Friday, January 26, 2018

January 26, 2018

Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

  • Reading minutes are due Monday.
  • Math homework is due Friday.  We also have our word work tests on Friday.
  • Several students have overdue books out from Pine Ridge library. Take a moment to look for these at home.  
  • Wacky Wednesdays:  January 31 is Pajama Day and February 7 is Neon Day.
  • January 31- We will have a "read and feed" on pajama day where students may bring in a special treat and/or drink (no pop please) to enjoy during a reading time in the afternoon.   
  • I sent home a class list today for valentine cards.  If your child would like to pass out cards to the class, that is more than welcome!  Please make sure your child has a card for everyone.  We will have a party in the afternoon on February 14.  
  • Do you have cardboard boxes at home that you are willing to let me take off your hands?  I am in need of cardboard for Maker's week and would love to get as much as I can!
  • I have sent home another set of Scholastic pamphlets if you are interested in ordering any books for your child.  There is a Scholastic link at the top of the blog that will take you directly to my site.  I will place the order on February 2.  
  • Classroom supplies:  Several students are running low on Expo markers for the whiteboards, pencils, and erasers.  Check with your child and see if there are any items that they need replaced.  
  • Report cards will come home next week Friday.


Curriculum Highlights:
Literacy:  This week we learned about the main idea of a paragraph as well as the supporting details.  We are getting good at placing all of this information in our own words.  We also learned strategies we can use when we come across unfamiliar words when reading nonfiction.  We read both nonfiction and fictional books in class right now, but I am encouraging students to read their fictional books at home. 



Bible:  We finished the book of Genesis this week.  We saw how God was faithful to Joseph and how God blessed him even when life was hard.  We talked about how God can use us too even when we don't see what His purpose may be.  We talked about keeping our hearts soft for Jesus so He can use us and we can shine for Him.
Psalm 1 is due this coming Friday.

Math:  This week we worked on multi digit addition with story problems, rounding to the nearest ten and hundred, and reading data to be used in our addition.  Students need to work carefully and accurately to "prove" that they have the correct answer.  Knowing our basic math facts is very helpful here and everyone is doing a great job!

Science:  This has been a huge week of observation and research on the beetles and crayfish.  The students  then placed all of their post-it notes into categories.  We learned about physical characteristics, habitats, behaviors, and defenses this week.  We are finding several facts for each category and creating a web that we will put on our ipads next week.  







Market day was also a HUGE hit with the 3rd graders!



MUSIC NOTE FROM MRS. BOER - This is what we learned this quarter....
   *Two Songs of the Month - Peace Before Us & various Christmas songs.
   *Our Theme Song - God of This City
   *The Star-Spangled Banner & Fifty Nifty United States
   *How to read music
Recorder Practicing Expectations =3X3 (three days a week and 3 times each song). Your child will soon come home with music to practice on their recorder. The formula for developing readers of music is to practice. Look for a February calendar to be added to the music folder soon to keep track of the days your child practices.
Noise Level - very little air needs to go through a recorder in order to create the best tone. If the sound coming out of your child's recorder is too loud and piercing, they are putting too much air through it. Remind them to play with a good tone (i.e., softer).

Friday, January 19, 2018

January 19, 2018

Upcoming Dates/Reminders:
  • Today- 2nd quarter ended.  Report cards are now scheduled to go home on Friday, February 2.
  • Reading minutes due Monday.
  • Wacky Wednesdays are back!  January 24 is Team Spirit Day, January 31 is Pajama Day, and February 7 is Neon Day.
  • January 24 (Wednesday):  The 4th graders have created goods for market day.  We will go shopping as a 3rd grade class.  Your child is welcome to bring 5-7 dollars to school on this day to shop with along with a plastic bag to carry their goodies home in.
  • MAP testing:  We took the language and reading portion of the test this past week.  I will give the math portion on Wednesday, January 24.
Curriculum Highlights:
Bible:  This week we continued reading about Joseph ruling in Egypt and saw his brothers arrive to buy grain.  We read about the brothers visits and how Joseph wanted to see if their hearts had changed.  We talked about how God changes our hearts when we let Him in.  We also continue to work at Psalm 1.
Performing a reader's theatre about Joseph



Math:  We have been rounding to the nearest hundred and tens place within our story problems.  We have also begun multi digit addition up to the thousands place.  Students need to "prove" their work with a proof drawing right now to explain how they found their answer.  This takes time, but explains the process of addition well.


