Quick Reminders

Here are just a few quick reminders:

* Please have your child turn in his/her forms for the field trip on Friday.  The main form to return is the one verifying that your child will be here between 7:20-7:40 on Friday and will be picked up by 3:45 that afternoon.  The other form would need to be returned on FRIDAY and that would be if your child needs to bring medication on the day of the field trip.
* Please see that your child is bringing a sack lunch for Friday.  School will NOT be providing lunch that day.
* Your child is taking a short social studies test tomorrow.  I mentioned this to them on Friday and gave them the OPTION to take the book home and study the "big ideas" from our unit.  Your child may also take the book home tonight or study using the social studies link on our blog.

That's all!  Let me know if you have any questions.  Thanks!

Busy, Busy!!!l

Hello everyone!  We are slowly dwindling our days away for the school year.  It should be a fairly normal week with little interruptions, and will be our last normal week for the 2012-2013 school year.  Wow!

Book Clubs will be ending this week.  Our last day for Book Clubs will be Friday, May 24th.  Your child will have his or her last assignment today.  Your child will finish his/her Book Club book by Friday, May 24th.  However, if any groups finished his/her books on Monday, those students will not receive new books for Book Clubs and will NOT have any new assignments.  I appreciate your help with Book Clubs throughout the last quarter, such as listening to your child read, helping your child monitor his/her comprehension, or making sure the assignments have been completed.  Your child's success with Book Clubs is an indication of help from you at home.  Thank you!

Our May field trip is just next week.  We are planning our last field trip on Friday, May 31st.  We are planning on traveling to the National Eagle Center and Lark Toys.  The National Eagle Center is located in Wabasha, Minnesota and Lark Toys is located in Kellogg, Minnesota.  We plan on leaving early that morning (around 7:45 AM) and returning around 3:45 PM.  Last week I stated I would send the field trip forms home.  However, once talking to the other 3rd grade teachers, we decided to wait until this week to send the forms home.  THERE WILL BE FORMS THAT WILL NEED TO BE FILLED OUT AND RETURNED LATER THIS WEEK!  Thanks!

For those students that read all of the calendars for the Pizza Hut Book It program, they will be rewarded on Friday!  Woot, woot!  In years past, we have had a classroom pizza party.  Due to the changes to our food program, we are unable to have a pizza party.  However, we will celebrate with a "Dinner and a Movie."   Your child will eat lunch in the classroom with me as we watch a short movie during that time.  I will supply a dessert that would follow the guidelines of our food program.   Thanks!

For the remainder of the year in math, your child is going to be working on mastering the multiplication fact families from 0-10.  My suggestion is to practice each of these fact families at home.  My suggestion to help your child learn the facts would be starting with fact families in the following order: 1, 2, 10, 5, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9.  Last week, your child started testing over the multiplication facts.  We have several students who are starting on their 5s already this week!  Once your child masters each fact family with 100% accuracy, he/she will move onto the next fact family.  Your child only has 2 minutes to complete 25 math facts.  Your child will need to practice the facts to do well.  He/she only has about 5 seconds to answer each problem, so practicing is a MUST!  Thanks for the help!  Please contact me with any questions.

Lastly, tomorrow your child will be bringing home several print-outs of different tests that he/she has taken.  Your child will be receiving results from Iowa Testing (formerly known as Iowa Tests of Basic Skills), MISIC/MAPS, and DIBELS.  PLEASE LOOK IN YOUR CHILD'S FOLDER FOR THESE  SHEETS.  THEY WILL BE STAPLED IN A PACKET.  I will be going over the information with your child before sending the packet home, but feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  Thank you!

Have a fabulous week!  Please contact me with any questions or concern!

Thanks,
Mrs. McCarville

A May Warm-up

Hello all!  It appears that summer is trying to work its way into our week!  I have been impressed at how the students don't appear to have too much "spring fever," but that may change this week!  Part of me feels the same way....I am looking forward to the warmer weather too!

Book Clubs have been fairly constant for the past two months.  Our last day for Book Clubs will be Friday, May 24th.  Your child will continue to have assignments today, May 17th, and May 24th.  Your child will finish his/her Book Club book by Friday, May 24th.  I appreciate your help with Book Clubs, such as listening to your child read, helping your child monitor his/her comprehension, or making sure the assignments have been completed.  Your child's success with Book Clubs is an indication of help from you at home.  Thank you!

