Ms. B. in Class

Thank You!

Thanks to each of you who have talked to your students about the importance of getting unfinished work turned in and completing homework!  Our classroom mindset about both of those things have improved dramatically.  I appreciate those who have placed that responsibility firmly in your student’s hands as well.  They are so much more excited about progress when they get to hold their own responsibility.  So, thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Thank you to everyone who sent in items for our Heart Healthy Valentine’s Day.  In the morning, we wrote a message to our heart after learning how hard it works.  In the afternoon, we had some heart healthy snacks and played some minute-to-win-it games in three different classes.  Extra shout out to the parents who came in and set it up, and who helped us manage 25 kids competing in four different games at the same time.  You are appreciated!

Most of all, thanks for creating awesome tiny humans.  These students have formed such a great community.  They are invested in their classmates.  They are invested in our classroom.  They want to succeed, and they want every one of their friends to succeed.  Your kids cheer for the other kids, even if means they may not win.  Their caring and support inspires me daily!

Pennies for Patients

We are the leading 3rd grade class for the Pennies for Patients drive!  Thanks so much for searching for change with your students!  You can also donate online.  Your students are clamoring to win the Wet & Wild tickets and the classroom Olive Garden party.   Here’s a link to the school page:  https://events.lls.org/pages/snv/Evelyn-Stuckey-Elementary-School-2019

Nevada Reading Week

If you would like to come in and read to our class, I’ve created a Google Sign Up.  (No email addresses required:  https://forms.gle/juhHFeZF6XTKKWuy7). If you prefer not to use a google form, please send me an email and I’ll get you penciled in.  The kids love having family members come read! Below is a chart of each themed day for the duration of Nevada Reading Week.

Don’t forget, we are still chugging on our Book Challenge and your students are killing it!!  Here’s our recording form.  Parents need only sign for turn in when the sheet is full:  2020 Book Challenge

Curriculum

This week, we will jump into poetry in reading. Students should be able to refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza and describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections. In writing, we will continue to write from two sources and create informational publications.  In math, we’ll tie up fractions and head into time.  We will also continue to participate in group work within which we will

Upcoming Events

• 2/17 No School – President’s Day
• 2/24 – 2/28 Reading Week
• 2/28 Donuts with Dads

This week’s homework:  2020-02-17 Homework

 

 

Important things firsts!  Our lunch basket was hijacked!  I am sure it was mistakenly carried to another classroom.  I looked over the weekend, but was unable to locate it.  However, I’ve no doubt that we will find it tomorrow.  I apologize for 3 days worth of whatever was in their lunch boxes.  I did my best to locate it before they left.

Thank you to everyone who has signed up for our Heart Healthy Valentine’s Day snack bar.  We will spend the morning reading and learning about what our bodies need to be healthy, and then use those healthy bodies for fun events in the afternoon.  If you are able to help out on Friday, please send me an email!  🙂

Remember, this is for 3rd grade students only.  Students from other grade levels and younger children cannot attend.

Here’s a link to the info: https://msbinclass.com/2020/02/06/heart-healthy-valentines-sign-up/

Here’s a link to the sign up:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0945adad22a5f94-heart

SBAC Preparation

We test a little bit earlier in the year this year.  This means that I will not have as much time to get all the information your students need in their heads before we test.  I understand that we all are incredibly busy and that sitting down with our homework and working through it takes time, but students need to complete homework, especially between now and March 13 (our tentative first test, the reading CAT).

You can also work with your students through practice tests here:  https://wbte.drcedirect.com/NV/portals/nv/

Please note that it works best with Google Chrome.

Your Help

I need your help to make sure your students are ready for 4th grade.  The end of 3rd grade is now in sight and it looms closer with every passing day.  Thank you to all of you who read your student’s completed work, check Infinite Campus weekly to monitor student progress, and sign your student’s planner after you and your student have worked together to complete their homework.  That signature lets me know that you know what we’re doing in class and how your student is performing. 

Your students will tell you that I check digital and paper homework as a whole class.  There are often times when I see a signature and your student claims to have done paper homework or digital homework and it simply isn’t done.  This sends a message that a student’s parent condones a student providing me misinformation.  It says it is okay for students to tell me that they did their homework when they haven’t.  It reinforces that concept, and I get no buy in from your students.

I cannot do this without your help.  I am working to make sure your students are successful and that we get the most out of every minute of instructional time.  I’ve arranged to have students pulled by volunteer parents and instructional aids at the school to give them all the remediation they need to become more successful.  We are a team.  I know that this growing year asks a lot of you.  But, when we all work together, we can move mountains.