Science:  Have you heard all about our beetles and crayfish?!?  This week we were busy building them a habitat and then observing these creatures through books, videos, and using our eyes!  We will be focusing on habitats, physical characteristics, behaviors, and defenses of these animals as we make our observations.











Literacy:  We are so busy in our nonfiction unit.  This week we began finding the main idea sentence in paragraphs as well as the supporting details.  This is tough work as we put these sentences into our own words (paraphrasing).  I am impressed by the students hard work ethic.  These reading lessons will lead into a nonfiction writing unit coming up.




We even had a day where some piglets came to visit us!



Have a wonderful weekend!
Lynae

Friday, January 12, 2018

January 12, 2018

Upcoming Events/Reminders:
  • Reading minutes are due on Monday.
  • Wacky Wednesdays are back! January 17 is Hat day, January 24 is Team Spirit Day, January 31 is Pajama Day, and February 7 is Neon Day.  
  • January 19 (Friday)- 2nd quarter ends
  • January 26 (Friday)- Report cards go home
  • January 16-18- I will be giving the MAP test to your child in the mornings.  Please make sure your child is on time and ready to go.  
  • A huge THANK YOU to all of you who help so faithfully by being library volunteers, lunch helpers, or simply supplying items like Kleenex or Clorox wipes for the classroom.  I appreciate you all so much.  
Curriculum Hightlights:
Bible:  This group has such a love for the word and reading scripture from their Bibles!  We have been reading about Joseph and how his brothers sold him into slavery.  We have looked at the dreams of Joseph, Pharaoh, and of the cupbearer and baker.  The students have discussed how God is always with Joseph and they see His faithfulness.  Most days the kids don't want to quit our Bible lesson and we end up reading a bit more than planned.  I love their hearts.
We are also working at memorizing Psalm 1.

Literacy:  We have begun nonfiction in reading.  This week we looked at the different text features in nonfiction text, identified them in books are are currently reading, and learned how to paraphrase information.  These are really big concepts and we will be practicing this for a bit as we prepare to write our own nonfiction book.
In Writing we published our personal essays by typing them.  You should be receiving an email from your child with the finished product.  I was impressed at how well the kids did with stating their opinion and then providing evidence to support their thoughts.
Identifying text features in nonfiction books


Paraphrasing sections of a nonfiction article



Math:  Tests from our previous unit came home today.  We have begun our new unit dealing with  place value, rounding to the nearest hundred and tens place, and multi digit addition and subtraction.  This week we worked with a lot of manipulatives to help us understand the concepts of place value up the the thousands place as well as how to round numbers.



Science:  We have begun a new unit called Changes in Motion.  This week we defined motion and talked about motion words, direction words, and speed words by doing several different experiments.  We also did an experiment dealing with physical motion verses forced motion.  This is a fun unit with a lot of hands on activities and the kids are loving it!
Exploring motion with describing words of speed and distance.



MUSIC NOTE FROM MRS. BOER - This week your child came home with a BLUE FOLDER with a homework page in it. The expectation is that the BLUE FOLDER go back and forth between school and home along with your child's recorder. Eventually it will be holding recorder music for your child to practice. When your child brings it back on music class days, they will receive a sticker to put on it as a way to keep track of how often they remember to bring their folder and recorder to school. The homework page should be completed by the next class session.

Have a great weekend!
Lynae