Parent Letter

Dear Parents,

Hello to everyone, and I hope that you had a great three day weekend!  It will be a busy week at school with continuing to set the routine for our classroom and getting back into "school mode."  We have been working VERY hard at following classroom rules and being respectful learners.  We have discussed being a classroom community and working together to make our classroom successful.

Last week, your child had his/her first homework assignment in science.  Your child was asked to bring in a beverage for a science experiment.  I wanted to thank you for helping your child with his/her homework and sending your child prepared for school the next day.  I truly appreciate your help with the homework and am confident that your child will be successful with your help.  Your commitment to your child’s education is key to his/her success.  This week, I will be sending Home Links home for math and your child is to bring those sheets back the next day.  It is your child's responsibility to bring his/her homework back.  Please check your child's folder every night to see if there is homework inside that needs to be completed.  Thank you!  Also, if your child has not yet brought a SOCK for math, please send it as soon as possible.  Thanks!

Your child WILL be bringing home math homework tonight!  Please see that he/she has completed the work and has it in the "Important Papers Folder" to bring to school tomorrow.  If you notice that your child may be having a difficult time with time, scroll down to the games on our classroom blog page and click on either "Bang on Time" or "Stop the Clock."  These links both focus on time and will help your child practice time.

As for our week last week, we have started accomplishing many things.  I am not sure if your child has started talking about “The Daily Five” or not, but we have worked on increasing our stamina for the “Read to Self” component of the Daily Five.  We made it to about 4 minutes and 26 seconds last week (we started on Thursday).  Our goal is to reach 25-30 minutes of reading without breaking stamina.  

This past week, your child was introduced (reviewed for most students) to a strategy that helps him/her find and read “good fit books.”  The strategy that was introduced to your child and will be used throughout the rest of the year is called the “I PICK” strategy.  The “I PICK” strategy stands for:

                            I choose a book.

                            Purpose: why do I want to read it?

                            Interest: does it interest me?

                            Comprehend: am I understanding what 
                                                I am reading?  

                            Know: I know most of the words

When your child is reading at home, ask him/her about the “I PICK” strategy and go through these steps with your child to see if he/she is reading a “good fit book.”  Ask your child to read aloud to you and explain what he/she read to check for understanding.  This will help your child choose "good fit books" at home too!

I am sending home your child's first book order.  Your child is bringing home several different flyers for you and your child to look at.  I am also attaching a letter to the book orders that explains ordering books online rather than sending a check or cash to me at school.  This letter explains the steps of ordering online, and I have also attached a link to the top of our blog page for easy access to the Scholastic Book Clubs link.  It is your choice to order online or to send a check or cash to school with your child.  If you choose to send book orders to school, please make checks payable to "Scholastic Book Clubs."  Also, please see the letter and flyers for the due date and class activation code (for ordering online).  Thank you and Happy Reading!

Lastly, I have introduced the gmail accounts to your child.  Last week during our "Tech Time," we briefly took time to email a friend in the class.  This week, the students will learn more about their settings and Google Docs.  They are really looking forward to emailing and getting emails from friends!   

  

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.  I am available anytime.  Thanks for everything, and have a fantastic week!  


Sincerely, 

Mrs. McCarville

Science Experiment

Parents,

Today we did an introductory lesson in science on being thought of as scientists.  We poured liquids over ice to see what the liquids would do.  We were very surprised that cranberry juice, blue Gatorade, and Diet 7-up layered!  Wow!  The students are taking this experiment one step further by planning a similar experiment with a group.  They are to bring in a liquid from home to conduct a similar experiment tomorrow.  I stressed to the students that their drink needed to be something that was at home or easily accessible.  I hope that the students have good luck with their drinks and bring them tomorrow so we can conduct the experiment!

Happy Science!

Just a Few Other Things

Hello All!  I showed the class our blog page today.  They seemed very excited to go onto the blog and try some of the games.  They also were excited that I added a new link to a program that we used today.  The program that we used was called "Wordle," and the students created a page of words that they thought of about the first day of school.  They LOVED it!  I hope that they can enjoy using it through the blog.

