It was a pleasure to meet with all of you at conferences and share your children's progress. I am so thrilled with how well all our 3rd graders have adjusted to the more rigorous demands of the 3rd grade curriculum! This is such a WONDERFUL class. As I told many of you, we're like a family, and I could not be luckier to work with such a great group of kids!
Over the past week or so we have begun a unit on Poetry in language arts, which everyone is LOVING! We have read all kinds of poems and discussed the "tools" that we can use to write our own poetry--things like rhythm, rhyme, line breaks, similes, metaphors, personification, etc. In addition, we have focused heavily on visual imagery. I have been reading many poems to the students while they close their eyes. As I finish a stanza, they have been drawing a picture of what they pictured in their mind while I read the lines. At the end we discuss how their idea of what the poem is about has changed and how the poet used visual images to help them better understand the poem. Then students title the poem. I have to say, their titles have blown away the originals! You have very creative kids! One thing we have learned is that poetry can mean a lot of different things to each reader! The children also tried their hands at writing their own If I Were in Charge of the World poems. Next week they will write an few more original pieces.
Students continue to work with Mr. Bassett learning about matter and doing all kinds of fun experiments.
In social studies, we continue to learn about our state and about how to use symbols on a map.
In math, students finished up Module 2 and are working on multiplication again in Module 3 focusing on the 4, 6, 7, and 9s tables. We've also been playing a lot of games to help with math fact fluency.
Please remember to bring in a wrapped book for the classroom book swap by Friday. Our swap will be held during our holiday party on Monday before Christmas break.
Friday, December 12, 2014
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Busy Thanksgiving Week
I look forward to meeting with all of you at conferences this coming week. I hope you will find the conferences informative. Due to time constraints, all conferences will be strictly kept to 15 minutes. If, however, you have any questions or need further clarification on your child's progress after meeting with me, please feel free to email me or call me at school. I am always happy to talk to you further!
We've had a busy two weeks in Room 29 doing a lot of work in cooperative groups. One strategy I am trying out with the new math curriculum is to cut apart the problem set questions worksheets students would normally work on independently at their seats and have the kids work in small groups of 3-4 to answer one of the problems together, draw/explain their strategy on a poster, and then teach it to the class. One of the best ways to be an "expert" at anything is to teach it (something we are learning as we work on our informational stories in Writer's Workshop). I've found that it has been really helpful for students to verbalize their thinking about their work. Furthermore, working cooperatively gives students a chance to learn from each other as well as well as do some more hands-on learning. Thus, far the kids have loved these experiences, so I plan on continuing this strategy throughout the year.
This week we took a little break from our standard math curriculum to work on a Thanksgiving themed activity. Students had $50.00 with which to create a menu for a group of animals using specific foods at various prices without going over budget. They had a blast working together in small groups coming up with their menus and then creating posters to show there work. Please go to our Edline page and look under the Math sidebar heading to find some great pictures of everyone hard at work.
In language arts, we continue to work with non-fiction texts, talking about how text features help readers better understand the material.
Some of those strategies tie in nicely with our unit on non-fiction, informational writing in Writer's Workshop where students have learned a variety of "structures" to "try on" to help organize their writing. We are now in the process of putting the final touches on our drafts to finish our books.
Mr. Bassett is working on experiments with matter in science 3 days a week with our class. The children will continue to work with him for an addition 3 weeks or so before moving on to learn about pollution and conservation with Ms. Bengston.
The week of Thanksgiving, we watched a couple of very informative videos put out by Plimoth.org. Students got to see the real-life re-creation of Plymouth Plantation and learn about the pilgrims and Native Americans of the 1600's. Students also worked on Chrome Books to follow a Native American child and a Pilgrim child along the way to uncover the truth about the first Thanksgiving and the pilgrim and Wampanoag way of life back in the 1600's. We also read several articles in our guided reading groups about how the pilgrims and Wampanoag tribe lived.
Additionally, in social studies, students did a lot of independent research on the internet to complete posters about Connecticut. Look for their work in the Social Studies sidebar on Edline! Lots more great pictures there!
I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing Thanksgiving with family and friends!
Remember that Wednesday, December 3rd is an early release day for afternoon conferences.
Also, Wednesday, all students will be taking the OLSAT test. It is very important that all students be on time for school on December 3rd as we will all be taking the test promptly at the beginning of the day.
We've had a busy two weeks in Room 29 doing a lot of work in cooperative groups. One strategy I am trying out with the new math curriculum is to cut apart the problem set questions worksheets students would normally work on independently at their seats and have the kids work in small groups of 3-4 to answer one of the problems together, draw/explain their strategy on a poster, and then teach it to the class. One of the best ways to be an "expert" at anything is to teach it (something we are learning as we work on our informational stories in Writer's Workshop). I've found that it has been really helpful for students to verbalize their thinking about their work. Furthermore, working cooperatively gives students a chance to learn from each other as well as well as do some more hands-on learning. Thus, far the kids have loved these experiences, so I plan on continuing this strategy throughout the year.
This week we took a little break from our standard math curriculum to work on a Thanksgiving themed activity. Students had $50.00 with which to create a menu for a group of animals using specific foods at various prices without going over budget. They had a blast working together in small groups coming up with their menus and then creating posters to show there work. Please go to our Edline page and look under the Math sidebar heading to find some great pictures of everyone hard at work.
Some of those strategies tie in nicely with our unit on non-fiction, informational writing in Writer's Workshop where students have learned a variety of "structures" to "try on" to help organize their writing. We are now in the process of putting the final touches on our drafts to finish our books.
Mr. Bassett is working on experiments with matter in science 3 days a week with our class. The children will continue to work with him for an addition 3 weeks or so before moving on to learn about pollution and conservation with Ms. Bengston.
The week of Thanksgiving, we watched a couple of very informative videos put out by Plimoth.org. Students got to see the real-life re-creation of Plymouth Plantation and learn about the pilgrims and Native Americans of the 1600's. Students also worked on Chrome Books to follow a Native American child and a Pilgrim child along the way to uncover the truth about the first Thanksgiving and the pilgrim and Wampanoag way of life back in the 1600's. We also read several articles in our guided reading groups about how the pilgrims and Wampanoag tribe lived.
Additionally, in social studies, students did a lot of independent research on the internet to complete posters about Connecticut. Look for their work in the Social Studies sidebar on Edline! Lots more great pictures there!
I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing Thanksgiving with family and friends!
Remember that Wednesday, December 3rd is an early release day for afternoon conferences.
Also, Wednesday, all students will be taking the OLSAT test. It is very important that all students be on time for school on December 3rd as we will all be taking the test promptly at the beginning of the day.
