Well, we survived a day of double indoor recess- always an interesting challenge!
The students are really showing so much progress with getting into classroom routines and positive classroom community behavior. This week, they worked in groups to design original puppets for the "pourquoi" tales they read. Their creativity, problem solving, and teamwork was excellent! I would like to video the shows for all of you to see, so if you still have the Video permission form, please send it back in ASAP. These will not be "broadcasted" for all to see, but I would like you all to be able to see your child's group.
Today we started our routine of bringing home our weekly fact and reading practice sheets, due each Friday. If your child is extremely busy during the school week, please encourage them to practice their home reading and/or facts a day or two during the weekend to get a head start on the week. From there, the books, style of reading (Read-to-self etc.) and style of fact practice is their choice. Choices of time and choices of days gives kids ownership over this learning and early time management skills.
Enjoy the weekend, no matter how rainy!
Jaclyn
PS- Federal mandated state testing, the NECAPS begin next week. Please please please check schedules as 3rd grade will be testing Tues,Wed, Thurs, Fri next week from 10:30-12 and the following Tues and Wed. 10:30-12. Thinking good thoughts for good sleep, solid breakfast and , present students! Scheduling make-ups can be very challenging and cause the student to miss 90 minutes elsewhere during the week.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Mission: Fact Fluency!
Hi everyone!
Today your student will bring home a Math Fact practice log, attached to the Home Reading Collection sheet for convenience! They will also bring home a direction sheet for setting up their account at Xtramath.org for fact practice. The code is different from last year, so please set up a new account with a new code!
Common Core State Standards set a goal for fact fluency of +,-, and X by the end of 3rd grade. We will aim for this goal by having a variety of opportunities in the classroom and at home.
Adding to our weekly homework of 4+ days reading, we are aiming for 2 to 3 days per week fact practice, at least 10 minutes each time.
What are practice choices?
-Xtramath
-other fun fact math sites
-out loud with an adult or older sibling (in car, while doing home tasks etc.)
-fact triangles (students have some to cut out in Math Journal if they wish)
-other ideas the students/you have
I believe in homework being relatively predictable, independent practice for the students. These types of logs also teach students the early skills of planning ahead, by choosing the days that work best for them. Finally, I like to allow as much choice as possible by allowing them to choose how they practice, what they read, and how they read.
Please let me know at any time if you think your child needs more help organizing this during the week! I will continue to touch base with them in the classroom as we build these routines. Please let me know if you need guidance setting up Xtramath on your home computer or other device.
Talk soon!
Jaclyn
Today your student will bring home a Math Fact practice log, attached to the Home Reading Collection sheet for convenience! They will also bring home a direction sheet for setting up their account at Xtramath.org for fact practice. The code is different from last year, so please set up a new account with a new code!
Common Core State Standards set a goal for fact fluency of +,-, and X by the end of 3rd grade. We will aim for this goal by having a variety of opportunities in the classroom and at home.
Adding to our weekly homework of 4+ days reading, we are aiming for 2 to 3 days per week fact practice, at least 10 minutes each time.
What are practice choices?
-Xtramath
-other fun fact math sites
-out loud with an adult or older sibling (in car, while doing home tasks etc.)
-fact triangles (students have some to cut out in Math Journal if they wish)
-other ideas the students/you have
I believe in homework being relatively predictable, independent practice for the students. These types of logs also teach students the early skills of planning ahead, by choosing the days that work best for them. Finally, I like to allow as much choice as possible by allowing them to choose how they practice, what they read, and how they read.
Please let me know at any time if you think your child needs more help organizing this during the week! I will continue to touch base with them in the classroom as we build these routines. Please let me know if you need guidance setting up Xtramath on your home computer or other device.
Talk soon!
Jaclyn
Friday, September 21, 2012
Another week goes by!
Hi everyone!
Just wanted to drop a quick note as the students head home today for Early Release.
Literacy Workshop
This week we rotated through Read-to-Self, Work-with-Words, Read-to-Someone and Groups with Mrs. K! The idea of the literacy station "training" is so that students can be productive independently while I give my full attention to small groups. Many of us are still learning to read and work away from distractions and learning to focus the whole time without chatting. We will get there!
