Mrs.Kristin's Third Grade

Bye Bye January

2011-01-24T12:32:00.000-08:00

As we wrap up the first month of 2011, we are still working to reestablish our school routine. We plan to be back on track this week, and we'll send a newsletter and take-home folders as usual on Friday. My homeroom class will not have a spelling list or test this week (Jan.24-28). In Language Arts our focus remains on reading nonfiction and writing organized paragraphs. Please encourage your student to spend some time reading and writing at home each night. This lets them be creative while practicing the writing skills we're learning at school. Thank you for your support! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about your student or our school events.
Kristin K.

Let's Try This Again

2011-01-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

Hopefully we'll be able to get 2011 off to a more routine start this week. The snow last week certainly put a kink in our schedule! We will be following the last newsletter that was sent home prior to our snow days.

We'll kick off this week with our awards assembly tomorrow afternoon. Please send signed report cards back to school this week if you haven't already.

What you can do to help your student this week:

-Help the kids get back into the routine of recording their homework in the agenda and getting it signed each night. We check students' agendas each day to determine whether or not they have done their homework. Please write down the title of the book they read each night in their agenda.

-We will be working specifically on writing this week and next. Encourage your student to write at home: lists, letters, stories, menus, anything!

Thank you for all you do!
Kristin

Welcome to 2011!

2011-01-01T15:04:00.000-08:00

Welcome to a brand new calendar year and to the second half of our school year. I am excited to get back to NSE on Monday! Our spring semester will be packed with lots of learning and exciting levents like TCAP, Read Across America, and Spring Festival...we might even squeeze in a snow day or two! I am also excited for Mrs.Gillum to be returning to school after her maternity leave!

I hope to blog more regularly this semester. I am definitely guilty of neglecting my blog updates when life gets busy! This is one of my New Year's resolutions. :o)

We'll take the first week back in Language Arts to review our writing standards and the students will complete a sample test to show the gains they've made since August. I am excited to see how much they have learned! Next week we'll get rolling with a new unit on Research and Reading/Writing Informational Text. You can help by encouraging your student to check out a few nonfiction library books and helping them find reasons to write at home. Fun ideas could be writing a letter to a family member, making a dinner menu, writing a play to act out, or writing a funny poem as a family. The important thing is that our students are spending real time reading and writing each day! You'll be amazed at how this will make them stronger and more enthusiastic readers and writers.

Thank you all for a wonderful first half of the year. Third grade is truly blessed with a wonderful group of students, parents, and families. Please let us know what we can do to make this year a success for your student. You are our best tool for understanding their history and learning needs! I hope to see you soon at N.S.E.!

-Kristin

Weekly Preview

2010-10-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone has had a fun and relaxing Fall Break! I enjoyed the time at home but I'm ready to get back to school in the morning. Here's a preview of this week's activities/topics:

General Notes
-Students in my homeroom will receive take-home folders Monday afternoon. These will include their weekly newsletter and second grade TCAP reports so be on the lookout for those. If you have any questions about the reports please let me know.
-I will not be at school this Friday or the following Monday because I will be out of town for a friend's wedding.

Language Block One
We will be continuing our Literature unit, studying story elements including character, setting, conflict/solution, and plot. On Thursday, students will be presenting the Reader's Theatre projects they have been working on in teams. You can help your students this week by asking them if they need help practicing their lines!

Language Block Two
We will be reviewing for and taking our Understanding Words unit test this week. You can help your child by reviewing the study guide they'll bring home Monday. The test will be Wednesday. We will also begin our Literature unit with the study of author's purpose. When you read with your child at night, ask them why they think the author wrote the book you're reading.

Science
We will continue our study of animals with learning about adaptations. Ask you student to teach you about the adaptations different animals have to help them survive in their ecosystem.

Homework every night is:
15 minutes of AM
15 minutes of READING! This nightly practice is so important for your child's reading growth!
Please record the homework completed in their agenda each night. We appreciate all you do!

Author's Purpose Assignment

2010-09-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

Good morning Block One! You will be completing a writing assignment this morning right here on our classroom blog. Watch the video using your headphones and review the first comment I added with my assignment example. Then...take off writing!

