Newsletter for December 16, 2016

Dear Families,

It is so nice to be back with the class. They are doing wonderfully, working hard, engaging in their learning and are a great community.

There will not be a newsletter next week. I hope you all have a safe and relaxing holiday.

What We Learned This Week

Word Study
I introduced spelling patterns to each group this week. Students sort words by visual patterns (e.g., vowel-consonant-silent e, represented as VCe) and auditory clues (e.g., long vowel sounds).
   Within Word Group (Yellow Group):
       - VC (closed syllable, produces a short vowel sound, e.g., hat)
       - VCe (vowel-consonant-silent e, produces a long vowel sound, e.g., cake)
       - CVV (consonant-vowel team, e.g., clay)
       - VVC (vowel team-consonant, e.g. brain)
   Syllable Juncture Group (Green Group):
       - VCV (vowel-consonant-vowel, produces a long vowel sound, e.g. tiger)
       - VCCV (vowel-consonant-consonant-vowel, produces a short vowel sound, e.g., dinner)
   Derivational Constancy Group (Blue Group):
       - Recognizing related words in which a vowel sound changes from long to short (e.g., mine to 
          mineral, revise to revision)

Here a student  demonstrates seeing a visual vowel-consonant pattern 

and hearing an auditory vowel clue. 

We also distinguished between common and proper nouns.

Reading
We continued to work on Venn diagrams to compare and contrast. Serendipitously, Ms. O'Keefe, our guidance counselor, taught a lesson on bullying and advocacy that also utilized Venn diagrams.

I switched books to find a more engaging title to captivate the imaginations of more of the class. We are going to read (and finish) The Luck Uglies by Paul Durham.

Writing
Students continued to do fantastic opinion pieces. They are ALL producing a lot of writing in a short period of time, which is fantastic at this point in the year.

Math
We continued our study of multiplication. We have learned fact fluency strategies for zeroes, ones, doubles, fives, nines and tens. Students should be able to recognize an "anchor" number that directs them to use a specific strategy. Many facts have more than one strategy (e.g., 5 x 2 could trigger using doubles or fives).

Click to watch our nines strategy. 

See if your student can explain it.

We reviewed the definition of multiplication, "Efficient addition of same sized groups."

Students are able to represent addition expressions of same sized groups as multiplication.
3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 4 x 3

Students can represent multiplication expressions as addition of same sized groups.
2 x 5 = 5 + 5

Students can represent multiplication expressions as arrays.

Students differentiate between groups and size of groups.
4 x 3 = 4 groups of 3 (not 3 groups of 4)

Students can generate their own authentic problems to represent multiplication expressions with an emphasis on what we are solving for.
5 x 4 = There are five tables with four chairs each. How many chairs are there?

We are also learning about the distributive property to solve multi-digit multiplication.

4 x 32 = (4 x 30) + (4 x 2) = 120 + 8 = 128

I often ask students to check their work using a second strategy. Multiplication offers a great example of this as students can use addition and multiplication to solve multiplication problems.

Science
We took advantage of the weather to create "snow." We examined how energy can be released through a chemical reaction (breaking H2O2 into H2 and H2O). This exothermic reaction is very dramatic for young scientists and they can clearly see the change. Please see the following video. I used 30% hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate, but you can replicate this experiment with grocery store hydrogen peroxide, about 3% and yeast as a catalyst.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbUOPAgJIOQ

To turn this demonstration into an experiment, you can 

manipulate the variables,  make predictions and test them.

I suggest leaving out the food coloring.

I want to share a great website I just learned about, Future Engineers. I know many of the parents in our class are in the science fields. I have just begun to mine this site for ideas, but it may offer some great inspiration for snowy cold days indoors. Have fun and please share if your student does any of these activities.

Click this image to visit Future Engineers.

Social Studies
Please let us know if you immigrated to the US and are willing to talk to the third grade community about your story. We would like to focus on motivations to move to the US, sacrifices in doing so and contributions made to the US by your culture.

