Uncategorized
IMPORTANT DATES
Hey I have some important dates for your to put in your calendar as we close out the year. I can’t believe I just typed that.
Farm Field Trip
First on the list is our trip to Sauvie Island Farm on May 2nd. I only have 2 volunteers to drive on that trip so I need quite a few people on this one. I noticed that my post containing that date was not heavily read so maybe those of you who want to go just didn’t know it was an option. 🙂 Please let me know ASAP if you are available to drive.
Portland Field Trip
Our super awesome Portland walking trip will be on May 30th. We will leave early that day at 8:30 and, if it’s ok with you guys, return late at 3:45. We have so much to get in and sometimes we have to skip stuff because we are out of time. Everyone is welcome to come on the best field trip in elementary school, guaranteed. Full disclosure, it is a lot of walking, but worth it.
Culmination
We will have our newspaper culmination on Tuesday, June 10th. We will have a big party in the cafeteria along with Matt’s class. It’s a pretty big deal so hopefully you guys can make it. Time is TBA we need to check in with Pam.
Portland Picnic
On the 11th of June we will be hiking up Mt Tabor to have lunch with both classes. It’s just going to be a day of fun on the Mt. Tabor playground. If you would like to come along you are welcome. Cross your fingers for a nice day for us. Again time TBA.
Ms. Rumphius
Video Posted on Updated on
Hopefully this is no longer private. Let me know if you cannot view it. Â Be sure to check out the Spring post as well!
SPRING!
Field Trip
We have a field trip scheduled for Friday May 2nd to go to the farm. We use that trip as a time to look at our science curriculum in action. It is our last driving trip for the year. The farm we go to is called Sauvie Island farms and they work with PSU to deliver some really cool curriculum. We will also make a stop at the St. John’s bridge. It is one of our coolest bridges in Portland but it will not make the cut on our Portland field trip because of its location but the bridge and Cathedral Park are worth exploring. Please let me know if you want to drive.
Math
I am really excited to say that I am taking the constructivist leap this year to set up a Math Worktime. It will allow students to explore math skills of their interest to accomplish goals and solve real problems that are important to them. It will also allow me to teach math to smaller groups of students and spend more time working one on one or in pairs with students. I have been craving time to be able to meet individual needs and is allows me to do so. If you would like to volunteer to help support this effort I could use people Monday through Thursday from 12:30 to 1:30, to volunteer in the classroom. You would help students making their own choices stay on track, come up with new ideas, share tips a tricks of math (when you measure something you have to make sure you start at zero etc.), make copies if they need it or what ever comes up, while I work with small groups. It could be fun if you are math inclined but that is not necessary. Let me know if you would like to come sometime.
The Newspaper
This week we received a letter from our editor, a Mr. Jackson Levy, and he asked us to be the new staff for his brand new newspaper. He included a first assignment which is to interview you guys about things in Portland. This sheet is like a brainstorming sheet so nothing you could answer could be wrong. It just allows us to cast a wider net when we are thinking of Portland ideas. I will post a copy of that assignment and the letter from Jackson on the forms page if you want to look at it.
Invention Center
This class more than any other class has expressed an interest in creating their office space at the newspaper. Please save us you cereal boxes, cracker containers, egg cartons, etc. to have in our invention center. They also want me to tell you they like “strong cardboard”. We could also use some masking tape. We are completely out.
Check out the puppet show post too.
Spring Forward :)
A lot of small updates as we welcome more light in our lives.
1.)Our Battle of the Books team went to he regionals and had a great time. We had two other VERY formidable opponents yet none of us made it out of the pool play. We we’re also reppin’ the only boys on our teams!
2.) This week we will start our oaks test. I expect that our students will do very well on the reading test and I expect that they might struggle a bit on the first round of the math. But we will have a second opportunity a bit later after they have learned more math. If they do not meet the 3rd grade standard they will have another opportunity to take the test. If they do meet the standard then they are done for the year. If you are interested in their scores email me and I will let you know. FYI math won’t be until after spring break.
3.) I am working on editing the video of our puppet performance to post. It was awesome and I will share it soon with those of you who missed it. And those who want to see it again.
