3B Blog News from Mrs. Kerian

Decimals, Levers, Multiplication Facts and Realistic Fiction

2012-01-16T10:29:00.001-06:00

Hopefully everyone is enjoying their nice, long weekend. Although I am sitting at meetings today, it is nice that the students had an extra day to relax.

As the title to my blog states, we are jumping into decimals in math. While it is challenging to start with, students are grasping the concepts as long as we model it with base 10 blocks and use the language of "longs" for tenths and "cubes" for hundredths. I also try to relate it to money as dimes are "tenths" and pennies are "hundredths". We will be working on decimals this week as well. I will also be adding some online games to the right of my blog that focus on place value, but some of the "place value" online games listed already do contain decimal place value. Keep practicing them at home as well as reviewing multiplication facts.

Levers....our first simple machine for science. While we are just getting started with simple machines, the students have a great understanding of force and motion thanks partly to our previous literacy theme on "Science and Sports". We will be experimenting with friction and motion Wednesday and Thursday as well.

As writers, we are going to leap into the genre of realistic fiction and pull in some "word choice" activities and lessons. I would like to connect this to some independent reading. Sometime this week, I will be sending home a realistic fiction book for your child to read at home. A letter will be sent as well explaining responses/activities I would like the students to do as well to build their comprehension skills as well as fluency. Each 3B child will be responsible for reading the book at home and doing the activities. (The letter will explain more, but I wanted to give you a heads up.) Look for the book to be sent by the end of the week.

Miss Ogden, our JTerm student from Luther, has taken over the read aloud to the students at the end of the day. She has also been working with small groups throughout the day (with my guidance) to gain a better understanding of teaching as well as students. She is fitting in well, and we are lucky to have her!

A letter is coming home today or tomorrow explaining an incentive activity we are doing to encourage students to work on their multiplication facts. It is called the "Walking Taco" celebration, and the details are explained in the letter. When your child has mastered a fact family (such as the 5 family), please have them let me know so that I can assess them quickly and they can begin practicing other facts. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

You may have noticed that I have added something new to the right of the blog. I am hoping that by sharing some comprehension strategies we are working on at school, parents can reinforce them at home as well when students are reading. I am just getting started and have listed a few with more to come. Definitions, ways to help at home, and online practice will be included once I get it going. (Give me a few days to finish those that are there, please.) If you have any questions about any of these, feel free to contact me.

Enjoy the rest of the week and stay warm!

Great Start to 3rd Quarter!

2012-01-10T10:30:00.000-06:00

Well..we are back at it and having fun! I am so pleased with the students and how hard they are working after returning from a holiday break! They amaze me every day, and I love it! I couldn't be more fortunate to have such a great bunch of students and parents to work with!

Hopefully you received your child's report card yesterday. They were sent home in an envelope that required parent's signature. If you have not seen your child's report card, please ask him/her for it. I would also like all envelopes with signatures returned by this Friday! Remember that if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call or email me. I did take some time to go over report cards (scoring, literacy, math, etc.) with the students so that they understood what the report card stated about them. Hopefully there were no surprises for the students.

Last week I introduced a new online program that can be used to create digital movies and video. It is a program called Animoto, and a letter was sent home to all parents explaining the program and how to use it. I also sent home my login name and password for the students to create their own videos at home through my account. We used the program in our literacy curriculum to create digital video about our theme of science and sports. The students LOVED the program so much, and it is so easy, that I see many students are making their own videos at home! Excellent! I will be sharing the Animoto videos via my blog page when they are all completed. If you can't wait, have your child log in to my account and have them show you their creations! Lots of great learning and application from our literacy reading to create a visual presentation!

3B is lucky to have a JTerm student from Luther this month. Miss Ogden joined us yesterday and will be with us throughout the month observing and starting to work with students. I have asked that she create a letter to you, the parents, introducing herself and explaining why she is here so I will not go into much. I just wanted to welcome her and be sure you knew about her if your 3B child has mentioned it at home.

Remember that if you did not return your December Book-It calendar to do so. They were due last Friday. A new calendar for January was sent home last week. The required time has gone up each month so keep reading!

We have started our new literacy theme about communities and geography. It goes nicely with the social studies studies unit we just completed so students are grasping the concepts and vocabulary very well. In writing, we are finishing up some letters to our pen pals, doing a creative writing activity with similes about our family members (look out!), and will be moving into writing realistic fiction pieces that focus on word choice and organization. We have also started our new science unit titled Force and Motion. This also is good transition from our last literacy theme of science and sports. (Isn't it nice how everything blends together???? :) The students loved the start of our science unit as they had a chance to play with toys and talk about how they work. Super fun!

Enjoy the sunshine and gorgeous day today. I hear cold weather is coming, but we really can't complain can we? It is January. Have a great week!

Here They Are...Our TV Talk Shows about the History of Cresc0

2011-12-20T16:36:00.000-06:00

I apologize that it has taken so long to get some of these up and posted. I had one group that had people absent, and then they didn't get to practice, so it has taken a while. But here they finally are. You will have to turn your volume up as some of the students were pretty quiet and hard to hear (even after we practice and reminded ourselves of the importance of speaking loud enough for our audience).

With this being our first time doing this type of activity, I was pleased. The students learned a lot about the history of Cresco (more than they share on their talk shows) and were the leaders of their learning.

So enjoy our TV Talk Shows about the history of Cresco for our first group Inquiry projects.

Big Blast Tomorrow....and So Much to Do!

2011-12-12T14:02:00.000-06:00

A little stress is overcoming my body with only 2 weeks left before the holiday break! 3B has so much to do and get done before we head home for the holidays. The students are being "troopers" and working hard, staying focused the best they can. They have started to get a little chatty, more than usual, and have needed more reminders, but that usually happens this time of year. Hang with me for two more weeks kiddos, then you can have a break!

Everyone is loving our new theme in literacy about science at play. Some kids have read about science with sports, others have read about science and computers, while others have read about science in nature. They are learning not only so many more vocabulary words, but also building their comprehension strategies of summarizing, comparing/contrasting, prediction, and recognizing cause and effect. I will be sending home some vocabulary words next Monday for the students to review as we will have the end of our theme test next Wednesday or Thursday. This is similar to the ones I sent home at the end of the last theme.

I am also very pleased at the students who are taking books home to read from the classroom! YIPPEE!!! I have had many parents comment that their 3B child is reading more at home, which is wonderful to hear. The students have been given the "green light" to blog from home and post about what they are reading or doing on their own blog pages. I would love to have some of them make post to share about their at-home reading! Super 3B!

As I just mentioned, the students have been given the ok to make blog post from home. Last week we wrapped up how to add pictures and clipart from the computer to our blog pages, and I think they have it down pretty well. They are set to be "bloggers"! The only stipulation about the student blogs is that they must blog about books they have read, news they saw and want to share or comment about, stories they would like to hare, or just writing about their weekend or what is happening in their life. It is not used to post blogs asking students what they are doing tonight or other "chat" areas. The students seem to understand that pretty well but I just wanted to make sure to let the parents know. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Thank you to all the parents who have volunteered to be at our "Big Blast". All the 3rd grade students go to the Big Blast with kindergarten and preschool so it is going to be a "busy" place. If you volunteered to help out, please meet us at the gym tomorrow, Wednesday, Dec. 13th, at 9:00 AM. I will then tell you where you will be "stationed" to help from 9 to 10:30. Thanks so much! If you signed up and can't make it, please let me know as soon as possible.

I am sending home a math sheet for students to practice with division/multiplication. We have not gotten into facts yet, but just the process of drawing pictures, using counters, and sharing for showing how to divide or multiply and the concept itself. This can be a challenge for some students so I am sending home a little practice. Along with that, some students have some writing homework to do tonight to get caught up (some are waisting a little bit of time in writing). As I said, it is a busy time and we need to keep moving to stay caught up.

Remember to have your 3B child wear his/her Cadet tshirt or blue shirt to show our pride in our school for the Big Blast! They are all very excited!

Enjoy the week!

Great "Caring and Sharing Celebration"

2011-11-29T10:31:00.000-06:00

I have posted some pictures from our first "Care and Share" celebration. The students had a super time creating magnets that were shared with friends in all three third grade sections. I was very impressed at the creativity of the students, as well as how prepared many of them were bringing in their ideas and crafts needed! Nicely done. I may be bias, but I think 3B had the most creative and neatly done magnets! :) While the students worked, they enjoyed great munchies sent in from parents as well as had the chance to walk around in the two other 3rd grade classrooms to take a look at their classmates' magnets. Since we ran out of time, the actual magnet exchange happened yesterday. As names were drawn, students went up and selected a magnet made by their classmates to take home. It was a wonderful activity (the first time we have done this type of project for Character Counts), and we were very pleased with the effort the students put into their magnets to show their classmates they care about them! Awesome job 3rd graders!

Just a little reminder that the end of November is tomorrow. Please return Book-It calendars for the month of November by the end of this week. I will then send home a certificate for a free personal pan pizza for your 3B student. Remember that if your child participates in Book-It all the months involved, they will celebrate with a pizza party supplied by me, Mrs. Kerian. So keep reading! Look for the December Book-it calendar to be sent home Wednesday or Thursday.

We wrapped up most of our first Inquiry projects for our literacy. Students participated in created a TV talk show in which they shared their findings about the history of Cresco. While it was our first attempt at this type of project, the students did a nice job and were very excited! Our only problem is that we have such quiet students that sometimes it was hard to hear them speak (we will work on that). There is still one group that needs to present their TV talk show as they had a member of their group gone last week. They will present at the end of the week and I will post all videos of the talk shows on my blog then. Look for them soon!

Students are finishing up their personal narrative writing pieces and we will be moving into auto-biographies before going into realistic fiction writing. I am amazed at the passion many students in 3B have towards writing! It is wonderful and great to see! They are keeping me busy with my teacher conferencing, that is for sure!!! We have been discussing point of view, description of settings, organization of our ideas, and adding detail. I have seen lots of improvement since the beginning of the year in all the students' writing! Keep it up!

This week we have many additional activities going on. The high school students will be coming over Thursday to do their 2nd Food and Fitness presentation on beans. Our first presentation last month was on broccoli, and the high school students did a great job with their presentation. Many students were surprised to find out that they liked raw broccoli, as long as they had ranch to dip it in. :) We also have a lady coming from the county to talk about eating healthy and making healthy choices. She will be here tomorrow morning to share more great information about healthy food.

Just a heads up on some of the strategies we are getting into with our second theme in literacy. Students are loving this theme as it connects to science, and our first readings are all about sports and science. Love it! We will be jumping into summarizing, recognizing cause and effect, and reviewing antonyms this week.

Enjoy the sunshine and stay warm! Thanks again to all the parents who supplied yummy snacks for our first celebration! Our tummies thank you! :)

Lots to Do Before Thanksgiving Break

2011-11-21T08:14:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone! I hope that you had a great weekend! Only three days of school and then everyone can enjoy some family time for our November break! I think everyone is looking forward to eating until their tummies are full and laughing with family, including myself.

I hope that each of you received the information letter about our November "Caring and Sharing" celebration this Wednesday afternoon for the students. Students will be creating something such as an award, animal, object, or creature using a circle cut from tin (edges are safe) and exchanging those creations with friends. This celebration focuses around the pillars of Character Counts, which the letter explained. Please remember that if your child is using special craft materials for their "creation", they should bring those materials from home on Wednesday, November 23rd. If you have extra craft supplies you are willing to donate to the class so others can use some of them, that would be appreciated as well.
Students are to come prepared Wednesday with their ideas as we will have limited time. All "work" on the creations has to be planned out so they are ready to "create" Wednesday afternoon.

Parents who volunteered to supply snacks for the celebration will receive a letter today with information. If you do not receive the letter, then you are not responsible for supplying snacks. Thanks for all the parents who volunteered to help with all our celebrations throughout the year! Awesome parent support!

We are wrapping up our first literacy theme this week and taking the end of the theme assessments. I am pleased with how the students are doing and have done! I have seen lots of growth already in the students reading. These assessments are not sent home as they are used for teacher data and information. We will start out next theme after the Thanksgiving break.

To finish up our first inquiry project, students will be working in small groups to practice and present their TV talk show sharing how Cresco has changes. I will be video taping the talk shows and posting them on the blog sometime next week. They are very excited about this, as am I. So look next week for their talk shows to be posted.

Last week I showed the students how to put pictures on their blog post. I will show them this week how to use clipart and then I think they are set to start making post from home. They had a blast last Friday using Photo Booth and posting crazy pictures on their blog pages so it was a fun way to end the week. Check them out on the student blog pages if you haven't already.

Enjoy the break with your family and happy Thanksgiving!

BURR! It's Cold Outside!

2011-11-10T10:38:00.000-06:00

Old Man Winter decided to make his appearance early this week! Wow! It is chilly! Just a quick reminder to make sure students are dressed appropriately for this weather, especially for the mornings before school. I have had some students come without coats this week, and I have had to hunt down extra coats or things for them to wear. Please help them be responsible as well as warm enough outside for the upcoming weather. I also suggested to the students to throw an extra pair of socks in their bag in case the ones they are wearing end up getting wet. We had a lot of wet socks in 3B yesterday so having extra socks and gloves/mittens is a good idea.

Some students have turned in their interviews and research for our first Inquiry Projects. Thank you so much for being responsible. Information about the project and your child's part of the project were sent home on Tuesday. Please remember to help your 3B student complete his/her portion of the project as they are due tomorrow, Friday, November 11th. We will then start putting together the different information gathered and start developing our small group presentations. Students are very excited about this type of learning! I am anxious to see what they come up with for presentations.

"Busy" is a perfect word to describe 3B lately. We are working through a variety of activities, and the days are flying by. Students are amazed when I say it is time for lunch, and they haven't even realized how quickly the morning has gone by! It is wonderful!

In math we started our new unit on measurement. Students have been introduced to measuring to the nearest half, whole, and quarter of an inch, as well as by foot and yard. We also ventured into the metric system and have looked at millimeters, centimeters, and meters. They have been measuring all over the room and having a great time doing it! Next week we will start looking into perimeter and area as well as continuing to review measurement. Even though we may not be working on addition and subtraction, it is a good idea to keep reviewing basic facts at home. Students need that constant review to get them down quickly.

Last week I showed the students how our new literacy series, Lead 21, has a "chat area" in which I can post a question or comment and the students can respond with one another via the computer. They thought they were so cool and some said they felt like they were on Facebook. :) Well, it is not Facebook but it is a way I will start posting thoughts and questions for students to think about and respond to. Information will be sent tomorrow about how to log in to Lead 21 so your child can continue to play our vocabulary games, reread material, and start "chatting" with me via the computer. If your child does not have the Internet at home, don't worry. I am going to make arrangements for those students to stop in in the morning and jump on a computer either in the classroom or our Discovery Center. We will work that out so that no one is left out or can't utilize the technology that comes with our literacy series.

Just a reminder that we have a small quiz over the oceans and continents tomorrow. A note and study sheet was sent home yesterday, on Wednesday, with information. Please review the oceans and continents with your child (even though I think they know them very well) so they are ready for the quick quiz on Friday.

I hope everyone is handling the homework that is being sent home. As I told parents at conferences, homework will be sent home more often than it was in the first quarter. While it is often small and not too time consuming, some activities that are going to start next week take a little more time. Continue to help build that responsibility in your child encouraging them to get any homework done. I appreciate your help and support!

Last comment is about book orders. Last week I sent in the book orders that students recently returned. While I usually do them online so they get sent to us quicker, I had to mail these orders in due to the fact that many checks were made out to Scholastic and not me. That is fine, it just makes it so I can't order online. Please remember that it is easier to write the check to me as I use my credit card to order the books online so they arrive quicker. Any questions, feel free to contact me. Hopefully the books will be here by the end of next week as it takes longer with mail in orders.

Have a super week and stay warm!

Great Conferences!

2011-11-03T07:58:00.003-05:00

Thank you so much to everyone for making it to conferences! It was wonderful to touch base with everyone and continue to build that home to school connection! Remember that if you ever have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me through email or a phone call.

Burr....it is suddenly very cold outside! I think we were spoiled by the warm weather and now fall/winter is fast approaching. Please remember to have your child come to school dressed accordingly as many are coming with not enough layers and freezing outside before school starts. Hats and mittens now would be a great thing as well as many are saying their hands or faces are chilly! I always hate to talk about this topic as I hate winter, but I guess we have to deal with it living in Iowa!

After a nice three day break and Halloween thrown in there we are back at it! Hopefully you all had a nice break. I jetted to New York City for three days with my family and had a wonderful time....even if it did snow on us Saturday. Luckily they only had 2-3 inches where we were and it was melted by Sunday morning so we could still take advantage of the sites of the city. We had a super time, and I hope your 3B son or daughter enjoyed eating their big lolly from Dylan's Candy Store. Yumm!

I will be sending home your child's unit 2 math assessment next Monday as there are a few yet to finish. We are jumping into measurement this week and will be on that topic for a while. We made our own class measurement tool called a "Bruno" so we can understand the reason to have standard types of measurement. The students used their "Bruno" to measure various things in the classroom and had a super time with it!

If you haven't noticed, there has been a little more homework sent home this week. I hope the students can get used to it because it probably will continue. While most are not big task to complete, there will be a larger activity sent home next Monday that connects to at home reading. I talked to many parents about this at conferences and stated that it would be sent home this week. I have decided to start it next week so look for that information next Monday or Tuesday.

Have a great week!

Parent Teacher Conferences This Week!

2011-10-23T19:52:00.002-05:00

I hope that you are enjoying the end of this beautiful weekend we had! If only it would stay like this throughout the winter. I know I would be happy. :)

I am excited to see everyone this week for parent-teacher conferences! I have lots to share and am eager to chat with all the parents! If for some reason something comes up and you can not make it to your scheduled conference time, please call the school and Linda will answer to let me know. Hopefully that won't happen, but I know things come up sometimes. Otherwise, I will see all of you this week!

We have been busy in 3B working away, as usual. The students are in a really great routine for literacy and pushing through our new literacy program. Some of the strategies and skills that we have been working on are recognizing author's purpose, determining important information, recognizing synonyms, reading fluently, understanding and using the prefix of /un/....and so much more. We have added our last component of the Daily 5, titled "Read About" and it involves listening to reading. I sent a note home last week that gave you your child's log in and password to do this online program at home at any time. I am anxious to hear if any of the students worked on it over the weekend. Students will be assigned 2 days during the week to work through the program at school during the day, but it is great if they can do it at home or the library when they have free time. I will be sending a note home soon that will explain how to get your child online to our new literacy program as they can listen to their guided reading books, play games, and do some much more there as well. Look for that to come home soon.

Addition and subtraction of large numbers is our topic in math right now. While some are getting their facts down quickly, others are not. I would encourage the students to work on their math facts at home through the online games on my blog page to continue to build the recall of their addition and subtraction facts. This will make the process of solving larger numbers with addition and subtraction a little easier. I am feeling pretty confident that they are grasping addition of large numbers fairly well so I will be sending some homework to reinforce what we have worked on the past week. Once we get through subtraction securely, I will be sending some homework home for that as well.

Last week, during our "tech time", students were shown how to make a "wordle". Some students did finish one and were able to print it in black and white. They had a great time with this online activity and will find they will be able to use it as a presentation device. The address is up in the corner of my blog page as many students wanted me to post it for them to try at home. There you go 3B. :)

Thank you for those parents who are signing off our poems the last two weeks. We are using them to work on reading fluently and reading the punctuation. I know that we started with a simple poem, but that will lay the foundation for us to continually work on fluency when reading. Thus far we have discussed the importance of rereading and reading the punctuation to build fluency. I will be sending home a note for an activity in which your 3B child needs to bring in a picture book that he/she has practiced reading fluently. They will be orally reading their book to a small group of peers to work on building fluency.

I have posted the video from our last poem called "How to Torture Your Teacher". Yes, they did get a kick out of this poem. (You will not see it on a printed copy of my blog page. You will have to go to my blog page via the internet to view.)

Enjoy and have a great week! I will see you at parent-teacher conferences!

Conferences Coming, Cool iPads, and Character Counts Week Ahead!

2011-10-13T10:46:00.001-05:00

Wow! Where does the time go? October is almost half over already.....time is just flying by. The students are so busy during the day that they don't even realize when it is lunch time or time to go home. That's a good thing! It always amazes me though how quickly time goes by.

With that being said, parent-teacher conferences are approaching. A note will be sent home next Monday sharing a time and date that have been designated as your conference for your 3B student. This is a similar format to the past and hopefully works for everyone. Please take a moment to look if the date and time set work for you to attend your child's conference. If it is fine, please sign and return the sheet stating so. If we need to reschedule to a different date and/or time, please sign and return the sheet stating so but also give me some times and/or dates that work better. I will then respond with other options until we get it all finalized. Parent-teacher conferences are the last full week of October on Monday, October 24th, and Thursday, October 27th. There is no school on Friday, October 28th.

Last week I commented that I would be sending the math tests that were done last week home with the students. I have decided to hold onto them until parent teacher conferences to discuss them and cover some information. I will also be holding on to the students' science tests until conferences as well. Just wanted to let everyone know that.

