Hmmmm...I guess once a month is what you should expect from here on out! (I started this Saturday, April 30th!)

So...my son plays Varsity baseball (you may be thinking...so, who cares?  Stay with me...it will all connect!)  Anyway...every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this spring I am on a baseball field from 4:30-6:30...and I'm used to working until 5 or 6, so something has had to take a back seat...you guessed it...my blog.  I truly LOVE blogging, but I just can't make time for it these days.  (And to top it off...my oldest son plays Club Baseball at Maryland and he usually plays on Saturdays and Sundays...so there is NEVER time!!)

However, I have SOOOO many pictures to share with you that I am doing a picture/caption blog today (well I actually started last Saturday night, but never finished!!)

Grab a pillow and a snack...enjoy!!

3.14

Pi Day

We read about pi, discovered pi by measuring, analyzed the digits of pi, AND ATE PIE! 

Thanks to all who donated pies!

STEM DAY

Most classes when they reach their Soaring with Pride goal they choose to wear pjs, watch a movie, extra recess...and not that my class doesn't like those things, too, but....they chose to have a STEM DAY.  They got to make a plan, draw up a design, and create their product...make adjustments and then present their creation to the class.  They were allowed to work in groups or individually...check out their products!!

One of the projects created needed to be tested...so we did!

TO BE CONTINUED...I have SOOOO many more pictures!!

Wills Wax Museum 2016

Rainy Saturdays mean no baseball and time to make a movie...working on another blog post as we speak.  Click on the link below and enjoy!!

Wills Wax Museum 2016

Soooo Much to Share...

Happy "almost" Spring!  So nice to be past the really cold weather...kids are enjoying being outside on a regular basis again and so am I!  We've been really busy and I just wanted to update you on a few things...

First of all, I attended the Silent Auction on Friday night and I just want to thank you for donating to our classroom basket...Mrs. Godfroy did such a nice job putting it together and it was all for a great cause...our PTA does SO many wonderful things for our school and your support makes that possible.

Secondly...if you're looking for something to do this coming Wednesday, March 16th...the UES staff is playing the Centerville staff in a friendly (but competitive) basketball game at Urbana High School...and to enter, all you have to do is bring an item for the Urbana Food Bank.  Doors open at 6pm and the game starts at 6:30pm.  AND...I will be playing in this game and would LOVE to have my own cheering squad...so bring your kids, your food items, and come enjoy a night out with the community!  Light concessions will be sold with all proceeds going to the Urbana Food Bank.  Hope to see you there!!!

BYOD is in full swing in our classroom...and oh the things we can do now that we all have devices at our fingertips...it's truly unbelievable...take a look...

RESEARCH and DRAFTING....

 WRITING GROUPS DISCUSSING THEIR OPINION PIECES...

Right now in Language Arts we are covering a lot of different things...we recently finished reading a fiction story in Storyworks and worked with close reading and figuring out the theme of the story.  Right along side that unit we have been working on our biography studies...and boy, are these kids working hard.  They have each chosen a person who in some way has made an impact on our country.  As a class we wrote questions that helped guide our research...things that we thought others would want to know about them.  They have used those questions and researched this person thoroughly using books and many different research portals on our Media Center page.  They are using an organizational folder and envelopes system to make sure they have enough information before they begin drafting their own biographies.  These biographies will be written in the first person.  They must know A LOT about their person because in April they will portray this famous person in The Wills' Wax Museum.  Look for info coming home tomorrow in their Take Home folders about this very special day when you can come visit and learn about all of these famous people. Needless to say, they are very motivated on many levels...they picked someone THEY were interested in and they know they are working to inform an audience (YOU) about why they matter to our country.

Over the past two weeks we have focused on AREA and PERIMETER in Math.  Tomorrow we will only be focusing on PI as tomorrow is 3.14 (March 14th).  However, come Tuesday, we will be all about fractions for the next couple weeks.  I am using a web program titled TenMarks and you can keep an eye on how your child is faring with all of these math standards.  The letter I originally sent home has a parent login and you are able to see what assignments they've completed, whether they've completed them on time, whether they've needed help from the hints or videos, and how they scored.  These are all of the things I look at when I go into the site to view the reports.  

Something else we have been doing are PARCC practice tests.  NOT because they need to practice a test...but because they will be taking these tests ONLINE this year and they need to practice using the tools and seeing how to manipulate the inner workings of  this particular test.  However, while they worked with the Math portion two different times, they realized that just knowing their math concepts is not going to be enough...they have to READ carefully and they have to WORK SLOWLY to solve the problems.  We all agreed that the math skills aren't that hard, but the problems and directions make it hard.  Its been kind of eye opening for them!  The thing I like about the practice tests is once they're finished they can view how they scored AND they can go back and make corrections.  If you want to take a look at these tests, the links are on Google Classroom...have your child show you!  We will work with the LA section this week so they can see how the stories are laid out and how they are asked to work between two different tabs to answer questions sometimes.  They haven't seen the LA part yet, so that will be eye opening as well.  We don't want them to be shell shocked come testing time!