I introduced a great game called Timeline that develops an understanding of time lines and relative dates for inventions. You can find this game in the App store and download the electronic version to your student's iPad. 

Guidance
Ms. O'Keefe visited us to talk about bullying, advocacy and homelessness. Here is a link to the powerful video she shared.

Click on this image to view the video.

"This week I came into your child's classroom to talk about being an "Upstander" at school and in their community. We talked about bullying, what this means (hurting someone intentionally and repeatedly by someone with more power or who tries to take power from someone else). Students shared that anyone can be a bully and anyone can be the target of bullying. They discussed the importance that bystanders and upstanders play (bystanders give the bully more power when they stand by and watch it happen and upstanders are heroes who help save someone from being bullied).  We then connected being an upstander in a bullying situation to being an upstander in their community. They watched a video about those living in poverty and how this can happen by circumstance and there are upstanders in our community who become heroes to those who don't have the resources to get help themselves. Hopefully they left feeling empowered about being helpers, not only to those at school, but in our community." - Ms. O'Keefe

Important Dates & Reminders

Testing dates are in bold. I will highlight changes and new dates in red.

A Days: No specials 

B Days: Music and PE

C Days: Art

D Days: Library

E Days: Music and PE

December 20  Sing Along (1pm) & Holiday Parties (2pm)
Please click on the following link to volunteer and/or donate to the classroom parties. Thank you. 
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040f4da8aa29ab9-windermere1

December 21-January 2nd Winter Break

January 3 No School for Students: PD (AM) /Work Day (PM)

January 4-25 STAR Reading and Math Assessments 
January 4 School Resumes after Holiday Break 

January 10 Student Group Activities (e.g., Recycling Team, Orchestra, etc.)

January 13 Town Hall Meeting 12:30pm

January 16 No School for Students & Staff:  MLK Day

January 18 Interim Progress Reports Home Today

January 25 Parent/Teacher Conferences 

January 30 State of Schools at UAHS 5 - 8pm

February 6 - 10 Boxtop Collection Days

February 6 - March 31 Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment
February 20 No School for Students & Staff:  President's Day

March 1 Early Dismissal 1pm

March 9 3rd Grade Musical

March 10 Town Hall Meeting1:45 PM

March 10 End of second Trimester

March 13 - 17 Spring Break - No School 

March 20 No School for students - Teacher Workday 

March 28 Progress Reports Home Today  

April 5 - 6 Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment
April 5 Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon 

April 6 Spring Picture Day          

April 10 - April 28 STAR Reading and Math Assessments
April 12 - 15 Ohio Mathematics Assessment
April 14  No School for Staff & Students: Good Friday     

April 24 - 28 Scholastic Book Fair        

April 28  KID FEST 5 - 8pm

May 8 - 19 Terra Nova & Inview Gifted Screener
May 15 - 19 Diagnostic Writing Assessment
May 24 Field Day             

May 26 Town Hall Meeting 8:25am

May 26 Last Day for Students; End of third trimester     
May 26 Early Dismissal 1pm  

Newsletter for December 9, 2016

What We Learned This Week

I had a wonderful first week back and am excited to see the class progress quickly. I had a very smooth transition and I am impressed with the class' flexibility with the new routines, expectations and homework.

If your students are anything like mine, they are typically exhausted by the time they get home and have little to say about their day. However, it is my hope that my newsletters will provide you not only with a detailed understanding of what we are doing (and why), but that they will offer a springboard for discussion.

Word Study
We began working on parts of speech. I introduced nouns and differentiated between singular, plural, and proper nouns. We also played a simple parts of speech game that allows us to explore misunderstandings and support our learning with many examples of specific types of nouns and to build vocabulary. We will use this game to study verbs and adjectives later in the year as well.

Partner checking after independent work encourages accountability 

and develops critical thinking.