Monday, November 17, 2014
Week in Review--a little late
I apologize for not having an update last week, but I was very sick and out the entire week. I do, however, want to give you a brief overview of what I left for the substitute to do with the children while I was out.
Reader's Workshop: Everyone continues to work in non-fiction books. This week students read a non-fiction book from our classroom library, identified and defined key words, wrote about the author's purpose, and listed important facts and information. They also began a Top 10 list of information they will share on a poster with the rest of the class.
Writer's Workshop: This past week, students worked on elaborative techniques to expand their non-fiction, informational stories. They used rubrics, conferencing, and peer feedback to check, monitor, and edit their work.
Science: We began our second rotation in science. Students now meet with Mr. Bassett three times a week to learn more about matter. Mr. Bassett does some fun experiments, so I know everyone will really enjoy his class.
Social Studies: We worked on map skills and learned more about the State of Connecticut. Students put their investigative techniques to work doing research online for a Connecticut Scavenger Hunt project I put together for them.
Math: Believe it or not, we are already half way through module 2 in math. Students took the mid-module assessment and went on to learn about how to round numbers to the nearest 10 and 100 using a number line.
Students were honored to share Veteran's Day with Nora's grandfather, a Marine Corps Veteran. He came to our class to share his experiences and students had a chance to ask him many questions about his service to our country. Afterwards, students worked on writing Thank You notes to him for all the time he took with us.
Reader's Workshop: Everyone continues to work in non-fiction books. This week students read a non-fiction book from our classroom library, identified and defined key words, wrote about the author's purpose, and listed important facts and information. They also began a Top 10 list of information they will share on a poster with the rest of the class.
Writer's Workshop: This past week, students worked on elaborative techniques to expand their non-fiction, informational stories. They used rubrics, conferencing, and peer feedback to check, monitor, and edit their work.
Science: We began our second rotation in science. Students now meet with Mr. Bassett three times a week to learn more about matter. Mr. Bassett does some fun experiments, so I know everyone will really enjoy his class.
Social Studies: We worked on map skills and learned more about the State of Connecticut. Students put their investigative techniques to work doing research online for a Connecticut Scavenger Hunt project I put together for them.
Math: Believe it or not, we are already half way through module 2 in math. Students took the mid-module assessment and went on to learn about how to round numbers to the nearest 10 and 100 using a number line.
Students were honored to share Veteran's Day with Nora's grandfather, a Marine Corps Veteran. He came to our class to share his experiences and students had a chance to ask him many questions about his service to our country. Afterwards, students worked on writing Thank You notes to him for all the time he took with us.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween Everyone!
We have a great week in Room 29 doing all sorts of exciting Halloween learning activities which culminated in our fantastic Halloween party on Friday. Thanks to our room moms and volunteers for all the great food and fun!
All our students did such a great job on their mystery mask project. They had fun parading through the other 3rd grade classrooms in their masks! Aren't they adorable!
This week in Language Arts students worked on a non-fiction text features scavenger hunt using National Geographic for Kids magazines and some of their non-fiction texts from our classroom. They had to find various text features, cut them out, and paste them down in a folder. Everyone had a great time looking for captions, maps, charts, headings, and all sorts of other text features that help readers better understand non-fiction stories.
In Writer's Workshop, students learned how to organize their writing into sub-topics and create chapters for the non-fiction books they are writing. They also learned how to "try on" new structure/strategies to help them organize their thinking and come up with new ideas. Some of the structures we learned about were: boxes and bullets, pros and cons, and cause and effect. Students had plenty of opportunity to try on these strategies to see which ones worked best for them and their topics. I am learning all kinds of great information about hockey, swimming, soccer, polar bears, Himalayan cats, and many other topics about which your children are experts as I conference with kids and look over their work.
In science, we spent time reviewing for our unit ending test on rocks and minerals and took the test. Next week, students will be moving on to learn about Matter with Mr. Bassett!
Students got the chance to be the teacher this week in math. First, they worked in cooperative groups on elapsed time problems. Each group had to solve their problems and display their thinking on chart paper. Later, students worked in small groups at their tables to answer questions about weights. Then they had the chance to come up to the Smartboard and teach their question and strategy to the rest of the class.
In addition to our regular activities, this week we had some special fun because of Halloween. For morning work, children had the chance to write their own, original spooky stories. They also worked with partners to create an original mystery, which they shared with the class.
On Friday, we had a fabulous time eating goodies, playing games, and making crafts during our Halloween party. Please see pictures of all the fun on our Edline page under the Rockstars at work and Play heading in the right hand sidebar.
We have successfully filled up our classroom bucket again! Congratulations to everyone in room 29 for their great behavior, their kindness to others, and their hard work. We will be having a celebration of reading/pajama day on Friday as a reward. There will be a note with further details going home in your child's folder this week.
A reminder that there is no school on Tuesday due to election day! Don't forget to get out and vote!
Hope everyone had a happy, safe Halloween!
We have a great week in Room 29 doing all sorts of exciting Halloween learning activities which culminated in our fantastic Halloween party on Friday. Thanks to our room moms and volunteers for all the great food and fun!
All our students did such a great job on their mystery mask project. They had fun parading through the other 3rd grade classrooms in their masks! Aren't they adorable!
This week in Language Arts students worked on a non-fiction text features scavenger hunt using National Geographic for Kids magazines and some of their non-fiction texts from our classroom. They had to find various text features, cut them out, and paste them down in a folder. Everyone had a great time looking for captions, maps, charts, headings, and all sorts of other text features that help readers better understand non-fiction stories.
In Writer's Workshop, students learned how to organize their writing into sub-topics and create chapters for the non-fiction books they are writing. They also learned how to "try on" new structure/strategies to help them organize their thinking and come up with new ideas. Some of the structures we learned about were: boxes and bullets, pros and cons, and cause and effect. Students had plenty of opportunity to try on these strategies to see which ones worked best for them and their topics. I am learning all kinds of great information about hockey, swimming, soccer, polar bears, Himalayan cats, and many other topics about which your children are experts as I conference with kids and look over their work.
In science, we spent time reviewing for our unit ending test on rocks and minerals and took the test. Next week, students will be moving on to learn about Matter with Mr. Bassett!
Students got the chance to be the teacher this week in math. First, they worked in cooperative groups on elapsed time problems. Each group had to solve their problems and display their thinking on chart paper. Later, students worked in small groups at their tables to answer questions about weights. Then they had the chance to come up to the Smartboard and teach their question and strategy to the rest of the class.
In addition to our regular activities, this week we had some special fun because of Halloween. For morning work, children had the chance to write their own, original spooky stories. They also worked with partners to create an original mystery, which they shared with the class.
