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

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.

Tech Open House this Friday!

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!

Sometimes Technology is NOT my Friend!!!

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

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!

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!