December 6, 2016

The third grade musical was a huge success. Everyone did wonderfully and I am so impressed by all of the singing, dancing and speaking. Great job third graders!

The holidays are upon us and we will be doing some fun holiday learning activities in the classroom. These activities will be based around learning the holiday traditions of different cultures. The students are beginning a research project that they will work on and complete in school. Each student chose a different culture to research and will use a variety of research tools such as QR codes to conduct their research. They have specific research questions that they will use to help guide their research. At the end of their research they will each have a flip book that will be shared with the class in small groups so that everyone can learn about these interesting traditions. 

We will also be sharing a variety of holiday books that will talk about holiday traditions that are not part of our research project. The students will be comparing and contrasting the traditions of different cultures. One book we will be reading is How Santa Got His Job, in this book Santa shares his many skills and qualities that make him perfect for the job of Santa. Using this book as our foundation the students will then be constructing a persuasive letter to Santa outlining the qualities and skills that make them the perfect elf for the job in different departments in Santa's Workshop. 

We will also be working on a parachute STEM project. The students will be responsible for working in a group to develop a parachute for Santa that will give him a soft landing and lands upright. The students will be given a certain amount of money they can use to buy their supplies. It may take several attempts but I know that each design will get better and they will successfully work together to develop Santa's parachute.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season celebrating with family and friends. 

Reminders:
December 9-Pajama Day at Chippewa School
December 16-Holiday Party
December 17-January 2-Holiday Break

November 21, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving! This week we have two days of school, November 21 and 22, and we will return to school on November 28th.

This week are doing several Thanksgiving themed activities. We are doing an activity focusing on gratitude and being thankful. Each student will be planning a Thanksgiving meal and will have to decide what items to buy for their dinner with the amount of money they are given. We will also be doing some Thanksgiving math based center activities.

ELA
We have been working on author's point of view in the classroom. We have read a variety of texts both fiction and non-fiction and identifying the author's point of view. We are finishing up a point of view activity with the story The Day the Crayons Quit. In this story the crayons write a letter to the owner of the crayon box explaining their point of view, the students are working in groups to identify each crayons point of view. We have also been working on writing paragraphs expressing our opinion. The students wrote an opinion paragraph about their favorite candy stating reasons with examples about why their candy was the best. They just finished writing an opinion paragraph about their favorite pet. Students used information about their animal to state facts/reasons why their animal was the best and then used the facts/reasons to develop examples for each reason. The students then used Google Classroom to publish their paragraph.

We will be moving on to determining what point of view stories are being told from: 1st, 2nd and 3rd person. We will be using a variety of literature for this activity. During Daily 5 students will be practicing the strategy of making predictions and confirming or revising based on the text of their choice. We will also be working on making inferences. Students will practice making direct observations and then using these observations to make inferences.

Math
We just finished up our two chapters about the foundations of multiplication and division. Our summative test on the division chapter went extremely well for the class. We will now be moving on to multiplication and division number patterns. Throughout these chapters we will also be taking our timed tests while we work towards our banana split party.  Please take time to practice multiplication facts at home.

Social Studies
We just finished our Science unit about animals and completed the summative test. We will now be moving on to Social Studies and the government strand. In this strand the students will learn about: civic participation and skills, rules and laws, and roles and systems of government.

I have had several questions about the students' reading and math logs and what activities they can use for minutes. I feel students should be participating in a variety of reading and math activities. These activities can include reading books or magazines, church bulletins, etc. Computer or app based activities for reading and math may also be included for minutes. If you are participating with your child in a real world application activity that can also count for minutes, such as having your child read and follow a recipe could count for reading and math minutes. Having your child use a grocery store advertisement to plan a meal and plan what food needs to be purchased for a given budget is also an activity that is practical and can count for reading and math minutes.

Reminders:
November 23-25-No School
December 1-3rd Grade Music Concert
December 19-January 2-Winter Break

October 31, 2016

Report cards went home on Friday, I am hoping this facilitated some good conversations about the positive things that are happening. In our classroom we set Growth Mindset Goals, one of these goals is, instead of thinking: I can't make this better you can think: I can always improve. We are always identifying just one thing we are going to work on doing better, this is a great opportunity to set this goal with your child for the next quarter. 

Math
We finished our chapter about the foundations of multiplication and we are now moving on to the foundations of division. As a whole the class did really well on the summative assessment for multiplication. In Friday Folders a letter came home regarding our Banana Split party for multiplication facts. Students will be taking timed tests on their multiplication facts, as they pass each number set they receive a new topping to add to their banana split. Once the class has earned all of their toppings we will have a Banana Split Ice Cream party at school. We will be making multiplication flash cards at school for the students to take home and practice their multiplication facts. Practicing facts can count as math minutes on students' math log. We will be moving on to the foundations of division, so the more fluent students become with their multiplication facts the easier the transition to division will be. 

On Monday please look for a letter regarding the use of I-Ready at home. I-Ready is a computer program we use at school for reading and math, the letter that is coming home will include your students username and password along with an explanation of how students can use it at home. 

ELA
Last week we began working on the strategies of summarizing and identifying connections within a text. Students are practicing the connections strategy with the text they have chosen to read during Read to Self. The connections they are making include: Text-to-Self, Text-to-Text, and Text-to-World. We practiced summarizing fiction texts and we will be also be summarizing non-fiction text. The non-fiction text we are using will also carry over into our Writing Workshop. In our writing we have been working on producing writing that states and supports our opinion. Last week the students wrote an opinion piece about their favorite candy. Next week we will write an opinion piece using an article about utilizing robots in marine research. 

