Last Dates to Remember
Hello All,
The end of the year is fast approaching. We have so much left to do. Here are 4 Dates to remember, in chronological order.
- Volunteer appreciation Picnic is Tuesday May 29th. As teachers we know that this place would not run without our parent and grandparent volunteers. You guys help everyday in the classrooms as well as on special art projects and field trips. If you have a few minutes after school for us to thank you in Berrydale that would be great. Volunteer Appreciation Flyer 2018
- May 31st is our Portland Walking Field Trip. We will be riding the Max, Walking over bridges, visiting Washington Park and many other fabulous Portland sites. We can talk all who want to walk with us. Let me know if you want to come.
- June 5th is our Culmination. It is an evening culmination at A Children’s Place Bookstore. It is behind the Whole Foods on NE 15th and Fremont. We will be debuting our Portland Guide Book called Portland’s a Legend. The event will start at 6:00pm. Hope to see you there.
- June 7th we will take a celebratory hike up to Mt. Tabor. We will have a picnic, some play time and enjoy a great view of our city. All are welcome on this trip, even pre K siblings. If you would like to join us but cannot do the hike you can feel free to meet us up there with your car.
Students will bring home their permission slips this afternoon. Both trips are on 1 form. These trips do no require money. Let us know if you would like to join us for either or both trips.
Allison & Katie
Math for May
Hello All,
In May we will be finishing up with assessments and then getting into the most fun Math unit of 3rd grade. BRIDGES!!!! It is a time where we get to learn about the basic type of bridges and then build some ourselves. Of course it goes perfectly with our Portland Storyline. It is always exciting when Math and Storyline get to pair up. But we need materials. General invention center materials are good. Toilet paper/paper towel tubes, yogurts, boxes etc. We will start building in about 2 weeks.
Speaking of Assessments we will start the SBAC test next week. We will spend about 45 minutes a day, 3 days a week for the next 5 weeks. Students who are finished will have quiet things to work on in the lab. Students who are opted out will have other arrangements made for them during that time.
Reminder: Our culmination for our Portland Storyline will be in the evening off site. We will be having it at The Children’s Place bookstore on Tuesday, June 5th @ 6:00pm.
Allison
Portland Storyline & Field Trips
Hello All,
We have a super quick turn around on our next Storyline. Since we get out so early in June it feels super compact.
As a 3rd grade we have been tasked with writing a kid friendly guide book to Portland. We will do some research on Portland history, Bridges and our current city to narrow our focus and create a book. The best part is we will be having a book launch at A Children’s Place Bookstore on June 5th at 6:00pm. It’s a really fun event. We of course will go on a Portland field trip but the destination will be determined by our interests so wait to hear more on that.
Speaking of field trips we have one next Friday, but we are not taking parent chaperones as it is only 2 blocks from school. But you have an opportunity to get in on the field trip action. Friday, May 18th. We are going to Providence Health and Wellness Fair. It is a Timbers T2 match and health fair. We will leave school at 9:00 and be back around 3:00. It’s a super fun event. But space is limited on this trip because tickets are limited.
We will however have unlimited space on our Portland field trip as well as our Mt Tabor Hike happening in June.
Let me know if you are interested in the Timbers field trip.
Allison
Bee Fair Pictures – Katie’s Class
Hello Families! We had a great time at the Bee Fair! I was so impressed with all the work the third graders did and how seriously they took their jobs. Thank you for taking time to come support your child. I know it’s not easy to make it to every event and we appreciated you being there! These are some of the pictures I took of our class during the Bee Fair.
Enjoy your Spring Break!
Katie
3rd Quarter Reading Update
Hello 3rd Grade Families!
Over this last quarter in reading, we have been working on quite a variety of skills. We have been comparing and contrasting different National Parks by using short reading passages. Each third grader also is a part of a Book Club or Literature Circle. These small reading groups have focused on chapter books and giving students ownership over their learning. When we meet, students report on, reflect on, and connect with what they read. Each group has been working on reading a chapter book at his/her appropriate level.
In addition to the reading and weekly spelling/vocabulary work we do, we also have our weekly writing prompt. This quarter, third graders have focused of learning the art of paragraph writing. We have been practicing writing topic sentences, sentences with supporting details, and closing sentences. Learning how to write paragraphs is hard, and we have been using the “hamburger paragraph” method to help us keep our thoughts straight. The “buns” are the topic/closing sentences, and the “meat/veggies” are the supporting details. Third graders have also been using a rubric for scoring their writing as a way of reflecting on how they are meeting the criteria. I have been really impressed with how much growth I have seen this quarter in their writing, and they were able to use this knowledge to help write their bee research papers!
As always, if you have any questions about our work or your child’s progress, please do not hesitate to get in touch! I hope you have a restful Spring Break! See you in April!
