Globetrottin' Again!

In the past two weeks, we have received post-cards from London--Montego Bay, Jamaica--Uganda--The Netherlands--Hawaii--and Ethiopia!!! The students' passports are filling up :) Thanks for taking us around the nation and the world!

Parents: Check this out!

Hello Parents! I was looking through the recent issue of InMiddlebury Magazine and stumbled upon an article about an online Reading and Language Program being offered for free to Middlebury students!! Check out the link: http://inmiddlebury.com/paying-forward Take advantage of this incredible opportunity! EVERY student can benefit from such a program :)

Veterans Day 2013

Today we had 2 soldiers come and speak to us about their experiences in the army! They shared photos, passed around medals, and even let us try on their vest and hat! We were reminded towards the end of the presentation of how much it means to a soldier to be remembered on Veteran's Day--it means that soldiers and our armed forces are valued and not forgotten.... We are thankful today for the freedoms we have in this country, and we are thankful for those who sacrifice to protect those freedoms!

Culture Project

As we approach the very American celebration of Thanksgiving, we are preparing in class for our Social Studies Culture Project! Third graders have to be able to explain what it means to be a citizen as it pertains to the communities they belong to locally, nationally, and globally. To help them grow in their understanding of this concept, the students will need to research, write a paper and present a self-created display that shows what they have learned about their own family's cultural past and present. You should be noticing information going home regarding this project. Many of the students need to gather more information on the topic. My hope is that you and your child and your family will grow closer together through this project! I have not yet chosen a final due date, but am looking to work approximately 2 weeks on the project. So, my hope is to have the students present their findings by the end of the month. Their presentations, displays and final drafts will be celebrated in a Cultural Festival, where you may send in music, art, and food to share your family with the class. More details to come, but engage your child in the conversation now :) As always, thank you for the gift of your child and for your support!

Groups of.... Assignment

Tonight's homework is for the students to list as many examples of groups that occur in life as they can think of. By groups, I mean---repeated clusters of the same number. For example, bicycle wheels are examples of groups of 2.... fingers are examples of groups of 5 and 10....horses hooves are examples of groups of 4....window panes are examples of groups of 4 or 6.... We brainstormed all of these in class today. Unique groups or groups of 1 are not to be included. I want the students to brainstorm on their own, with you and other loved ones. A prize goes to the student with the longest list of correct examples. All of this is to prepare the students for multiplication--to grow their understanding of multiplication as a means to reveal groups of numbers :) Have fun! Look around the house and the yard or neighborhood :)

Uganda, Amsterdam and Malaysia: Oh my!

This week we received postcards from Uganda, Amsterdam and Malaysia! So we traveled to 3 continents: Africa, Europe and Asia! We learned that in Malaysia, some people travel by carts pulled by oxen. These carts are really decorative! The weather there is hot and humid, and cars drive on the left side of the road! Many thanks to our traveling friends and connections abroad!

Viva Mexico!

Today we received a letter from Cora in Mazatlan, Mexico. She is in 2nd grade and she loves to go to the beach. Her letter included a hand-drawn map of Mexico! Thank-you, Cora! Our map is looking highly decorated & our passports are filling up! (Cora's mom and I went to college together!)

Greetings from Zurich City, Switzerland and Lagos, Nigeria!

We have recieved 2 global greetings in the last few days that have allowed us to travel to the continents of Europe and Africa! Thank you to our sender from Zurich City in Switzerland! We learned that Zurich City has beautiful skyscrapers!

Our second postcard from Lagos, Nigeria, came from Mr. G's cousin and her husband: Kareema and Barry. We learned that Lagos is the largest city in Nigeria, and in the world! It is also very diverse. The weather is hot and sunny and the people are warm and welcoming :)

We would love to visit both of these places one day! In the meantime, the students' passports are filling up with vicarious stamps :)

Hola from Nicaragua!

We've received our 3rd postcard of the year from Nicaragua!