Science
We are coming to the end of our animal unit. The students are working on finishing their Google Slideshow report about the animal that they made their Habit Shadowbox for and they have been researching. Last week we learned about animal life cycles and we begin to wrap up this unit. At the end of the unit we will have an assessment. If you have a conference scheduled this week or are picking up your child from school, please take that opportunity to take home their animal shadowbox project.

During the days of November 8 and 9 all third graders in the district will be taking the ELA portion of the state mandated AIR Test. It is important that all students be at school on those days, so if you are able to avoid scheduling outside appointments during that time it would be very helpful for everyone. Please make sure that your child gets an appropriate amount of sleep during this time as well as a well balanced breakfast in the morning. 

Important Dates:
October 31-Halloween Party. Please have students bring their costume to school. If there are pieces that they can wear without it interfering with their school day they may wear those to school.
November 2 & 10-Parent/Teacher conferences 4:30-7:30.
November 7 & 8-ELA AIR Assessment
November 23-25-No School-Thanksgiving Break
December 1-Third Grade Concert
January 5, 2017-Current Event Due

Week of October 17, 2016

I would like to thank all families that were able to attend Open House Thursday night, it was nice to see you with your children.

ELA
This week we will be reviewing cause/effect and identifying main idea. We have practiced these skills for 3 weeks using fiction and non-fiction literature and we will have our assessment over these skills on Thursday. We will also be reviewing grammar strategies of multiple meaning words, regular and irregular plural nouns and compound sentences. There will also be a grammar summative assessment on Thursday. At the end of the quarter we have a summative assessment on all vocabulary words, so this week in class we will be doing several activities to practice the vocabulary words we have learned this quarter. Students will be bringing their vocabulary journals home each night to review the words. Another way to review is by having students log into their Google account and going to Mrs. Shields's Google classroom, where I have posted links to a site called Quizlet which provides the students with a variety of activities to practice the vocabulary. 

Math
We are continuing to learn strategies for multiplication such as: repeated addition, equal groups and arrays. This week we are finishing arrays and moving on to using charts and diagrams to demonstrate multiplication. We will have an assessment on this chapter next week.

Science
The habitat projects were due on October 18. These projects will be graded and displayed at school before the students are able to bring them home. We are continuing to study traits and characteristics used to classify animals. We will also continue to learn about adaptations that animals make as we learn more about animals. Students will be able to utilize this information and apply it to their animal of study. The information that they learn will then be put into their Google Slideshow about their animal. 

Upcoming events
October 21-No School-Teacher inservice/work day
October 31-Halloween party and parade

October 4, 2016

Math- The Chapter 2 and 3 assessment went well for everyone and I am proud of all of the students' efforts in their studying. On the assessment students received points for computation as well as their procedures. We have moved on to Multiplication this week. We have also started Math writing. In Math writing students are able to communicate their understanding and thinking when solving and answering Math questions.

Social Studies/Science-This week students will finish their Pirate Maps. We have also begun researching animals for our Science animal unit. In Friday Folders each student received an explanation of the Animal Habitat project that will be done as an at home project. The Animal Habitat project will compliment that Google Slideshow research project they are doing in class. In order to begin their research project I need to have the students return the sheet that states which animal they will be researching for their habitat with a parent signature.

ELA-This week we will be identifying the main idea and supporting details through a variety of different text structures. We will continue to identify cause and effect as a comprehension strategy while reading. This week on Friday we will also have a spelling test and a vocabulary test. Students can access my Google classroom that has a link to Quizlet that has a variety of activities to practice their vocabulary words. 

Reminders:

• Please return animal habitat form.
• Reading and Math logs for October were sent home in Friday folders. Please remember to do some Reading and Math each night in order to keep up with their monthly minutes. Your child is responsible for writing their activities and minutes each night and then get a parent signature. Students can use the time that they use to total their minutes at the end of the month on their Math log either for that month or the next month. 
• No School October 14-NEOEA Day.
• October 20-End of the first quarter
• No School October 21-Teacher Inservice Day.

Week of September 26, 2016

Math
We are finishing Chapter 4 this week with our final lesson of subtracting with zeroes. We had a review day on Tuesday and we will be having our assessment on Wednesday. Students are bringing their JAMs home to study Tuesday night. The assessment will cover adding and subtracting 3 and 4 digit numbers. Students have been reminded to check all of their work and to check and make sure they have answered every question before turning in any assessment. 

Social Studies
Last week we started our Pirate Map project. The students have created their own islands, a map title, a map key and symbols for their map key. They will be working this week on making their final copy of their map. Students will also mark the spot on their map where a treasure is buried and then write out directions to get to the buried treasure. 

Science
We are going to be moving into Science next and learning about animals. The students will be doing research on an animal of their choice and making a Google slideshow that includes these animal facts. In school we will be using the website Pebblego to help us complete our research. At home students will be making an animal habitat shadowbox, information about this project will be coming home later in the week. 