On Friday, we had a fabulous time eating goodies, playing games, and making crafts during our Halloween party. Please see pictures of all the fun on our Edline page under the Rockstars at work and Play heading in the right hand sidebar.
We have successfully filled up our classroom bucket again! Congratulations to everyone in room 29 for their great behavior, their kindness to others, and their hard work. We will be having a celebration of reading/pajama day on Friday as a reward. There will be a note with further details going home in your child's folder this week.
A reminder that there is no school on Tuesday due to election day! Don't forget to get out and vote!
Hope everyone had a happy, safe Halloween!
Friday, October 24, 2014
Change, Change, Change
A lot of changes are going on in Room 29! We have moved on from our focus on personal narratives and our study of character traits in non-fiction literature in Writer's and Reader's Workshops, and finished up our unit on rocks and minerals in science. Not to mention, we've jumped into a new module in math where we're learning about time and measurement. That means lots of new things to learn and lots of new, exciting activities to work on.
As the week began, we started off Reader's workshop with a series of lessons about non-fiction text features and how they help us to become better readers and to better understand the content of the texts we read. We used the great technology tool, Learnzillion every day to learn about a new aspect of how to better understand non-fiction texts. We learned how headings can help us find out what a section of an article is mostly about, about how to understand tricky words, about how to use our prior knowledge to ask questions about text, and about how to find the main idea about a section of a passage or an entire book.
Students put those lessons into practice by using sticky note to ask questions about their own reading and to identify what they thought sections of articles would be about based on their headings. We used non-fiction texts in our classroom library as well as National Geographic for Kids magazines.
In Writer's Workshop, students learned about how to choose a topic they know a lot about and how to begin to craft a non-ficiton informational writing piece about that topic as if they were an expert. They learned all sorts of key text features that they might want to include in their own writing. We picked topics to write about and began to get started working on our new books.
During our review for our end of unit science test, we played a rousing game of Jeopardy on the Smartboard.
As we continued to study time to the minute and elapsed time, students worked in cooperative groups on an application problem. Each group had to answer their question using a reasonable strategy and then design a poster to represent their answer and strategy.
We also reviewed multiplication facts with a new game called Read, Think and Color. While multiplication facts were shown on the Smartboard every 20 seconds, students had to color in the corresponding answer on a 100's grid. In the end, if the student answered all the questions correctly, they would discover they had created a picture. This week we made Pigeon from the Mo Willems Pigeon books and Steve from Minecraft. We also worked on a multiplication fact pumpkin.
Our second game--one which we will play throughout the year to keep sharp with our facts--is Three Strikes. Representatives from two teams face each other to see who can answer multiplication facts the fastest.
As a Halloween treat, students wrote amazing stories after being given some ominous first sentence story starters! We have some great imaginations in Room 29.
Reminders:
*Coats, coats, coats! Recess is held every day unless it rains--and it's getting cold out there! Students should come to school dressed appropriately for the chilly weather.
*Mystery Masks are due Thursday, October 30.
*Our Halloween Party is Friday, October 31. This is a party for children only though room moms may contact you to ask if you would be willing to send in a few items like plates and napkins. All snacks served at the party will be healthy and nut free. We will not be dressing up that day, though we will have our mask parade in the morning with the other 3rd grade classes. I also will be displaying the masks in the classroom and will take pictures of them for the blog and to post on Edline.
As the week began, we started off Reader's workshop with a series of lessons about non-fiction text features and how they help us to become better readers and to better understand the content of the texts we read. We used the great technology tool, Learnzillion every day to learn about a new aspect of how to better understand non-fiction texts. We learned how headings can help us find out what a section of an article is mostly about, about how to understand tricky words, about how to use our prior knowledge to ask questions about text, and about how to find the main idea about a section of a passage or an entire book.
Students put those lessons into practice by using sticky note to ask questions about their own reading and to identify what they thought sections of articles would be about based on their headings. We used non-fiction texts in our classroom library as well as National Geographic for Kids magazines.
In Writer's Workshop, students learned about how to choose a topic they know a lot about and how to begin to craft a non-ficiton informational writing piece about that topic as if they were an expert. They learned all sorts of key text features that they might want to include in their own writing. We picked topics to write about and began to get started working on our new books.
During our review for our end of unit science test, we played a rousing game of Jeopardy on the Smartboard.
As we continued to study time to the minute and elapsed time, students worked in cooperative groups on an application problem. Each group had to answer their question using a reasonable strategy and then design a poster to represent their answer and strategy.
We also reviewed multiplication facts with a new game called Read, Think and Color. While multiplication facts were shown on the Smartboard every 20 seconds, students had to color in the corresponding answer on a 100's grid. In the end, if the student answered all the questions correctly, they would discover they had created a picture. This week we made Pigeon from the Mo Willems Pigeon books and Steve from Minecraft. We also worked on a multiplication fact pumpkin.
Our second game--one which we will play throughout the year to keep sharp with our facts--is Three Strikes. Representatives from two teams face each other to see who can answer multiplication facts the fastest.
As a Halloween treat, students wrote amazing stories after being given some ominous first sentence story starters! We have some great imaginations in Room 29.
Reminders:
*Coats, coats, coats! Recess is held every day unless it rains--and it's getting cold out there! Students should come to school dressed appropriately for the chilly weather.
*Mystery Masks are due Thursday, October 30.
*Our Halloween Party is Friday, October 31. This is a party for children only though room moms may contact you to ask if you would be willing to send in a few items like plates and napkins. All snacks served at the party will be healthy and nut free. We will not be dressing up that day, though we will have our mask parade in the morning with the other 3rd grade classes. I also will be displaying the masks in the classroom and will take pictures of them for the blog and to post on Edline.
Room 29's Week in Review
Since I am keeping this blog public, I won't be posting any photos of students or mentioning any names here. However, if you would like to see great pictures of your kids at work in the classroom and out, please visit our Edline site. There are photos located under each content area in the right hand sidebar.
We had a great week (check out the pictures!) in Room 29. The highlight of our week was our Publishing Party where all our writers got a chance to read their personal narratives to the class! What amazing storytellers we have! The kids really grew tremendously as authors in the 7 weeks we worked on this unit.
In reader's workshop, we had a lot of fun preparing for our mystery mask project (due on Thursday, October 30). We read short mysteries in class and then broke up into groups and answered questions about them. I cordoned off the desks with real police crime scene tape and gave all the children magnifying glasses to set the mood! They had a great time. Next week we will try to work on writing our own mysteries!
We wrapped up our unit on rocks and minerals in science with a few fun experiments to learn more about sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. There are some pictures on Edline of the kids working to make samples of sedimentary rock using layers of clay. They learned about how small pieces of sediment settle on the bottom of bodies of water and how, over time, weather and pressure press the layers together to form solid rocks. Likewise, we learned that when rocks under the earth's crust are pressed and squeezed together under great heat, they can change into metamorophic rock. Students did another fun experiment using clay to demonstrate this process.
