Progress Reports
On Friday, April 14, 2017 your child will be bringing home his/her progress report for the third quarter. You will find two pages in the envelope. The first page is one we have created in a larger font that is hopefully an easier to read look at your child's areas of strength and areas of growth. We designed the form to fit with our overall school goals of reporting "Two stars and a wish" for each child. Our narratives also support the student lead conferences you attended and ideas we discussed at them.
The second page is the "official" WCSU progress report. Please make sure to look these over as well. The comments from us are exactly the same, but these reports also include important attendance information and progress notes from Library, Music and PE classes.As always, please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about the reports.
Math
Earlier this week Spring arrived! We even had a couple of days when we could open windows and let that warm air in. We tried to create a little spring in the building with our garden of multiplication flowers on our bulletin board. We have discovered strategies for N X N facts up to 10 X 10, and now we are going back and really working on using the strategies we have learned to increase our accuracy and fluency. The facts we have revisited are: N X 0, N X 1, N X 2, N X 10, and N X 5. This week we've been focusing on N X 9. Ask your son or daughter how they can find the products with efficiency.
You will be seeing some timed fact tests coming home. We will be doing these on a more frequent basis in the fourth quarter and students will be graphing their growth over time. Students have goals to meet. Student goals are to accurately completing 48 (or more) addition facts in three minutes, 48 (or more) subtraction facts in three minutes, and 27 (or more) multiplication facts in three minutes.
Science
Our class has had a blast experimenting with magnets. We have discovered that some items are magnetic and some are not, and it depends on what the object is made of. One of the materials that students discovered that is attracted to magnets is iron, and we FOUND IT IN CEREAL! Students were able to pull iron out of Total cereal. Did you know your body needs iron to help your red blood cells carry oxygen to your body? We'll be wrapping up our magnet study the week after break.
Our best wishes for a great Spring Break with your kids!
Christine & Kathy
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Thank you and updates!
Thank you so much for your attendance at Student Led Conferences on Friday. Our attendance was 100%! All of our students were so proud to share their growth as learners. We were very impressed and proud of them as well! Below are a few scenes of the day!
In other news...
SBAC Tests: With a bit of luck, all students should be finished with testing on Friday afternoon. Any students who have been absent, or have required more time, may need to finish testing next week. We are proud of the determination, attitude and perseverance students have demonstrated in this process.
April Kindness Project: We'd like to do our own CC-3 version of the "Rock Kindness Project". We introduced the project to students on Wednesday to get them thinking about ideas. Here is a short video Kindness Rock Video link that we showed students you may wish to have a look at. We're excited to create our own rocks, next Friday, April 14th. So, we're calling all rocks! If you can be on the lookout for some smoother style rocks about the size depicted in the video and send them in, we'd really appreciate it!
New reading and writing units of study have begun. This week, we launched two new units!
In reading, we're working on Character Studies. This unit focuses on getting to know characters in chapter books really, really well. So well, that we can make predictions about behavior and inferences based upon what we know about characters that are more complex than we've studied in the past. Students will be encouraged to read as many chapter books as they possibly can in this unit, and often series of books. Book series help students see characters grow and change over time, or be faced with a variety of obstacles and problems through a collection of books. We'll also be concentrating on learning the "story arc" or "story mountain" of how books go. Students will learn that stories begin with an ascent up the mountain, climax with a conflict, and then descend for a resolution.
In writing, we've begun a unit entitled, Changing the World! This unit focuses on writing strong opinions in the form of speeches. Students will be concentrating on building persuasive introductions by stating strong opinions or claims. Opinions will be backed up with reasons and elaborated with details that support their reasons. Students will be encouraged to create conclusions that support their opinions and continue to convince readers that action is needed. This is always a fun unit, as third graders are very, very passionate people!
This writing unit is also tied into this month's sharing. The week after vacation, students will share an opinion piece about a favorite book. This week, we shared a sample of a piece, and passed out writing paper for this assignment. This sample can be seen by clicking on our sharing calendar and the direct link to the sample piece on The Little House. It's a great idea for students to be thinking about this now, as vacation should be homework free, if the assignment is done. Students were given copies of two different organizers they may wish to use while completing this assignment on Wednesday, April 5th.
In other news...
SBAC Tests: With a bit of luck, all students should be finished with testing on Friday afternoon. Any students who have been absent, or have required more time, may need to finish testing next week. We are proud of the determination, attitude and perseverance students have demonstrated in this process.
