Dear Third Graders,
My name is Mrs. Wilcox and I am very excited to be your child’s third grade teacher this year. I hope that you are having an amazing summer and are resting, relaxing, and most importantly reading!!! I can’t wait to hear about your summer adventures and wonderful books you’ve read and enjoyed.
The third grade teachers have an exciting year planned for all of you. We will be working on many activities, projects and learning new concepts this year. Third grade is a year of many firsts. It’s our introduction to multiplication and division with multi-step story problems, learning various technology uses, exploring new genres, writing in cursive and of course learning to be more independent.
We will be focused on building a community of learners. As a community, we will share all of our school supplies, practice communicating clearly, problem solve together, learn to disagree respectfully, and have fun making new friends! Our number one job, at school, will be LEARNING and to succeed we need everyone doing their part. Preparing students for life’s next step means giving all students opportunities to learn how to have empathy for others, be flexible, resilient, persistent and optimistic! This is going to be an amazing year!
The following items are only recommendations/suggestions for school supplies:
(Remember ALL items, except backpacks, will be shared with the whole class. If you have special notebooks, pencils, erasers, supply box, etc...I ask that you keep them at home for working on homework and special projects).
Our first official day of school is Monday August 26, 2019. The school day is from 8:14 - 3:16 pm. Be sure that your child packs a healthy snack, knows what they are doing for lunch and how they are getting home. The transportation office can be reached at 616.361.3480. For further information regarding the 2019-2020 school year, visit the North Oakview website: http://nvps.net/north-oakview.
*Best way to get in touch with me: email ([email protected])
*Throughout the year, if there is a change of plan for your child or a change in their daily
transportation call the office directly at 616.361.3450
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My name is Mrs. Wilcox and I am very excited to be your child’s third grade teacher this year. I hope that you are having an amazing summer and are resting, relaxing, and most importantly reading!!! I can’t wait to hear about your summer adventures and wonderful books you’ve read and enjoyed.
The third grade teachers have an exciting year planned for all of you. We will be working on many activities, projects and learning new concepts this year. Third grade is a year of many firsts. It’s our introduction to multiplication and division with multi-step story problems, learning various technology uses, exploring new genres, writing in cursive and of course learning to be more independent.
We will be focused on building a community of learners. As a community, we will share all of our school supplies, practice communicating clearly, problem solve together, learn to disagree respectfully, and have fun making new friends! Our number one job, at school, will be LEARNING and to succeed we need everyone doing their part. Preparing students for life’s next step means giving all students opportunities to learn how to have empathy for others, be flexible, resilient, persistent and optimistic! This is going to be an amazing year!
The following items are only recommendations/suggestions for school supplies:
(Remember ALL items, except backpacks, will be shared with the whole class. If you have special notebooks, pencils, erasers, supply box, etc...I ask that you keep them at home for working on homework and special projects).
- Backpack (labeled with your first & last name)
- 2 pack of #2 pencils with erasers
- Water bottle (labeled with student’s name)
- 1 packet of wide ruled lined loose leaf notebook paper
- 2 packs of post it notes
- 1 = 24 pk of crayons
- 6 glue sticks (Elmers are the best)
- 1 spiral bound notebook - wide ruled
- 1 box of band aids
- 2 packs of Clorox Bleach Free wipes
Our first official day of school is Monday August 26, 2019. The school day is from 8:14 - 3:16 pm. Be sure that your child packs a healthy snack, knows what they are doing for lunch and how they are getting home. The transportation office can be reached at 616.361.3480. For further information regarding the 2019-2020 school year, visit the North Oakview website: http://nvps.net/north-oakview.
*Best way to get in touch with me: email ([email protected])
*Throughout the year, if there is a change of plan for your child or a change in their daily
transportation call the office directly at 616.361.3450
*********************************************************************************************************************************************
Week of May 28, 2019
Dear Families,
We had a very busy week wrapping up assignments, assessments, and having fun with our final countdown activities. They say a picture is worth a thousand words….so take a look below.
Reminders for next week:
Dear Families,
We had a very busy week wrapping up assignments, assessments, and having fun with our final countdown activities. They say a picture is worth a thousand words….so take a look below.
Reminders for next week:
- Monday June 3 - PJ Day/Read In (we are still going outside - dress accordingly) students may bring in a small flashlight or headlamp - NO pillows or stuffed animals
- Thursday June 6 - Beach Day (bring in a beach towel, sunglasses, books) *half day of school for students dismissal is at 11:30 am
- Friday June 7 - half day & last day of school for students *dismissal is at 11:30 am (report cards will be in Friday folders)
Week of May 13, 2019:
Dear Families,
Today we were able to plant vegetables in the North Oakview Gardens! We had the expert help of Aunt Jo and Mr. Will. They were able to come to school and help us with the planting. We are excited to see how the peppers, potatoes, basil, radishes, and lettuce do!
The next few weeks are full of changes to our daily schedules with end of year extras. For example:
Dear Families,
Today we were able to plant vegetables in the North Oakview Gardens! We had the expert help of Aunt Jo and Mr. Will. They were able to come to school and help us with the planting. We are excited to see how the peppers, potatoes, basil, radishes, and lettuce do!
The next few weeks are full of changes to our daily schedules with end of year extras. For example:
- ½ day of school on Friday May 24 & all library books are due
- No school on Monday May 27
- PTC Field day on Friday May 31
- Monday June 3 rain date for Field Day - if needed
- Summer Reading Assembly on Tuesday June 4
- ½ day of school for students on Thursday June 6
- ½ day of school for students on Friday June 7 - last day of school
- Bubble gum day - Mrs. Wilcox provides a special bubble gum
- PJ day
- Taco Bell for lunch (as a class in our room)
- Pizza party for lunch (in our room)
- Reading outside & under the trees
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Week of May 6, 2019:
This was our last week of M-STEP testing. If your child missed a section, the makeup tests will be completed next week if they haven’t already done so. If your third grader is tired - we understand why. Take time this weekend to go outside and enjoy the weather and spend time together.
Math Workshop: Unit 7 is all about BIG numbers. This week we explored several addition and subtraction strategies (number line, traditional algorithm, and break it apart). It provided opportunities for students to practice - disagreeing respectfully - and taking time to revise their thinking after listening to each others explanations. This happened quite a few times this week and created very thoughtful conversations! We will continue this work next week.
North Oakview Gardens: We are hoping to have an opportunity to do some gardening out front in the new boxes. The goal is to do this Monday afternoon - weather permitting. The plan is to plant the radishes, potatoes, and lettuce. It would be a good idea to send in an extra shirt or have your child wear an outfit that can get a little dirty. :)
Week of May 6, 2019:
This was our last week of M-STEP testing. If your child missed a section, the makeup tests will be completed next week if they haven’t already done so. If your third grader is tired - we understand why. Take time this weekend to go outside and enjoy the weather and spend time together.
Math Workshop: Unit 7 is all about BIG numbers. This week we explored several addition and subtraction strategies (number line, traditional algorithm, and break it apart). It provided opportunities for students to practice - disagreeing respectfully - and taking time to revise their thinking after listening to each others explanations. This happened quite a few times this week and created very thoughtful conversations! We will continue this work next week.
North Oakview Gardens: We are hoping to have an opportunity to do some gardening out front in the new boxes. The goal is to do this Monday afternoon - weather permitting. The plan is to plant the radishes, potatoes, and lettuce. It would be a good idea to send in an extra shirt or have your child wear an outfit that can get a little dirty. :)
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Week of April 29, 2019:
Dear Families,
What a fantastic Friday! Today was a great way to end our busy week. Thank you to all the chaperones that came with us this morning. We successfully released the salmon into the Rogue river. A big thank you to Mr. Hendricks and his team for inviting us to participate in this experience.
Almost all third graders completed the English Language Arts M-STEP this week. Next Tuesday and Thursday, we will begin the Math portion of the M-STEP. Be sure that your terrific third grader gets a good night's sleep and eats a healthy breakfast each day. We start testing promptly at 8:30 am on Tuesday and Thursday.
Week of April 29, 2019:
Dear Families,
What a fantastic Friday! Today was a great way to end our busy week. Thank you to all the chaperones that came with us this morning. We successfully released the salmon into the Rogue river. A big thank you to Mr. Hendricks and his team for inviting us to participate in this experience.
Almost all third graders completed the English Language Arts M-STEP this week. Next Tuesday and Thursday, we will begin the Math portion of the M-STEP. Be sure that your terrific third grader gets a good night's sleep and eats a healthy breakfast each day. We start testing promptly at 8:30 am on Tuesday and Thursday.
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Week of April 22, 2019:
Here are this weeks updates:
Reader’s Workshop: We wrapped up The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane this afternoon. Students were VERY surprised by the ending of the story. Be sure to ask your rapid reader what happened in the story. In today’s Friday folder there is a copy of some of the vocabulary that we discussed in class.
Our new read aloud will start on Monday April 29. The title is The Tale of Despereaux. “In the far away kingdom of Dor... lived a brave and virtuous mouse with comically over sized ears who dreamt of becoming a knight. Banished from his home for having such lofty ambitions, Despereaux sets off on an amazing adventure with his good-hearted rat friend Roscuro, who leads him on a very noble quest to rescue an endangered princess and save an entire kingdom from darkness. The Tale of Despereaux is a magical, modern fairy tale that's destined to win the hearts of young and old alike.”
Math Workshop: Students took the Unit 6 math test on fractions today. We have a few students that will need to finish this assessment on Monday. As a culminating activity, students created artistic ice cream sundaes this afternoon! The sundaes included fractions/parts of strawberry, chocolate chip, and many other fabulous flavors. These will be on display next week in the hallway.
Unit 7 will focus on developing students’ ideas about counting and quantity, place value and the structure of the base-ten number system, the meaning of operations with whole numbers, the development of computational fluency, and generalizations about numbers and operations.
In this unit, these ideas are developed through activities that focus on understanding the operations of addition and subtraction, and adding and subtracting fluently.
French Visitors: Kathy Williams, Northview high school French teacher, invited us to participate in an amazing opportunity with the French Back to Back exchange program. On Thursday April 25, eight foreign exchange students from France, along with their teacher and Mrs. Williams, came to our third grade classroom here at North Oakview. The exchange students created activities that helped our third graders learn numbers, colors, and animals in French. They even read a story titled “The Wolf Who Wanted to Change His Color," in French, to us! This was a favorite for several students!
