Saying Good-bye to April!

Hi everyone!  I want to update you on important upcoming events as our school year comes to a close.  Midterms will be sent home on Monday.  Please sign and return your child's midterm no later than Friday, May 2nd. 

State Testing Begins

We will begin MAP/GLA testing Tuesday, April 29th.  Please be sure your child is well-rested, well-fed, and here on time each day.  3rd graders will be taking the Communication Arts portion of the test on 4/29, 4/30, and 5/1.  The math portion of the test will be administered on 5/6, 5/7, and 5/8. 

More Events for May

Please mark your calendars for the following important dates.
April 29th:  Spring Cookout!!  (3rd grade lunch time is 12:20-1:00)
May 5th:  Kindergarten Round Up (5:30-7:00)
May 6th:  PTA Meeting
May 10th:  Mercury Gymnastics Night (6:30-8:00)
May 15th:  Bowling Field Trip (white permission forms have been sent)
May 15th: Husky 5K (yellow registration form has been sent home)
May 26th: NO SCHOOL
May 28th: Field Day
May 29th: Awards Celebration (11:30)
May 30th: Last Day of School

Health Service Survey:

The Health Services department would like to invite you to complete a short 7 question survey.   If you would, please click on this link:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HWHealthServices. We greatly appreciate your feedback.  Your response will be used to better provide health related information and services to our students and families. Thank you!

Have a great weekend! 
-Jodi

Happy Friday!

Hi Everyone! I appreciate all of you for speaking with your child about your expectations of them during the school day. It made a tremendous difference. I needed to give fewer redirections and the quality of work increased. Thanks, again.

I think spring has officially sprung!  Which can't help but make me smile.  Spring is such a busy time of year- so many end of the year activities and new sport schedules.  Sometimes it is hard to maintain the routines you've had in place during the year. 

Here at school, I plan to keep our routine and expectations as consistent as possible.  We've set 4th quarter AR goals, homework will continue to consist of reading and a math reinforcement page.  We still have a lot of content to cover, so my lesson plans will be full of new information, skills, and strategies for the kids to master. 

Next week, we will begin a brief Test-Prep Unit during reader's workshop.  We will be working to learn good test-taking strategies.  In writing, we will begin our Fractured Fairy Tale Unit.  Students will be comparing and ordering fractions during math.  Finally, during social studies we will begin to focus on economic concepts, such as, identifying the difference between a good and a service and naming various types of resources. 

Upcoming Events:

April 19th- Mercury Gymnastics Night
April 24th- Take Your Child to Work Day

April 28th- School Cook-Out! (during your child's lunch time)

April 28th- Mid Terms Sent Home

April 29th- State Testing Begins

Have a great weekend!
-Jodi

Monday, April 7, 2014

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had restful weekends.  The students came in very energized and glad to see their friends.  This can be good and bad- I'm happy when students are eager to see one another and share about their weekends, but this morning was so loud we needed to practice classroom expectations.  I've noticed I've had to do that a lot, lately.  Please remind your child about your expectations of them while they are at school.  The end of the year is an exciting time with lots of learning left. 

Reading

This week we will be wrapping up our mystery unit.  Students will be filling out "Detective Case Reports" as a way of showing their understanding of the mysteries they've been reading.  They have learned fun vocabulary, such as: suspect, evidence, and red-herring.  I encourage you to talk with your child about their mystery book.

Writing

I will use our writing time to build schema about "Fractured Fairy Tales" or different versions of traditional fairy tales. Each day, I will be reading a different version of Cinderella.  After the read aloud, we will focus on the variations of literary elements (character, setting, problem, solution, and point of view).  All of this will help prepare students for writing their own "Fractured Fairy Tale" beginning next week.

Math

We will continue working with fractions for the following 2 or 3 weeks.  This week, will end our work at identifying fractional parts of a group, set, or number line.  Next week, will begin our work comparing and ordering fractions.  

Science and Social Studies

Today we took our Science Terra Nova Assessment.  The students worked very hard and spent a lot of time checking over their work.  I'm sure they did great!!  Classroom instruction is still focusing on the branches of government and rights/responsibility of citizens.  At the end of this unit, your child should be able to identify each of the 3 branches and explain their role in our democracy.  Also, they should be able to list the rights and responsibilities of citizens.    

Upcoming Dates

April 19th- Mercury Gymnastics Night

April 28th- School Cook-Out! (during your child's lunch time)

April 28th- Mid Terms Sent Home

April 29th- State Testing Begins

Have a great week!

-Jodi

Beginning Fourth Quarter

What a busy week we've had.  We spent several days preparing for Showcase Night and I think it was a success!  Thank you for attending.  I enjoy getting to see the families of my students interacting together.  The "Guess Who" board was a big hit!   Your child will be bringing home their timeline and "guess-who" paper today, along with some other class work. 