We have been lucky to have some iPads in our classroom this past week. I am working on a grant to get some to permanently stay in our 3B classroom, but for now, we will share the ones the district has. I have my personal one that I also let the students use at various times. Needless to say, they are loving using them! We have done a few apps in math titled "Rocket Math" and "Mad Minute" as well as some apps that go with our Everyday Math series. I also used one to show pictures of some "gross" stuff we have been reading about (hopefully your child shared what we read about mites..yuck!) through an app titled "Mini-Monsters". They LOVED looking at these microscopic creatures and being grossed out! I have posted a few pictures of some of the students working on the iPads this week. Great learning!

Next week is Character Counts Week! I am sending home a note today that covers each day and what the students can wear to celebrate. It is a great week of being reminded of the importance of having good character. Can't wait to see all the great hats, crazy socks, and school colors! Take a look at the note from Mrs. McCabe to explain what the focus color is and activities for next week!

Thanks again to all the parents, relatives, and friends who are commenting on the student blogs! It is amazing how their faces light up when they check their blog to read all the comments! Thank you and keep it up. Soon, students will be able to blog from home as well or before school. More on that later...

Remember to keep reading for Book-It. We don't have lots of homework in 3B, just a few things here and there, so it is important for the students to continue building their reading skills and strategies by reading at home. If you have questions or concerns, feel free to call me. Remember that even books they are reading for Title 1 or from Mrs. Watt count towards Book-It. Students can also take books from our classroom library home to read as well....So, keep reading!

Have a super week and enjoy the sunshine!

Upcoming Science Test and Book-It!

2011-10-04T10:33:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! Sorry it has been a while since my last blog post. 3B has been so busy that I have not had much of a chance to sit down and blog. Are you wondering what we have been doing?

Thanks to all the parents, grandparents, relatives, etc. who have commented on our student blog pages. Last week most of the students posted about Homecoming week (some still need to finish) so I hope you get a chance to read them and comment as well. Please share our blog pages with relatives and friends...the more the better....as students love to look at who commented and what they said. We will continue to blog throughout the year about various different topics, sharing writing, reflections, and posting videos. Exciting! Last week I showed the students how to change the color, and they were beyond excited! So keep checking those blogs and commenting! We have also started working through a keyboarding program to help speed the process as well.

Yesterday a calendar for Book-It was sent home. This is a reading incentive sponsored by Pizza Hut. While 3B has not had a lot of homework yet, one thing I encourage all students to do is read at home. We have had a lot of discussions about the importance of reading and so I am hoping students are reading at home. With the Book-It program, I went over with the students today how to fill out the calendar for the month working towards the goal of 200 minutes. If students read more than 200 minutes, super! Don't return the calendar until the end of the month and then total the minutes read. While I hope that all students participate, I can not "require" all students to do so. For those that participate each month, a gift certificate for a free personal pan pizza is given each month they meet the goal. Those students that return their calendar every month and meet or surpass their goal will celebrate in April with a pizza party supplied by me, Mrs. Kerian!!! I am hoping that I have all my students involved in the big celebration in April so get reading!!!!

I am also sending home some science today to start reviewing vocabulary words for our upcoming science test. The test will start on Friday covering the vocabulary words and continue on to Monday with testing concepts, but I would like the students to slowly start preparing. For tonight, I would like the students to study the vocabulary words from the science text as well as finish any words in their illustrated picture dictionaries they do not have done. You, as parents, can help by going over the words with the students as well, making sure they know the meaning of all the words in color or bold in the book. Please return the materials to school tomorrow so that we can do some reviewing with an activity. I will then send them home again tomorrow night as well as the following evenings. I have spoke to the students about starting to study and how to study as this is their first real "3rd grade test". I know they will do fine.

We recently finished our first math assessment last week. I will be sending them home as well tomorrow or Thursday so be looking for them. I would like the parents to sign the assessment and return it to school with your 3B student.

The students are also well into our "word works" routine. Most of us would call this "spelling". You may have noticed a word list that came home last week. These list will be sent home on Fridays or Mondays showing how your 3B student did on his/her most recent "word works" test, which we have every Friday. If you are curious what words your child has selected for the week, his/her words will come home every Tuesday or Wednesday on a sheet titled "Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check". This is our practice sheet done on Tuesdays. If you choose, you can work with your child to review his/her words before the test on Friday. We do work on the words every day in class, but I have found that many parents want to know what the words are ahead of time so they can work with their child at home. That is super! I will explain our 5 day routine of "word works" in more detail later on in the week.

We are fully into literacy and guided reading is going wonderfully. Students are being responsible readers and writers as well as discussers. I am anxious to share some great information at the upcoming conferences at the end of October.

Enjoy the beautiful week of sunshine and fall colors. I wish it would stay this way for a few more months.....I can only hope! Have a great week!

Damselfly, Daphnia, and Aphids......Predator-Prey Relationships

2011-09-19T09:15:00.000-05:00

It is hard for me to believe that September is almost over and October is almost here! Time goes by so quickly. The weather last week sure made it feel like fall was approaching. I had some students very chilly at recess so please remember to dress your child in layers. It is much chillier in the morning before school than it may be during 2:00 recess. It does sound like this week is suppose to be very nice! I am just not quite ready for fall and winter so a few more nice days would be wonderful!

We continue to be very busy in 3B! There are lots of activities going on, and the students are working hard! I am so impressed with their overall behavior and dedication to learning. It makes my job so much easier to have the students I do so thank you! They are fabulous!!!!

If your 3B child did not tell you, we started our MISIC test (also known as MAPs test) last Friday. Students in 3rd grade are taking three test: language, reading, and math. Today, Monday, we are taking the reading portion of the test followed by math on Tuesday. Then we will be done! I have been giving the students yummy "brain food" in the morning as it is hard to come to school and have a big test already at 8:45, but that is what was scheduled for 3B. They have been doing a fabulous job, trying hard, and taking their time. When completed, the students' test scores will be analyzed and used to determine goals and obtain information about the students as well as each grade. I am sure the students will be glad to be done tomorrow, even though one said to me today, "I like having MAPs test in the morning because we get yummy brain food!". :)

Science continues to be a favorite time of day for 3B. Our latest "guest" have been daphnia, damselfly nymphs, and we continue to monitor our aphids, fruit flies, and ants. Last Friday, we discussed the concept of "predator-prey" relationships and watched what happen when we put the daphnia with the damselfly nymphs. The students will realize later today when they check the population of each that one of them no longer exist in the their containers. Our fruit fly population has tripled so there has been lots of discussion about why that has happened, as well as our aphid population. Our last visitor will be introduced this week and will show another "predator-prey" relationship that we will focus on as we continue to build our knowledge about plant and animal populations. Below is a picture of what the daphnia and damselfly nymphs look like.

damselfly

daphnia (enlarged)

We are wrapping up unit 1 in math, which reviewed concepts from last year. Students will begin taking the unit 1 assessments this week. No material will be sent home for students to use to study. I just wanted to let you know where we are at. Unit 1 covered such areas/topics as time, place value, number grids, skip counting, and money.

Thank you so much for participating and publishing a piece of writing for our individual books about ourselves. This was a new project 3rd grade decided to do this year, and the students have loved it! If you have not returned your "homework" to publish and illustrate your part about your 3B child, please do so and return as soon as possible! We are finishing up today and tomorrow, and I would like to put their individual books together this week. We will be moving into an activity with clay to look at how writing is like art and connect the writing process to art in our upcoming lessons.

The students went through their first "practice" week of word works. This is another component of our literacy that is similar to "spelling". I will be making a post explaining each days' activities to foster retention and understanding of our "word list words" so that you as parents know what your child is working on in word works and when you can look for his/her list to come home so you can practice the words together. Last week was a practice run, this week is the "real thing". :)

Just a reminder that this week we have a 3 hour early out for teacher inservice. Please be sure your 3B child knows where he/she is suppose to be going that day.

Enjoy the week and make it a great one!

How Full is Your Bucket?

2011-09-15T16:50:00.000-05:00

our "bucket filling bulletin board"

"Each of us has an invisible bucket. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When it's empty, we feel awful. Yet most children, and many adults, don't realize the importance of having a full bucket throughout the day."

This is what is written on the inside cover of the book titled How Full is your Bucket?. This is a wonderful book about a boy named Felix who begins to see how ever interaction during the day either fills or empties his bucket. He realizes that filling someone else's bucket also fills his own. I read this book to the students one of the first days of school, and you probably saw the buckets hanging on the bulletin board the night of Open House. Well, we have been putting these buckets to good use since then and the students are giving out lots of "bucket fillers" every day! I am so pleased with their comments and how they are treating one another both in the classroom and out. Every day the students have a chance to verbally give "bucket fillers" as well as written ones. I thought I would enclose a picture of the "buckets" at the end of the day today. While it is not important how MANY everyone gets, what is more important is that everyone is giving them, which means they are also receiving them as well.

If you have not read the book, I suggest you do. It is a picture book that has a lot of meaning to it. I hope the students always remember what it means to "fill someone's bucket" no matter where they are. :)

September 11th Human Flag

2011-09-14T12:32:00.000-05:00

In honor of September 11th, 2001, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students at Crestwood Elementary made a human flag to commemorate the 10th anniversary of this day in our history. The picture says it all......

3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students at Crestwood Elementary

Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!

2011-09-12T07:50:00.000-05:00

Science is turning into the favorite part of the day, and the kids are loving it! They are so engaged and excited about all our "visitors" that they can't wait for science to start, which is the last part of the day. In case your 3B child has not told you, our most recent visitors are fruit flies. Students are watching their populations grow and decline as well as the various stages of a fruit flies life cycle. Besides that, our plants are growing like crazy and we will be meeting our next "guest" tomorrow. Wonder what it will be?

I am posting some pictures from our recent "field trip" outside to explore plants and animals around our school grounds. This gave us good data to talk about what we saw more of, plants or animals, and further our discussion on "organisms". The pictures are pretty cute if I do say so myself. :)

Other things that have been happening are we have launched our "work on writing" as well as "read to someone" last week. Students are building their stamina and continue to improve showing me they are ready to jump into guided reading. We will continue with building our "read to someone strategies" this week as well as launch "word works". Next week, we will be ready for total literacy and Daily 5 time! Can't wait!

Last Friday we had some wonderful discussions about September 11th. The students are very curious about that day and we had some emotion as well, including from the teacher. I hope you had some time this weekend to watch some of the TV episodes about September 11th and have further discussions with your 3rd grade student. Our discussion will continue today and tomorrow as well. We will be creating a human flag with the 4th and 5th graders today in memory of September 11th. Look for pictures of that to be posted soon!

We are wrapping up unit 1 in math. We have some discussion and lessons to cover on making change, reviewing number grids, and then we are looking at unit 1 assessment. There is no real way to study for these assessments so don't be looking for your 3B child to bring something home to study. Just a reminder though that there are many online games posted on my blog page that students can work on to reinforce concepts we are working on in school. I know there are a few students who have been using them outside of class. Super!

Elementary students will also be starting MAPs testing soon. I think it is next week, but I am not sure of the schedule yet. These are the district assessments that students take online at the beginning of the year and the end of the year to show growth. Look for a letter from Mrs. Sovereign or comments from myself to be sent home soon. No need to stress about them.....all we ask is that students try their best.

Have a great week! Enjoy the day as it sounds like a cool front is moving in!

Busy Week Ahead!

2011-09-06T08:19:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed your 3 day weekend. Mine was perfect as we had a wedding Friday night and then spent the rest of the weekend at the Kerian family cabin up by Mankato. Had lots of fun tubing and kneeboarding.....and trying to stay warm! Now it is time to wake up! :)

We have a busy week ahead with lots going on. To start with, I wanted to make a comment about book orders. I am sending home our first book order for the year. There are four different orders stapled together that your 3B child should have brought home today. If you are ordering from book orders, please fill out each individual order form for the books you are selecting. Return only the book orders you are ordering from. You may then write a check to me, Kim Kerian, or pay cash. The reason the check should be made out to me is that I order the books online so they come faster and use my credit card to pay for them so making the check out to me saves a lot of time. There are some wonderful books in the book orders so hopefully you will find something your 3B child would enjoy to read. Please return the book orders with the money by this Friday so that I can order them this coming weekend.

We had our first shipment of "mystery objects" arrive last week for science. Sadly, they did not survive. (We never have any luck with this shipment). Hopefully your 3B student shared with you our discovery of "sea monkeys", properly known as "brine shrimp". Even though our sea monkeys did not hatch, the students did see a video of the animals hatching and growing. There is a picture below to show what they looked like.

We will have more "arrivals" throughout the next few weeks and hopefully they will all survive. :) Last Friday we planted various seeds so that we have some "food" for one of the "mystery objects" arriving. Wonder what it is?

We are wrapping up our first unit on math soon. It has been basically review or 2nd grade concepts, and I am very impressed with the math skills in 3B! Wow!

Last week we also launched the second part of Daily 5 in literacy known as "Work on Writing". Everyone was very anxious to get writing and already have their stamina up to 10 minutes on the first day! Awesome! We will continue to work on building our "Read to Self" stamina as I wrap up beginning of the year assessments this week.

Thank you to everyone for returning their "parent homework" and writing about their 3B student. We are having a super time creating our own versions of Who is Melvin Bubble so much that the students don't want to stop writing in the morning. That is a super thing to see! I enjoyed reading your comments about your student, and they were full of smiles that mom and/or dad took the time to participate in this activity! So fun! We should have the published copy soon......but their may be one more step for you, the parents, to do at home so be ready.

Have a super week! Remember it is chilly in the morning so remind your child to bring a coat or sweatshirt as they stand outside for quite a while before school.

3B's Favorites for the Week

2011-09-02T15:10:00.000-05:00

Carter: Guidance with Mrs. McCabe
River: Math
Trey: science activities with the brine shrimp
Taylor: Guidance with Mrs. McCabe
Christian: laffy taffy jokes
Jasmine: science activities
Summer: guidance
Lauren: guidance
Katia: planting our seeds in science
Morgan: having the class together with her
Nicole: guidance
Dylan: the whole week!
Karissa: Melvin Bubble writing activity
Connor: Melvin Bubble writing activity
Haylee: guidance
Alyssa: planting our seeds
Kassie: art
Mrs. Kerian: we made it to 10 minutes on work on writing the first day!

We are sad that we have a student moving today! His name is Christian and we will miss him as he moves to Decorah. Hopefully we will see him sometime soon or he will come and visit! Good luck Christian! 3B will miss you!

Everything is Going Awesome!

2011-08-30T10:34:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to touch base with everyone and let you know that things in 3B are going wonderful! We have been busy already this week with various activities and jumping into curriculum. Here are a few of the activities we have been working on:
   * We are well into our Morning Meeting routine. I will be sending a parent not home soon that tells about the Morning Meeting and how it builds class climate and "belonging" within a classroom. We start our day every morning with this routine, and it usually becomes the students' favorite part of the day.
   * Today we will be looking at our first "mystery object" in science as introduction to our plants and animals unit. The students are anxiously waiting for more "bugs" to arrive that we will be observing and learning about. There are obviously a lot of "science lovers" in 3B!
   * Our first chapter in math is a review chapter over concepts in 2nd grade. Yesterday we reviewed making a bar graph from data gathered. Today we will be reviewing "name collection boxes". Students are working very hard in math and loving all the games and challenges that go along with it!
   * We had built our "read to self" stamina up to 16 minutes last Friday but feel back a little yesterday to 11 minutes. (Students were tired Monday morning). This week we will continue to work on building our stamina, doing some assessments to start guided reading, as well as various mini lessons on book selection, what is reading, and starting "work on writing".
   * Our "technology focus" this week is on podcasting. I have shown the students how to use a program called "Garageband" to record their reading (and do other things). Today we did a reading of a book titled How I Spent My Summer through a podcast. Students will be making their own podcast this Friday.

Remember that there are various online activities on the right side of my blog page (one titled "Give a Dog a Bone") and others on my webpage that students can use to build their skills while having fun.

Those are just a few of the activities we have been working on. It has been a great start to the school year! The students are considerate and doing a nice job "filling each other's buckets" instead of "dipping into them". I am very proud of each and every one of my 3B kiddos!!!!

Have a great week!

3B's Favorites of the First Full Week

2011-08-26T15:04:00.000-05:00

Katia: The liquid experiment in science
River: Math
Lauren: Learning keyboarding
Morgan: Keyboarding
Kassie: Going to art
Christian: The liquid experiment
Nicole: going to all our specials
Alyssa: The liquid experiment
Connor: Learning keyboarding
Karissa: Liquid experiment
Jasmine: Recess
Summer: The liquid experiment
Taylor: keyboarding
Dylan: the WHOLE week
Trey: The WHOLE week
Carter: Taking pictures with digital camera in math
Dameon: PE
Haylee: Music
Mrs. Kerian: watching all the students "fill each other's buckets"

Great week!

Scientific Method - Mixing or Layering Liquids

2011-08-25T10:40:00.000-05:00

I am sure your 3B child has chatted with you about our introduction activity in science. I posed a question to them as to what cranberry juice, blue Gatorade, and Diet 7-up would do when they were poured on ice. This was the basis for our question about liquids layering or mixing. The students made a "hypothesis" about what they thought would happen and observations along the way. To test other liquids, the students brought in their own to test with small groups. They were beyond excited and it was super cool! Now we need to find out why some layered and some mixed....that will be our discussion today.

I wanted to share some pictures of the students' findings. I received some emails from parents last night saying how excited their child was to discuss the activity! That is awesome!

Numbers All Around!

2011-08-22T16:39:00.001-05:00

Today in math the students were not only mathematicians, but they were photographers as well. They were each given a chance to walk around the school taking pictures of various places there are numbers. I thought I would post a few here to show what photos were taken by the students in 3B. They did an excellent job and had a lot of fun in the process!

A Full Week Ahead! YIPPEEEE!!!

2011-08-21T22:35:00.001-05:00

It's 10:30 PM and I am planning for our first full Monday tomorrow. There is always so much to do in 3rd grade! We have had a lot of fun the first few days of school, and I know that will continue! While there are still a few "basic routines" we have to finish, we are jumping into a lot of subject areas this week. I know the students are anxious to start math, science, and literacy as they have asked when we are going to get rolling. So let's get to it!

Some of the activities that are coming up are exploring the scientific method through a great liquid activity, using the digital camera to find all the different ways numbers are used in the world and in our building, and jumping into the Daily 5 as well as our district's new literacy program. I am also going to be showing the students how to practice their keyboarding skills (this is currently something the district expects 3rd grade students to begin) through an online program that the students can access anywhere anytime via the internet.

I am sending home a sheet today that I meant to send home last week. It is giving permission for your student to utilize the internet and for me to post pictures etc. on the internet of our class. I apologize that I did post pictures from the Open House without parental permission, even though no names were given in the pictures. It was purely overlooked and a mistake on my part. Sorry about that! Please know that if you do not want to have your child's pictures etc. on the internet, they will be removed immediately! Please sign and return the sheet as soon as possible.

I also sent an email the other day to the parents who gave me their email addresses. Some of your addresses are not working and therefore the email was sent back to me. I will be contacting some of you to verify the email that you gave me is correct so that we can continue to chat and keep communication open between home and school!

Again, thanks for sharing your child with me. They are getting into a great routine and have wonderfully big hearts! We have had a lot of discussions on how this is "OUR classroom" and we work "TOGETHER" to make it a great year!

Meet the Stars of 3B!

2011-08-19T16:02:00.001-05:00

Favorites of First Two Days

2011-08-19T14:53:00.000-05:00

Here are what the students each had to say about their favorite part of the first two days:

Dameon: Recess
Morgan: Going to Art
Lauren: Recess
Carter: Recess
River: Loved the whole two days!
Katia: Lunch
Connor: Skittles Activity
Summer: Recess
Karissa: Doing all the activities
Kassandra: recess
Taylor: sorting our materials
Nicole: Recess
Dylan: Everything on both days
Haylee: Art
Jasmine: Recess
Christian: Art
Alyssa: seeing my friends
Mrs. Kerian: meeting all my new 3B students!

First Day Wordle......Fabulous Day!

2011-08-18T16:27:00.002-05:00

Our first day was amazing! I know it is going to be super year!

Enjoy the Wordle the students made about our first day together! (click on it to make it larger!)

End of the Year Activities!

2011-05-18T10:27:00.000-05:00

Well, it looks like the end is nearing. Students in 3B have been working so hard to prepare for their Hall of Fame today, finish up some guided reading/book clubs, and wrap up a bunch of assessments before the year is over. I can't believe May is almost over!

Remember the "Used Book Bonanza" that is going on right now. Send in your slightly used books and help build the classroom libraries. They can be dropped off at the elementary any morning or during the day starting today thru next Wednesday. Thanks for supporting the school and building the teacher's libraries! I already had some students bring some books in today, and they were so proud of "giving" and "contributing". Excellent!

I thought I should mention a few upcoming events for everyone before I forget.

1. Students brought their social studies book home along with vocabulary cards yesterday for our assessments on Thursday and Friday. I am planning on getting most of it done Thursday, but some students may go into Friday. We, 3rd grade teachers, decided not to send a study guide because many 4th grade teachers do not give out study guides so we would like the 3rd graders to study without one in preparation of next year. I did have a study "session" with the students yesterday and went over a large majority of the unit so I know they will be fine. Please encourage your child to continue studying his/her vocabulary cards as well as key concepts in the unit. Return your child's book, not the cards, to school on Thursday.

2. If your child has any books checked out to read at home from my classroom library, I would like them returned by next Wednesday, May 25th.

