Here Comes December!!! Big Blast Volunteers Needed!

Another month has flown by, and December is fast approaching.  Someone just told me this morning that we only have 18 more days of school until the holiday break!  Wow!!!  As the old saying goes, "Time flies when you are having fun!".

It was a bummer last week when Old Man Winter decided not to cooperate with us and let us have our Character Counts celebration.  Better to be safe than sorry I guess.  The students were so excited, as was I, to share their creative ideas for a mascot poster.  Well, sadly, we are not going to be able to reschedule the event due to time, weather constraints, and activities we need to complete before the end of the quarter in December.  I would still like the students to do the activity with parents as planned.  Therefore, I am sending home the poster board today for your students to work with you on creating his/her Character Counts mascot and poster.  They should include a mascot, a catchy saying, and some connection to the Character Counts colors/pillars.  We decided that the "Character Counts Pledge" that originally was suppose to be on the poster does NOT need to be due to limited space.  Please work with your 3B child on the poster and return them to school by Friday, December 3rd.  We will then get them displayed in the hallway for all to see and enjoy!!

The Big Blast for our fundraiser is fast approaching.  I am looking for parent volunteers from 3B to help monitor this fun event.  The day is December 14th, 2010. At the time, I am unsure if 3B will be at the Big Blast in the morning or afternoon.  I hope that decision is made soon, and I will let you know.  The newly formed PTO also sent out an email asking parents to volunteer to help at this celebration by either monitoring the equipment, making popcorn, or just supervising.  If you are interested, please let me know ASAP, and I will let you know the exact time. You can either email me, call me, or send a note with your 3B child if you are interested.  Thank you ahead of time.

Other activities we are wrapping up or working on are reading strategies of voracious readers, tracking your thinking, and building better connections.  We have had a lot of great discussions about what a "Voracious Reader" is (someone who reads "just right" books as much as he/she can to become a better reader).  The students are excited because someone is making superhero capes for the class with big "VR" on the back. Students demonstrating "voracious reader" habits will become a super hero for the day and wear the cape.  They can not wait!!!!  We are also starting our first unit on multiplication in math.  Look for a fact incentive to be coming home soon as well in encouraging students to memorize their multiplication facts.  In social studies, we are nearing the end of our unit on communities.  We will be discussion main ideas from our reading as well as working on some vocabulary lessons before sending material and information home about an upcoming assessment.  And in writing we continue to work on adding "show me details" to our writing the trait of "ideas".  Students will begin assessing their own writing by the end of the week based on the "ideas trait" characteristics.

As you can see, we are busy as usual!!!! Never a dull moment in 3B!!!!
Have a great week!

Busy Next Two Weeks!

Wow!  What a difference in the temperature from two weeks ago.  I guess that is how the weather goes.  I know I am not ready for winter!! I wanted to remind everyone to have their 3B student dress warm every day.  Many stand outside in the morning before school and it is still very chilly!  Hats and mittens should be a must now as it is getting colder.  I was just glad to see the sunshine this morning!

Everyone in 3B is working hard and getting through our ITBS testing.  We have two test to take tomorrow and will finish up on Wednesday with the last one.  I am pleased how hard the students are trying and using their "test taking tips" along the way!  They have been troopers!  Thank you to everyone as well in making sure that there are not a lot of students gone during this time.  I understanding if your child is ill that they should be home...we can't help that and want them to rest and get better.  But thank you for not scheduling many appointments during this time!  It helps a lot with the students' comfort levels and routine of the day to be here as much as possible!  I have to agree with the students that I will also be glad when the testing is over and we can get back to a routine!

Thanks to everyone who sent in pictures for our "Oh! The Places You Have Been!" bulletin board for social studies!!!  It will be fun to look at all the pictures and the travels of 3B.  If you have not sent your child's pictures and would like to, feel free to send them in tomorrow.  I would like to get all the pictures up by tomorrow night so we can use them to build our understanding of communities.

