Kleenex

A big THANK YOU to those of you that donated an extra box of Kleenex to the classroom!

Allergies, sniffles, and sneezes have hit Room 203 students and our Kleenex supply is once again diminished!  Any Kleenex donations to the classroom would be greatly appreciated! :)

Math Test Date Change

There is a change in the date of students' math tests.  The Unit 11 math test will be this Friday, May 31st  instead of next Tuesday.  Looking more closely at the objectives of the final lessons, along with the final assessment, I modified instruction and decided to remove unnecessary components of the unit.  

Students' study guides will be due tomorrow.  Students had time in class today to get started on them!  

Please e-mail me with any questions!

Unit 11 IXL Checklist

The Unit 11 IXL checklist is posted on the third grade website: Unit 11.  Your child also has this checklist attached to his/her homework chart.  Depending on assessments in the classroom, I may have also marked a number next to certain skills on your child's checklist.  I recommend that these skills are practiced first!

A Sneak Peek At Our Week ...

Reading:  Next week students will continue reading their literature circle books and having discussions.  I was blown away by the deep thinking and analytical talk they contributed to their groups during these discussions.  Throughout the week they will continue to learn strategies to help them develop and strengthen their discussion skills. 

Writing: Students will finish drafting their Food Review conclusion paragraphs on Tuesday and use the remainder of the week to type their drafts.  Self and peer revising and editing will take place the next week.  

Math: Lessons 11.5, 11.6, and 11.7 will be instructed this week.  Students will be given a review guide on Tuesday/Wednesday of this week which will be due next Monday.  After completing an additional review guide in class Monday, the Unit 11 Test will be Tuesday, June 2nd.  

Social Studies:  Students will continue researching the U.S. city of choice both in the computer lab and in the classroom.  They will share their learning with their teammates and as a group will come up with a series of questions that they are still wondering.  Students then will create "interview questions" to ask someone who lives in that city.  

Important Information & Dates:

• Information regarding transportation for next year went home Thursday, 5/23.  Please be sure you have looked over this information and turned in necessary materials if it relates to you!
• Friday, 5/31: Field trip to Wrigley Stadium.  Students will be eating lunch, as normal, at school. 
• Friday, 5/31: Quarter 4 Project, Part 3 due!

Spring Music Assembly

Third, Fourth, & Fifth Grade

Spring Music Assembly

Friday, June 14th, 2013 at 2:00 p.m.

Over the last few weeks, Skinner North students have been moving and and grooving to the sweet sounds of jazz music.  Come learn about when and where Jazz began and how it has evolved throughout the years.  

Expect to see a flyer in your child's homework folder this Friday!  DVD ordering information is included with the flyer as well.  

Student Blogs

Be sure to continually check your child's blog.  These blogs have served as a great tool to publish and showcase your child's work in the classroom.  This tool has also promoted reflective and analytical writing and discussion amongst students.  On Monday students will be posting their Sound Inquiry Mini-Projects!

Room 203 Student Blogs

A Sneak Peek at Our Week ...

Reading:  Students will begin literature circles this week!  After practicing each of the roles, observing a literature circle in action, and developing expectations and "ground rules" for their own group, they will begin having discussions this week.  

For independent reading homework for the next 3 weeks, students will complete a reading response log focused around the 5-6 roles they will be completing in literature circles.  Students can choose to complete the responses in any order, and will only be completing a response Monday-Thursday.  The log is also available on the homework page of the third grade website: Discussion Role Responses

Writing:  Students have completed the introduction paragraph of their persuasive food reviews and will work on drafting the body paragraphs this week.  Lesson topics will focus on using strong topic sentences, differentiating between types of evidence, using key words that emphasize transitions, and using closing sentences in paragraphs.  

Math:  The Unit 10 test will be on Monday this week, and students will begin Unit 11: 3D Shapes, Weight, Volume, and Capacity on Tuesday.  Lessons 11.1-11.3 will be instructed this week.  Please check the third grade website for the Unit 11 Family Letter, key vocabulary, and games.  The IXL checklist for Unit 11 will be posted early this week! Unit 11 Resources

Social Studies: Last Friday, based on an interest survey, students were placed in their "city teams."  They will begin researching different cities this week focusing their research on the geography, climate, businesses, population, historical facts, landmarks, famous people, and cultural features found in each city.  

*** Important Dates & Information

• Friday, May 24th: Field Trip Permission forms are due
• Friday, May 31st: Quarter 4, Part 3 project due (Quarter 4 Project)

Wrigley Stadium Field Trip

For our final field trip this year, students will be taking a tour of Wrigley Stadium, as it was one of the famous landmarks students studied this year during our Chicago social studies units.  

Our classroom is looking for two volunteers for this field trip.  The field trip will take place on Friday, May 31st; we will be leaving the school around 8:45 a.m. and will return between 11:30 a.m.  

Please e-mail me if you are interested in volunteering!

Social Studies & Science Grades

*Progress reports will be passed out this Wednesday, May 15th. 