Our visitors were able to stay and join us for library. Mrs. Davies, our teacher librarian, had prepared a few books to help share our love of reading with “nouveaux amis” (new friends). Our students then checked out books and asked some of the French exchange students to read a few of the books in French to them.
We are very thankful to have had this opportunity to make new friends, learn what it is like to speak a different language, and how important learning about the world around us is to lifelong learning!
Reminders:
Week of April 22, 2019:
Here are this weeks updates:
Reader’s Workshop: We wrapped up The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane this afternoon. Students were VERY surprised by the ending of the story. Be sure to ask your rapid reader what happened in the story. In today’s Friday folder there is a copy of some of the vocabulary that we discussed in class.
Our new read aloud will start on Monday April 29. The title is The Tale of Despereaux. “In the far away kingdom of Dor... lived a brave and virtuous mouse with comically over sized ears who dreamt of becoming a knight. Banished from his home for having such lofty ambitions, Despereaux sets off on an amazing adventure with his good-hearted rat friend Roscuro, who leads him on a very noble quest to rescue an endangered princess and save an entire kingdom from darkness. The Tale of Despereaux is a magical, modern fairy tale that's destined to win the hearts of young and old alike.”
Math Workshop: Students took the Unit 6 math test on fractions today. We have a few students that will need to finish this assessment on Monday. As a culminating activity, students created artistic ice cream sundaes this afternoon! The sundaes included fractions/parts of strawberry, chocolate chip, and many other fabulous flavors. These will be on display next week in the hallway.
Unit 7 will focus on developing students’ ideas about counting and quantity, place value and the structure of the base-ten number system, the meaning of operations with whole numbers, the development of computational fluency, and generalizations about numbers and operations.
In this unit, these ideas are developed through activities that focus on understanding the operations of addition and subtraction, and adding and subtracting fluently.
French Visitors: Kathy Williams, Northview high school French teacher, invited us to participate in an amazing opportunity with the French Back to Back exchange program. On Thursday April 25, eight foreign exchange students from France, along with their teacher and Mrs. Williams, came to our third grade classroom here at North Oakview. The exchange students created activities that helped our third graders learn numbers, colors, and animals in French. They even read a story titled “The Wolf Who Wanted to Change His Color," in French, to us! This was a favorite for several students!
Our visitors were able to stay and join us for library. Mrs. Davies, our teacher librarian, had prepared a few books to help share our love of reading with “nouveaux amis” (new friends). Our students then checked out books and asked some of the French exchange students to read a few of the books in French to them.
We are very thankful to have had this opportunity to make new friends, learn what it is like to speak a different language, and how important learning about the world around us is to lifelong learning!
Reminders:
- The weather is changing again this weekend. Please check the forecast for Monday and help your child stay prepared for Michigan’s crazy weather.
- Friday May 3 is a BUSY day for us. We have the salmon release field trip in the morning. We leave at 8:30 am. Students will be back to school to have lunch. Then in the afternoon we have visitors from the John Ball Zoo coming in to talk about animal adaptations.
- M-STEP testing starts this week. We will test on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Be sure to get a good nights sleep and a healthy breakfast each day.
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Week of April 8, 2019:
Dear Families,
We had a wonderful week full of learning!
Reader’s Workshop: Our new classroom read aloud text is titled: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. This is the story of Edward Tulane, a china rabbit who becomes lost from the little girl who loves him. His travels span the course of more than 30 years as he tries to find love and happiness again, even if it means having a life without his former owner. As Edward goes from place to place he also changes emotionally. He meets new people that help him along his path, and he not only finds the true meaning of love, but he also finds his way home. This is a classic childrens' tale of hope, loss, change, but most importantly love.
We are going to focus on vocabulary and on how the main character changes throughout a story. In each chapter, we will investigate the meaning of new words and add these to our growing list of vocabulary. We will also look at how Edward changes throughout the story and why.
Math Workshop: Unit 6 is all about FRACTIONS. This unit develops students’ ideas about understanding, representing, and computing with fractions. This unit also focuses on understanding the meaning of fractions as numbers and as equal parts of a whole; reasoning about equivalent fractions; comparing fractions; and using notation to model fractions and fraction relationships. Ask your marvelous mathematician about our chocolate fractions this week! They were delicious!
In third grade students work with halves, fourths, eighths, thirds, and sixths. For example, one third of the whole is one of three equal parts; two thirds of that whole is two of the three equal parts; three thirds of that whole is three of the three equal parts, or one whole.
Writer’s Workshop: We had our first big writing celebration today. Each writer had a chance to share their non fiction/informational piece on a Michigan creature with their Kindergarten book buddy. What a treat to help teach our kinder friends about these amazing animals.
Technology: Throughout the month of April, students will be working on activities such as creating and reading graphs/charts, working with fractions on a number line, finding area & perimeter, and reading & responding to narrative stories. One of our big focuses this year has been on reading the screen carefully. It's very important that students take time to read the screen looking for scroll bars, using the tools provided - when applicable and taking time to read all directions carefully. These skills will be extremely important when taking online assessments like M-STEP.
North Oakview Gardens: The third grade classes will be helping to get our first ever gardens, at North Oakview Elementary, off to a great start. More information will come out soon. We have already begun researching which plants grow best in Michigan and have taken a survey to see what kind of plants and vegetable our third graders would like to grow. We are excited to see where this project goes and how many plants we can successfully grow! Our goals are to grow, harvest and taste these delicious crops. The boxes/beds have been built, and we are eagerly awaiting their installation.
Week of April 8, 2019:
Dear Families,
We had a wonderful week full of learning!
Reader’s Workshop: Our new classroom read aloud text is titled: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. This is the story of Edward Tulane, a china rabbit who becomes lost from the little girl who loves him. His travels span the course of more than 30 years as he tries to find love and happiness again, even if it means having a life without his former owner. As Edward goes from place to place he also changes emotionally. He meets new people that help him along his path, and he not only finds the true meaning of love, but he also finds his way home. This is a classic childrens' tale of hope, loss, change, but most importantly love.
We are going to focus on vocabulary and on how the main character changes throughout a story. In each chapter, we will investigate the meaning of new words and add these to our growing list of vocabulary. We will also look at how Edward changes throughout the story and why.
Math Workshop: Unit 6 is all about FRACTIONS. This unit develops students’ ideas about understanding, representing, and computing with fractions. This unit also focuses on understanding the meaning of fractions as numbers and as equal parts of a whole; reasoning about equivalent fractions; comparing fractions; and using notation to model fractions and fraction relationships. Ask your marvelous mathematician about our chocolate fractions this week! They were delicious!
In third grade students work with halves, fourths, eighths, thirds, and sixths. For example, one third of the whole is one of three equal parts; two thirds of that whole is two of the three equal parts; three thirds of that whole is three of the three equal parts, or one whole.
Writer’s Workshop: We had our first big writing celebration today. Each writer had a chance to share their non fiction/informational piece on a Michigan creature with their Kindergarten book buddy. What a treat to help teach our kinder friends about these amazing animals.
Technology: Throughout the month of April, students will be working on activities such as creating and reading graphs/charts, working with fractions on a number line, finding area & perimeter, and reading & responding to narrative stories. One of our big focuses this year has been on reading the screen carefully. It's very important that students take time to read the screen looking for scroll bars, using the tools provided - when applicable and taking time to read all directions carefully. These skills will be extremely important when taking online assessments like M-STEP.
North Oakview Gardens: The third grade classes will be helping to get our first ever gardens, at North Oakview Elementary, off to a great start. More information will come out soon. We have already begun researching which plants grow best in Michigan and have taken a survey to see what kind of plants and vegetable our third graders would like to grow. We are excited to see where this project goes and how many plants we can successfully grow! Our goals are to grow, harvest and taste these delicious crops. The boxes/beds have been built, and we are eagerly awaiting their installation.
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Week of March 25, 2019:
Week of March 25, 2019:
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Friday March 22, 2019:
Dear Families,
With a busy week of so many students out sick and me being out of the classroom at two professional development events this week we have been reviewing a lot of material to help students catch up. I will send a longer weekly update next week. I hope to see many of you tonight at Family Fun Night. Be sure to get outside and enjoy the sunshine today.
Friday March 22, 2019:
Dear Families,
With a busy week of so many students out sick and me being out of the classroom at two professional development events this week we have been reviewing a lot of material to help students catch up. I will send a longer weekly update next week. I hope to see many of you tonight at Family Fun Night. Be sure to get outside and enjoy the sunshine today.
Week of March 11, 2019:
Science/Social Studies Connections: This year, all third grade classes will be partnering with Mr. Hendrick’s zoology class at the high school. Next Tuesday, March 19th, our class will be eating lunch early so we can head over to the high school. On this visit we will learn about the salmon and hear about how we will help in their release into the Rogue River. The field trip to release the salmon is scheduled for Friday May 3. If you are interested in going on this trip, please be sure you have already filled out a volunteer consent form and then email me. I will do a lottery drawing for chaperones. All names need to be in before we leave for spring break.. After the drawing I will email all lottery winners with the details for that day. Our plan is to leave school around 8:30 (weather permitting) and we should be back around 10:00 ish. Students will eat lunch at school.
Reader’s Workshop:
Small reading groups worked on a variety of comprehension strategies this week. Be sure to ask your rapid reader what strategy their group focused on (boxes and bullets, survey the text, find text evidence, etc…). Our goals are to be able to name the strategy, explain how it helps readers, and start using that strategy during independent reading time.
Writer’s Workshop:
This week writers spent time determining the chapters for their second informational book (appearance, habitat, diet, enemies, etc…). During our focus lessons, we learned about and wrote topic sentences to introduce each chapter. Throughout the week we also added three or more supporting details to each chapter, in order to start creating paragraphs. For this piece, writers are to use the Internet (specific cites) and at least one book to find information about their creature. Next week writers will begin the editing and revision process.
Math Workshop:
Mathematicians have worked very hard to create several multiplication and division story problems that make sense. A strategy to get started was to begin with a fact family. For example, 7 x 6 = 42.
Multiplication story problem:
Julie wants to buy 7 packs of yogurt. Each pack of yogurt has 6 individual cups. How many yogurt cups would Julie have in all?
Division story problem:
Julie has 42 yogurt cups. She decides to share them equally with 7 of her friends. How many yogurt cups will each friend get?
We will continue to work on creating multiplication and division story problems next week.