ELA
We will be finishing the chapter book Stories Julian Tells and having a comprehension assessment when it is complete. On Friday we had our first vocabulary assessment. We discussed study strategies that would be helpful as well as reviewing what synonyms and antonyms are. I have set up a Google classroom where I will post Quizlet links to help students practice their vocabulary words through a variety of games and activities. The students were shown how to find the Google classroom, it is important that students are logged into their account when going to Google classroom. We are also reviewing similes and moving on to metaphors. We also will be working on creating compound sentences.

We had a popcorn celebration on Friday after we finished our Popcorn Writing. Students were treated to a popcorn snack. 

Upcoming dates:
Current Events due: October 13
No School: October 14
End of the grading period: October 20
No School: October 21

September 19, 2016

Our Math assessment went really well last week, all students received either an A or B. We are moving on to addition and subtraction of 3 and 4 digit numbers. We will have the assessment for this chapter next week. During Math Daily 3 the students are participating in small group centers as well as larger group instruction. These groupings allow the students to practice current and previously learned skills as well as have more small group instruction time when new skills are introduced.

This week we will continue our novel study of The Stories Julian Tells looking for similes through the text. We will also be moving on to metaphors. In grammar we are looking at types of sentences (questions, statements, commands, exclamations) as well as simple and compound sentences. Compound words will also be introduced this week. Please continue to study spelling words at home, the students are doing daily Word Work practice with their spelling words at school but reviewing them at home is helpful. If I see that students are consistently falling at 75% or lower on their spelling tests I will be assigning some additional Word Work practice. Our first vocabulary test will be this week and will be over the first 10 vocabulary words. All students brought home the first list last week and the new list of five words will go home today. They will also bring home their Vocabulary Journals this week to study.

In Social Studies we will continue working on mapping skills through a Pirate Island mapping activity. Students will get the opportunity to create their own island map using the mapping skills we have been learning in class. 

In Writer's Workshop we have been working on ways to come up with ideas for writing true stories (narratives). The students have practiced this in their Writing Workshop Journals and have been working on building their writing stamina. This week we will introduce using transition words to enhance our writing.

September 12, 2016

Well I think we made it through one of the hottest weeks!

After classroom activities and work I did not have the class do the math assessment for Chapter 1 on Friday. We did some review activities today and clarified some questions so I believe we are ready for the Chapter test tomorrow, September 13. All of the students brought home their JAM over the weekend to review and they are bringing it home again tonight to review. Following the assessment we will be starting Chapter 2 which is about addition and subtraction. 

This week we are working on similes in the classroom. In honor of 9/11 we watched a very child friendly video that highlights heroes rather than the tragedy of 9/11. We read a story called Fireboat, which is about a decommissioned fireboat that is put back into action to help put out fires that regular fire trucks could not reach at the Twin Towers. We then brainstormed a list of words that describe what a hero is to us and then used those words to write similes. We have also been working on synonyms and did a group Cinnamon Synonym Activity. This week we will continue reading the chapter book The Stories Julian Tells and finding the similes in each story. We will also practice using context clues to help determine the meaning of new words. This week we will begin vocabulary and a list of vocabulary words will come home today. Each week the students will learn 5 new vocabulary words that are based on words that they are likely to see during their reading.  In the classroom we have a vocabulary journal and in our journal we are writing sentences, definitions, synonyms and antonyms for each word. The vocabulary journal also contains a picture dictionary section and a WOW word section. The WOW word is a word study in root words, prefixes, and suffixes. The word study will allow the students to use the different word parts to determine the meaning of the word which will help in their comprehension and vocabulary development while reading. The students will be tested every two weeks on vocabulary which will include 2 vocabulary lists for a total of 10 words. Please have your child read over the list each night so that the definitions are very familiar to them when it comes time to have the test. 

In Social Studies we are continuing to learn about maps and map skills. After reviewing all of the parts of the map and the different types of maps we will make our own map and an island of our own creation. 

Reminders:
Please continue to have your child read and do math minutes. The first math/reading logs are due on October 1st and they will get a new one for the month of October on that date also. 
New spelling words and vocabulary words were sent home with students on Monday.
Wednesday, September 14th is picture day at Chippewa.

If your child brings in something orange and places it on my desk without telling other students they will earn 2 extra tickets. 

This week we will be diving into our first chapter book as a class, Stories Julian Tells. This book contains many silly stories that the character, Julian, tells and it is perfect for the introduction of similes which we will be studying this week. We will also use this book to highlight and practice several of the CAFE strategies that were introduced last week. The students have built good stamina during Read to Self and we will be adding Work on Writing as a choice during our rounds of Daily 5. Other skills that we will be working on include similes and sentence fragments (subject/predicate). On Friday each student received a Math and Reading log for the month that included an attached letter explaining the expectations. The students were also told that this should go in their homework folder so that I can spot check their logs to make sure they are continuing to work on their reading and math minutes. If students read more than the required number of minutes for the month they will be rewarded with additional tickets in the classroom. Please encourage them to do some reading and math each night and to not try to to squeeze in the needed minutes the last few days of the month.  The reading and math logs are part of their reading and math grades. They will receive a new log on the first of the month when they turn in the logs for the previous month. 

We are continuing to work on Unit 1 Place Value in Math. This week we introduced rounding numbers to the tens and next week we will work more on rounding numbers to the hundreds. I currently believe we will have this unit assessment on Friday, September 6. If for some reason I feel the children are not ready for the assessment by Friday I will change the date.

