Hi Parents!
Thanks for visiting today. We've had an amazing week and I am THRILLED and BLESSED with this sweet class. We are all getting to know each other and settling into our routine. Check out below to see what we've learned in each academic area. Also, I've included some "Dinner Conversation Starters" so you can get the most out of that question, "What did you do at school today?"
Phonics/Grammar: We reviewed the short a and e vowel sound, discussed the vocabulary word "achieve" and learned what "busy as a bee" means. We helped each other study by giving a partner a pretest. We also learned how to play SPARKLE as a review for the words of the week. This week was definitely meant to ease into spelling, next week may require more study time. The spelling patterns will quickly increase in difficulty. In Grammar, we began our study of nouns and learned what role nouns play in sentences. We created a flip book.
Reading: We worked all week on building our reading stamina while independently reading. We discussed some good comprehension tips such as recapping where we left off in our chapter book before beginning to read, pushing our eyes forward and not using a bookmark or our fingers to track the words, and creating a mental movie while reading. We read through chapter 6 in Stone Fox, focusing on character traits supported by text evidence. We learned how to answer comprehension questions accurately, writing in complete sentences.
Writing: We studied an amazing author, Karen Hesse, and looked at her use of vocabulary to paint a picture in the readers' minds with her words. We jotted down ideas that this author used in her book that we may want to try. We learned that narratives should have a "heart" and identified the heart in our stories we've been writing. We also learned that stories need to be told "bit by bit", including important things like dialogue, setting details, action, and transitions from event to event. I modeled several stories for the students.
Math: We reviewed place value into the hundred thousands, learned how to round to the nearest ten and hundred with numbers through the thousands, and compared and ordered numbers. We will quickly be moving on to addition and subtraction within 1000. We also learned the correct way to answer a word problem, using the ACE strategy; Analyze, Compute, Explain. We continued with our number talks in order to promote good math vocabulary and emphasizing the importance of being able to explain your thinking. We learned several math games that promote critical thinking skills (Four Strikes and You're Out, Target 300, and 101 You're Out by Marilyn Burns).
Dinner Conversation Starters...
*Ask your child about the Panyee Football Players and how they showed grit and determination when faced with adversity (this is a great YouTube video if you'd like to watch it as well! Just seach "Panyee Football Club")
*Ask your child who his or her "Beast" is and how they can tame that Beast just like Mojo and Katie did
*Give your child three numbers in the thousands...ask him/her to round it to the nearest 10 and 100. Ask your child to identify the midpoint between two numbers (670 and 680, 1200 and 1300, 500 and 700)
Class News and Announcements...
Thank you to everyone who attended Open House last night, especially those who stood in the back! It's awesome to run out of chairs! This shows how many invested and involved parents we have!
Thank you to everyone who sent in my wish list items! If you are wanting to donate something, one thing I quickly run out of is PRIZE BOX items. Some hot commodities are Pokémon cards, small stuffed animals, special pens or pencils, and any toy that plays music. These items do not need to be NEW. We love to recycle items your child may no longer be interested in. Thank you in advance if you can help.
PLEASE make sure to send in earbuds or headphones for your child to use in computer lab. Two pair would be ideal (one for classroom use and one for lab) but one is the minimum required.
If you were at Open House, hopefully you took home the business card with my personal information as well as the school info. Please use my cell number for any emergencies or any important issues that you think cannot wait for an email or school phone call.
Remember in addition to our class blog, we also have a GRADE 3 BLOG with cool info pertaining to the entire grade. Check it out on the Kemp Website!
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