Classroom community:
We are working daily to remember we are a part of a team. Each member of our team is expected to be respectful, responsible, ready, and safe. To wrap up this week, we focused on being KIND. Being kind means having and showing empathy for others. A kind word, a smile, or opening the door for someone else is an act of kindness. Kindness in our classroom means we respect each others talk time, we listen attentively to one another, we help a friend, and we choose to be kind. As they say, “Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.”
Science/Social Studies Connections: This year, all third grade classes will be partnering with Mr. Hendrick’s zoology class at the high school. Next Tuesday, March 19th, our class will be eating lunch early so we can head over to the high school. On this visit we will learn about the salmon and hear about how we will help in their release into the Rogue River. The field trip to release the salmon is scheduled for Friday May 3. If you are interested in going on this trip, please be sure you have already filled out a volunteer consent form and then email me. I will do a lottery drawing for chaperones. All names need to be in before we leave for spring break.. After the drawing I will email all lottery winners with the details for that day. Our plan is to leave school around 8:30 (weather permitting) and we should be back around 10:00 ish. Students will eat lunch at school.
Reader’s Workshop:
Small reading groups worked on a variety of comprehension strategies this week. Be sure to ask your rapid reader what strategy their group focused on (boxes and bullets, survey the text, find text evidence, etc…). Our goals are to be able to name the strategy, explain how it helps readers, and start using that strategy during independent reading time.
Writer’s Workshop:
This week writers spent time determining the chapters for their second informational book (appearance, habitat, diet, enemies, etc…). During our focus lessons, we learned about and wrote topic sentences to introduce each chapter. Throughout the week we also added three or more supporting details to each chapter, in order to start creating paragraphs. For this piece, writers are to use the Internet (specific cites) and at least one book to find information about their creature. Next week writers will begin the editing and revision process.
Math Workshop:
Mathematicians have worked very hard to create several multiplication and division story problems that make sense. A strategy to get started was to begin with a fact family. For example, 7 x 6 = 42.
Multiplication story problem:
Julie wants to buy 7 packs of yogurt. Each pack of yogurt has 6 individual cups. How many yogurt cups would Julie have in all?
Division story problem:
Julie has 42 yogurt cups. She decides to share them equally with 7 of her friends. How many yogurt cups will each friend get?
We will continue to work on creating multiplication and division story problems next week.
Classroom community:
We are working daily to remember we are a part of a team. Each member of our team is expected to be respectful, responsible, ready, and safe. To wrap up this week, we focused on being KIND. Being kind means having and showing empathy for others. A kind word, a smile, or opening the door for someone else is an act of kindness. Kindness in our classroom means we respect each others talk time, we listen attentively to one another, we help a friend, and we choose to be kind. As they say, “Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.”
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Week of March 4, 2019:
Thank you to all the families that came to parent-teacher conferences. If you were unable to make it to conferences we can set up a phone conference to discuss your child's progress. Just email me and we will find a day and time that works for everyone's schedule. Here are some pictures from our week:
Week of March 4, 2019:
Thank you to all the families that came to parent-teacher conferences. If you were unable to make it to conferences we can set up a phone conference to discuss your child's progress. Just email me and we will find a day and time that works for everyone's schedule. Here are some pictures from our week:
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Week of February 25, 2019:
Reader’s Workshop - We are wrapping up our Swindle read aloud. Next week, we will begin Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. When Kyle learns that the world's most famous game maker, Luigi Lemoncello, has designed the town's new library and is having an invitation-only lock-in on opening night, he's determined to be there! But the tricky part isn't getting into the library—it's getting out. Because when morning comes, the doors stay locked. Kyle and the other kids must solve every clue and figure out every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route!
February reading logs were due today. Please be sure to turn them in as soon as possible if you have not done so already. March is national READING MONTH! I would love to have a few family members come in and share a book with our class as a “Mystery Reader.” We are digging into informational books right now in reading and writing. If you have a favorite nonfiction book you’d like to share with us that would be great, or you can borrow one from our classroom. If that is something you are interested in doing just email me to set up a day and time.
To help keep reading exciting try having a “Read In” at home. March is often a month that brings cold, wet, and muddy days that make outside play hard. Pick a rainy day to have a read-in. Leave on your pajamas, build a blanket fort in the living room and snuggle up with a good book. You could go a step further and have a book-themed day, with “Green Eggs and Ham” for breakfast and a viewing of a movie like “Charlotte’s Web” that is based off a book to end the day.
On March 14, 2019 from 5:45 - 7:30 pm (in our very own library) we have Family LIteracy Night! See the flyer in your child’s Friday folder. RSVPs are due by March 8. We hope to see you there!!!
Writing Workshop - We wrapped up our first informational piece, with each student choosing a topic in which they are experts.. Now we are learning about how to research a topic of interest. Our focus will be on Michigan animals. Students have looked in our classroom library and during library class to find books about their creature. Students that didn’t find a book, no worries, I’m headed to the KDL library this weekend. I’ll have plenty of books for you on Monday.
Math Workshop - I would strongly encourage all students to keep working on the basic math facts. Having a quick recall of the basic multiplication and division facts helps when it comes to story problems and bigger multiplication problems.
Winter Gear - Please be sure to double check that each morning your child has all the necessary winter gear to play outside at recess. There is still a lot of snow and ice on the playground. Each day the temperatures are still below 40. Having the right gear helps students stay warm and helps keep their school clothes dry.
Parent/teacher Conferences - Tuesday and Thursday of next week are parent/teacher conferences. If you are unable to attend your previously scheduled conference just email or call to reschedule. I have a few slots open on Thursday night, or we can do a phone conference if that works best.
Week of February 25, 2019:
Reader’s Workshop - We are wrapping up our Swindle read aloud. Next week, we will begin Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. When Kyle learns that the world's most famous game maker, Luigi Lemoncello, has designed the town's new library and is having an invitation-only lock-in on opening night, he's determined to be there! But the tricky part isn't getting into the library—it's getting out. Because when morning comes, the doors stay locked. Kyle and the other kids must solve every clue and figure out every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route!
February reading logs were due today. Please be sure to turn them in as soon as possible if you have not done so already. March is national READING MONTH! I would love to have a few family members come in and share a book with our class as a “Mystery Reader.” We are digging into informational books right now in reading and writing. If you have a favorite nonfiction book you’d like to share with us that would be great, or you can borrow one from our classroom. If that is something you are interested in doing just email me to set up a day and time.
To help keep reading exciting try having a “Read In” at home. March is often a month that brings cold, wet, and muddy days that make outside play hard. Pick a rainy day to have a read-in. Leave on your pajamas, build a blanket fort in the living room and snuggle up with a good book. You could go a step further and have a book-themed day, with “Green Eggs and Ham” for breakfast and a viewing of a movie like “Charlotte’s Web” that is based off a book to end the day.
On March 14, 2019 from 5:45 - 7:30 pm (in our very own library) we have Family LIteracy Night! See the flyer in your child’s Friday folder. RSVPs are due by March 8. We hope to see you there!!!
Writing Workshop - We wrapped up our first informational piece, with each student choosing a topic in which they are experts.. Now we are learning about how to research a topic of interest. Our focus will be on Michigan animals. Students have looked in our classroom library and during library class to find books about their creature. Students that didn’t find a book, no worries, I’m headed to the KDL library this weekend. I’ll have plenty of books for you on Monday.
Math Workshop - I would strongly encourage all students to keep working on the basic math facts. Having a quick recall of the basic multiplication and division facts helps when it comes to story problems and bigger multiplication problems.
Winter Gear - Please be sure to double check that each morning your child has all the necessary winter gear to play outside at recess. There is still a lot of snow and ice on the playground. Each day the temperatures are still below 40. Having the right gear helps students stay warm and helps keep their school clothes dry.
Parent/teacher Conferences - Tuesday and Thursday of next week are parent/teacher conferences. If you are unable to attend your previously scheduled conference just email or call to reschedule. I have a few slots open on Thursday night, or we can do a phone conference if that works best.
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Friday February 22, 2019:
This week in Reader’s Workshop, we began learning about biographies. A biography is a true story about someone's life. Biographies tell the story of famous people or ordinary people who have done exciting things. They usually center on one person's life and how they have contributed to the world.
Over the last few weeks, students have been working on reading a section of their current read to self book to post to their Seesaw account. If you haven’t already please take a listen. After listening to your child you can leave them a positive comment! This is by far their favorite part - seeing what their family members have said about their work. If you have not already signed up the directions, for signing up, are in your child’s Friday folder. This is an optional program and a great way to see & hear what your rapid reader is doing at school.
In Math Workshop, we completed the Unit 4 math test online. Now we are digging into Unit 5 which focuses on patterns, arrays, and multiples of 10. In this unit students will develop ideas about counting, quantities, place value, the structure of the base-10 number system, the meaning of operations with whole numbers, the development of fact fluency, and more. This unit is designed to help students deepen their understanding of multiplication, division, and the relationship between the them.
In last week’s Friday folder, I sent home two math fact quizzes. I attached a half sheet of paper that asked for a parent/guardian's signature. To help your marvelous mathematician it’s a good idea to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication and division at home often (3 - 5 times a week throughout the whole school year). All students in our classroom have access to Xtramath. This is a great way to increase fact fluency. Just a few minutes every other day will help your child retain the facts and know them quickly.
In Writer’s Workshop, we are publishing our informational books. Ask your wonderful writer about their informative piece. We started this process by brainstorming topics we are experts on, then students wrote a hook to get the audience’s attention. Writer’s had a choice between using a fact or a question as a way to “hook” their audience. Then students began doing some research. In our focus lessons, we discussed words like plagiarism and paraphrasing. We are now beginning to understand the difference between those words. We’ve also discovered that when we use other authors words (word for word) we need to quote them and give them credit for their hard work.
STEM is my favorite way to wrap up the week! Students are learning about science, technology, applying engineering and math skills but they are also learning the value of TEAMWORK & COMPROMISE. Today’s STEM activity was titled “House of Cards.” Each student was given a complete deck of cards, a pair of scissors, and as much tape as they saw fit to build the tallest structure they could! Wait until you see the pictures….
*If your child want to work on this again at home the challenge rules are:
Friday February 22, 2019:
This week in Reader’s Workshop, we began learning about biographies. A biography is a true story about someone's life. Biographies tell the story of famous people or ordinary people who have done exciting things. They usually center on one person's life and how they have contributed to the world.
Over the last few weeks, students have been working on reading a section of their current read to self book to post to their Seesaw account. If you haven’t already please take a listen. After listening to your child you can leave them a positive comment! This is by far their favorite part - seeing what their family members have said about their work. If you have not already signed up the directions, for signing up, are in your child’s Friday folder. This is an optional program and a great way to see & hear what your rapid reader is doing at school.
