Today we learned how to draw like a scientist. We made sure to use specific details, labels and drew as close as we could to what was there. Look at these scientists at work!
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Happy Friday!This week we started poetry and worked on a poem about school and the sharing of ideas. Thurs, you saw a part of this come home as a dictado. Dictado is a group of sentences we have been working on all week. We work on reading it fluently, talking about the punctuation, where the capital letters go and why and we also talk about how the letters should look on the page (handwriting). We practice all different ways each day and the assignment for Thurs is to add 2 sentences to the dictado - they can go to the front of the sentences that are on there or at the end but need to be around the topic. The examples students came up with in class ranged from "At the beginning of the year we start with new friends." "We share what we learn all year and talk about our learning." It really depends on what your child takes from our discussions as to what he/she adds. On Friday we take a final test on that dictado. It is what we are working on in place of a spelling test/list because it puts the commonly used/misspelled words into a context for the students to practice with.
This week our normal homework continues. Its in the Friday section of the planner and here as well: -Structured paragraph - Topic: My favorite birthday present... due thurs... remember that the prompts on this say Mon-thurs, but can be done any time. Its meant to be broken into parts each day so that it doesn't get overwhelming for the writer. If you want to start on Friday or Saturday, please do so -just ignore the days (we use those when the students work on them in class). -Free Write of 1 page in journal focus on capitalization and punctuation- due thurs -Read 20 mins nightly In Math we finished out Unit 1 Pretest. Today students signed up for "seminars." Seminars are short lessons (25mins) with a group os 12 or less learners focused on a specific skill. Your child's results on the pretest determined what they signed up for in seminars. Seminars will begin next week Tuesday and students will be working on math independently and in seminars for the next few weeks. Emails will come out on suggestions for students to practice but depending on their progress in class, your child may or may not have math homework. Remember, if you have access to the internet at home, Dreambox is a great option for students as a math practice at home. Each child has their log in for this in the back of their planner. On Monday, students will also learn about 2 more options - Front Row and Splash Math. Look for an email about those on Monday. We continue to look at the world around us in Social Studies. Students created a Where do I live book that will be on display next week for Back to school night. We started with our house and have been looking at bigger and bigger pieces of the world. We will focus more on map skills in the coming week. Students formed a dot in honor of dot day and got to see it come to life. This will be coming out in their first blog post, but if you would like a preview, ask your child about the "Quiver" app. It is available for apple devices and fro android. You print off a sheet, color it and it comes to life. We will use this app for writing prompts this year as well. Reminders:
Classrooms are open from 6-6:30
Shout Outs for the week: -The whole team for including people at recess and for being Respectful in the hall during MAP testing - Mrs. Oliva even noticed how quiet and respectful they were! -Donnie for earning his whittling badge this last weekend! Congrats! -Sophia for including people at recess on Thurs. -Quinn for her great job as a Math Expert on Wednesday -Ethan for sharing his fidget and being responsible with it -Carter for being a great Math Expert on Wednesday Have an awesome weekend. Please let me know of any questions that come up, Happy Friday Families,
Here is the snapshot of the week: * In math, we are continuing to review a variety of concepts including rounding, greater than, less than, place value, addition and subtraction strategies. * In writing, learners are beginning the process of writing a paragraph. They will practice this as part of their writing homework this week. * In reading, we are continuing to review Daily 5 rotations and build our stamina in read to self. * In social studies, learners have worked hard to learn and write their own and the school's addresses. We will continue to work on mapping skills. Back to School Night - Theme Baskets In your child's Friday Folder this week you will find a white sheet that provides information about Back to School Night-Theme Baskets. Each classroom is asked to produce a theme basket to auction off at Back to School Night. Team Otis is doing "Team Spirit" for a theme. The white sheet also provides a few ideas of items that can be sent in. We also will need a basket to be donated. Thank you for considering helping with our baskets this year! We need all items in by October 5th so we have time to put together our baskets. Math Throughout our math classes over the past week, learners have been spending time reviewing skills such as rounding, greater than and less than, and place value. We have spent time practicing in groups and individually by playing games and working on practice sheets. One of the games that we practiced is called THTO (Thousands, Hundreds, Tens, Ones). Your child should have brought home with them this week a bag filled with popsicle sticks labeled 0-9 that they can use to play this at home. Here is a video that will help explain the rules for you at home (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE8ZmgMrw28&feature=youtu.be). This weekend students have a new game to share with you. Its called Target 100. The video and a copy of the game board will be put on the Blog on the Team Otis Website if you need another copy or if you need help with rules. (https://youtu.be/5FPCE_DKFYk) Writing As we stated the night of Talk-Ins, we are planning to write a lot in third grade! During the past week, learners were walked through the writing process for developing a paragraph (brainstorming, building the body, introduction and