the personal narrative unit! The students finished their final drafts of the second personal narrative and completed a post assessment. It is amazing to see how much they have grown as writers! We will celebrate the end of the unit by reading each other's work and giving positive feedback. We will start gathering facts for our informational writing on Tuesday.

Math
We will continue learning the multiplication facts. I will send home flash cards for the kids to make as we learn each set. These need to come back to school the next day so we can practice. Then, they will come back home so kids can practice at home each night. The key to getting fluent at these facts is practice, so please have your child practice flash cards each night.

Science/Social Studies
In science, we will finish up the plant unit this week. In social studies, we are working on a unit called Celebrations Around the World. We will learn about holidays celebrated around the world and do a craft to go along with each.

Homework:
Reading-Read 20 minutes each night and record on calendar
Math-Practice multiplication facts each night
Writing-One entry in writer's notebook by Friday
Spelling-Look, Say, Name, Cover, Write Check each night; practice test on Thursday

December 1, 2013

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. It's hard to believe, but we only have three weeks until the winter break! Have a great week!

This week...

Reading
We will continue working on character development and will focus on non-fiction reading. November calendars are due Monday, 12/2. We will be reading a variety of holiday themed books for read-aloud this month.

Writing
We will finish personal narrative this week. Our next unit is informational writing. We will start researching topics next week.

Math
We will continue the multiplication unit. We have been working on the 2s, 5s and 10s and will work on 4s and 3s next. Students will be making flashcards for the facts as we go. At this point, they should be practicing 2s, 5s, and 10s each night. They can practice by using flashcards or even using one of the math websites I recommend here on my website. The goal is for students to start becoming fluent in these facts.

Science/Social Studies
We will finish up the plant unit in science. In social studies, we will be starting a unit called "Celebrations Around the World". Students will be learning about celebrations/holidays in different parts of the world, as well as here in our own country. It will be a really fun unit!

Homework
Reading-** November reading calendar due Monday. Read 20 minutes each night and record on December log.
Math-Practice 2, 5 and 10 times tables each night; Monday-Thursday:one math sheet per night
Spelling-Look, Say, Name, Cover, Write, Check each night; practice test Thursday
Writing-One writer's notebook entry by Friday

November 24, 2013

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is this week! I hope you all enjoy the holiday with friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving!

Remember, we do not have school on Wednesday, 11/27.

This week...

Reading
We will finish our read aloud, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. The class LOVED this book! We had great discussions about characters and change. The November reading log is due Monday, 12/2.

Math
We are learning the 2, 5 and 10 times tables this week. We will identify patterns and practice facts.

Writing
Students will finish their second personal narrative. We will be starting informational writing after the Thanksgiving break.

Science
Students had a great time in Starlab last week! They learned about the winter constellations. We also had a guest speaker, Kent Busman. He is a local storyteller and told the class stories about winter constellations inside Starlab. The plants have developed flowers and students used bees to pollinate their plants, They learned the life cycle of the plant, parts of a flower and parts of a bee.

Homework:
Reading: Monday and Tuesday-Read and record on November calendar. Calendar is due after the break.
Math: Monday-Reteach 5-1
No Spelling this week!

November 17, 2013

Thanks to everyone who came in and joined us for the American Education Week visit last week! It was so great to have so many parents and family members in the classroom. The students loved showing their families part of their day. There is one more lunch visit day on Friday, November 22nd.

FYI 
As a school, we are no longer allowing students to walk around and deliver cupcakes to other classrooms on their birthday, so you don't need to send extras for this. We found that it was too disruptive to interrupt teachers at the end of the school day when they are trying to get students ready to go home. When students bring in a birthday treat, it will just be for their classmates. We have 23 students in the class.

This week...

Reading Workshop
We will continue to work on the character unit. Students are really enjoying the read aloud, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Toulane. We will be doing guided reading groups throughout the week and will focus on non-fiction.

Writing Workshop
We will be finishing the personal narrative unit before Thanksgiving. Students are drafting, revising and editing another personal narrative.

