Well April school days are officially behind us and wow, was today a quick end to the week and the month!
This morning we read our story, Poppa's New Pants again to remind ourselves what happened in the story and review our vocabulary words for the week. Then we took a vocabulary and comprehension quiz to see how well we remembered those words. Great job on the quiz, third graders!
Today we also had a quiz over our atlas information that we have been working on lately. This group of third graders is really into maps and mapping. They are fascinated by the world around them and to see how close and how far away everything seems. I love doing maps and geography too, so it makes things entertaining for the both of us. I have always liked learning about the similarities and differences between different cultures and communities around the world. The class is really starting to realize that around the world things are very different from Wolf Point. It is important to me to make sure that students realize that things are different... not better or worse necessarily, just different. We need to recognize our differences and celebrate them, but also not judge those things that make us different but find the common ground that brings us together.
We found out that we also got 2 more projects funded on www.donorschoose.org. Thank you so much to our generous donors and their support for our classroom. Within the next week or so we should be getting glue, pencils, a pencil sharpener, erasers, magnetic letters, phonics flip books, CD players, books, and books on CD! Wow! That is an amazing amount of materials to get for free to our school and our classroom! I can't wait to get everything and let the students try it out! I will post pictures as soon as we get the new materials!
As I told the students today, I will not be here on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday because I am going out of town. They will have a sub but I will be checking in on them to make sure that they are doing their best and working hard, even when I am not there. I have a REALLY fun event planned for Thursday is EVERYONE is doing their best and working hard for the substitute teacher. I really hope we get to have this fun event! Work hard, third graders, and make me proud!
See you Thursday morning!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
A Serious Case of the Giggles!
Well today was a pretty good day with a lot of hard work. This afternoon the class, myself included, had a fit of giggling about something we can't even remember why! It was a good laugh that I think we all needed. :)
Today we worked hard reading our leveled books in centers and summarizing our favorite one. Most students chose Tall Tony about a students who gets tired of being so tall until he starts playing basketball, and The Dive about a girl who gets invited to a pool party, but cannot dive! I was impressed with how well the students summarized and really could identify the problem and solution in the book, which is something we have been working on lately in class. We also worked some more on our phonics to improve our reading and writing as much as we can before fourth grades comes. Today we worked on hard long vowel sounds that are trickier to spell and read. Everyone did a great job reading and writing these difficult sounds!
This afternoon we worked more on our science unit about the human body and continued our look at the digestive system. Today we focused on teeth and nutrition. We talked about the new pyramid and the five food groups, plus the one for oils and fats. Everyone did a great job of naming foods that could go in each group! Great job!
Tomorrow will be our last day in April for 2010 (can you believe it!). If the weather is nice we are going to be doing our school clean sweep so my fingers are crossed for good weather, though I have to admit, I wouldn't mind some of this rain they keep predicting and moving back. As a Washington native, I am not used to springs that are this dry! :)
Assignments due Friday are the following:
Today we worked hard reading our leveled books in centers and summarizing our favorite one. Most students chose Tall Tony about a students who gets tired of being so tall until he starts playing basketball, and The Dive about a girl who gets invited to a pool party, but cannot dive! I was impressed with how well the students summarized and really could identify the problem and solution in the book, which is something we have been working on lately in class. We also worked some more on our phonics to improve our reading and writing as much as we can before fourth grades comes. Today we worked on hard long vowel sounds that are trickier to spell and read. Everyone did a great job reading and writing these difficult sounds!
This afternoon we worked more on our science unit about the human body and continued our look at the digestive system. Today we focused on teeth and nutrition. We talked about the new pyramid and the five food groups, plus the one for oils and fats. Everyone did a great job of naming foods that could go in each group! Great job!
Tomorrow will be our last day in April for 2010 (can you believe it!). If the weather is nice we are going to be doing our school clean sweep so my fingers are crossed for good weather, though I have to admit, I wouldn't mind some of this rain they keep predicting and moving back. As a Washington native, I am not used to springs that are this dry! :)
Assignments due Friday are the following:
- Workbook packet pages
- Free-writing
- Spelling contract, with 2 activities completed
- Workbook page 57-59
- Phonics page 45-48
I realize it sounds like an awful lot but the students have been working on the first three items on the list since Monday so those should be mostly (if not completely) done. The workbook and phonics pages are things that we worked on today in class and most of the students got done during the work time or the "study hall" work time the students had.
Great job everyone on bringing in ALL of their homework today! That hasn't happened in a LONG time! I am super proud of you and keep up that great work!
Spelling quiz tomorrow so study hard! See you tomorrow!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The Power is Back but It's Dark Outside!
Well we were back today (thank goodness) and it was business as usual. I thought the students might be a bit wiggly since they had that free day off but they picked up right where we left off! I was very impressed!
Grades will be coming home later this week so keep an eye out for those if your student didn't already show you the copy they have.
Today we spent some time adding another poem to our Poetry Notebook. The poem was called "My Tongue is Tasting Terrible" by Jack Prelutsky. It is about a kid that ate a variety of very "tasty" items and his tongue now tastes terrible and he's not sure why! Some things he ate were pickled snake, hippo chips, onion ice cream, and rhinoceros tofu, among others. Yikes! No wonder his tongue is not very appetizing!
We also learned a little bit more about the Oregon Trail and are preparing to depart from Independence, Missouri on Friday! Tomorrow we will take a look at the food pyramid and learn about different food groups and what foods are healthy for us during science. I can't wait! I love the food pyramid, even if the new version is a little harder to read. If you want to see the updated copy head over to www.mypyramid.gov and take a look! It isn't the same block look like they had when we were growing up, even though it tells similar information.
Homework today (for students who didn't finish in class) is Workbook pages 225-226, Phonics page 33-36 and reading Little House Chapter 4. Make sure you have it all tomorrow morning and we will see you then!