In Math Workshop, we completed the Unit 4 math test online. Now we are digging into Unit 5 which focuses on patterns, arrays, and multiples of 10. In this unit students will develop ideas about counting, quantities, place value, the structure of the base-10 number system, the meaning of operations with whole numbers, the development of fact fluency, and more. This unit is designed to help students deepen their understanding of multiplication, division, and the relationship between the them.
In last week’s Friday folder, I sent home two math fact quizzes. I attached a half sheet of paper that asked for a parent/guardian's signature. To help your marvelous mathematician it’s a good idea to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication and division at home often (3 - 5 times a week throughout the whole school year). All students in our classroom have access to Xtramath. This is a great way to increase fact fluency. Just a few minutes every other day will help your child retain the facts and know them quickly.
In Writer’s Workshop, we are publishing our informational books. Ask your wonderful writer about their informative piece. We started this process by brainstorming topics we are experts on, then students wrote a hook to get the audience’s attention. Writer’s had a choice between using a fact or a question as a way to “hook” their audience. Then students began doing some research. In our focus lessons, we discussed words like plagiarism and paraphrasing. We are now beginning to understand the difference between those words. We’ve also discovered that when we use other authors words (word for word) we need to quote them and give them credit for their hard work.
STEM is my favorite way to wrap up the week! Students are learning about science, technology, applying engineering and math skills but they are also learning the value of TEAMWORK & COMPROMISE. Today’s STEM activity was titled “House of Cards.” Each student was given a complete deck of cards, a pair of scissors, and as much tape as they saw fit to build the tallest structure they could! Wait until you see the pictures….
*If your child want to work on this again at home the challenge rules are:
- Only one deck of cards (52 total)
- Goal is to build the tallest free standing house you can
- *We allowed tape after several attempts :)
Friday February 15, 2019:
Dear Families,
Your child's report card is in today's Friday folder. Be sure to review the report card and let me know if you have any questions. Your children have worked hard and have grown so much since the beginning of the year. I'm very proud of each and every one of them. :)
A big thank you to all the families that helped with our Valentine's Day party. It was by far a favorite! The glitter jars and STEM rockets were the talk of today.
Dear Families,
Your child's report card is in today's Friday folder. Be sure to review the report card and let me know if you have any questions. Your children have worked hard and have grown so much since the beginning of the year. I'm very proud of each and every one of them. :)
A big thank you to all the families that helped with our Valentine's Day party. It was by far a favorite! The glitter jars and STEM rockets were the talk of today.
Tuesday February 12, 2019:
Valentine’s Party
*Reminder, if you bring in Valentine’s to pass out be sure to have one for each student in our class. See class list below.
Our classroom party is scheduled for Thursday Feb. 14, 2019 from 2:15 - 3:00 pm.
Here are the three activities we will be working on at the party:
Food
Class List for 2018 - 2019
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Valentine’s Party
*Reminder, if you bring in Valentine’s to pass out be sure to have one for each student in our class. See class list below.
Our classroom party is scheduled for Thursday Feb. 14, 2019 from 2:15 - 3:00 pm.
Here are the three activities we will be working on at the party:
- Heart “Rocket” Candy STEM Structure
- Glitter Jars
- Candy Conversation Heart Guessing Game
Food
- Veggie tray
- Cheese & cracker tray
- Sweet treat
- 24 mini juice or water bottles
Class List for 2018 - 2019
- Shelby
- Makenzie
- Grace
- Laleeya
- Violet
- Raelyn
- Max
- Isabella
- Braelynne
- Cairon
- Mason
- Joziah
- Keagan
- Evan
- Austin
- Madison
- Ava
- Kameron
- Aiden
- Adriana
- Elise
- Micah
- Roman
- James
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Friday January 25, 2019:
Today we had a great (and messy) time creating our Disguised Valentine's Boxes. Students worked hard to demonstrate their creativity and engineering skills.
We are digging into informational writing and have just finished our draft of the table of contents and the introduction. Students investigated what other informational writers have done for example using an interesting fact or question to hook the audience. Then they were able to try out that strategy in their book. Next week student will do some research to support their topics. Ask your writer what their book is about and how they are doing.
Please be sure to watch the weather next week - it's going to get colder!!!! It's very important that students are dressed for the weather. Enjoy your weekend and stay warm! :)
Today we had a great (and messy) time creating our Disguised Valentine's Boxes. Students worked hard to demonstrate their creativity and engineering skills.
We are digging into informational writing and have just finished our draft of the table of contents and the introduction. Students investigated what other informational writers have done for example using an interesting fact or question to hook the audience. Then they were able to try out that strategy in their book. Next week student will do some research to support their topics. Ask your writer what their book is about and how they are doing.
Please be sure to watch the weather next week - it's going to get colder!!!! It's very important that students are dressed for the weather. Enjoy your weekend and stay warm! :)
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Monday January 21, 2019
Dear Families,
Just a reminder that we are outside twice a day. It is very important that your child is dressed for the weather. For the next few months, please check your child’s backpack before they leave for school to make sure they have all their winter gear:
It is highly encouraged that students wear layers to help them stay warm!
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Monday January 21, 2019
Dear Families,
Just a reminder that we are outside twice a day. It is very important that your child is dressed for the weather. For the next few months, please check your child’s backpack before they leave for school to make sure they have all their winter gear:
- Winter jacket
- Winter boots
- Hat
- Gloves & Snow pants
It is highly encouraged that students wear layers to help them stay warm!
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Friday January 18, 2019:
What a short week! I hope that everyone had safe travels on Tuesday and Wednesday if you had to go out.
Next week, we will begin collecting materials for our next STEM project. Today I asked students to start looking at home for empty cereal boxes, small to medium sized Amazon cardboard boxes, paper towel rolls, etc...Our next STEM project is titled “Disguised Valentine’s Box.” If each student could bring in one or two of these items by Thursday, January 24 that would be great. Students will use these materials to create a disguised Valentine’s Day box that will be used at our upcoming Valentine’s Party. We will work on these in class on Friday, January 25. If students do not finish during the allotted time they can bring them home to finish up over the weekend.
If your child is planning to make Valentine cards for the classroom party, I do ask that they make one for each student in our class. Here is a class list to help students work on their Valentine’s:
Shelby, Makenzie, Grace, Laleeya, Violet, Raelyn, Max, Isabell, Braelynne, Cairon, Mason, Joziah, Keagan, Evan, Austin, Madison, Ava, Kameron, Aiden, Adriana, Elise, Micah, Roman and James.
A Sign Up Genius page will soon be available to donate food and other items for the party.
Have a wonderful weekend and keep working on your monthly at home reading log!
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What a short week! I hope that everyone had safe travels on Tuesday and Wednesday if you had to go out.
Next week, we will begin collecting materials for our next STEM project. Today I asked students to start looking at home for empty cereal boxes, small to medium sized Amazon cardboard boxes, paper towel rolls, etc...Our next STEM project is titled “Disguised Valentine’s Box.” If each student could bring in one or two of these items by Thursday, January 24 that would be great. Students will use these materials to create a disguised Valentine’s Day box that will be used at our upcoming Valentine’s Party. We will work on these in class on Friday, January 25. If students do not finish during the allotted time they can bring them home to finish up over the weekend.
If your child is planning to make Valentine cards for the classroom party, I do ask that they make one for each student in our class. Here is a class list to help students work on their Valentine’s:
Shelby, Makenzie, Grace, Laleeya, Violet, Raelyn, Max, Isabell, Braelynne, Cairon, Mason, Joziah, Keagan, Evan, Austin, Madison, Ava, Kameron, Aiden, Adriana, Elise, Micah, Roman and James.
A Sign Up Genius page will soon be available to donate food and other items for the party.
Have a wonderful weekend and keep working on your monthly at home reading log!
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Friday December 14, 2018:
You may have heard your child mention the new app SEESAW we are using in class. We use this platform as a way to share and communicate with families! Your child will post to Seesaw to share their learning. Seesaw is private; you'll only see posts created by your child.
Please Sign Up Now
After you sign up, download the free Seesaw Family app and sign in. You can also access Seesaw from a computer at https://app.seesaw.me. Thank you for supporting your child's learning!
P.S. If you used Seesaw last year or have more than one child using Seesaw, follow the link above, then click the 'Sign in' tab at the top of the screen. You do not need to create a new account.
We have been working extremely hard on reading strategy groups. We have reviewed and practiced our expectations at group. These expectations for reading and behavior are to help each student get the most out of our instructional time together. Ask your rapid reader about what is expected during small group time and what story/text their group read this week.
In Reader’s Workshop, we are reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and focusing on character traits, character motivation, and using text evidence to back up our ideas. The class is really engaged with this story and can’t wait for the next chapter! I love how excited our readers are to hear this chapter book! We would love to have more mystery readers come in and share holiday stories with our class. If you are interested and able to come in please email me to set up a day & time. :)
Next Wednesday December 19, we will be taking the Unit 3 Math End of Unit Assessment ONLINE. I will be sending home a review packet early next week. Students will have access to scrap paper and reading support as needed during this assessment. However, it is the first “ONLINE” test that we will be taking. I will use the online assessment, daily journal pages, and in-class activities to determine a final grade for this unit.
Our holiday party is scheduled for Thursday December 20 from 2:15 - 3:00 pm. We will be making gingerbread houses. Students are asked to bring in a box, 2 small bags of peanut free candy, and a small container of white frosting - labeled with their name. All items on our Sign Up Genius page are accounted for - THANK YOU! We look forward to seeing you at the holiday party!
A big thank you to all the chaperones came on our Helping Hands Shopping trip today. We were able to get all the items on our list and will now be able to help so many families! I hope you all enjoy the holiday break and time with family & friends. School will resume on Monday January 7, 2019.
You may have heard your child mention the new app SEESAW we are using in class. We use this platform as a way to share and communicate with families! Your child will post to Seesaw to share their learning. Seesaw is private; you'll only see posts created by your child.
Please Sign Up Now
- Click on this link: https://app.seesaw.me/s/088-732-249
- Choose your child from the list
- Create your account
- Once I approve you, you can see content from your child
After you sign up, download the free Seesaw Family app and sign in. You can also access Seesaw from a computer at https://app.seesaw.me. Thank you for supporting your child's learning!
P.S. If you used Seesaw last year or have more than one child using Seesaw, follow the link above, then click the 'Sign in' tab at the top of the screen. You do not need to create a new account.