Math
We are continuing the multiplication unit. Students did a great job writing multiplication stories on Friday. We will be making array cards on Monday and Tuesday. Students will draw them in school and will need to cut them out at home.

Science/Social Studies
We will be going back into Starlab this week to learn about winter constellations. We will also start pollinating our plants. In social studies, we will practice latitude and longitude.

Homework:
Reading-Read 20 minutes each night and record on the calendar
Math-Monday/Tuesday: Cut out array cards; Wednesday/Thursday: 5-1, 5-2
Writing-Write a one page entry in your writer's notebook by Friday
Spelling-Look, Say, Name, Cover, Write, Check each night; practice test on Thursday

November 11, 2013

Happy Veteran's Day! I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend.

This week...

Upcoming  Events
Thursday November 14th is the American Education Week visit for 3rd grade. I sent home this schedule last week:
9:30-10:30-Starlab/Science
10:30-10:45-Snack with your child
10:45-11:25-PE
11:25-12:00-Reading workshop: practice fluency using poetry with your child
12:25-12:50 Have lunch with your child

Feel free to join us for any of the activities above that would work for you. If a parent is unavailable, another family member (grandparent, aunt, uncle) is welcome to join us.

Reading Workshop
This week, we will continue the character unit. We are reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Toulane for read aloud and examining how Edward is changing throughout the book. Students are also studying traits and change in characters in their independent reading books.

Writing Workshop
Students finished their first personal narrative! They worked very hard on these. We have been trying to write about small moments and they are getting better and better at this. This week, students will start another personal narrative on a new topic.

Math
We finished Unit 3, Addition and Subtraction of larger numbers. We started multiplication on Friday with a game called Circles and Stars. The first portion of multiplication involves gaining a real understanding of what multiplying is before memorizing facts. Students will use manipulatives and draw pictures to show multiplication this week. They loved the Circles and Stars game. All you need is a pair of dice and you can have your child teach you and play this at home!

Science/Social Studies
We will be back in Starlab this week to discuss winter constellations. Students will be very excited! We are also continuing to watch our plants grow. We will work on latitude and longitude in social studies this week.

Homework: 11/12-11/15
Reading-Read each night for 20-25 minutes and record on reading log; practice poem
Math-Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday-one sheet per night from Unit 4
Spelling-Look, say, name, cover, write, check each night; practice test Thursday night
Writing-Tuesday-one page entry in writer's notebook on a small moment

Great video for subtracting across zeroes!

I showed the class the video and they loved it! Have your child sing it to you. 

November 3, 2013

We had a fun week celebrating Halloween! This week, we will have another half day on Tuesday, November 5th. Dismissal will be at 12:10 this time. There is no school on Monday, November 11th in honor of Veteran's Day. We will be making cards for veterans on Friday and will have a school-wide Veteran's Day assembly.

Reading
We have started our second reading unit, Characters. We will look at characters on a deeper level in third grade. We will focus on character motivation and change and students will be asked to put themselves in the character's shoes. They did a great job on this last week! They imagined what they would do in a character's place and wrote a letter to a character. We finished Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and the class LOVED it! We started a new read aloud, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Toulane.

Writing
We finished our last drafts of the first personal narratives and will start another personal narrative this week. We are focusing on"small moments" and writing like a storyteller, not a reporter. Students have been writing in writer's notebooks to gather more ideas for their writing pieces. Students will do a self reflection of their journals on Friday and I will collect them for my own assessment on Friday.

Math
We will finish Unit 3, Addition and Subtraction, this week. We will review on Wednesday and will have a test on Thursday. A review/practice test will come home on Wednesday night. Please go over this with your child. Our next unit is Multiplication. The students are very excited about learning multiplication! We will start with the 0, 1, 2, 5, and 10 since they essentially know these from skip counting.

Science/Social Studies
We are continuing the planting unit in Science and the geography unit in Social Studies.

