Read-a-thon week was an absolute blast! Our class was filled fluffy princess dresses, epic pirate costumes, fantastic superheroes, cozy PJs, and amazing showing of Blue and Yellow pride! Thank you for all the support from families at home, our 30 minute read-a-thon went smoothly, and we collected so much money towards our new playground. Enjoy the adorable pictures below! A Look Ahead:
Thursday, April 7th - Community Meeting Friday, April 8th - Ice Cream Sales start during lunch Next Week's Topics: ✍️ On Monday, we're finishing our hand writing opinion pieces ☁️ We'll start science after writing, our topic will be weather ✖️ In math, we're going to look at equal fractions 👩👧 In reading, we'll discuss teamwork using informational texts
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There have been a lot of opinions this week - the best food just may be apple pie and the best videogame could very well be Minecraft. We chose our topic, brainstormed reasons to back up our opinion, and even started our introduction paragraph. Up next week, we'll fine tune or reasons and wrap up our opinion with a conclusion. This paper will be handwritten and will also include skills like always starting the next line at the very start of the margin and indenting when we start a new paragraph.
In math, we are going full steam ahead to fourth grade. We introduced topics like parenthesis and explored what that might look like in a word problem. We also introduced a new reading quiz program and get started on our reading challenge. Every student chose a "Bingo Goal" to work towards with the end date being June. If we reach our goals, we will have a reading celebration! Those goals might be blackout for some students and four corners for another. Keep encouraging that reading at home! A Look Ahead: 🧚 In reading, we'll be reading fairy tales and talking about different ways to get what we need ➗ In math, we will continue working on parenthesis and start talking about the order of operations 💭 In writing, we will continue with our opinion paper project Important Dates: Monday, March 28th - Book Fair preview Day Tuesday, March 29th - Book Fair buying day The sun has set on our states projects! I am so incredibly proud of the Silly Sea Turtles!! Many students were able to identify all 50 states. Others pushed themselves to learn their capitals, state nicknames, and even mottos. Please enjoy the pictures below of our final product: a salt dough map and a state brochure! A Look Ahead:
✖️ In math, we are going to introduce parentheses 📗 In reading, we are going to look at some inspiring poetry 📝 In writing, we are going to start our opinion writing project We are almost to vacation! There have been so many celebrations in our class as everyone works hard to memorize those states, capitals, and beyond. Thank you to the families helping at home. It is a lot to take in, so every bit of practice helps. Next week we are going to focus only on capitals. They will try the first 25 capitals on Tuesday and the second 25 capitals on Thursday (alphabetically). I will send home flash cards to practice. If your student has already mastered capitals - then I have abbreviations, nicknames, and mottos as well!
We will be finishing up our brochure for our states next week. We will also be doing some hands on (and slightly messy) learning. We will be making state flags and salt dough maps. I will send home a paper and shoot out an email for help with supplies later today. We were able to start our reading buddies again! It was adorable, as always, and filled with lots of smiling faces. That's it from the Silly Sea Turtles! Have a great weekend. Upcoming Dates: 2/22 - TwosDay! We will be doing take 2 for game day 2/26 - 3/6 - "February" vacation A Look Ahead: 🖩 - In math, we are going to focus on honing in that fact power with multiplication ❌ - No spelling or reading lessons next week, we are using that time for our geography project 🗾 - In social studies, we are making salt dough maps and flags We are officially half way through third grade! We celebrated the end of AIMsWeb and the first half of our year with cupcakes today. Our first half of the year was filled with fun things like our glow in the dark Fun Run, a freezing Halloween Parade, a cozy movie day, a hilarious game day, oh... and a little bit of learning! It has been a great first half and we are looking forward to starting the next part of our journey!