Homework

Students need to complete paper reading homework through March 13.  Starting next week, homework will consist of sample SBAC questions.  Students can still work on ST Math or Prodigy for math, but I need them to do the paper homework for reading.  Also, if they read a passage, they can count this as their nightly reading time.  Homework should not take more than 40 minutes per night.  I know that seems like a long time, but that is a maximum, not a minimum. Please make sure your student is reading something every night.  I’m less concerned about content, and more concerned about reading.  Let them read blogs, magazines, gaming reviews, comics, or books.  Just encourage that reading!

Curriculum

This week, we will work on comparing fractions with like and different denominators.  By week’s end, students will be able to recognize and generate simple equivalent fractions, e.g., 1/2 = 2/4, 4/6 = 2/3, and explain why the fractions are equivalent, by using a visual fraction model.  My motto is “when in doubt, draw it out!”  Please encourage your students to draw out the visual model when they compare fractions.

In reading, we are moving on into central message and theme. We backtracked a little with text structure to make sure everyone had a great foundation before moving on.  Students should be able to recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text. In writing we will continue with constructed response questions and answers, and drafting expository textual pieces. I am also reinforcing our language standards throughout this writing process.

Upcoming Events

• 2/12 PTA Sweethearts Spaghetti Dinner
• 2/14 Heart Healthy Valentine’s Day
• 2/14 Free Dress Day if Wearing Red/Pink/Hearts
• 2/17 No School – President’s Day
• 2/24 – 2/28 Reading Week
• 2/28 Donuts with Dads

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and I’m having a lot of fun planning a HEART HEALTHY celebration for our class. On Friday, February 14th, we will be celebrating throughout the day. It’s going to be a lot of fun, but I’m going to need your help. If you have a CCSD badge and would like to come in and volunteer, please let me know. The day is going to be filled with different activities that will keep us moving and we will try many different heart healthy foods.

To make our party a success, I am asking that parents sign up with the link:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0945adad22a5f94-heart

If you would like to bring in something extra, please feel free. If you are interested in giving your donation more of a valentine feel (i.e. cutting the fruit into hearts, etc.) the kids would love it. Please have all donations to school by Tuesday, February 13th. If your item requires refrigeration, please send it to school on the morning of the 14th so it will be fresh.

We will be creating valentine bags to collect our valentines from our friends. There is no need to make a valentine box. We have 24 students in the class and if your child brings valentine cards or treats, they must bring one for every student. There is a list of student names in their GO Book.

I look forward to celebrating this special day with all of my friends. Please complete, sign up if you can help!  If you have any questions please let me know. Thanks again for all of your support this year. It means the world to me!

I hope you enjoyed the Superbowl with your families and had a restful weekend.  This week will be another busy week in grade 3.

Curriculum

We’ve jumped deeply into fractions and will start comparing them in multiple ways throughout the week.  If you can find examples of equal groups of anything at the house or while you’re out, it really helps to reaffirm these concepts we are learning.  I am assessing after each new concept to make sure students can demonstrate mastery before continuing.

In reading, we are moving on into central message and theme.  Students should be able to recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.  In writing we will continue with constructed response questions and answers, and drafting expository textual pieces.  I am also reinforcing our language standards throughout this writing process.  In science, we will close out our unit on life cycles.  In health, we will begin a unit on nutrition and physical activity.

Our first SBAC test is tentatively scheduled for March 12.  More news on that to come.

Thank you!

Thank you to all who came and enjoyed our Superbowl party!  It was great to watch, help, and learn with you and your students.  We fielded a lot of questions, and that was the purpose behind the event.  We want to make sure you know what to expect.

Dates to Remember

Here are some upcoming events.  Our Heart Healthy Valentines signup will be up soon as we’re sharing a hall with the rest of the 3rd grade classrooms.  We will need volunteers to run minute to win it games on February 14 as well.

• 2/3- 2/7 Counselor Appreciation Week
• 2/10 – 2/14 Kindness Week
• 2/12 PTA Sweethearts Spaghetti Dinner
• 2/14 Free Dress Day – Red and/or Hearts Day (Heart Healthy Valentines Day)
• 2/14 Progress Reports Go Home – All Students
• 2/17 No School – President’s Day
• 2/24 – 2/28 Reading Week
• 2/28 Donuts with Dads

Weekly Homework:  2020 February 3

I wanted to remind you that we will work be exploring our SBAC football prep tomorrow at 9:10.  Students will put up their backpacks and then we will get started right away.  We will be in the science room and will be able to walk all parents, even those without badges, right into the room.

Thanks to our awesome volunteers who set up the room for this awesome event.

