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!
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