Have a great evening and don't get blown over by these intense winds!
Grades will be coming home later this week so keep an eye out for those if your student didn't already show you the copy they have.
Today we spent some time adding another poem to our Poetry Notebook. The poem was called "My Tongue is Tasting Terrible" by Jack Prelutsky. It is about a kid that ate a variety of very "tasty" items and his tongue now tastes terrible and he's not sure why! Some things he ate were pickled snake, hippo chips, onion ice cream, and rhinoceros tofu, among others. Yikes! No wonder his tongue is not very appetizing!
We also learned a little bit more about the Oregon Trail and are preparing to depart from Independence, Missouri on Friday! Tomorrow we will take a look at the food pyramid and learn about different food groups and what foods are healthy for us during science. I can't wait! I love the food pyramid, even if the new version is a little harder to read. If you want to see the updated copy head over to www.mypyramid.gov and take a look! It isn't the same block look like they had when we were growing up, even though it tells similar information.
Homework today (for students who didn't finish in class) is Workbook pages 225-226, Phonics page 33-36 and reading Little House Chapter 4. Make sure you have it all tomorrow morning and we will see you then!
Have a great evening and don't get blown over by these intense winds!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
No Power!
Well today was a surprise day off for everyone! The power was out here at the school until early after school started so school got cancelled. This gives everyone an extra day of rest and an extra day to get their homework done (hint, hint!). :)
I will see you bright and early tomorrow with everyone ready to work hard!
Enjoy your day off!
I will see you bright and early tomorrow with everyone ready to work hard!
Enjoy your day off!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Infected with the Giggles!
Well this morning everyone started off very slow and sleepy. Those Monday mornings are hard, especially when the weather was as dreary as it was today! We were a little sluggish this morning, which made some students have a little bit of extra homework tonight since they didn't get their classwork finished on time.
After lunch the class definitely made up for that sluggish morning we had by giggling nonstop nearly the entire afternoon, especially after recess! Wow!
During our time for math, our centers were cut short because of the lack of focus from many students which made us have extra work. It is a bummer when students aren't ready to focus, but then they pay the consequences of those actions. As a teacher, I believe this is an important lesson to learn early on in life. Students need to understand that for every action you pay consequences, whether those are positive or negative. I try to structure my classroom in a way that reflects that idea. When students are behaving extra nice, they will get a fun activity to do. However, when students aren't paying attention and start not listen or follow directions, it is important that they learn there are negative consequences to those actions as well. It has really been working fairly well so far.
This afternoon we decided what materials we were going to take with us on the Oregon Trail and prepared to depart from Independence, Missouri this week. We also had some time to work on the digestive system packet of activities from last week.
Tonight students have to read their Little House on the Prairie book through chapter 3, Workbook pages 21-23, and Workbook pages 125-127. Make sure that homework comes back tomorrow so no one has to spend recess time with me! See you tomorrow!
After lunch the class definitely made up for that sluggish morning we had by giggling nonstop nearly the entire afternoon, especially after recess! Wow!
During our time for math, our centers were cut short because of the lack of focus from many students which made us have extra work. It is a bummer when students aren't ready to focus, but then they pay the consequences of those actions. As a teacher, I believe this is an important lesson to learn early on in life. Students need to understand that for every action you pay consequences, whether those are positive or negative. I try to structure my classroom in a way that reflects that idea. When students are behaving extra nice, they will get a fun activity to do. However, when students aren't paying attention and start not listen or follow directions, it is important that they learn there are negative consequences to those actions as well. It has really been working fairly well so far.
This afternoon we decided what materials we were going to take with us on the Oregon Trail and prepared to depart from Independence, Missouri this week. We also had some time to work on the digestive system packet of activities from last week.
Tonight students have to read their Little House on the Prairie book through chapter 3, Workbook pages 21-23, and Workbook pages 125-127. Make sure that homework comes back tomorrow so no one has to spend recess time with me! See you tomorrow!
New Spelling Words for April 26-30
Well we are quickly coming to the end of the school year! I can't believe May is next week! Wow! Well here are the new spelling words for the week of April 26 to 30th. This week the general words are words that have double consonant letters (like tt, ss, ll, etc.)
The whole class words are:
pretty better blizzard blossom buzzard
button cabbage cottage fellow foggy
follow common mammal message office
pattern tunnel tennis valley hollow
dessert
The Challenge words for IB, CB, EU, JH, and KK are:
culture capture creature fracture gesture injure
nurture sculpture texture torture venture departure
adventure immature moisture pasture furniture miniature
premature signature posture
All of these words have the -ture at the end of them.
Good luck with the spelling words this week! Keep studying so we can get those grades up!
Midterms will be coming home later this week but feel free to call or email if you want the grades sooner!
The whole class words are:
pretty better blizzard blossom buzzard
button cabbage cottage fellow foggy
follow common mammal message office
pattern tunnel tennis valley hollow
dessert
The Challenge words for IB, CB, EU, JH, and KK are:
culture capture creature fracture gesture injure
nurture sculpture texture torture venture departure
adventure immature moisture pasture furniture miniature
premature signature posture
All of these words have the -ture at the end of them.
Good luck with the spelling words this week! Keep studying so we can get those grades up!
Midterms will be coming home later this week but feel free to call or email if you want the grades sooner!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Rain!
Well today had weather drastically different from the rest of the week! Wow! The rain (or little sprinkles we had) we a nice change and it kept things a lot cooler. It was nice!
Today was definitely a day of quizzes and hard work! I was very impressed with the hard work that was put in today. Nice work, third grade!
Today we were supposed to do our school-wide clean sweep, but it got cancelled for the day due to the sprinkly weather. We will most likely make it up next week sometime.
