It's Crunch Time! Field Trip, Hall of Fame, Walking Taco Party

I hope you all enjoyed your nice, long weekend!  Although the weather was not perfect, as is today, but it was nice to have a little time to relax with family and friends.  Now...back at it!

Hopefully everyone returned their Biography Project today.  We will be starting to write our presentations today as well as start experimenting with downloading pictures for our Animoto movies.  We were suppose to have one of the computer labs to use all week, but Jr. High is not done with MAPs testing so we will have to wait a week to start.  :(  If your child did not bring his/her biography project (book and notes) back today, please do so tomorrow so he/she does not get behind.  Look for more information in the future about attending our Hall of Fame to meet these wonderful people of the past.

The deadline for mastering your multiplication facts is this Friday.  I will try and squeeze in a lot of testing, as will my senior seminar student, before the end of the week.  So....there are A LOT of students who have a long ways to go.  I hope there are many more who will be able to participate in our "Walking Taco" party!  Keep practicing those facts!

This Friday we will be taking a small field trip to Vernon to participate in various stations/activities for Arbor Day.  Although at this time the weather sounds great, please pay attention to the forecast.  It is recommended that students dress in layers, as it starts out chilly and may warm up throughout the day.  Students should NOT wear shorts, capris, or open toed shoes!  Please wear jeans or running pants and tennis shoes.  Students may bring hats if they would like as well.  We will be taking sack lunches from the school so students do not have to worry about bringing a lunch from home.  Depending on the weather, you may want to be sure to put sunscreen on your child if he/she burns easily.  If it is sunny and not muddy, we will be outside for most of the day.

Have a great week and stay warm!

So Much To Do.....Time Running Quickly!

Happy Monday 3B family!  I hope you enjoyed the warm weekend and had some fun outside.  It was nice to have all of that sunshine, but I did not enjoy the thunderstorms (although the lightning was amazing!).

Well, the middle of April is fast approaching and before we know it, it will be the end of May.  Time is going by so quickly.  With that being said, we have a lot of things to touch base on.  I will briefly discuss some of the following:
  
     *     MAPs testing is done for 3B with the exception of 3 students who were absent and need
            to do make-up tests today.  The students tried hard and did very well overall!  You will see
            your child's results at the end of the year when scores are sent home with report cards.

     *     Students have until the end of April to earn their "Walking Taco" party by mastering all
            their multiplication facts.  This is the time to push through them and work hard!

     *     I mentioned last week that 3B will be taking a field trip to Lark Toy Museum and the
            Eagle Museum in Wabasha on Friday, May 13th.  I have had two parents volunteer to be
            chaperones and am looking for one more.  If you are interested, please email me or call
            me.  If we have more than three parents interested, their names will go into a hat and three
            names will be drawn.  If you are interested, please let me know by the end of the week
            so that those parents going will have ample time to let employers know in case they need
            to take the day off.

     *     We will be having our "pizza party" for those students who returned their Book-It calendars
            all six months.  I am glad to say that this will include almost half the class!  Yeah!  We will
            be having our pizza next Tuesday, April 19th.  Those students who returned their
            calendars will have lunch with me as I will provide Pizza Hut pizza as well as a beverage.
            Those children who did not make it all six months will have lunch in the cafeteria with
            one of the other 3rd grade teachers supervising.

     *     Biography Reading - Hopefully you have all started working on reading and taking notes
            for our upcoming biography project.  Just a reminder that the students should have their
            book read and notes taken by April 25th.  That is all they have to do at home.  We will
            write our presentation and work on our video using Animoto at school.  So....keep
            reading.  Remember to return the book with the notes on April 25th!

     *     You will see that I am sending lots of papers home today.  Two of the pieces coming home
            are your child's last science assessment on Force and Motion as well as your child's
            unit assessment for math for geometry.  I do not need these back or signed, but I just wanted
            to call your attention to them to take a look at them.  

Thank you for signing and returning my letter about responsibility that I sent home last week.  I appreciate your help and cooperation with this as it was becoming a big, big problem.  Together we are stronger than alone!  So thank you!

Enjoy the week! Keep reading and taking notes with your 3B child on his/her biography.  It will be due before you know it.

Hello Strangers! Where is Mrs. Kerian?

Hello everyone.  I know it has been a long time since I have posted a blog.  Life is pretty crazy right now in Mrs. Kerian's world, with committees, kids' schedules, and life, so I do apologize.  You haven't been forgotten.  :)

As the note sent last week from Mrs. Sovereign stated, we will be starting MAPs testing today.  To help the students understand the importance of these tests, they have each set goals in which they would like to reach for each of the four test given (math, reading, language and science).  Students will be working hard to take ownership in increasing their scores from the fall, which I have no doubt in my mind they will.  Please help out this week by making sure that your child eats a healthy breakfast and gets enough rest at night.  We will be starting test today and continue on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me.  It is also very helpful to schedule dentist or doctor appointments around these testing days so that the children can take the test with their classmates and feel comfortable.  Thanks for you help and cooperation!

I thought I needed to make a comment about lunches.  I realize that I am not the one paying for everyone's lunches, nor do I feel everyone should eat all of their lunch every day.  We all don't like everything on a school lunch.  I do feel I have MANY students not eating ANYTHING at lunch and just wanted to post a quick comment about it.  Please discuss with your child the importance of eating lunch, what they like, so they can have some "brain power" for the afternoon.  When I see a child take ketchup for their fries, but they don't eat any, I do encourage them to eat some as it appears if the intentions were there. Some of the students are not happy with me when I say, "You took ketchup for your fries so please eat 5," but I do worry that they are not eating anything.  Again, I do not say, "You must clean your plate" or even close.  Just want to make sure they get some nourishment in their system. I hope you do not think I am overstepping on anyone's toes.  I don't want it to appear that way.  I just want parents to be aware that many students are not eating anything for lunch.  Part of the issue is our time to eat is short and many students want to socialize.  Don't we all?  :)   So please have a chat with your 3B students just to remind them of the importance of food for "brain power".

A fun activity the students will be starting tomorrow is our biography project.  (I mentioned this a month ago but we ran into some problems with the computers).  We have been reading and discussing biographies and autobiographies in depth.  Now the students are ready to read and prepare for our activity we call the "Hall of Fame".  They are very excited about it.  I am excited as well because we are trying something new this year with a computer program called "Animoto".  So... please look for information to be sent home with your child tomorrow as well as a contract and a book to read.  Fun times!!!

The Crestwood 3rd graders will venture north on their "big" field trip in May.  We are going to Lark Toys in Kellogg and an Eagle Museum in Wabasha on May 13, 2011.  This is a Friday (yes, we are crazy for taking kids on a field trip on Friday the 13th!).  Each class is taking along 3 chaperones.  If you are interested in going along, please email me or call me to let me know.  If I have more than 3 parents volunteer to chaperone, all names will go in a hat to be drawn fairly.  The kids are excited and there will be more information shared as the day approaches.

We wrapped up our unit in science on Force and Motion.  I still have one student who missed part of the test who needs to finish but I hope to get those assessments sent home this week with students.  Some parents have been anxiously waiting for those results.  I will be putting letter grades on the assessments (some parts) so that students can see what type of grade they would have gotten if they were in 4th grade.  (Trying to prepare them for 4th grade).  We started our next unit in social studies on "communities" as well.

Congratulations to the few people who have earned the "Walking Taco" party by knowing all their multiplication facts.  Students have until the end of April to master all their facts and participate in the Walking Taco party.  Keep practicing!  Taylor comes over to do assessments every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!  You can do it!

Have a great week!