December is upon us and we made it through No-school November!

We are celebrating great work in math this week, as students move up levels in our BAM folders.  The students have been working hard in their small groups in math, and their work shows!  Ask your student about how great it feels to move up.  Keep practicing math facts to support this work (both addition and multiplication)

We are finishing our unit on Personal Narratives in writing.  Their published work will go home next week.  We have really thought a lot about the difference between editing and revising, and how to add more descriptive writing. We've been reading Gooney Bird Greene as a read aloud to guide our writing. Students can practice these skills when telling you about their day, please ask them to give more details and more description.

In reading we are continuing to add stamina and depth to our reading.  We have started reading Stone Fox to support our reading with predictions and inferences.


We have been doing a lot of work with geography in order to learn about how different parts of the world are coping with climate change.  The students have practiced reading maps, researching continents and countries.  Earlier we learned about different energy sources and the pros and cons of their use.

Please look for more information about our upcoming Portland Bridge unit after the break.  We will start to learn about the bridges and outline the expectations of the work at home, and explain what we will do in class.  This is the time when we need the most volunteers and material support.  Please check outside the classroom for requests as they come.

Happy Holidays!

End of September

Hello Families!
We are moving rapidly into fall.  Our first month of school as gone well, and our routines are settled in.

The biggest news is that we are well into our Portland History Unit, where the 3rd graders make a history museum.  They are researching their topics now, and will soon be making their exhibits.  The museum will be open Wednesday Oct 18th from 2:30-3:30 for parents to visit. 

Don't forget to bring some cash- as they will have a museum store, where they will sell items made in art class.  All the funds will go towards supplies for our Portland Bridges unit in the spring.

In math we are focusing on adding and subtracting larger numbers.  Please make sure students are practicing their math facts at home, so that these larger problems are easy.  Students have talked about practicing by putting up fact posters in their home, practicing with flash cards, quizzing each other, and trying to

stump mom and dad. 

In reading we are into our unit on non-fiction text reading.  This is helping us as we do our research for the museum. We are also talking about how reading non-fiction text can transfer as we do research on the web. 

A big shout out to Kelly and Heidi, who came and dusted all the ash from our classroom this week!  While they cleaned up the window sills and ledges around the room, we spoke of how important it is to keep everything clean as we move into this fall season of colds.   Please remember to wash hands and cover coughs to stop spreading germs. 

As always, please feel free to reach out with questions or comments!

September Welcome!

Welcome Back!!!
It has been a great (if hot) beginning of the year.  We are excited to start new routines, curriculum and make new friends. 

This month we are in our Drama residency.  Our class has been divided into 2 groups, and both groups meet with Ms. Amy, our new drama teacher, each day.  Their performance is September 21st at 6:30.  Call time is 6:00pm.  


We are starting our work into our Portland History unit.  We will be making our own history museum in our classroom- look for details coming soon as to when it will be open for families.

Please reach out if you need anything!

May

Dear Families, May 2, 2017

We are in the midst of a wonderful unit on the history of Portland.  

We have been tasked with creating a museum showing important people, places and events in Portland’s history and we’ll even have a gift shop! This will raise funds for 3rd grade activities.  The student curators are working hard on researching information on their individual or team topics, and they are looking ahead to creating their exhibits in the museum.

With that said, if you have any supplies that might be useful for making dioramas, models or small statues- we could use the donations!

I don’t want all your recycling to end up in my room, but in talking to your student you might discover something useful to send from home.

Our museum will open on May 19th.  We are planning on having it open during the afternoon/evening of the PTA’s ice cream social (expect more information on that in the coming days).  Please mark this on you calendar! It is a time to come join the community, participate in STEAM activities (science technology engineering art math) and come tour the museum.  

Please come if you can and explore your student’s work.

Sincerely,

Ms. Van Clock, Mr. Guron, Mrs. Neal

March

Spring is coming!!!

Math-
We are finished with the multiplication and division unit, and are starting on larger addition and subtraction.  You will notice students working with and practicing problems like 467-538 and 4,238+3,981.  Even though we are finished with the multiplication unit, we are still working on our times facts.  Please continue to help you student practice and master their times tables.  We are still working on them in class!

Reading- We have finished our informational reading unit and starting a unit on reading about characters and understanding character development. 

Writing- We are finishing our unit on persuasive writing, and about to start a unit on creative fantasy writing.  