3. We will be having a "Writer's Workshop Social" next Wednesday, May 25th at 2:30 for students in 3B and 3C to share their writing from throughout the year and celebrate being an author. Those parents who volunteered to supply snacks for our last "Character Counts Celebration" will be receiving a note to supply snacks for this gathering (3B and 3C will be seperate). I will be sending more information about this on Friday or Monday but I wanted to give you a heads up so that you can make arrangements with work. Students will also be cleaning out lockers with their parents after the "Writer's Workshop Social" so that is one less thing to do at the end of the week. Please bring plastic bags along as many students have lots of "stuff" in their lockers to go home.

4. We will celebrate our Cadet Pride with having a cook-out lunch next Thursday, May 26th. Students will have a picnic lunch to celebrate earning tickets and the lunch will be provided by the school. I think they are grilling hotdogs and supplying all the "yummies" to go with it. Great job 3B on showing Cadet Pride throughout the year!

5. On Thursday, May 26th, the 3rd graders will be going to East Park at 1:30-3:00 to celebrate the end of the year. A note will be sent home next week asking students to each bring a beverage (water, juice, etc) for this. Look for that next week.

6. Our year will wrap up with "Track and Field" activities on Friday, May 27th from 9:00-10:30. Various stations will be set up for classes to rotate through and enjoy. If you are free and willing to help, I know the committee planning the activities could use some volunteers that day. Let me know if you are free to volunteer and I will let the committee know.

7. There is a book fair that will be held next week as well. A flier was sent home with the students sharing the information as far as times and dates. It will be set up in the Discovery Center at the elementary.

So, as you can see, there is a lot going on! I am pleased that the students are hanging in there and working hard with everything yet. Report cards will be sent home with your child the last day of school as many parents have inquired about them.

Next Monday will be my last blog post for the year. I will also be sending DVDs home with each child sharing the pictures and memories from throughout 3rd grade. This will hopefully be sent home next Wednesday as well. It will be put in a movie form with music and many kids can't wait to get their hands on it. I am currently working on putting it together already and have shed many tears.

Enjoy the sunshine this week!

Fun Field Trip!

2011-05-18T10:12:00.000-05:00

I am sure your 3B child shared with you how wonderful our field trip was last week so I won't go into all the detail. We had a super time (although it was very quick). Hopefully some of you will return with your child/children to enjoy the eagles and toys.

Here are a few pictures of the students with the eagles. Sorry if I don't have everyone.

Field Trip...This Friday! Walking Taco...Thursday! Fun Times Ahead!

2011-05-09T17:03:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! Did you enjoy the sunshine we had this past weekend? We were definitely due to have a nice weekend after all of the "yuck" we have been having. I was down in Kansas City for my daughter's basketball tournament and it was 90+ degrees on Saturday! My body wasn't used to those warm temps yet but it was very nice!

As the title states, we have our field trip coming up this Friday. Just a reminder to send back the blue paper that was included in the packet of information about the field trip sent home last Thursday. The blue slip needs to be returned stating who will be dropping the child off at the bus so we can leave around 7:30. Again, if your child is late and the buses pull out, your child is still expected to attend school and will do work in the office. (Let's hope that doesn't happen!). Your 3B child should have brought home a packet of information with details about the field trip. Hopefully you have seen it by now. If not, please call me or email me as soon as possible. We are looking forward to a wonderful trip!

Those that completed mastering all of their multiplication facts will celebrate with a "Walking Taco" party this Thursday at 2:30! Those children who earned the celebration may also bring a beverage to drink with them to school on Thursday. We will be eating yummy walking tacos and having some fun to celebrate. If your child did not master his/her facts, they will work on something else during this time. Sorry....it won't be as fun.

Our Hall of Fame presentations will be next Tuesday, May 17th, from 2:30-3:15 in the Discovery Center (library). Students need to have their costumes to school by Monday, May 16th, for a dress rehearsal. I will also be sending their oral presentations home this week to practice every night. Please encourage them to practice a lot, working towards memorizing their presentations the best they can. We will also be sharing our Animoto book trailers (I know some of you have seen them already at home. Aren't they cool?). Hope to see you next Tuesday from 2:30-3:15. Stop in anytime as it is kind of like a "come and go" event. :)

We are finishing up a unit in social studies this week so look for study materials to come home towards the end of the week with the assessment to be next Monday or Tuesday. A note will be sent home with the materials to let you know exactly. I just want to give you a "heads up" to be looking.

Enjoy the week and warm weather!

Very Important Information! The Good and the Bad

2011-05-02T09:42:00.000-05:00

It looks like it might try to start acting more like spring now that May has hit. Too bad it has been a cold and rainy month of April, although it has kept the students a little calmer. Well, May is here. The countdown begins. The students and I were just discussing all that we have to get done this month, and it is A LOT!

The students are working hard on their biography projects. They have started writing their presentations, learned how to download pictures and photos from the Internet, and today we start using the Flip Camera to make videos and learn how to upload video to our laptops. There are a lot of preparation steps to do before we can begin making our Animoto "Book Trailer" that is similar to a movie trailer. The students are loving it, who doesn't love learning new technology? We are aiming to have all activities complete by Thursday, May 12th. I would like to then have a dress rehearsal on Monday, May 16th. That is when students must have their costumes, props, and materials ready. We will go through it as if the parents were here watching. I am then aiming to have the Hall of Fame and inviting parents, grandparents, etc. sometime on Tuesday, May 17th. It will probably be the last hour of the day, but I am still checking on some schedules. So what I need the students to start doing at home is gathering their costumes together and any props they would like to have out. Soon, you will be seeing the students bring home their oral presentations to practice as well. They need to be responsible to practice at home as it is nice to have much of the oral presentations memorized.

Start thinking of what your child needs for his/her costume that represents the person he/she read about and have it ready by May 16th. Thank you. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.

Next Friday is our big field trip to Wabasha, Wisconsin. With this field trip, students will need to arrive at school before a "normal day", as the buses will pull out at 7:30. To make you aware of this and start planning, there will be many sheet sent home this Thursday with information about the upcoming field trip. Please be looking for those sheets of information as some of them need to be returned to the school with signatures. The information will include departure times, what is allowed on bus, medication forms, etc. Please be looking for those this Thursday. Our three chaperones for this trip are Emma's mom, Libby's mom, and Kailyn's mom, with Madison's mom as a possibility if we need her. Thank you to those parents who volunteered to go along! It's going to be a super time!

My last comment is one I am sad to have to talk about again, but it is needed. The students may have told you that the last two weeks I have been gone some days due to district meetings (April is a crazy month of meetings). Anyway, last week when I was gone a day, the behavior of many 3B students was very disrespectful and rude towards that sub and classmates. There was a lot of arguing, shouting, attacks made towards each other, rude/bully games being played at recess, and just disrespect to her and other classmates. It was not just "one or two" students, it was a majority. Mrs. McCabe was involved in some discussions, and the students and I had a beneficial chat when I returned Friday morning. I believe it is all about choices, as many of these things do not happen unless their is a sub. The students know better than to do many of the things that did happen. So, after my talk with the students and with Mrs. Sovereign as well, she and I have decided that if there are any more behaviors or problems that occur involving disrespect, threating, bullying, irresponsibility, those students demonstrating those problems WILL NOT go on the field trip next Friday. I have discussed this with the students. They know Mrs. Sovereign is supporting this because the behaviors demonstrated by many while I was gone last Thursday were extremely rude. If your child is not allowed to go on the field trip due to his/her behavior demonstrated, I will be sure to give you a call, as I would anyway. Your child will then attend school for the normal hours and sit in the office or Mr. Wiley's classroom working on schoolwork all day. It will NOT be a day to stay home and have off!

I hate to go this route, but the behavior of some students needs to stop and Mrs. Sovereign feels there needs to be a consequence. I agree.

I must say that it was not all students.

Hopefully we can pull through this idea of "goofing off and bullying" when Mrs. Kerian is gone to meetings as these behaviors don't happen when I am here. It totally does break my heart to know I have a great class and return to comments left by a sub that show they were not "that great". Disappointing is a better word. I have one more meeting next week....hopefully it will all go smoothly. Crossing my fingers.

One a different note, the upcoming "Walking Taco" party will be held in the near future for those students who made it. Once I set a date with the other 3rd grade teachers, we will be sending a note home to let you know.
Have a great week and enjoy the sunshine.

It's Crunch Time! Field Trip, Hall of Fame, Walking Taco Party

2011-04-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

I hope you all enjoyed your nice, long weekend! Although the weather was not perfect, as is today, but it was nice to have a little time to relax with family and friends. Now...back at it!

Hopefully everyone returned their Biography Project today. We will be starting to write our presentations today as well as start experimenting with downloading pictures for our Animoto movies. We were suppose to have one of the computer labs to use all week, but Jr. High is not done with MAPs testing so we will have to wait a week to start. :( If your child did not bring his/her biography project (book and notes) back today, please do so tomorrow so he/she does not get behind. Look for more information in the future about attending our Hall of Fame to meet these wonderful people of the past.

The deadline for mastering your multiplication facts is this Friday. I will try and squeeze in a lot of testing, as will my senior seminar student, before the end of the week. So....there are A LOT of students who have a long ways to go. I hope there are many more who will be able to participate in our "Walking Taco" party! Keep practicing those facts!

This Friday we will be taking a small field trip to Vernon to participate in various stations/activities for Arbor Day. Although at this time the weather sounds great, please pay attention to the forecast. It is recommended that students dress in layers, as it starts out chilly and may warm up throughout the day. Students should NOT wear shorts, capris, or open toed shoes! Please wear jeans or running pants and tennis shoes. Students may bring hats if they would like as well. We will be taking sack lunches from the school so students do not have to worry about bringing a lunch from home. Depending on the weather, you may want to be sure to put sunscreen on your child if he/she burns easily. If it is sunny and not muddy, we will be outside for most of the day.

Have a great week and stay warm!

So Much To Do.....Time Running Quickly!

2011-04-11T09:41:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday 3B family! I hope you enjoyed the warm weekend and had some fun outside. It was nice to have all of that sunshine, but I did not enjoy the thunderstorms (although the lightning was amazing!).

Well, the middle of April is fast approaching and before we know it, it will be the end of May. Time is going by so quickly. With that being said, we have a lot of things to touch base on. I will briefly discuss some of the following:

   * MAPs testing is done for 3B with the exception of 3 students who were absent and need
   to do make-up tests today. The students tried hard and did very well overall! You will see
   your child's results at the end of the year when scores are sent home with report cards.

   * Students have until the end of April to earn their "Walking Taco" party by mastering all
   their multiplication facts. This is the time to push through them and work hard!

   * I mentioned last week that 3B will be taking a field trip to Lark Toy Museum and the
   Eagle Museum in Wabasha on Friday, May 13th. I have had two parents volunteer to be
   chaperones and am looking for one more. If you are interested, please email me or call
   me. If we have more than three parents interested, their names will go into a hat and three
   names will be drawn. If you are interested, please let me know by the end of the week
   so that those parents going will have ample time to let employers know in case they need
   to take the day off.

   * We will be having our "pizza party" for those students who returned their Book-It calendars
   all six months. I am glad to say that this will include almost half the class! Yeah! We will
   be having our pizza next Tuesday, April 19th. Those students who returned their
   calendars will have lunch with me as I will provide Pizza Hut pizza as well as a beverage.
   Those children who did not make it all six months will have lunch in the cafeteria with
   one of the other 3rd grade teachers supervising.

   * Biography Reading - Hopefully you have all started working on reading and taking notes
   for our upcoming biography project. Just a reminder that the students should have their
   book read and notes taken by April 25th. That is all they have to do at home. We will
   write our presentation and work on our video using Animoto at school. So....keep
   reading. Remember to return the book with the notes on April 25th!

   * You will see that I am sending lots of papers home today. Two of the pieces coming home
   are your child's last science assessment on Force and Motion as well as your child's
   unit assessment for math for geometry. I do not need these back or signed, but I just wanted
   to call your attention to them to take a look at them.

Thank you for signing and returning my letter about responsibility that I sent home last week. I appreciate your help and cooperation with this as it was becoming a big, big problem. Together we are stronger than alone! So thank you!

Enjoy the week! Keep reading and taking notes with your 3B child on his/her biography. It will be due before you know it.

Hello Strangers! Where is Mrs. Kerian?

2011-04-04T09:41:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. I know it has been a long time since I have posted a blog. Life is pretty crazy right now in Mrs. Kerian's world, with committees, kids' schedules, and life, so I do apologize. You haven't been forgotten. :)

As the note sent last week from Mrs. Sovereign stated, we will be starting MAPs testing today. To help the students understand the importance of these tests, they have each set goals in which they would like to reach for each of the four test given (math, reading, language and science). Students will be working hard to take ownership in increasing their scores from the fall, which I have no doubt in my mind they will. Please help out this week by making sure that your child eats a healthy breakfast and gets enough rest at night. We will be starting test today and continue on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me. It is also very helpful to schedule dentist or doctor appointments around these testing days so that the children can take the test with their classmates and feel comfortable. Thanks for you help and cooperation!

I thought I needed to make a comment about lunches. I realize that I am not the one paying for everyone's lunches, nor do I feel everyone should eat all of their lunch every day. We all don't like everything on a school lunch. I do feel I have MANY students not eating ANYTHING at lunch and just wanted to post a quick comment about it. Please discuss with your child the importance of eating lunch, what they like, so they can have some "brain power" for the afternoon. When I see a child take ketchup for their fries, but they don't eat any, I do encourage them to eat some as it appears if the intentions were there. Some of the students are not happy with me when I say, "You took ketchup for your fries so please eat 5," but I do worry that they are not eating anything. Again, I do not say, "You must clean your plate" or even close. Just want to make sure they get some nourishment in their system. I hope you do not think I am overstepping on anyone's toes. I don't want it to appear that way. I just want parents to be aware that many students are not eating anything for lunch. Part of the issue is our time to eat is short and many students want to socialize. Don't we all? :) So please have a chat with your 3B students just to remind them of the importance of food for "brain power".

A fun activity the students will be starting tomorrow is our biography project. (I mentioned this a month ago but we ran into some problems with the computers). We have been reading and discussing biographies and autobiographies in depth. Now the students are ready to read and prepare for our activity we call the "Hall of Fame". They are very excited about it. I am excited as well because we are trying something new this year with a computer program called "Animoto". So... please look for information to be sent home with your child tomorrow as well as a contract and a book to read. Fun times!!!

The Crestwood 3rd graders will venture north on their "big" field trip in May. We are going to Lark Toys in Kellogg and an Eagle Museum in Wabasha on May 13, 2011. This is a Friday (yes, we are crazy for taking kids on a field trip on Friday the 13th!). Each class is taking along 3 chaperones. If you are interested in going along, please email me or call me to let me know. If I have more than 3 parents volunteer to chaperone, all names will go in a hat to be drawn fairly. The kids are excited and there will be more information shared as the day approaches.

We wrapped up our unit in science on Force and Motion. I still have one student who missed part of the test who needs to finish but I hope to get those assessments sent home this week with students. Some parents have been anxiously waiting for those results. I will be putting letter grades on the assessments (some parts) so that students can see what type of grade they would have gotten if they were in 4th grade. (Trying to prepare them for 4th grade). We started our next unit in social studies on "communities" as well.

Congratulations to the few people who have earned the "Walking Taco" party by knowing all their multiplication facts. Students have until the end of April to master all their facts and participate in the Walking Taco party. Keep practicing! Taylor comes over to do assessments every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! You can do it!

Have a great week!

Kryslynn's Book Review of Captain Fact Space Adventures

2011-03-17T16:16:00.001-05:00

Rachel's Review of Little House in the Big Woods

2011-03-17T16:14:00.001-05:00

Libby's Video Book Review of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

2011-03-17T16:13:00.001-05:00

Emma's Book Review of Geronimo Stilton

2011-03-17T16:11:00.001-05:00

Tech Open House this Friday!

2011-03-14T07:59:00.000-05:00

Wow! Time is just slipping by so quickly. We have been so busy the last few weeks. Throw that in with a snow day and we are left with lots to do. Before we know it, April will be here and we will be looking at nearing the end of the school year.

A note was sent home last week inviting you to our Tech Open House this Friday, March 18th from 6-7 PM. Students can bring their parents into their classroom and share what teachers have set up for the evening. This can be using the smartboard, anything with lap tops, math games, science activities, and other uses of technology. I have many things for the students to share this Friday so I hope that you will take some time to stop in 3B and see what they have to show you!!!! There will also be a Book Fair in the Discovery Center (so bring those checkbooks) held by the PTO as well as cookies and punch. Hope to see you with your 3B student this Friday!!!!!!

I also mentioned in my last post that I would be sending an activity on biographies home soon. Due to MAPS testing coming up in April and lack of computers available, I had to push that activity back a month so look for more information to be sent home next week. Without going into detail, this activity revolves around reading a biography and using a computer program called Animoto to create a digital story of the person from the biography. We are adding a new twist to it this year and I know the students are going to have a great time! Stay tuned for more information.....

The quarter did end last Friday and report cards will be sent home next Monday. I wanted to have the science test on Force and Motion wrapped up before the end of the quarter, but the amount of snow days we had this quarter put a damper in getting that done. We are close, but I don't think we will get it completed. Look for materials to study for science to be sent home sometime this week with the assessments being held next week. Remember that I send home the information and study material very early to allow for ample study time so please work with your student on being responsible in his/her study habits.

That brings me to my final comment of the week. I don't know if your child has told you but we have been having some serious issues with responsibility and respect in 3B. Last week an assignment was sent home and 6 students out of 20 returned it. Students have been goofing off and being very disrespectful in specials (mainly music and art) to the point that I may have to go in and sit with the class to make sure they are acting as they should. We have had a lot of disrespectful comments being made at recess between classmates that are hurtful and cause a lot of tears. Now, while all these things are common this time of year, they also need to be addressed. Students have shown that they can be very respectful and responsible while in our classroom, but the moment they leave or transition to something else, including PE, things seem to fall apart. Because of this, I will be going back to using the "Character Counts Communique" sheets that I was using at the beginning of the year. They are the green slips that students fill out if they have broken any of the pillars of Character Counts. The student will then take the note home to be signed and returned to me. This will hopefully open up communication between school and home. I want to stress that this isn't EVERYONE in 3B, hardly. But it is a problem (started when I was gone on vacation) and it needs to be dealt with. I have chatted with the students. They are aware that we will be working hard on staying positive and making the right choices. But for those times that they don't, I want parents to be aware.

If you have any questions about the above comment, feel free to contact me.

Enjoy the week. Sounds like there may be some sunshine coming our way....FINALLY!

Read Across America Week

2011-02-28T14:19:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! I have returned from a wonderful vacation from the Dominican Republic feeling fresh and revived. That is good as we in 3WB have some busy months ahead of us. The substitutes that were in the room while I was gone said the students in 3B were well behaved for the most part (science at the end of the day is our toughest time). I was pleased with the report and have some "goodies" to share with the students from the Dominican at the end of the day. I may have been miles away, but they were always on my mind.

As the title states, it is "Read Across America' week. I apologize for not having more activities planned in the room for parents. Usually I have parents come in and read to the students and have that all arranged by now. With conferences and being gone, time has slipped up so quickly. If you would like to come in and read sometime to the students of 3B, feel free to email or call me with some times or dates that work for you. We would love to have some guest readers!

Cat in the Hat hats were sent home last week for students to record the titles of some of the books they have read. If your child needs another or has not returned his or her hat, please do so as soon as possible. I also have extra in the room if they need one. We are trying to cover our hallways and lockers with Dr. Seuss hats and all the books the students in the building have read. It is fun to see the hallways becoming brighter and brighter with all the hats! So please return your child's as soon as possible.

Along with that, please return Book It calendars for the month of February. A new one will be coming home tomorrow for March and I think that is the last month for Book It - not 100% sure though. Remember those students who return their calendars every month will get a pizza party with me, Mrs. Kerian as a reward for reading. So....keep reading!

We are going to try and return to our routine with a weekly news reporter and recorder. Look for that broadcast to be posted on Friday. I am also trying to get all the video book reviews done the week before I left posted on the students' blog pages or my blog page. There are 2 or 3 students yet to record their video book review, but I will hopefully have them all up by the end of the week.

A letter will be coming home soon about an upcoming project about biographies. I will be introducing it to the students this week. It is usually the favorite activity of the year for students, but I always try to change it up every year. This year we are doing something extra special that I am excited to tell the students about. Look for more information by the end of the week.

I am also sending home a new song we are learning to help us remember the types of triangles for our geometry lesson. Look for a new 3B video presenting the song some time soon! The students are very excited about it.....who knew they would be such famous stars??? :)

Have a great week!

Mrs. Kerian is Going on Vacation

2011-02-14T09:34:00.001-06:00

Happy Monday and happy Valentine's Day! I hope you enjoyed the beautiful weather this past weekend and had a chance to get outside. Sounds like we are in for a fairly decent week ahead. I think we deserve it!

I wanted to make a few quick post, nothing major because I will be seeing many of you for conferences tonight or tomorrow. Remember that most of the conferences are student led, which means your 3B child will be leading the conference. He/she knows what to do and can come right in and get started. If there is a family finishing up, please do NOT wait outside. Just come on in and get started or we will all get behind. Due to scheduling conflicts, there are some families scheduled at the same time.

