Introducing Chase ...

If you look closely -- which my husband failed to notice until about 30 minutes later -- you will see my son Chase has a special announcement on his shirt!  That's right!  Chase will become a BIG BROTHER on May 5th (give or take)!  I thank you all for allowing me to share my exciting news with you -- I couldn't ask for a more supportive group of parents & students to start this new adventure with.  Dan and I are very excited that our house will get a little "messier" come May! 

"BE" Bulletin Board

Our class read the book titled The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater.  In this book, a man who lives in  a neighborhood with houses that are all the same, dares to be different and changes the way his house looks.  The neighbors are angry with him but one-by-one they change their houses appearance.  The moral of the story is dare to be different and that the differences among us are the best things in life.  Be who you are, not who everyone wants you to be!  After reading the story, the students broke up into small groups and discussed inspirational quotes that can be found displayed on the bulletin board.  The last thing we did was discuss adjectives and brainstormed adjectives of what we want to "be" in school and in life.  We also did a mini-lesson on the use of a thesaurus and how that can help writers with using more exciting words in their writing.  Once the students found the perfect word of what they wanted to "be" in school and in life, they decorated their word.  Please come and check out the hard work of your children!

Writing & Sharing!

The students in 3M have built up their writing stamina!  They can successfully write for 20 minutes without any interruptions!  And look how much they can write! And they are so happy too -- these are the moments where I am reminded why I LOVE my job! 

Students share their writing in a small group!  Notice how they are sitting and looking at the reader?!?!

We sometimes are on such  a roll in class that we have a working snack!  Here the students have their snack and listen while their peers share from their writer's notebooks! 

AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK!

Planting Seeds!

After observing dry beans and wet beans ... we finally planted our Wisconsin Fast Plant seeds. Before planting, your children watched and answered questions on some brain pop videos on seed plants, photosynthesis and plant growth.  Thanks to the help of Mrs. Burns, we were able to plant our seeds with a few minor spills ... but that's why we made extra plantings!   Now we will wait and see what happens next ... get excited because come November 15th - 3rd Grade American Education Day - you and your child will make plant observations and maybe even use bees to pollinate (if the plants are ready).  

November Reading Calendar

We have been discussing the importance of reading and really trying to understand why read.  We are beginning to understand that we read literature for different reasons than why we read non-fiction.  We do a great deal of reading both in 3M!  In October, I wanted the students to understand and get used to reading each night and filling in their reading calendar.  In November, I have added a back to the reading calendar.  This will give the kids a purpose for reading each night.  Included is also a reading goal for each week in November.  If your child meets this goal, please initial next to the goal.  Any reading calendar questions, please email me, call me, or leave a post on the blog.  We discussed the reading calendar in detail today so your children should have a good understanding of what is expected of them.  Happy Reading! 

FRONT of calendar per usual

BACK of November Calendar

Its' been a week ... but feels like forever!

So it's been a week since the latest bog post and I am so sorry for that.  It seems much longer than that with all the craziness of the week -- half-day on Monday, Halloween on Wednesday and so much more!  I have missed posting pictures and updates of all the happenings in the classroom!  We have been so busy -- I don't think one post will do it.  Check back over the weekend for lots more information and happenings in 3M! 

Our computer lab time is on Tuesdays from 2-3 pm.  This week, the kids spent some time practicing their listening and reading skills on Raz-Kids.  They love Raz-Kids and I love that they do!

Tre is deciding what to do ... listen to the book, read the book or take his comprehension quiz!  Hmm... decisions, decisions!

George is using his stars earned to make purchases for his Raz Rocket!  (The fact that George has stars to make purchases means that he is completing the reading tasks).  Way to go George!

Ella is concentrating on answering the questions correctly on the comprehension quiz!  Some question are pretty hard!

There is nothing better than a room full of students fully engaged in reading!  3M really is the BEST!

Science ... yeah!

We began our unit on PLANTS & POLLINATION today.  The children worked in pairs to create a KWL chart - what they KNOW, what they WANT to know and at the end of the unit they will fill in what they LEARNED.  Over the next few days, we will observe dry beans and then soak them over a night or two and observe what happens.  We discussed what it means to be a scientist and what a good observation looks like.  We watched a video on Making Observations

Next week, we will discuss the parts of a seed and their functions.  

We continue to work with partners.  Working with a partner makes the task easier to do and it's so much for more fun! 

WOW!  I am not sure what I need to teach -- the kids KNOW so much already!

2 brains are better than 1! 

Happy Birthday Jackson!

Happy Birthday Jackson!  We continue to celebrate October birthdays ... there are so many of them!  Jackson brought in delicious Halloween cupcakes to share with the class -- it was a good thing he did ... after the children's introduction to Raz-Kids - they deserved a sweet treat!  I just hope Jackson's appetite was not ruined for his birthday dinner at Hanna! 