We finished up our unit on Rocks, Soil and Fossils and are now moving into the next social studies unit on economics.  This is a great unit where the kids learn all about production, supply and demand, limited resources, opportunity cost, etc.  We will learn all of the important concepts involved in this unit and then take it further by developing our own companies, creating a product, advertising that product, and ultimately, selling our products in hopes of making a profit.  It is a very fun time watching my third graders become entrepreneurs!

As seen and mentioned above, your kids are writing opinion pieces...now, we all know they have opinions...but communicating those opinions well with good, strong reasons and examples is no easy feat!  We are working on bold beginnings and strong endings in order to make our points.  I love some of the things they've decided to write about and am excited for you to see their finished pieces...but don't hold your breath...the process is lengthy!

They are being asked to write weekly on Google Classroom...and I am grading those entries...mainly for capitalization and punctuation.  These grades will be applied to their overall writing grade.  By the middle of third grade, their punctuation and capitalization should be strong.  I am stressing the importance of REREADING for editing and revising.  

Last...please send in your useful recyclables...we are doing a STEM project as a class reward and we will also need them for our Entrepreneurs unit, so anything you have is appreciated.

Thanks to all who have offered to bring PIES tomorrow...it's always fun to end PI DAY with PIE.

As always, email me with questions.

Hope your weekend was fun!

Forgive me?

WOW...that was a huge lapse in blogging...my apologies.  I hope this post will somewhat make up for it!  Between the holidays, end of quarter two, and my quick get away to Florida...I'm just trying to keep my head above water (oh and parent my own kids, too!) ;-)

Grab a snack and a drink...this is going to be a doozy!

Language Arts

Honestly, what haven't we been doing in LA?  We have been reading both fiction and non-fiction texts with a focus on finding text evidence to support our thinking. We used two texts of similar subject - roller coasters - to answer questions, and dig deep into two different texts.  Our focus is going to turn to biography research in the next two weeks.  The kids will be choosing an important person - someone who has had an impact on our country - and learning all there is to know about that person.  We will be collaborating with Mrs. Schartner, our media specialist, and the kids will be creating a Thinglink about that same famous person, using research portals while in the Media Center.  They will continue their research in books in our classroom as they take notes and begin to retell the story of their famous person's life...in the first person...as if they are THAT PERSON.  This project has a grand finale...we will hold a Wax Museum where you will be invited to visit and learn about all of the important people the kids have chosen to represent.  More details to come on this in school project.  No worries...the only work the kids will have to do at home is decide what to wear the day of the Wax Museum and practice their speaking A LOT...but we're quite a ways off from that!!

Writing

Quarter Two was all about Informative writing...their Information Books came home Friday...I am so proud of the work the kids did.  Quarter Three is all about Opinion Writing.  This is another great unit and I'm looking forward to hearing their thoughts and opinions...we all know they have strong opinions about things!  We also have many kids taking advantage of a website called Storybird.  This is a website where they can write creatively and share within our on line classroom.  On Friday I shared a story that two students had written together...on their own time.  It was a great story and I'm hoping this has inspired others to work on their creative writing when they have extra down time...or just because they love it!

Math

Multiplication?  Division?  Problem Solving?  You name it...we've worked on it lately.  Our class has such a wide spectrum of abilities when it comes to math....and it's my job to help all students master the third grade objectives while enriching and extending those who already know them...I do this by working in groups...groups that change all the time based on what we're learning.

For the record...at this point your child needs to be proficient in their math facts.  Not because the county says so (the county says be the end of third grade), but because the pace at which we learn things in my classroom requires quick recall of facts...and if you're busy sitting and counting by threes to figure out 3 x 7, you've just been left behind...so please work with me to help your child memorize their multiplication and division facts...if they don't know them well, they should be working on them daily...three times a week if they're close to being proficient.  If you're wondering whether your child is proficient or not, I sent home scores recently to all kids who haven't mastered their facts yet.  If you are unsure and didn't see the scores, feel free to email me.

Science and Social Studies

We recently finished studying cultures...what fun it was to learn about each child's culture...such wonderful presentations...we learned so much!  We are now working on a science unit titled, "Rocks, Soil, and Fossils"...just Thursday we finished an investigation into different types of soil.  We gathered information and then used the info to help us identify each type. There was such strong verbal discourse during this investigation...

One student, "This is humus."

Another student, "No, I think it is loam.  Look at the paper, it says loam has pebbles and sand in it.  Look at this, you can see the pebbles and sand!"

First student, "You're right."

The kids work in cooperative groups a lot...for exactly that reason...I could have them write down notes about different soils, but when they research and then investigate and figure it out themselves, that's true learning!!