 

 

Curriculum

Hi parents!  This week, we will be working on fractions on a number line and (representing a fraction a/b on a number line diagram by marking off a lengths 1/b from 0), using RACES in informational text, and describing the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).  We’ve worked on these text features before, but not specifically in a way where students must identify which text feature is being used based on the text presented to them.  This is a great standard to follow the sequencing unit we did last week.

Accountability

The reading assessment sent home titled Oddballs is one of the best we’ve completed as a class.  I credit that to our questions before we turn in.  Your students are taking ownership of their work.  This novelty may wear off a bit, but I intend on reinforcing this self reflection.  Please do the same thing at home as they complete their homework.  Together we can move mountains!

Students may have missing work shown in Infinite Campus.  Despite our accountability, we are forgetting to put our names on some of our papers.  As soon as they identify their work, it will be updated in the grade book.

Homework

Homework this week is attached below and can be digital or paper.  ST Math and Prodigy have been aligned to current content, and Lexia is always adaptive.

Upcoming Events

We have another pizza day coming up. Check your student’s GO folder.

• 1/31 Free Dress Day – Football Day (SBAC Football Day in our classroom)
• 2/3- 2/7 Counselor Appreciation Week
• 2/12 PTA Sweethearts Spaghetti Dinner
• 2/17 No School – President’s Day
• 2/24 – 2/28 Reading Week
• 2/28 Donuts with Dads

SBAC Dates

Our first SBAC test date is scheduled for March 13.  I’ll let you know as soon as I know more.

This packet will contain two more math sheets which the kids will tear from their math notebooks.  2020-01-27

We are moving and grooving in 3rd grade right now.  I had the “serious business” conversation with our class last week.  We will still have fun, but when it is time to work, we have to buckle down and do our best.  Each time the kids turn in work I ask them the following:

When they can answer all of these questions with a “yes”, they can turn it in.  I would love if you adopted this for homework as well.

Some students are still struggling with 3 digit addition and subtraction.  I sent home additional work with some students and I’ll also post it here.  I require all students to check their work.  Here’s a video of how we check subtraction with addition.  The reverse is done for addition with subtraction.

Here’s some additional practice:  Addition Subtraction Practice

Homework

Speaking of homework, all students will need to complete paper homework this week.  We are working on some more advanced reading questions and starting our unit on fractions.  Though all digital work posted will be reinforcing our standards, I want students to complete paper homework this week.  Next week we will return to digital options.  As always, if students want to supplement their weekly work, they can do that digitally.  Here is our homework: 2020-01-21

Book Challenge

We will also start a book contest. Students can log what they read nightly on a colored form that will be in their GO Folder.  Here is a what the log looks like.  Instructions are at the top:  2020 Book Challenge

Curriculum

This week in math we will work on understanding a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts, and understanding a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b.

In reading, students will be asked to determine the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text.

In science, we will continue to better understand how animals grow and adapt through time.  In writing, we are currently working on expository writing and writing using the RACES strategy.

Upcoming Events

• 1/20 No School – Martin Luther King Day
• 1/21-1/24 Peace Week
• 1/24 Muffins with Moms
• 1/31 Free Dress Day – Football Day – 3rd Grade Football

 

Our students earned a free dress day for positive behavior in specials.  Tomorrow students may wear pajamas based on their vote.

Your student may have given you a handout about January 31, 2020 and our in class football day.  I’ve attached that handout to this post, too.  We invite you to join us.  Because we will be with another class and have someone to walk you to class, you can join us even if you aren’t badged.  Thank you!

Football

Ramping Up

New Year Expectations

I talked to your students this week about how 3rd grade switches gears as we start the new year.  I have built unfinished work time into 4 days of our classroom schedule.  As I enter grades, I will mark any assignment not turned in as we progress as missing.  I will also provide students missing work notices every two weeks.

Curriculum

This week, we will finish up text features and point of view in reading.  In language, we will continue to scaffold learning as we fold adverbs into our parts of speech.  I had planned on moving on to fractions this week, but as students have struggled with subtraction with regrouping, I am circling back and reteaching that this week.  All of our digital learning is aligned to addition and subtraction with regrouping.

Important Upcoming Dates

We are also putting together a family football lesson for which we will invite you to come in, share some snacks, and help your students as they complete SBAC like questions at different stations.  I have it penciled in for the week of January 27 and will confirm shortly.

• 1/17 Be Kind Assemblies and 100th Day of School
• 1/20 No School – Martin Luther King Day
• 1/21-1/24 Peace Week
• 1/24 Muffins with Moms
• 1/31 Free Dress Day – Football Day

This week’s homework:  2020-01-13 Homework

Report cards came home with your student today. If you have any questions, I am happy to answer them. Please sign the envelope on the outside as indicated and send just the envelope back in with your student. Thank you!