We have been working extremely hard on reading strategy groups. We have reviewed and practiced our expectations at group. These expectations for reading and behavior are to help each student get the most out of our instructional time together. Ask your rapid reader about what is expected during small group time and what story/text their group read this week.
- Reading expectations: readers stay on task, read the whole time, and do their best work
- Behavior expectations: respect each others talk time, listen to others when they share ideas
In Reader’s Workshop, we are reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and focusing on character traits, character motivation, and using text evidence to back up our ideas. The class is really engaged with this story and can’t wait for the next chapter! I love how excited our readers are to hear this chapter book! We would love to have more mystery readers come in and share holiday stories with our class. If you are interested and able to come in please email me to set up a day & time. :)
Next Wednesday December 19, we will be taking the Unit 3 Math End of Unit Assessment ONLINE. I will be sending home a review packet early next week. Students will have access to scrap paper and reading support as needed during this assessment. However, it is the first “ONLINE” test that we will be taking. I will use the online assessment, daily journal pages, and in-class activities to determine a final grade for this unit.
Our holiday party is scheduled for Thursday December 20 from 2:15 - 3:00 pm. We will be making gingerbread houses. Students are asked to bring in a box, 2 small bags of peanut free candy, and a small container of white frosting - labeled with their name. All items on our Sign Up Genius page are accounted for - THANK YOU! We look forward to seeing you at the holiday party!
A big thank you to all the chaperones came on our Helping Hands Shopping trip today. We were able to get all the items on our list and will now be able to help so many families! I hope you all enjoy the holiday break and time with family & friends. School will resume on Monday January 7, 2019.
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December 3, 2018:
Throughout the month of December, I would love to have parents/families members (that have a current volunteer consent form on file) come in to be a “Mystery Reader.” If you are interested, I have many holiday books you can choose from, and we will try our best to make any day of the week work. The only time slot that is blocked is T, W, Th from 2:00 -3:00 pm due to team teaching.
A new technology platform we will begin to use is called Seesaw. You may have heard your child mention this lately. We will use this platform to share and communicate with families! Your child will post to Seesaw to share their learning. Seesaw is private; you'll only see posts created by your child.
Please Sign Up Now
If you used Seesaw last year or have more than one child using Seesaw, follow the link above, then click the 'Sign in' tab at the top of the screen. You do not need to create a new account.
For our first Seesaw post, students worked hard to create a book of their choice during Writer’s Workshop. Please take a moment to watch your child’s post or look at their image and leave them a positive comment.
Reminders:
December 3, 2018:
Throughout the month of December, I would love to have parents/families members (that have a current volunteer consent form on file) come in to be a “Mystery Reader.” If you are interested, I have many holiday books you can choose from, and we will try our best to make any day of the week work. The only time slot that is blocked is T, W, Th from 2:00 -3:00 pm due to team teaching.
A new technology platform we will begin to use is called Seesaw. You may have heard your child mention this lately. We will use this platform to share and communicate with families! Your child will post to Seesaw to share their learning. Seesaw is private; you'll only see posts created by your child.
Please Sign Up Now
- Click on this link: https://app.seesaw.me/s/088-732-249
- Choose your child from the list
- Create your account
- Once I approve you, you can see content from your child
If you used Seesaw last year or have more than one child using Seesaw, follow the link above, then click the 'Sign in' tab at the top of the screen. You do not need to create a new account.
For our first Seesaw post, students worked hard to create a book of their choice during Writer’s Workshop. Please take a moment to watch your child’s post or look at their image and leave them a positive comment.
Reminders:
- We have lots of toys and electronics, from home, coming to school. I ask that families please check your child's backpack frequently. These personal items should be kept at home for safe keeping.
- Friday Dec. 14 from 1:00 - 2:30 pm is our Helping Hands shopping trip.
- Thursday Dec. 20 from 2:15 - 3:00 pm is our December holiday party. See our Sign Up Genius page if you would like to donate materials and/or snacks. There is a note in today’s Friday folder with more information regarding our holiday party.
- Friday Dec. 21 is a full day of school for staff & students. We will enjoy a PJ & Read In day. Students may wear warm PJ’s, bring in a few books from home labeled with their name and small blanket or beach towel. Be sure that all items fit in your child’s backpack or small plastic bag. Holiday break is from Dec. 22 - Jan. 6, 2019.
- School will resume on Monday January 7, 2019.
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Week of Nov. 26, 2018:
Dear Families,
This week our class learned about and began using FRECKLE. Freckle is a wonderful online learning platform designed to differentiate instruction across Math, ELA and other content areas. Each student works at their own level. Students automatically work on the math and ELA lessons that are perfect for them. This way, they are always engaged and challenged, never facing material that is too difficult or too easy for them. Freckle is a tool to enhance learning. Therefore, I encourage students to work on this both at school and at home; however, this is NOT required as part of any at home work. If your child is interested in using this or you are eager to offer them educational challenges at home follow these steps:
* If you haven’t already please sign and send in your child’s November reading log. December reading logs are in today’s Friday folder.
* Tuesday Dec. 4 is our holiday concert for 3rd & 4th graders. The concert will start promptly at 7:00 pm. Please see email from Mrs. Nagy regarding concert directions and information about attire for students. Be sure to have your child practice their songs this weekend! It’s going to be a wonderful show.
Week of Nov. 26, 2018:
Dear Families,
This week our class learned about and began using FRECKLE. Freckle is a wonderful online learning platform designed to differentiate instruction across Math, ELA and other content areas. Each student works at their own level. Students automatically work on the math and ELA lessons that are perfect for them. This way, they are always engaged and challenged, never facing material that is too difficult or too easy for them. Freckle is a tool to enhance learning. Therefore, I encourage students to work on this both at school and at home; however, this is NOT required as part of any at home work. If your child is interested in using this or you are eager to offer them educational challenges at home follow these steps:
- Click on our classroom website: https://wilcoxthird.weebly.com/learning-links.html
- Click on Freckle log in
- Students need to type in their first name & last initial (ex: Sarah M)
- Class code is: wilcov (v as in vacuum)
* If you haven’t already please sign and send in your child’s November reading log. December reading logs are in today’s Friday folder.
* Tuesday Dec. 4 is our holiday concert for 3rd & 4th graders. The concert will start promptly at 7:00 pm. Please see email from Mrs. Nagy regarding concert directions and information about attire for students. Be sure to have your child practice their songs this weekend! It’s going to be a wonderful show.
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Week of Nov. 12, 2018:
Dear Families,
This was a productive week! We completed our Unit 2 math test and it should have come home in your child’s Friday folder. If your child was absent on Monday (when we took the test) their test will come home next week in their Friday folder.
Unit 3 in math is titled: Travel Stories and Collections, Addition, Subtractions and the Number System. “An important part of students’ mathematical work in the elementary grades is building an understanding of the base-10 number system, which is critical to developing computational fluency. It is essential for both estimating and computing.
In this unit, students build on the place-value concepts they developed in Grade 2. They do this by deepening their understanding of the structure of the number system, the relationship among the digits of a number, what happens when multiples of 10 and 100 are added to or subtracted from a number, and a number’s magnitude. They use all these pieces toward the goal of developing fluency with addition and subtraction.
They identify the hundreds digit as representing how many 100s are in the number, the tens digit as representing how many 10s, and the ones digit as representing how many 1s. For example, they identify a number such as 137 as representing 1 hundred, 3 tens, and 7 ones. However, that is not the only way 137 can be decomposed, and flexibility in breaking numbers into 100s, 10s, and 1s in different ways is an important component of developing computational fluency. Thus, it is crucial that students understand that 137 is also composed of 1 hundred, 2 tens, and 17 ones; 13 tens and 7 ones; 12 tens and 17 ones; 11 tens and 27 ones; and so forth. Students develop this understanding as they use different combinations of stickers to represent 137.”
In technology class, we began digging into Google Slides. Students had time in class to really look closely at the “interface” (A good user interface provides a "user-friendly" experience, allowing the user to interact with the software or hardware in a natural and intuitive way). In other words, READ THE SCREEN CAREFULLY, know where the tools are and how to navigate around the screen. Each student had time, in class, to create a practice book report in Google Slides. These are not graded but gave students a chance to practice using the tools to create a slide presentation based on a book they’ve read in class.
Friendly reminders:
Week of Nov. 12, 2018:
Dear Families,
This was a productive week! We completed our Unit 2 math test and it should have come home in your child’s Friday folder. If your child was absent on Monday (when we took the test) their test will come home next week in their Friday folder.
Unit 3 in math is titled: Travel Stories and Collections, Addition, Subtractions and the Number System. “An important part of students’ mathematical work in the elementary grades is building an understanding of the base-10 number system, which is critical to developing computational fluency. It is essential for both estimating and computing.
In this unit, students build on the place-value concepts they developed in Grade 2. They do this by deepening their understanding of the structure of the number system, the relationship among the digits of a number, what happens when multiples of 10 and 100 are added to or subtracted from a number, and a number’s magnitude. They use all these pieces toward the goal of developing fluency with addition and subtraction.
They identify the hundreds digit as representing how many 100s are in the number, the tens digit as representing how many 10s, and the ones digit as representing how many 1s. For example, they identify a number such as 137 as representing 1 hundred, 3 tens, and 7 ones. However, that is not the only way 137 can be decomposed, and flexibility in breaking numbers into 100s, 10s, and 1s in different ways is an important component of developing computational fluency. Thus, it is crucial that students understand that 137 is also composed of 1 hundred, 2 tens, and 17 ones; 13 tens and 7 ones; 12 tens and 17 ones; 11 tens and 27 ones; and so forth. Students develop this understanding as they use different combinations of stickers to represent 137.”
In technology class, we began digging into Google Slides. Students had time in class to really look closely at the “interface” (A good user interface provides a "user-friendly" experience, allowing the user to interact with the software or hardware in a natural and intuitive way). In other words, READ THE SCREEN CAREFULLY, know where the tools are and how to navigate around the screen. Each student had time, in class, to create a practice book report in Google Slides. These are not graded but gave students a chance to practice using the tools to create a slide presentation based on a book they’ve read in class.
Friendly reminders:
- Next week, students have full days of school on Monday November 19 & 20. There is NO school for students or staff on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. School will resume on Monday November 26, 2018.
- If you could please remind your child to WASH their hands often, when at school & home, and/or use hand sanitizer. We have both options available in our classroom. This helps keep germs to a minimum during cold and flu season.