April Kindness Project: We'd like to do our own CC-3 version of the "Rock Kindness Project". We introduced the project to students on Wednesday to get them thinking about ideas. Here is a short video Kindness Rock Video link that we showed students you may wish to have a look at. We're excited to create our own rocks, next Friday, April 14th. So, we're calling all rocks! If you can be on the lookout for some smoother style rocks about the size depicted in the video and send them in, we'd really appreciate it!
New reading and writing units of study have begun. This week, we launched two new units!
In reading, we're working on Character Studies. This unit focuses on getting to know characters in chapter books really, really well. So well, that we can make predictions about behavior and inferences based upon what we know about characters that are more complex than we've studied in the past. Students will be encouraged to read as many chapter books as they possibly can in this unit, and often series of books. Book series help students see characters grow and change over time, or be faced with a variety of obstacles and problems through a collection of books. We'll also be concentrating on learning the "story arc" or "story mountain" of how books go. Students will learn that stories begin with an ascent up the mountain, climax with a conflict, and then descend for a resolution.
In writing, we've begun a unit entitled, Changing the World! This unit focuses on writing strong opinions in the form of speeches. Students will be concentrating on building persuasive introductions by stating strong opinions or claims. Opinions will be backed up with reasons and elaborated with details that support their reasons. Students will be encouraged to create conclusions that support their opinions and continue to convince readers that action is needed. This is always a fun unit, as third graders are very, very passionate people!
This writing unit is also tied into this month's sharing. The week after vacation, students will share an opinion piece about a favorite book. This week, we shared a sample of a piece, and passed out writing paper for this assignment. This sample can be seen by clicking on our sharing calendar and the direct link to the sample piece on The Little House. It's a great idea for students to be thinking about this now, as vacation should be homework free, if the assignment is done. Students were given copies of two different organizers they may wish to use while completing this assignment on Wednesday, April 5th.
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Student Led Conferences Practice
Great 3rd graders at work! Students have worked hard and are ready to share their accomplishments and goals! We'll see you all tomorrow!
Monday, March 27, 2017
SBAC TESTING
This Thursday morning, March 30th, the third graders will begin SBAC testing. Please help your child prepare for SBACs by getting a good night's sleep, eating a healthy breakfast, and coming to school on time.
You can remind your child to do his or her best, and to take their time time responding with thoughtful answers.
If your child will be absent, please connect with us so we can plan a time for your child to make up the testing. The tests are between 45-90 minutes in length. The testing will take place once each day, morning and afternoon times vary.
Our testing schedule:
Thursday 3/30
Tuesday 4/4
Wednesday 4/5
Thursday 4/6
Friday 4/7
Friday, March 17, 2017
Friday News
Two snow days certainly make for an interesting week! We've done our best to get as much accomplished this week as possible. Putting on all our snow gear again has been a bit disappointing, but the wonderful snow does make for more recess choices! Hopefully next week will be a bit calmer!
Conferences
Today, your child is bringing home his/her Student Led Conference confirmation. It has the day and the time on it, so please be on the lookout in Friday Folders.
SBAC Testing
Due to weather, our 3rd grade SBAC testing window has changed a bit. We'll be testing in CC~3 on April 4, 5, 6, and 7. Each day there will be one assessment which will last approximately 45-60 minutes depending on the child. Please mark your calendars with these dates, and try to avoid any appointments. IF you know your child will be out one of these days, please let us know in advance so we can try to make accommodations.
Sharing
Next week's sharing is all about Spring, as we will welcome this change in season on Monday! Let's hope it is actually a SPRINGY day! Students should bring in, or be prepared to talk about something that makes him/her think of Spring! We continue to work with many students on "presentation voices". Please encourage your child to practice his/her sharing at home using a presentation voice.
Literacy
In reading and writing we've finished up our nonfiction units. In reading we're working on story elements, plot and theme. We've read a couple of great books together to get these conversations started. Ask your child to tell you about, The Sunsets of Miss Olivia Wiggins by Lester Laminack, and My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig. The big question we are addressing in regard to theme is, "What is the bigger message the author is sharing in the book" or "What is the life lesson?" We're also doing some small group work with retelling and plot.
