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New Year, New News
Hello,
Thank You
Firstly, I realized that my holiday thank you post never got posted. Ugh…I am the worst. I would like you to know that I so appreciate all of the holiday gifts that I received. It was so wonderful to feel appreciated. Each one, large and small, was beautiful and made me feel so appreciated.
Question for you
Brandi and I were talking about the money we received from student treasures and thinking about doing something I have always wanted to do since I moved to 3rd grade. Go on the Willamette River Jet Boat. It goes under most of the Portland Bridges and I think we would get a view of Portland that we rarely get to see. It’s those blue boats on the waterfront. I was just wondering what you guys think of that idea. Go ahead and comment to let me know. Are you thinking, Yes! Can I come? or are you thinking No, No a thousand times NO!
Speaking of Field Trips
We laze about in the first 2/3 of the year going no further than Berrydale Park. But things do kick into gear in the last 1/3 of the year. The first field trip that is scheduled for April is the play Edward Tulane. Both classes read the book last year and I think it is going to be really fun. We will take a bus. I also scheduled Providence Health and Fitness Days (I haven’t gotten a confirmed date yet but it at the end of May). It is with the Timbers at Providence Park! We will ride the Max. Then of course there is the World Famous 3rd Grade Portland Tour. On that trip we will ride the Max, the Streetcar and the Tram. Also we will culminate our Portland Storyline on Mt. Tabor. We will hike up to Mt. Tabor. Which you may notice that I take no trips that involve you guys as drivers. Which is awesome because it means that everyone who wants to come can come even if they are not comfortable driving. However, one draw back is that we are often at the mercy of our public transportation. Last year on the way home on the Max train we encountered not one but 2 medical emergencies and we had evacuate the train and wait for another 2 times. So these are all things that are coming up (not in the nearest of futures) that you should keep on the back burner. You will get a permission slip and a detailed itinerary closer to the dates.
Tech Time
It is time for us to venture into the Computer lab. It is cool especially because at the end of the year they will be typing their own articles for the newspapers! We will be learning mouse skills, typing, the clicks (right, left, double, hover). If you want to look at what we are doing you can go to my other website and check it out at any time. room10css@wordpress.com
Well I have officially taken all of the time you have for newsletters for now, I will write more soon.
Allison
Happy New Year!
Hello All,
I hope you had a wonderful break. I was ready for Monday, my lunch stuff was packed up. I had prepped dinner stuff for the week. My bags were all packed and then we got that little extended break. I will admit I still had more stuff to do so I was kept busy at my house today.
Some exciting news. The publisher of our book has awarded our class a $600 dollar grant! I just got a check in my mailbox. It was crazy. I have thought of a few things that we might be able to do with the money but none of my ideas are all that exciting. I will open it up to the students, but I thought I would open it up to you guys as well. Do you have any great ideas for places to go, things to do, something that would benefit everyone in the classroom? What do you think I should point the money at? Go ahead and leave your ideas in the comments. I’ll ask the kids as well and maybe they will have the great idea.
I hope I see you tomorrow!
Allison
Happy Holidays
Someone had this question and I thought probably many of you may be wondering the same thing.
When math pages come home they do not appear to be looked at by a teacher, why?
Actually they are looked at by me. In this crazy system that involves me piling papers up in a nutty way and then tossing them onto the floor after I have entered their scores digitally. But what it does not involve is writing on the papers. (Sometimes I just can’t help myself because I know I have just talked to them about it) 3 reasons for this. 1. Time, I simply cannot write on every single paper. As a matter of fact I couldn’t even write on 1/2 the papers. So instead I enter them in the computer. 2. The computer creates groups for me. As I enter the score it assigns students a color which then allows me to go back and give them feedback personally in groups that are great at the same thing or are needing support in the same area. It is very handy and saves me from having to go back and look or rely on this rusty memory. 3. 8 and 9 year old students, for the most part, pay ZERO attention to the notes I have written on their paper. No matter how lovingly crafted they do not process feedback this way. If they could correct their mistakes this way I would do it, but they don’t so I don’t.
