Great Conferences!

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!

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!

Upcoming Science Test and Book-It!

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

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?

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

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!

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!

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

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!