Multiplication Hip Hop!!!!

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

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!

Now Comes the Rain!

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!

What a January!!!

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!