Homework:
Math- Monday reteach 3-9; Tuesday reteach 3-10; Wednesday review for test; Thursday/Friday none
Reading-Read 20 minutes each night and record on new November calendar
Writing-Tuesday and Thursday-one page entry on anything (small moments!)
Spelling-Look, Say, Name, Cover, Write,Check each night; practice test on Thursday

October 27, 2013

It's hard to believe that we will start November this week! The last round of parent conferences will be this week and students will have an 11:45 dismissal on Tuesday. It has been great getting a chance to sit down with each of you and discuss your child and the curriculum.

This week...

Special activities
On Thursday, we will have a Halloween party in the afternoon. The party is for students only. Thanks to all who are sending in supplies and food! This Friday, November 1st, is picture day.

Reading
This week, we will continue to use poetry to work on fluency. Students will each come home with a stanza from a Halloween poem on Monday. Please have your child read this stanza aloud to you/your family each night to practice. They do not need to memorize it. We will be reciting the poem on Halloween as a class! We are starting a new reading unit, Characters. In 2nd grade, students mainly focused on character traits and actions. In 3rd grade, we will explore characters on a deeper level. We will talk about character change and motivation. November reading calendars are due this Friday, November 1st.

Writing
We are writing a "last draft" of our first personal narrative. We have been working on trying to avoid writing "grocery lists" of what happened in the memory and writing more like a storyteller. This means not just writing what's happening, but including how the narrator thinks and feels about what is happening.  We are also working on organizing our writing into paragraphs. In the next part of the personal narrative unit, students will write another personal narrative, more independently, using the skills we have been working on.

Math
We finished Unit 2 last week. On Monday, students will get back this test and will correct it. Please sign and return by Friday. We are currently working on Unit 3, Adding and Subtracting 2 and 3 Digit Numbers.

Science/Social Studies
In Science, we are working on the planting unit. Students planted Wisconsin Fast Plants last week and are enjoying watching them grow! We will observe the plants and practice "thinning" as we learn more about the growth process this week. In Social Studies, students are making maps of their bedrooms to practice making map keys, cardinal directions and map scales.

Homework: 10/28-11/1
Math-Monday: reteach 3-4 Wednesday: reteach 3-5
Reading-Read and record each night; November reading calendar due Friday; practice reading stanza aloud Monday-Wednesday
Writing-Tuesday-One page writer's notebook entry on any topic
Spelling-Look, Say, Name, Cover, Write, Check each night; practice test on Thursday night

No homework on Halloween! Have fun!

October 20, 2013

This week...

On Monday afternoon, we will have the Slingerlands Peace Assembly. Our class has decided we will bring peace to the world by being forgiving, joyful, kind, and a friend to others.

Wednesday is another teacher conference day so students will be dismissed at 11:45.

Reading
This week, I will begin guided reading groups. We will focus on fluency and will be using poems. Students should continue to read 20 minutes each night and record on the October calendar.

Writing
We will be finishing the first part of the personal narrative writing unit. Students have revised these and we will work on organizing into paragraphs. Students will then take what they have learned and will write another personal narrative, more independently this time.

Math
We will finish Unit 2, Addition and Subtraction Strategies and will have a test on Tuesday. We will review in class on Monday. Students will bring home a review sheet and papers from Unit 2 to review at home on Monday night. The test will have addition strategies, rounding and estimation.

Science/Science
In Science, we studied seeds while they were dry and after they had soaked overnight. We looked inside to find the plant. This week, we will plant seeds. In Social Studies, we will continue the geography unit.

Homework:
Reading: Monday-Thursday-Read 20 minutes each night and record on the October calendar
Spelling: Monday-Wednesday-Look, Say, Name, Cover, Write, Check
              Thursday-Look, Say, Name, Cover, Write, Check and practice test
Math: Monday-Review and study for Unit 2 test; Tuesday-None; Wednesday-Reteach 3-1;
           Thursday-Reteach 3-2

October 14, 2013

I hope everyone enjoyed this beautiful fall weekend! I am looking forward to seeing all of you at the parent conferences. The first of three half days is this Thursday, October 17th. If you have not scheduled a conference, please send me an email and we'll set one up.