Reading
I introduced the practice of comparing and contrasting using Venn diagrams to deepen our understanding. Research supports comparing and contrasting as one of the top ten practices for developing understanding and it can be used in nearly every academic and professional setting. Students are expected to read a short passage, label a Venn diagram, identify similarities (comparing) and differences (contrasting). They are also expected to number their differences to ensure they have a pair of differences (e.g., rough versus smooth) for each item they contrast.

I started a new read aloud, Fish In A Tree, by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. It provides us with many opportunities to discuss developing empathy, perseverance and other positive qualities.

Writing
We began opinion writing this week. Much of our writing in third grade consists of responding to texts. We read a short passage on Laurag Ingalls Wilder and responded to the question, "Do you think Laura and her family were happy living on the prairie? Why or why not?" Students practiced highlighting evidence in the passage to support their opinion and using it to form a well supported opinion piece.

Students wrote short opinion pieces on their favorite school subject and supported their opinion with reasons. I then randomly selected students to participate in a "debate." While not a true debate, each table earns points for indenting, strong topic sentences and conclusions, and the number of reasons they used to support their opinion. I have found this strategy to be very motivating and students learn from others quickly. 

We received holiday pen pal letters and holiday cards. The class was very excited to read these and I'm very impressed with their pen pals' writing. These letters are motivating as they provide an authentic reason to write as well as letting us learn more about our pen pals' lives in London, England.

Math
I backed up and restarted our multiplication and division unit. Students should understand and define multiplication as "efficient addition of same sized groups." We began by learning how to use a multiplication table to solve multiplication and division problems. I will let students use these tables until they master their facts when solving story problems so they can focus on the process and not be overwhelmed by the operations.

I introduced the following multiplication strategies with their corresponding "anchor" numbers.
- Zeroes 0's
- Ones 1's
- Doubles 2's
- Fives 5's
Students should see an anchor number and have an immediate strategy to help them solve for the product much more efficiently. I taught the class "Math Fact Baseball" to help them start to focus on the anchor numbers as well.

Students should be able to represent addition as multiplication.

2 + 2 + 2 = three groups of two = 3 x 2

Students should also be able to perform the reciprocal function of representing multiplication as addition.

4 x 5 = four groups of five = 5 + 5 + 5 + 5

We are going over homework challenge problems in class with an emphasis on problem solving strategies and being systematic and organized mathematicians.

Lastly, we started representing one step story problems as multiplication, arrays, and addition. We are also working to create our own story problems, which demands much better understanding.

Social Studies

After winter break, Mr. Kerstetter will begin teaching his social studies unit on communities and how they change over time. The United States' history is rich with the contributions of the cultures that have immigrated here. Entire art forms and even instruments would not exist without this merging of cultures.

We would like to invite any parents who have immigrated to share their stories. We would like the students to have a deeper understanding of the motivations for and the sacrifices of immigrating. Please let me know if you would be interested in speaking with the students. We typically have social studies on A days in the morning, but we will happily work with your schedules.

Science 

I did a short experiment on temperature. The only caveat to this lesson was my emphasis on fire safety and that students should not try this without an adult under any circumstances. See if your student can explain this experiment to you. Here is a link to the experiment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKF3OKxwM8g

Homework

We had a few hiccups in distributing homework this week, but I was very pleased with the class' flexibility and willingness to give it a try. From what I have seen, the amount of homework has been manageable. Please let me know however if your student is spending more than 30 to 40 minutes a night.

If your student is absent due to illness or a trip, I do not expect them to make up the homeowrk as it is intended as practice and to develop time management. They should rest up and return as soon as they are feeling better.

Homework passes are earned through making good choices and may be used any time. Some students will save them for special days when they know they will be busy or for birthdays.

Important Dates & Reminders

Testing dates are in bold. I will highlight changes and new dates in red.

