This Week in Third Grade

I hope you all enjoyed your three day weekend! Being in Professional Development on Friday reminded me just how much I love teaching. It is good to be back here with your students today.

Reading: It is a red week for reading response journals. We are focusing on visualizing and really putting ourselves in the story this week while we are reading.

Writing: We are continuing working on personal narratives. Encourage your students to think about how they can take their own life experiences and turn them into a story!

Math: We are finishing up chapter two. As of right now, we are looking at having our math test on Thursday. I will be sending home the study guide tomorrow.

Science: We are learning about different types of plants this week. Our pinto beans are getting big!

Social Studies: We just finished our community project! They look fantastic! I love how creative the students are!


Other information: 

It is that BEAUTIFUL time of year where we can enjoy football, baseball, and hockey! What better way to celebrate, than by having a couple spirit days honoring our beloved Saint Louis teams!
On Thursday we will have a spirit day for both the Cardinals and the Blues. 
Thursday is school store!
Friday is Custodian's day! 

Homework 9/30

Reading: Read for ten to fifteen minutes 

Book: 

RRJ due: 

Writing: Write for five to ten minutes

Math: Circled problems 

TEST ON THURSDAY! 

Other: 

Blues spirit/ Cardinals spirit day on Thursday 

School store on Thursday

Scholastic book orders due on October 15 

Yes, it is True..

Your students have no homework tonight! We finished math homework while waiting to get our pictures taken. 

They have been working so hard on their Social Studies papers, and I thought they needed a break. 

Just some reminders: 

Tomorrow is JAM day so have your students wear gym clothes. 

Tomorrow night is Grant's Farm Night! Unfortunately, I have class from 5-9 every Thursday so I will not be able to go.  :( 

No school on Friday!

Picture Day is Tomorrow!

Just a reminder, picture day is tomorrow! We will have our pictures taken at 1:00 pm. This is after lunch, and first recess. Therefore, I will do my best to remind students to keep clean, but I just wanted to give you a precaution.

If your student goes to LEAP, they will take pictures before they leave tomorrow morning. They should arrive at school like any other day. 

SIDE NOTE: My email will not let me send out any emails currently, because Lindbergh is updating the system. If you emailed me sometime today, I will hopefully be in contact with you in the next couple of hours. I apologize for the inconvenience.

This Week in Third Grade

What a fantastic weekend! Both the Tigers and Cardinals had great games on Saturday. I am not quite sure what happened with the Rams and Blues though...

We have a busy FOUR  day week ahead of us! Here's a little look into what we are learning in third grade:

Reading: This week we are focusing on visualizing. We will be digging into the texts we are reading and really focusing on making mental images. This will tie into personal narratives as well. It is a blue week for reading response journals. 

Writing: We are working on creating more personal narrative pieces. 

Math: We are starting Chapter 3. Students are coming home with their Chapter 2 tests. Please sign the test, and return it back to school the following day. Students are aloud to redo the questions they got wrong to get back a few points.Some of the big things we visit this week are: estimating, comparing numbers, and rounding to the nearest ten, hundred, and thousand. 

Science: We are classifying different types of plants! 

Social Studies: We are finishing up our final copies of our communities papers.

Other Information:

Fundraiser money and orders are due on Tuesday!

 IT IS A FOUR DAY WEEK! THERE IS NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY! 

Wednesday is picture day!

Thursday is Grant's Farm Night! 

Homework 9/20

Math: Numbers 1-7

Social Studies: Finish copying your polished copy. 

Other:
 Get your Sappington Folder signed
New book orders due 10/15 

Making Observations

We just recently started our plant unit. Thursday, we took advantage of the good weather and went outside to make some observations, started an experiment, and we drew different plants.

Everyone chose different plants to observe.

 

Then we put a plastic ziplock bag over a leaf, to see what would happen. 

Students recorded information in their notebooks and made a prediction. We decided to do this outside by the playground so we could check it everyday. 

Homework Helper

Homework 9/18

Reading: Read for 10-15 minutes
Book:

Reading Response Journal: Red Week!

Writing: Write for 5 minutes

Spelling: Group 3 test tomorrow!

Math Study Guide

Homework 9/16

Reading: Read for 10-15 minutes
Book:
It is a Red Week! 

Writing: Write for 5-10 minutes

Math: Do the circled problems for 2.6 and numbers 1-10 on the math review
TEST ON WEDNESDAY

Spelling: 
Group 1 test tomorrow
Group 2 test Wednesday
Group 3 test Thursday 

Early Release on Wednesday 

This Week in Third Grade 9/16

Good morning! I hope everyone enjoyed the fantastic weather we had this weekend. Here's a look at what we are doing this week. 

Writing: We are working on revising and editing our personal narratives. 

Reading: We are focusing on the main idea. We started Reading Response Journals last week. It is a Red Week. Students in the red group's journals are due this week. I posted directions on how to get to Reading Response Journals on Saturday. Students put their log in information inside their planner this morning. 

Math: We are finishing up Chapter 2. We will have our test on Wednesday. Students will begin filling out the study guide for homework tonight. 