Math
We are just about to wrap up Unit 1, which mostly reviews skills from Grade 2 EDM. Basic skills that students have mastered or still have struggles with are more clear to me with this kind of review, giving me information to plan future instruction. We will most likely have our Unit 1 assessment next Friday.
Social Studies
This week we read some stories about the Wampanoag, the tribe that needed to co-exist with the Pilgrims and other colonists in the area of Plimoth Plantation. (yes it is spelled like that! :) ) We filled out a culture chart to build our understanding of this culture, so that when we learn about the colonists culture, we will be able to see the reasons for clashing interactions.
Home Reading Collection
Today students turned in their first log. We reviewed what went well and answered any questions for those with incomplete logs. Next week, we will do the same thing- Monday-Thursday for reading time at home. Next Friday, they will begin receiving them weekly on Fridays, and then can make decisions about possibly doing their reading on some weekend end days if the weeks are crazy. I modeled today what that might look like, and how it could free up the week if 1-2 nights are super busy.
Various Computer Accounts
Next week I will begin sending home instructions for either setting up or logging in to various web based programs that we use. The students will be keeping a login and password list in their binders, so this will help when they need to access these programs at home for extra practice or for assignments. Keep an eye out for these!
Medals and Missions
Today we did our first weekly reflection on both our Academic and Behavioral Medals and Missions! They are in student binders, but they will need these on Monday so please make sure they stay in binders! Next week we will begin tracking these during the week so we can see how we are progressing with our positive behavior.
That's all for now-Enjoy the weekend!
Jaclyn Karabinas
Just wanted to drop a quick note as the students head home today for Early Release.
Literacy Workshop
This week we rotated through Read-to-Self, Work-with-Words, Read-to-Someone and Groups with Mrs. K! The idea of the literacy station "training" is so that students can be productive independently while I give my full attention to small groups. Many of us are still learning to read and work away from distractions and learning to focus the whole time without chatting. We will get there!
Math
We are just about to wrap up Unit 1, which mostly reviews skills from Grade 2 EDM. Basic skills that students have mastered or still have struggles with are more clear to me with this kind of review, giving me information to plan future instruction. We will most likely have our Unit 1 assessment next Friday.
Social Studies
This week we read some stories about the Wampanoag, the tribe that needed to co-exist with the Pilgrims and other colonists in the area of Plimoth Plantation. (yes it is spelled like that! :) ) We filled out a culture chart to build our understanding of this culture, so that when we learn about the colonists culture, we will be able to see the reasons for clashing interactions.
Home Reading Collection
Today students turned in their first log. We reviewed what went well and answered any questions for those with incomplete logs. Next week, we will do the same thing- Monday-Thursday for reading time at home. Next Friday, they will begin receiving them weekly on Fridays, and then can make decisions about possibly doing their reading on some weekend end days if the weeks are crazy. I modeled today what that might look like, and how it could free up the week if 1-2 nights are super busy.
Various Computer Accounts
Next week I will begin sending home instructions for either setting up or logging in to various web based programs that we use. The students will be keeping a login and password list in their binders, so this will help when they need to access these programs at home for extra practice or for assignments. Keep an eye out for these!
Medals and Missions
Today we did our first weekly reflection on both our Academic and Behavioral Medals and Missions! They are in student binders, but they will need these on Monday so please make sure they stay in binders! Next week we will begin tracking these during the week so we can see how we are progressing with our positive behavior.
That's all for now-Enjoy the weekend!
Jaclyn Karabinas
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
We are getting into routine!
Hello everyone!
Little by little we are getting into our routines. Afternoons are tough on a warm day, but we do what we can to keep active and learning.
Social Studies & Writer's Workshop
We begin our learning with understanding Native American culture through stories and "pourquoi" tales. These stories fictionalize how or why things came to be. Today we experienced How the Chipmunk Got Its Stripes. Our first writing piece in Writer's Workshop will be a pourquoi tale, and we will use our knowledge of Native American cultures to write these stories. Following that, we will move over to Europe to learn about life of the people that would eventually come to the New World. Finally, we will put the 2 cultures together after the Mayflower's brave journey and learn about the challenging interactions of 2 clashing cultures.