I wanted to also mention that Nicole won our classroom guessing game from Open House.  There were 132 supplies in the container and Nicole guessed 131!  Can you believe that?  What a smart cookie!  Congratulations Nicole!

Parent Letter

Dear Parents,

Hello to everyone, and I hope that you and your child had a great first week (ok, partial weekJ) of third grade!  It seems like it was a longer week for all of us, even though it was only 2 days!  It is a good thing that we are staying busy!

I mentioned in my first letter to you from Open House that I will be writing every Monday on the blog.  I will also post other days of the week with other things to share.  The purpose of the parent letters are to give you information on what has been going on in the week and any other events that will be coming up.  Please try and read the information so that you will know different things that we are doing in the classroom or upcoming events.  On this page, you will also find pictures of your child in the classroom and read about what your child is doing in the classroom.  You will even be able to comment about anything that is written on the blog.  This week I am introducing our blog page to the students.  Every few days, we will write about what we did during the day at school to be posted that night.  Beginning the second quarter, the students will individually be assigned a day where they will “blog” about the day’s events and post it for that day.  Blogs will then be posted daily unless I am absent or the schedule does not allow time to do so.  Have fun with it and enjoy!

I wanted to mention that if you have not returned any forms from Open House, please do so.  There are Internet permission forms and email account forms that have not been returned.  If your child has permission, please return both of these forms.  I cannot let your child use the Internet or his/her school email account, unless those forms are returned with permission.  Remember that those forms give your child permission to use the Internet to research information, play educational games, etc.  The school email form gives your child permission to have a school email address and send emails to others within the school only.  Please return these forms to me as soon as possible.  Thanks!

While a great deal of information is on the class blog page, please continue to check your child's folder for other notes that your child may bring home.  I am a sending a note home with your child today that is about the unit that we will be studying in math.  Later, I will also be sending a note home about a science homework assignment that will be due this week.

We have attempted to establish a routine in the classroom last week and will continue to do the same for several more weeks.  Because we have been working on our classroom routine, I am waiting to send home a copy of our classroom schedule.   I will send a schedule next week, so if you have any questions about the schedule, please feel free to call.

This week, I will be sending home your child’s first homework assignments in science and math.  Typically, your child’s homework is going to be due the following day it was assigned.  There will be week or month long projects that your child will complete this year, but typical homework is nightly.  Most of your child’s nightly homework will consist of Home Links for math or something with writing or science.  Your child will not be given a homework assignment every night.  However, your child should be reading 15-20 minutes a night as part of homework.  Please see that your child takes the responsibility of completing his/her homework.  Completing homework will help make a successful school year! J

 

Along with homework being completed and sent back to school, please see that your child brings his/her “Important Papers Folder” every day to school.  Your child’s homework and important papers can be sent back and forth to school every day with the use of the folder.  Overall, the class has been doing great with bringing the folders back so please keep it up! J

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.  I am available anytime.  Thanks for everything, and have a fantastic week!

Sincerely,

Mrs. McCarville 

A Great First Day

Hello All!  We had such a busy day that many of the students were surprised when it was time to go home!  I am excited for everyone to find out tomorrow morning who our winner was from the guessing game at Open House!  I am also excited for tomorrow afternoon and the activities the 3rd grade teachers have planned!  I will update and talk to you soon!

Welcome to the Future

Welcome 3rd graders for the 2012-2013 school year!  I am very excited to work with you and your parents this year.  We will be learning a lot of new things and using a lot of technology while we are learning it. How exciting!  I am anxious to meet each and every one of you tonight at Open House.  I am planning on taking a picture of you all and posting the pictures on our class blog page.  Smile pretty!  

I am leaving a little video to click on below called "Welcome to the Future."  It reminds us that YOU are the future!  See you tomorrow!

Mrs. McCarville

Welcome to the Future

Bar Graphs for Kids

Timelines