I just want to start off by saying THANK YOU for all the donated materials that have been coming in. It is so helpful to have all these donations and we all appreciate your generosity!
Third graders have been working hard here in Room 165! Students have been reading their books like they are GOLD. We have no curmudgeons here in 3rd grade! :) We even treat our reading partners like GOLD as we share our stories with one another. We also spent some time discussing what makes a book too easy, too challenging and JUST RIGHT! Readers have been shopping and filling their bins with "Just Right" books. Each day we are building our stamina to become STRONGER readers! We are absolutely loving the BFG as we participate in the Global Read Aloud!
We have spent a lot of time this week working with Problem Strings and learning new strategies. Students have had so much fun working through these strategies and then sharing their work with classmates. We have some super efficient mathematicians in here! We also have spent some time discussing a very important 3rd-grade skill- the EQUAL sign! Students are beginning to learn and understand what the equal sign represents in an equation. We are loving our new October Number Corner which focuses on geometric shapes. Today we started collecting milliliters and liters in our calendar collector! So much fun in math!
Writing has taken off! We are getting ready to choose our SEED idea to grow and publish. Students will simply choose an idea or a story from their Writer's Notebook and we will spend the next few weeks "fancying" up our writing as we learn new strategies.
Our little social scientists have begun to think about Ellington! We have generated some questions using the QFT (Question Formulation Technique) as we studied the Town Seal. So interesting! Do you know what town seal looks like? We are very excited to learn more about Ellington.
Have a HAPPY long weekend!
Just a reminder that tomorrow is Picture Day at CLS! We also have P.E. in the morning. Students are welcome to change and freshen up before pictures are taken! SMILE!
Friday, September 30, 2016
Global Read Aloud 2016
We will be participating in the Global Read Aloud this year! I am so excited to do this with the students! We will kick off reading the GRA read aloud, The BFG on Monday! Please read the attached document for more information. Happy Reading!
Crystal Lake School will have Spirit Day on the last Friday of each month! Students are encouraged to wear any CLS Spiritwear OR CLS colors (blue, white, orange). If there is a conflict with the last Friday a messenger email will be sent out! Show your school spirit!
I am looking forward to meeting all of my 3rd grade parents this evening! Curriculum Night will take place this evening, September 29 from 6:30-7:30. The first presentation will begin promptly at 6:30pm and the second presentation will begin promptly at 7:00pm. Both presentations will be exactly the same!If you are unable to attend, please visit the "Parent Resources" tab for the Google Presentation that I will be presenting tonight. Can't wait to see everyone this evening!
Thursday, September 15, 2016
A parent-friendly introduction letter to our first Math Unit! Please take the time to read.
Students have been introduced to addition strategies this week to help us become speedy and automatic with our facts. Students have also spent time using an addition table! These strategies are helpful to students as they are mastering their addition facts and preparing for multiplication! We will be learning our subtraction strategies in the next week! Here are some of the strategies that students have learned.
After learning our strategies, we practice applying them! Students learned how to play our first workplace-Make the Sum today. The excitement and engagement made my heart happy!
We are cruising through September and loving every second! The third graders have been very busy getting to know classmates, understanding the rules and expectations, setting goals and learning about mindset. We have spent a lot of our time learning about a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset and what that looks and sounds like. The third graders were also introduced to the mindset stances: optimism, flexibility, resilience, persistence and empathy. We have had many discussions, read alouds, videos and even some role playing to help us understand what these mean! Ask your child what kind of mindset they have!
As some of you were able to see at the Meet & Greet, our 3rd-grade classroom has a different design this year. I have taken a risk and tried out flexible/alternative seating in my classroom. This means that when students are working they will have the freedom to find comfortable spaces around the room to do their best work. They might be kneeling, standing, sitting at a table with an exercise ball or stool, sitting on the futon, laying on the carpet. There are many possibilities of what this can look like in a classroom. Research shows that students are able to focus and do their best work when they are comfortable. It has been very successful and the students are really enjoying it! I hope all of you will get the opportunity to visit during Curriculum Night and experience the seating. I have included a few, very informative links with some great articles and videos. Please take the time to check them out. These links can also be found under the "Parent Resources" tab. Gently used donations are welcome-please contact me first! Contact me with any questions or concerns in regards to our flexible seating.
Happy Friday! I am thrilled to be your child's teacher this year. We have had a great first week together and I look forward to the year ahead! We have spent this week getting to know one another, building relationships and learning rules and expectations in our school community.
Over the next week or so, I will be updating the blog. I have already updated some of the tabs and will continue to update as it becomes appropriate. Please be sure to check out the blog for important information. I will frequently post classroom announcements, classroom updates and pictures of students! There will be very minimal amounts of paper coming home. I will thoroughly discuss the blog and my means of communication with families at our Curriculum Night on September 29.
I encourage you to subscribe to the blog so you can be notified when I post/update! There is a subscribe button on the left hand side of the blog!