We finished up our writing project this week. The students stories were filled with wonderful similes and rich, descriptive words. Students came up with their stories and either typed or hand wrote their first draft. From there, I gave them feedback and ideas of how to improve their story. They chose had to incorporate that feedback in their own words. The best part was listening to all of the stories and complimenting each student's writing style. I think there may be a few future authors in this room! Up next we are going to start studying our states. Each student will take a deep dive into learning about a state other than New Hampshire. Students will also practice identifying where states are across the country. We start big, looking at continents, and end the week learning about those states. This research project will use traditional books and webpages to create their project. Important Dates: 🧪 Wednesday, January 26th - Visiting Scientist! A Look Ahead: 🟠 In math, we'll be looking at fractions and multiplication helper facts 📜 In reading, we're reading about history and why it is important 🗺️ In social studies, we'll be introducing geography and the states Christmas week is almost upon us! We've been busy experimenting with force here at school. We've built bridges with lots of failures and fixes. We attempted to unlock doors with magnets. We've also seen watermelons explode with the power of rubberbands! We'll be taking a break from science and starting a writing project when the new year starts in January.
Math included some new concepts this week. We're working on perimeter and area of rectangular shapes. Next week we are going to do some review crafts and activities in math instead of new learning. That means there will be no math homework. Yippy! Our Christmas party is less than a week away. Please send your student in with a wrapped mug and pair of cozy socks. We are going to exchange with each other and then cozy up to watch a movie together. Students may bring in stuffies, pillows, and blankets. However, they must be able to carry them home as they deep clean the classroom over Christmas break. Upcoming Dates: 🎅 Thursday, December 23rd - Early release at noon, movie/pj/stuffie day 📘 Monday, January 3rd - First day back to school A Look Ahead: ☃️ In math, we'll make multiplication snowmen! 🖌️ In reading, we're making top secret gifts 🌎 In social studies, we're talking about different holidays celebrated around the world The introduction of Google Slides went well! Students really took on the challenge. The skills and journey this project has taken them is something to be proud of. They started by researching using an ebook. From there, they synthesized the facts they learned to write it into their own words on their note page. Next, they learned a new form of publication. Some students created a handmade book using their neatest handwriting. Others took on Google Slides to show their information digitally. They had to break their facts down into the most important information in a bulleted list. Many students took it upon themselves to spice up their project with lots of pictures and transitions. They have so much to be proud of! Our last step is presenting their hard work to their peers this week.
The coming weeks will be a little shorter than normal. The week of Thanksgiving is only two and a half days. Wednesday will be an early dismissal day, ending at 12 noon. The following week there will be no school on Friday. This is done because Goffstown does parent-teacher conferences on that day. New Boston does conferences a little differently. We allow parents to schedule times over a week chosen by the teacher instead of just on one day. If you ever have any concerns, please reach out and we can schedule a conference during any part of the year. However, I do the formal sign ups for conferences in mid to late-January. This is so we can compare where they came into third grade (September scores) and where they are half way through the year. I use AIMsWeb, IXL, and classroom observations to lead the conversation. If I had any concerns that required a different learning plan, I would have already reached out to add supports for your child. I truly look at my families as a team, so I am always an email away if you are noticing frustrations at home. If your child is still working on certain skills, that is something you will see in their report cards coming out in December. Every child has a focus area and third grade introduces a lot of new skills. I don't expect perfection after the first exposure to things like multiplication, subtraction with borrowing, or word problems with division. These are year-long skills that we build and support as a class. Up Coming Events: 🦃 Wednesday, November 24th - dismissal at noon 🥧 Thursday and Friday, November 25th and 26th - No School 🎁 Friday, December 3rd - No School, Goffstown Conferences (3rd Grade Conferences in January) A Look Ahead: 🗣️ - Monday and Tuesday we are presenting our projects 👀 - Wednesday we are having visitors come and check out our projects ➖ In math, we are finishing up our last two lessons of the Unit, that means only homework on Monday and Tuesday
Now that we've gone on our field trip, it is time to buckle down and finish our project. The students have taken on a lot. This is their first true research project and we're reaching the final stretch. Most students have finish, or almost finished, their note taking. That is the hardest part! This week we will turn those notes into a Slide Show or a written project. Each student will have a choice or technology or traditional for their presentation.