We had a very busy week last week! Ann Schwanda, The Quilt Lady, came on Wednesday and each student made a quilt square to be part of a quilt which will be donated to a child in need. Thank you to the parents who came in to help! We went into Starlab twice and learned about the fall constellations. Make sure to ask your child to take you out on a clear night and tell you the story of Cepheus, Cassiopia, Andromeda and Perseus! Also, thank you to our room parents, Brooke Donovan and Brooke Killian, who came in and played a jeopardy game they created to celebrate Farm To You Fest. It was a lot of fun!

This week...

Reading
We will be reading October poems this week to practice fluency. I am still working on helping students choose "just right" books. Many students are doing a great job with this, but some students are still having trouble sticking with a book and sustaining silent reading. We will continue to use post its during silent reading and reflecting on Fridays.

Writing
We are revising personal narratives. I am having writing conferences with students to look at their writing and to make sure students are "showing, not telling". Last week, we looked at a mentor author, Kate DiCamillo, and made a list of things that good writers do. I am encouraging students to try this in their own writing.

Math
We are still working in Unit 2, Addition and Subtraction Strategies. Students worked on rounding and estimating last week and we will continue to work on this again this week. We will finish Unit 2 this week and will have a test early next week.

Science
We will finish drawing some constellations that will be part of a book that we will work on throughout the year. We will also begin our planting unit this week.

Social Studies
We are continuing the geography unit. We learned about the continents, cardinal directions, and the difference between a map and a globe.

Homework:
Math: Tuesday-Thursday: One sheet from Unit 2 each night
Reading: Read 20 minutes and record on the calendar each night
Spelling: Tuesday and Wednesday: Look, Say, Name, Cover, Write, Check
             Thursday: Look, Say, Name, Cover, Write, Check and practice test

October 6, 2013

We had a great week! We had our first Starlab experience, continued writing personal narratives, reflected on our reading, finished our first read-aloud and started our second and finished our first math unit.

This week...

Reading

We are reading Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin for our second read-aloud. It is a fantasy and one of my personal favorites! The class is enjoying it so far. We are continuing to work on choosing just right books and reflecting on our reading. Students are using post its as they read to map their thinking. They are doing a great job with this.

Writing

We are still working on personal narratives. This week, we will continue to work on "showing, not telling" in writing. I encourage students to write like storytellers instead of reporters. Students are working with a writing partner to look at their writing and make revisions.

Math

We are in Unit 2, Addition and Subtraction. It is mainly a review, but the concept of addition properties is new to third graders so we spent a couple of days on this. We will be looking at rounding and estimation this week as well.

Science

We will continue learning about astrology and will go into Starlab again on Friday. We will be studying constellations this week.

Social Studies

We will continue the geography unit.

Spelling

We will continue with Unit 3. 

Homework:

Reading-Monday-Friday Read 20 minutes and record on October calendar

Math-Monday-Thursday One sheet per night from unit 2

Spelling-Monday-Thursday-Look, Say, Name, Cover, Write, Check sheet; Thursday-practice test at home (this does not need to come back to school)

September 29, 2013

It's hard to believe we will enter October this week! We have a busy week ahead. Students will get their first Starlab experience and I'm sure they will have lots to share. Have a great week!

This week....

Reading
Students will continue the Readerly  Life unit-getting to know themselves as readers. We are still working on finding "just right" books. Students have been using post its while reading silently and used these post its to help write a weekly reading reflection. We will do this each week. We will finish our first read aloud and will start our second. We started with realistic fiction and our next book will be fantasy. September reading calendars are due on Tuesday, October 1st. Students will get the October reading calendar and should continue the process.

Writing
We will be drafting personal narratives. Students will write a draft, revise and edit. Each student was assigned a writing partner for the unit and they will be working together on revising/peer editing. I will be meeting with each student individually for a writing a conference.