Math
As we awaken our basic skills, I am able to get a closer look at what each child needs to personally advance in math. This week we reviewed place value, hundred grid puzzles, time, counting coins, and our basic facts. Our goal is to master addition, subtraction and multiplication by the end of the year so facts do not hold us back from more complex problems.
Please use any opportunity you can with your child to count coins/bills and talk about receiving change. It can be a tough skill and in our world of debit cards, children do not get as much natural exposure to this skill.
Literacy Workshop
We have begun our training (or really our "re-training") of Daily 5 procedures. What I love about the Daily 5 is that it engrains independence of Writing, Working with Words, Reading to Self, Reading to Others, and Listening to Reading. This way students can build skills with independence while I dig in with small groups. We are half-way through our re-training and expect to be fully trained in a week or so!
Medals and Missions
These are the terms we use to examine what is going well and what needs some work, both in areas of behavior and academics. Students will be tracking their behavior cheeck-ins when they "take a minute" in Australia (ask them to explain it if they haven't already :) ). At the end of the week, we will reflect on our learning and behavior by determining what our "medals" for the week were and what our "missions" for next week will be. We will slowly build toward earning or losing choice time as our motivation to achieve missions set for champion behavior.
Home Reading Collection
This week we started our reading logs, called our Home Reading Collection. These will be completed 4x per week. This week we all are completing Monday-Thursday. From here on out, students will receive them on Friday and turn them in each Friday. Students may use Fri.-Sat. as reading days to complete the 4 if it works better with his/her schedule.
Please check in the with the other tabs on this site to see any changes in homework process or important dates. And as always, never hesitate to contact me with questions!
Jaclyn Karabinas
Little by little we are getting into our routines. Afternoons are tough on a warm day, but we do what we can to keep active and learning.
Social Studies & Writer's Workshop
We begin our learning with understanding Native American culture through stories and "pourquoi" tales. These stories fictionalize how or why things came to be. Today we experienced How the Chipmunk Got Its Stripes. Our first writing piece in Writer's Workshop will be a pourquoi tale, and we will use our knowledge of Native American cultures to write these stories. Following that, we will move over to Europe to learn about life of the people that would eventually come to the New World. Finally, we will put the 2 cultures together after the Mayflower's brave journey and learn about the challenging interactions of 2 clashing cultures.
Math
As we awaken our basic skills, I am able to get a closer look at what each child needs to personally advance in math. This week we reviewed place value, hundred grid puzzles, time, counting coins, and our basic facts. Our goal is to master addition, subtraction and multiplication by the end of the year so facts do not hold us back from more complex problems.
Please use any opportunity you can with your child to count coins/bills and talk about receiving change. It can be a tough skill and in our world of debit cards, children do not get as much natural exposure to this skill.
Literacy Workshop
We have begun our training (or really our "re-training") of Daily 5 procedures. What I love about the Daily 5 is that it engrains independence of Writing, Working with Words, Reading to Self, Reading to Others, and Listening to Reading. This way students can build skills with independence while I dig in with small groups. We are half-way through our re-training and expect to be fully trained in a week or so!
Medals and Missions
These are the terms we use to examine what is going well and what needs some work, both in areas of behavior and academics. Students will be tracking their behavior cheeck-ins when they "take a minute" in Australia (ask them to explain it if they haven't already :) ). At the end of the week, we will reflect on our learning and behavior by determining what our "medals" for the week were and what our "missions" for next week will be. We will slowly build toward earning or losing choice time as our motivation to achieve missions set for champion behavior.
Home Reading Collection
This week we started our reading logs, called our Home Reading Collection. These will be completed 4x per week. This week we all are completing Monday-Thursday. From here on out, students will receive them on Friday and turn them in each Friday. Students may use Fri.-Sat. as reading days to complete the 4 if it works better with his/her schedule.
Please check in the with the other tabs on this site to see any changes in homework process or important dates. And as always, never hesitate to contact me with questions!
Jaclyn Karabinas
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