Hope you are enjoying this beautiful Sunday!

Hello to my favorite peoples' families! We had a good week last week...and we almost got to go to school the whole week!! Let's keep our fingers crossed for this week! Here's a look into our week...and I took some great pictures...however my phone cord is at school, so I will have to wait until tomorrow to post them.

Language Arts
We have researched, taken notes using graphic organizers to prepare for the essays, and now we have almost a whole class full of finished drafts!! I have conferenced with all of the kids whose drafts are complete and many kids have started publishing their essays on the computer...the kids have been so diligent in their work. We will finish publishing this week and the kids will be bringing their essays home. It is their job to practice reading their essay out loud. They should be practicing a lot...they DO NOT have to memorize...but they should be so comfortable reading their biography that they can look at their audience a lot. Not all students will be performing live...but all kids have to read their essay to me for a communication grade. I will be scoring these criteria: volume, pacing, clarity, and eye contact. Your job (if I may) is to listen to your child over and over and over...until you know it so well you don't really want to hear it anymore!! ;-) The kids have also wrote poems about their inventors...and I can't wait to share them with you!!

Science
Well, I'm sure you know by now that we have started a new science unit...and we had sooo much fun with worms this week. We had a lesson about composting...and we built compost bins with the help of Brian Zhu's mom...thank you, Ms. Yan! Using food scraps, newspapers, dirt, and worms, we have working compost bins in our classroom! Our second lesson was observing worms...we measured, touched, smelled, and recorded data about the worms...and although not very scientific, the kids named them! (that cracked me up because once they were back in the bins, they can't identify the same word again!!) And then on Friday we used our worms to conduct some experiments...we tested whether worms prefer cold vs. warm temperatures, we tested whether worms prefer dry vs. wet conditions, and then we tested whether worms prefer light vs. darkness...they did three trials per experiment and recorded all their data. We were able to draw some conclusions based on the observations we made, but we also knew that one of our tests was not viable and that it would need to be tested differently due to the inconsistent data...it was a great week of science!

Math
In math we have jumped into division. We started off with estimating and solving word problems using division and/or multiplication. I am always so impressed at how well the kids work to solve problems...whether they know the algorithm or find other ways to find the solutions. We have shared all of our problem solving strategies and have discussed the need to know the algorithm as the numbers get bigger...so that is the direction we are headed. As with every other concept...we are all in different places when it comes to learning the algorithm, so we have been working in groups...we are using base ten blocks to "see" the concept and manipulate the division ourselves, and now we will be connecting the visual to the algorithm. However, some of my friends already know the algorithm, so those kids will be working on different skills and extensions.

MISCELLANEOUS
I have all of the green letter forms signed so I know you have the dates of the Wax Museum...please try to come see it if you are able...it will be fantastic and I can't wait to celebrate all of their hard work.

Speaking of celebrations...Mrs. Lizik is busy planning our Valentine's Day Party. If your child is exchanging Valentines, please make sure they have one for each student in the class. Thanks to all of the parents who have sent back their Valentine's Day slips!! If you haven't yet, its not too late!

Hope your weekend has been great...and enjoy the Super Bowl...I know many of the kids have very strong feelings about who wins...I just enjoy the commercials during the Super Bowl...;-) I look forward to seeing your lovelies tomorrow!

"SNOW MY GOODNESS!!"

Well...what can I say other than...ahhhhhhhh!! don't get me wrong...I like a snow day just like the rest of them, but this crazy schedule sure does make teaching hard...two days last week, almost a full three days this week....aiyaiyai! It may be a crazy schedule, but we still manage to fit a whole lot in...read on to find out what we've been up to!

LANGUAGE ARTS
We are well underway with our biography unit...and as most of you are aware (I'm still waiting on a few green signed papers)...we are heavy into the researching and drafting part of this project! The kids are taking notes about the important parts of their person's life and especially about their person's invention/innovation. I am continually impressed at the task commitment of your children...each step of the way is modeled and then they just put the "pedal to the medal" and keep going. I have to interject here for a minute...are they driving you crazy pointing out idioms?!?!? I just used one and I'm soooo much more aware of them ever since I taught them to the kids...they tell me new ones every day and point out the ones I use ALL the time! Anyway...I am hoping that all kids have drafts well on their way to being finished by Wednesday of next week...we will peer conference, revise, and then begin publishing. Another storm could really mess with our timeline, so we may need to start thinking warm thoughts! Hopefully, you and your child have begun discussing the outfit and/or artifacts that he/she can use in the wax museum...it is important for your child to represent the innovator through sight and sound...let me know if you need anything to help with this process.

We have also been writing poetry over the past two weeks...each student has written a "color poem", a diamante, and a haiku. The color poems were published today and they are PHENOMENAL...they will come home, but will also hang in the classroom...and I'm sure many of them will be entered into the Quill...our school literary publication.

