Thanks for helping us prepare for our voyage! Packing: Please use the packing list to pack for our voyage. There will be no gear check this year. If a child is missing an essential item, it will be the parents’ responsibility to drive the missing item to Id Ra Ha Je. All gear should be brought with students on Tuesday, August 23rd. *Also please pack with your child, so he or she knows what items are packed. Meds on Voyages: If your child has medications to take on the voyage, do not forget to fill out paperwork and bring these into the office the week prior to our voyage. |
Crew Learning Expedition: This week, we have been building more understanding about the REMS character traits: Stewardship, Perseverance, Beneficence, Empathy, and Integrity. We use these as the guidelines and expectations of how we act. HINTS AT HOME: Tell me about how you used a character trait today. | Writing/Language Workshop: To generate more ideas, we have been talking about where writers get their ideas from. Also, we did a review of punctuation marks and why they are important to writing. In language workshop, students have done a great job of identifying the features of a Robert Munsch short fiction story. Now we will are building our understanding in order to write our own Robert Munsch story. HINTS AT HOME: What ideas do you have for your Robert Munsch story? What did you notice about his stories? |
Math: Our math unit has been taking us on a review of how to use resources, such as the Student Reference Book and mathematical tools. Also, we are using tally charts, line plots, and bar graphs to show data. HINTS AT HOME: Refresh skills of telling time using a clock: What time is it? What time will it be in 15 minutes? | Reading Workshop: Building on the phrase “Reading is Thinking,” we noticed how we are always thinking when we read, whether it is predicting what will happen next, connections you can make to the story, and so forth. It was easy for students to identify (with stickie-notes) where they were doing good thinking, but they found it was more challenging to write this thinking down. We will continue to work on this. HINTS AT HOME: Set a routine for 3rd graders to be reading every night. Ask them what they are thinking. |
Picture Day: TOMORROW Friday 8/12.
Back to School Picnic: Join us TOMORROW for a picnic Friday, August 12 from 4:30-7. Tickets are $5 per person (adult or child). See you there!
Updates about Cursive: As a school, we have reviewed our decisions about whether cursive writing instruction lives in our curriculum anymore. In years past, cursive writing was taught in 3rd grade classrooms. Cursive is no longer listed in our state standards for third grade - we are not expected to teach it or spend class time on it. It is a challenge to incorporate all the new standards and essential that we align our time with the state expectations. Since we are not devoting instructional time to cursive it would be inaccurate to call it 'homework'. However, we could look at it as an opportunity for an independent study if your child is excited about learning cursive writing. So, we put our heads together and brainstormed a few ways that we could support that independent study, if you choose, and below I have listed a few options for you.
There are a few options for you to choose from. If you would like, we can continue to upload scans from the resource we have, and you can print those at home and have your child practice. (Please email me if this is your preference). Alternatively, if you would like to purchase the resource we use so that your child can practice, we can purchase that cursive booklet for you for $7.50. If you would like to purchase the book, please let me know and send a check to school (made out to Renaissance) by Friday, August 19th. There are also many cursive resources online-- doing a quick Google search should yield many results.
We are sorry for any confusion this may have caused-- we will no longer assign cursive homework or expect it to come back to school for review. I know that several students are excited for learning cursive, and they can pursue this as an"independent study" at home. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Scholastic Book Orders: All book orders are placed ONLINE (no cash/checks please). Go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs and register. Our Class Activation Code is GP449. You can select books and the orders will come directly to our classroom. The best part is that for every book ordered online, we get a FREE book for our class library!
Spelling: Our crew decided it would be easier to send spelling lists home on Thursday, so look for them with Thursday folders.
Boot Camp: Students came home excited on Wednesday, after getting pumped up about Boot Camp. This is a new fundraiser we will be doing. Your children are to find sponsors for the "Boot Camp" we will have on Friday, September 9th. They will then be entered to win prizes and will have a fun couple of hours that Friday doing all kinds of physical challenges. Look for more information coming home in your child's backpack today!
Dogs at Pick-Up: As much as I would love to see furry friends, it is a district policy not to have dogs on school grounds during pick-up. Thanks!
Morning Meeting: School doors open at 8:30, so that your child can be in the classroom ready to start morning meeting when the bell rings. Students will be marked tardy after 8:40. Thanks for having your child to school on time for Morning Meeting!
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