While we covered a lot this week, my consistent message has been that students should be comfortable with not knowing and should never feel embarrassed. The fear of failure is consistently the single greatest hurdle to learning and this will a theme all year. I stress that we learn more from our mistakes than from "just knowing it," and I am grateful for mistakes as they show me exactly what my students need. Please reinforce this message at home. I am here to help in any way I can and I want my students to feel comfortable asking for help for academic and/or social support.
Word Study
I administered the Developmental Spelling Assessment (DSA) and have assigned students to word study groups based on which syllable types/spelling patterns they have mastered. The scale progresses in complexity in the following order: Letter Name, Within Word, Syllable Juncture, and Derivational Constancy. Most students are at the Within Word stage, which is typical of this time of year. A handful are at the Syllable Juncture stage. I am introducing our word study routine whole class with an introductory lesson at the Within Word stage. Students are expected to be able to distinguish between vowels (a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y or w) and consonants; identify long and short vowel sounds; and identify open (e.g., go), closed (e.g., cat), and vowel-consonant-silent e (e.g., ice) syllable types.
Reading
Our focus this week was on selecting "just right books" (98% accuracy with strong comprehension). Most of the class demonstrated they can do this independently. We also introduced the idea of paragraph (a passage about one idea) to support writing. We are also summarizing the main idea of short passages, a critical learning standard in third grade.
I administered the STAR Reading Assessment, which I will use as a benchmark for growth.
Our read aloud is Wishtree by Applegate, which may overtake Wonder as a new favorite book. I am hoping to do something with the book in the spring in conjunction with our spring Tree Trek to Thompson Park.
Writing
I kicked off our writing workshop by having students write daily in their Gratitude Journal. I love this exercise and it provides students with a non-threatening short write to help us transition from recess back to class.
Students also wrote two paragraph letters to me about themselves and school. We have a lot of work to do with sentence structure and understanding paragraph, but we will get there. We won't start composing on iPads until writing workshop is running smoothly as the extra step of keyboarding is overwhelming to many students unfamiliar with letter/key location.
Math
We have a new math program this year, Bridges, a discovery learning based math program. I am starting with developing addition and subtraction strategies. Students should recognize the ten single digits involved in all operations (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9); identify 0 more/less, 1 more/less, 2 more/less strategies.
I also introduced telling time with analog clocks. While analog clocks are an antiquated tool given today's technology, it is still an important math standard and one that most students are not secure in. I introduced o'clock, quarter past, half past, and quarter till. We will continue to practice this until it is mastered.
I also gave the STAR Math Assessment. As many of the 3rd grade math standards introduce completely new content, these scores tend to be a bit lower than the STAR Reading.
Important Dates & Reminders
I will highlight changes and new dates in red.
Your student should return two field trip permission slips - an orange one for our September trip and a blue one for our October trip. Please let me know if you need a copy.
Please visit the Parent Survey from our School Counselor, Ms. O'Keefe
A-E Schedule
UA City Schools operate on an A-E schedule, rather than a Monday through Friday schedule. Our class' schedule is as follows. Clink on this link to visit the district ABCDE Calendar.
A - Library (every other week)
B - Music & PE
C - Art
D - Music & PE
E - no specials
Windermere PTO (for non-classroom specific dates, e.g. Walking Wednesdays)A - Library (every other week)
B - Music & PE
C - Art
D - Music & PE
E - no specials
Please click on the Signup Genius link to sign up for fall conferences.
August 2018
28 Parent Information Night (adults only please) 7:00-7:45pm
31 Windermere Way Day
September 2018
3 No School ~ Labor Day
11 Walking field trip to Thompson Park - Chaperones needed
12 Early Dismissal 1pm
20 Fall Picture Day
October 2018
1-5 Book Fair
5 Fall Family Fun Night 5:30-7:30pm
8-12 Box Top Collection
15 No School for Students
22 Parent - Teacher Conferences 4-7:30pm (Signup Genius)
24 Walking field trip to Thompson Park - Chaperones needed
24 Early Release 11:05am
24 Parent - Teacher Conferences 12-7:30pm (Signup Genius)
29 3rd Grade AIR (please avoid appointments)
30 3rd Grade AIR (please avoid appointments)
31 Halloween Parties Parade 1:30pm
31 Trick-Or-Treat UA 5:30-8pm
November 2018
5 End of the first Tri-mester
6 No School Students: Teacher Work Day
8 JUSTICE Night
19 Progress Reports Available Online
21-23 Thanksgiving Holiday
December 2018
20 Holiday Parties 2pm
21 No School for Students: Teacher In-Service
24-January 4 Winter Holiday
January 2019
7 School Resumes
21 No School: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
30 Early Dismissal 11:05am
February 2019
7 3rd Grade Musical Performance 7pm
4-8 Box Tops for Education
18 No School: Presidents' Day
27 Early Dismissal 1pm
March 2019
5 Town Hall Safety Meeting UAHS 7pm
8 End of 2nd Trimester
8 Invention Convention 10-10:45am Multipurpose Room
11-15 Spring Break Holiday
18 No School Students: Teacher Work Day
26 Progress Reports Available Online
April 2019
11 & 12 3rd Grade AIR (please avoid appointments)
17 & 18 3rd Grade Ohio Math Assessment (please avoid appointments)
19 No School: Good Friday
May 2019
3 KidFest 5-8pm
7 No School: Ohio Primary Elections
22 Field Day
24 Last Day of School For Students ~ End of 3rd Trimester
28 Progress Reports Available Online