In math, we began learning about telling time to the minute, a skill that everyone needs! We used a numberline as a strategy to help us figure out application problems involving elapsed time. On Friday, we played a really fun game called What Does the Clock Say (Tell Time and Move It). With the music What Does the Fox Say in the background, clockfaces were projected on the Smartboard. Students had to write the times on their dry erase boards and hold them up. Randomly, we would have to stop everything and Move It! A timer counted down 30 seconds during which time students had to do a variety of movement activities like jumping jacks, arm circles, running in place, etc. Everyone had a blast!
A reminder that as the weather gets colder children will need appropriate outerwear for going outside. We go out for recess every day unless it is raining, so children should be dressed for the colder weather.
We had a great week (check out the pictures!) in Room 29. The highlight of our week was our Publishing Party where all our writers got a chance to read their personal narratives to the class! What amazing storytellers we have! The kids really grew tremendously as authors in the 7 weeks we worked on this unit.
In reader's workshop, we had a lot of fun preparing for our mystery mask project (due on Thursday, October 30). We read short mysteries in class and then broke up into groups and answered questions about them. I cordoned off the desks with real police crime scene tape and gave all the children magnifying glasses to set the mood! They had a great time. Next week we will try to work on writing our own mysteries!
We wrapped up our unit on rocks and minerals in science with a few fun experiments to learn more about sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. There are some pictures on Edline of the kids working to make samples of sedimentary rock using layers of clay. They learned about how small pieces of sediment settle on the bottom of bodies of water and how, over time, weather and pressure press the layers together to form solid rocks. Likewise, we learned that when rocks under the earth's crust are pressed and squeezed together under great heat, they can change into metamorophic rock. Students did another fun experiment using clay to demonstrate this process.
In math, we began learning about telling time to the minute, a skill that everyone needs! We used a numberline as a strategy to help us figure out application problems involving elapsed time. On Friday, we played a really fun game called What Does the Clock Say (Tell Time and Move It). With the music What Does the Fox Say in the background, clockfaces were projected on the Smartboard. Students had to write the times on their dry erase boards and hold them up. Randomly, we would have to stop everything and Move It! A timer counted down 30 seconds during which time students had to do a variety of movement activities like jumping jacks, arm circles, running in place, etc. Everyone had a blast!
A reminder that as the weather gets colder children will need appropriate outerwear for going outside. We go out for recess every day unless it is raining, so children should be dressed for the colder weather.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Week In Review
Once again, it was a very busy week in Room 29! I hope you all had a chance to check out the kids' great character trait projects that I posted last week. You can also find them and other pictures on my Edline site under the Room 29 at work and play link in the right hand sidebar.
Unfortunately, I was out sick with strep throat for a couple of day, but I left the substitute plenty of work for everyone to do, so it was pretty much business as usual.
On Monday, we served at the lab classroom for a Writer's Workshop lesson by Gary Peterson, a consultant from Teacher's College/Columbia University in NYC. He worked with our students on everything from making good transitions in their writing to elaborating and expanding on their ideas. He was very impressed with their writing! We really have come so far as storytellers in these past 7 weeks or so.
During the rest of the week, students worked on finishing up their final narratives; we will be moving on to informational writing next week.
In Reader's Workshop, we are also wrapping up our unit on character change and character traits. We read Dancing In the Wings, The Paperbag Princess, and The Honest to Goodness Truth and wrote about all three of the stories.
Students also read independently and wrote me letters about their thinking about their reading and worked hard in their reading groups to improve fluency and comprehension (both orally and in writing).
After a long 7 weeks or so, we finally finished up our first module in math and took the end of module assessment. I have these tests in your children's folders, which I will share at conferences, but if you are curious about how your child did, please let me know and I can give you their grade. This was a tough test, but everyone has come a long way in their understanding of the principles of multiplication and division. Next week we move on to concepts in time and measurement--I have some really fun math games designed to fit in nicely with this unit. I think your kids are going to love them.
In science, we broke open a rock (after I bashed it with a hammer about 100 times) and saw the geode inside. I gave everyone a small piece to take home. We will be concluding our unit on rocks and minerals later next week.
The students continue to learn more about our state of Connecticut in social studies. We also talked about Christopher Columbus (both positive and negative aspects of his campaign to the Americas). We will continue this discussion/debate next week.
Lastly, we began reading my favorite book of all time, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. As with The Witches, I would ask that you not read this to your child at home while we are reading it at school; we will be doing some predicting and a lot of discussion about the book, and I don't want anyone to get ahead and miss out on the daily suspense of hearing it read every day. I would, however, encourage you parents to read the book yourselves. I think you will fall in love with it as much I have. It is a breathtakingly beautiful story. Don't forget to keep the tissues nearby, though.
Hope you all have a fun long weekend!
Unfortunately, I was out sick with strep throat for a couple of day, but I left the substitute plenty of work for everyone to do, so it was pretty much business as usual.
On Monday, we served at the lab classroom for a Writer's Workshop lesson by Gary Peterson, a consultant from Teacher's College/Columbia University in NYC. He worked with our students on everything from making good transitions in their writing to elaborating and expanding on their ideas. He was very impressed with their writing! We really have come so far as storytellers in these past 7 weeks or so.
During the rest of the week, students worked on finishing up their final narratives; we will be moving on to informational writing next week.
In Reader's Workshop, we are also wrapping up our unit on character change and character traits. We read Dancing In the Wings, The Paperbag Princess, and The Honest to Goodness Truth and wrote about all three of the stories.
Students also read independently and wrote me letters about their thinking about their reading and worked hard in their reading groups to improve fluency and comprehension (both orally and in writing).
After a long 7 weeks or so, we finally finished up our first module in math and took the end of module assessment. I have these tests in your children's folders, which I will share at conferences, but if you are curious about how your child did, please let me know and I can give you their grade. This was a tough test, but everyone has come a long way in their understanding of the principles of multiplication and division. Next week we move on to concepts in time and measurement--I have some really fun math games designed to fit in nicely with this unit. I think your kids are going to love them.
In science, we broke open a rock (after I bashed it with a hammer about 100 times) and saw the geode inside. I gave everyone a small piece to take home. We will be concluding our unit on rocks and minerals later next week.
The students continue to learn more about our state of Connecticut in social studies. We also talked about Christopher Columbus (both positive and negative aspects of his campaign to the Americas). We will continue this discussion/debate next week.