A Days: No specials 

B Days: Music and PE

C Days: Art

D Days: Library

E Days: Music and PE

This week's testing went very smoothly. Thank you to Mrs. Lusk and our tech team for ensuring a headache free testing experience on the iPads! The students handled our few technology glitches calmly. 

December 20  Sing Along (1pm) & Holiday Parties (2pm)
Please click on the following link to volunteer and/or donate to the classroom parties. Thank you. 
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040f4da8aa29ab9-windermere1

December 21-January 2nd Winter Break

January 3 No School for Students: PD (AM) /Work Day (PM)

January 4-25 STAR Reading and Math Assessments 
January 4 School Resumes after Holiday Break 

January 10 Student Group Activities (e.g., Recycling Team, Orchestra, etc.)

January 13 Town Hall Meeting 12:30pm

January 16 No School for Students & Staff:  MLK Day

January 18 Interim Progress Reports Home Today

January 25 Parent/Teacher Conferences 

January 30 State of Schools at UAHS 5 - 8pm

February 6 - 10 Boxtop Collection Days

February 6 - March 31 Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment
February 20 No School for Students & Staff:  President's Day

March 1 Early Dismissal 1pm

March 9 3rd Grade Musical

March 10 Town Hall Meeting1:45 PM

March 10 End of second Trimester

March 13 - 17 Spring Break - No School 

March 20 No School for students - Teacher Workday 

March 28 Progress Reports Home Today  

April 5 - 6 Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment
April 5 Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon 

April 6 Spring Picture Day          

April 10 - April 28 STAR Reading and Math Assessments
April 12 - 15 Ohio Mathematics Assessment
April 14  No School for Staff & Students: Good Friday     

April 24 - 28 Scholastic Book Fair        

April 28  KID FEST 5 - 8pm

May 8 - 19 Terra Nova & Inview Gifted Screener
May 15 - 19 Diagnostic Writing Assessment
May 24 Field Day             

May 26 Town Hall Meeting 8:25am

May 26 Last Day for Students; End of third trimester     
May 26 Early Dismissal 1pm  

Important Updates

Dear Families,

I am so excited to be back and am looking forward to a great week with your students! I would like to thank Mrs. Plattenburg for all of her dedication and hard work.

Testing

I wanted to make sure everyone knows about this week's IOWA and CogAT testing. We will be testing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 12:00 till 1:30. Make-ups will begin on Friday.

Please make sure your student charges their iPad nightly. I will check on students to make sure they have headphones.

Please let me know if you have any questions regarding testing.

Homework

I am going to change the homework this week. I will present homework as mandatory for all students, but am flexible and will work with you and your student to work towards ensuring they have the  most appropriate practice at home to support their academic needs. I will discuss and model the homework with the class to alleviate any anxiety. I appreciate your feedback as we go through this process. All students who have not mastered (3 seconds per fact) addition, subtraction, multiplication and/or division fact fluency should spend at least five to ten focused minutes each night to develop this skill. I will be reading two highly recommended books (see below) on homework over the winter holiday that I expect will continue to impact my thinking on homework.

 

Newsletter for August 26, 2016

What We Learned This Week
We had another great week. We are earning lots of compliments from Windermere's cafeteria and recess support staff. I am really going to miss this group while I am out. I will be in frequent contact with my team. I am including my team's email contacts below in case you need to reach any of them:
Teresa Plattenburg Building Sub Extraordinaire tplattenburg@uaschools.org
Mike Kerstetter 3rd Grade mkerstetter@uaschools.org
Amy Leahy 3rd Grade aleahy@uaschools.org
Cindy Brehmer Intervention Specialist cbrehmer@uaschools.org
Amy Graver Enrichment agraver@uaschools.org
Kallie Mendenhall Teacher for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing kmendenhall@uaschools.org

