Newsletter for December 13, 2013

Important Dates & Reminders

*I will try to highlight new dates and information with red text.

December 23, 2013 - January 3, 2014: Winter break - no school. Have a great holiday. There will not be a newsletter next week.

January 6, 2014: First day back to school.

January 16, 2014: End of the second quarter. Please avoid appointments this week as I'll be assessing.

January 17, 2014: No school, teacher grading day.

How to Stay Sharp during Winter Break

 

Breaks are a great opportunity for students to relax, play with friends and family, and enjoy the snowy weather. However, many students struggle with regression, especially in reading when they return. If I can make any recommendation for staying sharp over the winter break, it would be to have your student read for a minimum of sixty minutes per day. If you know your student will balk at this request if it comes from you, I am happy to let them know it is my expectation. I can also give them a reading log to fill in daily.

What We Learned This Week

Word Study

I've been slowly building our word study workshop. It now includes the following daily activities:
- Memorizing the spelling of commonly missed high frequency words using a multi-sensory approach.
- Introduction of a vocabulary word that we use in sentences and daily writing. Word origin and meaning are emphasized (and often very interesting).
- Daily phonics (e.g., short vowel sounds)
- Word ladders connect words we know with words we want to use.
- Weekly spelling generalization. This week's generalization was consonant blends (fl/dr/br). This also gives us an opportunity for syllabication, classification of words by syllable type (open, closed, VCE, vowel team, etc.), parts of speech, and to look at other generalizations (e.g., doubling the consonant before a suffix).
- Analogies.

It is a lot to pack in, but has many direct links to our reading and writing.
 

Reading Workshop (and Social Studies)
We are working on idioms, predictions and inferences. Students should understand predictions are best guesses about what might happen in the future based on evidence an inferences are conclusions we can draw about things that have already happened or are still occurring base on evidence. We are also studying context clues.

Writing
We are working hard on persuasive essays. Students are given a topic to debate and a time limit to construct their position. Then opposing sides debate. Typically three students are chosen for each position. Scores are awarded for topic sentence, details, and conclusions. Students must write unique details (you don't get multiple points for the same argument presented multiple times). They can earn bonus points for supporting their position with personal experiences, countering the opposition, and using this week's vocabulary. The class is really enjoying these and we're having spirited debates on topics such as how to find more learning time in our day (lengthen the school day, reduce specials, or have a single recess) and whether or not students should be responsible for cleaning Windermere. Our attention to convention has dropped off some, which is one of the reasons I'm emphasizing it in our homework responses so much, but the content and amount of daily writing is wonderful. We will write our pen pals after break. Encourage your student to recall activities they do over the holidays.

Math Workshop
We are deep into our fractions these days. We are learning the following:
- The denominator is our best friend in fractions. It tells us how many equal groups or shares we have in our whole or set.
- The numerator tells us how many groups or shares we are using or considering.

- We used paper folding to explore what happens to fractions when they are doubled (the number of pieces in our set doubles), equivalent fractions, the understanding that fractions depend on the whole (e.g., 2/3 of 6 is 4 but 2/3 of 12 is 8), and the understanding that fractions can have different shapes, but the same value (e.g., a square can show 1/2 by folding it in half along a vertical or diagonal axis).

- Students should be able to determine an equivalent fraction and the whole number of pieces in the whole or set for an array or story problem (e.g., 2/4 of 8 equivalent to 4/8 and represents 4 pieces). They should also be able to identify the fraction of a whole or set the number of pieces represent (e.g., 6 pieces represents 1/2 of 12).
- Students should be able to determine remaining fractions in story problems by drawing a picture (e.g., 1/2 of a garden is planted with lilies, 1/4 is planted with chrysanthemums, 1/8 with lavender and the rest is planted with violets. What fraction of the garden is planted with violets? 1/8).
- We will be adding and subtracting fractions, putting them on a number line, and comparing fractions.

Science
I've introduced force and motion and we will be doing a full morning of physical science on Monday. Key learnings will be:
- Force is a push or pull (gravity, friction, and magnetism are uniquely discussed).
- Motion is a change in direction.
- Energy is the potential to do work.
- Isaac Newton's first law of physics states objects at rest stay at rest (inertia) unless acted on by another force and objects in motion stay in motion (inertia) unless acted on by another force.

We concluded measuring our lizard water toy and are letting it contract to begin a new experiment soon.

 

Newsletter for November 22, 2013

Important Dates & Reminders

*I will try to highlight new dates and information with red text.

November 26, 2013: Food sampling from our garden (see below).

