Weekly Update 10.3-7

Hi Team 38,

I hope all had a wonderful week!  I need to begin by apologizing for getting the mid quarter reports out so late.  Though we are only about 2 1/2 weeks away from the end of first quarter, I still wanted to inform you of your child's progress.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email or call me. 

This is what we will be focusing on next week:

Spelling:  Green group test on Monday, Yellow group test on Tuesday.

Math:  We will finish chapter 4 on Thursday with a test.  The students are doing well with addition and regrouping.  Please remember to study addition facts with your child.  Knowing the groups of 10 and doubles are an important concept, so please review these facts!  We are practicing our facts at school, using flashcards and computer games.  Students are also learning the difference between number sentences (5+3=8) and number expressions (5+3).

Writing:We have finally completed the imaginary animal description.  They will be presenting next week.  Then we will focus on how to start our stories with a hook, how to incorporate a moral to our story, and how to end our story with closure.

Science:  We will quiz over ecosystems on Thursday.  Please remember that students are allowed to use their books during the quiz.  I do this so students are practicing how to go back to the text and locate information.  We will begin food pyramids and food webs.

Social Studies: We are completing our study of landforms, natural resources, continents, and oceans.  There will be a quiz on Tuesday over Missouri bordering states.  Students will need to label each bordering state on a map. 

Reading:  We will work on summarizing stories and passages.  This has generally been the most difficult concept for third graders to grasp.  So we will practice this a lot!  Students will read or listen to a piece of writing, then they will be asked to summarize the main idea of the passage by identifying the main character, setting, and events.  Including the theme in a summary is also an important part. 

 

FYI:

Monday- Cardinal Spirit Day!  Dress in your Cardinal gear.

Thursday- Library

Saturday- Tim's Birthday!

Wonderful Websites We Are Using This Week!

Check out these websites to practice reading skills we have practiced this year!

Cause and Effect-
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/trophies/test_tutor/grade4/skill2/garden.html

http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/causeconnect.html

Types of Genre-
http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/a/fictionnonfictionl.cfm

http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/o/genresl.cfm

Story Elements-
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/trophies/test_tutor/grade3/skill13/allie.html

http://www.learner.org/interactives/story/index.html

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/trophies/test_tutor/grade4/skill10/emperor.html

Summarize-
http://www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/reading.cfm?str=reading&num=6&act=2&que=1

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/reading/index.htm

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/trophies/test_tutor/grade5/skill16/woodsong.htm

http://www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/reading.cfm?str=reading&num=11&act=4&que=1

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/trophies/test_tutor/grade3/skill17/mosquitos.htm

Predictions-
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity_collections_preview/predict_outcomes/3_predict.html

Reading Strategies-
http://el014.k12.sd.us/Reading%20Strategies.htm

Name that State-
http://www.primarygames.com/states/start.htm

http://funschool.kaboose.com/globe-rider/games/game_wheres_that_us_state.html

Oceans & Continents-
http://funschool.kaboose.com/globe-rider/games/game_my_world.html

