The Dairy Story - Trip to Calmar - This Friday

This Friday, all 3rd graders will be venturing over to NICC in Calmar to participate in "The Dairy Story".  This is a day field trip in which students will be involved in various activities, many hands on, learning about dairy farming and the impact it has on our rural community.

Thank you to Ty's mom, Teri, and Jason's mom, Michele, for volunteering to go along and chaperone!  We all appreciate you taking the time to help us out.

Students will be leaving by 8:45 and returning by the end of the day so no other arrangements need to be made.  We will be taking sack lunches prepared by the school as well so no students need to bring a lunch from home.

Students will be bringing home a letter tomorrow or Wednesday sharing all necessary information for this trip.  Please look for that.

The countdown in school days has begun.....and we will, as usual, be very busy so please pay attention to notes, schedules, and letters that are being sent home.  Thanks!

Visiting Author....Maribeth Boelts

Howard Winn students had the privilege of listening to a real life author speak to them and share information about being a writer.  Author Maribeth Boelts lives in Cedar Falls area and has written many children's books.  She took time out of her busy schedule to visit Crestwood Elementary and Lime Springs Elementary and meet with the students sharing advice on writing as well as answering questions from the students.

Some key points that she mentioned to the students were:
*   Writers should write what stirs their emotions
*   Writers should write about what they know, feel, and imagine
*   Writers should collect ideas to write about and keep in a notebook

For our teacher read aloud, we started one of her books titled The PS Brothers.  It is about 2 boys trying to raise money to buy a puppy.  They start a "poop scooping" business in hopes to raise enough money to buy a puppy that would help protect them against bullies.  So far, the students are loving it!

Thank you Maribeth Boelts for taking time to visit our school.  We loved learning from you and hearing your stories!

Lots of Fun for Arbor Day!

Even though it was a little chilly, we all survived and learned a ton on our Arbor Day field trip last Thursday!  The stations that the students rotated thru were:
*  Trees
*  Planting Seeds
*  Wildlife
*  The Watershed
*  Bird Observations

As some of you already know, each 3rd grader was given a seedling, young tree, to take home and plant.  They were all very excited!  It was fun for them to hear me tell about planting my kids' trees when they were in 3rd grade and how big they are now.  They thought that was very cool.  I hope that the students found a great spot to plant their trees and enjoy watching them grow over the years.

Here are some pictures from our fun day at Vernon!  Thank you to all the presenters! It was a fun day!

Cabbage Plant Challenge

3rd graders brought home cabbage plants yesterday.  They should have also brought home a sheet of information about a "Cabbage Plant Challenge".  These cabbage plants were provided by Bonnie Plants.  Students are encourage to plant the cabbage plant and take care of it throughout the spring-summer.  When their cabbage plant is ready to be picked, they are to take a picture of it and weigh it. If they would like to enter the challenge, they can email the picture and information to me or they can complete the sheet that was sent home and mail it in themselves.  The winner is entered into a statewide  $1000 scholarship.  This is a super way of getting students excited about gardening and planting. 

Photographs and information are due September 2oth.  Again, you can email them to me or send them in yourself.  This project is totally optional and not required.  

Update for the Week

I know it has been a while since I blogged. Time is slipping by so quickly.  Can't believe that it is almost the middle of April. Where is time going?  Before we know it, it will be end of the school year.  That thought makes me freak out a little as I have so much yet to do with the students.  But when I think about how much they have all grown since the beginning of the year, it makes me smile.

We have been busy as usual.  Here are a few of the events and activities going on in 3B:

1.  Everyone had a great time at the Big Blast!  Thank you to Addalyn's mom, Jamie, and Jason's mom, Michelle, for volunteering to help during the Big Blast!  Having parents help gave me walk around and take pictures of the students having fun!  Thank you to both of them!

2.  The students visited the Cadet Store last week and turned in their hard earned Cadet Dollars.  Students earned the Cadet Dollars over the last two months by showing Cadet Pride throughout the day.  Some students bought certificates to have lunch with the teacher, which I love, or lunch with a friend at a special table.  Students will continue to earn Cadet Dollars with one more chance to go to the Cadet Store at the end of the year.

