September 23-27

Parent Teacher conferences are tomorrow and Thursday.  I am looking forward to meeting with you and discussing your child's year thus far.  Here is the list of conferences in case you have forgotten your time.  :)

Wednesday, 9/25
4:20 Dominic
4:40 Carter
5:00 Hailey
5:20 Colin
5:40 Sophie
6:00 Zack K.
6:20 Asa
6:40 Broc
7:00 Tyler
7:20 Cassidy
7:40 Taylor

Thursday, 9/26
  9:40 Hailey
10:00 Zach P.
10:40 Bella
  3:40 Max
  4:00 Natalie
  4:20 Andrew
  4:40 Ally
  5:00 Maddie
  5:40 Hayden
  6:00 McKenna
  6:20 Tamerlan

Reminders:
Sept. 25- 26-- Parent Teacher Conferences
Sept. 27-- No School
Oct. 8-- McRidge Night at McDonald's
Oct. 17-- End of the 1st Quarter
Oct. 18 and 21-- No School for Students

Here are our plans for this short week:
Reading-
We wrapped up our study on weather disasters.  We've read several pieces of writing dealing with disasters and practiced various reading strategies as a class.  We've practiced all the components of Daily 5 within our Common Core weather unit. 

Writing-
We had to revisit paragraph writing and have come up with a great tool help us.  Each paragraph begins with a topic sentence, 3 main detail sentences, 3 supporting detail sentences and a clincher, or closing sentence.  We finished and published our summer writing. 

Spelling/ Vocabulary-
We will have our test next Friday, October 4. Students will be given the list in a standard spelling test format and then be asked to use at least 8 of the words in a story or in sentences to test how well they understand the meaning of each word.

Here is a link to some fun games your child can play to help study the meanings of the words at home. http://www.classtools.net/mob/quiz_40/Communities_VocabSpelling_Test_October_4_2013_UjnVt.htm
 
Another great practice tool is Spelling City. You can find our list and a few games to play by clicking the link http://www.spellingcity.com/kmargheim/

Math-
We will continue to utilize our learning logs and flipped classroom in math. I hope this format is working well for you and your family.  The kids seem to really enjoy it, or so they say.  :)  Please check your child's learning log each night. There are times when I have written a note to make corrections or extend their answers and it has not been done. I've reminded the kids to always check to see if there is a note from me. If you can also help out, then that would be fantastic! Thanks!   We began Topic 3 this week.  This topic will deal with addition and subtraction with and without regrouping.   Here is the link to log on to the math site: www.pearsonsuccessnet.com

Science-
We are wrapping up our disaster unit with group presentations this week.  The kids worked hard on their projects and did a fantastic job!  We will begin our study of communities within our Social Studies curriculum next week.

Have a great week!

September 16-20

Parent Teacher conferences are very quickly approaching. Have you signed up yet for a conference? If you haven't, there is still plenty of time. Conferences are NEXT week. If you need to schedule one, you can visit the Prairie Ridge website, or click on this link: http://www.usd232.org/education/components/form/default.php?sectiondetailid=33036&

Reminders:
Sept. 25- 26-- Parent Teacher Conferences
Sept. 27-- No School
Oct. 8-- McRidge Night at McDonald's
Oct. 17-- End of the 1st Quarter
Oct. 18 and 21-- No School for Students

Here are our plans for this week:
Reading-
We will continue to read about natural hazards while finding main ideas with supporting details; and to find important facts within a text. Students will also meet in small reading groups to develop comprehension skills.

Writing-
We continue to write each day in science and reading.  We are also working to complete the writing process with our summer vacation stories. 

Spelling/ Vocabulary-
We will have our test on Friday this week. Students will be given the list in a standard spelling test format and then be asked to use several of the words in a story or in sentences to test how well they understand the meaning of each word. 

Here is a link to some fun games your child can play to help study the meanings of the words at home. http://www.classtools.net/mob/quiz_22/Weather99920VocabSpelling_MmMqT.htm

Another great practice tool is Spelling City. You can find our list and a few games to play by clicking the link https://wwww.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=14139710


Math-
We will continue to utilize our learning logs and flipped classroom in math.  Please check your child's learning log each night.  There are times when I have written a note to make corrections or extend their answers and it has not been done.  I've reminded the kids to always check to see if there is a note from me.  If you can also help out, then that would be fantastic!  Thanks!   We will work this week to complete Topic 2 with a final test on Friday. We will review mental math and rounding concepts each day in our smaller groups and will also practice these skills while problem solving.  Here is the link to log on to the math site:  www.pearsonsuccessnet.com  

Science-
Students have been researching information about a natural weather disaster. The kids are working in groups to create a safety plan related to the weather disaster in which they are studying.

Have a great week!

September 9 - 13

Hello!  I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!  Here is what we have planned for the week.

