Month: September 2019

Mrs. Edwards 3^rd Grade Classroom News

09/23-09/27

We had wonderful week of learning in room 22. Your children are adjusting well to our routines and procedures and are working hard to learn many new things! Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. Please note the MAP and Field Trip reminders!

Reading: We continued our whole class book study on the book, Magic Tree House Buffalo Before Breakfast. We are continuing reading and comprehending non-fiction text through our Achieve program. Ask your child about the 75% club!

Writing: This week, we put all of the pieces together that we have learned of how to write an opinion essay to write stories of their chosen topic. They are also learning how to follow the steps of writing workshop – plan, draft, edit and publish. Students get to share their published stories with the class and receive compliments and questions from their peers about their work. You will see your children’s published work come home throughout the year, I encourage you to celebrate the best effort they put into a published story! Next week, we will continue mastering how to write an opinion story.

Math: This week we concluded our study of expressing, ordering and comparing numbers. They worked to master how to show numbers in standard, written and expanded form. They worked to master how to order 4 digit numbers from least to greatest and they worked to round 3 and 4 digit numbers to the nearest ten and hundred. They took an assessment on these skills at the end of the week. Our next unit of study will be reviewing addition of 4 digit numbers using regrouping.

Religion: This week, we continued our analysis of the Apostles Creed. We used a variety of strategies to begin memorizing this prayer – including color coding the parts, re-writing, and a game of “I Have Who Has.”

Social Studies: We began our unit on Native American tribes. Each child is assigned a tribe, located in a region of the United States. They are to research the tribe and find information on a number of different categories. This week they used books from the Seattle Public Library to research their tribe. They took notes on each category as they researched. We will continue to research for the next few weeks. Their final project will require each student to create a project to show what they have learned about their tribe (including each of the required categories). They may choose the type of project they complete – song, play, PowerPoint, poster, model, etc.

STEM: This week we connected our study of Native Americans to a beginning engineering design project. We used our new MakerSpace! Through our research, we discovered that many of the Native American tribes who lived near water used canoes for transportation. The challenge was to design a boat that would hold at least 10 cubes (people), the cubes had to stay dry and would float for at least 10 seconds. The constraint was that they could only use one piece of foil for their boat. Students worked in teams to follow the design process – plan, design, test, re-design. Ask your child about their design!

Dates and Reminders:

• September 30^th – October 3^rd – MAP testing. It would be helpful on these days if you wouldn’t mind helping your child get a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast.
• Oct 4^th – Field trip to Blake Island
  • Students should wear school uniform with a St. John logo sweatshirt please.
  • Please remind your child to pack a throw away sack snack. They will be provided a cultural lunch.
• Oct 11^th – No School
• Oct 17^th – Progress Reports go home
• Oct 22^nd – Individual Student Photos
• Oct 28^th and Nov 8^th – Student Parent Teacher Conferences
• Nov 1^st – All School Liturgy – Dress Uniform
• Nov 11^th – No School

I hope you have a terrific weekend!

Mrs. Edwards

 

 

 

 

Mrs. Edwards 3^rd Grade Classroom News

09/16-09/20

 We had another great week in room 22! Your children are such a joy to teach every day. They are working hard and having fun! A few highlights of our week are meeting our 6^th grade buddies and running the Jog-a-Thon!

Reading: We began a whole class book study on the book, Magic Tree House Buffalo Before Breakfast. We have been analyzing the characters, learning to support our thoughts and inferences with evidence from the text, learning how to actively participate in a collaborative book study and identify what we call “wonderful words” that pop out to us as we read. We are continuing reading and comprehending non-fiction text through our Achieve program. Ask your child about the 75% club!

Writing: We have began learning how to write an opinion piece. This week, we learned to start with what we call a “rockin’ beginning” to hook the reader from the first line. We learned strategies to accomplish this such as onomatopoeia, repetition, facts, questions and quotes. Then, we practiced using each of these strategies with different topics. We learned the next steps which are – state your opinion, provide 3 reasons and conclusion. We also learned how to color code our writing with green, yellow and red. Ask your child what color coding your writing means. Next week, we will look at how to self-edit our writing and put all the steps together to write our first opinion essay.

Math: This week we learned how to round numbers to the nearest 10 and 100. We practiced doing so using a variety of tools and strategies.

Religion: This week, we used a painting to reflect on the Holy Trinity and how we experience each part of the trinity in our lives. Then, we introduced and analyzed the Apostles Creed. Next week, we will continue our analysis and begin integrating this prayer into our daily routine.

We also got to meet our 6^th grade buddies and spent time getting to know one another. We ran our hearts out at the Jog-a-Thon on Friday! Thank you for your commitment and support of this fun fundraiser.

Dates and Reminders:

• Our classroom is a NUT FREE classroom.
• September 30^th – October 3^rd – MAP testing. It would be helpful on these days if you wouldn’t mind helping your child get a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast.
• Oct 4^th – Field trip to Blake Island
• Oct 11^th – No School
• Oct 17^th – Progress Reports go home
• Oct 22^nd – Individual Student Photos
• Oct 28^th and Nov 8^th – Student Parent Teacher Conferences
• Nov 1^st – All School Liturgy – Dress Uniform
• Nov 11^th – No School

I hope that you have a delightful weekend!

