Almost December! Wow!

I can't believe it is almost December! Wow! Where does the time go? Hopefully you had an enjoyable break for Thanksgiving! I did! It was nice to have a little break after ITBS, but I did miss the students as well. We have a lot to do before the semester ends and the new calendar year begins. As always. . .we are busy . . . .having fun as well.

The students were excited to see that Mrs. Hartberg had returned from her maternity leave! We are all glad that she is back! She will be co-teaching some literacy and writing time with me so the students will be seeing her in the room more and more as the year goes along.

I will be posting pictures from our Character Counts celebration that was held last Tuesday. The new Character Counts mascots are already displayed in the hallway and look great! It was nice to see parents and students working together on something that is stressed in our school, good character. I hope that each of you had an enjoyable time also. Thanks to our parents who brought in snacks! Yumm! Our tummies thank you also! Be looking for the pictures either tomorrow or Wednesday (I can't find my camera cord to download them to the computer. :))

If your child did not return his/her reading calendar for the month of November, he/she may do so tomorrow. I will be sending home reading calendars for the month of December as well as pizza coupons for those that met their goal in November. I was very impressed with how many students read in October so I am hoping I will be amazed with the November calendars also! Keep it up 3B!

Today students in 3B turned in their effort coupons from ITBS towards something in my prize box. They have been waiting for this day. . . . so excited! This was just a little extra for students trying so hard on ITBS. Everyone needs a little pat on the back once and a while right? So, look for your child to bring his/her prize home today.

This week we will be moving into more measurement activities in math, more discussion on the types of communities with a tour of these communities through Goggle Earth, getting more students on Edmodo (which is a way of communicating about reading without opening mouth- also known on online chatting), reviewing nouns and noun types in writing, and working on more fluency and accuracy strategies in reading. We just wrapped up some great discussion and review of the comprehension strategy of "retelling" using shapes as our guide. Maybe ask your 3B student about what shapes we use to remind us how to retell something we have read.

Have a great week! It is suppose to be chilly by the end of the week so encourage your 3B student to dress warm for recess!

Short Week But Lots to Share

I hope you enjoyed your sunshiny weekend! The weather was so nice it was hard to believe it is the middle of November. It doesn't sound like the warm weather is going to stick around though so we had better enjoy it while we can. Please check with your child before he/she leaves for school that they are dressed appropriately to be outside for recess. It's better to have "too much" than "not enough" when it comes to being outside as the weather gets colder. Some students were already complaining about today's chill in the air, so please be sure they come prepared to be outside as the weather gets colder. Thanks!

Last week we had a visitor in 3B. Angela Meiers was here visiting as she is helping our school district look at our literacy and technology needs. She is familiar with our school district as she was involved in our last "literacy visit" a few years ago. I have taken some classes from her as well as maintained some contact via Twitter and the Internet. She's a wonderful person full of so much knowledge. Anyway, she stopped in our classroom last week along with Mrs. Sovereign and Mr. Brown, principal at Ridgeway, to see how literacy/Daily 5 was going in 3B. I was so pleased with the students! They were so well behaved (as usual for the most part) and respectful that I couldn't have been prouder. Students were busy doing a variety of things, book blogging, podcasting, reading to self, listening to reading, etc., that she was so impressed with everything she said she couldn't stop smiling. She had discussions with some of the students about what they were working on and what it means to be a reader. One group was working through "Edmodo" having an online disucssion with me about their reading, which she loved. She shared with them that she personally knows the person who created "Edmodo" and next time she visits, she wants the students to record a short video to him about what they love about the program. They were so excited! Anyway, point being, way to go 3B at continuing to be so well behaved while having fun in learning! I am so proud of you, as always!

You may have recognized a small bookshelf on the side of my blog page. I have discovered yet another great tool for reading called "Shelfari" (actually my 13 year old daughter and friends on Twitter told me about it so I really didn't discover it but you know what I mean). It is a great online site to post books, make recommendations, and comment about books you have read or would like to read. I have mine showing with not only student books but adult books as well that I read in my free time. Only a few show on the blog page with the rest being seen when you log on to "Shelfari". My plan is that I am going to set up a "Shelfari" account for 3B students. They will complete a form that includes a rating, comments, tags, and suggestions about the books they are reading and I will then post them on our class blog page and "Shelfari" class account. I would love for the students to each have their own but they need individual pass words for that so I am going to try a class account instead. I will be introducing this to students this week in hopes to get them pumped up to create our online "Shelfair" book shelf. They can then view this as a resource when trying to select a book to read or share books they loved with others. Look for this to show up sometime on our class blog page while my individual "Shelfari" account will remain on this blog page. Love it!!!

Just a reminder that we are having our first Character Counts celebration this Wednesday from 1:30-2:15. If you can not make it nor have a relative who can attend, please let me know so that I can find some one to work with your child. Remember that you and your 3B child will be creating a new mascot for Character Counts. We will be providing the paper/poster board. Your 3B child will have his or her markers, crayons, and colored pencils. If you would like to use anything else, such as glitter, feathers, etc., you must bring those materials from home. I also sent a letter last week to the parents who volunteered to supply snacks for the celebration. If you are unable to do so and received the letter, please let me know by Tuesday of this week. The students are excited, as am I! It's a great way to end the week and celebrate having good character! Your child is more than welcome to go home with you when your mascot is completed as it is also an hour early out that day. Hope to see you Wednesday!