Lastly, we began reading my favorite book of all time, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. As with The Witches, I would ask that you not read this to your child at home while we are reading it at school; we will be doing some predicting and a lot of discussion about the book, and I don't want anyone to get ahead and miss out on the daily suspense of hearing it read every day. I would, however, encourage you parents to read the book yourselves. I think you will fall in love with it as much I have. It is a breathtakingly beautiful story. Don't forget to keep the tissues nearby, though.
Hope you all have a fun long weekend!
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Week in Review
Everyone worked so hard this week to complete their amazingly original character trait posters. We shared them with Mrs. Walls, the district Language Arts coordinator. She was pretty impressed! Here are your kids' completed projects! Make sure to ask which one is belongs to your son or daughter!
In language arts we also learned about paragraphing during writer's workshop and finished up our rough drafts of our personal narratives. Next week we will move on to informational writing.
We also read Thank You, Mr. Falker and finished up The Witches! I would like to show the kids the Jim Hensen created movie version of the book as I've done for the past couple of years so they can compare and contrast them, but will need your permission to do so. The movie is rated PG due to some very mild scary stuff. The Grand High Witch is ugly, as you can see in the trailer posted below, but other than that there is no bad language or inappropriate adult situations. I will be sending home permission slips laster this week and would like them back so we can watch the movie on Friday. It's a really cute movie and follows the main storyline of the book pretty well. Click on the link below to see the official trailer.
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2020583193
We began learning about Connecticut in social studies this past week and learned about our state's governor, state flag, and symbols. Students are working on a Connecticut packet chock full of great information about our state.
I was delighted to see everyone's awesome looking science projects! Everyone worked so hard!
In math we continued to work on multiplication and division problems focusing on the commutative and distributive properties, specifically on how to decompose problems to break them down into smaller, more manageable units. So far we have worked hard to learn our 1-5's tables. Please keep practicing those facts at home! Our end of module assessment will likely be Friday. We will review in class and take notebooks home to use as study guides.
Friday the 10th is picture day! Please make sure your child brings in his/her picture envelope/money on the day of the photo shoot!
In language arts we also learned about paragraphing during writer's workshop and finished up our rough drafts of our personal narratives. Next week we will move on to informational writing.
We also read Thank You, Mr. Falker and finished up The Witches! I would like to show the kids the Jim Hensen created movie version of the book as I've done for the past couple of years so they can compare and contrast them, but will need your permission to do so. The movie is rated PG due to some very mild scary stuff. The Grand High Witch is ugly, as you can see in the trailer posted below, but other than that there is no bad language or inappropriate adult situations. I will be sending home permission slips laster this week and would like them back so we can watch the movie on Friday. It's a really cute movie and follows the main storyline of the book pretty well. Click on the link below to see the official trailer.
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2020583193
We began learning about Connecticut in social studies this past week and learned about our state's governor, state flag, and symbols. Students are working on a Connecticut packet chock full of great information about our state.
I was delighted to see everyone's awesome looking science projects! Everyone worked so hard!
In math we continued to work on multiplication and division problems focusing on the commutative and distributive properties, specifically on how to decompose problems to break them down into smaller, more manageable units. So far we have worked hard to learn our 1-5's tables. Please keep practicing those facts at home! Our end of module assessment will likely be Friday. We will review in class and take notebooks home to use as study guides.
Friday the 10th is picture day! Please make sure your child brings in his/her picture envelope/money on the day of the photo shoot!
Friday, September 26, 2014
Such a Character!
In Reader's Workshop, we moving along in our study of character traits. This week we continued to focus on character change and character traits. Our emphasis is on finding specific text based evidence to show what a character says or does that demonstrates his/her character traits. To that end, every student chose a favorite character from one of the shared readings we did in class or from one of their independent reading books. First, the filled out a graphic organizer to help them structure their thoughts and list character traits and evidence from the text to support those treats. Then, students designed rough drafts of a final poster highlighting their work. They are having a blast designing the most creative and unique posters. I told them that all I required was that they write three character traits and support those traits with evidence from the text. The rest I am leaving up to the kids' imaginations, and boy, they are not disappointing. Once the projects are done, I will post pictures here. You're going to love them! Here's some of the children's work in progress; you can see how truly unique each and every one of them is turning out to be:
Everyone is also hard at work learning what real writers do in Writer's Workshop. This week we learned how to write dynamic leads and to write fast and furious to get all our great stories down on paper. We rehearsed and rehearsed our stories orally with our writing partners trying on new leads, adding details, and exploring new endings that would really grab the attention of our listeners and readers. At this point, nearly everyone has added lots of wonderful details, edited, revised, and rehearsed their stories, and are ready to publish them! What an exciting day! I am amazed at how far your children have come and how they have grown as writers in such a short period of time.
As our science unit on rocks and minerals continues, we focused on igneous rocks, doing several experiments comparing extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks like scoria, granite, obsidian, and pumice.
In math we took the mid-module quiz as the halfway mark in Unit One. I am keeping all tests in student's cumulative files. I will share grades with you during conferences. If, however, you would like to know your child's grade now, please let me know. If I feel your child is struggling with the concepts in this unit, I will alert you and will ensure that Mrs. Pope, who is with us two days a week for math, works with your child in small group. Students began learning the associative and distributive properties using arrays, pictures, tape diagrams, and number bonds to help them.
We are just about finished reading The Witches as our shared read aloud. Next we will be moving on to my all time favorite book by my all time favorite author in the world, Kate DiCamillo, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Again, I would ask that while we read this book aloud, you not read it to your child or let your child take it out from the library. We will be doing a lot of predicting in this story, and I'd like to keep the ending, in particular, a surprise for our students.
Best of all, the children were rewarded after filling up their classroom bucket! They got to spend time on the Chrome books playing games, going on Razz Kids, and having fun!
On Friday, the kids all got together and sang Happy Birthday to my daughter, Becky, who turned 22. We we sent it to her in a text.
Spelling test is postponed until Monday due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday this week.
Enjoy what is supposed to be a gorgeous weekend!
Everyone is also hard at work learning what real writers do in Writer's Workshop. This week we learned how to write dynamic leads and to write fast and furious to get all our great stories down on paper. We rehearsed and rehearsed our stories orally with our writing partners trying on new leads, adding details, and exploring new endings that would really grab the attention of our listeners and readers. At this point, nearly everyone has added lots of wonderful details, edited, revised, and rehearsed their stories, and are ready to publish them! What an exciting day! I am amazed at how far your children have come and how they have grown as writers in such a short period of time.
As our science unit on rocks and minerals continues, we focused on igneous rocks, doing several experiments comparing extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks like scoria, granite, obsidian, and pumice.