Food Chains and Ecosystems-

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/producersconsumersgame.htm

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/foodchaingame.htm

Seasonal Fun-
http://funschool.kaboose.com/fun-blaster/baseball/index.html

http://funschool.kaboose.com/fun-blaster/halloween/index.html

PETER PAN THE ALL-DISTRICT MUSICAL WANTS YOU TO FLY! More! ANNOUNCING PETER PAN AUDITIONS! WHO: All Lindbergh District Students (K – 8) (9 – 12 Crew Help Only)
WHEN & WHERE:
Thursday, September 29
Friday, September 30th: MEETING 2:40pm - 4pm – Sperreng Little Theater
Saturday, October 1st: MEETING/AUDITIONS 2:30pm - 5pm – Tesson Ferry Library
Friday, October 7th: Crestwood/Long AUDITIONS 5pm - 7pm – Long Cafeteria
Monday, October 10th: Kennerly/Sappington AUDITIONS 5pm - 7pm – Sappington Cafeteria
Tuesday, October 11th: Concord AUDITIONS 5pm - 7pm – Concord Music Room 37
Wednesday, October 12th: AUDITIONS 2:40pm - 5pm – Truman Tile-Floor Gym
Thursday, October 13th: AUDITIONS 2:40pm - 5pm – Sperreng Little Theater
Friday, October 14
Now through October 14th: MEETING 2:40pm - 4pm – Truman Tile-Floor Gym th: OPEN AUDITIONS 2:40pm - 5pm – Sperreng Little Theater th: VIDEO AUDITION – Submit via EMAIL, CD, or YouTube AUDITION PACKETS are available through your guidance office or email
Mr. Tyler at mtyler@lindberghschools.ws and he can send you one directly. ABOUT AUDITIONS Live Auditions will be held after school, in the evening, and on a Saturday. Choices are as follows:
1) Now until October 14th by appointment with teacher permission and Mr. Tyler permission:
2) Saturday (October 1
3) Friday (October 7
Monday (October 10
Tuesday (October 11
Wednesday (October 12
Thursday (October 13
Friday (October 14
4) Anytime before 5pm on October 14
Please sign up for only ONE of these days OR make special arrangements and prepare 4th hour only. st) 2:30pm – 5:00pm at Tesson Ferry Library (especially for elementary students but anyone can audition) th) 5pm – 7pm at Long Elementary’s Cafeteria (especially for elementary) th) 5pm – 7pm at Sappington Elementary’s Cafeteria (especially for elementary) th) 5pm – 7pm at Concord Elementary’s Room 37 (especially for elementary) th) 2:40pm – 5pm at Sperreng’s Little Theater (Especially for middle school) th) 2:40pm – 5pm at Truman’s Tile-Floor Gym (Especially for middle school) th) 2:40pm – 5pm at Sperreng’s Little Theater (Open to ALL) th via email, CD, or YouTube address. one monologue and one song for audition found in the AUDITION PACKET. The actual audition will only take about 15 minutes. There are 3 songs included in the audition packet in the guidance office or email from Mr. Tyler: 1) Never Never Land; 2) I Gotta Crow; 3) I Won’t Grow Up; 4) Happy Birthday Prepare only
Middle-schoolers be prepared to stay after school on
Elementary students will most likely be cast as chorus (London, Lost Kids, and/or Pirate – most likely ALL THREE … Oh yay!) as well as Fireflies for the younger students. This is our first year trying this so there’s bound to be a few surprises, but our goal is to include EVERYONE who wants to be a part of the show. My motto: "Include All, Exclude None!"
Parents & Elementary Students: be prepared to meet at Sperreng Middle School at 5:00pm on ONE of the three songs to sing for auditions or sing Happy Birthday. You may prepare a different version of your own song but it helps if the song is from the show. If you are interested in a lead role, it is strongly suggested that you sing the first song listed for that character. Singing in an *English accent is a plus but not necessary. Wednesday, October 19th (Truman) & Thursday, October 20th (Sperreng) to receive rehearsal calendars, important dates and additional materials. If you are unable to attend at least 2 dates (January 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, & 21) please do not audition for a lead role. While we multiple cast lead roles, and everyone is cast, there is a considerable amount of time needed for us to do our best. Also, if there is a conflict with a rehearsal date, you must notify Mr. Tyler by leaving a message at 729-2400 x 2220 no later than the night before. Thursday, October 20th for a short MEETING in Sperreng’s Little Theater. You will receive the same information and the meeting will last no longer than 45 minutes. Information can also be sent via email if you are unable to attend the meeting. Your participation is a HUGE part of our show and we hope that rehearsals for our elementary kids can be mostly vocal/movement once every weeks and increase in frequency after the first of the year as we get closer to the show dates in January. IMPORTANT: If you bring or send a blank CD-R, I will make a copy of the audition music in the show. It will have the actual version we plan to use in our show. Put your child’s name, home phone and address on the CD and get it to Mr.Tyler. I can send it back to you at school or snail mail.

weekly update 9.26-9.29

Hello!

I hope you all had a wonderful week.  This week went by very quickly for us.  We are in full swing and moving fast!  I'm so glad I have a group of kids who show responsibility, so we can cover everything that we need to.  I went to technology training this week (Thursday), and learned a lot of useful strategies for class instruction.  I can't wait to incorporate new things throughout this next month. 

This is what we will be learning next week:

Spelling:  Students in green group will test on Thursday.  I am working on spelling city, but still don't have all the groups' words up and ready.  I hope to have this done by Monday.

Social Studies:  We are making landform posters using computer images. We will hang them in the hall because they look so great!  We will continue to study the various landforms on our Earth and then move to natural, renewable, and non-renewable resources.  We will also do some reader's theatre on Thursday!  If everything goes well, I will record their performances and post it on the blog.

Math:  We are beginning chapter 4, Addition.  We will be adding with regrouping, and adding 3-4 digit numbers and solving word problems.  Keep practicing your facts, daily!!

Science:  We are studying ecosystems.  We will look at different biomes and discuss how living and non-living organisms work together in each environment.

Writing:  We are a little behind with writing. I'm conferencing with everyone one on one, and it is taking longer than I expected.  Once we finish publishing our animal descriptive pieces, we will work on the trait: Ideas.

Reading:  We will identify all the story elements in each passage:  characters, setting, problem, event, solution, and theme.  It would be great practice if you asked your children to identify these elements after the read nightly. 

 

FYI:

Wednesday: PICTURE DAY! 

Friday:  No school for students....teachers get a full professional development day!

weekly update 9.19-23

I love this time of year!  The leaves are changing, the weather is changing (dramatically each day), and our class is growing into a community of friends. I had a wonderful time with everyone at Grant's Farm this week.  To those of you whom I missed, I apologize, there were only 900 some people there!  And our first buddy day was a success.  I loved watching my students lead the kindergartners, showing them how to do things, and being great role models.  I know they were excited to be the "big" buddy! 

 

Here's what we have to look forward to next week:

 

Spelling:  I had to adjust our schedule a little bit, do to unpredictable events.  So, green group is testing on Monday and yellow is testing on Tuesday.  We will receive new words this week and start another 9 day cycle.