Math
We finished our first unit on Numeration. We will review Monday and will have a Unit 1 test Tuesday. A review sheet to practice will come home Monday night. Students will also clean out folders and bring home all papers from unit 1 to make room for unit 2!

Spelling
Students will get lists and homework on Monday. A sheet with directions for the weekly homework will also be coming home on Monday. Homework is due on Friday and they will have a spelling test on Friday.

Science
We will be going to Starlab at the end of the week! We will be looking a shapes and stars in the sky as an introduction to the constellations.

Social Studies
We will continue the geography unit.

Homework:
Math-Monday: Review Sheet; Tuesday-None; Wednesday-reteach 2-1; Thursday-reteach 2-2

Reading-September calendar due on Tuesday; read 20 minutes each night and record

Spelling-Look, Say. Cover, Name, Write Check sheet done each night, practice test on Thursday, test   on Friday

September 22, 2013

Thanks to everyone who came to Open House last week. It was great to meet so many parents. Also, thank you for filling out the Parent Information sheets. These are very helpful in giving me some added information on your child. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed this beautiful fall weather!

This week...

Reading
Students will continue to learn about themselves as readers. We will continue to talk about genre and choosing just right books. We are still working to sustain at least 20 minutes of silent reading during the school day. Many children are doing great with this and could definitely even go longer. They should continue to read 20 minutes each night and record this on the September calendar.

Writing
Students are continuing to practice writing about memories in their writer's notebook. Toward the end of the week, students will start to zero in on one idea for their personal narrative, which will be our first published writing piece.

Spelling
Students will get a spelling list this week. We will take a pretest Monday and lists will be made from the words missed on the pretest, priority words missed and from a master list of words using the same skill as the pretest. Spelling tests are on Fridays. This week, we will practice the spelling homework program in school to practice. Next week, this will be done for homework. A sheet of directions for the spelling homework will come home next Monday.

Math
We will be continuing Unit 1, Numeration. The focus will  be on reading and writing larger numbers (up to hundred thousands), number lines and comparing and ordering numbers. **We will be having a Unit 1 test next Tuesday with a review on Monday.

Homework
Monday-Thursday: Read 20 minutes and record on calendar, one sheet of math each night

September 16, 2013

Welcome to the second week of third grade! We had a great week getting to know each other and getting used to the classroom routines. This week, we will begin getting into more curriculum. I am looking forward to meeting everyone at Open House! Have a great week!

Reading
Students will continue to talk about themselves as readers. We will discuss how and why we choose books. Each student has chosen an independent reading book in the classroom and will continue reading that this week. Students should continue recording their reading on the September calendar. Our current read-aloud book is called Justin Case, School, Drool and Other Daily Disasters by Rachel Vail. It is really funny and we are enjoying it a lot!

Writing
This week, we will continue to talk about writer's notebooks. We will create memory maps for ideas for our writer's notebook entry. This will lead us into our first writing unit, personal narrative. We will also be decorating the covers, so please make sure your child bring in supplies!

Math
We are working on the first unit called Numeration. The focus is on base ten numbers and place value.
Students will begin getting math homework on Monday.

Social Studies
We will begin a unit on geography, focusing on map skills this week.

Homework:
Monday-Thursday: Read 20 minutes and record on calendar; one math sheet per night

September 9, 2013

Welcome to the 2013-2014 school year! I am really happy to be back teaching 3rd grade at Slingerlands after spending a year at home with my children. This site will have important dates, weekly updates, photos and links throughout the school year. Have a great first week!

Homework:
Monday-
Bring planner money $3.05
Bring a book if you didn't pick one from my library
Tuesday-Read 20 minutes and record on the September calendar
Wednesday-Read 20 minutes and record on the September calendar
Thursday-Read 20 minutes and record; bring items to decorate writer's notebook (See note in folder)
Friday-Don't forget items for notebook. Have a great weekend!