November 27 - 29, 2013: No school - Thanksgiving. Have a safe and relaxing holiday!

December 11, 2013: Early release: Professional development. 

December 23, 2013 - January 3, 2014: Winter break - no school.

January 6, 2014: First day back to school.

January 16, 2014: End of the second quarter. Please avoid appointments this week as I'll be assessing.

January 17, 2014: No school, teacher grading day.

What We Learned This Week

Word Study

We studied vowel teams "ea" and "ai." When vowel teams appear, "the vowels go walking and the first  does the talking," meaning that the first vowel makes a long vowel sound. Assessments will come home on Monday. 

We reviewed and defined open syllables: We hear the long vowel sound. We see the syllable ends in a vowel (is not closed by a consonant).

We reviewed and defined closed syllables: We hear the short vowel sound. We see the syllable ends in a consonant (is not closed by a vowel). 

We reviewed and defined Vowel-Consonant-E syllables. We hear the long vowel sound. We see the VCE pattern. 

Our high frequency word was "finally." I emphasized the three syllables (fi/nal/ly) and their syllable types (open/closed/open). 

"raining cats and dogs"

Idioms start to appear in much of 3rd grade reading material, but students are often confused by their non-literal nature. We studied several idioms this week, such as:

- Fifth wheel

- Get your goat

- On the ball

The students are starting to become interested in idioms and are sharing them from their reading. This is a really great and meaningful transfer of an isolated practice to understanding. Please encourage them to look and listen for idioms throughout their day. They are relying on context clues to understand these non-literal sayings. 

Reading Workshop (and Social Studies)

We continued our study of informational texts, using a "knows and wonders" graphic organizer. Students begun studying a topic by recording what they think they know and what they wonder about a topic. They then read from a variety of texts (classroom magazines, selected texts, including picture books, and the internet). Text choice is still emphasized as essential. Students record new "knows" and "wonders" as they progress through the text. I am also emphasizing key vocabulary and use of glossaries and text/word boxes to understand often unfamiliar terms, which we highlight. It is often difficult to use context clues to understand unfamiliar science and social studies vocabulary. We focused on economics throughout the week to co-create a definition of economics, utilizing key vocabulary. Our co-created definition is, "Economics is the manufacturing, distribution, and consumption of goods and services in markets for exchange of money or services." Not bad for 3rd grade! These are the first steps towards becoming researchers and I'm very pleased with our progress. We will try to wrap this up next week.

Writing
I administered the district's new writing assessment this week. Students went through the entire writing process of planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing with a checklist. I'm looking forward to reading these personal narratives.

Math Workshop
We started fractions in earnest this week with the shared definition that "fractions are equal shares of wholes (e.g., a pizza, book, etc.) or sets (e.g., cards in a collection, students in a class, etc.)." I'm emphasizing vocabulary and asking students to use numerator and denominator.

I'm beginning each lesson with a story problem and asking students to "box" each sentence and restate it as an algebraic equation. I'm presenting a lot of story problem work and will transition their operations from multi digit addition and subtraction to fractions once we have the basics.

Science

It looks like everyone is doing well after studying our louse. It was truly amazing to look at such a small animal on such a large scale. We were able to magnify it using our microscope and ladybug to project it on the Smartboard. Lice are translucent and we were able to watch ours' digestive track contract. You can see the dark area in the picture above, a bit of blood from its host.

 

You should be able to see the louse digesting its food in this short video. More importantly, you can hear a bit of the class' discussion.

We harvested our garden on Friday and will celebrate by eating it on Tuesday. Building on our tree study we looked at plant roots and leaves, comparing shape, color, texture, smell, and arrangement. Our carrots were disappointing, but they lead to great discussion on why they were so small. The class was excited to taste the raw basil and are looking forward to Tuesday's tasting. We will try the following:
- pasta sauce utilizing our oregano
- pesto sauce utilizing our basil
- tea utilizing our spearmint
- tea utilizing our chamomile
- carrots (and ranch dressing for those reluctant carrot eaters)
- pumpkin seeds from our pumpkin
- We will also be trying insalata caprese, typically a summer salad. We will have heirloom tomatoes, basil and olive oil on buffalo mozzarella (Thank you Coppolas!). I add just a bit of salt, pepper and balsamic vinaigrette. 

Hopefully everyone will enjoy the "fruits" of their labor:) 

About to harvest.

Basil flowers.

Observing the basil roots.

Taking the dirt off the roots.

Basil roots.

Looking at the cilantro roots.

Looking at cilantro texture.