MATH

We took the Quarter 2 post test this past week and we also took the Quarter 3 pretest. They are very time consuming, but so helpful in the planning of instruction and the assessing of information taught. These tests do not affect your child's math grade, but all data is kept in a file on the school database. If you are ever curious about your child's pre and post test in a quarter, you are welcome to shoot me an email and I can share them with you or set up a conference to discuss the scores. The goal for all kids is to score an 80% or higher on the post test...all kids made huge leaps in the second quarter, and many had far to leap!!

We are headed into division and spent some time this week estimating...we talked about "compatible" numbers when estimating with division. If you have to divide 35 by 4, instead of rounding up to 40, a more accurate estimate is using 32 because it is "compatible" with 4 and is closer to 35 than 40. This is a whole new way of thinking and takes a while to get used to.

I cannot stress enough how important it is for your child to have mastery of their multiplication facts. Division is so much easier when you have quick recall of your facts. Again, these facts can be practiced aloud in the car on a short drive, on the computer through games, through flash cards, or through skip counting...whatever way works best for you and your child, please help him/her with the multiplication facts!!

SOCIAL STUDIES

We have been reading and discussing global trade the past couple days...discussing how higher costs affect the number of products made, and how lower costs affect the profit, etc. This coming week (barring any other snow storms) we will begin our Entrepreneurs unit. However...we will also be starting our nexty SCIENCE unit.

SCIENCE

We will begin our Rocks, Soil and Fossils unit with worms and composting! Speaking of composting...please send in food scraps (fruit peels, vegetable peels, etc)...for our compost piles...I have the worms, soil, and scrap paper...ALSO...if any parent has time on Monday morning...say, for an hour during our 9:00 -10:30 block or the 11:15-12:00 block, I could use a volunteer to help create our compost piles...(IMPORTANT NOTE: if you mind getting messy or handling worms, this is NOT the job for you!!)...send me an email if you are interested/able...thanks!

I hope you stay warm, and don't let your kids do a snow dance...I don't think I can handle anymore loss of instructional time!! (did I just type that out loud!??!) ;-) Have a good weekend!

Happy Very Long Weekend!

So...just to make sure you don't hurry your child into the car early next week...the students have off school on Monday, January 17th to honor Martin Luther King, Jr....they are also off school Tuesday and Wednesday, January 18th and 19th for teacher work days. So...I will see your lovelies on Thursday, January 19th!!



We have had a great week...so much to talk about...

Language Arts
We have many poets...
Did you know it?!?!?
I am so impressed with the work your kids are producing...we are working on color poems and I cannot wait to share them with you!! Also in our study of poetry we have been using a T chart to try to make sense of poems...one side for the quotes, one side for "my thoughts"...what the kids think they mean...this is a very hard skill...so much inferring involved...but the kids are pretty amazing at figuring out the messages in some very complex poetry. The poems the kids recited on Thursday were wonderful! They did a nice job using strong volume, excellent eye contact, and speaking with a clear and well paced voice!

My favorite conversation about poetry this week was based on the poem "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes. I have printed it below...ask your child about the poem...


Mother to Son
by Langston Hughes


Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor--
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been climbing on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now--
For I'se still going' honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Math
In math this week we have continued our geometry unit. We discussed and worked with many different shapes...but our focus was on lines and angles. We discussed line segments, lines, rays, angles, how to name them and how to measure them....and when I took out those protractors, you would have thought I handed the kids a million dollars!! They were so excited to learn to use them and were so motivated to measure accurately!! Next week we will finish up this fun unit!

Social Studies
We finished up the Econ and Me video series and now we will be talking about global trade...and we will begin our Entrepreneur unit...they are going to LOVE it!!

BIOGRAPHIES
Each student picked out an inventor or innovator this past week and were assigned a book or some articles to read. Next Thursday we will begin our biography unit where the kids will be taking notes, organizing their information, and writing an expository essay about the life of their chosen person. This will eventually lead up to the "Hall of Inventors and Innovators"...a wax museum that your child will participate in and that you will be invited to attend. Next week I will inform you of the tentative date for this production so you can mark it on the calendar ahead of time!

As you can see, as always we have A LOT going on...this is all while we are also studying Latin and Greek roots, learning new cursive capital letters, visiting the computer lab for keyboarding and the "selling of lemonade", and continuing Writer's Workshop!! I am continually amazed at how much we can fit into one week!!

I hope you have a wonderful long weekend and I look forward to seeing your kids next Thursday.

WOW...last week got away from me!

Sorry for the incredibly late post...no excuses, just apologies! We had a very busy week...and how about all that snow Friday am!?!? (I know...crazy, right?) Here is how our week went down:

Language Arts
For the next couple months we will be focusing more on root words and their meanings. The kids will have word study packets to complete and they will be assessed on the root meanings as well as the spelling of the words. I am continually impressed with the kids' vocabulary and just want to continue to build on it.