English Language Arts/Reading & Science: We are continuing our study of weather with a second list of spelling/vocabulary words.  We are also exploring weather patterns in various parts of the world.  The kids will dive into learning more about severe weather hazards and their impact on society.  They will be working in groups within the classroom to research various weather hazards and to create a safety plan for that hazard.  We will also be meeting in our small groups.

Spelling: We have a new list of weather words this week.  The test for this list will be next Friday, September 20.  Our spelling words come directly from our ELA and our Science/Social Studies curriculum. Students will need to know how to spell the words and should know the definitions so they can use the words properly in a sentence/story. This week's words are tornado, earthquake, blizzard, tsunami, flood, volcano, avalanche, drought, erosion, thunder, snow, squall line, humidity, lightning & climate.

Here is a link to some fun games your child can play to help study the meanings of the words at home.  http://www.classtools.net/mob/quiz_22/Weather99920VocabSpelling_MmMqT.htm
 
Another great practice tool is Spelling City. You can find our list and a few games to play by clicking the link https://wwww.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=14139710

Writing: We try to write a little each day in class. It may be in our Learning Logs, math notebook or even our subject notebooks. We also tackle some bigger writing projects at the same time. This week we will continue our writing about what we did over our summer break. This will be our first big writing project that we will take through the complete writing process.

Math: We began topic 2 today.  This topic deals with addition and subtraction number sense.  We learned the properties of addition.  We will be studying ways to add and subtract using mental math, rounding and estimating this week.  Your child will not have a daily math sheet for homework.  Instead, he/she will need to log in to our envision math site at  www.pearsonsuccessnet.com   They will need to use their first and last name followed with a 3 for the login name.  The password for everyone is 3rdpre. Often times, I will have you view the instructional video from pearson and have the kids do a couple examples in their math learning log.  Look for an email explaining the homework each night.  I am excited to have more individualized math time with your kids once we are able to implement the flipped classroom. 

WE START OUR MAP TESTING TOMORROW. Third grade will be taking the test on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9:00-10:30. There isn't anything your child can study prior to the test. Please make sure your child has a good night's sleep and healthy breakfast each day, especially on our testing days. Thank you!

Have a super week!  

September 3 - 6

Welcome to a new month and a new year!  I am so excited to be teaching your kids.  If the first two weeks is any indication as to how our year will be, then we will have smooth sailing and a lot of learning taking place in room 604!  Your kids amaze me with the effort they are putting forth in the classroom and with their respect for others.  It's so nice to see a group of kiddos willing to lend a hand to their fellow classmates.  =)

I will do my best to keep this blog updated each week.  I typically send out a notice when the blog has been updated.  Please let me know if you ever have any questions at all.  I'm here to help!

Here is what we have planned for the week.

English Language Arts/Reading & Science:  We are continuing our study of weather and how the sun directly relates to the weather we experience here on Earth.  We have been using several informational texts to dive into this study.  We will be assembling our solar cookers on Wednesday at 2:00 pm.  Thanks to the parents who have volunteered to help with that and to those who have sent in supplies for our cook out on Thursday.  Be sure to ask your child what he/she thought of the nachos and cooked apples.  YUM! 

We will be starting reading groups this week.  Please know that these groups are fluid and your child may move around to different groups within my classroom from time to time. 

Spelling: We have our first spelling test of the year this Friday, September 6.  Our spelling words come directly from our ELA and our Science/Social Studies curriculum.  Students will need to know how to spell the words and should know the definitions so they can use the words properly in a sentence/story.  This week's words are wind vane, barometer, rain gauge, anemometer, thermometer, forecast, prediction, meteorology, cold front, warm front, debris, gust, radar, Fujita Scale & damage. 
Here is a link to some fun games your child can play to help study the meanings of the words at home.  http://www.classtools.net/mob/quiz_34/Weather_1_VocabSpelling_Words_DizRX.htm   Another great practice tool is Spelling City.  You can find our list and a few games to play by clicking the link https://www.spellingcity.com/kmargheim/

Writing: We try to write a little each day in class.  It may be in our Learning Logs, math notebook or even our subject notebooks.  We also tackle some bigger writing projects at the same time.  This week we will begin drafting a piece of writing about what we did over our summer break.  This will be our first big writing project that we will take through the complete writing process. 

Math:  We will finish our topic on numbers and place value this week with a test on Thursday. 
I am sending a login sheet for you to access our math site at www.pearsonsuccessnet.com  The password for everyone is 3rdpre  With topic 2, we will begin our flipped classroom.  Often times, I will have you view the instructional video from pearson and have the kids do a couple examples in their math learning log.  I will send more information regarding this later in the week.  I'm excited to have more individualized math time with your kids  once we are able to implement the flipped classroom. 

NEXT WEEK WE WILL HAVE OUR MAPS TESTING.  Third grade will be taking the test on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9:00-10:30.  There isn't anything your child can study prior to the test.  Please make sure your child has a good breakfast each day, especially on our testing days. Thank you!

Have a super week!