Friday, February 24, 2017

Congratulations to all our students on a fantastic Celebration of Learning evening.  Their Civil Rights projects and science journals about weather were amazing.  If you were not able to make it last night, ask your son or daughter about these topics.

This week we began our new science unit on magnetism.  This unit will take us through March.  We had fun discovering how and why magnets repel and attract.  Stay tuned for more updates about magnetism discoveries in March.

We are not sending Friday Folders home this week.  We will keep them here ready for the week we return.  The only paper you will want to look out for is a Girls on the Run form if they were interested in taking one.  If you would like more information about Girls on the Run, you can contact Mrs. Zeilenga.

Students cleaned out their cubbies and hallway lockers today so they can be washed over vacation.  Students are encouraged to bring back those extra snowpants, shoes, and clothes after break to keep in their cubbies/lockers in the event they are wet and muddy.  You never know when you will need those extra pants or socks! 

We will not have sharing the week we return from vacation.  We will send a new sharing calendar home that first week back.  

Have a wonderful winter vacation, 

see you Wednesday, March 8th!

FOOD DRIVE,SPIRIT WEEK & CELEBRATION OF LEARNING!

We are still collecting canned and boxed food for the East Montpelier Food Shelf.  Food will be delivered by our EMES Student Leadership Team next Thursday, February 23rd.

Next week is our annual SPIRIT WEEK!  Here is the list of the special days.  Please help your child plan ahead so he/she can participate.

EMES SPIRIT WEEK!

February 20-24, 2017

Show your school, spirit by participating in these special days! REMEMBER all clothing choices, hairdos, hats, etc. must be examples of safe, respectful and responsible behavior!

“When in doubt don’t wear it out!”(Or to school!) :-)

Monday : Class Color Day- Show your class spirit by dressing in the color your class picks out of random choices!  

OUR CLASS COLOR IS PURPLE!

Tuesday : Crazy Hat and Hair Day! Choose a safe, responsible, respectful way to show your spirit with a crazy hat or  crazy hair!

Wednesday : Clone Day! Partner up with as many people as you like, dress like a CLONE of each other!  How well can you match up?

Thursday : Colorful Clash Day! Show us what you can put together that clashes! Who will have the craziest style of mismatched clashing clothes?

Friday : Comfy Cozy Day! - It’s your day to be comfy cozy!  Wear what is comfortable for you!

 Pajamas, sweats, jeans, what will you choose?

EMES CELEBRATION OF LEARNING

Our annual Celebration of Learning will be next Thursday, February 23rd. The evening will begin with a presentation by the EMES School Board in the gym at 5:30. Students and families will visit classrooms to celebrate all the great learning that goes on at EMES from 6:00-7:00 p.m. In our classroom you'll be able to see Civil Rights Projects, Weather Journals and a few other tidbits!

It's February!

The month of February has arrived, and although a shorter month, it will be packed with lots of exciting happenings in CC-3 and at EMES.  Please read on for important dates and information!

Winter Wellness Tuesdays~February 7, 14, 21. 
All students will be participating in our EMES Winter Wellness Tuesdays.  These afternoons begin at 12:45 and last until the end of the school day.  It's important for students to remember any and all gear they need to make the most out of his/her chosen activity.  At the end of each Wellness Tuesday, students will be dismissed by their Wellness leaders, so we won't see all of the kids at the end of the day, therefore "go home" plans for Tuesdays are especially important.

Sharing Calendar
Here is our February Sharing Calendar.  We have also given students a paper copy of the calendar and discussed the different topics and expectations. Please help your child come well prepared to share on his/her day.  We have very few expectations for homework so this is important.

February Book Orders
Book orders for the month went home today.  Orders are due Monday, February 13th.  Our classroom code at Scholastic is DXCXK.

February Kindness Challenge
As you know, each month our class has completed a kindness project.  For the month of February, we're asking students to challenge themselves by completing as many different acts of kindness as they possibly can.  We've given them a list of ideas, but the possibilities are endless.  We'll be discussing kind acts throughout the month!  Here is a link for The Great Kindness Challenge.


EMES Food Drive~February 6-17
We'll be collecting food items for the local East Montpelier/Calais Food Shelf.  If you can, we'd love you to help our class make a great contribution.  Canned and boxed food is welcome.  Items such as : peanut butter, tuna, soups, pasta, etc. are greatly appreciated.