You will notice that social studies and science grades will show up differently than they have the past three quarters.  When beginning Quarter 4 we continued with the Sound Unit of Study and students engaged in inquiry projects related to a sound topic of their choice.  This is where the four science grades will come from the progress report.  

This week we will start Unit 4 in social studies, so there will be no grades on the the progress reports for social studies.  After a few weeks of research for social studies, we will integrate social studies into writing time.  We will continue with science afterwards and also integrate the science instruction of our final unit during the reading block.  Please let me know if you have any questions!  

Help at Home

If anyone is able to volunteer at home preparing some materials for the classroom it would be greatly appreciated!

I have all the materials and an example copy ready.  I simply need 2 lines drawn on a file folder, and then labels put on each file folders.  It might be a fun child/parent project :). 

Let me know if you are interested and available to help, thanks so much!

Social Studies

For our final unit, students well compare and contrast Chicago to another big city in the United States.  

If your child still has any of the social studies final projects - please have him/her bring them back into school so that they can use it as a resource (it will not be a problem if they don't have it!).  Final projects include the Unit 1 Scrapbook and the Unit 2 ABC book.  Thanks!

THANK YOU!

Thank you all so much for all of the Teacher Appreciation gifts!  I appreciate all of the apples, mugs, cards, flowers, treats, and kind words from all of you and the students.  I cannot express how grateful I am to be working with such a wonderful school community that has such supportive parents.  Thank you for letting me educate and love your child! 

Skinner North Wellness Fair

The FOSN-Wellness Committee has organized a Wellness Fair this Saturday, May 18th from 10:00-1:00.  Students and families are invited and welcomed to attend!  There will be lots of interactive booths with fun demos, a scavenger hunt, and great raffle prizes that are all free! 

A Sneak Peek At Our Week ...

Reading:  Last Friday, students practiced the first literature circle role of "Summarizer."  Each day this week, I will model one of the remaining four literature circle roles, and students will practice this role before starting their "Perspective" literature circles next week.  

Writing:  We have started our Food Review writing unit!  Students have been very excited (and hungry) during writing :).  This week, students will learn how to use figurative language to describe their food of choice.  We will also begin looking at key features of persuasive writing like using "hooks" in the introduction.  Students will begin working on the introduction paragraph this week which contains a hook, explanation of topic, opinion description, and thesis statement. 

Math: This week students will finish Unit 10 and will complete lessons 10.4-10.6.  A review/study guide will be sent home Monday and will be due Friday this week.  Students will play a review game in class on Friday and will be taking the test Monday, May 20th.  Games, the IXL checklist, and additional study guides (for extra practice) can be found on the third grade website: Unit 10

Social Studies: We will begin our final unit of Social Studies this week!  Unit 4: Chicago and Other Cities focuses on students comparing and contrasting  historic interests, geographical boundaries, business and industry, culture and environment, and political systems of Chicago and another major U.S. city.  Information on this unit can be found on the the third grade website: Unit 4.  This week, students will begin researching another U.S. city.  

Garden Planting Friday

Each grade of students will be spending 30 minutes outside on Friday helping to plant in the school garden.  Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately, and is wearing clothes that can get dirty.  Thanks!

A Sneak Peek At Our Week ...

Reading: Near the end of last week, as a cumulative assignment for the class' shared novel The Sign of the Beaver, students drafted two "bio poems" focused on the two main characters, Attean and Matt.  They will type, print, and publish their poems this week.  Starting Thursday, students will be introduced to literature circles and choose which book they will be reading for literature circles.  The four book choices all relate to the theme of Perspective: Eggs by Jerry Spinelli, Schooled by Gordon Korman, Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass, and Never Mind: A Twin Novel by Rachel Vail & Avi.  

Writing:  On Monday this week, students will comment and respond to each other's final Sign of the Beaver reading responses.  Time was spent in class instructing students on what makes an effective comment, particularly pertaining to a reading response.   Students have been highly engaged in posting their written work and commenting on their peers' work too.  If you haven't checked out your child's blog yet - be sure to do so! Third Grade Student Blogs.  

On Thursday, we will begin a new unit of study: Review Writing.  Students will first construct food reviews.  This week, students will read several food reviews which will serve as mentor pieces.  They will discover how food review writers use sensory images and persuasive language in their writing.  This will be a highly engaging unit for our writers!

Math:  Students began Unit 10: Reflections & Symmetry on Monday.  This week, students will complete lessons 10.2-10.4.  The Unit 10 page on the Third Grade Website has been updated too! - Unit 10.  The page is updated with the Unit 10 Family Letter, vocabulary, games, and IXL checklist.  

Science:  Students will finish creating their Sound Inquiry PowerPoint presentations on Monday this week, and will be presenting their new learning to the class on Tuesday and Thursday.  

Important Dates/Information:

• Wednesday, 5/8:  Wednesday is a half day this week
• Friday, 5/10:  Part 2 of Quarter 4 Project is due Friday