Our Storyline has moved on to the 2nd chapter. It is very exciting. (They will be finding a pet!) The first chapter is a little sad, as a matter of fact there were a few misty eyes when we viewed it the first time. This chapter however is about the fresh start. Which inevitably brings up where did we come from? Not many students knew much about their families or where their ancestors are from. A common thought was that people immigrated from Washington or California. We talked about the US, looked at a map and discussed how most of our families came from outside the United States. Please tell them about their own families and where your family hails from. Even better if, like me, you have an old Aunt Judy (she is my family historian and loves to tell me all about it whenever she gets the chance) Have your kids ask questions, your version of Aunt Judy will love it.
Our invention center is open for business. Feel free to send your recycling in at anytime. We are ready to receive it.
I hope you all have a lovely Holiday and if I don’t get the chance to see you before the break. I wish you peace and relaxation over the break.
On that note, no Homework next week because I simply cannot get Friday’s back on time and I want them all to have their book over the break. I forgot to tell them that so you can be the bearer of good tidings.
Allison
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hey all,
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend but just some quick reminders before we go.
- Blazer reading forms are due on the Monday after the Thanksgiving break. If you child has not told you yet it makes them eligible to win tickets to a Trailblazer game. I will attach a copy of the Blazer reading form in case the siblings want to get in on the free ticket action. My understanding is that I turn in the forms and then a Blazer person gives me a link for you to follow to get your tickets. There are several choices for games. The adult tickets are at a significantly reduced rate.
- If your kids need something to do over the break remind them to practice there times tables! They will probably think of something really quick, but you know if they are pulling the whole “I’m bored” act. You have a response at the ready.
- Soon we will be participating in hour of code. I think it is really, really cool. Coding is our future and our kids will be coding in their jobs in the future. Check out here if you want to know more about hour of code.
- As I do this I am listening to the beautiful Ukulele sounds of Room 10. If they haven’t told you about music please ask them. I think they are enjoying it so much and they have already improved a CRAZY amount.
- I’m sure there are things you want to hear about that I have spaced. Let me know in the comments and I will try and get to them.
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A few Reminders
Hey guys,
Pretty good week this week. It’s nice to have the whole thing for a change. Monday is the day I will mail the order forms for the Monster book. I have sent out an email to people who I haven’t seen anything from yet. If you want one you need to have the form in.
Halloween Candy
I don’t know if this was ever posted about but I do allow Halloween candy at snack for the week after Halloween, I’m not a total grouch. But the week is now up and I will no longer allow students to eat candy at snack time. I will tell them about it, but I’m sure they will try to sneak it past me.
Spelling Lists
I’m sorry it’s taken so long but I haven’t quite gotten the page finished for the spelling lists. But when I do it will be awesome and you will be able to look to see what we are working on each week and be in the know for the rest of the year.
The Arrival
We have started our new Storyline called the Arrival. It is a book based Storyline based on a book by the same name from an Australian author named Shaun Tan. The book is completely without words. We have only seen chapter one of the book. We are creating characters that go on a journey along with his character. All we know so far is that our characters have to leave everything they know behind and go out in the unknown. The Arrival is a book that is growing in popularity and is widely available. I told the kids if they wanted to be surprised then they should stay away from the book. If they do choose to look they should make sure not to spoil it for others. But Shaun Tan has lots of really great books to check out at the library. You can check him out at http://www.shauntan.net/
Monster Book
I will send off the Monster book orders next Monday. I have been assured that the books will arrive by December 14th.
Have a great weekend!
Allison
The end of October
Hey guys,
It was great to see everyone at conferences. We have quite a lively bunch and it’s nice to have so many partners to share this work with. I heard a couple of things that people wanted to see posted. 1 people wanted to be linked with the Bridges at home Math stuff and people wanted to be linked with the spelling words and patterns we are working on next week.
The math is easy, it is a website from Bridges. All you really need to know is that we are finishing up unit 2 and we are moving on to unit 4. Skipping the geometry unit because it has a strong winter time link and it also feels weird to teach multidigit addition and subtraction and then just abandon it for a few weeks. So we are going to solidify our unit 2 skills in unit 4 before moving onto Unit 3. Also if your kiddo dying to have extra math practice at home every single person could be faster at their quick facts in addition/subtraction as well as mulitplication/division. I would say that most websites are the same. If you google multiplication practice games you will find tons and tons. It just depends on what your kid likes to do. You could try this website kids also really like funbrain.com It has tons of games in all subjects and kids think they are really fun but I find that it’s always trying to trick you into going somewhere else.