Word Study
I introduced and we practiced our word study protocol. Upon introducing a new spelling feature(s), students are asked to make an open sort, which is their opportunity to group words however they like, as long as it is somehow based on letter patterns and/or sounds (e.g., alphabetical order, prefixes, etc.). Many students picked up on the fact that every word this week featured the vowel a. We shared sorts and reasons. I then model key features found in our words. Students are then directed to use these features for a closed sort. I invite them to come to the Smartboard and move words to different columns and to share with the class what they "see and hear." Students then cut and sort a word list with these same features at their seats under column headings. I will often ask them to alphabetize the words, which I connect to decoding when reading. We also generate lists of new words with these features and finally look for features in our reading. Most students are already familiar with this week's features of closed syllables (a vowel is closed by a consonant(s), written as vc/vcc) and vowel-consonant-silent e words (e.g. ace). Closed syllables make the short vowel sound and the vce pattern makes a long vowel sound. Students are also taught how to mark these words to show the vowel sound. The vce pattern is very important as it is found across all of the key vowels (e.g., ace, Steve, ice, stove, flute).

Reading
We discussed the importance of being real reader this week (what it looks like and sounds like). Reluctant readers often ask to go to the restroom or get drinks repeatedly during sustained reading or spend their time looking for a book, but never finding one or sticking with it. I began Developmental Reading Assessments (DRA) which look at students' reading engagement, fluency and comprehension. Students also took the STAR Reading assessment, which will provide a useful benchmark for measuring student growth as well as providing instructional direction. Student reading conferences will include a review of the books they've read, their genres, specific goals and strategies for achieving those goals. I prefer to meet with individuals. Research conducted by Richard Allington (What Really Matters for Struggling Readers: Designing Research-Based Programs and 

What Really Matters in Response to Intervention: Research-based Designs) strongly supports meeting with individuals versus groups. It improves engagement, retention and emphasizes the importance of students developing the ability to self select appropriate text levels. 

Writing
Students generated a list of four broad topics to introduce themselves to their pen pals. I introduced the convention of indenting and the idea of topic sentences that introduce a topic without going into supporting details. We looked at examples of indenting in chapter and picture books and discussed the purpose of indenting, to tell the reader when a new topic was being introduced. Their first efforts were very encouraging and I'm looking forward to keeping tabs on their writing.

Math
Students know the zero more, one more, two more, and doubles doubles strategies and should begin to focus on anchor (entry point) numbers when they see a basic fact. Please help your student with mastering their math facts nightly.

math fact strategies for addition and subtraction

We also took the STAR Math assessment. We will take this test later in the year to identify growth and focus areas for instruction.

We spent a lot of time working on numeracy and base ten concepts. Students were then given an authentic problem on bundling ballots where they had to apply their understanding of place and value to find the answer in small groups.

Science
I introduced the importance of collaboration and communication in science. We watched a brief excerpt from the Apollo 13  movie. Then students worked in teams, one representing NASA and one representing an astronaut. NASA constructed a shape out of Keva planks and then had to communicate using only words the shape to the astronaut who had to replicate it blind. I have used this lesson as a first science lesson as it provides much to reflect on regarding protocols and communication skills, setting us up for success in future collaborative efforts.

Click on the image above to view the clip of the famous, "Houston, we have a problem," scene.

Homework, Technology and Devices 

All students should bring their charged devices next week. I highly recommend putting your student's name on the iPad's cover with a sticker to make it easy for them to differentiate their iPad from their peers'. 

We will practice homework at school all next week to ensure students are able to log in and access their sites. This may be bumpy and we are prepared to be flexible. We also understand that their may be events (e.g., electrical storms wiping out wifi) that will be beyond your student's control. If this does happen, please have your student read for 20 minutes and practice math fact fluency for ten minutes.

Once students have had a chance to get up to speed with their devices and homework protocols, they should spend about 30 minutes on their homework each night. This may take a few weeks as some students are still coming off of summer mode. If you find your student's homework is too difficult, please contact me and/or Mrs. Plattenburg and we will adjust it. The greatest benefit to our devices ist he ability to differentiate and personalize work. 