Valentine's Day~Tuesday, February 14th
This is also a "Winter Wellness Day", so we've decided to have a little classroom celebration at lunch time on this day.  We will have lunch with students in our classroom and a few Valentine's Day treats. Students are welcome to bring in cards to exchange with classmates, we will send home a class list for cards.  Sharing cards is totally optional, we just ask that if students choose to give cards, that there is one for each classmate.  IF you'd like to send in a treat, please let us know.

I Love East Montpelier Day~Wednesday, February 15th
It has become an annual tradition at EMES to have a day right around Valentine's Day to celebrate the great community that makes up the town of East Montpelier.  We will have a special lunch on this day, and guests are welcome to join students.  You do need to make a lunch reservation by contacting Susan in the kitchen at solander@u32.org or calling 223-7936 ext. 306.  Meals for adults will be $5.75.  There will be chicken stew and other wonderful goodies.  Here is the schedule for lunch times, in case you want to try to coordinate or plan for others. Students are invited to wear red/pink, etc. on this day to celebrate!
11:15 - 11:50      PK, K, 1
11:50 - 12:25      2, 3, 4

12:25 - 1:00        5-6

Spirit Week~February 20-24th

The EMES Student Leadership Team is sponsoring "Spirit Week", which will be held the week before our winter break. We invite students to plan ahead and participate in this fun week.

• Monday: Class Color Day- Show your class spirit by dressing in the color your class picks!  (We'll let you know next week what our class color will be!)
• Tuesday: Crazy Hat and Hair Day! Choose a safe, responsible, respectful way to show your spirit with a crazy hat or  crazy hair!
• Wednesday : Clone Day! Partner up with as many people as you like, dress like a CLONE of each other!  How well can you match up?
• Thursday: Colorful Clash Day! Show us what you can put together that clashes! Who will have the craziest style of mismatched clashing clothes?
• Friday: Comfy Cozy Day! - It’s your day to be comfy cozy!  Wear what is comfortable for you!  Pajamas, sweats, jeans, what will you choose?

EMES Celebration of Learning~Thursday, February 23rd

This is an annual EMES event. Students in all grade levels invite you to attend as a family and see all the exciting learning that takes place throughout our busy days! Our students will be sharing Civil Rights Projects and possibly a few other goodies. The evening begins at 5:30 in the gym with a presentation by the EMES School Board, this will be followed by time to visit classrooms from 6:00-7:00 p.m. We hope all students and families can join us!

EMES Winter Break

Our winter break begins on Saturday, February 25th and goes through Tuesday, March 7th. Students return to EMES on Wednesday, March 8th!

WHEW! We've got a busy month ahead, let the games begin! Please let us know if you have any questions.

Christine & Kathy

Civil Rights Collaborative Projects

 

Understanding the Civil Rights Movement is no easy task for third graders, but they are passionate, amazing young people and are clearly developing an understanding about the big ideas about fairness, equality, inequality, discrimination and segregation.  It seemed fitting with the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday on Monday, that we launched full force into our Civil Rights unit this week.


Students are working in collaborative teams of 2-3 students learning about important individuals in history who supported ideas associated with equality for all.  Each team will work on learning about a one person in depth and then teach the rest of us about his/her role in history.

Teams are studying:

• Abraham Lincoln
• Harriet Tubman
• Mohandas Gandhi
• Rosa Parks
• Nelson Mandela
• Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Please ask your child who he/she is studying and what they've learned so far.  Many times students are really still trying to sort out big ideas, so your help with this through conversations at home would be great!

To support non fiction reading development, student teams have four projects to complete.  We hope to have them all completed to share at the EMES Celebration of Learning scheduled for the evening of Thursday, February 23rd.

• A timeline of important events in the person's life.
• A list of key vocabulary associated with the individual and what the vocabulary means as well as its importance.
• A compilation of detailed facts about the person's life.
• An information book that depicts key aspects of the person's life.  

We live in a world that is constantly changing.  It is important for students to learn how events from our past can shape our future.  Please talk to your children about civil rights and what that means to you and your family.  The kids are really working hard to understand these big ideas, and your help would really make a difference.  

Here are a few helpful tips to help your child prepare for this week's sharing.