In math we took the mid-module quiz as the halfway mark in Unit One. I am keeping all tests in student's cumulative files. I will share grades with you during conferences. If, however, you would like to know your child's grade now, please let me know. If I feel your child is struggling with the concepts in this unit, I will alert you and will ensure that Mrs. Pope, who is with us two days a week for math, works with your child in small group. Students began learning the associative and distributive properties using arrays, pictures, tape diagrams, and number bonds to help them.
We are just about finished reading The Witches as our shared read aloud. Next we will be moving on to my all time favorite book by my all time favorite author in the world, Kate DiCamillo, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Again, I would ask that while we read this book aloud, you not read it to your child or let your child take it out from the library. We will be doing a lot of predicting in this story, and I'd like to keep the ending, in particular, a surprise for our students.
Best of all, the children were rewarded after filling up their classroom bucket! They got to spend time on the Chrome books playing games, going on Razz Kids, and having fun!
On Friday, the kids all got together and sang Happy Birthday to my daughter, Becky, who turned 22. We we sent it to her in a text.
Spelling test is postponed until Monday due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday this week.
Enjoy what is supposed to be a gorgeous weekend!
Sunday, September 21, 2014
What a Blast!
It was wonderful to meet all of you in our classroom for Open house this week. Hopefully, I was able to give you some insights into our schedule, our curriculum, and the general daily goings on in Room 29. As I said at Open House, if you ever have any questions about ANYTHING related to our classroom, please feel free to contact me by phone or email. I will get back to you right away.
We were so busy this week that it seemed to just fly by! Here are some highlights of the goings on in our classroom this week...
I'm fortunate to get to teach the rocks and minerals unit of study in science; this is a big hit with all the kids. I think it you were to ask them their favorite part of school, most of them would say science. And this week, we really had a blast! Literally!
As we began to explore the three types of rocks, we first created a volcano out of vinegar, baking soda, and some red food die and watched it explode as we learned how igneous rocks are formed. We discussed the implications of volcanic activity to the environment, the weather, and to the communities that lie in the path of a volcano's destruction force. Specifically, we talked about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D., and saw some picture of the uncovered cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum online. We explored some real igneous rocks, too: granite, scoria, pumice, basalt, obsidian.
During Reader's Workshop, we continued to talk about character traits, what motivates character, and how they change throughout stories. We read The Honest to Goodness Truth, Enemy Pie, and The Raft. Students also have been writing about main characters in their independent reading and how those characters change within the text. I continued to collect and grade Reader's Workshop notebooks, and was impressed with how neat and well organized they were and how well students are doing using text dependent evidence to support their responses.
In Writer's Workshop, students worked with their writing partners to edit and revise their writing and create more elaborative, descriptive pieces. We also learned what to do if we run out of gas as writers!
We are half way through our first math module and are gearing up for our mid-module assessment on Tuesday. Please have your child use their math notebook to study. The test will cover multiplication and division strategies (arrays, number bonds, count-bys) and the commutative and distributive properties.
Reminders:
We only have about 15 minutes for snack each day. Please make sure your child has a snack he/she can eat in 15 minutes (one item should suffice). Some children are bringing in too many snacks, and I fear food is being wasted.
We were so busy this week that it seemed to just fly by! Here are some highlights of the goings on in our classroom this week...
I'm fortunate to get to teach the rocks and minerals unit of study in science; this is a big hit with all the kids. I think it you were to ask them their favorite part of school, most of them would say science. And this week, we really had a blast! Literally!
As we began to explore the three types of rocks, we first created a volcano out of vinegar, baking soda, and some red food die and watched it explode as we learned how igneous rocks are formed. We discussed the implications of volcanic activity to the environment, the weather, and to the communities that lie in the path of a volcano's destruction force. Specifically, we talked about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D., and saw some picture of the uncovered cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum online. We explored some real igneous rocks, too: granite, scoria, pumice, basalt, obsidian.
During Reader's Workshop, we continued to talk about character traits, what motivates character, and how they change throughout stories. We read The Honest to Goodness Truth, Enemy Pie, and The Raft. Students also have been writing about main characters in their independent reading and how those characters change within the text. I continued to collect and grade Reader's Workshop notebooks, and was impressed with how neat and well organized they were and how well students are doing using text dependent evidence to support their responses.
In Writer's Workshop, students worked with their writing partners to edit and revise their writing and create more elaborative, descriptive pieces. We also learned what to do if we run out of gas as writers!
We are half way through our first math module and are gearing up for our mid-module assessment on Tuesday. Please have your child use their math notebook to study. The test will cover multiplication and division strategies (arrays, number bonds, count-bys) and the commutative and distributive properties.
Reminders:
We only have about 15 minutes for snack each day. Please make sure your child has a snack he/she can eat in 15 minutes (one item should suffice). Some children are bringing in too many snacks, and I fear food is being wasted.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Week Three Update
We are all so glad to finally see some fall weather and feel not quite so sticky in our classroom. We had a wonderfully, FULL, exciting week this past week full of lots of great learning experiences.
In language arts, students are learning about how to recognize, record supporting evidence, and identify motivating events that change characters in text. Each day we read a new story with a strong character and discussed and wrote about how the character changed in the story and what motivating factor caused them to change. Among the wonderful literature we read were the following titles: Julius, Baby of the World, Chyrsanthemum, Wemberly Worried, The Library Dragon, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
In Writer's Workshop, we continued to work on our personal narratives, adding details and working on editing and revising our stories. Students learned how to elaborate and edit as they go along. While working with their writing partners, students are gaining valuable feedback that is helping to strengthen their work as authors!
The kids are having a blast in science learning about rocks and minerals. We went on a field study on the Stepney Walking trail to discover the rocks that are located around our school. Each student got to take a rock from the field and bring it back to school to explore. We also talked about the three different types of rocks: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous and how they are formed, and did an experiment to discover which minerals were visible in two types of granite.
In math we have been learning about how to represent multiplication and division through a variety of strategies. Students were introduced to the commutative property and learned how to represent their thinking through arrays, bonds, count-bys (and other terms many moms and dads may not have heard of!). The students love doing our "Sprints" every day where they have to solve number sentences (addition, subtraction, repeated addition, multiplication, and division) as fast as they can. They are enjoying the challenge and thrill of seeing how they can improve their speed and accuracy each time they practice the facts over and over again.
To this end, I would encourage you to make sure your child goes on the web-based program Moby Math at least a few times a week. The information on how to log on was sent home in the Step Up Day packet, two weeks ago, and again this week. This program is invaluable for helping students build up their stamina and math fact fluency. The link for Moby Max can also be found on the "links" section of this blog above.
Ending this weeks blog with a great video that shares my philosophy that we are all students; we are all teachers! Enjoy...