New spelling words are coming home today along with a list of ideas for practicing spelling words at home. Students practice their words each day at school in their Word Work Journal but they should also review them each night at home. Word work Journals are checked on Fridays and the students are given credit for their work and spelling tests are on Fridays.

While we continue to learn the classroom routines please take a moment to remind your child that "if it's not their turn to talk it is their turn to listen." This is important all day in every class they are in throughout their school day. 

Reminders:
Each night the only papers that should be removed from the student's DOT are those that are in the mail pocket. The papers that are in the other pocket sections are ones that we are currently using in the classroom and should not be removed, if they are removed your student will not have what they need the next day at school. 

Week of August 29-September 2, 2016

Last week we were able to begin the Daily 5. The class learned what Read to Self looks like and feels like and we were able to practice the right and wrong way to participate in Read to Self. We were also able to begin learning some strategies that will be useful during our reading. In the area of Comprehension we learned how to check for understanding and to back up and reread when we don't understand. We also learned how to cross check if the word we are using is correct or not. In the area of Expanding Vocabulary we learned to tune in to interesting words and we were able to add quite a few words to our Wonderful Word Wall. This week we will be adding Work on Writing to our Daily 5 activities. We will learn where we can go in the room to work on writing and what we can write about. We will do a quick power write in order to develop a list of writing topics. We will learn how to choose Good Fit Books and why choosing Good Fit Books helps us build fluency in our reading. We will learn another fluency strategy called Voracious Reading and learn why this can help us to improve our reading fluency. We will also learn the comprehension strategy of Back up and Reread. We will have opportunities to participate in Read to Self and Work on Writing in order to build our stamina in these two areas. 

This week we will begin learning the routine for our spelling words. The students will participate in a variety of Word Work activities in their Word Work Journals to practice their spelling words and spelling patterns. A spelling list will come home this week with activities that students can do at home to practice their words, however, all graded spelling work will be done at school in their Word Work Journals. Spelling lists may become more personalized as we progress to adapt to each child's needs. Spelling tests will be given on Fridays beginning this Friday, September 2.

Last week we began our first Math chapter about Place Value. We reviewed place value, comparing numbers and ordering numbers. On Tuesday we will do a Check My Progress quiz over these first three topics. This week we will work on rounding numbers to the tens and hundreds place. We will also do a Math About Me Activity.

In Social Studies we will begin learning map skills. We will be working in our Social Studies Interactive Notebook adding vocabulary and map learning activities. 

Please remember to sign your child's agenda each night and check that they have completed their homework. Friday Folders came home on Friday, please make sure that you take out all papers in the Leave At Home pocket and return the signature page in the Return to School pocket on Monday.

Upcoming dates: 

9-5 Labor Day - No School

9-14 - Picture Day

August 22, 2016

Week of August 22-26, 2016

We have successfully completed our first three days of school. During those days we got familiar with the new classroom routines, rules and friends. We have been practicing classroom expectations and setting daily behavior goals. One goal we worked on last week was when one person is talking we are listening and looking at the speaker. Please reinforce this classroom expectation at home also. 

This week we will begin the launch of the Daily 5 during our reading and writing block. The class will review where the gathering spot is in the classroom, we will learn what Read to Self looks like and feels like and we will begin building reading stamina. We will learn how to choose good spots that allow us to do our best work and help us continue to build stamina. We will also begin working on strategies within the CAFE menu (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding vocabulary). The strategies we will add to our CAFE menu include: Check for Understanding, Cross Checking, Tune in to Interesting Words, and Back Up and Reread. 

This week we will also begin computer based diagnostic assessments as part of the iReady program we will be utilizing throughout the school year.

This week we will be practicing place value, comparing numbers and ordering numbers. The framework we will be utilizing during our Math block is Math Daily 3. The students will have opportunity for independent work, small group instruction and partner work. This allows the students to practice and reinforce skills in a variety of ways.

This week students will begin bringing home homework. On Monday they will be bringing home their writing journals. They will be decorating and individualizing their journals, this helps to build a sense of personalization and ownership of their journals. Tuesday-Thursday they will be bringing home their Simple Solutions Math and Reading for homework. 

The children brought home their DOTs this weekend and shared with you what it looks like, its use and the expectations for use. We will be using this tool daily to assist your students with their organizational skills, please make sure they return homework and any mail to school in this tool. Their agendas will also be kept in this so that they can be reminded of what their homework is, please make sure to sign their agenda's nightly. Your signature in their agenda lets me know that you checked their homework and saw how their day went at school.

This week we did several team building small group activities. In this activity the children were given uncooked spaghetti noodles and a bag of large marshmallows, they had to build the highest structure they could in the time given. I think they found out it was a little harder than they thought and sometimes they had to try different strategies.

I am looking forward to a great second week of school!

May 31, 2016

I am having a hard time believing that this is our last week of Third Grade. It has been a fabulous year and I have thoroughly enjoyed this class and our experiences together. I would like to thank you for all of your support  and the way you have supported your children through their third grade experience.

This week we will be participating in many fun activities. We will be doing a paper airplane STEM project, students will either work in small groups or individually to develop a paper airplane that can fly at least 12 feet. We finished the book "Charlotte's Web" on Friday and we will be following it up by watching the movie on Tuesday. On Wednesday we will be finishing our STEM project and we will have the Third Grade Recognition Ceremony at 1:45. Please have your child wear their third grade T-shirt for the Recognition Ceremony Wednesday.