Mrs. Edwards

 

 

 

 

Mrs. Edwards 3^rd Grade Classroom News

09/09 – 09/13

We had a terrific week in room 22. This week we began our in class academic routine as well as homework. Thank you for encouraging a growth mindset and empowering them to build responsible habits through their nightly homework. The first week of homework was a success! Thank you for your teamwork. Our third graders worked hard this week adjusting to our new routine, they should be proud of themselves! They are such super stars!

Reading: We began our “read to self” time, where students are encouraged to find the joy in reading by finding a good fit book and reading anywhere in the classroom. We also started our Achieve 3000 Non -Fiction reading program. This week, students took the initial “level set” which helps to determine their reading lexile level. That way, students will be provided non-fiction articles written at their specific lexile level. Starting next week, we will all read non- fiction articles around the topic of American Indians to prepare our minds for our upcoming social studies unit. Next week, we will start our whole class book study.

Writing: This week, we got to know our morning journal routine. Every morning, students will start their day with a journal entry. Students will be asked to respond to a wide variety of prompts and writing formats. Sometimes, they will make lists, sometimes they will write poems, sometimes they will reflect on a funny photo or an inspiring image. Students are brave and proud to share their entries and their classmates get to practice the art of giving compliments to each other. Next week, during out writers workshop block, we will begin our unit on opinion writing.

Science: This week we laid a beginning foundation for a developing growth mindset. For a third grader, having a growth mindset means they believe their intelligence and abilities can be improved with effort and the right strategies. It means having a willingness to confront challenges and viewing mistakes as an opportunity for growth. This week, we took a look at the brain and learned about the different parts of the brain and their functions. This way, we can understand our brain as an elastic muscle that can grow through mistakes and hard work.

Math: This week we focused on expressing, ordering and comparing 3- and 4-digit numbers. Student’s focused on reading, writing and identifying place value of whole numbers through thousands. They practiced writing in standard form, expanded form, word form and showing with place value blocks. They worked on using place value to compare numbers using the vocabulary “greater than” “less than” and “equal to”. Next week, we will work on rounding 3- and 4-digit numbers to the nearest 10 and 100.

Religion: We took a close look at our class agreement – work hard, be kind and have fun. We explored our school theme – Be Kind, by reflecting on how we experience kindness through our 5 senses. Next week, we will review the Trinity and introduce the Apostles Creed.

Dates and Reminders:

• Our classroom is a NUT FREE classroom.
• September 30^th – October 3^rd – MAP testing. It would be helpful on these days if you wouldn’t mind helping your child get a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast.
• Oct 4^th – Field trip to Blake Island
• Oct 11^th – No School
• Oct 17^th – Progress Reports go home
• Oct 22^nd – Individual Student Photos
• Oct 28^th and Nov 8^th – Student Parent Teacher Conferences
• Nov 1^st – All School Liturgy – Dress Uniform
• Nov 11^th – No School

Thank you for a wonderfully smooth start to our year together. Your children are superstars and I love working with them already!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Edwards

 

 

 

Good afternoon!

We had a terrific first week in 3^rd grade. Your children are super stars! I am so happy I get to teach them this year.

This week we spent our time getting to know each other, the class routines and procedures and organizing our school supplies. We attended a welcome prayer service in the church on Wednesday with the rest of the school. We also attended a Jog-A-Thon assembly on Friday, where we all got very excited to participate in that fun annual fundraiser! You will find a packet in your child’s backpack from the Jog-A-Thon committee outlining this year’s event. The school also practiced a fire drill on Friday morning.

In class, one highlight was learning about different learning styles. We learned that as a classroom of learners, there are a number of different learning styles and environmental, social preferences that we must be aware of so that we can be respectful members of our classroom community. We are many parts, one body. The class also spent time designing our class currency – which we decided will be called our “Class Dollar.” They all designed a type of currency and they voted on the one we will use this year. We will use our “Class Dollar” as a positive reward system and to also “fine” students. Then, the class worked in pairs and groups to come up with ideas for items to be purchased using their dollars in our “Class Store”. All of the items in our class store have different price tags and are all intrinsic motivators. For example – lunch with the teacher, teach the class something and choose your seat for the day. I have attached a few photos of our week. You may ask your children to explain what’s happening in the photos!

The class does have a simple “All About Me Bag” homework project for the weekend which they are excited to put together and bring in on Monday.

Also, please note that our classroom is a NUT FREE room. That means, no nuts in snacks please. The lunchroom is okay. Thank you.

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Mrs. Edwards

Dear 3rd grade Students and Families,

Welcome to 3rd grade! I hope your summer was full of new adventures and many special memories. I look forward to partnering with you this year to build success together!

Here are a few reminders about the first weeks of school:

• Wednesday September 4th – First day of school
  • 8:15am I will pick you up from our class line on the playground. Look for my name (Mrs. Edwards) on the fence for our class line spot.
  • 12:00pm Dismissal. We dismiss out of the NW school doors out to the courtyard by the statue of Mother Mary.
  • Please bring a snack only this day.

• Thursday and Friday September 5th and 6th
  • 3:00pm dismissal
  • Please pack a snack and sack lunch these days

• Monday September 9th
  • Hot lunch service begins. You can sign up for hot lunch service here: Order Hot Lunch

• Thursday September 12th, K-5 Curriculum Night, Church 7:00pm

I cannot wait for this year to begin! In the meantime, feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.

Warmly,

Mrs. Edwards