We have started our poetry unit...I love this unit (I feel like I say that a lot...but I just love third grade and all we study!) During this unit we will be learning many different elements of poetry and studying figurative language...We read many different poems this week to experience all of the elements of poetry: rhyme, stanzas, lines, repetition...we also discussed the setting, tone, and mood of these poems...then on Friday we read a Readers Theater that demonstrated forms of figurative language in a very humorous way...the kids were introduced to characters such as "King Pun, Queen Simile, Prince Paradox, Earl of Idiom," and many more we had a lot of fun with that activity! We will continue this unit this week and begin writing some poems ourselves!

Social Studies
We have started another new unit...economy. This week the kids enjoyed a video series titled, "Econ and Me" that is put together to teach the kids all about economic problems, opportunity cost, choices, consumers, production, and interdependence. We talked about resources, limited resources, and scarcity of resources. We have great discussions after each segment and then add words to our economy vocabulary. We are headed into an Entrepreneur Unit where the children will get to apply all of these concepts personally...more info to come on this!

Math
Last week we spent time in geometry...comparing prisms and pyramids, cones and cylinders, their "nets" and discussing faces, bases and vertices...just to clarify...a prism has two bases and a pyramid has only one...the bases are included when counting faces...so...a rectangular pyramid has FIVE faces (one base) and a rectangular prism has SIX faces (two bases)...
We also worked with the perimeter and area of complex shapes. This was a hard concept to visualize initially, but as the week ended, most kids had it! We are headed into measuring angles this week...its so fun to teach how to use a protractor!!

Extra Info
Some of you may have noticed small changes to your child's checklist this week...many of the kids had a hard time transitioning back to school after the break...very chatty...as I explained to them last week and reminded them this week...THEY are in control of what is put on the checklist...its just my job to put it there...so THEY are the only ones who can change it! Reminders from home would be helpful, too...thank you!

Who knows what the forecasters are saying for tues,wed...but if we miss a day of school, just have your kids continue the work on the word study packets and read the book they will be coming home with tomorrow. We are headed into a biography unit in a couple weeks and they will have a reading assignment over this week and next.

Thanks and as always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me. Stay warm!

WHAT A TREAT!!

What a wonderful day we've had...

• As we speak...the kids are watching the Polar Express...in their pjs!
  

• Right before the movie started each child visited our "Cultural Buffet" (thanks Mrs. Lizik!) where they had the opportunity to fill a goody bag with so many different treats from different countries/cultures:

- Italian pizzelles

- Chinese fortune cookies
- English figgy pudding

- Jewish macaroons

- German/Scandanavian spritz cookies

- Jewish geilt (left over from our dreidel game!)

- Candy canes

Many of these treats were homemade and all were absolutely delicious!!

• Earlier in the day we were predicting probability and working on following directions while learning to play the dreidel game (thank you, Hoffrichters!)
  

The kids earned this special day of celebrating holidays and being able to weave in the cultural food was just perfect!! (For the record, we also worked with decimals today!)

I look forward to tomorrow so we can wrap things up before our week-long break. I hope you and your families have a wonderful winter break...my wish for you all is a happy and peace-filled new year.

Karen
(or Mrs. Wills, depending on who is reading!)

Crazy week, huh?!

Well...early dismissal here, late arrival there...little crazy, but we still managed to be productive!!

In Math this week we have been immersed in the world of decimals. We pulled out linking blocks to conceptualize lines of 10, blocks of 100...we talked about how they each know how to write these parts of a whole using a fraction and that there is another way...we explored the "other side" of the number line and tied it all together. Then we spent time comparing and ordering decimals...this is a bit trickier, but they were really into it. We made a # line using cards and discussed (sometimes argued) over which numbers went where...but the end result was a well ordered # line. We will continue with decimals next week.

In Language Arts we have been reading and discussing a book titled, "Immigration", (Social Studies) We have focused on main idea and details to support it, vocabulary, timelines, reading aloud, and on top of all that...all the different reasons people have come to our country from other places. We talked about voluntary immigration vs. involuntary immigration. We talked about all the immigration symbols found around our nation. Next week we will see with our own eyes how immigration has shaped our own community as we share the Cultural Projects. I am very excited to see their hard work! Please remember that a rubric is attached and it is what I will use to give each child two grades...an oral speaking grade and a social studies grade.

Next week we will also have some neat activities!! One is related to our personal safety unit two others to the holiday season. The Puppet Company "Kids on the Block" will come to do a puppet show as a culmination of our personal safety unit. We will also hear the book "The Polar Express" and watch the movie! We will compare and contrast the two different types of media and answer comprehension questions. And last, it is my understanding that we will be treated to a winter concert from our UES Chorus!

We earned another THIRTY-SIX Soaring With Pride stickers, so we will be deciding on how to celebrate our success and finding time for that celebration next week, too!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, enjoy your families and all the magic of this holiday season.

Wetlands Wonder

During American Education Week, we were fortunate enough to go to the Great Heron Wetlands and be taught by Mr. Wetlands, himself. Mr. Esko led us through many different hands-on science investigations. We tested the pond water, identified fossils, and found the fossils on the Geological Wall of Time. It was a wonderful morning! Click on the "Wetlands Wonder" link below to enjoy the movie!!

Wetlands Wonder