RAZ-KIDS!

I am pleased to announce each one of your children is officially registered on RAZ-KIDS!  Tomorrow, your children will visit the computer lab where they will be guided through raz-kids with the help of Mrs. Steil, AIS Reading teacher, and myself on how to navigate their individual program.  Each and every parent has been granted access to monitor their child's progress.  You should have received an email with a user name & password.  If not, please contact me.  Your children  have access to hundreds of short text eBooks (literature & non-fiction).  Your child can read and listen to books on Raz-Kids and even record themselves reading to monitor their own reading fluency. Afterwards they can take a quiz to check for comprehension & understanding.  There are many neat features which I hope you and child will navigate through together, such as learning new vocabulary (click on bold text words in the book).  Please know however this reading program is NOT in place of reading chapter books.  Raz-kids is meant to enhance their reading, not replace their reading of good old fashion hand-held books.  Please email or call me with any questions/concerns.   I am really excited about this reading adventure your children and I will be taking together! 

Headings & Partner Reading

Today we continued our unit on non-fiction.  Non-fiction is the most fun to read but definitely the most difficult to read.  Today we looked at different headings in TFK & wrote about what we thought the text might be about just based on the heading.  We learned that thinking about the heading forces us to focus on what the article is about.  As readers, the heading helps us to learn about what we will be reading about. 

Jack is hard at work writing about the different headings!

We have also continued to practice partner reading.  Maire & Emma certainly have the hang of it!

Ella & Melanie are partner reading about hemispheres using their Studies Weekly!

EEKK!  Elbow-Elbow-Knee-Knee!  George & Michael are the picture perfect partner readers! 

Latitude & Longitude ... Oh My!

Today we continued our study of maps & globes.  We looked at the globe and learned about the imaginary lines of latitude & longitude.  Your children were provided with guided notes.  These notes had spaces to fill in the blank with the correct word or phrases.  They used a newspaper called Studies Weekly to help our learning of these new social studies concepts.  We will continue to use Studies Weekly throughout the year.  This reading also ties into learning the non-fiction text features.  We have learned about titles, subheadings, caption & labels and how they help us as readers.  They did a remarkable job with this!

The kids found the International Date Line most fascinating -- especially when they asked me the day & times in different cities & countries around the world.  Thank goodness for the iphone! 

If you don't get the chance to see 3M's display of peace rocks -- here they are!  We have Einsteins and Picasso's in our class! 

Chorus of Singers!

We read, we write, we learn, we sing ... but we are still working on listening! 

Enrichment!

At the start of every new math unit, your child will receive an ENRICHMENT packet.  This can be found in the "enrichment" section of your child's math binder.  Completing this packet, is NOT something your child must complete or is required to complete, rather they have the option of completing it when and if they ever want to.  Enrichment is meant to give you and your child extra opportunities to pratice concepts learned at a deeper level.

National Day of Peace!

Today we celebrated National Day of Peace!  Not only did we make peace rocks in Art with Mrs. Sieme (which will be on display through Monday in the hallway near the lounge) but we gathered outside on the field and made a peace sign with our whole school!  Thank you so much to Mrs. Sieme, Mrs. Young & Mrs. Platek for facilitating such an important day!  Oh yeah, did you also know that sky blue represents the color of peace? 

Writer's Workshop

Skipping lines when drafting makes the editing process easier.

Jeevan could write all day! 

Jack couldn't wait to show me how much he wrote!  That is just ONE PARAGRAPH of his five paragraph personal narrative! WOW!  Go Jack!

A planning page helps the writer to focus on what he/she wants to write. 

Today we discussed the importance of using a planning page when drafting any writing piece.  The students of 3M used a personal narrative planning page to draft their 3 main details of their writing.  Most students were excited to share how easy drafting was when they made a plan first!  I had so many students proud to show me how much they were able to write! 

Happy Birthday Ella!

Ella celebrated her 8th birthday today!  She had a busy week of exciting events ... her aunts from out of town surprised her & went with her to get her ears pierced and her little sisters birthday was yesterday!  A lot of celebrating was going on on the Traynor Household! 

Mmm ... delicious cupcakes and funny Mad Libs were part of the celebration!

Ella's brave mom completing TWO Mad Libs with the class ... let's just say some kids were crying because they were laughing so hard! 

Tomorrow will be our second day in STAR LAB!  Remember to wear socks.  Today we learned & read about the fall constellations!  So many of your children already knew some of the Greek Myths, especially about Medusa & Perseus.  We also discussed the ideas of reward & punishment in myths.  I have a feeling that your children will be gazing out into the night sky pointing out the constellations in no time! 

We have settled into a "reading zone!"  Students continue to pick out "just right" books & read ... read ... read!