This weekend I hope you all have a great time and hopefully the weather turns a little better so you can enjoy some outdoors time! Have a great weekend!
P.S. Happy Birthday, Paisley!
Today was definitely a day of quizzes and hard work! I was very impressed with the hard work that was put in today. Nice work, third grade!
Today we were supposed to do our school-wide clean sweep, but it got cancelled for the day due to the sprinkly weather. We will most likely make it up next week sometime.
This weekend I hope you all have a great time and hopefully the weather turns a little better so you can enjoy some outdoors time! Have a great weekend!
P.S. Happy Birthday, Paisley!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
It's Getting Warmer in Here!
Well we had another day of gorgeous weather which is definitely a welcome change from the frigit winter we had. I am very glad for that! Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy though so make sure we dress for the weather!
Today we spent more time reviewing our story for the week, called Pepita Talks Twice. It is such a great story that has the wonderful message that students should be proud of who they are and it is an excellent thing to have more than one language that you speak! Maybe it even inspired some of the students to learn Spanish! Fingers crossed!
We also had time to read more of the book we are reading as a class, Little House on the Prairie. So far it is really good and it's giving the students a great idea of what life on the Oregon Trail was like for the brave pioneers that headed west.
Tomorrow the students have quite a few things due, though the have had every day to work on them in class AND have had extra time today as a study hall. Tomorrow students are going to turn in their sentence packet, 2 magazine writings, their spelling contract with 2 activities completed, Workbook pages 177-179, and Little House Chapter 2 read. It sounds like a lot but as I said before, most of the students only had one thing to take home today if they were working well during their work time.
Tomorrow students have a spelling quiz so make sure you study hard for that! Tomorrow is also the end of the midterm so on Monday students will get their midterm grades in class, and they will be mailed home like usual too. Some students need to work harder on getting that homework in on time!
Have a great evening, rest, get plenty of sleep and enjoy the beautiful weather! See you tomorrow!
Today we spent more time reviewing our story for the week, called Pepita Talks Twice. It is such a great story that has the wonderful message that students should be proud of who they are and it is an excellent thing to have more than one language that you speak! Maybe it even inspired some of the students to learn Spanish! Fingers crossed!
We also had time to read more of the book we are reading as a class, Little House on the Prairie. So far it is really good and it's giving the students a great idea of what life on the Oregon Trail was like for the brave pioneers that headed west.
Tomorrow the students have quite a few things due, though the have had every day to work on them in class AND have had extra time today as a study hall. Tomorrow students are going to turn in their sentence packet, 2 magazine writings, their spelling contract with 2 activities completed, Workbook pages 177-179, and Little House Chapter 2 read. It sounds like a lot but as I said before, most of the students only had one thing to take home today if they were working well during their work time.
Tomorrow students have a spelling quiz so make sure you study hard for that! Tomorrow is also the end of the midterm so on Monday students will get their midterm grades in class, and they will be mailed home like usual too. Some students need to work harder on getting that homework in on time!
Have a great evening, rest, get plenty of sleep and enjoy the beautiful weather! See you tomorrow!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Mile Run and Traveling to Planet 51!
Today all of third grade did their mile-run outside. We couldn't have asked for better weather for the mile run today. I even went outside and participated right along with everyone! It was nice to get that exercise time in! Everyone in the class finished in 13 minutes or less which is awesome, considering it was their first time! Great work third grade!
Today we had our spirit award party and it was a lot of fun! We had SO many treats (thank you families that donated!) and so it was good that we had worked off those calories on the mile run! We had chips, two different cupcakes, two different brownies, grapes, chips, pretzels, and cookies! Wow! If you have some sugared-up children tonight, that is why! :)
Keep up the great work and keep working hard. I know it's getting harder, as the weather gets nicer, but it is important you know that school is still important and school still comes first. Hard work at school means less homework and more play time outside! See you tomorrow!
Today we had our spirit award party and it was a lot of fun! We had SO many treats (thank you families that donated!) and so it was good that we had worked off those calories on the mile run! We had chips, two different cupcakes, two different brownies, grapes, chips, pretzels, and cookies! Wow! If you have some sugared-up children tonight, that is why! :)
Keep up the great work and keep working hard. I know it's getting harder, as the weather gets nicer, but it is important you know that school is still important and school still comes first. Hard work at school means less homework and more play time outside! See you tomorrow!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Pioneers AND Pilgrims
Well today was a day of a lot of learning and filled with new things!
We started with the morning our new story for the week, called "Pepita Talks Twice". This is hands-down one of my favorite stories for the year because it is in both Spanish and English. The top of the pages are written in English and the bottom half of the pages are written in Spanish, though both of the paragraphs say identical things. Spanish is one of my passions so I was very excited to see this story. The students were also VERY excited to hear me read the story in Spanish, too! The story talks about how there is a girl who is bilingual because she can speak Spanish and English. As a result, the people in her neighborhood always want her to translate for them and she decides to never speak Spanish again. Eventually she learns to see the value of speaking both languages! This week our vocabulary words are mostly Spanish words that have been adopted into the English language, like tortilla, salsa, enchilada, and tamale. I can't wait to help us learn more words in Spanish!
This afternoon we started our newest pocketbook about the American Colonies and colonial life. The students have been asking me all about the 13 original colonies and what life was like back during that time, so I thought now would be the perfect time to introduce the students to this historic life! They are really interested in Pilgrims and why they came to America, which is awesome!
We also started another social studies unit of study in our afternoons about the Oregon Trail! This is absolutely one of my favorite topics in history and I always loved learning about it when I was their age. The students came into new seats and a map of our journey on the Oregon Trail on the window and were instantly hooked! They are in groups of 3-4 students what will be their wagon train for the long journey. We will be working in these groups through the end of the year while we make our way from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon. Today we just got a brief introduction to the trail and chose our pioneer identities! Boy, did we get a good giggle out of that! Next time we travel the trail, we will be deciding what supplies we need for the 3 month journey across the country. I can't wait to see how everyone spends their money!