In language arts, students are learning about how to recognize, record supporting evidence, and identify motivating events that change characters in text. Each day we read a new story with a strong character and discussed and wrote about how the character changed in the story and what motivating factor caused them to change. Among the wonderful literature we read were the following titles: Julius, Baby of the World, Chyrsanthemum, Wemberly Worried, The Library Dragon, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
In Writer's Workshop, we continued to work on our personal narratives, adding details and working on editing and revising our stories. Students learned how to elaborate and edit as they go along. While working with their writing partners, students are gaining valuable feedback that is helping to strengthen their work as authors!
The kids are having a blast in science learning about rocks and minerals. We went on a field study on the Stepney Walking trail to discover the rocks that are located around our school. Each student got to take a rock from the field and bring it back to school to explore. We also talked about the three different types of rocks: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous and how they are formed, and did an experiment to discover which minerals were visible in two types of granite.
In math we have been learning about how to represent multiplication and division through a variety of strategies. Students were introduced to the commutative property and learned how to represent their thinking through arrays, bonds, count-bys (and other terms many moms and dads may not have heard of!). The students love doing our "Sprints" every day where they have to solve number sentences (addition, subtraction, repeated addition, multiplication, and division) as fast as they can. They are enjoying the challenge and thrill of seeing how they can improve their speed and accuracy each time they practice the facts over and over again.
To this end, I would encourage you to make sure your child goes on the web-based program Moby Math at least a few times a week. The information on how to log on was sent home in the Step Up Day packet, two weeks ago, and again this week. This program is invaluable for helping students build up their stamina and math fact fluency. The link for Moby Max can also be found on the "links" section of this blog above.
Ending this weeks blog with a great video that shares my philosophy that we are all students; we are all teachers! Enjoy...
NOTES:
*Please make sure your child is studying his/her spelling words for the post test on Friday! Students should be bringing home their spelling notebooks daily to help them with their homework and to help them study.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Week 2 In Review
Though we had another abbreviated week of school, everyone is fitting in well in Room 29 and adjusting to our classroom routines. Additionally, we got a ton of work done!
We launched our Reader's Workshop language arts model this week with some great mentor texts like The Best Book to Read, A Quiet Place, and Listen, Buddy! designed to highlight what Reader's Workshop is all about and how students can discover which books are just right for them. Students learned that in the workshop they will never be forced to read a book that doesn't interest them; they will be able to choose stories at their "just right" level in which they can really immerse themselves. Not only that, they can find any comfortable quiet place in our room in which to read.
We began our first spelling unit. Everyone did very well on the test on Friday. A word to parents about spelling tests: Each Monday I give the unit pre-test for the week. If a student scores a 100% on the test, he/she will be given a different set of homework and a different test on Friday. I believe it is important to challenge students and to differentiate instruction for them. It's pointless for a student who already knows the spelling rule and how to spell all the words for the week to spend time on homework reinforcing something he/she already knows. The alternate homework will be spelling/vocabulary related. I will begin this policy in a week or so. For now, I want to get a handle on where everyone is with their spelling and their command of various spelling rules, so everyone will take both the pre and post tests and do the same spelling homework. If you have any questions about this policy, please feel free to contact me.
Writer's Workshop is well underway, too. Students are learning strategies for generating writing, learning to build stamina, and are working with partners to provide peer feedback.
Students are also working hard on some self portraits and poems that will great you when you come to visit Room 29 for Open House next week.
This week, we also got to go to library and computers for the first time. We learned about how to take care of library books and about computer safety. We will have library and computers every Thursday.
In math, we are well underway in our first Module on multiplication. Students are learning about equal groupings, repeated addition, and arrays. Each lesson includes timed practice, an application problem, lesson, problem set, in-class worksheets, and an exit ticket that helps me determine if students have understood the concept on a daily basis. Homework directly correlates to our specific lessons. I'm very pleased at the kids' progress; we're already working on division!
The kids are enjoying me reading The Witches by Roald Dahl to them at snack time. Ask them about this fun story!
We launched our Reader's Workshop language arts model this week with some great mentor texts like The Best Book to Read, A Quiet Place, and Listen, Buddy! designed to highlight what Reader's Workshop is all about and how students can discover which books are just right for them. Students learned that in the workshop they will never be forced to read a book that doesn't interest them; they will be able to choose stories at their "just right" level in which they can really immerse themselves. Not only that, they can find any comfortable quiet place in our room in which to read.
We began our first spelling unit. Everyone did very well on the test on Friday. A word to parents about spelling tests: Each Monday I give the unit pre-test for the week. If a student scores a 100% on the test, he/she will be given a different set of homework and a different test on Friday. I believe it is important to challenge students and to differentiate instruction for them. It's pointless for a student who already knows the spelling rule and how to spell all the words for the week to spend time on homework reinforcing something he/she already knows. The alternate homework will be spelling/vocabulary related. I will begin this policy in a week or so. For now, I want to get a handle on where everyone is with their spelling and their command of various spelling rules, so everyone will take both the pre and post tests and do the same spelling homework. If you have any questions about this policy, please feel free to contact me.
Writer's Workshop is well underway, too. Students are learning strategies for generating writing, learning to build stamina, and are working with partners to provide peer feedback.
Students are also working hard on some self portraits and poems that will great you when you come to visit Room 29 for Open House next week.
This week, we also got to go to library and computers for the first time. We learned about how to take care of library books and about computer safety. We will have library and computers every Thursday.
In math, we are well underway in our first Module on multiplication. Students are learning about equal groupings, repeated addition, and arrays. Each lesson includes timed practice, an application problem, lesson, problem set, in-class worksheets, and an exit ticket that helps me determine if students have understood the concept on a daily basis. Homework directly correlates to our specific lessons. I'm very pleased at the kids' progress; we're already working on division!
The kids are enjoying me reading The Witches by Roald Dahl to them at snack time. Ask them about this fun story!
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Moby Max Math Update
I know several of you had trouble signing your kids onto Moby Math the other day. I contacted Mrs. Brooker, our math coordinator. She indicated many of the children had not been transferred over from their second grade classes to this one. The tech department is working on this. In the meantime, I would suggest that kids stay off Moby Max until further notice, and I certainly will not assign any homework on the site!
Sunday, August 31, 2014
We Did It!
What a great opening and first week of school! The kids came in so excited to learn, which was great, because we got right down to business after some fun preliminary getting to know you activities. Students went on classmate scavenger hunts and learned more about me and my family. We also made posters about what we did over the summer. We established some rules and procedures to set up our classroom community. Thank you to all parents who got emergency cards and other information back to me so quickly.
