The Hudson Hawks
What We Learned This Week
friend scavenger hunt
We spent a lot of time learning about each other and ensuring students were comfortable asking for help. Students are learning ASL name signs and making connections.
Third Grade is switching from Words Their Way to Fundations this year. I began administering our initial phonics assessments to determine students' phonemic awareness levels for word study instruction.
Reading
I introduced the importance of selecting Just Right Books for independent, rather than teacher or parent supported, reading. I cannot overemphasize the importance of this skill. Many students feel they should choose "hard" or overly challenging books, but research is strongly opposed to this for young readers. Students should be independently reading "easy" books to develop fluency, expression and comprehension. They will develop these important reading skills far faster with just right texts than trying to develop them on their own with an overly challenging text. This is different than choosing a book to read with their teacher, for reading conferences during which I will introduce higher level reading skills.
While many teachers suggest students should not miss more than five words on the page, research again suggests this number of missed words is a too difficult for independent reading. Students should be able to read 98% of all words on the page. I tell students they need to be able to read all of the words on the page, except for proper nouns. Unlike decoding most unfamiliar words, there are few context clues to support a student's decoding of proper nouns (other than capitalization). Proper nouns can be particularly challenging in fantasy and science fiction as well. We will practice selecting just right books a great deal in the beginning of the year. I encourage students to look for books based on interest and then open to the first page to check for whether or not they can read all of the words and comprehend what they've just read.
Lastly, I discourage students from reading graphic novels at school. Like a balanced diet, students should be reading a broad range of genres. I view graphic novels as dessert. Personally, I love graphic novels and have quite a few series at home. However, they are problematic for developing readers for a number of reasons. The cartoons often suggest they are easy books, but they often contain very challenging vocabulary. The writing is very different than a typical fiction or non-fiction book as it is nearly all dialogue. There is also far less text in them. Having said that though, I encourage students to check them out from the library and read them at home if they like. Students need to find books they are interested in to develop their love and appreciation of reading.
I do not conduct group reading conferences as I want to develop students' ability to choose just right texts, have a choice in what they read, and read more interesting texts than what are typically offered by educational presses.
We started our first read aloud, The Wild Robot, by Peter Brown. This is a wonderful book about friendships, courage and the environment. This book would likely be too difficult for many students, but works beautifully with teacher support and it provides many opportunities for class discussion on reading comprehension skills and how we can act with kindness, even in the face of great adversity.
Writing
Students' first writings were short writings to get them focused and ready to work after recess. Especially during the first warm days of school, the transition period from recess to working and engaging is very hard for many students. We do a short (five minutes or less) writing in our gratitude journal where we simply record one small act of kindness we are grateful for that day. I spend the time observing to see who may struggle producing writing and then I invite a few students to share to develop public speaking skills.
Math
I conducted our initial fact fluency assessments. Addition and subtraction facts are expected to be mastered by the end of second grade, meaning a student can recall any fact within three seconds. However, many students do not enter third grade having mastered these facts. If you know your student has not yet mastered their facts, please work on them nightly. We will discuss this further during Parent Information Night (see below - note the date change).
Science
We discussed Monday's solar eclipse. We will make pin hole eclipse viewers in anticipation of this unique event. Our school has ordered NASA approved solar sunglasses for all students, but I will have students use their pin hole viewers rather than actually looking at the sun, a safe alternative to glasses.
Homework
I introduced homework at school so students will know my expectations and I observe whether or not students need individualized homework.
Important Dates and Reminders
I will highlight changes and new dates in red.
We have two wonderful interpreters this year, Ms. Dobbins and Ms. Westlake. Ms. Dobbins is new to Windermere, but has many years of experience and is a welcome addition to our interpreter staff. I've had the pleasure of working with Ms. Westlake nearly every year since I joined Windermere. She is very talented and has a great knack for supporting all of our students. She is my ears and my eyes when I'm out as well and gives me great feedback.
August 2017
30 New Parent Breakfast Orientation, 9 a.m. MP Room
30 7:00 - 8:30pm Parent Information/Curriculum Night grades 1-5 (parents only please) Note the date change to accommodate Ohio State football fans.
September 2017
September 2017
1 Sportsmanship Day and Assembly in Gymnasium at 12
3 Golden Bear Bash
4 No School Staff/Students: Labor Day
13 PTO General Mtg at 7:00 pm in the lounge
13 Walking Wednesday
20 Walking Wednesday
21 Fall School Pictures
25 Book Fair Week
27 Early Release 1:00
27 Walking Wednesday
29 Fall Family Fun Night 5:30-7:30 p.m.
October 2017
October 2017
TBD Third Grade Reading AIR Testing
4 Walking Wednesday
11 Walking Wednesday
9-13 Collection Days for “Box Tops for Education”
16 No School for Students: Work Day/PT Conference Day
16 Parent Teacher Conferences
18 Walking Wednesday
19 Parent Teacher Conferences
20 Fall Picture Retake
25 Walking Wednesday
26 Early Dismissal at 11:05
27 Halloween Parties & School wide Parade starting at 1:30 pm
31 Beggar’s Night 5:30-8 p.m. in UA
November 2017
November 2017
1 Walking Wednesday
6 End of First Trimester
7 No School for Students: Faculty In-service Day
8 Walking Wednesday
15 Walking Wednesday
21 Progress Reports go Home
21 Scarlet and Gray School Spirit Day
22-24 Thanksgiving Holiday
December 2017
December 2017
21 Holiday Parties 2:00 pm
December 22-January 4 Winter Break
January 2018
January 2018
5 No School for Students: Teacher Workday/PD Day
8 School Resumes
15 No School for Staff or Students: Martin Luther King’s Birthday
18 PT Conferences grade 1-5 (students are dismissed at 11:05)
February 2018
February 2018
5 State of the Schools at UAHS 5-8 p.m.
5-9 Collection Days for “Box Tops for Education”
8 Third Grade Musical
11-14 Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
14 Ohio Wildlife Center
8 Third Grade Musical
11-14 Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
14 Ohio Wildlife Center
19 No School Staff or Students: Presidents’ Day
28 Early Release 1:00 (NO LIFT)
March 2018
March 2018
5 Spring Pictures
9 End of Second Trimester
9 Invention Convention 10-10:30am in the Multipurpose Room/Cafeteria
9 Invention Convention 10-10:30am in the Multipurpose Room/Cafeteria
12-16 Spring Break
19 No School for Students: Teacher Grading Day
27 Progress Reports go Home
30 Good Friday: No School for Students or Staff
April 2018
April 2018
4 Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon at Windermere 11-12 in lounge
May 2018
May 2018
April 30-May 4 Scholastic Book Fair
4 KidFest, 5-8 p.m.
8 NO School for students or certified staff - Ohio Primary Elections
21 Field Day
28 No School Staff: Memorial Day
30 Last Day for Students
30 End of third trimester