As a reminder, book orders are due this Thursday, on April 22nd so make sure you have those in by the end of the day, either online or in paper. Field trip forms need to be turned in by May 19th. I currently have forms from JH, PF, and EZ. Great job for getting it in right away! Lastly, the spirit movie afternoon is Wednesday afternoon. If you are interested in bringing snacks, you are welcome to do so and our movie will start at 2:15. Tomorrow we will vote on the movie we will watch.
Have a great evening and enjoy the beautiful weather!
We started with the morning our new story for the week, called "Pepita Talks Twice". This is hands-down one of my favorite stories for the year because it is in both Spanish and English. The top of the pages are written in English and the bottom half of the pages are written in Spanish, though both of the paragraphs say identical things. Spanish is one of my passions so I was very excited to see this story. The students were also VERY excited to hear me read the story in Spanish, too! The story talks about how there is a girl who is bilingual because she can speak Spanish and English. As a result, the people in her neighborhood always want her to translate for them and she decides to never speak Spanish again. Eventually she learns to see the value of speaking both languages! This week our vocabulary words are mostly Spanish words that have been adopted into the English language, like tortilla, salsa, enchilada, and tamale. I can't wait to help us learn more words in Spanish!
This afternoon we started our newest pocketbook about the American Colonies and colonial life. The students have been asking me all about the 13 original colonies and what life was like back during that time, so I thought now would be the perfect time to introduce the students to this historic life! They are really interested in Pilgrims and why they came to America, which is awesome!
We also started another social studies unit of study in our afternoons about the Oregon Trail! This is absolutely one of my favorite topics in history and I always loved learning about it when I was their age. The students came into new seats and a map of our journey on the Oregon Trail on the window and were instantly hooked! They are in groups of 3-4 students what will be their wagon train for the long journey. We will be working in these groups through the end of the year while we make our way from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon. Today we just got a brief introduction to the trail and chose our pioneer identities! Boy, did we get a good giggle out of that! Next time we travel the trail, we will be deciding what supplies we need for the 3 month journey across the country. I can't wait to see how everyone spends their money!
As a reminder, book orders are due this Thursday, on April 22nd so make sure you have those in by the end of the day, either online or in paper. Field trip forms need to be turned in by May 19th. I currently have forms from JH, PF, and EZ. Great job for getting it in right away! Lastly, the spirit movie afternoon is Wednesday afternoon. If you are interested in bringing snacks, you are welcome to do so and our movie will start at 2:15. Tomorrow we will vote on the movie we will watch.
Have a great evening and enjoy the beautiful weather!
Spelling for April 19 - 23rd
Here is what you have all been waiting for... new spelling words! (Maybe I am the only excited one. :))
Here are the whole class words:
disagree dishonest unwrap unhappy unripe
undo disappear uncomfortable misbehave misspell
mistake misuse incorrect unfold imperfect
incomplete improper untrue imprecise disable
As you can see, we are still focusing on prefixes this week. Our prefixes are un (meaning not or opposite), dis (meaning not), mis (meaning not), im (meaning not), and in (meaning not). Hmm... I am sensing a theme there! :)
The challenge words are for EU:
acknowledge cooperate utilize advocate
differentiate empirical hierarchy paradigm
successor ambiguous appreciate contradict
crucial denote deviate exploit
implicit radical schedule sphere
Study hard this week for these words and make sure you are working hard on the spelling contract which is due Friday, as usual. Also, keep in mind that your book reports for your book club books are due on Wednesday morning so make sure you are working hard on those! You will have today and tomorrow in class so make that time count!
Here are the whole class words:
disagree dishonest unwrap unhappy unripe
undo disappear uncomfortable misbehave misspell
mistake misuse incorrect unfold imperfect
incomplete improper untrue imprecise disable
As you can see, we are still focusing on prefixes this week. Our prefixes are un (meaning not or opposite), dis (meaning not), mis (meaning not), im (meaning not), and in (meaning not). Hmm... I am sensing a theme there! :)
The challenge words are for EU:
acknowledge cooperate utilize advocate
differentiate empirical hierarchy paradigm
successor ambiguous appreciate contradict
crucial denote deviate exploit
implicit radical schedule sphere
Study hard this week for these words and make sure you are working hard on the spelling contract which is due Friday, as usual. Also, keep in mind that your book reports for your book club books are due on Wednesday morning so make sure you are working hard on those! You will have today and tomorrow in class so make that time count!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Field Trip and Friday!
Today was a great end to the week. The morning started off a little bit rough with some grouchy attitudes but thankfully that quickly passed. I am hoping the sunshine outside helped us all have a good outlook for our day!
Today we finished a lot of projects which was a nice feeling! It shows how much hard work the students have put in during the past couple of weeks with all of the assignments. On Monday my goal is to have grades for the students to look at to see where they are right now in the quarter. Midterms are coming out at the end of this month and some students are going to get a rude awakening to see how poor their grades are. It's like every quarter when we go through the phase when several people stop turning in their homework and then are shocked to see their grades. I guess we need those reality checks to keep us going strong for the year.
Today Mrs. Goodman (the 4th grade teacher) and I also announced our field trip for the year.... we are going to Makoshika State Park in Glendive! If you want to have a sneak preview go to www.makoshika.org It is going to be really exciting. Students were sent home with their permission slips today for you to sign so they can return them. It is important that they are returned before May 19th which is the date of the field trip. The sooner you turn them in, the sooner it's off your mind though, so get them in early!
