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!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Sunday, October 20, 2013
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
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
Monday, October 14, 2013
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
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
Sunday, October 6, 2013
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)
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