Our May field trip is just around the corner.  We are planning our last field trip on Friday, May 31st.  We are planning on traveling to the National Eagle Center and Lark Toys.  The National Eagle Center is located in Wabasha, Minnesota and Lark Toys is located in Kellogg, Minnesota.  We plan on leaving early that morning (around 7:45 AM) and returning around 3:45 PM.  I will contact you, or inform your child, if you will be needed as a chaperone for the field trip.  I will send more information about the field trip this week, so ask your child about it.  THERE WILL BE FORMS THAT WILL NEED TO BE FILLED OUT AND RETURNED!  Thanks!

For those students that read all of the calendars for the Pizza Hut Book It program, they will be rewarded next week!  Woot, woot!  In years past, we have had a classroom pizza party.  Due to the changes to our food program, we are unable to have a pizza party.  However, we will celebrate with a "Dinner and a Movie."   Your child will eat lunch in the classroom with me as we watch a short movie during that time.  I will supply a dessert that would follow the guidelines of our food program.  I will choose a day next week where we will have "Dinner and Movie" and let you know when it will be.  Thanks!

Your will bring home his/her geometry test at the end of this week.  Once you see his/her test, please sign and return your child's math test.  For the remainder of the year in math, your child is going to be working on mastering the multiplication fact families from 0-10.  My suggestion is to practice each of these fact families at home.  My suggestion to help your child learn the facts would be starting with fact families in the following order: 1, 2, 10, 5, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9.  Beginning on Wednesday, your child will take daily timed tests on the fact family he/she is on.  Once your child masters the 1s, he/she will move onto the 2s, then 10s, and so on.  We have a small incentive at school to help motivate the students to begin memorizing their facts.  Ask your child about it!  Keep in mind that the students cannot use their fingers and need to have their facts memorized to fully master a fact family.  Thanks for the help!  Please contact me with any questions.

Have a fabulous week!  Thanks!

Mrs. McCarville

Welcome, May!

May has finally arrived!  It may not have seemed like it last Thursday or Friday, but the warm weather is here to stay!  (Hopefully!)  Today's message will be short and sweet with a fairly calm week ahead of us!

Today your child is bringing home a homework assignment that needs to be completed with you.  This homework assignment is a letter discussing how your child displays character inside and outside the classroom.  We discuss the pillars of character at school and how the students are to display each pillar.  Many of our 3rd graders have had difficulties with modeling the pillars of character, so that explains the assignment that you will discuss with your child.  I remind the students that they are very close to becoming 4th graders, so modeling respect and responsibility is necessary.  If you have any questions about the assignment, feel free to contact me.  Thanks!

Your child will be finishing up our unit in math on Geometry.  Hopefully, your child studied his/her "Geometry Dictionary" to help him/her prepare for the test.  Your will bring home his/her math test at the end of this week or the beginning of next week, so you can see the results of the test.  Once you see his/her test, please sign and return your child's math test.  Please contact me with any questions.  

I will not send home any more paper book orders for the year.  However, if you would like to order any book orders online, feel free to order!  You just need to go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs (or click on the link at the top of the blog) and start the ordering process.  Our class code that you need when you order is: GQLKG.  If you plan on ordering books, please order by Friday, May 10^th, so that I can place the order and get the books delivered by the next two weeks.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask me about it!  Thank you!

Lastly, there will be a 3-hour early dismissal on Wednesday, May 8^th, due to teacher in-service.  Students will be dismissed at 12:25PM that day, so please plan accordingly.

Have a great week!  If you have any questions, please contact me.

Mrs. McCarville

Beautiful Weekend

Hello all!  Wasn't it a beautiful weekend?  I hope that you enjoyed time outdoors, as I am sure many of the students in this class did!  It sounds like reality will hit by mid-week when it is supposed to cool down and rain.  Happy Spring!

On Friday, we had many of our students from our class participate in the "Kid Wind Challenge."  They were to build a wind turbine out of different materials and test the amount of energy and power it generated in a wind tunnel.  The students that participated from our class were Tyler, Ashley, Chance, Hunter, Dylan, Jenaya, Cole, Hope, Ethan, Garret, Cameron, and Jay.  To our surprise, we had 3 teams  rank in the top ten of all the wind turbines built.  These teams generated high amounts of power and energy.  The teams were Ashley and Ethan, Tyler and Garret, and Cole, Hope, and Chance.  Congratulations on your accomplishments!