- All illnesses must be reported to the office for State reporting purposes on the date of the child’s absence. If your child is staying home sick or will be absent for any reason, please notify the office by 8:30 am on the day of each absence. Students that have fevers higher than 100.0 degrees should remain at home. Students will be sent home if they become sick during the day. They must remain home until they have been fever-free without the assistance of medication for at least 24 hours. Students that vomit should not come to school and if they have vomited within the past 24 hours should remain at home. While not common, if you find that your child has head lice, please have them treated and notify the office immediately, so that a letter can be sent home to that classroom notifying other parents to check their children. Before returning to class, please bring verification of professional treatment or your child’s head will need to be checked by our office staff to prevent the spread of lice.
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Week of Nov. 9, 2018:
Dear Families,
Thank you to everyone that responded so quickly and donated materials to our classroom. STEM activities and cooking adventures are the best part of our week! It truly makes for a “FUN FRIDAY.” We greatly appreciate you taking time and energy to send those materials in to support our learning.
Now that the snow is here, please remember that your child plays outside two to three times each day. Kids who don't wear boots or snow pants need to stay on the paved area of the playground. Be sure to label your child's snow gear - helps tremendously when they are trying to track down which pair of snow pants belongs to them.
In your child’s Friday folder you will find a review packet for math unit 2 on graphing. Students will be taking the end of unit assessment on Monday November 12. Take time this weekend to review your child’s work. On the unit 2 test, they will be asked to read, interpret, and analyze bar graphs, pictographs, and tally charts. Students will also be asked to read rulers/measurements to the nearest ½ inch. There are also several questions about line plots. We have spent a lot of time creating, reading, and understanding these types of graphs to prepare for this test (see the review packet.)
In our reading strategy groups we focused on writing in response to reading. Each group read a short non fiction text then responded in the form of an opinion piece. We discussed how to use the question in your response. Writers worked to state their opinion clearly in the first sentence and then pull text evidence to support their opinion. We will continue to work on this type of writing.
Readers are excited to be listening to our new read aloud The Quirks: Welcome to Normal. Several students recalled hearing this story last year in second grade. We discussed that most read alouds we hear in third grade will be a “new” text. However, once in a while it will happen that readers have already heard a particular story and that’s OK. At this age, rereading can improve comprehension beyond basic words, can allow students to appreciate details, and can help students towards taking analytic steps. Rereading helps us appreciate a writer’s more subtle talents and allows us to comprehend a text’s intricate ideas and themes.
Be sure to continue filling out the November AT HOME READING log. It will be due, completed, at the end of the month. Happy Reading!!
Friendly reminders about attendance & sick days:
By law, after 5 absences, we are required to report to the Kent County Truancy Officer. This includes excused and/or unexcused absences/tardies. Playground supervision starts promptly at 8:00 am and the bell rings at 8:14 am. Plan to drop off your child no later than 8:10 am, so that they can easily line up and enter with their peers at the bell. If you have specific concerns with a highly anxious child, please do not hesitate to contact the office and we can support you with making that transition less difficult. If you know your child is going to be absent or tardy, be sure to call the office at 616.361.3450 by 8:30 am on the day of the absence or tardiness, so they can notify your child’s teacher. Any questions or concerns should be directed to [email protected] or call 616.365.2298.
All illnesses must be reported to the office for State reporting purposes on the date of the child’s absence. If your child is staying home sick or will be absent for any reason, please notify the office by 8:30 am on the day of each absence. Students that have fevers higher than 100.0 degrees should remain at home. Students will be sent home if they become sick during the day. They must remain home until they have been fever free without the assistance of medication for at least 24 hours. Students that vomit should not come to school and if they have vomited within the past 24 hours should remain at home. While not common, if you find that your child has head lice, please have them treated and notify the office immediately, so that a letter can be sent home to that classroom notifying other parents to check their children. Before returning to class, please bring verification of professional treatment or your child’s head will need to be checked by our office staff to prevent the spread of lice.
Week of Nov. 9, 2018:
Dear Families,
Thank you to everyone that responded so quickly and donated materials to our classroom. STEM activities and cooking adventures are the best part of our week! It truly makes for a “FUN FRIDAY.” We greatly appreciate you taking time and energy to send those materials in to support our learning.
Now that the snow is here, please remember that your child plays outside two to three times each day. Kids who don't wear boots or snow pants need to stay on the paved area of the playground. Be sure to label your child's snow gear - helps tremendously when they are trying to track down which pair of snow pants belongs to them.
In your child’s Friday folder you will find a review packet for math unit 2 on graphing. Students will be taking the end of unit assessment on Monday November 12. Take time this weekend to review your child’s work. On the unit 2 test, they will be asked to read, interpret, and analyze bar graphs, pictographs, and tally charts. Students will also be asked to read rulers/measurements to the nearest ½ inch. There are also several questions about line plots. We have spent a lot of time creating, reading, and understanding these types of graphs to prepare for this test (see the review packet.)
In our reading strategy groups we focused on writing in response to reading. Each group read a short non fiction text then responded in the form of an opinion piece. We discussed how to use the question in your response. Writers worked to state their opinion clearly in the first sentence and then pull text evidence to support their opinion. We will continue to work on this type of writing.
Readers are excited to be listening to our new read aloud The Quirks: Welcome to Normal. Several students recalled hearing this story last year in second grade. We discussed that most read alouds we hear in third grade will be a “new” text. However, once in a while it will happen that readers have already heard a particular story and that’s OK. At this age, rereading can improve comprehension beyond basic words, can allow students to appreciate details, and can help students towards taking analytic steps. Rereading helps us appreciate a writer’s more subtle talents and allows us to comprehend a text’s intricate ideas and themes.
Be sure to continue filling out the November AT HOME READING log. It will be due, completed, at the end of the month. Happy Reading!!
Friendly reminders about attendance & sick days:
By law, after 5 absences, we are required to report to the Kent County Truancy Officer. This includes excused and/or unexcused absences/tardies. Playground supervision starts promptly at 8:00 am and the bell rings at 8:14 am. Plan to drop off your child no later than 8:10 am, so that they can easily line up and enter with their peers at the bell. If you have specific concerns with a highly anxious child, please do not hesitate to contact the office and we can support you with making that transition less difficult. If you know your child is going to be absent or tardy, be sure to call the office at 616.361.3450 by 8:30 am on the day of the absence or tardiness, so they can notify your child’s teacher. Any questions or concerns should be directed to [email protected] or call 616.365.2298.
All illnesses must be reported to the office for State reporting purposes on the date of the child’s absence. If your child is staying home sick or will be absent for any reason, please notify the office by 8:30 am on the day of each absence. Students that have fevers higher than 100.0 degrees should remain at home. Students will be sent home if they become sick during the day. They must remain home until they have been fever free without the assistance of medication for at least 24 hours. Students that vomit should not come to school and if they have vomited within the past 24 hours should remain at home. While not common, if you find that your child has head lice, please have them treated and notify the office immediately, so that a letter can be sent home to that classroom notifying other parents to check their children. Before returning to class, please bring verification of professional treatment or your child’s head will need to be checked by our office staff to prevent the spread of lice.
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Week of Oct. 29, 2018:
Thank you to all the families that donated materials and your time to help us have a successful Halloween Party. We appreciate all of the support!
This week students wrapped up their mini research projects and presented them to small groups. Each student and/or group did a wonderful job. They presented a combination of facts they hard learned from the text read in small groups, reading online and by talking with their teammates to help them form connections. We discussed the importance of speaking loudly, clear and looking at the audience. Students also practiced turning the projects toward the audience. It was wonderful to see our rapid readers in action and sharing what they have learned in the past two weeks. Next week, we will be moving on to new informational texts.
In your child’s Friday folder are a few work samples of our daily work. Among these samples are grammar, art, writing and more. Please take time to look through these papers and see how your super star student is doing with daily classroom assignments.
Week of Oct. 29, 2018:
Thank you to all the families that donated materials and your time to help us have a successful Halloween Party. We appreciate all of the support!
This week students wrapped up their mini research projects and presented them to small groups. Each student and/or group did a wonderful job. They presented a combination of facts they hard learned from the text read in small groups, reading online and by talking with their teammates to help them form connections. We discussed the importance of speaking loudly, clear and looking at the audience. Students also practiced turning the projects toward the audience. It was wonderful to see our rapid readers in action and sharing what they have learned in the past two weeks. Next week, we will be moving on to new informational texts.
In your child’s Friday folder are a few work samples of our daily work. Among these samples are grammar, art, writing and more. Please take time to look through these papers and see how your super star student is doing with daily classroom assignments.
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Week of Oct. 22, 2018:
Throughout the week, students have been working to develop math questions. They are excited to be taking these questions to other classes, where they will collect data. Once all students have had a chance to collect data they will create either a bar graph or a pictograph. Graphs will soon be on display in the hallway just outside our classroom.
In Reader’s Workshop, we are wrapping up the story Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. Hopefully, your rapid reader has mentioned this story. In case they haven’t yet here is a brief summary:
The summer Opal and her father, the preacher, move to Naomi, Florida, Opal goes into the Winn-Dixie supermarket and comes out with a dog. A big, ugly, suffering dog with a sterling sense of humor. A dog she dubs Winn-Dixie. Winn-Dixie is better at making friends than anyone Opal has ever known, and together they meet the local librarian, Miss Franny Block, who once fought off a bear with a copy of War and Peace. They meet Gloria Dump, who is nearly blind but sees with her heart, and Otis, a man who works at the local pet shop and sets the animals in the shop loose after hours, then lulls them with his guitar. Opal spends all that sweet summer collecting stories about her new friends, and thinking about her mother. But because of Winn-Dixie or perhaps because she has grown, Opal learns to let go, just a little, and that friendship-and forgiveness-can sneak up on you like a sudden summer storm.
Our next read aloud, in class, will be The Quirks: Welcome to Normal by Erin Soderberg. To help with conversation at home...here’s an overview of the story:
Molly and her family have moved around for years. Every time they think they've found a home, one of the Quirks slips up and sends them packing -- because the Quirk family is a bit, well, quirky. Each family member has a magical power that makes them unique, and highly unusual. Mom can control minds; Grandpa twists time; Molly's twin sister Penelope has an all-too-real imagination; and Finn is the pesky kid brother -- who happens to be invisible. Then there's Molly, the most unusual Quirk of all. Molly is completely, utterly normal. Molly's greatest desire is to fit in, and she's found the perfect spot: Normal, Michigan. With its cookie cutter houses, welcoming committees, and all-town competitions, it seems like just the place for an ordinary new life. But the Quirks aren't known for fitting in -- especially in a place like Normal…
Just a reminder: If you are interested in helping with our upcoming Halloween classroom party we would greatly appreciate your support. To sign up and make donations please visit the Sign Up Genius link listed below. Our classroom party will be on Wednesday October 31st from 1:45 - 3:00 pm.