Thursday will be the last day of school and Field Day. Please make sure your child dresses appropriately for the weather that day, if it rains indoor activities have been planned. Make sure to send your child with sunscreen and a water bottle for Field Day, please label each item with your child's name. Our class voted to wear Neon colors that day, if you don't have neon bright colors work also. Our end of the year party will be immediately following Field Day. On Thursday school will end at 1:40.

I hope that everyone has a fabulous summer and a successful year at Central School. 

May 17, 2016

As we close in on the end of school we are continuing to work our hardest practicing skills.

In Language Arts we have been working on character's point of view and author's point of view. We had many opportunities to practice determining the character's point of view and the author's point of view. We wrapped that up with the book "The Day the Crayons Quit," and we wrote about the point of view of each crayon in the book. This week we will be reviewing skills we have been practicing over the last month and having a final test on these skills through the week next week.

In Math we have moved on from Geometry and everyone did a fabulous job on the chapter test in Geometry. We are now working on Representing and Interpreting Data. We have used Tally Charts, Frequency Charts, Bar Graphs and Pictographs. We are going to do some activities in the room in which we collect data and represent that data in a variety of different methods. 

In Science we are wrapping up our Minerals and Rocks unit. We are having a vocabulary test on Wednesday. We will be reviewing all information on Thursday and the students are going to have an open book test on Friday over all of the information.

Upcoming dates:

• May 24-Downtown Cleveland Field Trip. Please don't forget to pack a brown bag lunch with all disposable items.
• May 26-Field trip to Central School in the a.m.
• June 1-Third Grade Recognition assembly 1:45
• June 2-Field Day and End of the Year Party-1:40 dismissal.

April 29, 2016

Dear Parents,

We made it through four days of AIR testing. All of the children worked hard through this time period and we made it through the ELA and Math portions of the AIR test. This completes the testing for this school year.

In Math we have moved on to Geometry. We have been exploring characteristics of polygons, quadrilaterals and parallelograms. We will continue with this unit next week.

We completed our final Economic projects and presented these projects. The students also completed their Economics books and brought them home. We will be moving onto Rocks and Minerals in Science. This week we discussed the tests we need to perform in order to identify minerals. We also discussed types of rocks. We will do some labs that enable us to practice the mineral tests, identify minerals and complete a mineral flip book.

In ELA we have been working on inferencing using Picture of the Day. Each day students are given a picture with no caption. The students use this picture to make observations and then use the observations to make inferences about the picture. I have seen their skills continue to develop and become more refined as they practice this skill.  Next week we will be moving on to author's point of view and character's point of view. 

In writing the students have been working on identifying characteristics of a good friend and using text evidence to support their opinion. They developed a rough draft, which was edited, and then turned into a final copy of their writing. They also began doing some research writing. We watched segments of the Disney movie Earth and students practiced taking notes on three animals: the polar bear, elephant and humpback whale. They are going to use this information to turn it in to a very short slide show that includes 5 new facts they learned and 3 pictures of their chosen animal in it's natural habitat. Next week we will finish up their research writing and work on writing and publishing a diamante poem.

As we approach the last month of school please remind your children about school appropriate manners and behavior. A gentle reminder about being kind to others would be appreciated. Also a little refresher about school manners, we have been talking about the fact that burping is not appropriate in the classroom or lunch room and if students feel like they are going to burp they need to cover their mouth and say excuse me. 

During the months of May and June we have several exciting events:

• On May 24th the third graders are going on a field trip to downtown Cleveland. We will take a ride on Lolly the Trolley and learn about Cleveland history. We will also take a tour of Progressive Field. Students need to pack a brown bag lunch on this day and we will eat it while we are downtown. Please have your child wear their third grade T-shirt or Indians gear on that day. Watch the weather for that day and make sure to dress your child appropriately. Permission slips will be coming home today in your child's Friday folder. Please fill out the permission slip and return with the payment by May 20, 2016.
• On May 26th our class will be visiting Central School from 9:45-10:45. The students will get a feel for their new school. Permission slips went home last week in Friday folders, if you have not returned your permission slip I placed another one in your child's Friday folder this week, please return this by May 6.
• On May 27th the PSO is having an ice cream truck come to school to provide treats.
• June 1st is the Third Grade Recognition Assembly which begins at 2:15. 
• June 2nd (last day of school) is Field Day throughout the morning until 12:00. Pizza will be provided for lunch for all students during the class party from 12:00-1:00. That day students will be dismissed early at 1:40.

April 5, 2016

I hope that everyone had an enjoyable and relaxing spring break. I enjoyed spending time at home with my family. 

This week we start our Race the Wild book clubs. The children were given their books yesterday along with their weekly assignments. The book clubs will be done at school so there will be no homework associated with it. The students will be responsible for reading at school, finding new words and using the strategy of cause and effect. We will be meeting in strategy groups daily to review these skills, work on reading and to discuss what they have already read.  There are currently four different groups, each group is reading one of the four books from the series. When the children got their books yesterday they were excited to begin. After we complete the book clubs next week the books will be put into our classroom library so that they have the opportunity to read the other books in the series. In spelling this week the students are working on homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. In their spelling packet they have a picture dictionary to complete to help them differentiate between the words. The vocabulary words are a compilation of words from the book club books.