When your 3B child is done talking, I will join the conference to share my thoughts and ask him/her some questions as well. They are very nervous but I know they will do fine. If they struggle with some words on their evaluations, please feel free to help them. See you sometime this week!

Take some time to watch Madison's news report of activities from last week in 3B! She did a fabulous job and Austin did a wonderful job recording with the Flip Camera!

I wanted to remind students to also turn in their "Fitness Calendars" tomorrow as they are due. I am not requiring it but would like as many 3B students to return them as possible. A new one will be sent home tomorrow for the next month. Remember to record your time activity (not in front of TV) as well as fruits that you have eaten at school and home. I will then hand them into the committee and they will post results somehow (not too sure about that).

The students video book reviews are being uploaded as we speak and they are anxious to see them. They did a fabulous job, and I hope to have them up on their blog pages by the end of the night or tomorrow (busy night ahead). I encourage you to leave comments for them as they were so excited to share them and use the "flip camera" as well. Look for them to all be up by the end of the week. Great job 3B!

Finally, I wanted to mention to the parents that I will be gone on vacation next week. My husband and I take a trip everyone to somewhere warm and tropical and that time is the end of this week through next week. So........there will be a sub in the room all of next week. I have no doubt that the students will be in good hands as the sub is very good. I have everything written out for her for every day so the students stay in a good routine. I plan to send an additional note to the parents by the end of the week but wanted to give you a heads up.

Weekly News from Madison

2011-02-14T08:17:00.000-06:00

3B's Weekly News Reporter and Video Recorder!

2011-02-07T09:30:00.000-06:00

I hope that you have recognize a new part of my blog. It is something that the students are very excited about and can't wait to find out about every Monday morning. We now have a weekly news reporter and a news video recorder! You will, or may have, recognize a video of Emma on a previous post. She was our first news reporter. Kailyn did a fabulous job being the first video recorder as well! Yeah for both of you! Emma had to write up a report about what happened in 3B to share with everyone while Kailyn practice using and video taped Emma with my Flip Camera. Great learning experiences for both of them! The students are learning to summarize, work on communication skills, and use a new piece of technology!

These news reports via video will start replacing my blog post with updates about the activities in the classroom. Of course, I will continue to make post and share information/activities, but as far as summarizing what is happening in the room, this will be left to the news reporter. This week's report will be presented by Madison and videoed by Austin. Look forward to that report to be posted sometime Friday after school.

On a different note, I am sending home notes for parent-teacher conferences. The sheet shows the date and time your child is scheduled to attend conferences with you, the parents. As I have mentioned earlier, this set of conferences is student-led. This means that the students will be leading the conference. I will be standing to the side listening and then join the conference at the end. The students are very nervous about it, but I have found after hearing from other parents in the past that this is one of the best activities the students can participate in to take more responsibility of their learning. After all, your child is the one we would be talking about anyway so why not have them present. If there is a problem with the date and/or time written on your conference slip, please write a note and return it to school as soon as possible. It would also be helpful to write different times and dates that work for you.

Hopefully the snow storms have passed and we will have a whole week of school this week. Let's cross our fingers. We have so much to get done to prepare for conferences that we need to be at school every day this week. I know that it is going to get very cold this week, but I am hoping the snow is done.

Also, congratulations to all the Packer fans out there. I have to say, I was rooting for the Steelers simply because I just can't get myself to cheer for the Packers (being a Vikings fan) but it was a fun game to watch. The students shared this morning that they thought the commercials were the best....I tend to agree.

Have a great week!

Emma and our First Newscast of What's up in 3B!

2011-02-04T15:23:00.001-06:00

Healthy Iowa Kids and ITBS!

2011-01-31T09:52:00.000-06:00

I am sending home a lot of papers today, some for you to keep and some that need to be returned. Please read through this post very carefully. I have gone over everything with the students, but I felt I also needed to make parents aware of everything.

First off, I am sending home a calendar that will be used for a school wide activity encouraging students to stay healthy and active. This activity started January 18th and will continue throughout the school year. To begin with, I have started recording the minutes the students are active in something, which includes recess and PE, on their calendars. You can see that from January 18th until today, the calendar has been completed as far as minutes of being active. Now it is your 3B child's responsibility to continue recording the minutes he/she is active and return it to school on the date shown. Here is some more information:

   * Minutes can include active time are recess and PE (so be sure to include those every day). Your 3B
   child can add whatever minutes he/she is active at home to the minutes given for each day of the
   week we are active at school. (For example, if he or she is active 30 minutes at home or Fitness
   Center on Monday, he/she would add that to the 75 minutes we are active at school on Monday,
   which is on the previous weeks, so the total would be 115 minutes for Monday.)

   * Students should also record the fruit they eat at home. They will need to write tiny to write in the
   box what fruits they have eaten. Be sure to add what fruits they have eaten at school as well.
   I did not do this part of the activity so 3B will start recording their fruit today.

   * As far as exercise: PE at school can be counted. Add on whatever time is spent doing physical
   activity at home but here is the catcher: Exercise with a video game, such as wii Fit, cannot be
   included!

If there is any confusion, please feel free to email me or call. This is something new and I am totally confused about it as well so we will get through it together. Hang it somewhere at home so it is easy to record minutes and fruits each day and then return on due date. Students who reach the goal the school has set will get some sort of recognition by putting names up. I am not sure about those details at this time.

Also, you will see that your 3B child is bringing his/her ITBS results home. Please read through their profile very carefully as well as the parent information that was sent home. If you have questions, feel free to contact me now or wait until parent-teacher conferences in 2 weeks. Overall, I was extremely pleased with the scores in 3B! Yeah!

Book-it for January is due tomorrow or Wednesday. I am sending home February calendar today as I am not sure what the weather will be like the next few days for us.

I will be sending home conference times next Monday. Remember these are student led conferences so your 3B child will need to attend.

Have a great week.....maybe all the snow will pass us....we can only hope!

Kailyn, Kryslynn, Erika, and Jamie Rapping to Place Value

2011-01-26T07:46:00.001-06:00

Rachel, Angelina, Reece, and Matthew Rapping to Place Value

2011-01-26T07:45:00.001-06:00

Jada, Emma, Madison, Colby, and JD Rapping to Place Value

2011-01-26T07:44:00.001-06:00

Libby, Alex, and Annaleigh Place Value Rap

2011-01-26T07:43:00.002-06:00

Place Value Rap

2011-01-24T09:28:00.002-06:00

Enjoy! (the beginning is kind of choppy as I was trying to start music while video taping...stick with it)

A Room full of "Rappers"

2011-01-24T07:49:00.000-06:00

Well, I am sure you heard already! The students in 3B are going to be future rap singers! :) They had so much fun and did a fabulous job with the "Place Value Rap"! It was a wonderful learning experience! Mrs. Sovereign happen to stop in and see them doing the rap as a large group, and she loved it! I think, and hope, my students know their place value really well after practicing and singing that rap as much as we did the last week! It was great! I will be posting the rap on my blog page today as I was having trouble uploading it over the weekend. I will also be posting the rap done by small groups as well so be sure to check the blog later today or tomorrow.

Hard to believe the month of January is almost over! Wow! We will soon start preparing for February parent-teacher conferences. These conferences are student-led conferences which means you 3B child will be leading the conference. That only makes sense as the conference is about them! They are very nervous about doing them, but I know they will be fine once we start practicing. They will have lots to share! Be looking for parent letters about your scheduled time in the next few weeks.

The students have been very busy this past month on many activities. We are discussing author's purpose in literacy before moving into questioning. Students are doing a quick review of what makes a complete sentence in writing pulled in with some writer's workshop. As you know, in math we are doing place value and will be going into decimals this week. And in science we are working through various activities exploring force and motion. Always busy in 3B!

I am pleased to report that the students in 3B reached their goal for receiving compliments from other adults in the building! Yeah 3B! To celebrate, the students decided they wanted to play games and have ice cream so we ending our day last Friday doing just that. I was, and am, very proud of the students on showing their Character Counts and receiving compliments from the other teachers! We will set a new goal today to try and achieve as well.

Have a great week! At least the weather sounds better this week than last! Thank goodness! Remember there is a 3 hour early out Wednesday for teacher inservice.

Multiplication Hip Hop!!!!

2011-01-07T13:53:00.000-06:00

We also had some fun today with a site that has Multiplication Facts to hip-hop. The students thought it was so cool they wanted me to put the site on my blog page. Many of them could use these songs to work on their facts for the "Walking Taco Party". Have fun!

http://www.MultiplicationHipHopForKids.com

Fun with Place Value Rap!

2011-01-07T13:46:00.003-06:00

We started our new math unit on place value with this fun rap. The students are excited because next week we will be making our own videos with the rap. Here it is!!!

Great Time at the Big Blast and Santa Visits Early!

2010-12-15T10:28:00.000-06:00

The students had a fabulous time at the Big Blast yesterday, and I have lots of pictures that I will try and post tonight. (Ran out of time last night) I was so pleased with their behavior and excitement! It was a super time! Way to go 3B!

We have a crazy week ahead of us with lots going on. The snowday Monday really messed up our plans so we are trying to get things done before the break as well as before more snow comes - if we can! I am going to list a bunch of information below just so you have some idea of what will be going on this week into next:

   * Math assessment over chapter 4 started today and will continue into tomorrow. No need to study outside the classroom.

   * Social Studies materials and study guide will be sent home today. Please take some time to study tonight and tomorrow night for our upcoming social studies test of unit 1. The test will be this coming Friday. If for some reason we do not have school on Thursday, the test will be given next Monday. I have sent vocabulary cards, a study guide, as well as some main idea sheets home that the students should use to study. Please return the social studies book this Friday or Monday.

   * Students were surprised this morning with their first gift in their stockings! Santa must have stopped and made an early visit to our classroom! They were very excited about them and had a hard time putting them away to get started on the day. I am planning on having the stockings come home next Tuesday. If the weather is not looking good, we will be sending them home next Monday. We just have to wait and see what Old Man Winter decides. If your child has not brought his/her stockings yet, there is still time.

   * Word Study for the week (the prefix of pre-) has changed. We will be having the test for our words starting with the prefix of pre- next Tuesday. Students will be brining their words home this Friday for you to study with them if you select to do so.

   * We usually have our second Character Counts celebration the last week of school before Christmas. I will be meeting with the other 3rd grade teachers today to made a decision on that. Look for more information to be sent home soon. Parents do not attend this celebration, but those that signed up to send snacks will receive a notice.

I think that is it for now. Thank you to Emma Cotant's mom, Teri, and Kailyn Erickson's mom, Ruby, for being such great helpers for the Big Blast! I appreciate it so much....as do the kids! You are the best!!!

Enjoy the snow and stay warm!

Libby's Fun Jib Jab!

2010-12-05T17:59:00.002-06:00

Another fun "Jib Jab" video made by a 3B student! I didn't know Libby was such a fabulous figure skater???? :)

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Burr!!! It's Cold! And One More Volunteer Needed for Big Blast!

2010-12-05T17:53:00.000-06:00

It sounds as if the weather is suppose to be FREEZING COLD this week after all the snow we received last Friday. I had recess duty last Friday afternoon, and it was so cute to see the kids so excited about the first official snow! It reminded me of how important the little things are in life.....priceless! I think I was asked twenty times, "Mrs. Kerian, Do you see the snow? Isn't it pretty?" Really couldn't miss it as it was coming down heavy all around me, but they were so cute with their excitement! But now....cold is the word that sticks in my head....not "pretty". Remember that the students do go outside every recess unless it is below zero. I have had many students saying they were very cold outside last week, but this week sounds worse. Please remember to send snowpants, hats, gloves, heavy coats etc. along with your child to school every day so they can stay warm. I also suggest sending an extra pair of socks along as many times the students' socks get wet after recess and it is uncomfortable to sit in them all day. So if you think about it, throw an extra pair of socks and gloves in your child's backpack just to help them stay a little warmer and not so wet. Thanks so much!

Thanks to the two parents who have volunteered to help at our Big Blast celebration next week as part of our fundraiser reward. The 3rd graders will attend the Big Blast from 9:00-10:20 next Tuesday, December 14th in the gym. It would be great if I could have one more parent volunteer from 3B to help out. Basically you would have to be here by 8:45 and could leave by 10:30. It is a fun time watching the students play on all the equipment, and I appreciate it as then I will be free to take pictures of the students and handle any situations that come up. If you are free to help out, please email me, send a note, or call as soon as possible. Thank you again!

I want to send a big hug out to all the 3B students for their behavior the last few weeks. They have been working so hard and getting so much accomplished that I could not be prouder!!! Yeah 3B!!!! We also had 3 superintendents from across NE Iowa stop in our classroom for about 30 minutes last week to do some observing, and my 3B students really showed them what a super class they were! I was very proud, as always, of each and everyone of them! Keep it up 3B!

The hallway is filled with wonderful Character Counts posters made by the 3rd grade students! Wow! I can see that I have some very talented 3B students and parents! They are awesome! The students were so excited about showing them to me and getting them hung up......what a great reminder to everyone walking in the hall to show their Cadet Pride! I hope that you enjoyed spending some time with your 3rd grader completing the project as well....I know they loved it as I heard about it all last week! Super work 3B students and parents!!!!

Just a reminder that we have an early out this Wednesday for teacher professional development. Our 3rd-5th grade music program is also this Thursday, December 9th. I can't wait to see what the students are going to do for us and perform! This concert will be at the high school and a note was sent home a few weeks ago with information. If you misplaced the note from the music teachers or need another, please feel free to contact me.

Stay warm and have a great week!

Here Comes December!!! Big Blast Volunteers Needed!

2010-11-29T09:40:00.000-06:00

Another month has flown by, and December is fast approaching. Someone just told me this morning that we only have 18 more days of school until the holiday break! Wow!!! As the old saying goes, "Time flies when you are having fun!".

It was a bummer last week when Old Man Winter decided not to cooperate with us and let us have our Character Counts celebration. Better to be safe than sorry I guess. The students were so excited, as was I, to share their creative ideas for a mascot poster. Well, sadly, we are not going to be able to reschedule the event due to time, weather constraints, and activities we need to complete before the end of the quarter in December. I would still like the students to do the activity with parents as planned. Therefore, I am sending home the poster board today for your students to work with you on creating his/her Character Counts mascot and poster. They should include a mascot, a catchy saying, and some connection to the Character Counts colors/pillars. We decided that the "Character Counts Pledge" that originally was suppose to be on the poster does NOT need to be due to limited space. Please work with your 3B child on the poster and return them to school by Friday, December 3rd. We will then get them displayed in the hallway for all to see and enjoy!!

The Big Blast for our fundraiser is fast approaching. I am looking for parent volunteers from 3B to help monitor this fun event. The day is December 14th, 2010. At the time, I am unsure if 3B will be at the Big Blast in the morning or afternoon. I hope that decision is made soon, and I will let you know. The newly formed PTO also sent out an email asking parents to volunteer to help at this celebration by either monitoring the equipment, making popcorn, or just supervising. If you are interested, please let me know ASAP, and I will let you know the exact time. You can either email me, call me, or send a note with your 3B child if you are interested. Thank you ahead of time.

Other activities we are wrapping up or working on are reading strategies of voracious readers, tracking your thinking, and building better connections. We have had a lot of great discussions about what a "Voracious Reader" is (someone who reads "just right" books as much as he/she can to become a better reader). The students are excited because someone is making superhero capes for the class with big "VR" on the back. Students demonstrating "voracious reader" habits will become a super hero for the day and wear the cape. They can not wait!!!! We are also starting our first unit on multiplication in math. Look for a fact incentive to be coming home soon as well in encouraging students to memorize their multiplication facts. In social studies, we are nearing the end of our unit on communities. We will be discussion main ideas from our reading as well as working on some vocabulary lessons before sending material and information home about an upcoming assessment. And in writing we continue to work on adding "show me details" to our writing the trait of "ideas". Students will begin assessing their own writing by the end of the week based on the "ideas trait" characteristics.

As you can see, we are busy as usual!!!! Never a dull moment in 3B!!!!
Have a great week!

Busy Next Two Weeks!

2010-11-15T09:35:00.000-06:00

Wow! What a difference in the temperature from two weeks ago. I guess that is how the weather goes. I know I am not ready for winter!! I wanted to remind everyone to have their 3B student dress warm every day. Many stand outside in the morning before school and it is still very chilly! Hats and mittens should be a must now as it is getting colder. I was just glad to see the sunshine this morning!

Everyone in 3B is working hard and getting through our ITBS testing. We have two test to take tomorrow and will finish up on Wednesday with the last one. I am pleased how hard the students are trying and using their "test taking tips" along the way! They have been troopers! Thank you to everyone as well in making sure that there are not a lot of students gone during this time. I understanding if your child is ill that they should be home...we can't help that and want them to rest and get better. But thank you for not scheduling many appointments during this time! It helps a lot with the students' comfort levels and routine of the day to be here as much as possible! I have to agree with the students that I will also be glad when the testing is over and we can get back to a routine!

Thanks to everyone who sent in pictures for our "Oh! The Places You Have Been!" bulletin board for social studies!!! It will be fun to look at all the pictures and the travels of 3B. If you have not sent your child's pictures and would like to, feel free to send them in tomorrow. I would like to get all the pictures up by tomorrow night so we can use them to build our understanding of communities.

Due to testing, we did not get our math assessment in last week for unit 3 on measurement. I hope to finish that unit up this week and have the assessment by Thursday or Friday. We just did a bunch of activities on perimeter (as you know from your child singing "The Perimeter Song" to you ) and now we will be moving into area. Look for "The Area Song" to come home soon as well! :) I have found that the students have a great understanding of measuring to the nearest inch and half inch but struggle when it comes to nearest quarter of an inch. If you are not busy at home some night, have your child get a rule and practice measuring the the nearest quarter of an inch. While this is not a "secure" goal for math, it is something that you could work on at home. There are also a few measurement links on my webpage that students can work on at home as well. Always something to do.....

I will be sending home an invitation for our first Character Counts celebration that will be held next Wednesday afternoon. Please note that parents are invited to this celebration and will be working on an activity with your 3B child. It is all explained on the invitation. If you are unable to attend due to conflicts, please have your 3B student let me know so that I can find other adults to work with him/her. If you volunteered to supply snacks for this celebration, a reminder note will be sent to you by the end of the week. Fun times ahead!

Just a reminder that fundraiser pick up is tonight at the elementary school. Please remember that if your child sold items for the fundraiser that he/she is responsible for picking them up and getting them delivered.

There is also a 3 hour early out this Wednesday for teacher inservice.

Have a great week and stay warm!

A Little Holiday Fun....Jib Jab

2010-11-10T07:36:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago when the students and I were talking about blogging and looking at examples, I showed the students my family blog page that I have been doing now for 2 years. They thought one of the post that was made was very funny. It was something my daughter did on a program on the internet called "JibJab". Anyway, some of the students thought it was funny and wanted to try it at home. Yesterday I received this video attachment from Rachel, a student in our 3B family. Maybe this will put a smile on your face and get you in the holiday spirit. Just thought I would share it. :) If your child wants to do a JibJab, just have them email it to me to post it on my blog page or I will show them how to post it on their blog pages as well. Happy Holidays (a little early).....

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

ITBS Starts This Week...Google Earth....Blogging!

2010-11-08T09:43:00.000-06:00

As the title of this post states, we will be starting our Iowa Tests of Basic Skills this week. Our testing days this week will be Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We will take Friday off and finish up next week on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please try your best to have your child be at school on those days as it is more difficult to reschedule testing times when students are absent. If possible, schedule dentist and/or doctor appointments around these particular days of testing. I appreciate your help and cooperation!

The school is providing snacks that I called "brain food" for each day of testing. Along with this, please encourage your child to eat a healthy breakfast and get enough rest each night. I have discussed these tips with the students in a way to hopefully not make them too nervous. Being it is the first time your 3B child is taking the test, it is important to not get them worked up. All we ask is they try their best! That's it. So please don't discuss the testing with them in the way that will cause anxiety. I know they will be fine as we have discussed many testing tips that will be useful with any test your child ever takes.

So the week is fairly choppy due to testing. I am going to try and wrap up a math unit on measurement, perimeter, and area this week if possible. We will have to wait and see how the testing times go to determine that. We will be jumping into our social studies book this week and discussing communities. Look for an sheet to be coming home tomorrow explaining and activity about places the students have been and bringing in pictures, postcards, etc. We will be using our own "touring" and personal connections to build a better understanding of the different types of communities in social studies so look for that tomorrow. Last week I introduced "Google Earth" to the students-which they LOVED! I have heard many of you have already downloaded it at home per your child's request. It is wonderful access to places around the world.....a virtual field trip....that we will continue to use throughout the year! For those of you who have downloaded it, I hope you are enjoying it. For those of you who have not, it is a free download off the internet that holds lots of valuable learning. I encourage you to give it a try.

Remember I will be increasing the amount of homework that is given this quarter. Today I noticed that many students did not do their homework given last Friday of singing the "Perimeter Song". Not a great way to start the week. Remember we need to work together in trying to build each child's responsibility with homework as there will be LOTS more in 4th grade.