As for the field trip, it will be an all-day event where we are leaving as soon as school starts (bus leaves the parking lot at 8:10) and we will arrive just before the buses are leaving. It is VERY IMPORTANT that your student is here ON TIME. We will leave students behind if they are not there on time, which is a bummer since they won't get to experience the trip with the rest of us! Students do need to bring a sack lunch since lunch from the school is not an option. There is a visitor center gift shop if students want to bring money to buy a souvenir, though that is not required. There will be a lot of walking and hiking during the field trip so make sure your student is wearing comfortable shoes, hats or sunglasses if they need them, and wearing layers so as the weather gets nicer they aren't super warm. If you are interested in being a shaperone please send me an email or send a note with your student so we know who is interested.
I hope you all enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend and I will see you Monday morning!
Today we finished a lot of projects which was a nice feeling! It shows how much hard work the students have put in during the past couple of weeks with all of the assignments. On Monday my goal is to have grades for the students to look at to see where they are right now in the quarter. Midterms are coming out at the end of this month and some students are going to get a rude awakening to see how poor their grades are. It's like every quarter when we go through the phase when several people stop turning in their homework and then are shocked to see their grades. I guess we need those reality checks to keep us going strong for the year.
Today Mrs. Goodman (the 4th grade teacher) and I also announced our field trip for the year.... we are going to Makoshika State Park in Glendive! If you want to have a sneak preview go to www.makoshika.org It is going to be really exciting. Students were sent home with their permission slips today for you to sign so they can return them. It is important that they are returned before May 19th which is the date of the field trip. The sooner you turn them in, the sooner it's off your mind though, so get them in early!
As for the field trip, it will be an all-day event where we are leaving as soon as school starts (bus leaves the parking lot at 8:10) and we will arrive just before the buses are leaving. It is VERY IMPORTANT that your student is here ON TIME. We will leave students behind if they are not there on time, which is a bummer since they won't get to experience the trip with the rest of us! Students do need to bring a sack lunch since lunch from the school is not an option. There is a visitor center gift shop if students want to bring money to buy a souvenir, though that is not required. There will be a lot of walking and hiking during the field trip so make sure your student is wearing comfortable shoes, hats or sunglasses if they need them, and wearing layers so as the weather gets nicer they aren't super warm. If you are interested in being a shaperone please send me an email or send a note with your student so we know who is interested.
I hope you all enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend and I will see you Monday morning!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
A New Perspective
Today we started wrapping up a lot in our classroom. It's Thursday so the usual assignments are starting to wind down. This week, the students have a packet talking about the parts of speech that is due tomorrow, their spelling contract due tomorrow, and a small book that they wrote and illustrated due tomorrow. I can't wait to read the little books tomorrow as a group!
We also finished up our unit on fairy tales and folktales. It is sad to be finished with the unit but at the same time I am glad to be done with them. It will be nice to move onto a new topic. I am thinking about life in the colonies right now, but I am not sure! I guess we will find out on Monday!
This afternoon in art we did a lesson on creating a picture using a vanishing point. Students were given a packet with step-by-step instructions on how to create a picture with a vanishing point which we followed together. Next week, the students will have a chance to prove their artistic skills and show their ability to follow directions when they will create their own drawing without my help! Make me proud third graders! :)
Today your student will be coming home with a sign up sheet for snacks for next week. Our spirit award movie day is going to be next Wednesday (April 21st) in the afternoon. If you are interested in bringing snacks to share with 14 students please return the sheet with your student asap so we know what kinds of snacks are going to arrive on Wednesday. Feel free to bring snacks anytime on Wednesday, but please drop them off at the office rather than bringing them to our classroom since that is very disruptive during our lessons. The rest of our morning will be business as usual until after our afternoon recess. Next week we will be voting on the movie we will show in class. If you have a movie you would be willing to share with the class, have your student mention the title to me and we will check to make sure it is allowed at Frontier. Movies cannot have a rating of more than PG and must be child appropriate (no gore, killing, etc.).
Study for those spelling tests tomorrow and get all of your work done, for those of you who had to take things home. See you tomorrow, bright and early!
We also finished up our unit on fairy tales and folktales. It is sad to be finished with the unit but at the same time I am glad to be done with them. It will be nice to move onto a new topic. I am thinking about life in the colonies right now, but I am not sure! I guess we will find out on Monday!
This afternoon in art we did a lesson on creating a picture using a vanishing point. Students were given a packet with step-by-step instructions on how to create a picture with a vanishing point which we followed together. Next week, the students will have a chance to prove their artistic skills and show their ability to follow directions when they will create their own drawing without my help! Make me proud third graders! :)
Today your student will be coming home with a sign up sheet for snacks for next week. Our spirit award movie day is going to be next Wednesday (April 21st) in the afternoon. If you are interested in bringing snacks to share with 14 students please return the sheet with your student asap so we know what kinds of snacks are going to arrive on Wednesday. Feel free to bring snacks anytime on Wednesday, but please drop them off at the office rather than bringing them to our classroom since that is very disruptive during our lessons. The rest of our morning will be business as usual until after our afternoon recess. Next week we will be voting on the movie we will show in class. If you have a movie you would be willing to share with the class, have your student mention the title to me and we will check to make sure it is allowed at Frontier. Movies cannot have a rating of more than PG and must be child appropriate (no gore, killing, etc.).
Study for those spelling tests tomorrow and get all of your work done, for those of you who had to take things home. See you tomorrow, bright and early!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Spirit Awards
Today we got our 14th student (though 2 were sick so we still only had 12) and it was a nice change. Almost everyone did an excellent job getting the class ready and making Cole feel welcome as soon as he got to our class. Great job!