In Social Studies this week we are discussing budgets, how to make them, why they are useful and practicing using them. The students will be participating in a group project where they will choose a product to market and then develop a business plan for their product which includes a budget. We discussed this yesterday as we began talking about budgets. Students will begin this project on Thursday.

In Math we are continuing to work on fractions. We began the topic of fractions on a number line yesterday and the students were given homework on this topic last night, for some this was a confusing topic so we will review this again today before moving on to equivalent fractions and fractions as a whole. At this time it looks like we will be having our assessment on fractions next Wednesday.

Below are the upcoming dates for the spring administration of the AIR test. Each testing session with be 90 minutes and will take place over 2 days.
                                               April 19 & April 20-ELA
                                               April 26 & April 27-Math
Please try not to make any appointments for your child on these dates.

This Friday report cards will go home, please take the time to review them with your child. The students do not have a reading log to complete this week.

March 23, 2016

Happy Spring!!I wanted to give everyone a quick update before we head off to Spring Break.

Last week was the school wide MDA drive, our class was the top contributor for 3 consecutive days! Thank you to everyone who contributed to this wonderful cause.

This week we also wrapped up The Chocolate Touch. The children have been looking forward to Fridays when they can discuss their thoughts about the book. They have come up with some pretty great ideas and had some wonderful discussions about their ideas. We are still learning how to use "one voice" at a time, they get so excited to add their comments that at times it gets difficult for them to wait their turn. This is part of the process and as we continue to practice they will get better. When we return from spring break we are going to do another novel study with paired fiction and non fiction texts. The book series is called Race the Wild and each story is set in a different location around the world. When we discussed this yesterday the class seemed enthusiastic about trying a new series that no one has ever read before.

We have been using Google Classroom to do a variety of assignments in the classroom. Most recently we have completed a Market slide show and a needs/wants slide show. The students have also completed their last two vocabulary tests in Google Classroom. This platform gives them the opportunity to practice computer skills that they will need to use during the April testing. Your child has their username, password and email address so please have them show you these assignments and check their email. The two vocabulary test grades were emailed back to them so please take the opportunity to check their email with them and view these grades.

As the last quarter approaches many students are running out of supplies at school. Many students need more pencils and glue sticks. Please check with your child to see if there are any more supplies they may  need to finish the school year.

Today marks the end of the third quarter. One date to add to your calendar for next quarter is May 20th, all current events will be due by that date, the sooner they get done the less your child needs to think about it. Over spring break make sure to spend time as a family and enjoying your time together but also make time for reading. Have your child continue to read independently or with you, either way is great!

Have a great Spring Break!

March 7, 2016

This week we will begin One School, One Book! Our book this year is called The Chocolate Touch. One book was handed out for each family at Chippewa School along with a letter explaining the activity and reading schedule. We will be using this as a foundation for our classroom lessons as well. In place of our reading log for the weeks of March 7, March 14 and March 21 the students are going to complete reading extension activities associated with each chapter that they read. On Friday students will be turning in their extension activities instead of a reading log. The first week's activities, that correspond to chapters 1-4, were given to the students today when they were presented with their book. On each sheet I have numbered the activities that they need to complete (1, 2, and 3), they do not need to complete any activities that are not numbered. They will also need to complete one question stem for each chapter on their Socratic Seminar sheet. Each week we will have a discussion about the chapters that we have completed reading. Last week when we had our first Socratic Seminar it was amazing to see how engaged the students were and they how invested they became in the conversation.  This was an activity I thought would, maybe, last 20 minutes with some guidance but it easily lasted 30 minutes and I finally had to sadly end the discussion. Although at times I could feel the frustration from those students who were trying to talk but were not being recognized they soon worked it out as a group and were verbally recognizing when a student wanted to talk. I can't wait to continue this and watch as they grow through this process.

This week we will be finishing up our Math chapter regarding Properties of Multiplication. We will be finished by Wednesday and on Thursday we will review. On Friday we will have the Math Summative test for this chapter.

We will continue our Economics unit in Social Studies. Last week we finished the week discussing economic choices and opportunity cost and this week we started the week with a review of this topic along with some independent practice identifying economic choice and opportunity cost. We will continue this week with Understanding Markets and Making Good Financial Decisions. Please remember that current events are due this Friday.

Draw a picture of your favorite candy and bring it in to Mrs. Shields for 5 bonus tickets!!

February 29, 2016

This week we will be starting Unit 4 in ELA. This week's skills include combining sentences with linking verbs and identifying root words. We have been able to do some word study while working on our vocabulary words and looking for root words along with suffixes and prefixes. We will have both a spelling test and a vocabulary test this week. Spelling packets go home on Monday and need to be returned on Thursday in order to receive full credit. This week we will be reading a chapter book as a class called, Freckle Juice by Judy Bloom. We will be using this book to begin our first Socratic Seminar. A Socratic Seminar is a method of discussion that allows the students to engage in a discussion about their reading. They do not receive answers directly but rather through a series of questioning and discussions with each other they are able to arrive at their answers. As the teacher I am more of a moderator/facilitator rather than the director. The students are expected to come prepared by finishing the assigned reading and developing questions to bring to the discussion. This week we will learn what a Socratic Seminar looks like, what the expectations are and what the rules are they need to follow during the discussions. The focus is on having a respectful conversation that involves thoughtful responses that are derived from the text they are reading. The students have also been practicing all year using post-it notes as a way to note when they are practicing Daily 5 strategies, we will learn another note taking procedure with post it notes they can use while reading that may be helpful during the Socratic Seminar process. 