Students were very excited last week to also begin their own blog pages. Wow....they think they are "big stuff" now! (which they are! :) We just made a basic blog post last week in practicing getting to and from their blog pages. This week I hope to have each of them make a post about a book they have been reading......we will probably go into next week to finish that due to conflicts in time with ITBS scheduling. Remember that we love to have comments from parents and relatives on our blog pages!!!! (hint, hint)

Enjoy the week! Hard to believe we are almost half way through November already! Wow!

The Writing Trait of "Ideas"

2010-11-02T07:44:00.003-05:00

Students in 3B been working really hard on building their understanding of the trait of "ideas" in writing! This involves finding the right topic, narrowing it down but not too small of a topic, selecting interesting, relevant details, and making the writing clear by using "show me" statements instead of just telling. Today we learned a song to help us remember the ideas trait (it's fun to sing matter how old you are) so I thought I would share it with you.

The Ideas Song(to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat")

Write, write, write your thoughts,

Make your ideas clear.

Tell the reader what you know

And what you hold most dear.

Your 3B child will be coming home soon asking you to listen to him or her sing the song to you. Have some fun with it, sing along, take turns, etc, Have fun!

Exhausted Students.....But Lots to Do!!!!

2010-11-01T09:40:00.000-05:00

....I am sure I have some tired 3B students today after a busy night of trick-or-treating! It was nice to see so many of my students stop by for some extra "treats" last night, but I can sure see that some of them are coming off their "sugar high" from last night. We will trudge through today and make it a good one as we have many busy activities to start this week.

It was nice to see all of you at conferences last week! We had some great discussions, and I appreciate you taking the time to be involved in your child's education. I still have a few more conferences this week and am anxious to talk to those parents as well. As I mentioned to many at conferences, keep your child reading at home as that is the "homework" I expect all 3B students to be doing every night. Thanks again for your attendance. If you ever have any questions or concerns, feel free to call or email me any time!

This week we are starting something new, and it is student blogging! The students will each be shown how to get to his/her blog page and make various posts throughout the year. They are so excited, and some have already started. After I show them how to get to their blog page and various other concepts about blogging, the students will be ask to make a post this week about a book they have finished. We are calling it a "book review", and I will be modeling this at the beginning of this week. Look for the students book blogs by the end of the week and feel free to comment! You don't need an account or anything to make a comment, and students look forward to seeing who comments about their post!!!! They think it is cool, and it also helps them realize they do have an audience when they are writing. Students will be making the post by themselves, so there will be mistakes in punctuation, spelling, etc. for some and that is ok. Our practice in keyboarding during the month of October is paying off now as students will hopefully be able to type a little faster than they would have at the beginning of the year. So.....look for 3B's student blog pages to start soon and make those comments!!!! We all appreciate it!!

If your child has not returned his/her "Book-It" calendar for October, he/she must return them by tomorrow, Tuesday, November 2nd. I am sending home the calendar for November today as well. Remember....keep reading!!!!

A few other comments about activities in the room:
* Students are working on various map skills in social studies before we begin unit 1 in the book on communities. This week we will be looking at the different continents and oceans as I have found that students in 3B are unfamiliar with these concepts. I hope to start the unit on communities in our books by the end of the week.
* With literacy, we will be continuing our strategy of "Tune into Vocabulary" and furthering our discussion on "connections" in reading. Students are doing a great job with the Daily 5 and the routines of literacy. I hope to introduce "Listen to Reading" this week as well through an online program called "Read About" that is wonderful nonfiction to listen to and explore!
* In writing we are focusing on the trait of "ideas". Students have practiced funneling down their ideas, sticking to a topic, "putting on binoculars" to look for details, and adding "show me" statements. This is a big concept for many students so it is something we will be spending a lot of time on. Students will be taught a song as well to remind them of the "ideas" trait and it's characteristics. Busy! Busy! Sometime next week we will also be having "Author Sharing" day.
* Our current math unit involves measurement......we need a little review on measuring to 1/4 of an inch so we will be doing some of that as well as going into perimeter and area.

That about sums up what has been going on and will be going on in 3B. As you can see, we are busy! Along with that, I am going to increase the amount of homework that will be sent home with the students compared to what it was in the 1st quarter. We need to continue to build our responsibility, and the students have shown they are ready for more homework so be on the lookout for more to be sent home.

Enjoy the sunny November day!

Where did October Go?

2010-10-25T09:35:00.001-05:00

What a dreary start to the week!!!! It is also hard for me to believe that October is almost over! Wow!! Where did the month go???

I am sure some of you were wondering where my newsletter/post was last week. Sometimes the week just gets by me and I will not be making a "post" on the blog page while other weeks I will have 2-3 posts during the week. That's the great part of using a blog page.....you can share information and pictures throughout week. Last week, I did not have a post as it was a busy week. That doesn't mean I don't have anything to share, it just means keep checking the blog page for an update. I will be asking all parents at conferences if they check the blog page via the Internet as I would like to decrease the amount of paper for printing it out. If you don't have the internet or access, that is fine. I will just be printing my posts out for those parents/students who need it on paper. Otherwise, keep checking on the Internet.

A few reminders for the week as it is a crazy one:
   1. Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held this week. For most of you, they will be Tuesday or Thursday from 3:00-8:00. Others have conferences scheduled in the mornings or other days after school. I am anxious to see all of you again and have lots to share. Please try to be on time for your conferences as my schedule is pretty full with back to back conferences. Thank you!
   2. There is no school this Friday due to teacher compensation for time put into conferences. Enjoy the three day weekend and prepare for Halloween. :)
   3. Report cards will be sent home with your 3B child today. I like the students to have a look at them before the parents so your 3B child has seen his/her report card. While I did not go over them individually with each student, I did go over the structure of the report card and the rating system. If they have questions about them, please bring those questions to conferences as well as your questions and comments.
   4. If your child was writing a report for the "I Love America" essay put on by the VFW, please have that to me by the necessary due date. I have received a few so that is super. It was not required, but I would love to have more students participate. If your child needs a new set of directions, please let me know.
   5. Book-It for the month of October is due this Thursday or next Monday, either day is fine. When your child returns his/her Book-It calendar for the month, he/she will be given a certificate for a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut! I am hoping many students participate because reading at home is very important!!!!!
   6. If your child is entering the coloring contest for the Fire Station (drawing or printing out a picture and coloring it) please have that to me by the necessary dates as well.

We just finished up our assessments for chapter 2 in math. I hope to be sharing those, along with various assessments from science, at your child's conference. I also will be sharing your child's MAPs score from the fall this year as well as their DIBELS assessment results. As you can see, we are going to have a lot to discuss.

I feel I need to make a comment about last Friday so that you, as well as the students, and myself are all on the same page. Last Thursday night I flew to Texas for my nephew's baptism and was gone Friday. (Had a super time but quick trip) I returned Monday to school from my substitute about the behavior of my class while I was gone. Let's just say my heart was kind of broken by the behavior of some students. Now, not all students were mentioned and some did behaved as expected, showing great character and respect. Others....not so much. We had a big discussion about it this morning during our Morning Meeting and students were very open. They understood why I was disappointed.....So this week the students will be reviewing Cadet Pride and showing good character. I know they can do it, as they do it for me, but they need to realize they need to show good character at all times, even when I am gone. I wanted to mention it on my blog to give parents the chance to talk with their 3B child about the other day and let them know what you, the parents, expect as well when the teacher is gone. I am rarely sick (knock on wood) but am involved in a lot of committees in which we meet various days during the month. Students will have a sub once and a while due to the fact I need to be at a meeting. I would like them to know that we, meaning them as students, the parents, and myself, all expect good character when I am gone. Thanks for you help with this and have a great discussion with your 3B child. I appreciate it.

Have a great, short week. Hopefully we will see some sunshine soon. I look forward to seeing all of you at conferences.

Busy Start to October!!!

2010-10-11T10:01:00.000-05:00

Wow! What a gorgeous weekend! I don't think the weather in October could get any better than that. Hopefully you had some time to get out and enjoy the sunshine and beautiful temperature. I was at a football game on Sunday, and I have to admit, it was a little too hot to be playing football. But I am not complaining!!! It was also a super week for Homecoming and a big win for the Cadets last Friday! Go big blue!!!!

We have had a very busy start to October that is for sure. Deals on Wheels did come around last Thursday to sell little Crestwood items to students who wanted to buy them. Deals on Wheels is a group of students from the junior high who are supervised by their teacher. It is a great life lesson on managing money and items. Starting this week, Deals on Wheels will be coming to 3B at 10:30 every Friday. If your child would like to purchase something, he/she should bring his/her money on Friday. This will continue throughout the whole school year. The items are listed below, but they are the same as the note I sent home last week.
   Magnets: $0.25
   Pencils: $0.35
   Tattoos: $0.50
   Pens: $0.50
   Wristbands: $2.00
   Seat Cushions: $4.00
All items are blue/white for school colors and have some type of Cadet log or name displayed. The committee also hopes to have Cadet folders and water bottles soon.

The students were disappointed last week when they found out they don't get to go to the fire station or listen to firefighters present about Fire Prevention as they had in grades K-2. Sadly, that stops in 2nd grade with the big wrap up of spraying the teachers with the fire hose. I know all of you are aware of the coloring contest they held as well. In grades 3 and up, the students can still participate in the coloring contest. It is called the "open division" and includes students in grades 3 and up, faculty, and staff. All a person would have to do to enter is submit a fire related picture, colored neatly by October 21st. Each person who does submit a picture will be given a complimentary ticket to the Cresco Fire Department Pancake Supper held November 2nd. A winner will be chosen from both the 3rd grade and up division, as well as an adult division. So, if your child would like to participate, he/she should have a fire related picture to me no later than October 21st. This is not required, but many students still enjoy entering the competition. Good luck!

I am also sending home information about a writing contest titled "I Love America". Again, this is a choice the students have and can enter the contest if they please. The directions are stated on the sheet and entries must follow the directions carefully. I am not requiring students to enter the contest but hope that many will as I have some very talented writers in 3B. Students are to have their essay entry to me, Mrs. Kerian, by October 29th as they will be picked up on October 30th. Remember to follow the activity listed for 3rd grade.

Book Orders - I am sending home book orders for October. Please take some time to browse through them as there are really great books available. If you decide to order, remember to send cash or check made out to me so that I can order them online. Please return any book orders by this Friday, October 15th.

Enjoy the sunshine and have a great week! Remember that if your 3B child still has his/her science book or picture dictionary at home, I would like them returned tomorrow. Thanks and keep reading for Book-It!!!

Wrapping up Science Unit and Kicking Off Fundraiser!

2010-10-04T14:19:00.002-05:00

Burr!!!! Suddenly the weather is a lot chillier than before. I just want to remind everyone that it is colder in the morning than in the afternoon. Many students are outside before school waiting until 8:20, and today many came in cold! I would suggest dressing your 3rd grader in layers so that he/she can be warm enough in the morning yet not too warm in the afternoon. They can always leave the extra sweatshirt in their locker in the afternoon and take it home if it warms up that much. Thanks you!

Last week we kicked off our fundraiser. I am sure your child has brought his/her fundraiser packet home already as they were very excited to get started. There was one change that was made that I wanted to let parents know. On the envelope it states that each student must sell 35 items to ride in the limo. That has been changed to 25 items. Hopefully that will help more students be eligible for the ride in the limo. Again, if we pass what we sold last year, the school will earn a Mega Party-which is always a great time!!!! The fundraiser is optional so you do not have to encourage your child to participate, but it does help fill our school piggy bank for fields trips and fun activities. If you have any questions, feel free to give the school a call or send me an email.

We are wrapping up our unit in science on plant and animal populations this week. Look for your 3B student to bring home his/her science materials with a study guide to use to study. I will be doing a big review on Thursday with the students as well. Our tests covers different learning styles so there is a hands-on component, a visual component, and a critical thinking component. Please encourage your 3B student to study over the weekend and return his/her science book next Monday. Everyone has loved this unit and learned a lot. After this unit, we will be moving into a unit in Social Studies.

Your third grader should have brought a reading calendar home last Friday to kick off Book-It. I wrote about it in my last post. If you have questions, feel free to contact me. The reading for Book-It must be done out of school hours but can involve reading anything; magazines, books, newspaper etc. Students can also check out books from our 3B homeroom to read at home as well.

Just a reminder there is a 3 hour early out this Friday for Homecoming. It was great to see all the hats today for "Hat Day"!!! The rest of the week is as follows:
   Tuesday: Wear your Favorite Jersey
   Wednesday: Wear work out Clothes (as we will go for a walk for fitness)
   Thursday: Twin Day
   Friday: Blue and White Day

The forecast for the week sounds fabulous! That is an excellent word to describe 3B - FABULOUS!!!!

Pizza and Reading!!! YUMMY!

2010-09-27T14:10:00.000-05:00

Looks like we have a great week ahead of us as the sun is out and the forecast is great! The students have a busy week so it will be nice to have sunshine to perk everyone up.

We started MAPs testing last week, the first test being math. I was so impressed with how hard everyone tried. Wow! This week we will be taking science on Monday, reading on Tuesday, and language on Thursday. The test are all at 1:15 in the afternoon except on Thursday, which is at 8:45. Please be sure your child is at school on time that day because we will be starting our tests as soon as everyone is ready. I appreciate the parents switching appointments around so that students are not missing these tests. It makes everything a lot easier so thank you. Give your 3B child an extra hug each night this week because some of the questions on these tests are pretty hard! They have been troopers and giving their best!!! Very proud of my 3B kiddoes!

3B has caught the bug...yes, we have a little bug floating around....and it's not the bugs we have been studying in science. Lots of students sniffing, coughing, and feverish....including the teachers. Please encourage your child to get lots of rest, drink plenty of water, and wash their hands as much as possible. I have already refilled our hand sanitizer bottle 3 times and decided to purchase a big one because of how fast we are going through them. If you would be willing to donate a bottle of hand sanitizer, we would greatly appreciate it. We know it will be put to good use!!!

Last Friday we also finished our first math assessment over unit 1. There are a few people who need to finish the assessment, so please look for your 3B child to bring his/her home by the end of the week. I will also be sending home a letter explaining the assessment and the ratings that go with it. I am pretty sure most of you are familiar with (B) for beginning, (S) for secure, and (D) for developing as that is the same ratings that were used in 2nd grade. By the end of the week, I hope to be moving into unit 2 on addition and subtraction facts.

October kicks off Book-It!!!! This is a reading incentive program sponsored by Pizza Hut that a lot of students find pleasure in....who doesn't like Pizza Hut????? A calendar will be sent home with your child October 1st stating the goal set for him/her based on minutes of reading. Your child should record the amount of time he/she reads at home and return the calendar at the end of each month for their Pizza Hut coupon. While I hope that all 3rd graders are reading at home, I do not require all students to participate. This is a totally optional activity that runs each month October - March. BUT.....and yes it is a biggy....those students who do participate all six months will celebrate by having a pizza party with me!!!!! I will be supplying the pizza and drink in April for all the students who reach or surpass their reading goal ALL six months. Those that do not participate, will eat lunch in the cafeteria as usual with a different teacher. So, I hope that you encourage your child to read and participate......now....GET READING!!!!

I also wanted to let you know that I will be starting guided reading this week. 3B has build our stamina up in read to self, read to someone, word works, and work on writing that we are ready to get rolling. I have done various writing and reading assessments on students, held individual conferences, and am ready to begin guided reading. Based on the spread of levels in our classroom, my goal is to meet with every student every day, but that may be through guided reading or individual conferencing. The students are eager to start guided reading....so am I!!!!!

Hopefully your little scientists has shared all our findings and information about our insects and critters. We now have aphids on our plants, fruit flies, an ant farm, daphnia, and damsel flies. Friday we put the daphnia with the damsel flies. This morning, many of the daphnia were gone!!!! Wonder what happened????? The students will soon find out. :)

Have a great week!

Wow! What are Daphnia? Take a Look!

2010-09-23T14:50:00.000-05:00

The students were so excited today in science as we had a new visitor. So far we have done insects and land animals. Today we had our first water animal called a daphnia. The students were amazed that they looked transparent and you could see their digestive track AND eggs!! It was also very amazing that the daphnia have antennae that look like tree branches. Very cool!!! I thought I would share a picture of them so you know what they look like as well. The students also learned what an "exoskeleton" was, as daphnia have them. Do you know what that is???

Remember To Be Responsible!

2010-09-20T09:35:00.005-05:00

Another week has quickly approached. I can't believe that it is October next week. Time goes so quickly. The students are amazed on how fast the day goes, let alone the month. I guess that is a good sign that we are busy as well as having fun.

My day started out a little disappointing as many students in 3B forgot their homework. They were to bring in a book in which they practice "reading the punctuation", a strategy we have been practicing to build our fluency. Sadly, almost half the class forgot their books. A reminder note was send home last Friday......so I think you understand why I am disappointed. Because this was homework, our "Character Counts" slips will have to be completed by each student who forget as they demonstrated lack of responsibility. I hope this isn't the sign of what the year will be like.....I know it won't! Let's just remember to try and be responsible students....we can do it!!!!

Your child should have brought his/her word works list of words home as well last Friday. The list shows how your child did on his/her word works test Friday. If there was a word or words highlighted on the sheet, the students missed that word(s) on the test. I was very pleased how well the class did as a whole. This shows me they are taking all five days of our word works very serious and using each mode of learning focused on. This week we are focusing on the sounds /ar/ makes. We called this one of the "Bossy Rs". Look for your child's list of words to be brought home Tuesday. I have enclosed pictures of some of the activities students do during the week with their words.

Tomorrow we will be having our first math assessment. There is no reason to study for this assessment so don't freak out on me looking for materials sent home to study. It is over a review chapter. There are two components to the assessment: an oral/dry erase board assessment as well as a written assessment. Hopefully I will be sending your child's assessment home by the end of the week with an informational sheet attached explaining the ratings.

My student teacher, Miss Twetten, is only with us 3 more weeks before she moves on to kindergarten. I just wanted to let you know that she will be teaching math and science the next 2 weeks (with my supervision of course). She needs to do some lead teaching as part of her student teaching. Up to now, she has been leading the Morning Meeting the last 2 weeks to start the day. I will still be in the room, participating, and monitoring the students as well as her teaching. I just wanted to let you, the parents, know.

Finally, I wanted to make you aware that your 3rd grade child will start the district assessment test called MAPS this week. The students took this assessment online last year and will be taking it again this year. The assessment is done in the fall as well as spring, with the hope of growth being shown. We will start by taking the MAPs test for math this Friday. We will then be taking science, language, and reading next week. I know we can't help it if our children get sick, but please try to schedule dentist or doctor appointments around these assessments. It is harder for the student to make them up than have them here taking it with the rest of the class. Also be sure your 3B child gets plenty of rest and eats a great breakfast. Thanks for your cooperation and understanding!

I have also posted two pictures of students showing great reading stamina with Read to Self! Great job 3B!

Have a great week! We have more science critters coming so I know we will!

On the Hunt for Words

2010-09-16T12:43:00.005-05:00

Today I read the book Max's Words to the class. The book is about a boy who wants to start collecting things like his older brothers, and he decides he wants to collect words. He ends up cutting single words out of magazines, newspapers, etc. until his room is covered. He then finds out that if he puts the words together, he can make wonderful sentences that lead to a super story. The class was so excited about it that we decided we wanted to start collecting words and see what we can create with them. So the students decided they would like to start cutting out individual words, all different kinds, shapes, and colors, to bring in. We will see how many we have by next Friday. If we need more, we will go for one more week. If not, we will see what kind of story we can create......simply from the power of words. (A valuable lesson for writers). So, please remind your 3B child to do his/her part hunting and cutting out words that can be brought in each day. I will have a container that they can put the words in every morning.

Thanks for your cooperation and support. This is a wonderful activity that pulls together our discussions about how writers get ideas and how words/sentences can be powerful (besides a little review on making descriptive sentences). The students are very, very, excited!

Have fun!

Gotta Keep Reading!

2010-09-14T07:44:00.002-05:00

Check out this video made by students about reading to the tune of "I Got a Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas!!! As the title states....."Gotta Keep Reading"! I showed the students this video Monday before we set off to build are Read to Self Stamina! They did incredible!!!!

Read to Self Stamina -Wow!!!!

2010-09-13T07:34:00.004-05:00

Happy Monday! I hope that everyone enjoyed the beautiful weekend! Let's cross our fingers that we have many more like that!

Last week was a great week for 3B as we had lots of wonderful activities and a super discussion about September 11th. I hope you had time to look at the Wordle the students all created about keywords connected to September 11th. If you did not, you can always check it out on the side of my blog page. We watched some great videos, read a super book, and did some writing about heroes to pull together everything we learned and talked about. The students were so eager to learn more as well as caring and empathetic. I hope they had a chance to share some of our learning with you.

We were also busy in science planting our seeds for our next visitors. Wonder what they will be? Students did an excellent job being scientist and using their eyes to go on a science hunt last week outside in the butterfly garden. We were looking for various plants and animals so that we could do a comparison of the two. I have some great pictures to share that I hope to post this week. Students were surprised to see how many "critters" they could find in the butterfly garden. This week we will be creating an ant farm as well as anxiously awaiting our next visitors? HMMMMM?????