Lauren was not so crazy about the basil:)

Our immature carrots.

Pumpkin seed collecting.

Newsletter for November 8, 2013

Important Dates & Reminders

*I will try to highlight new dates and information with red text.

November 27 - 29, 2013: No school - Thanksgiving.

December 11, 2013: Early release: Professional development. 

December 23, 2013 - January 3, 2014: Winter break - no school.

January 6, 2014: First day back to school.

January 16, 2014: End of the second quarter. Please avoid appointments this week as I'll be assessing.

January 17, 2014: No school, teacher grading day.

What We Learned This Week

I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to meet with so many families this week. It is a real joy to partner with so many invested and committed families. I'm lucky to serve the Windermere community!

We collaborated with Mrs. Walther's pm kindergarten class this week to introduce informational texts. We spent a lot of time exploring informational texts and informational text elements (table of contents, glossary, index, text boxes, charts, etc.). The many post-it notes you can see are students' notes to share with their young partners. The class then shared their picture books with their kindergarten buddies. They did a fantastic job and we're looking forward to sharing with them again. Anytime we understand a concept well enough to teach it, we've really internalized the new knowledge.

 

Newsletter for November 1, 2013

 Important Dates & Reminders

*I will try to highlight new dates and information with red text.

November 1, 2013 - Progress Reports sent home and mailed to dual households.

November 4 - 7, 2013: Parent conferences. The conference schedule is available at: http://3rdgradehudson.blogspot.com/2013/10/fall-conferences.html

November 5, 2013: No school for students: Professional development.

November 7, 2013: Early release at 11:05 for conferences.  

November 27 - 29, 2013: No school - Thanksgiving.

December 11, 2013: Early release: Professional development. 

December 23, 2013 - January 3, 2014: Winter break - no school.

January 6, 2014: First day back to school.

January 16, 2014: End of the second quarter. Please avoid appointments this week as I'll be assessing.

January 17, 2014: No school, teacher grading day.

What We Learned This Week

Word Study
We defined contractions as "a shortened form of two words." I also introduced apostrophes as indicating ownership or acting as a place holder for letter(s) in a contraction. We practiced composing (building) and decomposing (taking apart) contractions. When composing and decomposing contractions we wrote the contraction and the individual words that form the contraction. We also circled the letter(s) the apostrophe is a place-holder for.

Reading Workshop
We began our study of non-fiction (real) texts by using a graphic organizer that records what we "Know" about non-fiction and what we "Wonder" about it. In preparation for teaching kindergarten students about non-fiction and to develop fluency, students selected two non-fiction/informational books from the library that were interesting to them, likely to be interesting to a kindergarten student, and appropriate text level (a just right book). Students are practicing reading these aloud to themselves and a partner. They are recording reminders on post-it notes that will help them share their book(s) with the kindergarten students (K): asking the K what they know about "non-fiction, informational, or real" books; asking the K what they know about the book's subject (e.g., sharks, dinosaurs, trucks); asking the K what they wonder or want to know about the topic; introducing non-fiction text elements such as table of contents, glossary, index, text boxes, charts, maps and graphs; modeling how to read the text first before the text boxes and charts; and engaging the K by asking them questions that support comprehension and connections as they move through the text.

We are further developing our ability to read and understand non-fiction texts by reading Starry Messenger by Peter Sis and taking notes, using the same graphic organizer mentioned above. After each page, students record one "main idea" or big idea from the text read aloud. They also write one wonder after I share the text boxes (many of which are pulled directly from Galileo's books and journals). You can read more about Starry Messenger and see a brief animation at http://www.petersis.com/content/starry_messenger.html.

Writing Workshop
We finally published and mailed our pen pal letters. We began working on topic sentences. Students are using several different strategies to introduce the same topic, e.g., Trick-or-Treating. Strategies include: shocker (something surprising), sound words (onamonapia), ask a question, dialogue, descriptive language, figurative language (idioms), mysterious/cliff-hanger, emotional.

Math
Our focus is applying our newly learned multi-digit operation algorithms to authentic word problems. I am encouraging students to "box it." Boxing it is a simple strategy where students literally draw boxes around statements and rewrite them in their own words. Many students are struggling to slow down enough to actually understand the questions. If they see numerals, they simply start adding them, rather than understanding the question. I'm encouraging students to reread the question multiple times and to restate it in their own words.

Science
We started an observation experiment. Students measured a Finn (Adventure Time) water growing figure in length (inches and centimeters), circumference (inches and centimeters) and mass (grams). We measured him before submerging the water absorbing figure in water. Today, we repeated all three measures and determined the change. 

