Parent Teacher Conferences This Week!

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!

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!

Mrs. Kerian is Going on Vacation

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.

Where did October Go?

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.

March Already?

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!

Parent Teacher Conferences - Great Discussions

I am almost done with my last parent - teacher conference. Thank you to all the parents for taking time out of their busy schedules! It was nice to see everyone again (since Open House)! The discussions were great! Always remember that you, the parents, do not need to wait until conferences to chat with me about your child. My phone and email are always open to each of you! Anyway, thanks again for attending parent teacher conferences. I was very pleased with the turnout and wonderful "conversations" I had with many of you! Your children are wonderful, and I totally enjoy working with each and every one of them. The video that was showing while you may have been waiting in the hall will be continued the rest of the year by adding pictures. Each child will get a DVD of the video at the end of the year as a 3rd grade keepsake of memories. They know this and are very excited!!!

Even though we only had 4 days of school this week, it was a productive one! We started a keyboarding program called "Keybo" that we will be attempting to do each week. The students were WAY excited about starting! For the first meeting, we discussed posture and home row before starting to type. Their fingers were just itching to get going. . . . The reason we are starting this now is that it is a required part of the 3rd grade curriculum (usually I don't start it until later), and I feel it would help them with all the computer "stuff" they are doing, especially their book blogs. Which leads me to my next comment,

Book Blogs are going great!!!! Oh my! The students are so anxious to do their book blog that we can't get them done fast enough. Most students made one blog within the last week. I apologize that not all did, but because the students can't type real fast, the first blogs went slower than planned. I really like the aspect that students are sharing their thinking about what they are reading. This will help when we get into book clubs and have deep discussions about what we are reading. Our tech person is still trying to figure out why we can't comment through iWeb. Hopefully, as I said before, we will get that figured out and we can pose questions to the students about their blog post.

Our Luther podcast pals finally made a podcast giving suggestions to our 3B students. We didn't have time to listen to them today so that will have to wait until next week. The students will listen to their podcast suggestions, practice, and then make a new podcast of the same passage. Rereading is a powerful strategy to build fluency and expression so that is the purpose of rereading, applying the Luther suggestions, and creating a new podcast. I think when the students each listen to their first podcast (where there was no chance to practice) and then listen to this one (after practicing) they will notice a huge difference. I did apply for a grant to get some iPod Touches in the classroom to use for recording reading as well as listening to podcast so that the laptops we have are available for other activities (such as blogging). I don't know when we will find out who got the grants but cross your fingers!!!!! iPod Touches are becoming a very popular resource for education as they can be equipped with many "apps" to be used for educational purposes. They are almost like a mini computer which I think is exciting!

Moving on. . . .we will be starting social studies this week by looking at a map of Iowa and then moving into discussion on "Communities". With that, we will be taking a little break from science (I know, many of the students will be saddened by that because it is a favorite) but we will be back at it in a few weeks. In literacy, we will be learning about tracking our thinking while reading, summarizing, and various other fluency/accuracy activities in our mini lessons. There are always so many other things being covered in literacy as it is very individualized, but those are the main "mini lessons" we will be covering.

My last comment (yes, it is fairly long I know) revolves around ITBS. We will be starting ITBS this week, and I don't want the students to worry or get uptight about them. We have done various "test taking tip" activities and I know they are ready. The most important things you can do as parents is make sure your child goes to bed early enough every night and eats a good breakfast every morning. The school has supplied "brain food" for the students to have before the test, which is always very nice. Otherwise, all the students need to do is try their best. That's all we ask. Done deal. :)

Have a great 3 day weekend with your 3rd grader! Enjoy the sunshine - I heard it is suppose to be a great weekend!