We have a lot of fun planned for the next week, but we will also be engaged in some entertaining learning activities.

Your student may have mentioned that if they have a team sport, dance recital, BMX event, etc. in which they participate, I’d love to come watch them.  I’ve asked that you take a picture of their schedule or direct me to a website so I can coordinate and make sure I get to see all students at least once during this school year.  I watched one baseball game this year and it was so awesome to see my students in a different environment.  Please let me know of upcoming events so I can swing by your student’s event as well.

Important upcoming dates:

• 10/31 – Wednesday
  • Halloween
  • Happy Birthday to Nevada
  • 1:00 PM – Grade 3 Spooky Buffet
  • 2:15 PM – Trunk or Treat – Thanks PTA!! (No weapons, masks, or face paint)
• 11/6- No school- Election Day
• 11/7- No school – Parent/Teacher Conference Day

I sent home progress reports on Friday.  Please remember that 3rd grade is a big jump up for many students.  In 3rd grade, we require students to work without assistance.  Also, many of the concepts we cover are completely new.

When you come in for conferences, if you have specific concerns, please make sure to broach them during our meeting.  I need your input on your student’s goals.  We work so much better as a team when we are tackling these new concepts.

This week, we will work on finalizing narrative drafts in writing, character traits in reading, and continue with division in math.

We took a multiplication property assessment last week and some of the students struggled. However, the majority of the class demonstrated that they understand and can apply the concept, which was my goal and why we worked on the standard for an additional week.

We graded two writing samples with rubrics last week as well, and your students are generally critical graders.  We compared those rubrics to the rubrics we used for our peers and ourselves, and reflected on whether or not we were more honest and genuine with writing when we didn’t know the author.  It was a great exercise and I hope students will apply what they learned when they check over their work before submission.  For all formal writing submissions, students receive a rubric so they can understand expectations.

Totem pole projects guidelines will come home on paper this week, and I have attached them here for reference.  Totem Pole 3rd

Thanks for all the help in making this week a success!

 

I’ve said “there’s beauty in the struggle” to your students many times already this year.  The first time shared it with the class, I saw a few questioning looks and tilted heads, but they are all getting used to it.  I make sure to point it out wherever I can (Oh… there’s beauty in that math struggle, isn’t there?).  This is my favorite lyric from a singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile.  It was a favorite before I transitioned to teaching, but I’ve found it even more applicable in the classroom.  The academic struggle our students experience is so incredibly important.

You may have noticed that we are working on growth mindset lessons in our classroom.  I’ve asked students to dig deep and evaluate what they do well and what they need to work on.  We’ve worked on identifying what we’ve worked hard on each day.  Your student may have talked about our philosophy of “not yet” in regard to understanding and learning. It means that we don’t say “I don’t get it.”  We say, “I don’t get it, yet.”  It changes perspective.

Each student has made their own measurable writing goal for our next writing publication.  We’ve also defined mathematical goals.  We are working in small group on creating measurable reading goals.

With that backdrop, we’ve been working on celebrating learning.  Any time a student notices that they’ve learned something, I’ve asked them to write it on a post it for #youcanlearnanything board.  This hashtag is specifically associated with the Khan Academy’s Learnstorm project. Please encourage them to do this at home, too.  Each of them can learn anything. Celebrate when they are learning, especially when it is hard. 

More information on Growth Mindset is available with a search.  I’ve also included an introductory video at the bottom of the post.

Thanks for teaching them that they can do anything!

 

I’ve sent emails for Parent/Teacher Conference signups.  I’ve made dates available other than November 7.  If you can’t make any of the times listed, please let me know.  Thanks so much!

Here is a link as well:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080448acab2aa0fb6-boelter

Hi, parents!

We’ve had a lot of class activity and extracurricular activity in the past week at school.  We closed out the Fun Run with some amazing fun.  You and your students raised a ton of money for our school.  I confided with a couple of parents on the Fun Run field that I wish we could have activity like the obstacle course daily!  The kids had so much fun.  🙂

Homework

This week’s reading homework will include an article chosen by your student.  They will read the article on Monday and complete responses on Tuesday.  We will repeat this on Wednesday and Thursday, just like we do with the Google Classroom question.  Please make sure they take their time and find their answers in the text.  Each day after we’ve read, our tables will confer about the different articles they’ve chosen and share new information they’ve learned.

Reading

This week, our class continued to work on non fiction text features and cause and effect in non fiction in reading.  We also shared what we knew about tsunamis, what we’d like to know, and recorded what we’ve learned.  We read some nonfiction articles and a small book about tsunamis.  On Monday, we’ll start our next novel, I Survived the Japanese Tsunami.  While starting the novel, we’ll work on describing characters in a story (their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

Writing

In writing, we’ve learned about all of the components of narrative writing. This week, we will choose a draft to complete and start working toward editing and publishing our first narrative.

Math

In math, we finished properties.  We took a little more time than originally planned, but after assessing for understanding, I decided to circle back and make sure we had a firm grasp on all of the properties. This week, we will start division.  I spoke with many of you individually, and as a whole group about the importance of multiplication fluency and knowing our math facts.  While we studied properties of multiplication, students who were still working on math facts had a harder time.  That will be more apparent as we start division.  It is important that your students know their math facts.  Additionally, if they are still using counting up to figure out math facts, practicing fluency in addition is incredibly helpful.

We will read The Doorbell Rang to start division.  Ask your students about how we started our division unit.  It is one of those interactive lessons they really love.  Also, look for real world division problems and point them out to your student.  This helps to solidify that process.

Next week is Red Ribbon week.