Take a peek...

We're half way to FOURTH grade!!

What does this mean?  

Well...for starters it means I'm already feeling nostalgic...if only time would slow down!! ;-)

But what does it mean in terms of your kids?  

I'm going to be a bit tougher on them.  If they don't have their homework, and they are repeat offenders, they don't get a second chance...they do it at recess.  Messy work will not be accepted.  It will be returned to be redone.  Extra time is still given if an assignment is incomplete, but its going to be more "at home" time, instead of finding time within the day.  The transition from second grade to third grade is a tough one because they are little kids becoming bigger kids...but fourth graders are the big kids, so its my job to start to get them ready.  Just wanted to give you a heads up! 

Valentine's Day!!

I took all of the pictures from Friday and put them in a video...enjoy!!

Valentine's Day - click here!

I hope you're having a wonderful really long weekend!  Tell the kids I will see them Wednesday!

We're having a FANTASTIC FALL!

I absolutely LOVE your kids...we are having so much fun while stretching our brains...thanks for sending such responsible, hardworking, "eager to learn" kids!!  Please read all the way through...important CONFERENCES message at the end!

FALL FESTIVAL DAY

We had sooo much fun...click on the date below to see a picture video of our day...enjoy!

October 30, 2015

LANGUAGE ARTS

We finished narrative writing and we are now headed into a unit where the kids will be information writers.  I LOVE this unit and it fits nicely as we segway from novels back to reading non-fiction. Take a look at the editing/revising/publishing process in our classroom (this also happened to be PJ/Stuffed Friend Day.) 

SCIENCE

We are coming to the end of our Chemical Tests unit in Science.  We have been testing five mystery powders in order to try to draw some conclusions about their identity.  We've tested with water, vinegar, iodine (your child knows what iodine can indicate), red cabbage juice (a pH indicator), and finally, on Monday, we will watch what happens as heat is applied to each powder. We've worked with water mixtures and discussed whether the mixture is a solution or a suspension.  We've recorded observable properties and looked for chemical changes. The kids love this unit and cheer every time I say it's time for science!  We have done a lot of reading for information alongside this unit.  We read rigorous text and pull it apart to find meaning.  Its how we tried to make sense of testing with iodine and red cabbage juice...we've also watched video clips about what to look for when a chemical change takes place.  After Thanksgiving we will move into our next Social Studies unit: Immigration and Government.

MATH

What do I want to say about math?  Phew...making sure each child has been exposed to and works toward mastery of all third grade concepts is one thing...challenging those that come already mastering them is another...I keep busy in the math classroom as I work with flexible groups every time we change a skill or concept.  PLEASE, PLEASE have your child practice multiplication and division facts.  One important reason is because by the end of third grade they are to be proficient...but an even more important reason is because not knowing facts slows down so many other processes.  As we work through multiple strategies in multiplication and make connections between those and the most efficient strategy, the algorithm, kids who do not know that 4 x 7 is 28 are really stuck on skip counting instead of the other processes.  All students should be studying their multiplication and division facts AT LEAST three times a week.  There are multiple sites on our Math Google Classroom for practicing.  The students also made monster wheels in the classroom to aid them in studying at home.  They only created one, but after mastering that one, they are more than welcome to take home another to create there.

CONFERENCES

If you returned a conference slip saying you are unable to come to the time you signed up for, please email me for an alternate time.  The slip said to contact the office, but they will just send you to my voicemail...its a much quicker process if you email me.  

For my conferences this year, please use the OUTSIDE DOOR of my classroom to enter.  This way you do not have to stand in the other third grade classrooms if you are early and have to wait. (It's also so much quicker to just come to me from the fire hall parking lot than having to walk to the office and come back.) Although I hate to end conferences before all has been discussed, I have 29 conferences that are 15 minutes each.  I will be using the clock to ensure you are not left waiting or short changed on time.  That being said, if I am one minute late, please be patient.  I promise you will get your entire 15 minutes regardless of what time we start.  I will put the schedule on the door outside of my classroom and be using my iPhone clock to keep us on schedule.  If we cannot finish our discussion during our conference time, or you have unanswered questions, do not hesitate to send me an email and we can either discuss over email or we can schedule to meet again. I greatly appreciate your patience on those three days knowing I have spent hours upon end preparing for these conferences and do all that I can to stay on time.  Please be prompt because there will not be any extra minutes anywhere.  Thank you.

VETERANS DAY

Last, and most importantly...your kids learned about Six Word Memoirs this past week...and after gathering information about Veteran's Day, they wrote six words with so much meaning.  I can't post them all...however they are all posted in the art room hallway...make sure to visit that bulletin board after your conference.  It is an extremely moving bulletin board.  One of my students had this to say about Six Word Memoirs...

"So little. So much meaning. How?"

God, I love these minds.