Your child is bringing home a WEEK long homework assignment for Story Jumper.  Your child is expected to work on Story Jumper 3 times this week.  Please see the sheet and help your child complete the assignment.  The sheet needs to be returned on Friday, May 3rd.  Thanks!

Thanks for all the help with your child's simple machine car!  The students absolutely LOVED racing the cars down the inclined plane and racing for speed and distance.  Cole had the fastest car while Nicole's car went the furthest distance.  Later this week, your child will be bringing home an assessment sheet of their car.  Please look this over and contact me with any questions.  Thanks!

Have a great week!  Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns!  Thank you!

Sincerely,
Mrs. McCarville

Busy Week Ahead....

Hello, hello!  We are nearing the end of April, but unfortunately, it feels like March!  Hopefully this week will not be as wet as last week was.  

This week, all third graders will be taking a field trip for Arbor Day.  On Thursday, April 25th, we will be traveling to the Nature Center in Vernon Springs where the students will be going through several “stations” and will learn many things about nature and wildlife.  Students will not need to bring their own lunch that day, as the school will be supplying the sack lunches.  The field trip will be from 10AM to 2PM, so please see that your child wears pants, tennis shoes, and a coat.  The Nature Center has asked that the students not wear shorts or capris because we may be outside in taller grasses.  If you have any questions, please ask.  Thank you!

KidWind is coming to Cresco!  On Friday, April 26th, our 3rd grade students will be participating in various KidWind activities.  Students will determine how a generator works, generate human power, move a sail car, and test how fast wind is.  Students will also be given the opportunity to build a wind turbine and test the speed of its blades.  Students that enter this challenge will be given a box of blade materials.  They can then build the best set of blades they can and enter them into the instant blade design competition.  Blades will be tested in our wind tunnel.  Students should use what they have learned from our KidWind days so they can apply that knowledge during this challenge.  Not all students have chosen to participate in the competition as this was optional.  I will keep you posted on the results of the day.  How fun! 

Hopefully your child had fun creating his/her simple machines car.  Many of you questioned if the ramp/inclined plane counted as a second simple machine for the car.  The inclined plane was NOT counted as a simple machine as the simple machines needed to be included in or on the car.  We are racing the cars Monday afternoon to see which car can run the fastest and the one that can go the longest distance before stopping.  Then we will race against the other 3rd graders at a later date.  Sounds fun!

As stated last week: Not only does your child have Book Clubs assignments, he/she also has an assignment of publishing his/her draft from writing.  We are publishing our stories on a website titled "Story Jumper."  Your child has a login card for school and also has a login card for home.  YOUR CHILD IS BRINGING HOME ANOTHER COPY OF HIS/HER LOGIN CARD.  You will need to help set up his/her account at home.  I am expecting your child to work on his/her story throughout the next few weeks AT HOME.  MAPS, or MISIC, testing will continue for the next few weeks and we will not have access to a classroom set of laptops for several weeks.  Unfortunately, that means we will not be able to work on the books at school, so students will have to work on them at home.  If your child does not have access to the Internet at home, he/she can come in to the classroom before school at 8:00 AM and work on it during that time.  Your child will have to let me know if he/she is coming in before that morning, so I can plan on him/her being there.  PLEASE SEE THAT YOUR CHILD IS WORKING ON THIS AT HOME, ALONG WITH THE BOOK CLUB ASSIGNMENTS.  BEGINNING NEXT WEEK, I WILL HAVE PARENTS SIGN OFF ON AN ASSIGNMENT SHEET TO INDICATE THAT YOUR CHILD IS MAKING PROGRESS ON HIS/HER BOOK.  If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.  Thanks!

Lastly, there will be a 3-hour early dismissal on Wednesday, April 24th, due to teacher in-service.  Students will be dismissed at 12:25 PM, so please plan accordingly.  Thanks!

Please contact me with any questions or concerns!  Thank you!

Have a fantastic week!

Mrs. McCarville

Where is Spring?

Hello to all!  Another week has passed and we are already at mid-April!  Unfortunately, it does not FEEL like April, so we are hoping for a Spring warm-up soon!