Science: We are starting the section on plants this week. We will be focusing on how plants grow and change. 

Spelling: Group 1 will test on Tuesday, Group 2 will test on Wednesday, and Group 3 will test on Thursday. Students will receive a Spelling Contract after their first test to use for their second sort. They are able to complete any of the activities, as long as they add up to thirty points total. This will be due the day after their second test. 

Social Studies: Students are working on finishing their "Favorite Community" writing piece here at school. They will then have the opportunity to create a map of what their community would look like. These will be finished by Friday. 

Important Dates and Other Information: 

This Wednesday is an Early Release Day. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR STUDENT KNOWS HOW HE/SHE WILL BE GETTING HOME THAT DAY. 

We have library on Tuesday. 

Today is a B day, so the students had music. Please make sure that your student  brings money for a recorder if they have not. 

Sappington Folders: I am going to start sending Sappington Folders home on Fridays. Class Dojo sends a report Friday, and I end up losing some of the information from the previous week when trying to fill out the behavior chart on Wednesdays. There will be more a consistency this way. We do not get the paperwork that is going in the Sappington Folder until sometime on Wednesday. If there is anything that needs to be sent home before Friday, I will give it to students and they will put it in their Home folder that afternoon. 

Have a great week! :)

Reading Response Journals

Students have their reading response journals due every other week. I have shared a Google Doc for each individual student, that they are able to access from any device. Students know that they are to write to me at least once every other week, and I will reply.  This coming up week will be a "Red Week."

Reading Response Schedule

Just in case students forget, I went ahead and made step by step directions for logging in.

G-mail, Google Drive, Reading Response Journal

Room 43 is Introduced to "The Drive"

Our class has been working hard in reading, and now it is time for them to begin sharing their thoughts with me through their reading response journals on Google Docs.

Students learned how to log in and get to their reading response journals, and were so excited to write a letter about what they were reading. 

Everyone was working hard! When one person struggled, friends immediately jumped up to help!

Every other week, students are asked to log on and write me a letter telling me about a book they just finished, or a book they are currently reading. I will then write a letter back to them about my personal thoughts, ask them questions, and possibly recommend another book for them to read! 

All of the kids thought it was so exciting, that I was able to write on the same document at the same time from my iPad! 

Indoor Recess Doesn't Slow Us Down

The past couple of days the heat index has been high enough to keep students indoors, but that hasn't stopped room 43!

We have been getting our grove on with Just Dance videos from YouTube!

Almost every one was up dancing to some oldies but goodies. The crowd favorite was Michael Jackson's Beat It! 

Homework Helper

This is a great site that we used today in class. Students are able to build numbers using base ten blocks.

Click here  to use it.

Make sure that you click third grade on the left, and then under manipulatives click base ten blocks.

Homework 9/12

Reading: Read for 10-15 minutes
Book:


Math: Finish the circled problems


Writing: Write for 5-10 minutes


Other:
 Scholastic book orders due 9/15
 Fundraiser monkey raffle is tomorrow 

Homework 9/11

Reading: Read for 10-15 minutes
Book:
 

Math: Do the circled problems 

Writing: Write for 5-10 minutes 


Other: 
Scholastic book orders due September 15
Bring $1.00 to wear your PJ's tomorrow 

Homework 9/10

Reading: Read for 10-15 minutes 

Book: 

Math: Get math test signed 

Do circled problems 

Writing: Write for 5-10 minutes

Social Studies: Get test signed

Other: 

Bring $1.00 on Thursday for the Gapsch Foundation and you can wear your Pajamas! 

Scholastic book orders are due 9/15 

This Week in Third Grade 9/9

Reading: We are starting to meet in our guided reading groups this week.Students have learned their rotations for Reading Response Journals. Next week the red group will have their responses due.

Writing: We are still working on writing personal narratives.

Math: We finished Chapter 1, and the test will be returned tomorrow. We have started working on Chapter 2.

Social Studies: Students are working on a project involving communities. Today we picked out what community we would like to visit. Students brainstormed what activities they would be able to do there. We are going to be writing about this throughout the week.

Word Study: We just finished Day 1 in our Word Study Rotation. Students are split into three groups. The day the students test will vary depending on which group they are in. If your student is in Group 1, their first test will be on September 17. If your student is in Group 2, their first test will be on September 18. If your child is in Group 3, your test will be on September 19. 

Science: We are studying the scientific method.

Other:

Dr. Jeffrey Sindelar and his dental partners are sponsoring a fundraiser to benefit the Gapsch family. They would appreciate Sappington advertising the event for them on their Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and teacher email blasts. Copy and paste the information below.

Information:

Oakville Dental Care is hosting a whitening fundraiser for Mia Gapsch from September 9th to September 18th, 2013.

$99 (normal retail value of $299) custom fit whitening trays with all proceeds benefiting Mia.

Contact:

Oakville Dental Care

6076 Telegraph Road

St. Louis, MO 63129

Call Megan at 314.487.0333 or email home@oakdc.com

We have a early release day next Wednesday.