Due to testing, we did not get our math assessment in last week for unit 3 on measurement.  I hope to finish that unit up this week and have the assessment by Thursday or Friday.  We just did a bunch of activities on perimeter (as you know from your child singing "The Perimeter Song" to you ) and now we will be moving into area.  Look for "The Area Song" to come home soon as well!  :)  I have found that the students have a great understanding of measuring to the nearest inch and half inch but struggle when it comes to nearest quarter of an inch.  If you are not busy at home some night, have your child get a rule and practice measuring the the nearest quarter of an inch.  While this is not a "secure" goal for math, it is something that you could work on at home.  There are also a few measurement links on my webpage that students can work on at home as well.  Always something to do.....

I will be sending home an invitation for our first Character Counts celebration that will be held next Wednesday afternoon.  Please note that parents are invited to this celebration and will be working on an activity with your 3B child.  It is all explained on the invitation.  If you are unable to attend due to conflicts, please have your 3B student let me know so that I can find other adults to work with him/her.   If you volunteered to supply snacks for this celebration, a reminder note will be sent to you by the end of the week.  Fun times ahead!

Just a reminder that fundraiser pick up is tonight at the elementary school.  Please remember that if your child sold items for the fundraiser that he/she is responsible for picking them up and getting them delivered.

There is also a 3 hour early out this Wednesday for teacher inservice.

Have a great week and stay warm!

A Little Holiday Fun....Jib Jab

A few weeks ago when the students and I were talking about blogging and looking at examples, I showed the students my family blog page that I have been doing now for 2 years.  They thought one of the post that was made was very funny.  It was something my daughter did on a program on the internet called "JibJab". Anyway, some of the students thought it was funny and wanted to try it at home.  Yesterday I received this video attachment from Rachel, a student in our 3B family.  Maybe this will put a smile on your face and get you in the holiday spirit.  Just thought I would share it.  :)  If your child wants to do a JibJab, just have them email it to me to post it on my blog page or I will show them how to post it on their blog pages as well.  Happy Holidays (a little early).....

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

ITBS Starts This Week...Google Earth....Blogging!

As the title of this post states, we will be starting our Iowa Tests of Basic Skills this week.  Our testing days this week will be Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  We will take Friday off and finish up next week on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Please try your best to have your child be at school on those days as it is more difficult to reschedule testing times when students are absent.  If possible, schedule dentist and/or doctor appointments around these particular days of testing.  I appreciate your help and cooperation!

The school is providing snacks that I called "brain food" for each day of testing.  Along with this, please encourage your child to eat a healthy breakfast and get enough rest each night.  I have discussed these tips with the students in a way to hopefully not make them too nervous.  Being it is the first time your 3B child is taking the test, it is important to not get them worked up.  All we ask is they try their best!  That's it.  So please don't discuss the testing with them in the way that will cause anxiety.  I know they will be fine as we have discussed many testing tips that will be useful with any test your child ever takes.

So the week is fairly choppy due to testing.  I am going to try and wrap up a math unit on measurement, perimeter, and area this week if possible.  We will have to wait and see how the testing times go to determine that.  We will be jumping into our social studies book this week and discussing communities.  Look for an sheet to be coming home tomorrow explaining and activity about places the students have been and bringing in pictures, postcards, etc.  We will be using our own "touring" and personal connections to build a better understanding of the different types of communities in social studies so look for that tomorrow.  Last week I introduced "Google Earth" to the students-which they LOVED!  I have heard many of you have already downloaded it at home per your child's request.  It is wonderful access to places around the world.....a virtual field trip....that we will continue to use throughout the year!  For those of you who have downloaded it, I hope you are enjoying it.  For those of you who have not, it is a free download off the internet that holds lots of valuable learning.  I encourage you to give it a try.

Remember I will be increasing the amount of homework that is given this quarter.  Today I noticed that many students did not do their homework given last Friday of singing the "Perimeter Song".  Not a great way to start the week.  Remember we need to work together in trying to build each child's responsibility with homework as there will be LOTS more in 4th grade.

Students were very excited last week to also begin their own blog pages.  Wow....they think they are "big stuff" now! (which they are! :)  We just made a basic blog post last week in practicing getting to and from their blog pages.  This week I hope to have each of them make a post about a book they have been reading......we will probably go into next week to finish that due to conflicts in time with ITBS scheduling.  Remember that we love to have comments from parents and relatives on our blog pages!!!! (hint, hint)

Enjoy the week!  Hard to believe we are almost half way through November already!  Wow!