In writing, most students have finished or are putting finishing touches on their own informational books. These will be ready to share at conferences. Our next unit will be on opinion writing. For 3rd graders this is a really fun unit, as it is all about persuasive speeches. We'll get going on this unit once students have their reflections for conferences complete.
Have a great weekend!
Conferences
Today, your child is bringing home his/her Student Led Conference confirmation. It has the day and the time on it, so please be on the lookout in Friday Folders.
SBAC Testing
Due to weather, our 3rd grade SBAC testing window has changed a bit. We'll be testing in CC~3 on April 4, 5, 6, and 7. Each day there will be one assessment which will last approximately 45-60 minutes depending on the child. Please mark your calendars with these dates, and try to avoid any appointments. IF you know your child will be out one of these days, please let us know in advance so we can try to make accommodations.
Sharing
Next week's sharing is all about Spring, as we will welcome this change in season on Monday! Let's hope it is actually a SPRINGY day! Students should bring in, or be prepared to talk about something that makes him/her think of Spring! We continue to work with many students on "presentation voices". Please encourage your child to practice his/her sharing at home using a presentation voice.
Literacy
In reading and writing we've finished up our nonfiction units. In reading we're working on story elements, plot and theme. We've read a couple of great books together to get these conversations started. Ask your child to tell you about, The Sunsets of Miss Olivia Wiggins by Lester Laminack, and My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig. The big question we are addressing in regard to theme is, "What is the bigger message the author is sharing in the book" or "What is the life lesson?" We're also doing some small group work with retelling and plot.
In writing, most students have finished or are putting finishing touches on their own informational books. These will be ready to share at conferences. Our next unit will be on opinion writing. For 3rd graders this is a really fun unit, as it is all about persuasive speeches. We'll get going on this unit once students have their reflections for conferences complete.
Have a great weekend!
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Reminders and Team Project PhotosTeam
Important Reminders:
- All students have sharing due tomorrow, March 13th! Students should have their Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Posters complete and ready for sharing. The posters will be sent into the contest on Monday tomorrow afternoon!
- Please return the blue Parent Conference Forms tomorrow (they were sent home last Wednesday). We're trying to coordinate multiple factors for these student led meetings, so your help in letting us know what will work for you is really necessary.
- Snow is expected again this week, last week students were ready for SPRING, and many wore outdoor clothing that reflected that. Please remind your children that we've still got winter weather to contend with and they need to come prepared.
HERE ARE OUR FABULOUS CIVIL RIGHTS PROJECT TEAMS!
Students did a terrific job with this project. Goals that were met including reading and interpreting non-fiction text, sequencing with a timeline, expanding vocabulary and team collaboration.
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| The Martin Luther King Team |
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| The Nelson Mandela Team |
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| The Mohandas Gandhi |
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| The Harriet Tubman Team |
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| The Abraham Lincoln Team |
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| The Rosa Parks Team |
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Welcome Back and March Kindness Project
Welcome back, everyone! We hope you all had a terrific winter break and are ready to join us again tomorrow. We look forward to seeing all of our students,we have a busy three days planned!
CC~3 March Kindness Project and Week of March 13th Sharing
Each year Casella Resource Solutions has invited third grade students to participate in a Casella Calendar Art Contest. The purpose of the program is to encourage students to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible. We thought it would be fun for us to participate in the project this year as one of our year long kindness projects. We all want to be sure to be kind to our environment, so thinking about how we can do that and sharing our ideas with one another is a great way!
Students should create a poster that is due on Monday, March 13, 2017. All posters will be shared by students during their normal sharing day that week. The deadline is important, as submissions must be mailed out to Casella by Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (If students would prefer to not have their poster submitted to the contest, that is fine, but the expectation to create one for sharing still exists).
Poster rules:
- Artwork must relate to the environment, recycling, the re-use of materials, reduction of waste, landfills or trash.
- Drawings must be horizontal on 8 ½ x 11 paper.
- Crayons, colored pencils, markers, or paint may be used.
- Student’s name, age, school and teacher’s name must be written on the back of the poster. Sample: Janey Doe-Age 9
East Montpelier Elementary School
Mrs. Christiano & Mrs. Christy
On Wednesday, March 8, we will have a class discussion about this project and students will be given paper to bring home to create the posters. Here is a great link for ideas to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We can’t wait to see what wonderful, creative posters kids come up with. Please let us know if you have any questions. Thank you!
Christine Christiano & Kathy Christy
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