Science Buzz Around

All third grade students visited all three classrooms today for hands-on science experiments. These experiences foster a love of science, a belief in self (especially for the student who may struggle in a literacy based science class), exposure to scientific ways of knowing (how we learn about science), and specific content area.

In our room, we studied matter and properties of matter today. We learned:
- Everything is made of matter.
- Matter can be a solid, liquid, or gas.
- Matter has properties (reliable rules) it follows.
- Matter is composed of molecules, the building blocks (Legos) of all matter.
- Matter with tightly bound molecules are more dense.
- Matter with loosely bound molecules are less dense.
- One matter's density is relative to another matter's density.

We compared a sponge, low density, and a marble, high density, by putting them in water. The sponge floats because of its relatively low density to water. The marble sinks because of its relatively higher density.

We learned that volume or capacity do not indicate density. For example, our room is completely filled with air, but it has a relatively low density. A small brass weight takes up very little space but has a high   relative density to sponges, water, etc.

We discussed oil spills we've heard about on the news. We understood that oil remains on the surface. We inferred that oil must have a lower density than water. (We did not discuss why oil and water don't mix, only that they are good relative densities and they're both liquids. Since they don't mix, we can observe them, unlike a diet soda, which is less dense than water but mixes with water.).

We added water to small bottles of vegetable oil and observed the water sink to the bottom because of its higher relative density. We noted that gas (air) was at the top of the neck of the bottle. We added some food coloring (just colored water with the same properties of water) to the water so we could see the water more easily.

Finally, we added Alkaseltzer. As a solid, with a relatively higher density than water, we observed it fall to the bottom. As it mixed with the water the gas rose with a small layer of water surrounding it till it reached the top. Once it popped, the water sank to the bottom again, creating a "lava lamp" effect.

Your scientist is bringing their density lava lamp home tonight. You can repeat this experiment endlessly by adding small pieces of Alkaseltzer. Have fun. There were a lot of great questions.

Click to play video.
This is my favorite sound in the world:)

Fall Conferences

Dear Families,

Below you will find the fall conference schedule.

Please knock on the door and enter the room when it is your time to conference. Otherwise, I'm likely to continue to talk to the family I am meeting with.

I will make every effort to make your time as productive as I can. Please feel free to email me with questions in advance of our conference. I look forward to meeting with all of you.

Monday, November 4th
3:20-3:40  James U.
3:40-4:00  Carson P.
4:00-4:20  Talia B.
4:20-4:40  Makayla M.
4:40-5:00  Emma C.

Wednesday, November 6th
3:20-3:40  Calvin R.
3:40-4:00  Reece H.
4:00-4:20  Phillip S.
4:20-4:40  Jenna S.
4:40-5:00  Lauren C.

Thursday, November 7th
12:00-12:20 Kayla Z.
12:40-1:00   Joey G.
1:00-1:20     Eva S.
2:00-2:20     Catie S.
2:20-2:40     Tyler S.
2:40-3:00     Jack W.
3:00-3:20     Michael G.
3:40-4:00     Grace R.

Friday, November 8th
3:00            Ryan P.     

Newsletter for November 18, 2013

Important Dates & Reminders

It's wonderful to have Makayla back!

*I will try to highlight new dates and information with red text.

Walking Club Volunteer Sign Up

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0A49A4A929A57-walking

Permission Slips
Students need signed permission slips for two activities next week: Walk A Mile and Highbanks Metro Park. I will send home new slips for students who have not turned them in on Monday.
Walk A Mile In My Shoes Day will take place next Wednesday, October 23rd.

From Mrs. Dobies, "Following a lesson about empathy, each student completed a sign that says, “I’m walking a mile for _____.”  Some possible ways to finish that sentence would be, “a soldier far from home doing a hard job,” or, “someone who is sick in the hospital.”

        

Then next Wednesday morning, with these signs taped to our backs, we’ll walk twice around the Windermere block (total distance of one mile) and think about how we can take what we learn and use that knowledge and skill outside the walls of Windermere to make the world a better place.

           

Please find the permission slip for the Walk in today’s Friday Folder, sign it and return it to school on Monday.  Also, please help your child remember to wear warm clothes and good shoes for walking next Wednesday.  Thank you!"

To make this more meaningful, please discuss the idea of empathy and walking in someone less fortunate's shoes.
 

October 23, 2013 - Picture retakes

 

October 25, 2013 - Field Trip to Highbanks Metro Park for Earth Science. Thank you volunteers! Students should wear good hiking/walking shoes that can get muddy, pack a sack lunch and wear something they can zip and unzip as it is usually cool and the morning and warms up throughout the day. Please do not send umbrellas.