Schedule:
1:45 - 2:00 Costume/Party Prep
2:00 - 2:15 School-Wide Parade - The parade will start in the UA Hall.
2:15 - 2:50 Third grade classroom parties
2:50 - 3:00 Clean up & get ready to go home
Have a wonderful weekend. Here are some pictures from this week.
Week of Oct. 22, 2018:
Throughout the week, students have been working to develop math questions. They are excited to be taking these questions to other classes, where they will collect data. Once all students have had a chance to collect data they will create either a bar graph or a pictograph. Graphs will soon be on display in the hallway just outside our classroom.
In Reader’s Workshop, we are wrapping up the story Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. Hopefully, your rapid reader has mentioned this story. In case they haven’t yet here is a brief summary:
The summer Opal and her father, the preacher, move to Naomi, Florida, Opal goes into the Winn-Dixie supermarket and comes out with a dog. A big, ugly, suffering dog with a sterling sense of humor. A dog she dubs Winn-Dixie. Winn-Dixie is better at making friends than anyone Opal has ever known, and together they meet the local librarian, Miss Franny Block, who once fought off a bear with a copy of War and Peace. They meet Gloria Dump, who is nearly blind but sees with her heart, and Otis, a man who works at the local pet shop and sets the animals in the shop loose after hours, then lulls them with his guitar. Opal spends all that sweet summer collecting stories about her new friends, and thinking about her mother. But because of Winn-Dixie or perhaps because she has grown, Opal learns to let go, just a little, and that friendship-and forgiveness-can sneak up on you like a sudden summer storm.
Our next read aloud, in class, will be The Quirks: Welcome to Normal by Erin Soderberg. To help with conversation at home...here’s an overview of the story:
Molly and her family have moved around for years. Every time they think they've found a home, one of the Quirks slips up and sends them packing -- because the Quirk family is a bit, well, quirky. Each family member has a magical power that makes them unique, and highly unusual. Mom can control minds; Grandpa twists time; Molly's twin sister Penelope has an all-too-real imagination; and Finn is the pesky kid brother -- who happens to be invisible. Then there's Molly, the most unusual Quirk of all. Molly is completely, utterly normal. Molly's greatest desire is to fit in, and she's found the perfect spot: Normal, Michigan. With its cookie cutter houses, welcoming committees, and all-town competitions, it seems like just the place for an ordinary new life. But the Quirks aren't known for fitting in -- especially in a place like Normal…
Just a reminder: If you are interested in helping with our upcoming Halloween classroom party we would greatly appreciate your support. To sign up and make donations please visit the Sign Up Genius link listed below. Our classroom party will be on Wednesday October 31st from 1:45 - 3:00 pm.
- Students can bring their costume in a bag on the day of the party. They will have time to get changed and prepare for the party ahead of time. We do ask that school costumes do NOT have blood or weapons.
Schedule:
1:45 - 2:00 Costume/Party Prep
2:00 - 2:15 School-Wide Parade - The parade will start in the UA Hall.
2:15 - 2:50 Third grade classroom parties
2:50 - 3:00 Clean up & get ready to go home
Have a wonderful weekend. Here are some pictures from this week.
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Week of 10/8/18:
Below you will find several pictures that capture some of the memorable moments from this week. We spent time learning how to make homemade applesauce with our book buddies, we wrote spooky Halloween stories and read some serious nonfiction articles about the climate on our planet and how it's changing.
Week of 10/8/18:
Below you will find several pictures that capture some of the memorable moments from this week. We spent time learning how to make homemade applesauce with our book buddies, we wrote spooky Halloween stories and read some serious nonfiction articles about the climate on our planet and how it's changing.
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10/5/18:
Dear Families,
Below you can see pictures from our Fenway & Hattie reading celebration, the Walk A-Thon, and our STEM challenge with Mrs. Cotter. There is also a link to a very special vimeo from one of our favorite authors Victoria J. Coe!!!
https://vimeo.com/290939055 (Password: Fenway)
I have scheduled your parent-teacher conference and you will find the date/time in today's Friday folder. Please look for this sheet and let me know if for some reason you don't receive it. I look forward to meeting with you soon to talk about your child!
We are happy the temperatures are cooling off. With that said, it’s Michigan so I strongly encourage students to check the weather each day before leaving home. Dress accordingly - we are outside daily. Light jackets and/or zip up sweatshirts to layer are a great way to be prepared for changing temperatures.
Readers have been practicing how to choose “Just Right Books” or “Good Fit Books” using the five finger check. At home, please check in with your reader and see if they can model for you what this looks like:
The five finger rule is a quick and easy way for your child to check if a book is suitable to read on their own. Before they start, ask them to turn to a random page in the book and read it. For every word that they don’t know or if they have difficulty sounding it out, they should hold up a finger.
Use the following guidelines according to how many fingers they hold up:
0 or 1 – Most probably too easy for your child.
2 – A good choice that will give your child a reasonable challenge and allow them to learn new words.
3 – Your child might need some help, but still a good choice if they’re up for a challenge.
4 – May be too difficult for your child to read on their own. If you are on hand to give them help or read along with them it can be suitable, but if they are reading on their own, choose a different book.
5 – A bit too advanced, try a different book; if the book is of high interest to your child this would be a great book to read out loud to them..
The five finger rule is taught as a guideline for helping children find ‘just right’ books. It’s worthwhile remembering that if they have their heart set on a book that seems too hard, it’s probably OK to let them have a go. Be nearby to help them if they get stuck on a tricky word, and don’t forget to praise them for making an effort. Focus on reading the pictures, offer to read it to them, etc...
Alternatively, if you know they’ll struggle to enjoy the story or will likely feel frustrated, tell them that they can read it later and suggest a different book instead. At the end of the day, allowing your child to read the books they’re interested in (whether they’re too easy or too difficult) is an important part of nurturing and maintaining their LOVE of books and reading.
Upcoming dates to remember:
10/8 - 7PM NV Board Meeting
10/9 - PTC The Score Restaurant Night
10/10 - PTC Meeting in evening to assemble Mittens and Tree
10/12 - Half Day for Students AM Only; Dismissal is at 11:30 am
10/5/18:
Dear Families,
Below you can see pictures from our Fenway & Hattie reading celebration, the Walk A-Thon, and our STEM challenge with Mrs. Cotter. There is also a link to a very special vimeo from one of our favorite authors Victoria J. Coe!!!
https://vimeo.com/290939055 (Password: Fenway)
I have scheduled your parent-teacher conference and you will find the date/time in today's Friday folder. Please look for this sheet and let me know if for some reason you don't receive it. I look forward to meeting with you soon to talk about your child!
We are happy the temperatures are cooling off. With that said, it’s Michigan so I strongly encourage students to check the weather each day before leaving home. Dress accordingly - we are outside daily. Light jackets and/or zip up sweatshirts to layer are a great way to be prepared for changing temperatures.
Readers have been practicing how to choose “Just Right Books” or “Good Fit Books” using the five finger check. At home, please check in with your reader and see if they can model for you what this looks like:
The five finger rule is a quick and easy way for your child to check if a book is suitable to read on their own. Before they start, ask them to turn to a random page in the book and read it. For every word that they don’t know or if they have difficulty sounding it out, they should hold up a finger.
Use the following guidelines according to how many fingers they hold up:
0 or 1 – Most probably too easy for your child.
2 – A good choice that will give your child a reasonable challenge and allow them to learn new words.
3 – Your child might need some help, but still a good choice if they’re up for a challenge.
4 – May be too difficult for your child to read on their own. If you are on hand to give them help or read along with them it can be suitable, but if they are reading on their own, choose a different book.
5 – A bit too advanced, try a different book; if the book is of high interest to your child this would be a great book to read out loud to them..
The five finger rule is taught as a guideline for helping children find ‘just right’ books. It’s worthwhile remembering that if they have their heart set on a book that seems too hard, it’s probably OK to let them have a go. Be nearby to help them if they get stuck on a tricky word, and don’t forget to praise them for making an effort. Focus on reading the pictures, offer to read it to them, etc...
Alternatively, if you know they’ll struggle to enjoy the story or will likely feel frustrated, tell them that they can read it later and suggest a different book instead. At the end of the day, allowing your child to read the books they’re interested in (whether they’re too easy or too difficult) is an important part of nurturing and maintaining their LOVE of books and reading.
Upcoming dates to remember:
10/8 - 7PM NV Board Meeting
10/9 - PTC The Score Restaurant Night
10/10 - PTC Meeting in evening to assemble Mittens and Tree
10/12 - Half Day for Students AM Only; Dismissal is at 11:30 am
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10/3/18: Fenway & Hattie Reading Celebration!
https://vimeo.com/290939055 (Password is: Fenway)
Click on the vimeo link above to see a special video from author Victoria J. Coe to our class! What a treat.
Week of 9/24/18:
Dear Families,
In Reader’s Workshop this week we have been diving into nonfiction reading. We spent a great deal of time looking at Time for Kids magazines. There should be two coming home in your child’s Friday folder. Spend some time reviewing the articles and ask your rapid reader about the cover stories. You should find sticky notes attached to each magazine. These post its are exit slips that students use to illustrate the learning for that focus lesson. We discussed the importance of understanding the key vocabulary and made a vocab matching game for our reading partners. For the second magazine, we formed an opinion about school fundraising.
Technology this week was a continued focus on typing using the home row keys. We also spent time reviewing some online reading assessments and tools. Students were to pick a passage, read the whole text and then explore the tools that were available on the screen. They discovered and used the highlighter, read aloud, pause & stop buttons and practiced scrolling up, down, left to right to read the whole passage.
In Math Workshop we reviewed basic addition and subtraction strategies to help us increase our automaticity. Knowledge of these basic facts will help students with the transition into multiplication and division. Our unit one test will be coming up soon. I will send home all quizzes and in class assessment pages as a study packet before the test. Take time at home to review this material with your child.