Homework 9/9

Reading: Read for 10-15 minutes
Book:

Math: Do circled problems

Writing: Write for 5-10 minutes

Other: Scholastic book orders due 9/15
Recorder money due if you have not turned it in yet

Vote for Our Class

Don't forget to like our class on Sappington's Physical Education page on Facebook!

Click here like our class picture

Back to Football Friday

Friday was a fantastic day for our friends in room 43! We started out the day by going to the Back to Football Friday pep rally. Mrs. Driemeyer talked to us about the importance of being active, and eating healthy, and Mr. Hamby pumped us up with the help of some fifth grade boy cheerleaders! 

A lot of our classmates decided to take the Play 60 oath. We are promising to eat healthy and play for at least one hour every day!

 

Here are some more images from the assembly:

Oh ya, and the whole school got up and did the Sid Shuffle.... It was AWESOMEEEE!!!!

Personal Narratives

Lately, we have been focusing on writing personal narratives, real stories from our lives. We noticed that often times we write about very broad topics, but sometimes the best stories are stories from a small moment. 

We created an anchor chart and talked about the difference between big topics and small memories. We compared them to a watermelon and a seed. Here's what we came up with:

Then students met with partners and looked at their own writing. They helped each other determine whether or not their writing was about a watermelon or a seed. If their story was too broad, they figured out ways they could zoom in on one important memory.

 

Math Test Tomorrow

Tomorrow we have our first math test. Students have been working on their study guide the past couple of days. Here is my copy that students are welcome to use to help study.

Homework 9/5

Reading: Read for 10-15 minutes
Book:

Writing: Write for 5-10 minutes

Math: Test tomorrow! Use the study guide!

Other:
Scholastic book orders are due by 9/15

Patricia Polacco is coming to Saint Louis!

Monday September 9, 2013 Patricia Polacco will be visiting the Saint Louis County Library Headquarters (located across from Frontenac mall). 

Patricia Polacco is a children's author who has touched the lives of many in multiple ways. Her stories reflect the ever changing world around us in a kid friendly way. 

As the students know, she is one of my favorite authors. I encourage all of you to go, and hear this fantastic woman speak. 

Word Problems

Today in class we made a couple of anchor charts that might be helpful for tonight's homework.

Students are to use this for each word problem they do.

We figured out that addition and subtraction problems often times give us clues telling us how to solve it. Here are some words that give us a hint that it is an addition problem:

Here are some words that are often times found in subtraction problems:

Homework 9/4

Reading: Read 10-15 minutes
Book:


Math: Do circled problems in 1.6 and circled problems in math review (6-10)


Writing: Write for 5 minutes


Social Studies: Study for test tomorrow


Other:
Get Sappington folder signed
Back to Football assembly on Friday

Homework 9/3

Reading: Read 10-15 minutes 

Book:

Writing: Write 5-10 minutes 

Math: Numbers 1-5 on the study guide; Test Friday

Social Studies: Study for Social  Studies test on Thursday

Social Studies Study Guide

Do not pay attention to number four. Student did not receive this page.

Week of 9/2

I hope that you all enjoyed your three day weekend! 

Thank you to those of you who came to Curriculum Night. We had a great turn out. I hope that the information that I gave you was very helpful. If you are confused or would like clarification, please email me and I will answer your questions. If you did not go to Curriculum Night, there was some information sent home with your student on Friday. Please fill out the Verification form and send it back with your student on Tuesday. 

The first SPTG meeting is on Tuesday at 6:45 in the cafeteria. There will be teachers to watch your students play on the playground while you are at the meeting. 

This week, your student will receive their first word list, and spelling contract. They are able to work on the spelling contract while at school, so they should not have any need to do it for homework. I will post the spelling schedule on the blog when I give the first group their words. 

Students will have a Social Studies test on Thursday. Together, we completed the study guide on Friday, and I asked students to bring it home. I took a picture of the study guide that I made, and it will be on my next post in case your student wants to use mine as well. 

Students will have a math test on Friday. We will work on making a study guide together on Thursday this week. In order to help your student to study, feel free to encourage him/her to work more problems on their homework that has been returned. Some of our major topics on this test are: fact families, addition properties (grouping, identity, and order), two digit addition, two digit subtraction, and problem solving. 

We will be going to the library on Tuesdays. 

The first day of LEAP is on Wednesday. 

Friday is Back to Football Friday. Students are encouraged to wear their favorite football team colors, jerseys, accessories, etc. We will have an assembly on Friday to celebrate the start of the football season. 

Friday is also Bus Driver Day. Please encourage your student to be EXTRA polite to their bus driver.

As most of you know, we lost Sappington alumni Maci Gapsch last week. Maci was a fifth grader in Mr. Wolf's class last year, and attended Sperreng Middle School this year.  The Lindbergh community is coming together to raise money for the Gapsch fund. There will be a family fun Mixer for Maci on Septemeber 20 from 6-9 pm at Sperreng. 

On Friday and Saturday, Mehlville Fire Department and Sperreng are teaming together to have a BBQ. The money made in this will go to the Gapsch fund as well.

Saturday, Sperreng is sponsering M & M's for Mia and Maci.

We are also having a hat day on Wednesday.  Students can wear a hat to school for a $1 contribution to the Gapsch fund.