In Social Studies we are continuing our Economics unit. Last week we talked about consumers and producers as well as goods and services. This week we will be discussing Positive and Negative Incentives as well as Scarcity and Opportunity Cost. By the end of this unit the children will have put together an Economics book of facts that they can use to study for the chapter test.

In Math we are continuing our study of Properties of Multiplications. We will begin this week with the Associative Property and we will move into writing and solving expressions.

A few reminders:

• Please have your child fill out their reading log, it is part of their homework and they should be responsible for it.
• All current events are due on March 11. Any current events turned in after that date will be considered late and will not be given full credit.
• The students will  be assigned one chapter to read in Freckle Juice for homework this week, they may use those minutes on their reading log.

February 22, 2016

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• Thank you to everyone who donated or came to our Valentine’s Day party. Everything was wonderful and we appreciate your time and generosity very much. I think all of the chocolate faces were evidence enough of the good time everyone was having.  I would also like to thank the class for the beautiful flower arrangement, it was lovely.
• Next Thursday, February 25^th, COSI comes to Chippewa! COSI will talk about the Incredible Human Body.  We will be eating lunch in the classrooms that day so if your child is buying a lunch there will only be first choice available that day and for packers milk will still be available. It should be a fun filled day for the children.  Be sure to ask your child all about it that night.
• We have come to the end of Unit 3 in Language Arts, so next week we will be assessing the skills we have learned. There will be a section on reading comprehension, a section on writing skills, a section on grammar and the children will be asked to write a paragraph.  We will do a little bit of the assessment each day so that it does not become overwhelming.
• In Math we are still working on Chapter 9: Properties and Equations. We are continuing to learn and practice the Distributive Property of Multiplication this week and we will move into multiplying more than two factors. 
• In Social Studies this week we will continue to talk about goods and services and producers and consumers.

Reminders:

• Current Events are due March 11, 2016
• Please remember your child's reading log is their homework so they should be filling out each time they read. Last week I had quite a few missing reading logs. When students bring in their reading log late they do not receive full credit.
• Keep practicing multiplication facts at home. We have approximately 6 students who have made it through all of their facts. If your child has been on a certain belt of facts for several weeks please make sure they are practicing at home, I have been sending home practice sheets each week for additional practice. 
• This week for spelling the children will be able to choose three activities to complete their practice, it will be due on Thursday.
• No vocabulary words this week.       

February 5, 2016

This week we finished our Science unit on Matter. We celebrated by having a root beer float that contains all three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. Next week we will be moving on to a Social Studies unit about Economics. Don't forget current events are due by March 11.

Originally I had scheduled a unit test for Math on Area and Perimeter for Monday, February 8, however, we needed to work on some topics for a little longer so that the students had a good understanding of the concepts. Using the Distributive Property to find Area and finding the Area of composite shapes were two challenging concepts. I am going to give the students homework in these two areas over the weekend to give them more practice and keep it fresh in their minds. That being said, I have rescheduled the assessment for this Math chapter on Area and Perimeter for Wednesday, February 10.

This week I sent home a Kick It sheet with each student so that they could practice their multiplication facts at home as well as at school. Becoming more proficient with their math facts and building their math fluency  will be helpful to them as we move on to additional math units and skills. So keep practicing at home. 

In ELA we will be moving on to the next chapter in this unit and we will be working on those skills for two weeks. Since we will have Friday off and Monday off I don't feel that one week (four days) would be enough time to concentrate on the concepts in this chapter so we will be working on this chapter for two weeks. So I have adjusted the spelling test and vocabulary test to reflect this. 

Our Valentine's Day party will be on February 11th in the afternoon. If your child is going to pass out Valentine's Day cards please make sure that they bring in one for every child in the class, we currently have 20 students in the class. They will also need to bring in something to put the Valentine's Day cards they receive in, this can be something they make or something as simple as a gift bag. Please have your child bring in both of these items on February 11th, the day of the party.

Important dates:
February 10-Math Assessment Area and Perimeter
February 11-Valentine's Day Party
February 11-Spelling Test, Spelling Packet and Reading Log due for the week.
February 12-No School
February 15-No School
February 18-Vocabulary Test
February 19-Reading Chapter Test
February 25th-COSI visits the school
March 11-Current Events Due

As evidence that your child read this newsletter if they bring in the words "Happy Valentine's Day" written on a small piece of paper with their name and quietly place it on my desk they will earn a small reward. 

January 29, 2015

We are continuing to learn about the various properties of matter as well as learning how to measure mass and volume. At the end of the last week we did a Root Beer Float experiment demonstrating the three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. This week we did a lab to determine the mass of given objects and a lab to determine the volume of given objects. We will have a quiz about mass on Monday and a quiz about volume on Wednesday. These quizzes will be good review and practice for their test. We will be wrapping up our matter unit next week and will have our final test on this unit next Friday.

In Math we are continuing to work on finding Area and Perimeter. This week we have spent several days learning and understanding how to use the distributive property to calculate area. We are going to move on to determining the area of composite shapes and then will revisit distributive property more before our unit test. Next week we will have a Check My Progress quiz to demonstrate our knowledge of this unit so far. On Monday, February 8th we will have our unit test on Area and Perimeter.

