Happy New Year!

Time sure flies when you're having fun!  I had a skiing-filled break and after the freezing of myself and the NFL and the High Lift today (can you believe that!  I'm glad I got one Headwall run in before they shut it down), I am ready to head back to school!  I hope you all are feeling thawed, rested and ready too!

Before we get into it, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you for making our feast a success and for your kind and generous holiday gifts.  I so appreciate you and all of your support!  Thank You!

Here's what we'll be up to this week:

Reading Workshop:  Over the next couple weeks, the focus of our reading workshop will be comprehension strategies.  This week, we will be focusing on are asking questions.

Questions are at the heart of teaching and learning.  Posing questions allows us to seek out information, solve problems, and extend our understanding.  They propel us to read on and to do further research.  I want to teach our students that instead of demanding answers all the time, they need to ask thoughtful and insightful questions.  In order to develop critical, analytical readers, we must teach them to think about and question what they read.  Asking questions enriches the reading experience and leads to deeper understanding.

We will begin the week learning to ask questions as we read.  Students will ask questions as they read and understand that good readers question the text, stop and notice when their questions are answered, and recognize that not all of our questions are answered.

As the week continues, we will learn how to ask questions to gain information and how to ask questions to expand our thinking.

Writing Workshop:  This unit in writing is all about the Six Traits of Writing.  Six Traits of Writing is a systematic and analytical approach for learning about writing one part at a time.  By focusing on only one trait at a time, a writer can break down a complex activity like writing and make it more manageable.  With practice, writers can then learn to be more critical of their own work and can make improvements in the quality of their writing. 

The Six Traits of Writing are: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Conventions.  

This week students will be introduced to all six traits.  Students will work in groups of threes and learn about one specific trait.  Students will become "experts" on their trait and create a poster and a presentation for their other classmates on their particular trait.  We will round out the week focusing on Ideas.  

Throughout this unit, we will look at mentor texts that highlight one or two of the traits.  We will discuss the traits, read the texts, and discuss what they thought the author did really well.  Then students write pieces inspired by these wonderful texts.  

Math:  We will begin the week with some review of subtraction methods.  Students will reacquaint themselves with both the count-up method, which is totally different than how you and I learned math, but it is a lot of fun. Yes, I just said that a subtraction algorithm is fun!  They will also practice the traditional method of subtraction as well.  As the week goes on, we will be plugging away on our multiplication and division unit and rolling our numbers.

Theme:  We will spend some time wrapping up our unit on France.  Students will reflect on what they learned, what went well, and what could've been better. Our next theme will be revealed shortly, but I will tell you that it is a science theme!

Well, that's a lot of information for now.  Just a few things to remember:

-Ski program starts Thursday January 16th for 3rd grade.  We will be skiing for the second half of the day every Thursday for 5 weeks!  Yahoo!!!  If you haven't paid yet, please pay as soon as possible.  If you have not paid by the second week of the program, you child will not be allowed to ski until you do.

- No school for elementary students (not sure about secondary, sorry) on Friday January 17 and Monday January 20.  Enjoy that 4-day weekend!

Thanks again for reading.  Please let me know if this blog is helpful to you or if there is anything you would like me to add or omit.  Your feedback really would mean a lot to me.  

Thank you!

Last Week of 2013

Bonjour!

Our last week before 2013 is going to be a busy one!  

Since our students are so busy with memorizing their parts for our holiday program and for our presentation on France, there will be minimal homework this week.  

They may need some assistance in their homework assignment on Wednesday.  I have asked the students to write a goodbye letter to Wren as she will be leaving for the rest of the school year after break.  She and her family will be in Florida for the remainder of the school year.  We are excited for her, but we will miss her terribly.  The letters are meant to be a surprise to Wren, so let's keep it on the down low.  

In Writing Workshop/Social Studies we will be finishing up on our final drafts and adding details on our poster boards.  We are so excited to show you what we've learned.  There will be a parent presentation on Friday at 2:00 followed by a multicultural feast with all 2nd and 3rd grade classes in the MPR that will last until the end of the day.  

