PICTURE PALOOZA...FAIL...read on to find out why...

I have had such struggles with pictures...I thought I was doing a good thing by downloading all my pictures to my school laptop...then come to find out, for some very odd and frustrating reason...it will only let me download ONE AT A TIME...

So...today I will be slowly but surely, downloading photos...I may also put a few in Animoto which will be like a movie full of pictures...because that may let me upload more than one at a time.

Either way...today you're going to be seeing A LOT of pictures.

In December we had a Winter Theme Door Contest...I let the kids help plan our door...I think they did an amazing job...take a look!

The engineering project for the end of our Weather and Climate unit has been AHHHMAZING!! The kids took all of the knowledge they gained as scientists during this unit and had to plan (in cooperative groups) was to help minimize erosion when heavy rain cause flooding. Their plans were creative and innovative, and we spent most of Friday testing some of them. We will finish testing them tomorrow. Take a look...

Friday was World Read Aloud Day and we were so thankful to have Mrs. Maucher and Mrs. Micheals come in to read to us! We also had Ms. DeGirolamo (our high school intern) read to us, too! It was a fun day of lots of different genres of stories read to us!

ARGHHHH...and now come to find out, I downloaded them onto my laptop while I was at school, but cannot access them unless I am AT SCHOOL...so the group of pictures above is just a teaser...I will try so hard to upload all of the others this week...but I don't often have time to blog while at school, so this is quite a conundrum I find myself in!!

Upcoming things of interest...the Science/Social Studies Fair is coming up in late March...your child is encouraged to conduct science fair experiment/project (it is not mandatory)...but just to let you know...they will ALL be doing a social studies project for this fair...AT SCHOOL...more to come on that later this week. And more info and a website with all things Science Fair will be coming out soon, too.

Happy Super Bowl Day! Fingers crossed this coming week is a lot more normal than last week!!

How are we days from 2019?!?!

So...I will start with an apology for no post in November...thank goodness I'm getting this done today, so I don't have to say "no post in November AND December!!"

I guess the only thing I can use an excuse is so little time...blogging definitely is not something that fits into the regular school day...neither does grading papers...and so when I have time at home, I usually am doing that...but right now I am on a ten hour trip home from Georgia visiting my grand kids, so I have unlimited time on my hands!!

I have so much to write about and so many pictures to share...so go grab a handful of leftover holiday cookies, a warm drink, and get comfortable!

As far as academics go...you should be so proud of your child! In Language Arts we have been working on playlists...I'm sure you've seen these come home...playlists are the latest trend in education that incorporate blended learning into the classroom. Blended learning is "an approach to education that combines online educational materials and opportunities for interaction online with traditional place-based classroom methods. It requires the physical presence of both teacher and student, with some elements of student control over time, place, path, or pace." The playlist model allows students to choose from "Must Do" activities that are developed based on Language Arts learning objectives (and often Social Studies or Science objectives, as well.) These "Must Do" activities always involve reading fiction or non-fiction (depending on our focus), responding to reading in writing, creating some sort of product to show their understanding, and discussing the reading with a collaborative group digging deeper into the text. As the teacher, I am able to assess their comprehension by sitting in on the collaborative conversations (and often moderating them), as well as by reading their written responses. While some children are working on the comprehension activities, others may be working on vocabulary (Wordly Wise) or another assignment of their choice. Because that's what the playlist allows...lots of choices. These choices allow the students to take more ownership of their learning. Usually there are about four "Must Do" activities and the kids can decide which activity to work on which day. I look at their daily progress goals (what they're working on) and their learning goals to keep an eye on their time management. This type learning requires students to work independently and organize their time. It is a difficult transition for many, but this group has done such a FANTASTIC job. Once they complete their "Must Do" activities, there are many "May Do" activities they can choose from. Students have been working on learning other languages on a site called DuoLingo, they can research topics they are passionate about and create a way to teach our class all about that topic, they can create something in our MakerSpace area that relates to their comprehension of the text they read, and so much more.

So...I just tried to attach pictures and I'm not being able to from this school laptop...I will try very hard to do something with all of the pictures tomorrow.

Let me tell you more about the past couple months.

We are getting ready to finish up our Weather and Climate unit in Science....the kids have been collecting weather data from our homemade weather instruments and we've been learning about the climates around the world, in the US, and specifically in Maryland compared to other places in the US. The kids have enjoyed this unit and are quite good at identifying cloud types and explaining how the clouds can predict the kind of weather that is ahead. They have collected data on wind speed, wind direction, amount of precipitation, and temperature.

In Math, I continue to assess each unit's skills, and then regroup for teaching, practicing, and extending the concepts. I will be giving another multiplication fact test soon and am hoping their scores improve...your child should be practicing these multiplication facts (0-10) a couple evenings a week if they are not fluent with them yet. As we delve further into equivalent fractions, their multiplication fact knowledge will help them tremendously. The students are also heavy into Redbird now. This is the online math curriculum that is written for advanced learners and differentiates for your child based on their math knowledge. Ask your child what they are doing in Redbird these days...you may be quite surprised!

We also have other fun things going on at school...at UES we have buddies. Each classroom is assigned a buddy class and in third grade you are finally the OLDER buddy! We are paired with Mrs. Moats' kindergarten class and each student has a kindergarten buddy. We find this builds community within our school because when our classes see each other in the hallways, we have a connection with kids outside our grade level. We meet with our buddies at least once a month and do some sort of activity together. It is so heartwarming to see your kids being role models with the younger kids. I have great pis of all of this, too...so more to come.