The Writing Trait of "Ideas"

Students in 3B been working really hard on building their understanding of the trait of "ideas" in writing!  This involves finding the right topic, narrowing it down but not too small of a topic, selecting interesting, relevant details, and making the writing clear by using "show me" statements instead of just telling.  Today we learned a song to help us remember the ideas trait (it's fun to sing matter how old you are) so I thought I would share it with you.

The Ideas Song(to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat")

Write, write, write your thoughts,

Make your ideas clear.

Tell the reader what you know

And what you hold most dear.

 Your 3B child will be coming home soon asking you to listen to him or her sing the song to you.  Have some fun with it, sing along, take turns, etc,  Have fun! 

Exhausted Students.....But Lots to Do!!!!

....I am sure I have some tired 3B students today after a busy night of trick-or-treating!  It was nice to see so many of my students stop by for some extra "treats" last night, but I can sure see that some of them are coming off their "sugar high" from last night.  We will trudge through today and make it a good one as we have many busy activities to start this week.

It was nice to see all of you at conferences last week!  We had some great discussions, and I appreciate you taking the time to be involved in your child's education.  I still have a few more conferences this week and am anxious to talk to those parents as well.  As I mentioned to many at conferences, keep your child reading at home as that is the "homework" I expect all 3B students to be doing every night.  Thanks again for your attendance.  If you ever have any questions or concerns, feel free to call or email me any time!

This week we are starting something new, and it is student blogging!  The students will each be shown how to get to his/her blog page and make various posts throughout the year.  They are so excited, and some have already started.  After I show them how to get to their blog page and various other concepts about blogging, the students will be ask to make a post this week about a book they have finished.  We are calling it a "book review", and I will be modeling this at the beginning of this week.  Look for the students book blogs by the end of the week and feel free to comment!  You don't need an account or anything to make a comment, and students look forward to seeing who comments about their post!!!!  They think it is cool, and it also helps them realize they do have an audience when they are writing.  Students will be making the post by themselves, so there will be mistakes in punctuation, spelling, etc. for some and that is ok.  Our practice in keyboarding during the month of October is paying off now as students will hopefully be able to type a little faster than they would have at the beginning of the year.  So.....look for 3B's student blog pages to start soon and make those comments!!!!  We all appreciate it!!

If your child has not returned his/her "Book-It" calendar for October, he/she must return them by tomorrow, Tuesday, November 2nd.  I am sending home the calendar for November today as well.  Remember....keep reading!!!!

A few other comments about activities in the room:
*  Students are working on various map skills in social studies before we begin unit 1 in the book on communities.  This week we will be looking at the different continents and oceans as I have found that students in 3B are unfamiliar with these concepts.  I hope to start the unit on communities in our books by the end of the week.
*  With literacy, we will be continuing our strategy of "Tune into Vocabulary" and furthering our discussion on "connections" in reading.  Students are doing a great job with the Daily 5 and the routines of literacy.  I hope to introduce "Listen to Reading" this week as well through an online program called "Read About" that is wonderful nonfiction to listen to and explore!
*  In writing we are focusing on the trait of "ideas".  Students have practiced funneling down their ideas, sticking to a topic, "putting on binoculars" to look for details, and adding "show me" statements.  This is a big concept for many students so it is something we will be spending a lot of time on.  Students will be taught a song as well to remind them of the "ideas" trait and it's characteristics.  Busy! Busy!  Sometime next week we will also be having "Author Sharing" day.
* Our current math unit involves measurement......we need a little review on measuring to 1/4 of an inch so we will be doing some of that as well as going into perimeter and area.

That about sums up what has been going on and will be going on in 3B.  As you can see, we are busy!  Along with that, I am going to increase the amount of homework that will be sent home with the students compared to what it was in the 1st quarter.  We need to continue to build our responsibility, and the students have shown they are ready for more homework so be on the lookout for more to be sent home.

Enjoy the sunny November day!