A few parents have reached out to ask what they can do to support their student. Helping your student spell check, format, and practice presenting is the most helpful! I do my best, but there are twenty-two students so I am unable to spell-check every slide. Please don't rewrite your students project. This is their first research project, and students learn best by doing. With that being said, writing and reading isn't the only way a student can learn! Optional "crank it up" projects can earn "bonus" points back. The only requirement is they are on the topic of their specific tribe. They can be a diorama, a poster, a game, a song or poem, or maybe a traditional food. If your family chose to partake in the optional "crank it up" project, you can start sending those projects in any time after Wednesday. Presentations will be the week before Thanksgiving on Monday or Tuesday. Students who need extra time will be allowed to present later in the week - everyone works at a different pace. Then, on Wednesday second grade and third grade classes will be stopping by to see their projects. They are working so hard! I'm so proud of them! Up Coming Dates: 🖥️ Monday, November 22 - Crank it Up Projects are Due, presentations start 🦃 Wednesday, November 24 - Early dismissal, Thanksgiving Break! A Look Ahead: 📊 In math, we'll finish up data with some pictographs and start talking about multiplication strategies 🦅 In reading, we'll be talking about how animals survive - especially when they are endangered ✏️ In social studies, we'll be starting the last part of our project: creating the slides or book What a fun, busy week the Silly Sea Turtles have had! We wrapped up our second unit in math and are cruising through our multiplication facts. The next unit we will be working on will have lots of different strategies for adding and subtracting multidigit numbers. The only ones I focus on with the students are traditional and something called partial sums. Partial sums is more of a mental math strategy and the traditional algorithm is the strategy they'll need as they move up the grades here at NBCS. So although you may see names of lots of different strategies, I assure you we are going to keep it simple and stick with those two strategies!
We also finished up our science unit. The remained of their activities will be sent home over the next week. We will also be starting our Native American Unit next week. Each student will research a real tribe using ebooks from our school library. This is an opportunity to learn about an important group of Americans - their history and traditions as well as where they are today. We use this as our first deep dive into how to research a topic by looking at their traditional clothes, food, and daily life. We will also talk about how these historical traditions are important to Native Americans, but that they are modern Americans as well and how we can be respectful as we research their past. There will be an optional home project with this research unit - more information will be sent home next week! Lastly, we had our class reward and the Halloween parade! (I will post pictures tomorrow, I have to get them off the camera). Lots of popcorn was munched, cupcakes were gobbled, and juice was sipped. We were even lucky enough to have the Spider Obstacle course on Friday! From Elsa to Spiderman to Zombie Brides to Volcanos - it was a great day filled with so many smiles and spontaneous dance moves. Thank you to all the families who sent in treats! Upcoming Events: 📷 November 4 - Picture Retake Day ⭐ November 11 - Veterans Day 🚌 November 12 - Native American Museum A Look Ahead: ➕ In math, we'll be looking at different strategies to add on paper 🗳️ In reading, we'll be talking about voting - why it's helpful! 📚 In social studies, we'll be starting our Native American research! Michaelmas has come and gone! We earned over $6,100 as a grade between our treats, crafts, and raffles. Our class earned $1,267 just by ourselves! I am so incredibly proud of the Silly Sea Turtles! They crafted and baked their little hearts out and we can now spoil them for the next year and beyond. There are some wonderful sales people among our class - even I couldn't say no to some of the heckling and sales pitches! Thank you for all of the families members that also visited today. Next week will be back to business as normal. We're back to spelling, reading, and math homework Monday through Thursday. We will be wrapping up our Science unit soon and turning our eyes towards Halloween and our Native American Unit. Now that the stress of Michaelmas is over, we will also be starting math conferences. By the end of third grade, students are expected to by fluent in their multiplication facts. In order to reach this goal, I do math conferences. I meet with students twice a week one-on-one to orally ask them their facts. The order we go in is: 10s, 2s, 5s, 3s, 4s, 6s, 7s, 8s, and 9s. Doing this one-on-one takes off the pressure but also allows me to give them strategies in real time. In order to be considered fluent they have to get the answer without visible strategies (counting on fingers) within three seconds. I send home flash cards to practice but I also give students other ideas if they need it. Be on the lookout for more information next week. That's it from me - I'm going to go home and take a nap! Have a great weekend. Upcoming Events: 🍦 Friday, October 22nd - Ice Cream Party! A Look Ahead: ➗ In math, we are going to continue looking at strategies - this time for division 🤝 In reading, we are read stories about cooperation and how it can help you succeed 🧠 In science, we are going to try to solve some problems using what we know about animal heredity and traits |
AuthorMrs. Mitchell's Silly Sea Turtles! Archives
January 2022
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