Katie
March 14th & Food Drive
Hello All,
Next Wednesday CSS will be participating with schools around the country in advocating for student safety. Here is a link to a detailed plan of all of our actions on that day. It is the same thing that you received via school messenger. We plan on addressing students safety in a developmentally appropriate way. We will not be discussing specific incidents but just the work we can do as a community to help make everyone feel safe and included.
If you do not want your student participating in the action or the discussion let me know and they will have another activity.
Speaking of another activity. State testing is coming up. If you would like to opt your student out of testing, the paperwork is in the carousel outside the office. If you need me to put the paperwork in a backpack let me know.
Also next week is Project 2nd Wind. It is an event sponsored by the Oregon Food Bank because February usually sees a decline in food donations. We hope to bolster food donations by forming teams and bringing as much food as we can. If you can help out simply send it to school with your kiddo.
Have a beautiful sunny weekend!
Allison
Valentines Day
Hello All,
There have been some questions about Valentines Day in class. We will have a Valentines Day party and exchange Valentines. It is up to you what you put in those Valentines. It is fine with me either way whether or not you want to bring Valentines. If you do bring them please remember to bring enough for the entire class.
We will also be having Valentines Day Floats. A little ice cream and a little Cherry 7-UP. Of course they can just do ice cream or just 7-UP if that is what they want to do.
Here is the Class List
- Abdison
- Addie
- Alana
- Andrew
- Brynn
- Carmen
- Dylan
- Ella
- Eloise
- Fergie
- Katherine
- Lincoln
- Luke
- Maddie
- Mia
- Mina
- Ori
- Ronan
- Rose
- Sam
- Stanley
- Thomas
- Tre
- Waylon
- Zannie
On a separate note we have a month long Bey Blade break. I think it was honored today.
The Middle
Hello,
Here we are officially the middle of the school year. I can’t believe they are half way to 4th grade! But for now they are still 3rd graders and here is what you need to know.
- Today we are working on report cards and they will come home in backpacks on Monday.
- We have been LOVING being cafeteria helpers. The love of doing this service to our community wanes as they get older but right now they are joyful helpers.
- We have finished another math book and they will come home to you by next week if you are interested in checking it out.
- We have just split up into our Bee research groups and our Storyline will really start to heat up after this.
- We scheduled our Bee Fair Culmination for March 22nd. Stay tuned for more detail on that as it gets closer.
- We are doing the pledge of allegiance now on Fridays over the loud speaker. The district is pushing us to do it. If you have strong feelings about it you should email Meisha or Andrew.
This is all I can think of for now. Have a great week!
Allison
Reading Update and Book Tasting
Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed your break and that 2018 is off to a good start for your family. I just wanted to give you an update about third grade reading and our focus for the 3rd quarter.
Over the last two weeks in December, we wrapped up our Book Clubs. Each group spent several weeks reading a book; most groups read a picture book although a few groups read a non-fiction book. Groups would meet to discuss what they had read and we would focus on different story elements. We looked at character traits, story retelling, setting, responding to text, and re-designing the book cover. Book Club packets were sent home before break. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest checking your child’s backpack!
Right now, I am working on reading assessments for the second quarter report cards. When those are finished, we will move into reading groups again. This quarter, we will look at answering questions with supporting evidence, text features, and close reading (reading a text several times and learning how to glean different information from each read). In addition to the reading group work, we will continue to have word work that focuses on different parts of speech, spelling patterns, and vocabulary terms.
On the Friday before Winter Break, both third grade classes participated in our first Book Tasting of the year! A Book Tasting is a fun way to expose readers to books they might not otherwise select on their own. I placed 5 different genres of books (historical fiction, biography, fantasy, series chapter books, and popular authors) on trays and set up each table with a tablecloth. Students received a “menu” where they recorded their thoughts and impressions of the book. They were asked to read for 5 minutes before doing any writing, just enough to get a “taste” of a book!
After groups had been rotated through all the different tables and tasted a variety of books, they wrote a reflection of their experience. Many students shared that they were surprised they enjoyed a book that they had not expected to like! Students will be getting their menus back this week to remind themselves of the books they are excited to read. Overall, the book tasting was a big hit and a fun way to get some reading in right before Winter Break.
If you ever have any questions about reading or your child’s progress, please do not hesitate to get in touch. My email is klongstr@pps.net
Happy Reading!
Katie
Happy New Year!
I just wanted to say Thank you so much for all of my wonderful holiday gifts. It really makes me feel very special. I was able to pool that money with money that I have been saving and I finally got my Vitamix. So exciting! I am going to have soups for days.
Things we are looking forward to in the new year:
- Really getting in to Multipliation
- Deciding on what Bee is right for our school
- Oregon Battle of the Books
Thank you so much, have a wonderful New Year and stay healthy!
Allison
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