Gotta Have Courage!

I thought I would make a quick post to share some "upcoming events" and what has been happening lately in 3B. The students continue to be my little angels and working so hard that I couldn't be prouder! They amaze me every day, and I think they amaze themselves as well.

First I must give "applause" to our three stars from the play this weekend of The Wizard of Oz. Trista, Alison, and Emily were Munchkins and did a fabulous job in a great production of the famous movie! I know there were a few other students in 3B who had tried out to be in the play. I hope that they, and others, continue to try out for other school and community productions! I am very proud of all the students who tried out, whether they were in the play or not! As we talked about, it takes a lot of courage to try something new (just like the Cowardly Lion from the play). Being in productions like that can be valuable learning experiences, as well as build confidence! Anyway, great job girls!

I am sending home an invite for our first Character Counts celebration. This celebration will be held next Wednesday on the early out before Thanksgiving. Parents are invited to attend as 3B students will be working with parent(s) to create a new mascot for Character Counts. It should not be a mascot that already exist for a team or anything. Try to be creative and come up with a mascot and a saying to go with it that connects to Character Counts. Please read the information immediately as there is another activity that involves writing a "Respect and Responsibility" recipe. Directions and a short example are given on the information sheet. This has been a favorite activity/event in the past so we hope to see you there. If you can not come, maybe ask a grandparent, older brother/sister, or other relative. If no one in your family can attend, I will make arrangements so that your child does not work alone. Please let me know if you are unable to attend so that I can make those arrangements ahead of time. Those parents who volunteered to supply snacks for this event will receive a separate letter/reminder with information by the end of the week. If you have questions or concerns, feel free to contact me. Otherwise, hope to see you next Wednesday!

We will continue, and hopefully finish, ITBS testing this week. Our schedule looks something like this: Tuesday - Math Concepts and Estimation, Wednesday - testing practice test from state, Thursday - Math Problem Solving, and Friday - Science. I want to thank everyone for trying to stay healthy and not miss any school. Thank you! 3B has done a wonderful job as we haven't had any absences for illness or appointments, which means no make up test. Yippee! Please remember to make sure your 3rd grader gets enough rest the night before the test and eats a healthy breakfast. I can speak for all of us that we will be glad when we are done with the tests and can get back to normal, but I commend each 3B student for working hard and trying their best.

Remember that tonight is the pick up night for fund raiser items. You should have received a phone call last night reminding you to pick up your items tonight between 3:00 and 6:00.

Book blogging continues to be going at a slow pace but going well. Students are focusing on recording their thinking while reading to self (we call it using "reading tracks") and these tracks then help them complete their book blogs. Podcast are also going well and we will be putting up a new reading podcast this week for our Luther students. Hopefully you have had a chance to listen to their suggestions and compare our first reading to our second. You can tell that there is great importance in practicing reading and the second podcast was done after practicing. Hopefully our 3rd podcast will be up this week and there will be many different passages read by different students that are appropriate for his/her reading level. This week I hope to start some students on an online discussion through "Edmodo" (which I talked to some parents about at conferences) as well as continuing to build reading strategies, moving into "summarizing".

Enjoy the sunshine while it last!

Trip Around the World Field Trip!!! We Love Google Earth!

The students left with so much excitement today that I had to blog about it!!! Today was proof that technology is, and can be, utilized in amazing ways in the classroom. Today in 3B we traveled around the world to the Great Wall of China (ended up at a few Chinese restaurants along the way), the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, Ground Zero, the Golden Gate Bridge, and many other places around the world using satellite pictures and actual visuals of the various places. One student said, "This is the greatest field trip I have ever taken!". What a great thing to hear!

You are probably wondering how we did this. Well, there is a great download called "Google Earth" that is quite amazing! I have only just begun to realize all of it's potential (I play with it on my iPod Touch all the time). We are currently learning about maps in Social Studies and I wanted to find a more interactive, interesting way to learn about how maps are made and what we can learn from them. With Google Maps, you can type in addresses or various places and the satellite image will zoom right into that place with a still shot. These can be places all around the world. You can set it so you see 3-D monuments, the actual monument, or just flat images. It is almost like having a video camera, only they are still shots. I think the favorite for the kids was changing locations and watching the satellite move across the world and continents as if we were flying, only a little further out in space than we would probably have been. We even put in a few student addresses and it took us right to their homes through satellite feed. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. . . .and it is. . . . .for now. . . :) I can't wait to utilize it in more valuable ways as there are so many options of what to do with it.

So, if you are interested in downloading this on your computer at home, simple go to Google and search "Google Earth". Download it to your computer and there you have it. That's it. Pretty simple!

I think about what each child learned today in our 35 minutes of Social Studies, and this was so much more valuable than reading in a book or doing a worksheet about maps. As the students said, "This was awesome!" I agree!

Have Fun!

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!