Speaking of the feast, we've had a lot of people offer to bring cups, cutlery, and plates, which we so appreciate.  However, we definitely need some food!  So far we have yule log, crepes and some french bread coming our way.  As a class, we are planning on making truffles to bring and would love if you could bring something too.  I know that we are all extra busy this time of year and I totally understand if not everyone can bring a dish. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or even traditional French.  Here's a few ideas:  

• potatoes au gratin
• croissants
• quiche
• potato salad
• nicoise salad
• cheese plate
• French toast sticks
• easy beef bourguignon

There are a bunch of easy recipes on the food network website: http://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/french/index.html

In all other academic areas, we will be reviewing and reinforcing skills and concepts that we have learned so far.  I find it's best not to introduce new concepts right before our two week break.  

Thanks again for all that you do.  Have a fantastic Holiday Break!   I'll see you out on the hill!

  

Last Two Weeks of 2013!

We are on a sleigh ride to Christmas Break people!  Wow!  Time is just racing by!

Here's what we're up to in Melissa's Third Grade!

Math:  We are plugging along with multiplication and division.  We are learning how to roll our eights and continue practicing with our threes, fours, and sixes.  We just started to learn strategies to help us solve basic division problems and have even dabbled with remainders!

Readers Workshop:  This week readers workshop is divided into two parts; nonfiction reading and fiction reading.

In our nonfiction reading, students will continue to monitor their comprehension and synthesize the information their reading about their french topic.  Many students are doing this independently while others require a bit more support.  Many of us don't have much background knowledge to draw from, so this information is all new.  We are learning so much and having a great time!  Many of us are making plans to visit France ourselves someday!

Fiction reading is focused on continued practice of the skills we have acquired so far this school year.  We are choosing books that are just right, committing to a book from start to finish, and making sure to we are paying attention to what we read, not just skimming over the words.  We make mental movies in our mind and monitor our comprehension.  When our mental movie gets blurry, we stop, ask questions, reread and read on!  We rock!

Writers Workshop:  It's all about France for the next two weeks.  Students are finishing up on their topic paragraphs and are moving on to writing introductions and conclusions. We are hoping to get everyone going on their poster board by Wednesday this week.  We are planning to present our amazing posters next week. I will send home some information later this week about days and times.

Speaking of days and times, here is a list of upcoming events:

This week:
Tuesday December 10:  Health Fair
Friday December 13:  Book Buddy Day  Wear your pajamas, bring your favorite stuffy/pillow to snuggle and read with your kindergarten buddy!

Ski Forms for Ski Program:  They will be coming home today.   Please get them back ASAP!  They are due back by December 18th at the latest!  The cost is $85 per student.  Payments are due by January 10th.

Next week:

Holiday Program!!

The 3rd and 4th grade holiday program is on Thursday December 19 at 5:30 p.m.  Students need to report our classroom at 5:15.  Prepare to have your mind blown!

Thanks for reading!

Vive la France!

Welcome back everyone!  I hope your break was filled with family, friends, food, and pow!  I sure had fun making laps on lower Ruby Chief  this weekend!

Anyway, our study of France is underway.  This week we will be spending time breaking down our individual topics into two-three subtopics to research.  We've done pretty well with this so far, but we could always use a little bit of help.  If you are available to help us, we would love it!  We'll be doing our research daily from 12:00-1:00 and would love any help we can get.  The more the merrier!

This week we are just on a mad hunt for facts about our topics.  We are learning how to take notes and will be focusing on putting facts into our own words and eventually into paragraph form.  Our final product will be a poster board that will look a bit like this:

This poster board will combine what we have learned in our study of nonfiction texts and what we've learned about France.  It's a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun.

Spelling is all new this week!  We are no longer doing spelling sorts.  Please read the note I sent home today for more info.

Math this week will continue with our focus on measurement, area, and perimeter.  We plan to wrap this unit up by the end of the week.  We also are just learning how to roll our fours!  We are so awesome!

France is all the rage in our writing and of course our social studies time as well.  This week we will be learning about the geography of France, the French Flag and may even get into a little bit of government if we have time.

I think that's all for now.  Thank you so much for reading!