Last week, we began taking the MAPS, or MISIC, tests.  This week on Monday and Tuesday, we are planning on finishing the MAPS tests.  Please see that your child is getting a good night’s rest and having breakfast at home OR at school, so he/she is ready for the tests this week.  Also, like the Iowa Tests, please assure your child that these tests are important and it is important that he/she tries his/her best on the tests.  Your child is also aware of his/her score from the MAPS tests in the fall and has set goals of where he/she would like to score in the spring.  He/She brought home his/her goal sheet on Wednesday last week and I am hoping that it was shared with you.  The students seem to put more effort in to the tests when they are aware of their scores and can create a goal that they are trying to reach.  Ask your child about his/her tests.  Ask your child how he/she is doing on the tests.  Ask him/her how much effort is being put forth.  Just ask!  


Your child is bringing home an assignment for science.  We are finishing up our "Force and Motion"unit in science, and rather than having a test over the information that was learned, we are asking your child to show what he/she has learned in a different way.  Your child will be creating a car using at least two simple machines and then we will have a race to see which car will run the fastest on an inclined plane.  Please see the additional information being sent home about this assignment. 

Later this week, your child will be bringing home a poem to practice for "Poem in a Pocket Day" on Friday.  "Poem in a Pocket Day" takes place on Thursday, April 18th, but we are planning on celebrating it on Friday.  "Poem in a Pocket Day" is where you select a poem you love during National Poetry Month then carry it with you to share with co-workers (yes, even adults do this!), family, and friends.  Your child will be selecting a poem that he/she would like to share with our class on Friday.  We will share and exchange the poems on Friday.  Your child will not have to bring a poem from home, rather will choose one from school, bring the poem home to practice, and be prepared to share it on Friday.  Please listen to your child read this poem to you!  For more information about this day, please click the link below.

                                                               Poem in Your Pocket Day Information

Continue to ask your child about his/her assignments for Book Clubs.  Last week, the class as a whole was much more responsible about completing Book Clubs assignments and bringing his/her materials to class.  However, some students are reading some of his/her assignment but not fully completing it.  PLEASE CHECK OVER YOUR CHILD'S BOOK CLUB ASSIGNMENT AND MAKE SURE THAT HE/SHE IS READING WHAT WAS ASSIGNED.  CHECK EVERY FRIDAY AND MONDAY, AS THOSE ARE THE DAYS BOOK CLUBS ARE ASSIGNED.  YOUR CHILD IS ALSO TO BE WRITING THEIR THOUGHTS ON THE POST-IT NOTES THAT I HAVE PROVIDED THEM.  IF THEY ARE NOT COMPLETING THE POST-ITS, THEY ARE NOT COMPLETING THE ASSIGNMENT.  STUDENTS MUST DO AT LEAST 3 POST-ITS EVERY ASSIGNMENT!  IF HE/SHE RUNS OUT OF POST-ITS, PLEASE REPLACE WITH POST-ITS OR OTHER PAPER FROM HOME.  If your child misplaced any of the information sheets and you would like a copy, please let me know so I can give you another copy.  Please contact me with any questions.  Thanks!


Not only does your child have Book Clubs assignments, he/she also has an assignment of publishing his/her draft from writing.  We are publishing our stories on a website titled "Story Jumper."  Your child has a login card for school and also has a login card for home.  Your child should have brought home his/her login card.  You will need to help set up his/her account at home.  I am expecting your child to work on his/her story throughout the next few weeks AT HOME.  MAPS, or MISIC, testing will continue for the next few weeks and we will not have access to a classroom set of laptops for several weeks.  Unfortunately, that means we will not be able to work on the books at school, so students will have to work on them at home.  If your child does not have access to the Internet at home, he/she can come in to the classroom before school at 8:00 AM and work on it during that time.  Your child will have to let me know if he/she is coming in before that morning, so I can plan on him/her being there.  PLEASE SEE THAT YOUR CHILD IS WORKING ON THIS AT HOME, ALONG WITH THE BOOK CLUB ASSIGNMENTS.  IF NECESSARY, I WILL HAVE PARENTS SIGN OFF ON AN ASSIGNMENT SHEET TO INDICATE THAT YOUR CHILD IS MAKING PROGRESS ON HIS/HER BOOK.  If your child has lost his card to login, please contact me so I can give him/her another one.  If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.  Thanks!

Please contact me with any questions or concerns!  Thank you!

Have a fantastic week!
Mrs. McCarville