Spring break is just 2 weeks away!
Battle of the Books
In case you didn’t hear Allison’s Oddballs are moving on to the regional competition.
Announcements about field trips and other stuff!
Hey guys, just a. Reminder that we will be headed out to Forest Park this Friday to do something to make the world more beautiful. PLEASE PACK A LUNCH and have them dress in layers. We will be eating lunch and returning to school around 2:00. It’s going to be awesome!
On March 5th we will be headed to Oregon Food bank. We will return to school to eat lunch so we don’t have to worry about that.
Culmination
We will be culminating our storyline on March 7th at 1:00. We will be presenting some shadow puppet theater lead by our Artist in residence.
Valentines Class List
I tried to send one of these home with your kids, but the printer refuses to print.
February
February is here and we are just rolling along at 100 miles an hour. We have 2 awesome assemblies next week. One is a puppet show and the other is Fools in Paradise. I’ve never seen them but I bet they are fantastic.
Field Trips
We have 2 filed trips coming up and we still need some drivers. On Friday February 21st, and on Wednesday March 5th. See the post right before this one for the details. If you want to be a driver for either one please let me know ASAP.
Storyline
We are headed in goth e last part of our storyline this next week. Look AT&T he final question of who makes the world more beautiful. They have done a little bit of exploring but we will start looking at 2 specific people next week. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. We are a bit behind schedule but I don’t think they will notice. We will write our opinion pieces based our learning about these two. We will then finish off our storyline with an amazing shadow puppet performance. I don’t have the exact details yet but I will get them to you ASAP.
Presentations:
As it turns out the presentations I filmed are just too much for my little phone to handle and upload to the website. But never fear in the spring they will be giving another round of presentations and we will invite you to come and be the audience.
Our frieze is looking amazing!!!
Valentines
I almost forgot. How do you guys feel about Candy in our valentines. I told the class I would ask you how you felt and then We would plan our valentines day celebration.
January Update
Hello all, I hope 2014 is starting off wonderfully for you. I thought I would update you on the goings on here in 3rd grade.
Field Trips
At last they are finally here! The kids are super antsy to go. They are certain that Matt’s class has gone every week since school started but I assured them we will go on an equal amount of trips, it’s just that ours are all after winter break.
First we will be taking a trip Friday, February 21st to Forrest Park. We will be participating in an ivy pull in order to do our part to make the world more beautiful, which is the main theme of our storyline. We will be leaving school at 9:20 and we should be back before 2:00.
Second we will be taking a trip to the Oregon Food Bank on March 5th. Our classes will be participating in Project 2nd wind (more info to come on that later) and we get the opportunity to see where the food we gathered goes. It is also an opportunity to make the world more beautiful in a different way. We will be leaving first thing in the morning and be back by our 11:40 lunch time.
-
We need drivers for both of these trips. If you are available for one or both please let me know.
storyline
We have reached the point in our story where Ms. Rumphius is traveling to far away places. The beach, the jungle, the mountain and the desert. We are traveling to “faraway” places in Oregon. The coast, the desert, the forest and the mountain. They have been doing light research about places in Oregon and they will present this info next Friday. I know you will be tempted to come in on Friday to watch them present, but they have asked that the audience be just our class. In March they will be presenting Ms. Rumphius, a shadow puppet performance that we will be inviting you to. I also will record the performance and put it up on the website so you can watch.
Math
Multiplication is here! We have been focusing on multiplication and it’s relationship to division. We have looked at fact families and how they are related (see below if you are unfamiliar with fact families). We have started to memorize our facts, 0’s, 1’s and 10’s have been discussed so far. We have also continued practice on that traditional algorithm. Many students should add and subtract using the algorithm with ease (with no borrowing or carrying) and they can borrow and carry with a little more effort.
Fact Families
Fact families are the 4 problems that use all the same numbers but they are rearranged. For example:
9X4=32
4X9=32
32/4=9
32/9=4
11X5=55
5X11=55
55/5=11
55/11=5
As we memorize our multiplication tables thinking about the families help us to get more information out of each memorized fact.
CSS 3rd Grade 