 

Social Studies:  We are learning out landforms, the continents, and oceans.  Students will be expected to locate and label all continents and oceans on a map.  They will also learn all the states that border Missouri.  Our test will not be until the following week.  So we will spend this week practicing with maps and learning about different areas.

 

Math:  We will learn how to order numbers and how to compare numbers.  They will be using math vocabulary words such as, greater than, less than, and equal to.  We will test over chapter 3 on Friday. (I know it may seem like we're moving fast...we are!  We have a lot to get through in 3rd grade.  But rest assured I am constantly reviewing concepts along the way.)

 

Science: We are studying the process of photosynthesis.  Students will take a quiz this week, then we will begin the study of ecosystems.

Writing:  We are publishing and sharing our imaginative animal stories.  They we will be learning about the "Idea" writing trait.  We will be collecting ideas for our future writing pieces.

 

Reading:  Students continue to lengthen their independent reading time as I meet with small groups.  Together, we will study cause and effect relationships. 

Buddy Day

We had an exciting morning meeting our kindergarten Buddies!  Here are some pictures of our first day together.  All third graders did a wonderful job of being great role models and friends to their buddies.

weekly update Sept 12-16

Hi Team 38,

We have had another great week.  Though it was only four days, we jammed packed this short week with tons of learning. Here's what we are going to be working on next week:

 

Spelling:  Students are doing a FANTASTIC job being responsible for their daily spelling activities.  They work through a 9 day rotation and I am meeting with them on several days.  Please ask your child what group they are in because Blue group is testing on Thursday and Green group is testing on Friday. Yellow group will test next Monday (Sept 19th).

 

Social Studies:  We completed our study of communities and now we are moving on to land and water.  We will learn about the continents, oceans, and states that border Missouri.  We will work very hard on these concepts and have a quiz on Friday. 

 

Math:  We are learning about number patterns and will continues to study place value up to 5 and 6 digits.  Please be reviewing how to write and say larger numbers.  It seems that when we get into ten and hundred thousands this causes some struggle with third graders.  We will test over chapter 2 on Friday!

 

Science:  We are learning about complete and incomplete metamorphosis and how living things grow and change.  We will take a quiz over this material on Wednesday.  Again, the students are allowed to use their books, so when they come home with them on Tuesday, please be reviewing how to find the answers from the text.

 

Writing:  We are in the editing stage of the writing process.  Students will work on correcting capitalization, spelling, and punctuation errors.  They will also learn how to hold peer evaluations.  At the end of the week, I will confer with them and make any final corrections for the published piece. 

 

Reading: The reading strategy we will focus on is questioning.  We will learn the difference between thin and thick questions and learn how to use the text to answer those questions.  I will assign the first book project this week, so be on the look out for it to arrive in your child's homework folder.  The book project will be due on Friday, October 10th.

 

Dates to Remember:

Wednesday the 14th- Early Release

Thursday the 15th- Grant's Farm Night 5:30-8

 

Have a Wonderful Week!!!

weekly update Sept 6-9

Happy Labor Day Weekend!  I hope you all have big plans for the long weekend.  I will be spending time with my family!  My parents are flying in from San Antonio.  Try to stay cool and enjoy the day off!

 

Here's what's going on next week:

Spelling:  Groups have been formed based on the pre-test.  Students have been given new words and have them copied in their planners.  We go through a 9 stay cycle.  Day 8 they will have a test.  You will see test dates in the student's planners.

 

Social Studies:  Continued study of communities.  We will have a Test on Friday, Sept. 9th.  The quiz showed that students are still having trouble understanding the differences between urban, suburb, and rural communities.  So, we are creating a mural and writing postcards to citizens of various communities.

 

Math:  We will begin Ch. 2 Place Value and Number Patterns.  Next week we will study even and odd numbers, and place values of ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands. 

 

Science:  We are wrapping up our study of plant parts and plant life cycles.  We will take a quiz on Tuesday!  Then we will start studying how living things change and metmorphisis. 

 

Writing:  We are developing our first writing piece:  Imaginative Animal Descriptions.  Students created a clay imaginative animal last week.  This week they will describe all their animals features, following the writing process.  We will also write our first letters to our pen pals.  We are lucky enough to have pen pals in Waterloo and we will begin correspondence with an introductory letter describing ourselves.

 

Reading:  I will be meeting with small reading groups based on reading levels.  As a class we will study how to make predictions while we are reading.  We will see how predictions help us have a better understanding of the book and help us with unknown words. 

 

Special Events:

No school Monday!

Tuesday:  SPTG meeting 6:45

Friday:  Ella's Birthday!

Having Fun in Third Grade!

We played computer games, helping us with addition, subtraction, and place value.  We are creating a giant mural showing how urban, suburban, and rural communities are alike and different.  We have been Super Scientists, making observations of our celery experiment.  We left celery in water with food coloring for the entire week.  We kept records of our observations, predictions, and explanations in our science journals.