October 25, 2013 - End of the first quarter. Please avoid appointments this week as I'll be assessing.

October 28, 2013 - No school, teacher grading day.

October 31, 2013 - Halloween party (extended lunch from 12pm till 1:30pm, most students go home to change into costumes). Please note it is district policy that no costume may include any weapons or facsimiles.

November 4 - 7, 2013: Parent conferences. If you have not signed up, please contact me. I will send reminders of your date and time in your student's progress report and an email this week.


November 5, 2013: No school for students: Professional development. 

November 27 - 29, 2013: No school - Thanksgiving.

December 11, 2013: Early release: Professional development. 

December 23, 2013 - January 3, 2014: Winter break - no school.

January 6, 2014: First day back to school.

January 16, 2014: End of the second quarter. Please avoid appointments this week as I'll be assessing.

January 17, 2014: No school, teacher grading day.

What We Learned This Week

Word Study
Students studied y as a vowel modifier. Y produces long a (e.g., play), long e (e.g., baby) and long i (e.g., reply) sounds. Students spelled new words based on our week long study and identified corresponding sounds. Students recognized that long a sounds are usually represented by "ay" or "ey" while long e and i sounds are represented by a solitary y at the end of the syllable.

Students also learned about synonyms (same) and antonyms (opposite). This new learning was reinforced with a game of "Synonym Says." We will be working on synonyms and antonyms much more next grading period in our writing as we develop our writing vocabulary and when utilizing context clues in reading.

Reading
We continued to explore the use of context clues in isolation and with our read aloud as part of a "think aloud," where I model my own thinking for understanding unfamiliar words.

During reading conferences, students were given new "book marks" with their primary reading goal (comprehension, fluency, vocabulary acquisition, accuracy, becoming a "real reader," etc.) and specific strategies for achieving these goals. This builds student responsibility and understanding for what they're developing.

I'm hoping to wrap up our read aloud this week and plan to begin a Peter Sis author study of non-fiction texts.

Writing
We will be composing our first pen pal letters this week as part of a writing assessment. Please send an addressed envelope to school by Friday. A few students do not yet know who their pen pal is. Please help them choose one by Monday as audience is an important element for their writing. I will share copies of these letters during conferences. We worked very heavily on developing plans for our writing.

Mark Walter, author and UA graduate, visited us on Friday to discuss the writing process. H is a second grade teacher and was a terrific speaker, focusing on so much of what is important about pre-writing and revision. Mrs. Hastings is having the class make a Windermere A to Z book, using Mr. Walter's Buckeye A to Z book as a model. Our class is doing I for inquiry.

I is for inquiry

Math
Most students are comfortable with finding multi-digit sums and differences when the problems are set up for them. We worked on story problems where students have to determine which operation to apply, or applied math. We also practiced multi-step problems, e.g., Peg read 236 pages. Her brother, Paul, read 24 fewer pages. How many pages did they read? I intentionally leave out terms like "all together" or "in total" because they give too much support. Many students struggle with multi-step problems like these. They will automatically add 236 and 24 as their answer without understanding the question or will solve for the number of pages Paul read by finding the difference between 236 and 24 and will stop there. I have students actually act out story problems to help them better understand them and identify the necessary steps. Students are further challenged to co-write two step story problems to better understand them.

I will be assessing numeracy, operations, measurement (time) and fact fluency next week after a brief review as we approach the end of the quarter. I will share these assessments during conferences.

Science
The Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation District visited to discuss erosion how to keep our streams clean. They do a wonderful job of show how interdependent trees, plants, water, soil and humans are.

underground perspective of a stream ecology

We took our second field trip to Thompson Park where we focused on change in our trees (e.g., change in leaf color, loss of leaves, ground leaf decomposition, decomposers on the ground and base of trees such as mushrooms and worms, evidence of tree use by squirrels such as nut scraps, etc.). Students photographed their trees and will be uploading them and their observations in the next few weeks. I was very excited to see so many students exploring beyond their assigned trees and noticing maturing fruits and decomposers. A few students have not visited the Thompson Park Tree Trek blog yet. You can visit it with them by clicking on the link at right under "Favorites."

mushrooms (decomposers)

slug (decomposer)

walnuts (decomposition of mature fruits)

unidentified fruit

using all of our senses (smelling pine needles)

mature seeds and fruits (two very different looking seeds on the same tree)

mature pine cones decomposing having released their seeds