The Brenthaven carrying cases ran out last Saturday during device distribution. They are supposed to be delivered to our classrooms early next week. If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Banks at mbanks@uaschools.org. 

Our team has been discussing homework a great deal since last spring when we decided to focus on it as our opportunity to improve differentiated and personalized learning. Based on research, parent feedback, individual student needs and current international and district trends, we have decided to make homework optional. We will still fully support all families that would like their students to do regular, nightly homework. I will present homework as mandatory. I do expect that most families will want regular homework. I hope that our third grade team's selection of homework resources will offer each family and student with an appropriate homework in content, frequency and quantity. Minimally, I recommend working on fact fluency and reading nightly. The benefits of learning to manage time and develop routines will pay off significantly in the future. Five strategic minutes each night will help your student to master their math facts. 

Recommended homework includes:

- Xtramath for online math fact fluency

- Flash cards focusing on fact fluency strategies (see above)

- Dominoes for developing fact fluency 

- Front Row Math for personalized math practice based on an initial online math assessment

- Problem of the week for developing authentic math practice (This can be further supplemented from a large collection of authentic math problems we have collected) 

- RAZ Kids for reading comprehension 

- Independent reading for pleasure across genres to develop an awareness of just right texts, fluency and comprehension

Students have access codes to all of the above sites and we will practice accessing them at school.

Important Dates and Reminders

Water bottles are allowed/encouraged to minimize the need to leave the room. Please remind your student to take them home nightly.

Testing dates are in bold. I will highlight changes and new dates in red.

A-E Schedule

UA schools operate on an A-E schedule, rather than a Monday through Friday schedule. Our class' schedule is as follows.

A Days: No specials 

B Days: Music and PE

C Days: Art

D Days: Library

E Days: Music and PE

August 26 & 27, Elementary Device Distribution Hastings Middle School

August 30 Mr. Hudson out for ankle surgery
August 31, New Parent Breakfast, Windermere Lounge 9am

August 31, Walking Wednesday

September 2 Windermere Way Community Day 2016               

September 4 Golden Bear BASH          

September 5 No School Students and Staff: Labor Day 

September 7 Walking Wednesday             

September 14 PTO Meeting 7pm in the lounge

September 14 Walking Wednesday

September 21 Walking Wednesday

September 22 Fall Picture Day 
September 28 Early Dismissal 1pm

September 28 Walking Wednesday

October 3-7 Scholastic Book Fair

October 5 Walking Wednesday

October 7 Fall Family Night 5 - 8pm

October 10 - 14 Boxtop Collection Days

October 12 Walking Wednesday

October 17 No School for Students: Parent/Teacher Conference Day (PM)

October 19 Walking Wednesday

October 21 Picture Retake Day

October 26 Walking Wednesday

October 26 Visiting Author Steve Harpster

October 27 Early Dismissal 1pm

October 31 Halloween Parties and Parade: 1:30pm

October 31 Trick or Treat Night

November 2 Walking Wednesday

November 8 No School for Students: (Voting Day) In-service Day for Teachers

November 9-10 Ohio 3rd Grade English Language Arts Assessment
November 9 Walking Wednesday

November 11 End of first Trimester

November 11 Global Ed Assembly

November 16 Walking Wednesday

November 22 Progress Reports Home Today

November 22 Scarlet and Gray Spirit Day

November 23-25   Thanksgiving Vacation

December 5-16 Gifted Identification Screener
December 20  Sing Along (1pm) & Holiday Parties (2pm)

December 21-January 2nd Winter Break

January 3 No School for Students: PD (AM) /Work Day (PM)

January 4-25 STAR Reading and Math Assessments 
January 4 School Resumes after Holiday Break 

January 10 Student Group Activities (e.g., Recycling Team, Orchestra, etc.)