I also have great photos of the kids sharing their Cultural Projects, and of the Fall Festival party, the Fun Run...I will work on getting photos put in tomorrow.

I hope your family has enjoyed some down time this past week and my wish for you all is a very happy and healthy 2019! I can't wait to see your little people!

Going to go work on putting pictures into a video...see if that program will allow me to upload pictures.

Can you believe it's OCTOBER?!?

Hello! I hope you're having a wonderful weekend! I thought I'd let you take a look into the classroom and see (and read) what we've been up to!

Let me start with...thanks for always letting me know about transportation changes and absences. Just a reminder to please send the emails to the email address below and copy me...this way the school has record of it, and I am informed as well. That's the only problem with Remind...I can't forward your messages to the school, so this way we make sure we are covering all of our bases.

OK...with that business out of the way...here's what we've got going on...

Language Arts

I don't really have any pictures of this time in the classroom because I am working with small groups...however, I can tell you all about it. We have been reading excerpts from novels and next week our focus is on Greek mythology! While reading these above grade level pieces of literature we are working on the 3rd grade ELA standards and having AMAZING discussions! It's so much fun getting to know your kids as thinkers! While I'm working with small groups, the other students are working in rotations on other independent or partnered activities. Often they are working on vocabulary in an individualized blended learning program called Wordly Wise which was specifically purchased by the Advanced Academics department for magnet students. Sometimes they are using the chromebooks practicing their keyboarding on Typing Club. Sometimes the students are Reading for Stamina (a fan favorite!!) or they could be discussing a question with a partner and having a discussion. As you can see, we are very busy during ELA time! 

Writing

This quarter our writing focus is NARRATIVES. Let's be clear...we do lots of other writing...but the instructional focus this quarter is narrative writing. Each day we have a mini lesson and then the kids work on their narratives...they also meet with their writing partners. These partners are for listening, bouncing ideas off of, making suggestions, and listening some more...and I'm so impressed with how well your kids have taken to the idea that one draft can be worked on over multiple days...this is not an easy concept as most third graders write a piece, think it's amazing, and are finished. ;-)

I have lots of pictures of their writing times and writing partner times, because I am walking around working with individuals and talking to groups. Take a peek...

Word Study

As I'm sure you've probably realized by now, your child has his/her own word study list each week...therefore there are 29 tests to give each week. The students are finally into this new word study routine, and as with everything else, they're awesome with it! Each week the students are given a pretest based on some type of spelling pattern and then they build their own lists based on the words they get incorrect on the pretest. Then they choose other words from the "extra words" list that they may be unfamiliar with...not necessarily focusing on whether they can spell them or not, but focusing on whether they know how to use them. Then during the week they complete a word sort thinking about the way the words are spelled, and they write definitions for each word. On Fridays they are tested on how to spell the words and they have to define one of those words. We are working our way up to defining more than that...the next few weeks the kids will have to define three. If you ever have any questions about word study (or anything else for that matter), please don't hesitate to email me! Here's a glimpse into test time on Fridays...

Social Studies

We are working on a unit all about culture. We had such an interesting discussion about how America has often been referred to as a melting pot, and that many now think it should be referred to as a tossed salad. Ask your child about this...it was a cool conversation! The kids' projects are due this Wednesday...I'm really looking forward to seeing what they've chosen to represent their culture. 

Math

The first month of school has been a whirlwind...but it's my job to try to challenge all students while making sure to cover the third grade standards, and help other students learn new things...we spent a lot of time working with Inspirational Math from Jo Boaler as I mentioned in the previous post...and then we spent a while exploring problem solving strategies and how to best "map out/take apart" a problem...all the while delving into patterns, and addition and subtraction of big numbers. All of my students can add and subtract with ease...and with multiple strategies, but one of my jobs is to help them learn the most efficient strategy, so, many students have spent the past week or so mastering the subtraction algorithm (the way YOU were taught to subtract!!) Because their conceptual knowledge is so strong (thanks to all of those other strategies they've learned), they picked up on it quickly. Those who came to me already knowing it, were given other instruction during this time. And EVERYONE worked on rounding as an estimation strategy! NOW, we are headed into multiplication and measuring the area of rectangles. Again, I work with small groups, so my pictures are minimal, but I took TWO the other day...although your child may not be pictured, this is what small groups look like during math while at the instructional table...other kids are working on a TenMarks assignments, follow up assignments, or problem solving with a partner discussing different solutions.

Weinberg Field Trip/Volunteers/Homework/ETC

I will choose chaperones on Monday and inform everyone who was chosen to go on the Weinberg field trip. If you are chosen, I will choose different parents to go to the ESSL, so that I can try to get as many parents as possible on trips with us. 

Thank you to everyone who has signed up to volunteer in the classroom...I have a volunteer ALMOST every day of the month, which is crazy cool! If ever you cannot make it, please throw me an email...it's NEVER a problem, but it helps in my planning.

Keep your eyes open for some emails and info about the Fall Festival and Pumpkin Math (two different opportunities to join us in the classroom). And our two room parents, Ms. Simmons and Ms. Maucher, will be in touch soon about how you can donate items or money for our Fall Festival party!

If your child cannot complete a homework assignment for any reason, please send a note. I am a very understanding working mom of kids who have homework, and I understand circumstances that prevent homework every once in awhile. Please just let me know. Thank you.

As always, please contact me with any questions or comments...I'm loving teaching your kids, so thanks for sending them to me each day ready to learn!