Dates to Remember:

10/22 – Monday – Red Ribbon – Wear red

10/23 – Tuesday – Be Kind to yourself – Wear your Be Kind shirt

10/24 – Wednesday – Our School Chooses Drug Free – Wear your uniform; make up picture day

10/25 – Thursday – Peace Out to Drugs – Wear peace signs or tie dye, unsats/progress reports, bring in your Spooky Buffet item to school by today

10/26 – Friday – No school – Nevada Day

10/31 – Wednesday – Halloween – Grade 3 Spooky Buffet

Thanks for all that you do and all that you do to help our classroom.  We are better because of your efforts.

Our students chose pink for our Fun Run color!  Please send your student in pink on Friday!

If you are planning on helping out at the Fun Run or if you would like to join your student while they do  the obstacle course, please let me know so I can forward that information on to the coordinators.

Our Fun Run time is 2:15, and we are the last group of the day.

Your students have earned a lot of rewards from the Fun Run.  They all get a homework pass which they can use at their leisure.  We will also have a board game day, and a few more rewards.

I posted writing grades this afternoon.  I’ve tried to conference with each of your students before posting grades in Infinite Campus, but I had a few students finish finalizing their drafts today, and I have a handful left with whom to conference.  Feedback is really important, but you knowing where they are is equally important.  Know I grade writing strictly by rubric, which students are given before they start drafting.  As always, if you have questions or concerns, I am here and will make time for a conference if we need one.

I will also send home progress reports on Friday.  They do not have to be returned.  I want to make sure you know where your student is academically.  I want them to be personally responsible as well.

Thank you for supporting your student, our class, our school, and our Fun Run fundraising.

I wanted to thank you all of your continued support and your contributions to our Hispanic Heritage Feast.  It was amazing because of all that you did.

Also… this dance….gives me life.  Can’t stop, won’t stop.  😉

Recapitulation

This week, we powered through the distributive property in math, continued writing our personal narratives and discussing what makes a great personal narrative, conferenced about good writing, and dove into our first non-fiction unit.

Google Classroom Homework Assignments

There was some confusion about the Google Classroom homework assignment last week.  This week there will be two questions.  One will be assigned on Monday and due on Wednesday.  It will require students to answer by restating the question, elaborating with at least two sentences, and closing their answer with a conclusion.  I will assign one question on Monday and one question on Wednesday.  Students can do them all in one night or work on them over the two days.  If students have issues using Google Docs at home (sometimes multiple accounts can cause sign in issues), they can also post their answer in a comment.  Additionally, I am in my room every day after the office opens, and if students need to come in to finish homework with technology, I am available.

This Week

This week, we will close out the distributive property in math and potentially dive into division.  In writing, we will continue to develop more robust personal narratives, and expand on the drafts we’ve written thus far during our writing time.  In reading, we will cap off non fiction text features and start working on cause and effect in non fiction text.

On the Horizon

I will send home Spooky Buffet information with your students tomorrow.  If the item I have selected for you does not work, please just return the form.  I appreciate anything you can do to help.

Additionally, November is the month we historically learn about and discuss Native and Indigenous Americans.  As we do this, we focus on our families’ history and traditions.  As a part of this process, the third grade would like to create class totem poles.  More information on this project is forthcoming, but I wanted to give you a heads up.

Fun Run Friday

If you would like to volunteer for the Fun Run, please let me know and I will get your name to the coordinators.

Thanks again for everything you do!

We had such an awesome feast today!  Thanks to everyone who participated, wanted to participate, and encouraged their students to participate.  Everything you sent in was amazing.  Our Pitbull Cuban steak, rice, and beans turned out pretty well, too!

The students had a really great time, and learned about different cultures by experiencing them with taste-buds.  I am sincerely thankful for your continued support in making this year a memorable one!

Fun Run

I was able to get the Fun Run link from our amazing coordinator today.  Our website is https://stuckey2018.pledge-drive.net/Campaign/Details/1307.

Our class code is:  32C4

You can then look up any student from there.  Thank you for all of your support thus far!

Epic! Books Update

I’ve talked to Epic Books and we had a trial version which has run out.  Our students can still read for free in class, but not on apps.  Blah!  I’ll keep searching and find one that we can use at home.

We are going to culminate our Hispanic Heritage month of activities on October 12.  I would love to have some authentic Hispanic dishes for students to munch on in the afternoon.  Students have been learning about Hispanic heritage, including cuisine, and I think this will be a fun way to finish our month of celebration.

Countries we’d like to have represented include:

Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico (I know it is a territory, but let’s just go with it), Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Important allergies in the classroom:

• Nuts
• Shellfish
• Pineapple
• Watermelon

Please do not plan a dish that contains any of those items.

If you have a badge and would like to join us around 2:00, we’d love to have some help!

Happy October!

We had a really busy week this week.  As many of you know, we visited the Springs Preserve on Tuesday.  Thanks to everyone who helped and made sure their students turned in the needed forms to make this day such a success.  Our students did a great job of showing why they are all Stuckey Superheros while on the trip.  If you came with us and took pictures, please send them to my email address.  I will create a google folder and share them with all parents.  Thanks again for all of your help.

This week we completed summarizing in reading.  We worked through some really tough content in math while we dipped our toe in the commutative, associative, and distributive properties of multiplication.  I know that some of the homework was tough. Thanks for sticking through it with your students.

This song helps them quite a bit.  If you’ve heard “flip flop those factors!” or humming, it’s probably my fault.  But, it sticks in their head, and it helps during testing.

We started a unit on personal narrative in writing.  Students have been journaling stories about their lives.  We will continue to work on personal narratives next week as well.

In math, we will break down some arrays by becoming Distributive Doctors.  If your student comes home with a mask and gloves, it is because they are amazing math doctors.  In reading, we will start a unit in which we will master the use of text features and search tools to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.

We closed out the week with a math fact race, some multiplication bingo, and a lesson called magnets are weird.  I hope your student shared some of our fun with you!