CC3 Updates

We are incredibly busy here in CC3 with so many exciting things going on in all curriculum areas. Read on for our updates!
Literacy
We've recently completed our reading and writing units of study which focused on nonfiction, otherwise know as text that "teaches".  Students did a great job with this unit and are now applying skills that were learned in our Civil Rights Unit.  Our Civil Rights Unit is very popular with third graders.  This is an integrated part of our curriculum combining Literacy, Global Citizenship and Transferable Skill Standards.

Our third graders bring great passion to this work and a cheer literally rings out in the classroom when project work begins.  There are multiple learning intentions for this work.  Some of them include:

• Working on a collaborative team.
• Reading a variety of nonfiction and incorporating different sources together for main ideas. 
• Researching and writing nonfiction without plagiarizing. 
• Acquiring content specific vocabulary.
• Understanding history and important historical events.
• Using technology to present information (Google Slides).
• Creating an oral presentation that will teach others. 

Please ask your child about his/her project, who they are studying, what they are learning, and how they are contributing positively to a collaborative team.  

January Kindness Project

We're going to participate in a Global Peace Project this week.  This is a challenge that many students around the country and the WORLD participate in.  The big idea so for students to individually challenge themselves by completing as many acts of kindness as they can during the week of January 22-26, 2018.  We certainly hope that many of the acts of kindness students try will become common practice for them.  We are sending home a couple of different lists for students if they need some ideas for acts of kindness.  If you'd like to participate as a family, or learn more about this project you can go to The Great Kindness Challenge.

Dates to Remember

Winter Wellness will take place on three Tuesday afternoons-January 30, February 6, February 13.

We will have a Valentine's Day Celebration in our classroom on Wednesday, February 14.  Students are welcome to give Valentine's to each other.  If you'd like to help us coordinate some treats for this event, please let us know!

Our traditional EMES "I Love East Montpelier Day" will be held on Thursday, February 15th.  More information for guest lunch sign-ups will be coming home in the EMES newsletter soon, but we thought you might like to "save the date" now.  

Our all school "Celebration of Learning" will be the evening of February, 22nd.

No Friday Folders Today

Just a quick note, with this short school week for students, we decided to keep Friday Folders here today.  Have a great weekend with your kids!

Updates for the Week!

It's been a busy week in CC3-here is a list of updates and things to keep in mind.

• There is no school for students Monday and Tuesday next week.
• Biography homework should be well in the works.  Sharing of timelines will begin the week of the 22nd.
• Winter Wellness forms are in Friday Folders, please return ASAP.
• A few math tidbits to practice at home-telling time to the minute using a clock that has hands!  Practicing nx9 facts, using the clue "think 10".
• Ask your child about their recent engineering and earthquakes project! 
• Please check to see if your child has any overdue EMES library books, and/or books that can be returned to our classroom library. 
• Ask your child about his/her Google Slides project we have been working on in technology class.  

Enjoy the holiday weekend with your families, stay safe on the roads!

Happy New Year and Classroom Updates

* We had this all set to post on Friday, with the snow/frigid wind day, that cancelled school, we'll just regroup and send home Friday Folders on Monday!  Stay warm this weekend!

Welcome to 2018 in CC3!  We hope you all had a wonderful holiday break, and are continuing to survive with this Vermont cold snap! This week we've gotten right back on track with multiple learning opportunities and events in CC3.  Please read on for updates.

Sharing Calendar
Our sharing calendar for January has been posted on this blog.  We have also put a "hard copy" in your child's Friday folder, today.  Sharing is an important part of our morning routine, and the only time we  give a specific assignment for homework.  We were disappointed with the quality of work, or lack of preparedness by some students in regard to December's Boxes and Bullets reading/writing/sharing assignment. We hope that this January assignment will be completed more thoroughly, with quality.  We are more than happy to help with any questions.

We have several points of rationale we go through when assigning a specific homework share.  First, we create specific sharing assignments that have strong connections to work we are doing in class.  We also want to give students who enjoy working at home (yes, they exist!) an opportunity to take on a project that he/she can be proud of and share with others.  Finally, we like to have families be keenly aware of skills we are working on, whether it be reading fluency, writing complete sentences, using proper punctuation/spelling, and presenting information to others in a prepared way.

Students need to take the time to be well prepared for sharing that begins the week of January 23rd. The assignment is to read a biography or autobiography (the story of a person's life) and complete a timeline worksheet.  We have reviewed and modeled this assignment explicitly in class.  A completed sample is in Friday Folders. If this paper does not work for your child, he/she can certainly use paper that is a better fit.  We have numerous biographies available for borrowing from our classroom or the EMES library.  Some series favorites are the Who Was/Is series and the National Geographic biography series. (Sample photos below)

Most students chose a biography from our classroom collection to borrow and take home on Wednesday. Some have also chosen to read one that is already at home.  Students need to first, read the complete biography, then decide on ten important life events to include in their timeline.




At this point in third grade, reading a chapter book biography is a priority.  Students can read them independently and/or share in the reading with a family member.  This might be a great opportunity for a family read aloud.

Clothing, Shoes, etc.
It's our estimate that there are probably close to 150 pair of plain black snow pants that come into EMES each day.  Not to mention gloves, hats, and coats that look an awful lot alike.  Please make sure your child's winter gear is clearly labeled.  We know how frustrating it is when an item goes missing!  Also, we have quite a nice stretch of time between now and our winter break, when things like spare shoes, etc. can be left at school neatly in lockers.

January Kindness Project
We will participate in the "The Great Kindness Challenge", an event sponsored by the Kids for Peace Organization.  Our biggest focus will be during the week of January 22-26.  If you would like more information on this worldwide challenge, you can check out the family edition at this link The Great Kindness Challenge.

That's our first update of 2018.  Thanks for your continued support of our CC3 classroom.  Don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions!  Enjoy the upcoming chilly weekend!