Spelling
This week we are working on the closed syllable and how that makes the vowels sound short. That way when we hear the words we can then pick up on the spelling patterns. I think I will create a new page with the word list so stay tuned for that.
Blazer Reading Program
Our class is participating the Blazer reading program. I have reading logs available and if they fill it out and hand it back to me by the Tuesday after Thanksgiving break they will get a ticket to a game. There are a few games to choose from. I will get you more info on how you can choose soon.
Don’t forget to hand in your book forms this week! Just send them with your kiddo
Allison
October
I don’t know about you guys but this school year is going sooooo fast. I can’t believe it’s already October late open. And even crazier conferences are next week.
Speaking of conferences, most of you have signed up. But if you’d like to check your time or sign up please click here https://docs.google.com/a/apps4pps.net/spreadsheets/d/1fZHDXYuw0B3qO-KpIbH6TfXaApz9r91zqbmERdnRcKk/edit?usp=docslist_api
Writing
One thing we are working on this month is writing. We have to take our K-2 knowledge and experience and turn that into paragraphs, beginnings, middles and ends as well as really try and write a story that other people will enjoy reading. We are working on a Halloween themed monster story that they are super excited about. One thing that is extra exciting is that we will have the books published into real, hard bound books and they will be available to check out in the library. You will also be able to purchase one if you would like. This will be very stressful in the next week and a half. Getting it done by the deadline will be so crazy for them. They will get it done. I’ll leave no writer behind.
Have a great week!
3rd week
Hey guys,
We are in the middle of our third week of third grade and here are three things you should keep in mind:
Homework went home last Friday. Here’s what you should do. NOTHING!! It’s kind of clunky role out of our homework. Homework is due next week. Your child has their day written on the front of their book. They have been given the assignment and I would like to see what they can do by themselves. Inevitably I will need some of our help to get homework going, but I will contact you personally. In 3rd grade their homework is their responsibility. They might say to you “I don’t know what to write” and you should say write about what you are reading or tell Allison about what you did this summer. Anything in the book will do for now. Don’t stress. We will get it done, by we I mean your kids. No nagging needed, I promise.
If you are feeling disconnected from your child’s classroom, fear not. As your kids grow up they tend to tell you less and less about their day. Back to school night will be a great time for you to come in and look, listen to the schpiel, and then if you still have questions we can have a little Q&A. Also you should always feel free to leave a comment or send an email if you are wondering about things and would like me to cover in the posts.
On the photos page the feed back I got was that there should be no names should be associated with the pics. No prob. I’ve taken a few pics and posted them so check it out on the photo page.
Have a lovely week,
Allison
First week of School!!
Hey guys we made it through our first full week of school! A short message about how it went.
We have been working through our Daily 5, the 3 Questions book, both number corner and regular math and our brand new mind up. They should have brought home a Play Doh brain yesterday or today. It shows the three brain parts that we will be focusing on in mind up.
Please take 2 seconds to go to my photos page to take the survey. I have some great pictures from our assembly today to share.
Homework will go home next week. Students will have different due dates. The dates will be written on front cover of the journals.
Have a great weekend,
Allison
The Final Countdown
Hey guys just a few more things as we wrap up the year.
1. Our culmination will be on June 10th at the Mt. Tabor park at 1:00. We are planning on meeting up down at the covered area. Where the basketball courts and the playground is. We will do a sparkling lemonade toast and look through our paper. Each kiddo will get a paper to bring home so if you are unable to make it they will bring it home that day.
2. Our volunteer appreciation breakfast is next week on June 2nd at 8:45. You guys are what make CSS run smoothly and we would love a chance to show you how much we appreciate your contribution. I have attached a picture of the flyer here and I will also attach it to the email with the newsletter link.
3. Our farm field trip will be on June 9th. We already have enough volunteers but if you are feeling like you would love to spend the day at a beautiful farm on Sauvie Island you are welcome to come with us. We are taking a school bus so there is plenty of room.
4. You may have heard tale that there is no more homework. They are absolutely correct. I am however collecting all the journals to write one last message. So if you see it lying around please send it to school.
The year is wrapping up and I think we are going to be ready.
P.S. The newspaper is almost put together and it is looking amazing!
Allison
CSS 3rd Grade 