We have been focusing much of our math time on the four models of multiplication, Repeated Addition, Groups Of, Arrays, and Area.  Here is what each model looks like for 4 X 3

Repeated addition

3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12

Groups of 

                 3         3                                                                         XXX                   XXX

              OR               

                      3         3                                                                     XXX                   XXX

Array

X  X  X

X  X  X

X  X  X

X  X  X

Area

     3

4▯

As a way to connect our work in math to our everyday life, I was thinking it would be fun for kids to think about the math around them.  Multiplication is all around us, especially items with equal groups.  Below, kids will find a few ideas to help them as they plan for this week's share.

This week's share may best be addressed as a talk share with a possible drawing or picture to illustrate the equal groups.  Remember students should be prepared to include 2-3 relevant pieces of information about their share.

Maybe you play a game that involves equal groups.  At our house, we play Mancala.  It is a game that begins with each player having four stones in each of their six sections of the the board, making equal groups.

Maybe you craft or have a bracelet or necklace with an equal groups pattern such as 4 purple beads, 4 green beads, etc.)

Maybe you participate in a sport such as dance or swimming.  Your sport may have equal groups of counts, laps, or movements.

Maybe you want to show your model car collection of 8 cars, each with four tires, making equal groups.

This is a tough sharing week, but I bet you can be creative!  Good luck finding equal groups in your everyday life.  If you have difficulty please do not hesitate to contact us.

Have a wonderful Monday, see you Tuesday!

Highlights of the Day!

Today was an exciting day in 3rd grade! Mrs. Lyford visited us and read a fabulous book about kindness, decision making, feelings and doing what is right.  Please ask your child to tell you all about A Bike Like Sergio's by Maribeth Boelts.  If you ask him/her to review the book with you using a 5 Finger Summary strategy that would be great!

Our second highlight was sharing technology projects.  Students worked on multiple learning intentions/goals for these projects. They included:

• Collaborating with a partner (s).
• Writing summaries for picture books.
• Incorporating dialogue.
• Building scenes with Legos.
• Using the application of "Story Visualizer" on the iPads.
• Writing with proper grammar, spelling and punctuation.
• Presenting as a team.

Ms. Arlyn and Mrs. Christy were very impressed with the final results, students really persevered on these projects!  Pictures of team presentations are below.  The actual projects can be seen via this link, Visualizer Project.  Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Welcome back!  We've had a great first week of 2017.  It was wonderful to greet happy faces on Monday.  We were also happy to welcome a new third grader to our class, it's terrific to have a new third grade friend!  The week got off to a very productive start and we're cruising right along with a variety of new units and events.

Literacy
We launched new units in both reading and writing this week.  Both focus on the genre of informational text.
In reading we've started a unit called: Reading to Learn~Grasping Main Ideas and Text Structures.
Key ideas of this Unit

• Previewing text
• Studying text features
• Understanding the difference between narrative and expository text
• Organizing and summarizing new learning
• Expanding vocabulary
• Identifying main ideas and supporting details
• Summarizing 
• Reading multiple texts on the same topic
• Comparing and contrasting
• Growing individual ideas about a text based upon what has been read

Our writing unit will blend very well with our reading unit, it is titled: The Art of Information Writing
Key ideas of this Unit

• Writing to teach
• Exploring text structures of narrative and expository writing
• Categorizing and Grouping information into topics and subtopics
• Researching facts and staying away from plagiarism
• Working collaboratively to create writing that will teach others
• Improving accuracy in pargraphing, spelling and punctuating written work correctly.

Discovery

Students are doing a great job observing and learning about weather.  This week we've focused on learning about clouds, their names and what they look like in the sky.  We've been collecting and recording weather data through observational journals and reading many books on weather.  Please ask your child to tell you about this work.  It's wonderful to live in such an exciting place where the weather changes many, many times, often within one day!


Next Week's Sharing
Next week's topic is to share SOMETHING NEW.  This does not mean a material item, rather a new experience, goal or activity.  Some examples:

• Trying new foods
• Reading a new series of books.
• Trying a new fitness activity (skating, skiing, snowshoeing)
• Playing a new board game.
• Learning how to cook or trying a new recipe.
• Training a pet.
• Etc.

Updates

• New book orders are included in Friday Folders, they are due Wednesday, January 18th.
• Winter Wellness sign up forms are also in folders.  Please get them filled out and back to us asap!
• No school for students on Monday, January 16th.  This is a teacher inservice day!

As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions!

Have a great weekend!

Christine & Kathy