If you are stuck on ideas for your writing samples, watch this:

Seven Weeks In

2010-09-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

Time truly flies when you are having fun! I cannot believe we have completed seven weeks of school for the 2010-2011 year. We have an amazing group of third graders and our year is only just beginning...we have lots of exciting learning and fun events on the horizon.

This week we'll be doing a couple of different things in Language Arts. My Block One class will begin our unit study of Literature. Although we read each and every day of the school year, we'll now be focusing our class time specifically on the elements of fiction text. The standards we will be covering this week include: author's purpose, setting, characters, plot, conflict, and solution. Students will also be doing a writing activity Tuesday on this blog. Look for their responses in the comments section, they'll be identified by nickname only. Ask your student what their chosen nickname is.

My Block Two class will be wrapping up our Understanding Words unit. We'll be learning about multiple meaning words, context clues, prefixes, suffixes, root words, and double negatives. Students will be working on their Study Island tasks during our computer lab time, and we'll have our unit test the week after Fall Break.

In Science we will continue our study of animals, focusing on life cycles, food chains, competition, and adaptations. Help us review by asking your student to describe the differences between extinct, endangered, threatened, and thriving species.

Finally, Friday the entire third grade will be attending FARM DAY! We (students and teachers) are so excited for this field trip, and thankful to Farm Bureau for providing this fantastic and fun learning opportunity for our kids. The kids will receive their t-shirt Friday morning, so please send them to school in a t-shirt they can easily change or a long-sleeve shirt they can wear the field trip shirt over. Farm Day will be the grand finale to our week, and then FALL BREAK will begin! We wish everyone a safe and relaxing Fall Break!

Conferences

2010-09-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that Parent Teacher Conferences are Tuesday, September 7 from 1PM-7PM. You do not need an appointment, just come on out. All four third grade teachers will be meeting together in one room to make is easier for parents to speak with all the teachers their child may have during the day. We'll see parents in the order of their arrival.

We will be learning about synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms this week in Language Arts. In Science we'll begin our study of animals, including ecosystems, adaptations, and classification.

And We're Off!

2010-08-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

We are gearing up for another busy week in third grade! In Language Arts, we'll be digging in to our Understanding Words unit this week by studying nouns, verbs, adjectives, tenses, and plurals. We'll be spending a day in the computer lab, and a quiz (15 questions) is planned for Friday. Please continue reading with your child every night, discussing the books you read, and signing the agenda to show that this homework has been completed.

In Science, we'll be completing our study of plants. Students will be required to know the plant parts, functions, and life cycle. The unit test should be Thursday, and study guide will be sent home.

We have a few important events this week. First, Penny Wars 2010 begins Monday. Dig up your loose change to support the PTO and help third grade win Penny Wars for the second year in a row! Next, third grade Orientation is Tuesday night from 6-7. Please come out to ask any questions you may have and learn more about the school year ahead. Finally, the PTO is hosting our Back to School Bash this Friday night. We'll be playing games, dancing, and celebrating our return to school!

*All money for t-shirts, agendas, and Scholastic book orders is due Friday.

Coming Up This Week

2010-08-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for helping get this school year off to a great start! We have a great group of kids and parents and I am excited for what this year holds.

What we'll be learning this week:
Language Arts: identifying sounds, nouns, verbs, and adjectives
Science: living and nonliving things, parts of a plant, life cycle of plants

I will not be at school this Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday. I will be at the hospital welcoming my newest nephew to the world! My class will be well taken care of, though.

Coming up next week (Aug.24) we'll be having our third grade orientation night. Plan to come out to ask any questions you may have and learn more about third grade expectations and activities.

Please read the newsletter in your child's take-home folder for more information about special events, homework, agendas, and a list of spelling words.

Third Grade Supply List

2010-07-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

Here's the list of school supplies we would like third graders to have to begin our year. Thank you for helping us get prepared!

glue sticks
3 packs wide ruled paper
6 spiral notebooks
crayons or colored pencils
4 boxes of #2 pencils
4 two pocket folders (2 yellow, 2 red)
scissors
2 three ring binders (2 inches) with dividers
1 pack index cards