3.  Everyone is loving TECH class as they are learning to code Spheros with their iPads!  If you are looking for a gift to buy your child and you have an iPad, Spheros are a great purchase!  

4.  As part of our unit in writing on nonfiction, students are jumping into doing their research for their writing piece.  We reviewed note taking, organizing notes, and putting sentences into our own words as part of our nonfiction research.  The finished products will be shared in a week or two.

5.  In math we are exploring and learning all geometry.  Along with this, students are reminded to keep working on their multiplication facts.  A sheet was sent home yesterday sharing with parents the progress each 3rd grader has made on their multiplication facts.  Remember there are many links on my blog page in which students can use to practice at home.  There are also many links on my blog page for students to work through and build a better understanding of geometry as well.  

6.  We are wrapping up our unit in social studies on early civilizations.  Everyone has loved learning about Lewis and Clark, The Boston Tea Party, the American Revolution, and many other aspects of early civilizations in the United States.  We have also been creating timelines using the information learned as part of our unit.  It is wonderful to see students so excited about social studies and learning the story of our country.  

Those are just a few comments and post about what has been happening in 3B.  While there are many more, I thought I would highlight a few.  

Back at Book Clubs!

Almost everyone has finished their book club project from the last book club rotation so we are finally ready to get rolling with another great book!  The excitement the students have for book clubs is AMAZING!!!  Even students who were not excited when we first started them are loving and begging to start new books.  I wish I had recorded some of their comments about book clubs!   That is exactly why book clubs are super for creating passion in reading!  So, look for students to be bringing home new books for book clubs this week.  Three groups are going strong with their new books and the other groups will get their books by tomorrow or Friday.

Some reminders about book clubs:
1.  Students are building their reading skills and strategies through reading and discussion.  This is not a sit and read type of reading.  This is a "thinking" and "discussing" type of reading (which is what reading is).
2. When students read at home they are to be using and recording their thinking by using "Reading Tracks".   Students should write and record their thoughts on post-it notes and be ready to share them the next time their book club meets.
3.  Last time students had calendars to record their book club meeting dates.  This time we are going to try to build some responsibility and have students try to remember or write a note on when their book club meets next.  We will see how that goes.  If we encounter too many students forgetting when their book club meets, we will go back to writing it on a calendar.
4.  Students are responsible for doing the reading outside of class and being ready with their reading tracks every time their group meets.  If they have read but have not done their reading tracks, they will not be able to join the discussion with their book club.

Again we will be enjoying juice and snacks when the book clubs meet.  If any parents would like to donate a jug of juice, that would be wonderful!  Just send it with your 3B student to school.

I am excited to see the students so anxious and happy to get back into book clubs!  That is what reading is all about - thinking and enjoyment!!!

Book It.....Wrapping It Up!

March was the last month for the "Book It" Reading Incentive program.  Calendars should be returned sometime this week for students who which to receive a coupon for a free pan pizza.  I am excited to say that there are about 4-6 students who read and returned their calendars each month!  I wish there were more, as reading at home is so important, but I will take the 4-6 and we will celebrate a great accomplishment sometime in the next few weeks.

Even though Book It is officially over, I encourage all students to continue reading at home!  I can not express how important reading at home makes in a students overall reading skills and strategies.  We have a lot of "end of the year" assessments coming up and so reading at home would continue to strengthen those skills/strategies to use towards these assessments!

Congrats to those who returned their calendar every month!  I am proud of you!

Field Trip Chaperones

Just a reminder that a letter was sent home a few weeks ago asking parents if they would like to chaperone one of our upcoming field trips.   The letter was to be signed and returned as soon as possible by those parents who were interested in being a chaperone for one or both of the field trips.

Trip 1 - "The Iowa Dairy Story" at NICC's Calmar Campus Dairy Complex from 8:45-3:00 on Friday, May 1st

Trip 2 - National Eagle Center/Lark Toy Museum in Wabasha, MN (7:30-3:15) on Monday, May 18th.

I have had four parents express interest in the field trips.  If you are interested and did not get the sheet that was sent home, please email me or contact me so that I can put you down as a possibility.  If we have too many volunteers, I will draw names to keep it fair.

Thank you!