January 13 Town Hall Meeting 12:30pm

January 16 No School for Students & Staff:  MLK Day

January 18 Interim Progress Reports Home Today

January 25 Parent/Teacher Conferences 

January 30 State of Schools at UAHS 5 - 8pm

February 6 - 10 Boxtop Collection Days

February 6 - March 31 Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment
February 20 No School for Students & Staff:  President's Day

March 1 Early Dismissal 1pm

March 9 3rd Grade Musical

March 10 Town Hall Meeting1:45 PM

March 10 End of second Trimester

March 13 - 17 Spring Break - No School 

March 20 No School for students - Teacher Workday 

March 28 Progress Reports Home Today  

April 5 - 6 Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment
April 5 Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon 

April 6 Spring Picture Day          

April 10 - April 28 STAR Reading and Math Assessments
April 12 - 15 Ohio Mathematics Assessment
April 14  No School for Staff & Students: Good Friday     

April 24 - 28 Scholastic Book Fair        

April 28  KID FEST 5 - 8pm

May 8 - 19 Terra Nova & Inview Gifted Screener
May 15 - 19 Diagnostic Writing Assessment
May 24 Field Day             

May 26 Town Hall Meeting 8:25am

May 26 Last Day for Students; End of third trimester     
May 26 Early Dismissal 1pm  

Newsletter for August 19, 2016

What We Learned This Week

This is a terrific class and I am thrilled to get to work with them this year. We spent much of this week developing routines and sharing expectations. I would like students to be as independent as possible in their routines prior to my absence.

Word Study
I administered the Developmental Spelling Assessment (DSA) this week. The DSA will provide me with invaluable detailed information about each student's phonological awareness and will help me determine which stage of phonological awareness they are currently in. The spectrum is as follows:

Letter Name Stage > Within Word Stage > Syllable Juncture Stage > Derivational Constancy Stage

Based on experience, most third graders will begin the year in either the Within Word Stage or the Syllable Juncture Stage and will progress one stage in an academic year. Each stage is comprised of specific phonological concepts such as short vowel closed syllables, long vowel open syllables, vowel consonant silent e, r-controlled vowels, doubling & e-drop with -ed and -ing suffixes, etc. The DSA is a great assessment and will also provide a meaningful benchmark to measure student growth.

Reading
We discussed the importance of choosing "just right" books: books that we can comprehend and can read with expression and fluency that mirrors our normal speaking rate and our ability to add meaningful inflection and tone based on context and punctuation. I will be assessing students' reading next week using the Developmental Reading Assessment.

Writing
I assigned an optional writing assignment, a persuasive essay for those interested in running for student council. Students will share their essays and we will hold our election next week. I stress that we do not vote for our friends, but rather for the best candidates based on the characteristics they feel would make them a good representative and their experiences that support their traits.

We discussed possible writing topics for our pen pals. We have a terrific class of students in Middlesex, UK that we will partner with this year. While much of our writing will be done on devices, our initial writing will be on paper. As it is their future, I will work with students on developing the ability to plan, draft, edit and publish using their devices. We will also spend a lot of time with partners improving our writing.

Math
I assessed students addition and subtraction fact fluency. I will discuss strategies for developing this essential skill at next week's Parent Information Night. The national norm for fact fluency is three seconds per fact. I am sending home students' assessments today. You will note that they took two addition and two subtraction assessments. I give them the benefit of the doubt and record their higher score as it can help to prime their brain with the first assessment. Students should get 23 or more correct to earn an achieving or 20 through 22 for a progressing. Anything below 20 is considered beginning. All students are expected to enter third grade at the achieving level.

I introduced two addition strategies of zero more and one more. Students learned to begin with the larger number and count on to be more efficient. Groups also worked together to sort and organize dominoes tiles using these two strategies.

Social
We watched the wonderful Windermere Way video and discussed as a community the importance of being respectful, responsible and ready to learn.

Doubling & e-drop with ed & ing

Important Dates and Reminders

Testing dates are in bold. I will highlight changes and new dates in red.

