Newsletter for March 13, 2015

What We Learned This Week

Word Study
We learned four new cursive letters (l, h, k, b), all based on the lowercase l shape. Students are starting to employ cursive in their writing, especially on their dry erase boards.

Students learned four new vocabulary words this week and they have become very motivated to pay attention to vocabulary as they can earn apple punches towards reading graphic novels or homework passes.

I reintroduced word ladders this week. We begin with a word and slowly "climb" the ladder by changing the order of, adding, or deleting letters from our base word. Many of these words are strong vocabulary words (e.g., rut, char, etc.) that challenge students. Words ladders train students to both listen and look for connections in words.

Students learned action verbs (as opposed to being verbs, e.g., is, am, are, etc.). We also discussed verb tenses. We also learned when applying present tense verbs to plural nouns (which often end in -s) the verb does not end in -s (e.g., cats purr), but when applying present tense verbs to singular nouns (which do not end in -s) the verb often ends in -s (e.g., cat purrs). I cannot stress enough to students that most have had the benefit of hearing correct grammar since infancy and they can often identify errors in their writing simply by reading their writing aloud.

Reading

 

Wow!!! I've never been more pleased with student research. While we are taking it slowly, students used their notes to produce fantastic paragraphs on Martin Luther King, Jr. They are using a process of developing a guiding question. Understanding why we are studying any subject focuses our research and writing, rather than trying to include every thing we read, which results in weak positions and poor, rambling and disconnected writing. Our guiding question is "What is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy?" Next, students used a T-chart, something they have done with me many times in reading group, to take notes, recording a main idea and supporting details from each paragraph of their source materials. Students then numbered their main ideas based on their perceived importance, even combining some. This was very helpful in developing a meaningful sequence to students' writing. While we had a lot of commonalities in our note taking, we had a lot of variation in our order and students' interpretations of what was most important to King's legacy provided interesting variation in paragraphs that would not have resulted without the confidence that there were many ways to approach this question, all of them valid as long as they could be supported by the text. I can't wait to start our independent research projects next week. Students will be assigned a partner they will check in with from time to time throughout the process to support their learning and practice. Many students voluntarily wrote persuasive essays asking to study specific famous African Americans.

I am focusing on fluency as my recent assessments show many students have plateaued with this skill. We are reading Dr. Seuss tongue twisters, Shel Silverstein poetry, and will begin plays after spring break. All of these practices should improve students' speed, accuracy, and expression.

I finished our read-aloud, Fablehaven, by Brandon Mull. This has to be an all time favorite for any of my classes. I suspect many of them will read other books in the series. So far we've read aloud realistic fiction (Wonder) and fantasy (Fablehaven) titles. Our next read aloud will be the young readers' edition of I Am Malala by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai. This class in particular has a strong sense of social justice, as evidenced by the number of families involved in community activities and charities. I think the insights students showed during Wonder will be built upon through I Am Malala.

Bone

I love reading new books and discussing them, so I was pleased to be asked about the graphic novel series, Bone. Is it genre defining fine literature? Absolutely not, but it has its place. Graphic novels introduce young readers to different genres, rich vocabulary, creative worlds, dialogue and expression, and can be a literary palette cleanser between more challenging reads. I discourage students from reading two consecutive graphic novels, but they can also be a path to reading for reluctant readers. Ultimately, I want my students to be reading everything and anything they can get their hands on, to become voracious readers!

so many books

We have many more wonderful book recommendations recorded in our "Book Room." Many thanks to Mrs. Hastings for helping with this project! Please visit it for your student's (or your) next book choice. http://mrhudsonsbookroom.blogspot.com/

Writing
We have a wonderful writing opportunity to start corresponding with pen pals from Dubai. Because of different school schedules, we will be rushing to get these done next week, but I am hopeful we will have a meaningful cultural exchange where we can learn about each other.

Math
We concluded our fraction unit by converting whole numbers to fractions (e.g., what fraction can the whole number 5 make with a 6 in the denominator?) and converting fractions to whole numbers (e.g., 30/6 = 5). We also practiced simplifying or reducing fractions by dividing by fractions equivalent to 1 (or the "whole"), where the numerator and denominator are the same. I suggest students start with the following three fractions: 2/2, 3/3, and 5/5 as they will typically work for reducing any fraction. Students who are strong in their multiplication and division facts often find larger common factors they can use to simplify.  I will assess students next week on Wednesday and Thursday.

Science
Students shared their inventions and their process in small teams where they had the opportunity to hear what their peers liked, hear peer suggestions for improvement, and field questions.

 

Students will share their prototypes and finished presentation boards on Monday to their entire class. This will support communication standards and prepare them for the actual Invention Convention on March 31st. Please visit the earlier blog post to learn more about our Invention Convention. 

http://3rdgradehudson.blogspot.com/2015/03/invention-convention.html

 

Guidance
A NOTE FROM THE COUNSELOR:

Dear Windermere Families,

This week’s classroom lesson focused on celebrating each other’s differences.  We read the book It’s Okay to be Different,  by Todd Parr, which looks at how everyone has differences.  It explains acceptance, understanding, and appreciation of the differences in a way that the children really connect with.  After reading the book, we brainstormed similarities and differences that we see within the class, and talked about how to appreciate and respect everyone and their differences.  Children wore a poem about a difference that they learned about or have experienced and how it is okay.  As one student put it, the world would be really boring if we were all the same!

I hope you might take this opportunity to talk with your child about this lesson.  Here are some questions that can help with the conversation:

·      What are you proud of that makes you different?
·      What are ways that you can show respect to everyone in the classroom?  At home?  On the playground?

Thanks for all you do!

Katie O’Keefe

School Counselor

kokeefe@uaschools.org

614-487-5060, ext. 7022

Monday - Thursday, 9am - 4pm

Important Dates & Reminders 

Please complete planned absence forms if you know your student will miss school. I am happy to send one home with your student if you email me.

Important 3rd Quarter Dates & Reminders

March 16, 2015 - Invention Convention display boards and prototypes due
March 16, 2015 - recycled instruments due for 3rd Grade Musical
March 17, 2015 - 3rd Grade Musical (arrive at 6:45, instruments due Friday, March 13th.)
March 20 through 27, 2015 - No School Spring Break
March 31, 2015 - Invention Convention Open House 10 to 11am - free to go out for lunch afterwards

April 2, 2015 - End of third quarter
April 2, 2015 - Early dismissal 
April 3, 2015 - No School
April 6, 2015 - No School, teacher grading day

Important 4th Quarter Dates & Reminders

April 8, 2015 - Early Dismissal/Teacher Development (rescheduled for April 2nd)
April 9, 2015 - Spring Picture Day
April 13 through May 22, 2015 - District Writing Diagnostic Testing
April 14, 2015 - Progress Reports sent home
April 21 through 22, 2015 - English Language Arts State EOY
April 22, 2015 - Ohio Reading Achievement Assessment
April 24, 2015 - Kid Fest
April 28, 2015 - Film Festival of Book Recommendations (Tremont Library 7-8pm)
April 28 through 29, 2015 - Math State EOY

May 1 through 29, 2015 - STAR Reading and Math Diagnostic Testing
May 9, 2015 - Wish Run
May 25, 2015 - No School Memorial Day

June 1, 2015 - Field Day
June 3, 2015 - End of fourth quarter/Last day for students, Classroom parties 12:05 till 1:05pm

June 9, 2015 - Progress Reports sent home