I am also very pleased with the progress students in 3B are making with their Read to Self and Read to Someone in literacy. We have built our Read to Self stamina to 30 minutes and our Read to Someone stamina to 15 minutes!!! Wow! Excellent. Today I will be introducing another part of the Daily 5/literacy component and that is Word Works. Some people like to call it spelling, but it is a different routine than the traditional spelling. With Word Works, students are involved in various activities throughout the week that focus on different modes of learning (hands on, oral, visual, etc.) Today your child picked his/her words off a focus word list that the class created. He/she will be bringing those words home on Tuesday. While it is not necessary that you study the words at home, I have found that some parents like to see what words the students are working on and review them at home. So we will be sending the list of words home Tuesdays. Our focus this week is using the "silent e" rule with words to make the vowel long and say it's name. Our Word Works tests then are always on Friday, part of the 5 day routine. If you have any questions or concerns about Word Works, feel free to send me an email or call.

Within literacy, I just wanted to let you know that I am completing some individual assessments this week and will hopefully be starting guided reading next week sometime. Along with guided reading and various mini lessons, I will be starting individual conferences with students on their reading strategies and goals to work on while reading. As you can tell, we are a busy class.

Book Orders....the students are anxiously waiting for them. I am sending our first set of book orders home today. If you decide you would like to order some books, please return the order form with your 3B child by Friday. You can send cash or a check. If you are writing a check, please add all orders (if ordering from more than one book order form) together and make the check out to me. I order the books online so that they arrive quicker and use my credit card to make the purchase so if the checks are made out to me it is a lot easier to complete the order. There are many wonderful books in the book orders!

My last comment is not a positive one. It appears as if my digital camera has been taken by someone in 3B. The students have been taking digital pictures for various activities so it is often in use. Well, last week I set the camera on my desk when students were coming in in the morning. After the students arrived and I greeted them, I realize the camera was gone. This all happened in about 20 minutes time. I discussed it with the class and many saw it on my desk but no one seems to know where it went. If you have time, please discuss this with your child and see what he/she says. It saddens me to know someone in 3B would steal something that did not belong to them. We also lost a bunch of pictures we had taken for a book we are creating so now we have to take them all over. Bummer huh?

Have a wonderful week!

Brine Shrimp - "Sea Monkeys"

2010-09-07T15:12:00.001-05:00

Sadly, our brine shrimp did not make it through the three day weekend. I showed the students this video during class about what they would eventually look like. They thought it was so cool and decided we needed to have it on our blog page. So, here you go.

Cadet Pride and Books Coming Home

2010-09-07T11:20:00.004-05:00

I hope you enjoyed your three day weekend with your family and friends. Mine was great except I would have loved it even more if it were a little warmer. Oh well... we can't be picky can we? :)

There has been a lot going on in 3B that I am excited to share with you. The students are into a super routine and working hard. Have they mentioned anything about Cadet Pride? Cadet Pride is showing that you are caring, respectful, responsible, and trustworthy. It involves all students K-8 working on appropriate behavior. When a student is caught demonstrating Cadet Pride, he/she is given a ticket to put in their class bucket. When the class gets 100 tickets, they get an ice cream party and extra recess. Well....we did it!!! We reached 100 tickets last week and had our ice cream party last Friday. The students were so excited and eager to have ice cream, with toppings of course! I was very proud of them as well. Now we have to set a new goal and decide what our reward will be. Great to see the students working so hard on demonstrating Cadet Pride everywhere in the building. Keep it up 3B!

Science is also a big hit as we have a "mystery object" in our classroom. Students made hypothesis on if the "mystery object" was a seed or an egg. They will find out today that it is called "brine shrimp". Pretty cool. Sadly, a lot of ours died over the weekend but we are able to view some on the internet as well as borrow some from another teacher. There will be more visitors arriving as part of our science unit on plants and animals....What will they be????

As a start to our day, the students are involved in a "Morning Meeting". The Morning Meeting revolves around four components: greeting, sharing, group activity, and morning message. I will be sending an informational note home about the different components. The main purpose of a morning meeting is to welcome everyone and let them know, and feel, like they are an important part of our class. It was the favorite part of the day with my class last year, and I can tell my 3B family this year is enjoying it. Today we did a greeting called "Shoe Greeting". Ask your 3B child about it and see what they say.

Some students have been asking about when they will be taking books home to read. I told them I would go over that this week. There are so many routines and things to cover that we did not get checking books out for home. We will this week. Today we made it to 23 minutes for our Read to Self stamina! That is great! I can tell I have a class or readers, which I am very excited to see.

I have also introduce a keyboarding website to the students that we will be using to build our keyboarding skills so the students eventually type a little faster. 3rd grade teachers are expected to introduce keyboarding so I found an online site to use. Some students have tried it at home, as I have introduced it and modeled it in the classroom. If your child wants to give it a try at home, the site is http://www.freetypinggame.net. Remind them to put their eyes on the screen, fingers in the home row, and try not to look at fingers. They are so excited to try it and I love their eagerness!

Enjoy your week. Hopefully summer isn't quite over yet!

This Week's Favorites

2010-09-03T15:08:00.002-05:00

Madison: My favorite was having ice cream for Cadet Pride tickets
Kacey: I liked the ice cream also
Rachel: Ice cream as well
.Kailyn: Ice cream
Libby: Ice Cream
Jamie: Ice Cream party.
Erika: Same as above.
Reece: Me too!
Angelina: Same as me.
Emma: Science project of Mystery Objects
Lee: I liked the ice cream for Cadet Pride.
Colby: Ice Cream as well
Jada: Ice Cream party.
Everyone else loved the ice cream party as well except:
JD: I liked our art project.
Austin: Recess
Hailey: I liked having guidance for the first time.
Matthew: I liked math today doing Name Collection Boxes
Miss Tweten: Mine was reading "The Best Part of Me" and starting our writing project.
Mrs. Kerian: I enjoyed the whole week as we worked hard on Cadet Pride responsibilities. Keep it up!

Great First Full Week!

2010-08-30T07:35:00.004-05:00

I hope your 3B student shared all the great activities we worked through last week - mixing liquids, taking digital pictures, math stations. It was a busy week but great one! I am pleased with the routine the students are getting into and their attitudes about school. Wonderful! Keep it up 3B! I thought I would just comment on a few activities we completing last week.

As I just mentioned, students kicked off science with an activity looking at the inquiry process and what scientist do. We first started off with a question to solve, then made an hypothesis, which the students learned was an educated guess. After that, we decided the procedure of our experiment and then conducted it to make a conclusion. The first question I guided them through was if cranberry juice, Diet 7-up, and blue Gatorade would mix or layer if poured on ice. Many students were surprised to find that it layered. So the next part of the activity was for students to work in groups, set up their experiment and work through the process to determine if all liquids would do the same thing when poured on ice. It was super fun! We found that some do and some don't based on sugar content and density. While it was not important for students to totally understand the rationale, the meaning behind that activity was to help students understand what scientist do everyday. This will set the stage for the many hands on activities we will be doing throughout the year. As one student said, "This is cool!" I agree.

I will be sending a parent note home soon explaining the structure of our literacy. Look for that sometime in the next week or so. Thus far, we have had many mini lessons on what is reading, how to pick books, and what good readers do. If you ask your child what reading is, hopefully they stand on a chair and scream "Thinking". I hope that does not get them in trouble as we try to add excitement in as many areas as possible in 3B. The class has built their "Read to Self" stamina up to 11 minutes, which is fabulous, and I hope to see that continue to build. "Read to Self" is one of the components of the Daily 5, a part of our literacy structure. Ask your child to explain what "Read to Self" looks like. We have been reviewing what it looks like and doesn't look like. Funny how they love to volunteer to model the incorrect way to read to self. Quite a site! This week we will continue to build our stamina, do some assessments, and work into the component of "Work on Writing".

Our specials are in full swing. Remember to send tennis shoes with your child on Monday and Friday as well as return library books on Friday.

Students have also been shown some online math activities on my web page that they enjoyed last week. If your child is bored or looking for something to do at home, get on my web page and go to the math link. There are a ton of online games your child can play to reinforce his/her skills.

Thanks for a great start to the school year. Enjoy your week!

The Best Part of our Week

2010-08-27T15:06:00.002-05:00

Rachel: I liked the math stations today.
Kacey: I liked the layering liquids science project
JD: I liked the stations today.
Emma: I liked the liquids in science.
Madison: I liked the group activity of "Where's My Chicken?"
Jada: I liked when we played the chicken game.
Matthew: I liked math stations
Lee: I liked science this week.
Austin: I liked sharing our paper bags and guessing who it belonged to.
Kailyn: I liked the bags also.
Hailey: I liked doing read to self.
Annaleigh: I liked recess.
Kryslynn: I liked science.
Jamie: I enjoyed PE
Angelina: I liked recess.
Colby: I liked playing Star Wars at recess.
Reece: I liked science with the liquids.
Erika: I liked the story about Wodney Wat.
Libby: I liked our group activity.
Alex: I liked math stations today.
Mrs. Kerian: I liked watching the students use the digital cameras to take pictures for math.
Miss Twetten: I enjoyed doing the paper bags and learning about something interesting about the students.

Hot Start to First Full Week

2010-08-22T19:35:00.004-05:00

I hope that you enjoyed the weekend - even if it was extremely hot! Looks like our week will start out that way, but then it will hopefully cool off. I love hot summer days, but I'd be okay with the temperature dropping a little bit. Last week was the first week I have ever had students say they did not want to go out for recess because it was too hot! I'd like to think that maybe it was because we were just having too much fun in the classroom.....

I'm sure your child has told you about some of the activities we did the first two days of school. There are always those "expectations and behavior" activities you have to go through with the students, but I really think it is important to teach those in a way that involves the kids and mix it up with other team building activities. So, while we did have to go over some "beginning of the year" things, we did have some fun getting to know each other as well. I can tell that I am going to enjoy this bunch of 3B students!

Thank you to those parents who send snacks for us to "munch on" the first few weeks of school. The students and their tummies were grateful! It is a hard transition from summer to a full day of school so we do appreciate the extra snack in the afternoon. In connection to that, I thought I would comment about our lunch. 3rd grade students, in the past, have gone to lunch and noon recess with kindergarten through 2nd graders. This year, 3rd graders are eating lunch and having noon recess with 4th and 5th graders. Because of that, students in 3B do not eat lunch until 11:50/11:55. That is over a half hour later for the students than when they ate last year so it will take some getting used to. Just remember to encourage your child to eat breakfast in the morning as it will help he/she stay focused during the morning hours.

I hope you had a chance to enjoy the pictures from Open House and the first days of school on my previous blog. I showed it to the students and they were so excited to see themselves on the internet! I will continue to post more pictures and video throughout the year.

Highlights of the week to come involve getting into the Daily 5 for literacy, using digital cameras in math to explore numbers, exploring the inquiry process of science with a liquid layering activity, and building a deep understanding that we are ALL writers and authors. I am also going to try to introduce an online keyboarding activity for students to work on keyboarding skills so they can prepare to type on their own blog pages. As you can see, we will be busy as well as have fun along the way. More information will also be sent home soon to share information about the Daily 5 and our first math unit. Keep your eyes open for that coming home in your child's "Important Papers" folder. Remember that this folder goes back and forth between school and home each day.

Thanks for a great start to the year. Remember that if you have any questions or concerns, please email me or call me as we are a team.

Enjoy the week and stay cool.

Excellent First Day and Open House!

2010-08-19T20:08:00.007-05:00

I was so glad to see everyone made it to Open House last night! I could tell when the night was over what a wonderful bunch of students I was going to have! I was so excited I could hardly sleep!

3B had a great first day of fun activities, laughs, as well as covering some of the "must do" discussions for the first day. We started out the day getting to know each other through an activity on the smartboard where the students actually go to throw a koosh ball at the smartboard....yes, THROW something at the smartboard! It was a fun way to get to know one another and start the day! We also put some "yummy in our tummy" by enjoying some Skittles. Little did they know, when they took their Skittles they would have to tell me something about themselves based on how many Skittles they had (for example, six Skittles meant tell me six things). Everyone loves a treat once and a while. The students went on a scavenger hunt through the room, which are included in some of the pictures, as well as ended the day with a quick activity with all 3rd graders. Each child should have brought home a copy of our "wordle" today in which they shared words and activities about our first day! As you can tell from the wordle, it was a fantastic day. (But I know many will be a little tired tomorrow.)

Enjoy the pictures of Open House and our first day! I am excited for our school year together!

Welcome Back To School

2010-08-18T07:52:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone! It's almost time for school! Are you excited! I am very, very excited!!!!! This is where parents, family, friends, and students can look for information I post about our day or week, as well as share pictures! There is also a spot for parents, friends, and yourself to comment. So, if you would like, become a follower of this blog page and keep current on 3B events.

Can't wait to meet you at Open House! Don't forget to check out the book fair! I will be posting your pictures from Open House soon!

The Final Countdown!

2010-05-19T13:28:00.003-05:00

First off I want to thank my "3B Family and Parents" for the caring cards, phone calls, and thoughts during the last week. My heart is saddened because I lost my brother, but it makes it a little easier with caring students and parents. So. . .thank you very much! It was nice to return yesterday to so many hugs! I needed them!!!

This will not be a long blog, but I thought you would like to know about some upcoming events to prepare for before the year is over. It is hard to believe that time is winding down. . .it really doesn't feel like it to me. The students have been real "troopers" and hanging in there, which is great! Here is what we have to prepare for:

1. This Friday, the students in 3rd grade who mastered all of there multiplication facts will be having their "Taco in a Bag" celebration. These 7 students in 3B will be eating a walking taco as an afternoon snack at 2:30. We would like those students who mastered all of their facts to also bring along something to drink. All other components (plates, etc.) will be provided. Great job to those students! Students who did not master all facts will not participate in the celebration and therefore do not need to bring a beverage.

2. Next Thursday, May 27th, 3rd graders will walk to the park for a little exercise and fun. At this time, I am not sure if we will be needing sack lunches. I will let you know about that by the end of the week.

3. Next Wednesday, May 26th, all parents are invited to our end of the year "Writer's Workshop Social". This is a time where we will celebrate our writing accomplishments with you and enjoy some snacks. An invitation will be sent home by Friday, but I wanted to let you know to mark your calendars. This celebration will take place in the cafeteria at 2:30. Parents who signed up to supply snacks for our final celebration of the year will receive a letter by Friday as well, reminding them to supply snacks for this celebration. Students and parents will also use this time to clean out lockers and get items home (lucky you! Be sure to bring extra sacks! :)

4. Next Friday, May 28th, will be the last day of school with a 3 hour early out. We have planned a fun morning with a "field day" for students and teachers to participate in as a last day celebration. There are lots of fun activities planned so I can't wait! Go 3B!

5. We are currently taking a math test, which will probably be the last one of the year. We will also be squeezing in a quick social studies test next Tuesday. Look for study material to be sent home this Friday.

What else???? HMMMM????? If your child has a library book or book from my classroom, I would like them returned by Wednesday, May 26th so that I can see what is missing and returned.

Next week will be my last "offical" blog of the school year! I am sure I will have LOTS to say then. :)

Enjoy the sunshine!

Last Month of School. . .So Much to Do!

2010-05-03T13:47:00.003-05:00

Well, hard to believe, but May is here! I really can't believe how quickly the time has flown by! It seems like just yesterday we were starting school and now we are almost to the end. Kind of sad for me. . . although I do enjoy my summer. Well, I just hope the students stay focused and working as hard as they currently are. We are cruising through so much and it is going very well. Keep it up 3B!

I am sending home the math test from last week. Please notice that I have written the percent and grade each child would have received if they were given a grade as they will be in 4th grade. It is a little "eye opener" for some students who like to rush as well as for those students who need to try a little harder. While we don't give letter grades in 3rd grade, students will be given them in 4th grade. On the math test, every option for an answer was a point, whether correct or needing to stay blank. The reason for that was because some problems has more than one possible answer and students needed to check all options. I think you will see what I mean when you look at the test itself. These do not need to be returned to school, but I hope you take a moment to look them over. There are a ton of concepts and processes in geometry, but I was pleased with their understanding of the concepts and recognition of geometry terms.

Science test will be coming home tomorrow or Wednesday as well. There will be grades on part of the test, as if in 4th grade, but not all being some are short answer. Again, they do not need to be returned to school.

In literacy, students are loving their book clubs!!!! They are having some of the best discussions as well so that is exciting for me to see! Every day someone ask me when we are doing book clubs. . . .which is wonderful as well. The purpose of book clubs is to build reading skills and strategies through discussion while building enjoyment in reading as well. Some students are very hesitate to share their thoughts while they read for fear of being wrong or other issues, but eventually, through practice, they see the benefits of sharing thoughts and that it is alright to be wrong sometimes. We will continue our book clubs through the month as some groups are in the middle of their books while others will be starting a new book. During this time, I also pull in my guided reading lessons to correspond with the books they are reading and the needs they demonstrate. These lessons range from comparing and contrasting, recognizing cause and effect, building communication while reading, and looking at word parts. A note will be sent home soon asking students to bring in a beverage as we would like to turn this into a type of "book chat" as if we are a Barnes and Noble drinking coffee - only we will be having juice or something else whild discussing our books. Something fun to throw in the activity!

Just a reminder that we will be taking a field trip next Friday to Wabasha, Minnesota. I have two parent volunteers already but need 1 more. If you are interested, please contact me as soon as possible to get that finalized. More information will be sent this week about what to bring, times of departure, and necessary information. Look for that soon!

We had a super time at Vernon last week for Arbor Day. Hopefully all of you got your tree planted. We still have each tree that my children planted in 3rd grade at our house, and they are growing like crazy. Look for pictures of our trip to be posted some time this week as well. My evenings are busy with my daughter's track meets out of town, but I will get them up sometime soon.

I also need to make one last comment about our biography presentations. I have uploaded them to a site called "Teachertube" for reasons that "YouTube" is blocked at school. They are having technological difficulties - just my luck- but I will hopefully have them embedded on each child's blog page this week as well for you to view and comment. I should also have the DVD made by the end of the week as well. While I love all the technology that students have access to, sometimes it takes a while to get it all "perfected". So thanks for being so understanding. . . .

Have a great week and enjoy the sunshine. . .hopefully it will stick around a while!

Super Week 3B. . . Let's Have Another!!!

2010-04-26T13:50:00.003-05:00

Last week was a very busy; yet, wonderful week for 3B. I was so proud of each and every one of the students as they worked so hard and stayed on task the whole week! Great job 3B! I hope that continues this week and throughout the rest of the year!

Well, where to start? We did finish up our biography presentations! They were super. I have put pictures of the students on their individual blog pages (you can get to by visiting my web page). You can also view the pictures on my webpage and going to the "09-10 photo" link or clicking on the star that says "Biography Presentation Photo". Either one will get you there. These are just pictures from our "dress rehersal" so not all students have a photo yet as some did not have their costumes at school for the dress rehersal. I am currently working on uploading the videos to the student's blog pages and created a DVD with all the presentations. I will then give a DVD to each student to keep and watch the presentations at home. They are so excited for that!!! I told them they were going to be movie stars!!! Look for that to come home soon but feel free to view their individual picture posted on the web (student blog page or my class web page)! I have to say I was very impressed with everyone's costumes and hard work to memorize as much of their presentation as they could!!!! Excellent job 3B! I could tell you enjoyed this project!!!

We also finished a science and math test last week. I am finishing correcting those, science has many parts, and will be sending those home tomorrow or Wednesday. Because of our Earth Day activity last Thursday, we didn't have science Thursday or Friday (Friday was Food and Fitness). I did not get all the components of the science test done, but I am going to just go with what we did get done. The students were glad to hear that!! :) To get them used to "letter grades" they will be getting in 4th grade, I will be putting a "letter grade" on both the science and math assessments. This will give each 3rd grader an idea of what grade they would have received if in 4th grade. I am going to try and do that on many activities to help them prepare for this aspect of 4th grade. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

On Thursday of this week we will be going out to Vernon for Arbor Day. This is a day of activities focusing on trees, soil, plants, and wildlife. Please be sure your child dresses in layers as the weather could be chilly in the morning and then get warmer as the day progresses. Hats/visors are allowed as well. Please have your 3rd grader where tennis shoes as we will be walking on some trails and busy outside. I also suggest you put sunscreen on your 3rd grade child that morning before sending him/her to school so that no one gets burnt. The school will be providing sack lunches for all of 3rd grade so please do not send a cold lunch on Thursday from home. This is a fun activity that brings all 3rd graders together throughout the district. Let's just hope the weather cooperates!

May 14th is also a field trip for Crestwood 3rd graders. We will be going to an eagle preserve in Wisconsin as well as a toy museum. More information will be sent home soon, but I wanted to send out a little request for chaperones. Each class will be taking 3 parent chaperones. If you are interested in going and would like to volunteer, please send me an email or call me. If I have more than 3 volunteers, I will put all names in a hat and draw them out to make it fair. Just so you know, we will be leaving the elementary at 7:30 AM and returning at 3:30 PM. Again the date is May 14th. Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to volunteer to go along. I guarantee it will be a super day!

Last week we also ventured into something new in literacy called Book Clubs. After two days of modeling by myself, Mrs. Hartberg, and Mrs. Foster, the students went into some of the 4th grade rooms and watched what a book club is. There is a photo above that shows some 3rd grade students watching a 4th grade book club. Then on Thursday, we started our book clubs. The students are loving them and learning so much from the discussions that are happening, which is a main component of book clubs. Please ask your child about his/her book club, the book they are reading, and how it is going.