So Much to be Thankful For!

With the snow falling and Thanksgiving on the horizon, I've been feeling extraordinarily blessed and grateful.  This school year has been so incredible so far and I am totally in love with our class.  We have learned so much over these past 11 weeks and have had a ton of fun doing so.  I really feel so honored to spend my days teaching this fantastic group of people!  Thank you so much for all that you do!  I so appreciate you and your support.

This week is action-packed so hold on tight!  Here's what is going down in Melissa's third grade this week:

Spelling: There will be no spelling sorts this week as I am reassessing students to start new groups over break.

Reading Workshop:

We are continuing our focus on non-fiction this week.  We will be learning about nonfiction features and their purposes.  When we encounter a compelling photograph or a map filled with fascinating detail, the power of visuals to enhance learning and understanding comes through loud and clear.  Nonfiction is full of these features which other genres don't have.  These features along with titles, subheadings. framed texts, and fonts help us navigate through informational texts.  This week, students will learn about these features and discuss how the features support their understanding.

We will be using our weekly Scholastic News as well as some nonfiction books on France to support these lessons.

Writing Workshop:

We will be finishing up our "State Study" with Ms. Emily's class this week.  Students will be focusing finishing their visual aid as well as writing a paragraph or two about their particular state.  This will be our introduction into research writing and presenting that will set us up for our country study after break.

Social Studies:

This week students will be introduced to potential research topics for our study of France.  I have about 25 topics to choose from.  I will present the topics to the students with a powerpoint and a brief description.  Students will have a list of the topics and rate them 1-4; 1 = I don't want it 4 = I want it really bad. I will collect the lists and assign the topics accordingly.  Students will know their topic by Wednesday.  I will provide information on each topic, but researching at home and over break is highly recommended.

Math:

Measurement is still the name of the game in math this week.  We will continue exploring and measuring items to the nearest 1/2 inch.  This week we will continue discussing perimeter and area.  We define perimeter as "measure all the lengths and add them together" and area as "the short side measurement times the long side measurement equals the area."

Here's some pictures of our measurement lessons from last week:

 Last, but definitely not least, this week is our last week of Celebrate the Beat. We will be participating in a performance for the parents and community on Thursday November 21st.  Students need to be back at school and to report to our room to get ready for the performance.  The performance starts at 6:00 in the elementary gym.  When we are performing as a whole group, we will be on stage left or lookers right, which ever makes more sense to you.  During our dance with Bobby's class, we'll be in the middle.  It is so important that all students participate.  If you have any issues with timing, rides, or anything that may interfere with your child performing, please let me know as soon as possible.

Thanks again for everything.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Keep on Rockin' in the Third Grade!

I hope you all had a marvelous weekend!

We have another amazing week coming up in third grade.  Here's the breakdown of what we'll be doing this week:

Reading Workshop:

We had a successful week last week with our character trait focus.  Students practiced this comprehension skill as a whole group and independently.

This week we will continue focusing on comprehension, but we will be using non-fiction texts.  Students will still be permitted (and encouraged) to read their fiction chapter books, as the skills transfer to fiction reading as well.  But, for learning the lessons and in-class practice, we will be using nonfiction materials.

We will be learning strategies to help us monitor our comprehension.  When readers monitor their comprehension, they keep track of their thinking while reading.  They listen to the voice in their head that speaks to them as they read.  They notice when the text makes sense and when it doesn't.  Students will learn to "fix up" their comprehension by using a variety of strategies including stopping to refocus thinking, rereading, and reading on.  To become independent, and thoughtful, readers need several strategies to call up when needed.  With practice, these monitoring lessons allow readers independently  figure out what their comprehension problem is and find the strategy to solve it.

WritingWorkshop and Social Studies:

We will continue practicing paragraphing while we finish up our final personal narrative pieces.  Writing Workshop and Social Studies will collide this week as we will be working with Ms. Emily's class on our "Research a State" project.  Students will work in pairs to research a state in a region of their choice.  Students will learn about state symbols, border states, state history, fun facts, landmarks, natural resources and more!  We will be using these amazing state boards for our resource:

These boards are full of information about each state.  Through this project, students will learn about their particular state and also non-fiction features, graphic organizing, synthesizing information and putting it into their own words, and paragraph writing.  This nonfiction paragraph writing will be expanded in our upcoming country study unit after Thanksgiving break.