Today we continued our journey through the body systems by looking at the digestive system. For the next 2 weeks or so, we will be learning about the digestive system and having a nutrition and health unit. The students seem to really like these activities and have really enjoyed learning about the human body. Today they were especially giggly when we learned where the left-over food leaves the body. Oh goodness, did that turn everyone three shades of red and start the giggling! :)
In P.E. today students had the endurance run where there is a 20 minute time limit and students are asked to run as long as they can for that 20 minutes. Their running does not have to be at a full sprint but anything more than walking is fantastic. The third graders did an amazing job today with more than half of the class running for the FULL 20 minutes. Awesome work!
Today we also had time to vote for what our spirit award will be. As I mentioned earlier, our class won the spirit award for keeping our hallways and lunch area clean for 6 weeks (though not in a row). Great job for that award! So, our options were to have a movie and snack party, or to have a game day one afternoon next week. Almost unanimously everyone chose the movie day. So, next week we will be having a movie time and students voted to bring snacks to share. Tomorrow I will be sending home a note asking what kinds of snacks you would volunteer to bring if you chose to. There is no requirement to bring food to share, but if food is brought, there must be enough for 14 students to share, please.
Tomorrow we will continue reading and finish up our fairy tales and folk tales pocket books and continue studying for our spelling test on Friday. The word meaning seem to be pretty easy for students which I am very glad to see!
Get plenty of rest and drink plenty of water. See you tomorrow!
Today we continued our journey through the body systems by looking at the digestive system. For the next 2 weeks or so, we will be learning about the digestive system and having a nutrition and health unit. The students seem to really like these activities and have really enjoyed learning about the human body. Today they were especially giggly when we learned where the left-over food leaves the body. Oh goodness, did that turn everyone three shades of red and start the giggling! :)
In P.E. today students had the endurance run where there is a 20 minute time limit and students are asked to run as long as they can for that 20 minutes. Their running does not have to be at a full sprint but anything more than walking is fantastic. The third graders did an amazing job today with more than half of the class running for the FULL 20 minutes. Awesome work!
Today we also had time to vote for what our spirit award will be. As I mentioned earlier, our class won the spirit award for keeping our hallways and lunch area clean for 6 weeks (though not in a row). Great job for that award! So, our options were to have a movie and snack party, or to have a game day one afternoon next week. Almost unanimously everyone chose the movie day. So, next week we will be having a movie time and students voted to bring snacks to share. Tomorrow I will be sending home a note asking what kinds of snacks you would volunteer to bring if you chose to. There is no requirement to bring food to share, but if food is brought, there must be enough for 14 students to share, please.
Tomorrow we will continue reading and finish up our fairy tales and folk tales pocket books and continue studying for our spelling test on Friday. The word meaning seem to be pretty easy for students which I am very glad to see!
Get plenty of rest and drink plenty of water. See you tomorrow!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
And Cole Makes 14!
Good News! Tomorrow our class will be growing by one when we get our newest student named Cole. We are all really excited to meet him and can't wait to have a new friend in the school. Plus, now we are at 14 students which makes us at an even number. We couldn't be happier! :)
Today we finished our look at the muscular system in the body. To do so, the students completed 7 different activities and had to identify which muscles they were using to do them. Some of the activities were a basic crunch, lifting a can of soup, or even getting on their tippy toes! The students did a great job and it was definitely fun to watch! :)
Today we also started our book reports for the book club books we have been reading. These book reports will be worked on at school every day and will probably be due Monday or Tuesday of next week, depending on how things go tomorrow when we really start talking about the projects themselves.
Tonight for homework students have phonics workbook pages, if they did not finish that in class, and a practice vocabulary packet.
Next week (as a sneak preview) we will be starting a new social studies unit of study about the pioneer life and Westward Expansion. I can't wait to start this unit since it's one of my favorite lessons in school!
Lastly, congratulations third graders for being the cleanest elementary classroom again this week! We won and completed out SPIRIT letters and we get our reward next week. What is the reward? Well come bright and early tomorrow morning and we will be discussing and voting on our reward! :) See you tomorrow!
Today we finished our look at the muscular system in the body. To do so, the students completed 7 different activities and had to identify which muscles they were using to do them. Some of the activities were a basic crunch, lifting a can of soup, or even getting on their tippy toes! The students did a great job and it was definitely fun to watch! :)
Today we also started our book reports for the book club books we have been reading. These book reports will be worked on at school every day and will probably be due Monday or Tuesday of next week, depending on how things go tomorrow when we really start talking about the projects themselves.
Tonight for homework students have phonics workbook pages, if they did not finish that in class, and a practice vocabulary packet.
Next week (as a sneak preview) we will be starting a new social studies unit of study about the pioneer life and Westward Expansion. I can't wait to start this unit since it's one of my favorite lessons in school!
Lastly, congratulations third graders for being the cleanest elementary classroom again this week! We won and completed out SPIRIT letters and we get our reward next week. What is the reward? Well come bright and early tomorrow morning and we will be discussing and voting on our reward! :) See you tomorrow!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Spelling for April 12 - 16
Here are the spelling words for the class this week. They are all words with prefixes! This week we will be looking at words that have the prefix re- (which means again), non- (which means not or wrong), and the prefix mis- (which means wrong).
reapply rearrange recolor misunderstand mismatch
misbehave misprint repay retook rediscover
miscalculate misfire nonfiction nonprofit
recount reselect reheat nonfat nonhuman
nontoxic nonliving
The challenge words for EU and KK are also following those prefix patterns but are more challenging words either with spelling or meaning.
nonabsorbent nonexplosive nonflammable nonreflective
nonadhesive misaddressing misclassify miscommunication
miscomprehension misestimate recapture reunion
restructure refinance reappear rebuild
recommend rephrase reinforce mispronounce
mischief
Study hard! Your spelling contracts are due on Friday (like usual) and you will have your spelling test on Friday (just like every week!). We are getting toward the end of the year so make sure we are all trying our best and keeping our grades as high as we can! :)
reapply rearrange recolor misunderstand mismatch
misbehave misprint repay retook rediscover
miscalculate misfire nonfiction nonprofit
recount reselect reheat nonfat nonhuman
nontoxic nonliving
The challenge words for EU and KK are also following those prefix patterns but are more challenging words either with spelling or meaning.