conclusion sentences, and editing [briefly]). This week as part of their homework, learners will be going through the same process writing a paragraph about a trip that they've taken. The directions are glued into their journal. This guided paragraph writing has a task for each day, but please remember that each family can make decisions about how much to do each day and note if you are starting this weekend on homework, to ignore the days listed at the beginning of the prompts. I was very excited to start reading the learners' journals this week. Journal writing provides me with an opportunity to learn about each individuals writing style and to provide feedback that is directly meant for them. Students will again be asked to write a one page journal (skipping lines) this week. This should be their 2nd journal entry of homework and should be written in the same journal as the structured paragraph. Please keep this notebook at home until both journal entries are completed. Also on the Team Otis Website, look for the new page called Word Wall. Each week we will be adding the words that we are working on in the classroom. Words are classified like this: Green Words - science/social studies Yellow - Names Orange - No excuse spelling words (these should never be spelled wrong on assignments) Pink - Math words If your child is having trouble spelling during journal time or could use some extra help, it would be a great idea to have these lists accessible at home during homework time. Social Studies On Wednesday of this week (September 16th), the entire third grade had the opportunity to learn about Mexico's Independence Day. Ms. Schmitt led the group in learning about the history of Mexican independence from Spain, taught us all how to say Viva Mexico, and described the meaning of Mexico's flag. It was an exciting afternoon learning about the United State's neighbors! Shout outs today go to: Donald and Sophia for their thinking in Math today! Mason and Gavin for sweeping up messes in the cafeteria Ethan for unlocking the door with the keys Carter for sharing ideas in Math Have a great weekend. Please let me know of any questions that arise. Happy Friday!This week we explored our brown bag innovation project. Videos of the kids presenting their creations are publishing on the website as I type. Students also explored expectations around the school through a secret mission/discovery style project. The first week in math students explored a week of imath. This week of math helped students think like mathematicians and asked students to really stretch their brains. The overarching message was "You learn through struggle. Don't be afraid to struggle and make mistakes because that is how you learn. Everyone can do math, sometimes it is easier than other times." There wasn't really any homework that came home with these lessons but hopefully the sheets from class provided some interesting discussion. We focused a lot on patterns and explaining our mathematical thinking. Today we began a new unit in math. It will continue for the next few weeks. We will focus on counting, skip counting, working with rounding, greater and less than statements, place value and story problems. Students will work on a week of learning, then will take a pretest to see where their holes in learning still are. Because of this week of review, students will bring home nightly math homework. This work will be listed in their planners and should be completed and returned the next day. Homework for next week has been put in the Friday Column in your child's planner. They should have also brought home a journal. Their homework is reading nightly, practicing their address and writing a free response journal. If your child completes their journal early, please send it with them to turn in early. Remember, this homework is sent home on Friday so that if you want to start it on the weekend, you can - but if you want to wait for the week that is fine too. Homework will be due on Thursday of the coming week. Thumbs up this week to: Apollo, Donald and Quinn for their work on our temperature graph Donnie and Donald for their success with lunch helper duties Caidence N for her willingness to jump in and help others Gavin for his amazing work in math during Around the World. As always, let me know of any questions you have. Have a great weekend.
Happy Friday Families! Learners should be bringing home their take home folder today. In their folder, you will find papers that can stay at home and their math homework. Their math homework is the only thing that needs to come back. This homework is due next Friday (9/11). Learners should also be practicing reading 20 minutes daily. It is important that they are really focused during their reading time. We appreciate you having conversations with them about their reading. I have attached the information that we shared at Talk-Ins last night. Please let me know if you have any questions. There is another chance for you to practice with your child on Aurasma tonight too. The front of the student planner where it says "Challenge your limits" is the trigger. See if you can get it to work at home -it should bring up a video of where to sign in the planner when your child reads. We would love to get our Writer's Notebooks set up next week. If your child has not brought in their pictures in yet, please help them to remember to do so. Pictures can be of family events or pictures cut out of magazines; anything to prompt and encourage their writing. Reminder that Monday there is no school. Tuesday there will be gym and music for specials. More pictures from the week will be available soon on the website amyotis.weebly.com under Photo gallery. We pumped up the remaining ball chairs today and that brought on a ton of excitement. If you have any doubt on how much, check out the video of them all gathered once they got blown up! Thumbs up today go to : Donald for being so willing to chat with all the members in the class and excited to try new things Carter, Cadence and Mikai for helping others on the Aurasma projects Quinn for being ready and respectful Ethan and Mason for their great thinking in math Have a great weekend! |
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November 2017
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