Math:

In case you haven't heard, we are learning about measurement.  Last week we learned all about the metric system and its three basic units.  Shock of shocks, we learned about it via a song.  I posted a video of this song on our website http://melissasthirdgrade.weebly.com/ under the Metric System tab.

This week we'll be learning about the U.S. customary units of measurement, but I don't have a song for that...yet.

Fluency Poem:

This week's fluency poem is The Fifty Nifty United States by Ray Charles.  We have been working really hard on memorizing the states and have done pretty great so far.  We just really want to firm it up this week and our fluency poem is a fantastic way to to just that!  Here is a link to our favorite youtube version of the song:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb0eOmX7ZGw

That's all for now!  Thanks again for taking the time to read this blog.  I so appreciate you and all that you do!

Celebrate the Beat is Here!

First things first, I want to thank you all for attending parent-teacher conferences last week. We had 100% participation and I truly enjoyed discussing your child and their progress with you.  Thank you!

Also, our Halloween party and post Halloween day both were amazing!  Our students were a bit tired on Friday, but they pushed through and stayed on task.

Here's the weekly academic happenings in Melissa's Third Grade:

We are so excited to start Celebrate the Beat!  We will be practicing every day in the Multipurpose Room from 2:30-3:20.  We've had to tweak our schedule a bit to accommodate CTB, but it is so worth it.  Our core content areas will not be compromised as a result of these changes.  We will not have P.E. during Celebrate the Beat which leaves us with enough time for our academics.  It does cut into our social studies time just a bit, but not to much.  Our parent volunteer times will remain the same despite the alterations.

Also parents, if you want to join in the fun of Celebrate the Beat, there is an opportunity for you!  The CTB team will be teaching a "Parent-Teacher Dance" on Wednesdays after school from 5:30 to 6:30.  I will be participating and it is a ton of fun!  Please let me know if your interested.


Readers Workshop:

Last week our focus was on Character Traits.  We practiced the comprehension strategy of inferring character traits by analyzing the actions and words of our characters in our class read aloud Peter and the Starcatchers.  We talked about how authors give us clues like character's actions or dialogue to show us who these characters are.

Students began to work on this skill independently toward the end of the week and we will continue working on inferring character traits this week as well.  We finish up the week with deciphering between fact and opinions.  This will be a great lesson to tie into our character traits and inferring.

Writers Workshop:

Last week we implemented our discoveries from famous author's writing techniques into our own writing.  We spent a lot of time talking about word choice and how we should replace "worn out" words like "good" and "happy" with words that were more interesting and descriptive.  We learned how to use classroom resources and a thesaurus to find high quality words.  Most students are finished with group revision and will be spending the week making changes, editing and getting ready for their second revision.

Our target skill this week will be paragraphing.  This skill is kind of tough at first, so we need lots of practice.  I begin by showing students two samples of a piece of writing.  One is paragraphed and one is not.  We discuss how the paragraphed piece just looks better and seems easier to read.  Then we try to figure out when the author paragraphed and why.  Then I bust out my trusty anchor chart that tells us exactly what we just discovered!  Coincidence? I think not!

We will spend a lot of time practicing with paragraphing and editing sample pieces before we will be doing this work independently.  

Math:

We will beginning unit 3 in our math curriculum which is one of my favorites:  Measurement!  We will be learning about units of measurement, standard and metric systems, perimeter and area.  This unit is very hands-on and so much fun!  

Social Studies:

Last week we learned a lot about the continents and oceans.  This week, we plan to spend a little time talking about countries.  We will look at world maps and see where our country is in relation to the countries we are trying to help through our World Citizenship charity Heifer International.

Speaking of Heifer International, we have only raised $13 dollars to help.  I know that we can do better than that!  We plan to collect money until after the holidays.

Thanks again for all that you do and for reading this blog.  Please feel free to contact me if needed!