During the month of February students will vote on what chapter books we will read for our read aloud time in honor of Black History Month. I have a few I have gotten from the library but they also had some input regarding some other influential figures they would like to read about so I will be looking for those books also. 

In each student's Friday Folder is a review sheet of the classroom expectations. Now that we have finished the first semester of third grade it is a good idea to touch base regarding these expectations as we move to the second semester. Please review these with your child and then sign and return the bottom portion.

Reminders:

• Please continue to practice multiplication facts, it makes calculating area easier for the students when they know their facts.
• Don't forget to practice vocabulary and spelling words at home.
• We have snack daily at school at the end of the day, I have many students saying before lunch and after recess that they are still hungry and want to eat their snack. Please make sure that students are eating a good healthy breakfast that will get them through the morning and that if they pack their lunch they have enough in their lunch that will get them through the afternoon until snack time. 

January 19, 2015

We are continuing to work on area and perimeter in class. It will be helpful as we continue through this unit if students continue to practice their multiplication facts at home, we practice them daily through Kick It and have a timed test on Friday. Each student practices and takes their Kick It timed test at the current belt level they are on.

Matter continues to be our topic in Science. Last week we did an experiment with PopRocks, balloons, Diet Coke, Sprite and water. Please ask your child how we did it and what happened. We are working on another matter assignment using technology to make a pie chart to graph the results of observations. In the classroom we are going to begin putting together a Google Slide show about matter to demonstrate our understanding. 

In ELA we will be revisiting Main Idea and details through several expository texts. On Tuesday we read Martin's Big Words, a story about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We completed a graphic organizer together which detailed the topic, main idea and the details that supported the main idea. We also watched a portion of a video of his "I have a dream" speech and we were able to make some connections with the chapter biography book we are reading Who Was Abraham Lincoln. This Friday (1/22) we will have the spelling test and the vocabulary text will be next Thursday (1/28).

Reminders:

• Report cards will come home on Friday.
• Reading logs are due every Friday and will no longer be accepted after that date.
• Current events for this quarter are due by March 11. A new copy of the current event form will come home this Friday in Friday folders. 

Enjoy the week and stay warm!

January 8, 2016

Next week we have classroom assessments, I wanted to provide you with a schedule of the dates and types of assessments.

• Monday, January 11-students will be writing an opinion paragraph utilizing text that is given to them. They will prepare a rough draft and a final draft to turn in during class. The students will use a graphic organizer that they have used in the past and the structure is familiar to them.
• Wednesday, January 13th the students will be completing their reading assessment regarding cause/effect, idioms and prefixes.
• Thursday, January 14th we will have our vocabulary quiz and during the week we will be participating in some review games in preparation for it. We will also have a Check My Progress quiz in Math regarding perimeter and area. We have worked on perimeter this week and will be completing area before their quiz.

This week in your student's Friday Folder there is a Matter activity that they need to complete at home and return to school on Wednesday, January 13, 2016. That day we will participate as a class being scientists and detectives to use the clues provided to determine what the object is hiding in the bag using the clues that are provided. We will also participate in at least two science experiments that help us delve deeper into the States of Matter.

The students are also working on setting goals for the New Year in the areas or reading, math, writing and behavior. They are also recalling some of their favorite memories of 2015 and looking ahead to something they would like to do in 2016.

As a reminder:

• Reading logs are due every Friday. I will no longer accept reading logs that are turned in after Friday for the previous week. This is causing confusion regarding dates the reading log needs to include and which week they are completing it for. In addition if students turn in all of their reading logs for the month they will earn a Book It certificate which entitles them to a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut.
• Spelling packets are due every Thursday and therefore will no longer be accepted after Thursday.
• The second grading period ends on January 14th.
• No school January 15th and 18th.

If you have any questions regarding next week's activities please feel free to contact me. 

January 4, 2016

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season. It seems that with the start of a new year the weather that we typically have in January has begun. Please make sure to send your child in with the appropriate outerwear (labeled with their names) including: hats, scarves, gloves/mittens and boots.

As we return to school we are turning our focus to Historical Fiction and Biographies in ELA. We will be working on cause and effect through a variety of different text structures. We are going to concentrate on this unit for two weeks so that will change our vocabulary and spelling word assessments. This week we have our spelling test on Friday and we will have our vocabulary text next Thursday. The extra time will allow us to explore the meaning of the vocabulary words through the context of several stories. We will not have a spelling packet or spelling words next week but we will continue to practice the word list.

In Math we are moving on to the study of Perimeter and Area for at least the next two weeks. Today we began with perimeter and used several real life examples for the students to begin thinking about how to problem solve perimeter. We also began a vocabulary flap page that we placed in their JAM. As we continue this unit we will add to the definitions on this page.

In Science we are going to begin the study of States of Matter. We began today by constructing their flap book which they will put definitions and examples of the states of matter. We also made predictions about what would happen to a balloon filled with water if we put it outside in freezing temperatures. We will be able to see which of the predictions were accurate as the temperatures outside drop.

Please remember that our day for library is on Wednesday, have your child bring their library books to school to return them on that day. If they finish with them early I have a library basket in the classroom that they can place their books in so that they are already here for library on Wednesday.

I am so excited to announce that everyone in our class earned Bee Your Best Certificates for the month of December and received  a winter pencil and sticker for displaying their best behavior.