Back Into the Swing of Things

Knock on wood, the Flu has left the building.  Several of us got hit hard this winter with illnesses but we seem to be getting back into the swing of things.  Here are a few things going on in class...

The students have been investigating migration of different animals.  They visited "Migration Stations" to read about clues to answer questions. The motivation and self regulating that was going on was fabulous.

Check out math!  A new bunch of students are with me during math this quarter and they are navigating their way around the centers like champions.


Fact Jars








































Popcorn Math Facts

Other centers include,
Promethean
Ipad
Success Maker
Math 24
Big Daddy (addition and subtraction of HUGE numbers)
Multiplication Roll 'em
To Market To Market (making change)

Student Council Election

Bravo, to all of our candidates for the 2012 Student Council Election.  Each student prepared a little speech and delivered with confidence.

And the winner is....

GM!! Congratulations!!!!
Our substitute will be KH!!!

Sets and Subsets

Classifying and sorting is a skill that we begin teaching at a young age. Our children help us sort the utensils from the dishwasher.  They sort their clothes into pants, shirts and pajamas.  My child even likes to sort his Halloween candy when he returns from trick-or-treating.  In third grade, we have added some new fancy SOL words to sorting and classifying.  They are simply sets and subsets.  We took animals and shapes with different attributes and began making sets. We sorted animals into two sets, invertebrates and vertebrates.  We then took a set (isolating the set) and put that set into two subsets, mammals and reptiles.  We discussed how we could then make subsets of our subsets and the fun began.  Here are some pictures of a Promethean lesson on sorting shapes into sets and subsets and the labeling each set.  

American Education Week

Thank you parents for joining us for popcorn and math games.  I witnessed  some intense games of ZAP, Wake the Giants and Izzy!  We had one group finish a challenging game of Sudoku and another group Race to the Moon with multiplication!  Every group welcomed others and I appreciate everyone including others in your family game time!  It was a pleasure to be a part of such a great day!

Summons the Heroes

It was "Classical Music to the Rescue" at our field trip to the Kennedy Center.  What a treat to see the National Symphony Orchestra celebrate composers through famous heroic music.  I was proud of the excitement and manners that were displayed on this wonderful field trip by the students of Emerick.  A big thank you to all of the parent chaperones that attended and to the PTO who supported this field trip! I was not allowed to take pictures in the theater but I did sneak in one, shhhhh....

A Drop Around the World

We continued our unit on the water cycle with the great story, A Drop Around the World.  The students worked together in groups to take their drop to other far off places using the water cycle.  They were given a rubric that required specific vocabulary, mechanics, detail and quality.  They each added their own creative twists to this great book!

AR Buzz....

Accelerated Reader has certainly caused quite a buzz around my classroom.  We currently have 2 days left for students to receive the 3 points they need to earn monthly in order to go to the AR carnival.  So, you may say, "What if my child only has 2 points in the month of September?" That means that your child will have to work hard to earn 4 points in October or another month.  At the third grade level, your child should be reading at least 1 chapter book that is worth 1 point.  That leaves just four small half point books for him or her to read also.  Remember, you can read a book to your child and they can take a test on that book too!  I will be monitoring the level of books the students read.  If I know that your child is reading above grade level, I will expect them to be choosing books that are on their level.

A huge thank you to all the parents that helped label the books for AR in my classroom library.  I truly can't thank you enough for taking the time out of your day to help!!

AR is a motivator for most kids.  However, this may cause some anxiety in others.  Please remember to work WITH your child on his or her goals.  Read them a story and encourage them to take the AR test the next morning.  Let's ensure that this Accelerated Reader program is positive and exciting rather than negative and grueling!!  Happy Reading!!

Here are some great books that can get your child hooked on chapter books