Book Clubs...Time for Everyone to Get Started

Book Clubs...something that becomes a favorite of many students in 3B.  Well, we have two groups already rolling in book club discussions and now it is time for everyone to get started.  Yahoo!!!

Book clubs focus on building and understanding of reading by tracking thoughts and strategies and then sharing these thoughts in relaxed discussions focusing to build a deeper understanding of what was read.  Groups select their book of choice from various titles and will be making lots of decisions throughout the process: how much to read, when to meet next, etc.  Most of the reading is done at home although this week we will be practicing sharing our thoughts and starting our book clubs in the classroom.

A great way to record thoughts while reading silently is to track your thinking using post-it notes.  Many students find this helpful in remembering what they have read and it gives them more confidence to share their thoughts.  The tracks that the students have been practicing using are as follows:

Students will be involved in book clubs throughout 6th grade, maybe higher.  Stay tuned for pictures showing students engaged in deep discussions while enjoying their book club with classmates!

Mid-Year Assessment Time! You Can Do It!

It is that time again.....formal assessment time.  While I am not a fan of taking time out of class to give these assessments, I am excited to see how much the students have grown academically.  So far, I am very pleased with what I am seeing!

Last week I gave the students the CBMR test, which is a fluency test done for FAST assessment from the Department of Education.  Due to illnesses, students being gone, and the site being down,  I have two or three yet to finish.  Students read three different passages as fast as they could and their words per minute were averaged minus errors.  I was extremely pleased how well everyone did and how much they have grown!!

Wednesday of this week, the 27th, students will take the AReading test.  This is the comprehension and reading skills assessment part of the FAST testing.  Again, this is for the Department of Education.  This test is not timed and done on the laptops.  Students are encouraged to try their very bests so that we can see how much they have grown since the beginning of school.  The scores on this assessment help us determine which students need extra instruction through interventions.

Thursday, January 28th, we will be taking the MAPs math assessment.  This test, if you remember, is done on the iPads and is not timed.

The last formal assessment we need to give is the MAPs reading test.  Students in 3rd grade will take that next Tuesday.

Parents, please make sure your child gets enough rest and eats a great breakfast on these testing days.  Do not stress over them as they are one picture of a child's education, but they are important.  Just tell your child to do his/her best as that is all we ever ask.

Pajama Party! We Reached our Goal for Cadet Pride!

You can't get much more comfortable than wearing your pajamas to school and bringing along a favorite blanket or stuffed animal to enjoy as well.  That's why I heard so many times throughout the day last Friday that "This is the best day Mrs. Kerian" and "Can we do this again soon?"  We got to enjoy a pajama day and movie in 3B on Friday to celebrate a goal we accomplished.

Students have been working hard to get 25 compliments from teachers outside the classroom.  This can be while walking in the hall, lining up at recess, lunch room behaviors, etc. but it can not be from me, Mrs. Kerian.  It also must be a whole class compliment and not to one or two people.  The only thing students had to do to get these compliments was to show good Cadet Pride.  Well two weeks ago the students received the 25th compliment while walking quietly in the hall!  So....they voted how to celebrate, and the winning vote was a pajama party!!!  So fun!!!

Great job 3B!  Let's see if we can accomplish our new goal!  You can do it!

The Hour of Code! We Love Coding!

Last week 3B students participated in "The Hour of Code".  Information about the Hour of Code can be found at https://hourofcode.com/us.  This was a movement set up to get all students across the world to participate in at least one hour of coding.  3B was part of this great activity and we loved it!

It is believed that all students will have to have some understanding of coding to be an effective working member of society in the future.  Learning to code at our level involved some great apps and online sites.  Many great coding activities are also found on the "Hour of Code" website at https://code.org/learn.  Students did not want to stop once they figured out how to code.  It was really a great week-long activity that we will continue throughout the year.

Along with this, students also did some coding in TECH class.  They loved coding the cars and bugs to move and drive!

I am excited to say students in 3B can code!  Can you?

Multiplication Madness

Sorry it has been so long since I have made a blog post.  I find posting things and activities via Facebook and Twitter quicker and easier, but I also realize that many of you do not have Facebook or Twitter accounts.  So sorry for the lack of blog post lately. Be reassured that 3B has been a busy place.

Multiplication is what the focus is in math and students are working hard to build their multiplication and division facts.  Yesterday everyone learned a game called Baseball Multiplication which reinforced the need to know our facts.

Along with this, students have been building their multiplication facts by earning gumballs.  Starting with the 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s, students earn a piece of gum and start filling their gum ball machines by getting all the facts done on the page in 1 minute.  It is definitely a challenge as there are 25 problems. We will do these minute assessments every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Students will receive their gum the following day when they master a fact family.  I can definitely tell which students have been practicing and which need to keep practicing.  The first 4-5 students who master all their basic multiplication facts will get a gumball machine filled with bubble gum!

Just a reminder to parents that students can work on their multiplication facts at home as we do not spend a lot of time in class working on them.  We have some apps the students use during "Math Technology" to build recall of facts, but there are also many activities online listed on the side of my blog page students can access at home and play.

Book Orders Due Tuesday, November 24th

I am sending home another book order.  I hope to place this order over Thanksgiving break so the books will arrive early enough for Christmas.  If you are ordering books for Christmas and would like me to set them aside, please mark on the order or attach a note stating that they are Christmas books and should not be sent home with the student.