Testing

Along with student work, I will be sending home a letter from our district office regarding upcoming state testing.  The paper gives an overview of the tests, the dates for testing, and some helpful tips for student success.  Please note the dates of testing on your family calendar to help avoid scheduling any appointments that might take your child out of school or cause a disruption in their normal routine.

Spring Pictures

Spring pictures were sent home this week.  Click here to order your child's pictures online. Our picture day ID is: TL413072Y0  If you do not wish to order pictures, just send the packet back with your child.

Academics

Right now, we are learning how to get the most out of reading mysteries and how to find fractional parts of a set, a region, and on a number line.  Also, we have begun our government/citizenship unit in social studies.  Soon, we will be writing versions of Fairy Tales. 

Have a great weekend!
Jodi

Lucky Family Project and More!

Hi Families! 
I hope you had a great work week.  I hope the days of sunshine have helped you feel brighter and energized.  I have just a few things to update you on.

Homework

This week, I attached some multiplication timed tests to the reading log.  I've explained to your child my expectation is for them to set a timer (for 2 min.) and try to do as many problems as they can.  The timed tests are at varying degrees of difficulty.  Feel free to make copies of the tests if you'd like your child to practice even more.  Your child does not need to hand in the timed tests on Thursday...ONLY the reading log.  If you have any questions let me know.

Lucky Family Project

Your child also brought home a green shamrock and a paper explaining the directions to complete the family project.  These will be due Thursday. 

Reminders

Next week ends the quarter.  There will be no school Friday, so teachers can work on grade cards.  The following week is Spring Break. 

Student Showcase RSVPs were due this week.  If you haven't turned them in, please do so Monday.
Showcase is March 27th.

Have a great weekend!
-Jodi

In Like a Penguin

I can't believe tomorrow will be March 1st.  Today, the students will be able to have outside recess, but then it looks like we are back to fridgid arctic conditions.  So, I guess it could be said that this year March will come in like a penguin. 

March is a pretty busy month.  Here is a list of important dates to mark on your calendar:

 March 4th: PTA mtg. (6:30)

March 5th: Showcase RSVPs are due

March 11th: Spring Picture Day

March 14th: No School/Teacher Work Day

March 15th: Mercury Gymnastics Night (6:30-8:00)

March 17th-21st:  Spring Break

March 26th: Report Cards go home

March 27th: Spring Showcase Night!

 

Have a great weekend and stay warm!

-Jodi



Happy February!!

I know the calendar says today is Friday, February 7th but it feels like a Monday to me!!  Could be the 3 snow days in the middle of the week, right? 

Reading:

We have begun our biography unit.  In this unit we will learn that biographies are a type of nonfiction that take on a different structure.  Often when reading biographies we use the same thinking skills we've developed for fictional stories.  When readers study biography, we read to learn about the adversity these people faced and how they overcame those adversities.  Not only can reading biographies help us learn about specific individuals, but also we learn about the history of their time and the world in which we live. 

How you can help: 

Ask your child about the significant person they are reading about.  Specifically, ask them to describe the subject's traits and provide examples of what they say and do.  Also, ask them what kind of hardships the subject faced and in what way they overcame those hardships. 

Writing:

We continue to focus on writing persuasively. At this time we are organizing our ideas and making sure we have considered our audiences view point.

Science:

Students were very excited to begin our study of Matter.  I think they missed science the past weeks!  So, the past week we've acted as particles of matter and moved around the room based on which state we existed in and we observed and recorded the properties of a strange "mystery matter".  Looking ahead we will begin talking about ways scientists measure matter (mass, volume) and changes that may or may not occur when matter changes states. 

Math:

Next week we will wrap up our work learning strategies for solving multiplication problems.  Students need to continue to practice their multiplication fluency at home.  The following unit focuses on understanding the concept of division. 

Up Coming Events and Info:

Field Trip: 

Next Thursday is our Symphony Field Trip.  A permission form with information was sent home Monday.  Please sign and return the form with your child.  We ask that students dress nicely for this field trip.  Picture day clothes would be appropriate. 

Valentine's Day:

Friday is Valentine's Day!!  Class celebrations will begin at 2:15 and last until 3:00.  Students will be handing out valentines during this time.  A treat and drink will be provided by Hawthorn and the PTA.  If your child has a valentine mailbox the have created in years past, they are welcome to bring it.  A list of class names will be sent home today. 

Book Orders: 

I have sent home a book order along with a coupon for a free book.  Book orders will be due by February 21st.  Our online access code is:  1EENK

Other Events:

Feb. 15th: Mercury Night 6:30-8:00

Feb. 17th: No School

Feb. 18th:  Midterms will be sent

Feb. 27th : McTeacher Night