We began writing in our journals by answering a prompt about the characteristics of the perfect teacher, began doing daily oral language, read and answered comprehension questions on some non-fiction texts about the rain forest, and read some wonderful stories: If Everybody Did, First Day Jitters, Have You Filled a Bucket?, and The Witches. Next week we will begin working in guided reading groups and will begin establishing our reader's workshop model so students can begin to choose books from our classroom library and read independently.
We jumped right into Writer's Workshop, learning how to generate ideas for our own narrative stories, and how to create mental movies in our readers' minds. Students also completed their first On Demand writing piece in class. Please make sure all students have their pictures to decorate their notebooks on Tuesday, so we can work on this in class.
In math, we began our official curriculum after we made "Me By Numbers" posters where students had to follow a rubric to design a poster relating various numbers to their daily lives. We started our first math module on multiplication, beginning with learning how to multiply by 2's.
We also began our unit on rocks and minerals in science by making an interactive RAN (Reading and Analyzing Non-Fiction) chart and watching a short video about minerals.
Students did an excellent job during our first fire drill of the year on Thursday, too! The best fire drill EVER!
Thank you for sharing your children with me this year! They are absolutely adorable, witty, and great to work with. I'm so looking forward to a great year!!!
IMPORTANT!!
I've received very few email addresses from parents so that I can privatize the blog. Please send me your email address this week, so I can add it to my list of contacts and send out the invitations to the blog and make it private for Room 29 parents' eyes only. THANK YOU!! I'd like to share photos of your children and their work, but I can't do so unless the blog is private, and I want to ensure that everyone has access.
I will be contacting everyone this week and next by phone to say hello and let you know how your child adjusted to the first week of school.
We began writing in our journals by answering a prompt about the characteristics of the perfect teacher, began doing daily oral language, read and answered comprehension questions on some non-fiction texts about the rain forest, and read some wonderful stories: If Everybody Did, First Day Jitters, Have You Filled a Bucket?, and The Witches. Next week we will begin working in guided reading groups and will begin establishing our reader's workshop model so students can begin to choose books from our classroom library and read independently.
We jumped right into Writer's Workshop, learning how to generate ideas for our own narrative stories, and how to create mental movies in our readers' minds. Students also completed their first On Demand writing piece in class. Please make sure all students have their pictures to decorate their notebooks on Tuesday, so we can work on this in class.
In math, we began our official curriculum after we made "Me By Numbers" posters where students had to follow a rubric to design a poster relating various numbers to their daily lives. We started our first math module on multiplication, beginning with learning how to multiply by 2's.
We also began our unit on rocks and minerals in science by making an interactive RAN (Reading and Analyzing Non-Fiction) chart and watching a short video about minerals.
Students did an excellent job during our first fire drill of the year on Thursday, too! The best fire drill EVER!
Thank you for sharing your children with me this year! They are absolutely adorable, witty, and great to work with. I'm so looking forward to a great year!!!
IMPORTANT!!
I've received very few email addresses from parents so that I can privatize the blog. Please send me your email address this week, so I can add it to my list of contacts and send out the invitations to the blog and make it private for Room 29 parents' eyes only. THANK YOU!! I'd like to share photos of your children and their work, but I can't do so unless the blog is private, and I want to ensure that everyone has access.
I will be contacting everyone this week and next by phone to say hello and let you know how your child adjusted to the first week of school.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Welcome!
We had a wonderful first day of 3rd grade with 18 very enthusiastic students all ready to learn.
Today we went over classroom rules and procedures, learned about each other with toilet paper (ask you're kids to explain), made posters about our summer exploits, and read a story called If Everybody Did. After reading the book, I divided the class into 4 groups by putting stickers on their heads (you'll have to ask about that, too) and they went to different centers to write about their hopes and expectations about 3rd grade.
Lastly, we began a math project relating numbers to our everyday lives.
I will be updating the blog weekly (usually on Friday or the weekend) about everything we've done in class each week. You can also check us out on Twitter for updates!
I'm always available for questions, comments, and concerns. Please feel free to email me at any time or give me a call! I'm looking forward to working with your adorable, smart, funny children this year!
Today we went over classroom rules and procedures, learned about each other with toilet paper (ask you're kids to explain), made posters about our summer exploits, and read a story called If Everybody Did. After reading the book, I divided the class into 4 groups by putting stickers on their heads (you'll have to ask about that, too) and they went to different centers to write about their hopes and expectations about 3rd grade.
Lastly, we began a math project relating numbers to our everyday lives.
I will be updating the blog weekly (usually on Friday or the weekend) about everything we've done in class each week. You can also check us out on Twitter for updates!
I'm always available for questions, comments, and concerns. Please feel free to email me at any time or give me a call! I'm looking forward to working with your adorable, smart, funny children this year!
Monday, August 4, 2014
Our schedule
I just updated our schedule in the Our Schedule link at the top of the page. Please check it out to see when our specials are and what our day is going to look like! See you all soon! Please feel free to email me with any questions. And, don't forget to send me your email addresses!
Friday, July 11, 2014
Summertime!
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer break. I'm already thinking of some great things we can do the first week of school--what did we teachers ever do before Pinterest?
I can't wait to hear about your summer adventures. We've been hanging around Monroe mostly. I've been doing a lot of yoga at Bliss Yoga (run by Stepney mom, Lilia Willis) while my daughter, Lily, has been taking swimming lessons and playing with her friends. We've been getting yummy goodies at the farmers' market every week, too. Maybe I'll see some of you there some time! You have to try the Italian ice; it's fantastic!
Leave me a comment and let me know what you've been doing over the summer! See you soon!
I can't wait to hear about your summer adventures. We've been hanging around Monroe mostly. I've been doing a lot of yoga at Bliss Yoga (run by Stepney mom, Lilia Willis) while my daughter, Lily, has been taking swimming lessons and playing with her friends. We've been getting yummy goodies at the farmers' market every week, too. Maybe I'll see some of you there some time! You have to try the Italian ice; it's fantastic!
Leave me a comment and let me know what you've been doing over the summer! See you soon!
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Stepping Up
I enjoyed meeting all your children at Step Up Day! We talked about all the fun, new things we would be learning in 3rd grade and learned a little more about each other.
I can tell we are going to have a fabulous year with a VERY enthusiastic bunch of Rock Stars!
By the beginning of the school year, this blog will be completely private available only to parents/guardians of students in Room 29, so please remember to send me your email address by July 1. My address is wcushing@monroeps.org.
Have a safe, healthy, happy, relaxing summer...and remind your children to READ!!!!
I can tell we are going to have a fabulous year with a VERY enthusiastic bunch of Rock Stars!
By the beginning of the school year, this blog will be completely private available only to parents/guardians of students in Room 29, so please remember to send me your email address by July 1. My address is wcushing@monroeps.org.
Have a safe, healthy, happy, relaxing summer...and remind your children to READ!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)