Here are some reminders about book orders:
1.  PLEASE be sure you write your child's name on the top of each order.  We had some last time without names, and usually I catch it but did not this time.  Please make sure the name is on the top of each individual order form.

2.  PLEASE be sure to remind your child to hand me the order. I have reminded them not to just set them on the table or put in basket as sometimes they get misplaced.

3.  PLEASE remember to write checks out to me, Mrs. Kerian, as I order the books online with my credit card.  This makes the ordering easier and books come faster.  Do NOT make the check out to the school or Scholastic book clubs.

4.  PLEASE have all orders in an envelope, money included, name written on order and outside envelope.

5.  Return student orders by Tuesday, November 16th.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.  There are some great books in these orders that will make wonderful Christmas presents!!

I Wanna be an Astronaut!!!!

Crestwood had the honor of hosting a real astronaut!!! Yes!!! A real astronaut!!!  Clayton Anderson is a astronaut who visited and spoke with groups of students, K-12,  throughout the day sharing his experiences and answering questions. He has taken many space travels and had so much to share with all of us!    Here is a cool video that Mr. Carver shared for the students to understand the impact of what Clayton Anderson has made in space research and discovery.



Mr. Anderson took us on a space travel mission! I was so impressed how he spoke to each group he presented to at different levels for the students to better understand and stay engaged.  He did super! For our space travel, he had the students buckle up their five buckles, put in their helmet and visor, control the gears and controls to launch, blast off, float around in space, take pictures in outer space, and return to the landing strip.  The students loved it!!!  As he was having us do all these things, he also shared facts for us to learn about space travel.  Following this, he answered some questions from the students.  It was a wonderful opportunity for all of us to experience!!!

I think I have some future astronauts in the 3B!!!

Veteran's Day - Thank You to All Veterans!

My brother, Ken, was a veteran and served in the US Army.  Going through the experiences of taking him to the airport to go overseas to Iraq and not hearing from him for days/weeks is something that I will never forget.  His dedication, as well as others whom we met through him, is something I admire and honor him for.  Thus, it only made sense to show our appreciation to our vets in my classroom by setting up a white table.

If you have not heard the story of America's White Table, it is one that is worth reading.  It is a super picture book about a girl who's uncle is a veteran and her family sets up a white table every year on this day.  The girl learns why and builds an emotional connection with her uncle as well as an understanding about Veterans Day.

To go with the story, a table was set up in our classroom with items to help us remember those who have served and those who never returned. Items on the table are:
* A small table for one's lonely battle against many
* A white cloth to honor a soldier's pure heart
* A lemon slice and grains of sale to show a captive soldier's bitter fate and tears from family
* An empty chair for missing soldier
* A black napkin for sorrow captivity
* A white candle for peace
* A red rose in a vase tied with a red ribbon for hope
* Hero written in the salt

Students were then encouraged to bring in items from relatives or friends who are veterans so that we can show an appreciation for them and thank them!  The table was set all week and students brought in objects, medals, clothing, etc. to share with the class.

We also took some time to write thank you cards that will be mailed to a service woman from Cresco.  Her name is Bre Balk and she was recently deployed.  I will mail the cards this week to her.  

Veterans were also invited to have lunch with the students for free to show our appreciation to them.  It was great to see so many family members and friends have lunch in our cafeteria.  

And again, thank you to every Veteran for your service.  We can never thank you enough!

Parent Teacher Conferences - Wonderful!!

I had 100% turn out for parent teacher conferences! Yeah!  It is wonderful when parents and families work together with their child's teacher to benefit the child.  Isn't that what is most important?  So thank you to all the parents for coming to parent teacher conferences!  I loved sharing all the great things happening in 3B and talking about goals for each child to continuing building.  Please remember that communication is key and we are in this together!

As I mentioned at conferences, students are finishing up their science test - a hands on assessment applying learning to create a Videolicious video.  I told parents that most students would be done soon, and they are!  I will post 3-4 videos on our class Facebook page throughout the next few days as well as post some on this blog page. The video created is a connection to the "big ideas" in our science unit of "Plant and Animal Populations".   Stay tuned.  An assessment rubric was used to assess each video as well.  Those will be sent home as well.

 

Measurement Mania!

Wow!  I apologize for not making a post in a while.  The last two weeks flew by.  I post events from the classroom and information more frequently on my class Facebook page so please be sure to follow that for more information on a daily basis.

Measurement is the focus in math lately.  It is a short unit in which we work on measuring to nearest half and quarter inch as well as nearest half centimeter.  Now, measuring to nearest half or whole unit is a little easier than measuring to nearest quarter.  We have been reviewing quarter inch measurement the last few days and students are showing a better understanding each day.

Students also used their creative side to make Measurement Monsters.  They loved this activity because they had to make certain parts for their monster and measure those parts as accurately as they could.  It was fun watching them get creative!

Along with this, we are also working on perimeter and area.   Everyone loved working on perimeter using mini M & Ms.  Yum!

While we don't know our multiplication facts well, students are seeing a connection between area and multiplication.   We will work on reviewing the concept of area this week using Cheez-Its!  Who knew you could learn so much math while having a snack once and a while.