Bridges- We are getting close to the end of the bridge instruction.  We are going to be building Popsicle bridges in class the week of March 20-22, and weight testing March 22-23.  Please see the sign up for volunteers needed as we will need several adults to help with the hot glue guns.  If you have any questions about the speech to be written at home, and how your student can get resources to help- please let me know!!!

February

Hello Families,

Math: We continue to work on multiplication.  Please keep practicing math facts at home!  You can practice digitally on FrontRow or Multiplication.com

Reading: We are almost finished with our unit on reading informational texts.  Right now we are focusing on biographies which are informational texts written in a narrative form.   We have also spoken extensivly about being critical thinkers when consuming media.  How can a traditional informational text- think a book about frogs, for example- give facts in a way that lead or color the reader? 

Writing: We are working hard on a long persuasive letter or speech. Some students are writing about wanting new playground equipment, fixing our lead pipes, or giving more recognition to our custodian or lunch ladies.  

Social Studies/Science: Bridges!!! Bridges!!! Bridges!!!! We are well into our unit on Portland's Bridges.  The information packet on the bridge project went home two weeks ago. If you have questions come see me!

Other:  We have guest speakers on Tuesdays from HEART. Ms. Claire is teaching a unit entitled "Fostering Empathy" which promotes and practices interpersonal skills.
We have Reed College Critical Practice Institute volunteers coming every other Tuesday to work on Calligraphy with our students.  
Ms. Moore is back to coming once a month to work outside in the garden.  We loved having her come do the Cinderella unit with us!
Today we had a one time visit from the RedCross which spoke with the students about emergency preparedness.  Please ask your student about their emergency pillowcase and help your family make a plan using the booklet they took home.

Valentine’s Day is approaching!  We will have a small celebration in the classroom in the afternoon of the 14th.  We will pass out cards and have a healthy snack.  Many students like to make homemade cards or decorate store bought cards.  If your child chooses to participate, please remind them to make cards for everyone.  I’ve included a class list so that students’ names can be spelled correctly.   Please help me support district policy in promoting healthy eating, and leave the candy and sweets at home.  If a child brings candy, they will be allowed to pass it out, but we will not eat candy at school.   We have 20 students in the classroom.

As I look at the weather forecast for the rest of this week, I worry about missing more school! 

As the news outlets erupt with more and more news from around the country, our students have more and more questions about what is happening.  Third graders hear a surprising amount of media coverage, and don't always know how to interpret it.  Please make sure you are talking with your child about what is going on, and explain what you believe and understand.  

To help you with that process, I have made a new page on our website listing the questions students are asking me.  My goal is to update that page weekly with the questions being asked.  

Also know that this week, coincidentally, our reading curriculum asks us to teach that there is bias in non-fiction texts.  We are practicing reading behind the text to understand what the author's opinion is, and to then be able to form our own opinions.

If you have questions for me please feel free to e-mail, call, or come in person.

Phew! What a month we've had!  

I hope the weather falls into a normal pattern for us.  I have been missing the students and am itching to get back to routine.  

Math: We are starting our unit on multiplication.  Please please please practice those math facts at home!  One big indicator for math success is whether or not a student knows their multiplication facts.  A great way to get kids to practice is to have them make their own flashcards.  Please let me know if you need note cards or paper to make flashcards with.

Writing: We have been trying to finish publishing our informational books.  This week we will try to finish typing them.  Our next unit is on persuasive writing- be ready for students to practice their persuasive skills on you!

Reading: We are part way into our unit on reading informational texts.  Students are practicing becoming experts on different topics and talking about and synthesizing their learning from reading. 

Social Studies: We have started our bridge unit!!!!  We are so exited to start learning about Portland's Bridges.  I will send home information about the individual projects and expectations around that in a couple of weeks.  They won't be due until after spring break.  Please start to talk to you student about the bridges you use.  And when you are downtown notice the bridges and how they are each built at unique times in history with unique constraints and problems. 

Garden: This month we have the opportunity to have Ms. Moore, our garden teacher, here each Tuesday.  She is leading the students in lessons where we read a multi-cultural version of Cinderella, taste food from that region of the world, and discuss the plants and food from that region.  At the end of the unit, we'll make plans for our spring garden based on the foods we've tasted this month.  Watch for recipes to head home each week in January!