Read Across America Week

Hello everyone!  I have returned from a wonderful vacation from the Dominican Republic feeling fresh and revived.  That is good as we in 3WB have some busy months ahead of us.  The substitutes that were in the room while I was gone said the students in 3B were well behaved for the most part (science at the end of the day is our toughest time).  I was pleased with the report and have some "goodies" to share with the students from the Dominican at the end of the day.  I may have been miles away, but they were always on my mind.

As the title states, it is "Read Across America' week.  I apologize for not having more activities planned in the room for parents.  Usually I have parents come in and read to the students and have that all arranged by now.  With conferences and being gone, time has slipped up so quickly.  If you would like to come in and read sometime to the students of 3B, feel free to email or call me with some times or dates that work for you.  We would love to have some guest readers!

Cat in the Hat hats were sent home last week for students to record the titles of some of the books they have read.  If your child needs another or has not returned his or her hat, please do so as soon as possible.  I also have extra in the room if they need one.  We are trying to cover our hallways and lockers with Dr. Seuss hats and all the books the students in the building have read.  It is fun to see the hallways becoming brighter and brighter with all the hats!  So please return your child's as soon as possible.

Along with that, please return Book It calendars for the month of February.  A new one will be coming home tomorrow for March and I think that is the last month for Book It - not 100% sure though.  Remember those students who return their calendars every month will get a pizza party with me, Mrs. Kerian as a reward for reading.  So....keep reading!

We are going to try and return to our routine with a weekly news reporter and recorder.  Look for that broadcast to be posted on Friday.  I am also trying to get all the video book reviews done the week before I left posted on the students' blog pages or my blog page.  There are 2 or 3 students yet to record their video book review, but I will hopefully have them all up by the end of the week.

A letter will be coming home soon about an upcoming project about biographies.  I will be introducing it to the students this week.  It is usually the favorite activity of the year for students, but I always try to change it up every year.  This year we are doing something extra special that I am excited to tell the students about.  Look for more information by the end of the week.

I am also sending home a new song we are learning to help us remember the types of triangles for our geometry lesson.  Look for a new 3B video presenting the song some time soon!  The students are very excited about it.....who knew they would be such famous stars???  :)

Have a great week!

Mrs. Kerian is Going on Vacation

Happy Monday and happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you enjoyed the beautiful weather this past weekend and had a chance to get outside.  Sounds like we are in for a fairly decent week ahead.  I think we deserve it!

I wanted to make a few quick post, nothing major because I will be seeing many of you for conferences tonight or tomorrow.  Remember that most of the conferences are student led, which means your 3B child will be leading the conference.  He/she knows what to do and can come right in and get started.  If there is a family finishing up, please do NOT wait outside.  Just come on in and get started or we will all get behind.  Due to scheduling conflicts, there are some families scheduled at the same time.

When your 3B child is done talking, I will join the conference to share my thoughts and ask him/her some questions as well.  They are very nervous but I know they will do fine.  If they struggle with some words on their evaluations, please feel free to help them.  See you sometime this week!

Take some time to watch Madison's news report of activities from last week in 3B!  She did a fabulous job and Austin did a wonderful job recording with the Flip Camera!

I wanted to remind students to also turn in their "Fitness Calendars" tomorrow as they are due.  I am not requiring it but would like as many 3B students to return them as possible.  A new one will be sent home tomorrow for the next month.  Remember to record your time activity (not in front of TV) as well as fruits that you have eaten at school and home.  I will then hand them into the committee and they will post results somehow (not too sure about that).

The students video book reviews are being uploaded as we speak and they are anxious to see them.  They did a fabulous job, and I hope to have them up on their blog pages by the end of the night or tomorrow (busy night ahead).  I encourage you to leave comments for them as they were so excited to share them and use the "flip camera" as well.  Look for them to all be up by the end of the week.  Great job 3B!

Finally, I wanted to mention to the parents that I will be gone on vacation next week.  My husband and I take a trip everyone to somewhere warm and tropical and that time is the end of this week through next week.   So........there will be a sub in the room all of next week. I have no doubt that the students will be in good hands as the sub is very good.  I have everything written out for her for every day so the students stay in a good routine.  I plan to send an additional note to the parents by the end of the week but wanted to give you a heads up.

Weekly News from Madison

3B's Weekly News Reporter and Video Recorder!

I hope that you have recognize a new part of my blog.  It is something that the students are very excited about and can't wait to find out about every Monday morning.  We now have a weekly news reporter and a news video recorder!  You will, or may have, recognize a video of Emma on a previous post.  She was our first news reporter.  Kailyn did a fabulous job being the first video recorder as well!  Yeah for both of you!  Emma had to write up a report about what happened in 3B to share with everyone while Kailyn practice using and video taped Emma with my Flip Camera.  Great learning experiences for both of them!  The students are learning to summarize, work on communication skills, and use a new piece of technology!  

These news reports via video will start replacing my blog post with updates about the activities in the classroom.  Of course, I will continue to make post and share information/activities, but as far as summarizing what is happening in the room, this will be left to the news reporter.  This week's report will be presented by Madison and videoed by Austin.  Look forward to that report to be posted sometime Friday after school.

On a different note, I am sending home notes for parent-teacher conferences.  The sheet shows the date and time your child is scheduled to attend conferences with you, the parents.  As I have mentioned earlier, this set of conferences is student-led.  This means that the students will be leading the conference.  I will be standing to the side listening and then join the conference at the end.  The students are very nervous about it, but I have found after hearing from other parents in the past that this is one of the best activities the students can participate in to take more responsibility of their learning. After all, your child is the one we would be talking about anyway so why not have them present.  If there is a problem with the date and/or time written on your conference slip, please write a note and return it to school as soon as  possible.  It would also be helpful to write different times and dates that work for you.

Hopefully the snow storms have passed and we will have a whole week of school this week.  Let's cross our fingers.  We have so much to get done to prepare for conferences that we need to be at school every day this week.  I know that it is going to get very cold this week, but I am hoping the snow is done.

Also, congratulations to all the Packer fans out there.  I have to say, I was rooting for the Steelers simply because I just can't get myself to cheer for the Packers (being a Vikings fan) but it was a fun game to watch.  The students shared this morning that they thought the commercials were the best....I tend to agree.

Have a great week!

Emma and our First Newscast of What's up in 3B!