nonabsorbent nonexplosive nonflammable nonreflective
nonadhesive misaddressing misclassify miscommunication
miscomprehension misestimate recapture reunion
restructure refinance reappear rebuild
recommend rephrase reinforce mispronounce
mischief
Study hard! Your spelling contracts are due on Friday (like usual) and you will have your spelling test on Friday (just like every week!). We are getting toward the end of the year so make sure we are all trying our best and keeping our grades as high as we can! :)
Friday, April 9, 2010
Free Time Friday
Well what an end to our week! This was a quick week overall! That extra day off sure does make a difference.
We spent time this morning reading and doing our atlas and spelling quizzes. The students are really enjoying the geography work we are doing with the atlases and are doing very well!
We had class store today as well since it has been a very long time since we have done it last. It was nice to have last weekend to get out of town and buy some more supplies for the store. They went over very well!
This afternoon the students had their free time that they earned by having everyone in the class pass their +3,4,5 addition facts. Great job third graders! Our next goal is getting closer and closer so keep practicing. Today students have new multiplication and division flashcards to practice those facts at home. It is important that they are building those skills now so that they can thrive in the future!
Have a great weekend. Get plenty of rest, relax, read, enjoy the outdoors with the nice weather, and we will see you Monday morning!
We spent time this morning reading and doing our atlas and spelling quizzes. The students are really enjoying the geography work we are doing with the atlases and are doing very well!
We had class store today as well since it has been a very long time since we have done it last. It was nice to have last weekend to get out of town and buy some more supplies for the store. They went over very well!
This afternoon the students had their free time that they earned by having everyone in the class pass their +3,4,5 addition facts. Great job third graders! Our next goal is getting closer and closer so keep practicing. Today students have new multiplication and division flashcards to practice those facts at home. It is important that they are building those skills now so that they can thrive in the future!
Have a great weekend. Get plenty of rest, relax, read, enjoy the outdoors with the nice weather, and we will see you Monday morning!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Spring Cleaning
Today we had some time for spring cleaning where our classroom looks very different.... and somewhat empty!
As a note to parents, at Frontier there have been a couple of students found with head lice. To make sure that we are doing everything to avoid the spread, students are going to keep their coats in their backpacks when they get to school. Additionally, students are not going to share coats, hats, brushes, or other personal items with one another. All of the carpets, pillows, and blankets from my classroom are removed now (hence why things look somewhat empty!) and so that will help lessen the spread of lice as much as possible. I even got a new teacher chair that is plastic instead of fabric to give the little creatures less of an opportunity to like our classroom. Adult head lice generally will not survive more than 24 hours off of their human host so our spring cleaning is a preventative measure to make sure the lice have nothing to hang onto. If you are looking for more information on symptoms, treatments and more, log onto www.headlice.org to get more detailed information.
Today students have a lot of work to finish that is due tomorrow, however, students were given at least 30 minutes every day to work on the assignments and many students are done with them all. The things that are due tomorrow are the spelling contract (and you have a spelling test tomorrow so study hard!), the hard and soft c packet, the women's suffrage map packet, and the squiggle writing. As I have mentioned before, we are getting ready for fourth grade so expectations are higher than they were at the beginning of the year. I know ALL of these students are capable of meeting and exceeding these expectations as long as they are working to their fullest abilities. Students working to their highest potential is all I can ever ask for!
Have great evenings, work hard, and get ready for tomorrow with a little surprise! :)
As a note to parents, at Frontier there have been a couple of students found with head lice. To make sure that we are doing everything to avoid the spread, students are going to keep their coats in their backpacks when they get to school. Additionally, students are not going to share coats, hats, brushes, or other personal items with one another. All of the carpets, pillows, and blankets from my classroom are removed now (hence why things look somewhat empty!) and so that will help lessen the spread of lice as much as possible. I even got a new teacher chair that is plastic instead of fabric to give the little creatures less of an opportunity to like our classroom. Adult head lice generally will not survive more than 24 hours off of their human host so our spring cleaning is a preventative measure to make sure the lice have nothing to hang onto. If you are looking for more information on symptoms, treatments and more, log onto www.headlice.org to get more detailed information.
Today students have a lot of work to finish that is due tomorrow, however, students were given at least 30 minutes every day to work on the assignments and many students are done with them all. The things that are due tomorrow are the spelling contract (and you have a spelling test tomorrow so study hard!), the hard and soft c packet, the women's suffrage map packet, and the squiggle writing. As I have mentioned before, we are getting ready for fourth grade so expectations are higher than they were at the beginning of the year. I know ALL of these students are capable of meeting and exceeding these expectations as long as they are working to their fullest abilities. Students working to their highest potential is all I can ever ask for!
Have great evenings, work hard, and get ready for tomorrow with a little surprise! :)
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Women's Suffrage and Donor's Choose
Today we continued our study of women's suffrage history by coloring in maps of the countries we researched. It was a great test of geography skills since we have been studying the different continents lately in geography! Tomorrow students will have more time to work on it in class and the mapping packet will be due Friday at the beginning of school so some students may come home with the as homework.
We also received some more stuff from the fabulous website known as donorschoose.org. Our donors funded a project with a TON of social studies books, games, and activities for us to use for the rest of the year. Thank you so much to those donors. Later I will post pictures of us unwrapping the new things so keep an eye out for those!