We started the year writing “quick writes” to get our minds and muscles used to writing again. Quick writes are short writing prompts that take about five minutes. Now students are beginning to brainstorm ideas for personal narrative stories. We are busy crafting TRUE stories with lots of detail to keep the audience engaged. S Some class time has also been spent reviewing what is a sentence? What are nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc… There is a heavy focus on writing “FIVE STAR SENTENCES.” A five star sentence…
⭐Has correct capital and lowercase letters
⭐Is neatly written
⭐Has finger spaces between every word
⭐Ends with punctuation
⭐Uses interesting word choice
We will continue to review these skills throughout the year in our writing.
Upcoming dates to remember:
Oct. 1 - 18 - Mileage Club Starts
Oct. 4 - DK - 4th grade Walk-A-Thon & Celebration (1:15 - 2:15)
Oct. 5 - Picture Day, Popcorn Day, School Spirit Day NV Homecoming: Wear Red
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Week of Sept. 17, 2018:
Here is a peek at some of the activities we participated in this week.
Friday September 14, 2018
Dear Families,
In technology class this week, we learned about two programs that help us with fact fluency and typing. The first program is called Typing.com. Students can access this through the student portal. We focused specifically on the home row of keys and how important it is to keep both hands on the keyboard. We will continue to work on this next week and throughout the year.
The second program we learned about is called Xtramath. This program is based on individual needs and helps students increase their fact fluency and accuracy. I am not assigning this as homework; however, my own two children use this site frequently as part of their homework and I can say that their fact fluency has increased tremendously since starting this program. I would strongly encourage students to use this program to help build accuracy and confidence with basic math facts.
In math workshop, we are focusing on multiplication facts. We are beginning to understand the relationship between addition and multiplication. Ask your marvelous mathematician about multiples of 2, 3, 5, 6 and 10. They should have a paper in their Friday folder that highlights multiples of 3. We discussed patterns and students should have made changes to the practice page when/or if they noticed mistakes on their chart. I stressed the importance of showing your thinking and explaining what you noticed.
We are also working very hard on our school expectations: respectful, responsible, ready and safe. Throughout the week we read a few stories that highlighted how to have respectful conversations, demonstrate appropriate behaviors and show respectful listening.
Be sure to take time to have your rapid reader fill out their nightly reading log for the month of September. Reading logs for September will be due at the end of the month.
Have a wonderful weekend.
************************************************************************************************************************************
Dear Families,
In technology class this week, we learned about two programs that help us with fact fluency and typing. The first program is called Typing.com. Students can access this through the student portal. We focused specifically on the home row of keys and how important it is to keep both hands on the keyboard. We will continue to work on this next week and throughout the year.
The second program we learned about is called Xtramath. This program is based on individual needs and helps students increase their fact fluency and accuracy. I am not assigning this as homework; however, my own two children use this site frequently as part of their homework and I can say that their fact fluency has increased tremendously since starting this program. I would strongly encourage students to use this program to help build accuracy and confidence with basic math facts.
In math workshop, we are focusing on multiplication facts. We are beginning to understand the relationship between addition and multiplication. Ask your marvelous mathematician about multiples of 2, 3, 5, 6 and 10. They should have a paper in their Friday folder that highlights multiples of 3. We discussed patterns and students should have made changes to the practice page when/or if they noticed mistakes on their chart. I stressed the importance of showing your thinking and explaining what you noticed.
We are also working very hard on our school expectations: respectful, responsible, ready and safe. Throughout the week we read a few stories that highlighted how to have respectful conversations, demonstrate appropriate behaviors and show respectful listening.
Be sure to take time to have your rapid reader fill out their nightly reading log for the month of September. Reading logs for September will be due at the end of the month.
Have a wonderful weekend.
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Friday September 7, 2018
Dear Families,
We are off to a fabulous start to our school year! I have sent two emails via synergy to all families in our class. Please let me know if you have not received those emails. After this note, I will no longer send paper copies home with updates. I will post all updates to our classroom website and/or email families. Our classroom website can be found at: https://wilcoxthird.weebly.com/.
This year all third graders will be working with each of our third grade teachers. I will be teaching technology and integrating writing/science/social studies/math as special projects come up. In technology class this week, we focused on respectful and responsible tech usage. Students had time to view a few short video clips that highlighted appropriate ways to handle and care for Chromebooks. We discussed the importance of being responsible with our "digital footprint." Students are now aware that everything they do on Chromebooks leaves a digital footprint and with that comes a great responsibility to make good choices.
Our second goal for the week is to have all students learn their username/email, password and to get logged in successfully. Once we have that down, next week we will practicing our typing skills through a program called Typing.com. In this program students will begin learning about correct finger placement on the keyboard through individualized typing lessons. The goal is for students to use both hands while typing to help increase their fluency.
Mrs. Potgeter will be teaching social studies. In this class, students will be learning about our great state, Michigan. Ms. Ingle will be teaching science. More information about their units coming soon.
Our class is enjoying listening to Fenway & Hattie by Victoria J. Coe. Fenway is an excitable and endlessly energetic Jack Russell terrier. He lives in the city with Food Lady, Fetch Man, and—of course—his beloved short human and best-friend-in-the-world, Hattie.
When his family moves to the suburbs, Fenway faces a world of changes. He's pretty pleased with the huge dog park behind his new home, but he's not so happy about the evil squirrels that taunt him from the trees, the super-slippery wicked floor in the eating room, and the changes that have come over Hattie lately. Rather than playing with Fenway, she seems more interested in her new short human friend and learning to play baseball. His friends in the Dog Park next door say Hattie is outgrowing him, but that can't be right. And he's going to prove it!
Be sure to ask your rapid reader about this heart warming story of two best friends.
For next week, be sure that your child has a healthy snack and water bottle each day.
Sincerely,
Mrs.Wilcox - [email protected]
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8/28/18
We had a fabulous official first day of school. Today we unpacked our community supplies and talked about how we will share all supplies like pencils, glue sticks, sticky notes, etc... The only materials we do not share are our personal backpacks and water bottles. If your child brought in extra special pens, small supply boxes, etc...they brought them home this evening. Students may want to use for special activities at home.
If you attended Open House last week, there was a packet of information in your child's Friday folder (Attention 3rd Graders). This packet should be kept in a safe place for your family to reference throughout the school year. If you were unable to attend, that information came home this evening with your child.
Unified Arts schedule for our class:
Monday - Art
Tuesday - none
Wednesday - Music & P.E
Thursday - Library
Friday - Music & P.E
All About Me bags can come in tomorrow and Thursday. We will be sharing a few a day to get to know one another. Be sure that all five items fit inside your baggie.
*Something new this year, for my class, is having two daily snacks. We have one snack break in the morning and I'm offering students a choice to have a quick, small healthy snack in the afternoon. Students are responsible for bringing their own healthy snack to school each day. Monday through Thursdays I ask that all snacks are healthy (fruits, cheese, crackers, pretzels, yogurt, etc...). On Fridays students are allowed to bring in a sweet treat for their morning snack. However, ultimately it's the families decision on the Friday snack option. :)
*Water bottles are strongly encouraged everyday. Be sure to clearly write your child's name on his/her water bottle.
*Keep an eye on current weather reports to ensure your child is dressed for the weather.
We had a fabulous official first day of school. Today we unpacked our community supplies and talked about how we will share all supplies like pencils, glue sticks, sticky notes, etc... The only materials we do not share are our personal backpacks and water bottles. If your child brought in extra special pens, small supply boxes, etc...they brought them home this evening. Students may want to use for special activities at home.
If you attended Open House last week, there was a packet of information in your child's Friday folder (Attention 3rd Graders). This packet should be kept in a safe place for your family to reference throughout the school year. If you were unable to attend, that information came home this evening with your child.
Unified Arts schedule for our class:
Monday - Art
Tuesday - none
Wednesday - Music & P.E
Thursday - Library
Friday - Music & P.E
All About Me bags can come in tomorrow and Thursday. We will be sharing a few a day to get to know one another. Be sure that all five items fit inside your baggie.
*Something new this year, for my class, is having two daily snacks. We have one snack break in the morning and I'm offering students a choice to have a quick, small healthy snack in the afternoon. Students are responsible for bringing their own healthy snack to school each day. Monday through Thursdays I ask that all snacks are healthy (fruits, cheese, crackers, pretzels, yogurt, etc...). On Fridays students are allowed to bring in a sweet treat for their morning snack. However, ultimately it's the families decision on the Friday snack option. :)
*Water bottles are strongly encouraged everyday. Be sure to clearly write your child's name on his/her water bottle.
*Keep an eye on current weather reports to ensure your child is dressed for the weather.
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2018 - 2019
Dear Third Graders & Families,
We hope that you have an amazing summer and are able to rest, relax, and read. Throughout the summer, some families like to keep an eye on the school supply sales. To help you know what to look for below is a list of suggestions from our third grade team of teachers.
Suggested school supplies:
Lysol wipes, band aids, boxes of tissues, extra glue sticks, #2 pencils, large and small ziplock baggies, sticky notes, roll of clear contact paper and parent volunteers!
We are looking forward to meeting and greeting everyone at North Oakview’s Open House scheduled for Wednesday August 22, 2018 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. The first official day of school is Monday August 27, 2018 - school day is from 8:14 - 3:16pm. For further information regarding the school year, feel free to visit the North Oakview website. We look forward to seeing you all very soon!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Wilcox - [email protected]
http://nvps.net/north-oakview/
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2018 - 2019
Dear Third Graders & Families,
We hope that you have an amazing summer and are able to rest, relax, and read. Throughout the summer, some families like to keep an eye on the school supply sales. To help you know what to look for below is a list of suggestions from our third grade team of teachers.
Suggested school supplies:
- 2 packages of #2 pencils with erasers (Please send yellow or green pencils only).
- Small box of crayons, colored pencils & markers
- Scissors
- Backpack labeled with student’s first & last name
- One spiral bound writing journal – wide ruled
- Sticky notes (Post it notes)
- Block or cap eraser
- 6 glue sticks
- 1 pack of wide ruled loose leaf paper
- 1 pack of dry erase markers
- 1 pack of highlighters
Lysol wipes, band aids, boxes of tissues, extra glue sticks, #2 pencils, large and small ziplock baggies, sticky notes, roll of clear contact paper and parent volunteers!
We are looking forward to meeting and greeting everyone at North Oakview’s Open House scheduled for Wednesday August 22, 2018 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. The first official day of school is Monday August 27, 2018 - school day is from 8:14 - 3:16pm. For further information regarding the school year, feel free to visit the North Oakview website. We look forward to seeing you all very soon!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Wilcox - [email protected]
http://nvps.net/north-oakview/
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