Above you will find some pictures that can be viewed on my web page in the photo albums. I have posted pictures from our Earth Day activity picking up trash in Cresco and at Kessel Park as well as the biography pictures. Take a look!

Have a great week and enjoy the sunshine. . . hopefully it sticks around awhile!

Busy Week Ahead!

2010-04-19T13:46:00.003-05:00

We had a great talk this morning about how much we have going on this week. It is a little overwhelming to some of the students, but I feel they were more relaxed once we talked about everything. Yes, it is going to be busy! I know the students can handle it though and it will turn out wonderful. So what's going on you may ask. . . .here it is:

1. Biography presentations: I am so impressed with most of the students and their hard work to memorize as much of their biography presentations as they can! Wow! The students are so excited about this project, and it is super to see. Most students have been practicing hard each night, while a few students have not been. I am sad to say, but this will show when they do their presentations this week. We have been practicing daily in class, but the students were to practice every night since last Thursday at home for 20 minutes. Most did that and are ready. Some did not; therefore they spent their recesses today practicing, which was too bad because it was so nice outside. Oh well. . . .moving on. . . this is the schedule for the week:
a. I listened to almost everyone practice their oral presentations today. We will have a little more practice time in the classroom.
b. Costumes and props need to be to school by this Wednesday, if they were not sent today. Last week's newsletter asked that they be sent to school today so thank you to those who read my blog carefully and sent them today. If your child did not bring their costumes, I would appreciate them by Wednesday at the latest.
c. We will do a "dress rehersal" on Wednesday with the other 3rd grade students in the other sections coming in to listen and learn.
d. Presentations will start Thursday. Remember that all presentations will be video taped and placed on the students' blog pages, except for the students who signed that they did not want that. I also told 3B students they will get a DVD next week of all the presentations put together in a movie so they have it to keep forever. They were very excited about that aspect!!!
e. I hope to have all presentations done by the end of the day Friday. Costumes will then be sent back home on this day.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. We are moving along quickly because the students are ready and working hard. Thanks for your help and cooperation!

2. Science tests - If you remember, there are many components of our science assessments (visual, manipulative, multiple choice, etc.). The purpose of this is to meet all learning styles and hope for success in a way that meets the learning style of your child. I sent a study guide and science materials home last week for students to begin preparing for this assessment. We will start with the first half on Tuesday afternoon and finish on Thursday afternoon with the last half (we do not have science on Wednesday). Feel free to study more Wednesday night before part 2 of the assessment by using your study guide or materials sent home, but please return the science books with our child on Tuesday. I have reminded the students of this.

3. Math Assessments - We will be finishing up our unit on Geometry tomorrow with a math assessment Wednesday. While there is really no way to study for this assessment, remember to work on the multiplication facts. Even though it is an assessment on geometry, part of it is a quick check to see if students have been working on their facts. Otherwise, don't worry about studying for this assessment.

4. Multiplication Facts - The deadline to earn a "Walking Taco" for knowing all the multiplication facts is this Friday. I have 4 students done with many others very close. Keep working on them!!!!

See. . . .I told you it was a busy week. :) Hang in there. . . .we can do it!!!!

Last but not least. Just a quick note about a field trip coming up next Thursday to Vernon. All 3rd graders in the school district will take part in a celebration for Arbor Day next Thursday by going through various stations on trees, soil, animals, plants, etc. Look for more information to be sent home next week, but I wanted to make you aware of the date. All students will eat sack lunches provided by the school that day so no need to send a sack lunch from home.

Hopefully you are not overwhelmed by all of the information above. We have gone through it all, as I mentioned, and the students are aware of everything going on. Yes, it is a busy time, but they can do it!!!! It sounds like a lot, but we have spent a lot of time preparing so nothing should be a surprise. At least we had a some fun (we always have fun but this was a different kind of fun) and students picked their prizes out of the prize box for all of their great effort on the MAPs test. I was very proud of each of them and they deserved a little pat on the back or fun object to celebrate. Great job 3B!

Oh yeah. . .remember to watch your child's video book review and post a comment or question for them! They would really appreciate it - as would I!!!! Just go to my web page and select the student blog link to reach the list of students. They are so proud of them. . . . and I know you will be too!

Have a great week!

MAPs testing is done!!! Jump for Joy!!!

2010-04-12T13:48:00.004-05:00

This post includes three post - the following two as well. If you look closely, you can see that I have posted pictures from our Technology Open House as well as the Field Day with Ridgeway students. In order to view the pictures/slide show, go into my blog page via the internet and watch from there. Comments follow as well.

I have had a lot of questions about the biography project so I am going to take some time to answer those and share information. The students worked very hard last week taking their notes and writing up their presentation. Some are still working on that while others worked on adding more information (some did not read all of the book like I had liked and had to do some rereading last week :( This week, students will be wrapping up their writing and preparing for their presentations here at school. While I don't feel it is necessary for the students to memorize their speeches, I do not want them reading directly off a paper all the time. We will be working on that this week. Look for your child's presentation to come home Wednesday night and the rest of the week for he/she to practice at home. Just remember to return it every day so he/she has it at school. As far as costumes and props go, I would like the students to have their costumes and props to school by next Monday. We will not need them on Monday, but I want to make sure every student has his/her costume and props. Remember props can include anything that reflects from the person's life or they were involved in. I am aiming to start the presentations next Wednesday, April 21st, and continue Thursday, April 22nd. With the costumes and materials here next Monday, we will have a dress rehersal on Tuesday, April 20th. So. . . we are getting there. This week, just look for your child to bring his/her speech home to practice on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Also be gathering and putting together your child's costume with him/her to be brought to school next Monday. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call or email me. Thanks for your help! The students are very, very excited (and a little nervous).

If you haven't had time to watch your child's book review video, I hope you will find time soon. You can go to your child's blog page (through my webpage) and click the link to watch his/her video. We would love comments posted as well so that the students understand who their audience is and build some communication through this activity. They did a great job and will be doing another one towards the end of the year. So. .enjoy! The students are eager for someone to watch their first video. :)

Just a few last minute reminders. The students who returned their reading calendars every month will be having a pizza party with me this Friday. Students who did not return their reading calendars will eat in the lunch room with the other 3rd grade students. I will provide pizza and beverages for the students who returned their calendars. Great job!

Remember that next Friday, the 23rd, is the last day for students to master all of their multiplication facts and earn a walking taco. Many students are so, so close so keep working at it. I am a little disappointed in some of the students not trying and practicing much at home as there are a few that don't seem to really care about it. I guess that is their choice, but 4th grade teachers do expect their students to know all their facts by next year. Might as well practice and earn something for it. Remember that mastering multiplication facts is part of our math series that is expected to be worked on outside the classroom as well. I am hoping to see a lot of students eating walking tacos soon!

The students finished up MAPs testing today. I don't think they could be happier to get them done. I was very pleased with the effort of the students and how hard many of them worked!!! Super job 3B! It showed in their scores, which were great! We had many types of "brain food" throughout the week to keep us going and working hard. . . . .now we are glad they are over with and we can return to normal. Look for your child's fall and spring scores to be sent home at the end of the year with his/her report card.

Have a great week!

Fun Day with Ridgeway!

2010-04-11T12:32:00.003-05:00

Two weeks ago the staff and students of Crestwood Elementary enjoyed a fun morning with the staff and students from Ridgeway Elementary. The Ridgeway students were split up to mix in with their current grade level and work through various track and field activities, classroom activities, and then enjoyed a cook out lunch before the Ridgeway staff/students headed back. It was an excellent way for the students from Ridgeway who may be attending Crestwood next year to meet new people and become comfortable with the possible new environment. I am sure that each of us, including myself, made at least one new friend on this day, which was great!

Technology Night Open House

2010-04-11T12:26:00.002-05:00

I am finally getting around to uploading the pictures from our Technology Open House. Thanks to the parents and families that attending and enjoyed spending time podcasting, blogging, and learning about the smartboard. It was a great evening! Enjoy!

Sometimes Technology is NOT my Friend!!!

2010-04-05T13:49:00.004-05:00

I hope you had an enjoyable 3day weekend with your family and friends. It was very nice to have a little break and regroup for the rest of the year. Hard to believe that it is April already. . . . .time is just flying by as usual. I am proud of the students and their hard work though. . . they are really hanging in there and pushing themselves, which is awesome! I hope they keep it up for a little while longer!!!!

Well, our book review videos went well last week! I was pleased with them overall, and the students were very excited to see themselves on the computer. In trying to make it easier for the students, I ran into a little snag as far as uploading the videos to their individual blog pages. I used the computer video recorder on iMovie to record the videos (very simple for students to use). Unfortunately, these types of recordings won't upload to our blog pages. I should have checked it out first, found out if they worked or not, and then went with my original plan if they didn't. (Original plan was to use my FlipCamera to record the videos.) I learned a lesson for sure. So what I have done is put the students' book review videos on their podcast pages, which did work. This way the reviews can be watched. I am also going to put the link on each student's review on their blog page in hopes that parents, friends, and others will send comments to the students to foster more communication and discussion. So. . . look tomorrow at the student individual blog pages and information to comment/view your child's book review. Or, if you can't wait, you can view the video tonight by going to our podcast pages on my class website. Your choice-they are there for you to view tonight if so desire.

Almost everyone brought back his/her biography project information! Super! I was very pleased this morning with the responsibility shown by the students. Here is a timeline of what will be happening in the next few weeks:
1. I will review the information the students brought in. I will do this by Wednesday so that if anyone needs to reread or gather more information, he/she will have time to do that.
2. We will begin taking our information and preparing our oral presenation. This will mostly be done at school.
3. Once we get going on that, I will send information home about when costumes and props are due. Some have sent them to school already, but that is not necessary. If you do not have your costume, you have about a week or two to get it ready. Look for a note to be sent home soon with specific information/dates.

Thanks for your help and cooperation with this activity! The students are very, very excited about it!

I have six or seven students who have returned their reading calendar every month and have earned a pizza party with me, Mrs. Kerian. I am tentatively planning this party next Friday, April 16th. These six students will not be eating school lunch that day as they will be eating pizzas with me and having beverages provided by me as well. Those students who did not meet the goal of returning their calendars every month will go to lunch as usual with the other 3rd grade teachers or an associate to sit with them in the cafeteria. Great job to these students! I am very proud of each of them and their dedication to reading has shown in their improvement as well! Keep it up!

Just a reminder to keep working on those multiplication facts. All facts must be memorized by April 23rd to earn the "Walking Taco" party. Many students are very close so keep working on them!

In conclusion, I wanted to comment about our upcoming MAPs test we will be starting tomorrow. Students in 3B will be doing the Reading part of the assessments tomorrow, Language on Tuesday, and Math on Thursday. We will end our assessments next Monday by taking the Science portion of the test. If you remember, your child took these assessments at the beginning of the year on the computer. They are not timed and students are given as much time as needed to work through the problems. Today your child set his/her goals for the scores they would like to receive. Our hope is that there will be improvement in all areas. . . .I have no doubt there will be. Anyway, please do not stress your child out about this. They will be fine. All I ask is that they get a good nights rest this week, or as usual, and eat a healthy breakfast. Thanks for your help and cooperation!

Have a great week!

So Much To do. . .So Little Time

2010-03-29T14:02:00.005-05:00

I am so excited to hear many students talk about their costumes and materials for their biography project!!! Hopefully that is a good sign that things are getting done at home. Yeah!!! I needed to make a comment about due dates. I was not thinking when I said that their notes were due April 2nd. We don't have school that day. . . .so.. . . your child can return his/her notes and books on Thursday, April 1st, or Monday, April 5th. Either one is fine. We will then start preparing for the presentations and a note will be sent home about when to have costumes and props at school. Right now, I am thinking that the costumes should be to school on Monday, April 12th. That is what we are aiming for. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me via email or phone. Thanks for your help with the project and I am anxious to see and hear what every one is learning.

This week we will be putting up a new book review on our blog pages. These book reviews will be videocast so hopefully we will have them up and running by the weekend for everyone to show their extended families. I would also appreciate any comments you, the parents, post for each child as well as that gives them more of an understanding of what and who their audience is.

A note was sent home today about MAPs testing starting next Tuesday. Please do not stress your child out as we have not talked about it yet. This Thursday, I will talk to the students about it in a calm way. On Monday, we will look at our old scores, individually of course, and set goals for the new set of tests. I have no doubt there will be improvement in all areas for all kids, which is what we want to see. Again, please do not stress your child out. It is another set of tests that we will try our best on and move on. I just wanted to call attention to the note that was sent home today.

Many students have been busy at home working through math concepts on my web page. That is outstanding! I am so impressed with the dedication many students are showing. To build in the area of reading, I will be putting some reading activities on my web page as well. I am going to try to post them tonight. It would be great if your child would try some of these sites as well to continue building his/her reading skills and strategies. We all know that students love to be on the computer, so take advantage of that time by having them do something productive and learning in a creative way. I have talked to the students about this and shown some of the activities for them to try.

In conclusion, I am sending home your child's science quiz from last week. Many students did wonderful, some did fine, and a few could have done better. Please take some time to look at your child's quiz and discuss with them the importance of using the study guides sent home (as their was one sent home 4 days before the quiz). Congrats to those who worked hard and studied! I am proud of you.

Report cards will be sent home tomorrow! The students are anxious to see them!
Have a great week and enjoy the sunshine!

Technology Open House - Thank You!

2010-03-22T13:47:00.003-05:00

A big thank you to the parents that made it to the Technology Open House last Friday! I was very impressed and hope that you had a great time as well. It was neat to see parents doing podcast and blogging with students!!!! I will try and get the podcast up tonight so that you can listen to them on your 3B child's podcast page. The students we attended thought it was great to have their parents try these activities as well. I hope to have the pictures from last Friday for you to see on the blog page as well by Tuesday night. Stay tuned! :)

We continue working away in all areas. I am hoping that students are remembering to be reading at home for their biography project. Some students have told me they have not started yet, and that concerns me a lot! If you remember correctly, the books and notetaking need to be done by April 2nd. That is next Friday already!!!! If you 3B child has not started reading his/her biography that was sent home, they probably should get started soon!!!! Another thing to start thinking about is a possible costume. Remember not to stress about this but try to be creative!!! The students are very, very excited about the project so I am anxious to see what they come up with. Costumes will not be needed until the week of April 5th so just start thinking about it.

I am currently working on finishing report cards. Look for them to be sent home March 30th. I thought I should make a quick comment about report cards so that some of you aren't caught off guard. As I have mentioned before, we have been having some "finishing homework" problems in 3B. It is getting better, which is great, but we need to continue working on being responsible. This all ties to our behavior and work habits. It is common for this time of year for students to rush and get kind of "lazy". Call it spring fever or whatever, it happens. Please remind your child that they still should try hard in all areas. Behavior comments might show a drop in some areas as I am seeing more carelessness, rushing, waisting time etc. I am sure this will change and we will get back to normal, but I wanted to make a comment about it now. The other area I wanted to mention in connection to the report cards is in the area of writing. Part of our writing process involves mini lessons and teacher conferencing. Many students have been working hard with the teacher in individual conferences working on goals to improve our writing. Many take those suggestions and run with them, working hard, while others just keep coasting by. Mrs. Hartberg and I want the kids to start taking a little more initiative and applying what we have taught them. If there was a goal or skill we have worked on many times with your child and he/she is still not doing it independently, or trying, we want to encourage them to try a little harder. While we will continue to work on it, the students also need to think about it and put a little more effort in those areas. It connects to the effort grade/score. If you have any questions after seeing your child's report card, feel free to contact me via email or phone.

I am pushing back the deadline for completing mastery of all multiplication facts. The late starts and busy March and April months aren't giving us all the time we need. Therefore, I would like students to have mastered their multiplication facts to earn the "Walking Taco Party" by April 23rd. That is a Friday. Please keep working on them at home! There are many students who have completed them or are very, very close!

Enjoy the sunshine and have a great week!

A Gorgeous and Busy Week

2010-03-15T14:03:00.003-05:00

I hope this sunshine stays around for a while. It is beautiful outside. Of course the students think they don't need coats or sweatshirts. Not exactly that warm outside if you consider the time they are out before recess. Please remember that before sending your child to school without a coat or sweatshirt. The mornings are still chilly and many students spend a good amount of time outside before school starts. It's best to dress in layers so that they are not too cold but can take off a coat if needed. I also chatted with the students about paying attention to the weather this week. The weather man this morning said that it is to cool back down by the weekend with a chance of snow so don't put those boots away yet.

I am sending some information home about an upcoming activity revolving around reading a biography and then making a video playing the role of that person from the past sharing about his/her life. The students are very, very excited about it so I hope you take some time to read the information that was sent home. Students have until April 2nd to complete the book. During this time, they should also be thinking about a potential costume they could wear for the video cast. We would like to see each student assume the role of the character they are reading about and speak as if they are that person. In the past, we have called this the "Hall of Fame". Look for the information sent home today and further information to be coming.

I feel I also need to make a comment about responsibility. Many students in 3B have been having difficulty finishing the homework that is sent home. I can truthfully say that there is not a lot of homework sent home with 3B students as they know I want them reading every night. The homework that does come home each week should be easy to accomplish and complete. Last week I called many parents to discuss the problem students are having. I also brought in the 4th grade teachers to talk about responsiblity in 4th grade and preparing the students for more homework next year. Today there were students who did not have their homework done again. Please take some time to discuss with your student if they are having this problem and ways to help them be more responsible. It is disappointing when students don't take the time to finish activities sent home; but it is not all students. Many students do an excellent job completing activities when they are sent home. The problem is continuing for some so I thought it best I commented about it. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Because of all the snow days, early outs, and late starts, we did not get all of our science unit done before the end of the quarter. Therefore, I am sending home a study sheet today and we will be having a short science quiz this Thursday. The study guide should be used to help the students review what we have covered thus far in science. Please return the book with your 3B student on Thursday.

Congratulations to Shane and Alison for conquering all of their multiplication facts!!!! Super job!

Enjoy the sunshine and have a great week!

Now Comes the Rain!

2010-03-08T09:00:00.003-06:00

I was so excited last week that we made it through a full week of school without any late starts, early outs, or inservice! The kids were tired by the end of the week, but we did it. Guess we can't hope for that two weeks in a row. Here comes the fog! Not much we can do about it so we might as well just stay positive and keep trudging through everything. Spring will be here before we know it!!!

Because of having a "normal" week last week, we did get a lot accomplished. I have a few students who only have 1 or 2 sets of multiplication facts to accomplish before they have completed all of them! Great job to all the students who have been working at home. I can really tell who is practicing and who isn't. Along with this, we have moved into reading and writing decimals. This is a tough concept for most students, as it is a beginning skill. We have been using base 10 blocks to build a better understanding of tenths and hundredths, which seems to be working well. We will continue with decimals and large numbers throughout the week with an end of the unit assessment coming up soon. For now, keep working on those multiplication facts. Students have until the end of the month and first two weeks of April to master all of the facts through 10. I know they can do it!!!

Types of fiction has been the focus of some of our mini lessons in literacy the past few weeks. Students have done a great job becoming familiar with the elements of various types of fiction and recognizing the differences. This week, we will be moving into nonfiction by taking a look at biographies and autobiographies in preparation for an upcoming event that has been a favorite in the past. Look for information sent home at the end of the week about a biography project. This project will require a lot of dedication and time spent working at home so please be looking for it. More information will be sent home as well explaining the activity. I am very excited about and know the students will be as well.

We are also having a little fun by moving into figurative language. Thus far, we have discussed and done activities revolving around similes. Students will be writing simile poems about themselves this week as a culminating activity. We will then be moving into reading, recognizing, and writing phrases with personification, onomonopeia, and alliteration. These are all forms of figurative language that students should recognize as well as utilize in their writing. We usually have a lot of fun and read various types of poetry within this study as well.

Science. . . . we are trying to get through our unit on Force and Motion. Last week we did get a lot accomplished, which was nice. The problem is that when we have a late start or early out, science or social studies do not get done because our district wants us to focus on literacy and math every day. Therefore, we are having a hard time getting our science unit done. With the third quarter ending this Friday, I am looking at having some mini assessments over what we have covered thus far and then finishing the unit next week into the 4th quarter. I am still in the "organizing" stage of this and will let you know what I decide. If there is a mini assessment at the end of this week, look for science materials to come home midweek for students to study from. They are doing a superb job with the concepts thus far, which is great! If only we had more time in the day.

If your 3B child hasn't told you, we did start cursive last week. We will be using some of our "Morning Meeting" time to get through at least the lower case letters before the end of the year. The students were very eager to get started! If you remember, ask them to tell you what the "3 P's" are for cursive. I am pretty sure they will remember.

For those of you who signed up to be Mystery Reader, I will hopefully have schedules done this week. I am waiting for one more parent who called me last week. Thanks for being so patient.

Have a great week and stay dry!

March Already?

2010-02-28T19:30:00.003-06:00

Well, I think I have adjusted and gotten back into the daily routine after my vacation to Jamaica. Glad the sunshine is more apparent and a little warmer than when I left. Maybe some of the sunshine followed me back to Iowa and the weather is going to start appearing more like spring?! Let's hope so.

With warming weather comes messy conditions outside. Please keep sending snowpants and boots with your child to school so that he or she doesn't get their clothes all wet at recess. You may also want to send extra socks as many students are complaining their socks are getting wet outside (maybe if they stayed out of the puddles that would change but they can't resist the puddles :)) Although it may appear much warmer outside, these extra clothes continue to keep us dry. Thanks!