Tomorrow is Thursday so students will have homework, spelling contract homework for whatever they do not finish in class, and women's suffrage homework for the rest that is unfinished in class. There is PLENTY of time for students to get done with their work in class if they are working well in class. I always make sure to give students time so that their nights are not completely filled with homework. However, it is their responsibility to use that time wisely in class. While I do make sure that students are "on task" or working on the assignment they are assigned, I am trying to help students take on the fourth grade responsibilities of time management which will be invaluable for next year.
Have a great evening and we will see you all tomorrow, well rested, healthy, and excited for the day!
We also received some more stuff from the fabulous website known as donorschoose.org. Our donors funded a project with a TON of social studies books, games, and activities for us to use for the rest of the year. Thank you so much to those donors. Later I will post pictures of us unwrapping the new things so keep an eye out for those!
Tomorrow is Thursday so students will have homework, spelling contract homework for whatever they do not finish in class, and women's suffrage homework for the rest that is unfinished in class. There is PLENTY of time for students to get done with their work in class if they are working well in class. I always make sure to give students time so that their nights are not completely filled with homework. However, it is their responsibility to use that time wisely in class. While I do make sure that students are "on task" or working on the assignment they are assigned, I am trying to help students take on the fourth grade responsibilities of time management which will be invaluable for next year.
Have a great evening and we will see you all tomorrow, well rested, healthy, and excited for the day!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Welcome Back!
Today was our first day back from our Easter Break. I hope you all had a great break and you all seemed nice and relaxed and rested which was excellent to see!
Today we continued our study of folktales and fairy tales by reading "How Night Came to Be" which is a folktale from Brazil talking about why we have night. I love these stories and the students really seem to be getting into them too! Tomorrow we are reading a fractured fairy tale about the three little pigs. Ask your students what a fractured fairy tale is to test their fairy tale knowledge!
We also started our new spelling for the week which works with hard and soft C sounds. This week is going to be similar to last week where students have a packet of activities working with these sounds in order to practice the sounds and help with spelling on Friday. The general words for this week are
cabin camel candy coach coast cookie
cupid cure curse curve cease celery
fence pencil circus citizen special cymbal
juicy recycle spicy
The challenge words for KK and EU are
enhance exceed incentive incorporate
intelligence precede scope decade dynamic
guarantee isolate success unique accompany
appreciate clarify crucial coincide revolution
violate adjacent
Great work with the spelling so far and keep up the great work!
We are in the last quarter of third grade so we are preparing for the greater responsibility of fourth grade. It will be a big change for many of the students so we are trying to ease into that transition. Fourth grade will mean a much greater deal of homework and more responsibility with materials. Students are likely going to have more homework than we did at the beginning of the year so that we can get ready for that workload for next year. Also, students are required to read at least 500 pages by the end of the year and conference on those pages in order to meet standard. This goal seems like a lot but it is easy to achieve if students are consistently reading and are working well in class.
This week we will be finishing our book club books and starting book reports on those stories which will be a great ending project to those books!
Keep up the great work and make sure you bring in your homework packet AND your women's suffrage dates organized if you did not finish in class! See you tomorrow!
Today we continued our study of folktales and fairy tales by reading "How Night Came to Be" which is a folktale from Brazil talking about why we have night. I love these stories and the students really seem to be getting into them too! Tomorrow we are reading a fractured fairy tale about the three little pigs. Ask your students what a fractured fairy tale is to test their fairy tale knowledge!
We also started our new spelling for the week which works with hard and soft C sounds. This week is going to be similar to last week where students have a packet of activities working with these sounds in order to practice the sounds and help with spelling on Friday. The general words for this week are
cabin camel candy coach coast cookie
cupid cure curse curve cease celery
fence pencil circus citizen special cymbal
juicy recycle spicy
The challenge words for KK and EU are
enhance exceed incentive incorporate
intelligence precede scope decade dynamic
guarantee isolate success unique accompany
appreciate clarify crucial coincide revolution
violate adjacent
Great work with the spelling so far and keep up the great work!
We are in the last quarter of third grade so we are preparing for the greater responsibility of fourth grade. It will be a big change for many of the students so we are trying to ease into that transition. Fourth grade will mean a much greater deal of homework and more responsibility with materials. Students are likely going to have more homework than we did at the beginning of the year so that we can get ready for that workload for next year. Also, students are required to read at least 500 pages by the end of the year and conference on those pages in order to meet standard. This goal seems like a lot but it is easy to achieve if students are consistently reading and are working well in class.
This week we will be finishing our book club books and starting book reports on those stories which will be a great ending project to those books!
Keep up the great work and make sure you bring in your homework packet AND your women's suffrage dates organized if you did not finish in class! See you tomorrow!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
A Class of April Fools! :)
Well Easter Break has officially started! Just as a reminder there is no school tomorrow (4/2) and Monday (4/5). Have a great break, rest, relax, sleep in, stay up late, eat your Easter candy, and come back on Tuesday (4/6) well rested and ready for another week! The weeks are winding down so it is important that you are here and doing your best to make sure we are ending the year on a positive note.
Today we finished researching our women's suffrage dates and we will be completing a couple of activities next week to better display those important dates!
We also took our spelling and atlas quiz for the week and they are looking pretty good!
We ended our day with an art project (sorry for the spill, Kassie!) and our extra free recess for those students who had no behavior problems this quarter. Congratulations third graders for all being able to attend! Nice work!
Enjoy your break and we will see you on Tuesday!
Today we finished researching our women's suffrage dates and we will be completing a couple of activities next week to better display those important dates!
We also took our spelling and atlas quiz for the week and they are looking pretty good!
We ended our day with an art project (sorry for the spill, Kassie!) and our extra free recess for those students who had no behavior problems this quarter. Congratulations third graders for all being able to attend! Nice work!
Enjoy your break and we will see you on Tuesday!
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