A-E Schedule

UA schools operate on an A-E schedule, rather than a Monday through Friday schedule. Our class' schedule is as follows.

A Days: No specials 

B Days: Music and PE

C Days: Art

D Days: Library

E Days: Music and PE

August 19 & 20, Elementary Device Distribution Hastings Middle School
August 22 September 16 STAR Reading and Math Assessments

August 23 Special Issue Election, students eat in the classroom (no nuts or peanuts please)
August 23, Parent Information/Curriculum Night 7 - 7:45pm

August 26 & 27, Elementary Device Distribution Hastings Middle School

August 30 Mr. Hudson out for ankle surgery
August 31, New Parent Breakfast, Windermere Lounge 9am

August 31, Walking Wednesday

September 2 Windermere Way Community Day 2016               

September 4 Golden Bear BASH          

September 5 No School Students and Staff: Labor Day 

September 7 Walking Wednesday             

September 14 PTO Meeting 7pm in the lounge

September 14 Walking Wednesday

September 21 Walking Wednesday

September 22 Fall Picture Day 
September 28 Early Dismissal 1pm

September 28 Walking Wednesday

October 3-7 Scholastic Book Fair

October 5 Walking Wednesday

October 7 Fall Family Night 5 - 8pm

October 10 - 14 Boxtop Collection Days

October 12 Walking Wednesday

October 17 No School for Students: Parent/Teacher Conference Day (PM)

October 19 Walking Wednesday

October 21 Picture Retake Day

October 26 Walking Wednesday

October 26 Visiting Author Steve Harpster

October 27 Early Dismissal 1pm

October 31 Halloween Parties and Parade: 1:30pm

October 31 Trick or Treat Night

November 2 Walking Wednesday

November 8 No School for Students: (Voting Day) In-service Day for Teachers

November 9-10 Ohio 3rd Grade English Language Arts Assessment
November 9 Walking Wednesday

November 11 End of first Trimester

November 11 Global Ed Assembly

November 16 Walking Wednesday

November 22 Progress Reports Home Today

November 22 Scarlet and Gray Spirit Day

November 23-25   Thanksgiving Vacation

December 5-16 Gifted Identification Screener
December 20  Sing Along (1pm) & Holiday Parties (2pm)

December 21-January 2nd Winter Break

January 3 No School for Students: PD (AM) /Work Day (PM)

January 4-25 STAR Reading and Math Assessments 
January 4 School Resumes after Holiday Break 

January 10 Student Group Activities (e.g., Recycling Team, Orchestra, etc.)

January 13 Town Hall Meeting 12:30pm

January 16 No School for Students & Staff:  MLK Day

January 18 Interim Progress Reports Home Today

January 25 Parent/Teacher Conferences 

January 30 State of Schools at UAHS 5 - 8pm

February 6 - 10 Boxtop Collection Days

February 6 - March 31 Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment
February 20 No School for Students & Staff:  President's Day

March 1 Early Dismissal 1pm

March 9 3rd Grade Musical

March 10 Town Hall Meeting1:45 PM

March 10 End of second Trimester

March 13 - 17 Spring Break - No School 

March 20 No School for students - Teacher Workday 

March 28 Progress Reports Home Today  

April 5 - 6 Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment
April 5 Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon 

April 6 Spring Picture Day          

April 10 - April 28 STAR Reading and Math Assessments
April 12 - 15 Ohio Mathematics Assessment
April 14  No School for Staff & Students: Good Friday     

April 24 - 28 Scholastic Book Fair        

April 28  KID FEST 5 - 8pm

May 8 - 19 Terra Nova & Inview Gifted Screener
May 15 - 19 Diagnostic Writing Assessment
May 24 Field Day             

May 26 Town Hall Meeting 8:25am

May 26 Last Day for Students; End of third trimester     
May 26 Early Dismissal 1pm