I want to commend the students on their student led conferences! I think they did a fabulous job and should be very proud of themselves. I feel that the parents got a lot more from their child about his/her learning than if it would have been just me sitting there sharing information. I am also impressed with how this type of activity builds verbal and communication skills as well. Anyway, great job 3B students. I know I have a few more students to do their conferences, and I hope to get those done this week!

The students represented Crestwood Elementary very well last Friday at our trip to a show at UNI. From reading their blogs and discussions with them afterwards, I think they enjoyed the science show as well. I am very proud of you 3B! You acted like young adults while also having a great time learning! Bravo!

If you did not do so today, please return your child's reading calendar for the month of February if he/she is participating in the extra reading incentive. We will continue the reading incentive through the month of March, with a celebration in February for those who have read every month and reached their goal. Students who have met their goal every month and returned their calendar will have a pizza party supplied by me as a little extra reward for continuing to read at home. As I mentioned, this will be sometime in April. So. . . .keep reading!

Something else to keep working on are the multiplication facts. While I was gone, we got a little off but now I hope to return to checking those when students are ready. Remember it is their responsibility to let me know if they are ready to be assessed on any particular family. Currently, our math unit is about reading and writing large numbers - up to the millions - but we will continue to work on multiplicatoin facts as well.

We have been working very hard on various concepts and skills in literacy, both reading and writing. The students seem to have a great understanding of fact vs. opinion! We are also working through exposure and understanding of different types of fiction. Thus far we have read and been exposed to the elements of realistic fiction, historical fiction, and fantasy. We are moving into science fiction and mystery this week. Along with this, the students are writing different types of pieces as well. They have build a great collection of writing pieces throughout the past month and will have lots to share at the end of the year! Along with this, we will be moving into recognizing types of figurative language, such as similes, during the next few weeks. All of this along with our Daily 5 activities, guided reading, and individual reading conferences makes for a busy but wonderful literacy period!!!

Thank you to those parents who volunteered to be Mystery Readers. I am currently working on the schedule and will be sending that out to those parents by the end of the week! The students are very excited! If you haven't volunteered and would still like to, please let me know as soon as possible!

Well, enjoy the sunshine thise week! We deserve it!

Fun Time at Mega Party 2010!

2010-02-09T13:09:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures of the students enjoying the "Big Blast-Mega Party" last week. As you can tell, everyone had a great time!

Student Led Conferences, Valentines Day, and Book Reviews

2010-02-07T19:01:00.004-06:00

Well, I think the students are ready to share their thoughts and reflections of their learning in 3rd grade. Yes, they are a little nervous, but I am sure it will go fine. We have practiced many times so they know the routine. Please remember that when you arrive for your conference, do not stand outside the room and wait for the person in the room to get done or we will get very behind in schedule. Just come in and get started as your 3B child will be leading the conference without me. I will initially start off to the side and then casually join the discussion as your child works his/her way through their information. So come on in and get started. I am excited to hear what your child has to share with you and will see you soon!

This Wednesday we have a special activity planned. Our Podcast Pals from Luther will be coming over to Crestwood Elementary at 2:30 to officially meet us and do some fun activities! They are just starting their semester so this will be a kick off to start back up on our podcast readings. 3B students will be showing their podcast pal around the room, telling them about how our day goes, and reading with their partner. Hopefully the weather will hold out as the students are eager to meet their Luther pals. Me too!!!

I recently sent a note home about Valentines. Because I will be gone next week on vacation, I would like to celebrate Valentines day, along with our "Caring Celebration" this Thursday afternoon, February 11th. As stated in the note sent home last week, students are not required to bring Valentines. It is totally their choice. But if they do, they must bring one for everyone in the class. A classlist was sent home, but if you need another please let me know. Those parents who volunteered to send snacks for our second "Character Counts" celebration should send their snacks to school on Thursday. (I sent a note to those parents today or called them.) Parents do not need to attend this celebration as we will be doing an activity showing how we care about one another. Remember that the snack sent can not contain peanuts. I will supply the paper products and beverage. Thanks so much!

We are starting a new activity this week that I am very excited about. In literacy, we have been discussing author's purpose and have now moved into book reviews used as a way to persuade others to read certain books. Last week we took some time to look at students written, podcast, or video book reviews from around the US. Now it is our turn! I have created new blog pages for each student on a class blog page (I will send the link so you can see them when we are ready) and students will be writing a book review this week to be posted on the web. In a few weeks, students will created a video book review that will be shared via the web/blog as well. I hope to utilize the blogs in various other ways as well as the year goes on in all curriculum areas, but we are just getting started. Yes, some students have been writing book blogs on my web page, but I have not been satisfied because no one can comment back on the program we have been using. Therefore, we are going to try this out which will allow you, as parents, and other students from around the world to respond/comment to post made by 3B. Look for a note to be sent home at the end of the week sharing the site to visit to read all of the book reviews by 3B! Fun times!

Remember that I will be gone all of next week as I am going on vacation with my husband - getting away from this winter weather! I need some serious sunshine and warm weather! I know the students will be in good hands and I have everything prepared for the sub. I would appreciate a few reminders from parents during that week to encourage their 3B child to be on their best behavior as sometimes students think they can goof off when the teacher is away. Not my 3B angels! I will check in with the students in the middle of the week to see how things are going. If you have a message for me that week or need to get ahold of the sub, please send a written note or call the school and chat with Linda. She will then get the information to the sub in my room.

Keep working on those multiplication facts at home. Even though we are wrapping up our unit on multiplication, I will continue to assess students on their facts working towards the "Walking Taco" party towards the end of March/beginning of April. I am very impressed with many students as I have done a lot of assessing already and am pleased at how the students are practicing on their own. Remember that there are many activities on my webpage that students can use to review their facts - a lot more fun to do it this way as well. :) We will be moving into our next unit of reaidng and writing large numbers up to the millions soon.

Have a great week! Remember that there is no school on Friday, February 12th, due to teacher compensation day for conferences. Also remember that Monday and Thursday of this week are 1 hour early outs as conferences are scheduled on those days. Have a great Valentine's Day weekend with your child!

See you at conferences!

Another Busy Week!

2010-02-01T13:02:00.003-06:00

Well, the students are ready for their big night tonight - their music program. I hope all of you can make it as they are singing some pretty fun songs! Please remember to have your child to the high school by 6:45 as the program starts at 7:00 and we need to get them lined up in time to start at 7:00. A note was sent home last week from Mrs. Holten with the information about the program so hopefully none of this is a surprise to you. Remember that there is also a home basketball game so it will be a little crowded in the parking lot. Hope to see you tonight!

Your 3B child should have brought a slip home with a time scheduled next week for parent-teacher conferences. If the time written does not work for your schedule, please return the slip with a time that would work better. It is important your bring your 3B child along as they will be leading the conferences. We started getting ready today and I can tell they are a little nervous. When you arrive at your conference that night, please just come on in and get started even if there is someone else in the room. It is alright to have 2 conferences going on at the same time just so we don't get off schedule. Your 3B child will start the conferences sharing their learning and critiques, and I will join you in the middle of the conference. (I will be listening from the side though). Although it is a scary time for the 3rd graders, it is a very beneficial experiences for them as well. After all, they are what the conference is about.

February seems to have a lot of "interruptions" - if we can call them that. Remember that this Wednesday is an early out for inservice. There is no school next Friday, February 12th, due to teacher compensation for time spent at conferences. We originally were to have off the following Monday as well, February 15th which is President's Day, but that is now a make up day. Please pay close attention to calendars and notes sent home from school throughout the month as it can be a busy time.

The "Big Blast" from our fundraiser has been rescheduled for this Friday. Mrs. Sovereign would love it if students wore Cadet blue tshirts or something Crestwood realated, if you have something. Those students that earned the ride in the limo and lunch at Pizza Hug will also do that this Friday - I get to go too! Yumm! I know the students are very excited about the Big Blast as they ask every day when it will be! Good way to celebrate their hard work!

Just a reminder that I will be on vacation to Jamaica February 12-21 and will return to school the 22nd. I will have everything prepared for the sub and know things will go very smoothly. If you need to let the sub know anything that week, please send a note or call Linda in the office so she can inform my sub. I usually bring back gifts for the kids so they are already curious what that will be.

Enjoy the week!

What a January!!!

2010-01-25T10:48:00.004-06:00

Hello everyone! Happy Monday! I am so glad that last week's weather is over, for now, and hoping that we have a full week of school this week. Let's cross our fingers that it works out for us. I have heard that the weather is suppose to get very cold this week so make sure your child has their hats, mittens, snowpants, and boots. We have had a few students showing up without the necessary items to go outside so please be sure they have what they need. Thanks for your help!

It seems like we are way off on activities so my goal is to try and get everyone on the same "page" today and back in a routine. We did get one group's readers' theatre done last week and taped (almost all of it). I will be putting that on the blog tonight or tomorrow. The other group will be doing their performance tomorrow, and I will be putting that on the blog as well. Many students commented that they enjoyed doing the readers' theatre, which I was glad to hear! It's a great activity for rereading to build fluency and reading with expression. Even highly skilled readers often struggle with taking time to read with expression and read loud enough in front of everyone so doing readers' theatre is a great activity for everyone. I plan to do more readers' theatre in the near future.

With all the snow days we have had, I have had a lot of time to do some reading myself. While some of the books I have selected have been for pleasure, I have also read some that connect to teaching and education. My reading has made me think more about my students and their reading at home. While I cannot control or monitor reading at home, I hope that you as parents are encouraging your child to read at home. Everyone in 3B has checked out books from the classroom for home. If they say they don't have one, they obviously have the book somewhere between here and there or need to check out a new one. I don't monitor each student's home reading or book check out as I encourage them to be responsible for checking out and returning books. I am very impressed with the amount of reading my students have developed in the classroom! Some students have told me they have read more books this year, and enjoyed them, than they ever have! What a great feeling of accomplishment! So, I just wanted to put a little comment in my blog about the importance of encouraging your child to be a lifelong reader - reading whenever possible - and developing a passion for reading. Together, I know we can help each child realize their reading potential!

Wow! What powerful discussions we have had about the terrible events in Haiti. I am so impressed with some students curiosity to find out as much as possible about Haiti and then sharing it with the class! Those students are developing great learning habits! I encourage you, both students and parents, to continue to discuss the events of Haiti - or any news in the world for that matter. The students are very eager to learn as much as they can about the world and value times they can learn and share.

I wanted to send a reminder to start working with your 3rd grader on his/her multiplication facts. I have started assessing a few students on their facts (many starting with the 1, 2, or 5 families). Remember students are working towards earning a walking taco for our "Taco in a Bag" multiplication celebration. We are currently diving through a chapter on multiplication and division so the students are ready. I am constantly looking for online activities to add to my web page so students have access to practice at home via online. Students have already experimented with some of the multiplication activities on my web page, and I encourage them to practice them at home as well. If your child has free time, and they love to use the computer (as most kids do), encourage them to visit my web page and practice their multiplication facts. I think they will be having fun while learning as well!

Parent teacher conferences are fast approaching. This semester's conferences will be different than the first semester as 3B students will be leading the conference this time. During the next two weeks, students will be practicing to share information about their learning in 3rd grade as well as gathering pieces of writing to share with you. After all, they are the experts about themselves. They are a little nervous, but I have promised them that it will go well and we will have a lot of practice before hand. I am currently working on the conference schedule so look for your notice to be sent home next week.

Have a great week!

The Start of Readers' Theater

2010-01-11T13:51:00.004-06:00

Well, hopefully this week will go off without any snow days or disruption in activities. I honestly feel like I haven't seen my 3B children in ages! It is good to be back at it and in a routine! The kids appeared to be glad to return to school also, but I am sure they will be exhausted by the end of the week.

You should have received a note today from Mrs. Sovereign about report cards. Due to snow days, report cards will be sent home this Wednesday. Many teachers did not get them printed off before the snow came and need time to get that done. Look for an envelope with your 3rd graders report card and ITBS to be brought home this week Wednesday. Remember that if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me or wait until conferences (which are 1 month from today - yikes!).

We are finally starting our readers theater activities that I mentioned before Christmas but we never got to due to the dang snow. Each student received a script today for a reader's theater. He/she do not know what part they are at this time. They will find that out tomorrow. For tonight, I would like the students to read through the script, alone or with you, doesn't matter to me, so they understand what their presentation is about. Please return the script to school each day for practice time at school. Tomorrow night each 3rd grader will bring their script home to practice the part he/she was given. Each student was given 1 script and needs to be sure to return it every day to school so that he/she can practice with his/her group. That is their responsibility. The purpose of readers' theater is to build fluency and accuracy in reading, as well as work on reading with expression. So when your child is practicing, encourage them to read with lots of expression as that will make the presentation more exciting to listen to. We will present our readers' theater Friday, and I plan to post them via video on our blog pages. Look for that on the weekend. Please remind your child about his/her responsibility of practicing every night. They do not need to memorize, but they do need to know their parts well and read them fluently. There will be parent letters you need to sign on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights proving that your child practiced his/her part. Any questions, send me an email or give me a call. Thanks!

Hopefully you had a chance to view the students' "Happy New Year" greeting as well as their goals for 3B via the video I put on the blog pages. Youtube is blocked at school so we can not view it at school, but I hope you can see it by going to the blog page and viewing it at home. Remind your child what his/her goal is for January and keep working towards it.

Many students have asked when we will be watching the movie we were to have before Christmas and reschedule to last week but cancelled due to no school. With everything we have to get going on and so much lost time, I would like to reschedule it for later in the month, but the students deserve to have it as it was reward and celebration from before Christmas. Therefore, all 3rd graders will be watching a movie Thursday afternoon. Your child may bring a twist top bottle of something to drink during this time, and snacks will be provided.

I have sent home information about an activity with our new unit on multiplication. Students will be working towards memorizing their multiplication facts and earning a "walking taco" to celebrate. The information is on the parent letter that your child brought home today. We just starting our new unit and will be getting into knowing the facts by Wednesday so maybe wait until then to get started. I would focus on a family, such as the 1s, 2s, 10s or 5s, and work on memorizing the family before moving onto any other ones. Those are the easiest to start with. I briefly introduced the activity today and will begin assessing students who sign up on Wednesday and Thursday. This activity will go for quite a while with the purpose of building our recall of multiplication facts... . . besides, who doesn't like to eat a walking taco??? :)

Please be aware of the papers and activities that your child is bringing home every night. Being we are in the second semester, students will be getting more homework to prepare for 4th grade. Their homework is always to read every night, but you will start seeing more curriculum activities as well. It is your child's responsibility to get it done, but a reminder once and a while is a good thing.

Enjoy the heat wave this week. . . I heard we may get up into the 30s. hehehe

3B's January Goals

2010-01-07T13:28:00.001-06:00

Here are the oral statements of 3B students on their goals for January. Listen carefully parents, as many students say they are going to read more at home!!! Yeah! Remind them of that. . . .:)

Happy New Year!

2010-01-07T13:03:00.001-06:00

Welcome Back!

2010-01-06T10:28:00.002-06:00

I was so excited to see the students this morning as I have missed them greatly! I did enjoy having a little time off for break though so that was nice too! Hopefully everyone had an enjoyable and safe holiday break. It sounds like they did. The students had lots to share with me this morning. . . lots! One of my many Christmas gifts was a "flip camera" to use at school. We, meaning myself and the students, have already started messing with it today. We all love it! Who knew we would become movie stars. :)

Now it is time to return to "normal" as they say. The students are currently at library so I thought I would take some time to type my weekly blog. We have lots going on, much to continue, and learning to be done. As a fun way to return, we are making a video about the Daily 5 and our literacy. There is a new "face" in our classroom (she will be sending a letter home about herself soon). We are very excited to have her as part of our classroom. When I was trying to figure out the best way to show her what we have learned so far and what literacy looks like in 3B, I thought it would be great to have the students show her. Thus. . .we are making a video, and everyone is so super excited! Students will be working with partners planning and developing a video about the components and strategies of the Daily 5 using my new Flip Camera. As mentioned above, we started today messing with the camera. Instead of students writing their January goals, we videotaped ourselves stating our goals. I will be putting that video on my blog and the student blog tonight so be sure to look for it!!!! Fun times!

I will be sending home your students social studies test from right before Christmas. Please take some time to look through it and return it to school tomorrow with your 3B child. Please sign the test as well so I am aware you have looked it over. I was pleased with the results over all, but I could also tell some did not study enough at home. Remember that I send study guides home to help you and your 3B child review the information we have covered. I hope you utilize them and find them useful.

Because we did not get to have our holiday celebration before break due to the weather, we will be having a movie tomorrow, Thursday, afternoon. We feel the students deserved it as they had both a social studies and math test the last days of school and need to be rewarded for their efforts. Since we didn't get it done before break, we decided to do it now. Your 3rd grader may be something to drink for this little celebration if they would like but it must be in a twist top bottle.

Casey's reading calendars for the month of December can be returned tomorrow or Wednesday. I will be sending new ones home for January tomorrow as well. Remember reading every month to the goal gets you a coupon for a pizza slice as well as earns your way to a pizza party in April with Mrs. Kerian. Keep reading!

If the server at school cooperates, which it wasn't doing so well on Monday and Tuesday, report cards will be sent home next Monday. Along with this will be your child's ITBS results. If you have any questions about the results, feel free to call me. We will also be briefly discussing them in February at the next conference (coming soon - wow, where does time go?) Look for these pieces of information to be brought home next Monday.

Let's home the snow that we are suppose to get tonight and tomorrow stays south. . . .we have too much to do and too much fun to have at school to be missing more days due to snow. Is it summer yet?

2009-12-14T11:25:00.000-06:00

So Much to Do Before Christmas! Stockings Needed!

2009-12-14T10:55:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone enjoyed the nice winter weekend! The students and I chatted this morning about how missing 2 1/2 days last week due to snow was so fun; yet, now we have so much to do before Christmas approaches. We all agreed to focus hard, be involved, and work intensely so that we don't have to come back to activities in the middle of a chapter in math, for example, after the holiday break. It is always nice to start out fresh after the holiday break. So. . . .we are pushing and working hard!!

The plan is to try and work our way to finish our chapter on measurement in math this week. We would then take the assessments next Monday and Tuesday, which there is really no studying for. I would also like to wrap up our unit in social studies on communities so be looking for study information about that to be sent home by the end of the week with the test being next week sometimes (either Monday or Tuesday). I hate to throw 2 assessments at the students before break, but they will really only need to study for the social studies assessment. I know they can handle it and will be ready!

As part of our holiday fun, I am asking each student to bring a holiday stocking from home by this Wednesday. The stockings will be returned the 23rd, next week, in time for Christmas at home. If you do not have a holiday stocking or don't want to send a good one from home, any long sock will work as well. The only requirement is that they are clean! (Don't need any stinky smells in the room. :) I have heard that a Christmas visitor may be stopping every night from this Wednesday thru next Wednesday delivering little Christmas gifts to the students with stockings/socks hung for the holidays in the 3B classroom. Could it be Santa? If you have any questions about sending a stocking with your 3B student, feel free to contact me.

Some students have asked about our December pizza reading calendars. Please keep them over the holiday break, as I hope some students take a little time to read those great books they may get for Christmas, and return them when the students return to school in January. I will then send pizza certificates. Thanks!

As mentioned before, we are working through various actiities on measurement in math. The students have worked with reading rules for whole inch, 1/2 inch, and 1/4 inch as well as whole centimeters, 1/2 centimeters and millimeters. We just started learning about perimeter and how it is the distance around something. Today, students will be creating a farmer's land, including buildings and fields, by measuring and recognizing the perimeter of each building, area, and field. They are so excited about it as it is a great activity that involves some creative planning, careful measuring, and a little imagination. Tomorrow we will be moving into area, which sometimes gets confused with perimeter. To keep them straight in our brains, I will be teaching the students short songs about perimeter (which we did today) and area (which we will do tomorrow). Hopefully that will help the students remember the difference.

I continue to be pleased with the improvement I am seeing in the area of literacy. Their stamina in all areas of the Daily 5 continues to build and or be maintained. We currently have 19 new vocabulary words we have learned from our read to self reading that students have "tuned into" and added to their individual "word collector" sheets. The "word wall worm" continues to grow across the classroom wall! This week the students are practicing their predictions while reading as Mrs. Hartberg and myself modeled/reviewed making predictions and reading to confirm last week. Our mini lessons will also move into the strategy of visualizing Within writing, Mrs. Hartberg and I were very impressed with the "author discussions" going on last week practicing assessing writing on the trait of "ideas". It was kind of cute because I think the students saw themselves as real authors for the first time and were so proud!

As a fun activity before the holidays, we will be doing one or two reader's theater presentations. Reader's Theater is a great way to build reading fluency as it involves many re-readings to practice. It also encourages reading with expression, which is important also. It is like a play in the way that there are different roles, but the difference is there is not any acting. Students focus on reading fluently, with expression, and having fun! My plan is to video taped them and put them on my blog page and/or web page for parents to view. Look for that during the Christmas break of last day of school next week.

So, you can see we are very busy! Be sure to check your child's take home folder every night as information about upcoming assessments will be sent home soon. Please remember to send your child's stocking or sock by this Wednesday also! Thanks so much and enjoy the snow!!