The students learned that there is a volcano in this Central American country, as well as beautiful plant-life and waterfalls! Gretchen Howard, who sent us the postcard, noted that there are many needs among the people of Nicaragua---including dental care for children. She noted her recent trip there as an eye-opening experience. Thank you, Gretchen, for thinking of us and helping us travel to Nicaragua!

G'day Mate!

Today we received our 1st Global Greeting!

We received a postcard from Manly Beach in Australia from Jana Jordan! We learned that Manly Beach is a great place for families to visit and relax. It has great surfing and swimming---but watch out for sharks! On Friday, we will make passports and receive our 1st stamp of the year for "traveling" to Sydney, Australia :) We all hope to one day make the actual trip! Thanks, Jana!

Personal Narrative & Math

Hello, Parents! Just a note that the due-date for the Personal Narrative final draft has been extended to the end of the day tomorrow, due to the 2 hour delay yesterday. I have enjoyed seeing their writing come together! Many of them took home their Writer's Notebooks tonight to continue working on editing and their final draft. Final Drafts are to be handwritten on a sheet of notebook paper, with the title and author's name (your child!) at the top. We have much to work on with mechanics and dialogue, this draft will help me to see how well they are navigating through the writing process. Our main focus has been on hooking the reader and leaving them satisfied, sequence words, dialogue, and captivating titles. Also---math homework tonight.... Do your best to assist your child, but don't exasperate yourselves! Math is taught so differently than the way you and I learned it back in the day ;) We worked on subtraction today of multi-digit numbers. To help make the connection from the conceptual to the practical, we've been doing drawings and place-value groupings. I am calling this doing math with "training wheels"! Hopefully, by the end of the week, I can give them a push & they'll be off! The practical methods of addition and subtraction are quickest for most students once they understand the "why" of it all. Be patient, as we build bridges! The assignment for tonight is going to help me determine how close they are to connecting the dots :) Have a wonderful evening!

Walk-A-Thon $ is Due Tomorrow!

I just want to tell you all that Starting October 1st we will be wearing our Olweus, "No Bully" shirts to school every 1st Tuesday of the Month. This is a great opportunity for us to celebrate our commitment to being a bully free zone. It is really neat to look out at the kids in the classroom or cafeteria and see the "sea of blue" as a symbol of our partnership in this commitment! I will be sending home shirts with new students, so they too can participate! Also, just a reminder to parents who made a contribution to our Walk - a - Thon. Pledge money is due tomorrow, September 27th! Thank you so much for supporting our school!

Tuesday Tidbit

It was a fun day today!  We are starting an experiment tomorrow regarding seed growth and launched a new unit on Addition that will focus on the traditional method of combining multi-digit numbers.  The students also met with Mrs. Smith to discuss how to deal with people who annoy us :)

OVE Friends & Fireworks Night

Just a reminder that tomorrow evening, Orchard View is hosting its annual Friends & Fireworks Night at dusk (around 7 pm).   My "crew" and I will be there, and we hope to see all of your shiny faces there, too!  

BlogThis!

Number Sense Review & Assessment

Hello Parents & Students!

The end of the week is fast approaching--drawing our unit on Number Sense to a close!    As we work together to prepare for Friday's post-test, here is a list of skills we have covered in this unit:

• basic addition & subtraction facts and strategies
• place value to the thousands place
• digits vs. numbers
• forms of a number (standard, picture, word and expanded)
• comparing & ordering numbers 
• Odd/Even numbers
• rounding to the nearest 10 and 100 

We will spend another day reviewing in class tomorrow :)  Check out A Plus Math as a helpful website to review these skills!

3rd Grade Parent Meeting

Just a reminder to all parent/guardians that tonight is the 3rd Grade Parent Meeting to discuss what to expect in 3rd grade in regards to assessments.   For the beginning portion of the meeting, I will go over in-class (3G) testing expectations at around 5:45, we will join Mrs. Palmer across the hall as she reviews ISTEP, IREAD and Acuity Assessments.

Hope to see you tonight!