Newsletter 10-25-12

Ms. Little’s Third Grade Beacon

October 25, 2012

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Friday, October 26^th – Monster March (8:45 AM)

·        Friday, October 26^th – Dismissal at 12:30

Classroom News:

Colin: In Writing Workshop we talked about dialogue, action, description, and setting. We were pretending each of these were one ingredient of our cake. For example, setting was sugar. If you just have sugar you don’t have a cake. When you have all the parts of the story then you have a cake. Then we started CUPS.

Lily: In Listening to Reading we were listening to Caps for Sale.  In Caps for Sale, a man sells caps but no one wants a cap! He was hungry and tired but he did not have any money for food! But he did not have to have money for a nap. And so he took a nap but when he was asleep he did not see monkeys taking his caps! When he woke up, his caps were gone. He found the caps on the trees with the monkeys. The monkeys copied him and he gets the caps back!

Phaydan: In Math we learned what a bar graph is. A bar graph is a graph that uses bars to show data. Data is the stuff that shows you how many people like what. Like say the bar graph says that 5 people like cats. That would be the data.

Nathan: In Math we added both sides together to compare numbers. If one side was greater than the other number you’d put in a < or >. For example, 1+2 < 3+6 because 1+2=3, 3+6=9, and 6 is less than 9. I like math. It’s fun!

Molly: In Spelling we corrected each other’s tests. We had our spelling test on Monday because we were at Plymouth on Friday. We found out if we got any words wrong. I only got one wrong this week.

Tatyiana: In Music we played drums and the piano. We played songs on them. We also played the flute.

Daniel: In Social Studies we read about how the Pilgrims were building a village. In the time of the Pilgrims it was hard to build a house. They built their houses out of wood. In the middle of the village there was a park called the village green.

Brenna: In Writing Workshop we got out our folders and got new partners. We read one sentence to our partner and they asked us a question or gave us something to make our story better. We worked hard to make a good story.

Katie: When we made our own bar graphs we went around to other people and asked which category they liked best. We chose our own titles. After we wrote our titles we picked four choices and wrote them down on the paper at the bottom. After that, we chose how much a box was worth. Some people counted by one and some people counted by two.

Ali: In Writing Workshop we edited our papers by making paragraphs. If you were changing the subject then that would be a new paragraph. We drew boxes around the sentences that we wanted in each paragraph. That’s how we did our paragraphs.

Seamus: We didn’t have Library last week because we had an assembly. It was so fun when we figured out that we would have Library on Tuesday instead. I can’t wait to go on the computers because my favorite game is Make a Car. One time Nathan and I made a Lamborghini.

Jesse: We received postcards from Indiana, South Carolina, and Japan. We hang our postcards on the door. We collect postcards from all around the world. A couple of weeks ago I got a postcard from Maynard.

Seanalee: In Math we made pumpkin glyphs. Mine was tall and thin. Why? Because if you’re 8 years old you have to make it tall and thin. If you’re 9 you have to make it short and fat. At the end we figured out who’s was who’s.

Elizabeth: In Social Studies we made Mayflowers. We had to cut out a paper Mayflower and glue it on a big blue paper. When we were done gluing we cut out the inside of the ship and Ms. Little stapled it on. Then we colored them. It was fun.

Jameson: At Gym we played on the scooters. It was fun on the scooters. We played Cops and Robbers and we rode around.

Sophia: In Cursive last week we learned the lowercase letters f and k. They look like this: f and k. We started with f. Then we did k. Cursive is fun!

Tyler: On Monday in Art we made masks out of cardboard. We made the masks by cutting pieces of cardboard and gluing the pieces on. After we cut and glued on the pieces we painted the pieces. After we painted we put them on the rack to dry.

Madison: At the fire safety assembly we learned how to be safe around a fire. We learned what to do if a house catches on fire or if it happens to be yours. We learned how to prevent fires from coming. At the end of the assembly they gave us a bag that had a warm or hot pencil and a coloring book!

David: In Math we were estimating sums. We estimated by taking addition facts and rounding both numbers in it. Then we added both of the rounded numbers and saw what we got. It was fun!

Logan: Last week we went to the magazine drive kick-off in the lunchroom. There is a piece of paper with names on it. You bring back the book to school but only if you put other people’s addresses in the book. If your name gets picked out of a hat then you win a prize.

Ms. Little: Thank you to families who donated pumpkins! We are looking forward to using them this Friday for math and science activities.  Enjoy the weekend! J

Newsletter 10-18-12

Ms. Little’s Third Grade Beacon

October 18, 2012

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Friday, October 19^th – Dismissal at 12:30

·        Friday, October 19^th – Book orders due

·        Friday, October 26^th – Monster March (8:45 AM)

·        Friday, October 26^th – Dismissal at 12:30

Classroom News:

Colin: In Writing Workshop we are writing strong endings using description, dialogue, or action. My strong ending is, “Then me and my mom sped down the road to the Bowladrome.” I wrote about bird watching. I never climb the walls at Writing Workshop!

Brenna: In Literacy we do spelling activities. We read to someone or read to self. We have a listening center. We can make a word search for someone. Our new choice is to choose a word and write a definition and use the word in a sentence. We also draw a picture to help understand the word.

Phaydan: In Math we had to add three or more numbers. We had to try to put two numbers together to make ten. First we did one digit numbers. Then we did two digit numbers. After that we did three digit numbers.

Lily: In Writing Workshop we were changing our stories. For example, “The dog likes food.” I would change it to the black dog likes to eat dog food.” I like my story that I’m writing!

Nathan: In Math we practiced adding 2 digit numbers. The only time you can regroup is when single digits go into double digits. For example, 99 + 99 = 198. You would need to regroup when you add the 9s in the ones place. We played a dice game. We rolled 4 times and added up the numbers.

Sophia: In Literacy last week we got a new station. It’s called “Listen to Reading.” When we listen to reading we listen to a story on a CD or tape and then sometimes answer questions.

Madison: When we went to Plimoth we went on the Mayflower II to learn about what their voyage was like. It was weird smelling. We went in where the people slept and it was a warm, quiet place. A bunch of beds and hammocks were inside.  We went inside the captain’s office and in the office there was a chair and a desk. Then we left.

Daniel: Last week we received a lot of postcards. One was from Japan. We are collecting postcards from the 50 states and from other countries. We have collected exactly 100.

Seamus: In Music we sat and practiced our songs. One of the songs we learned was about white sand and gray sand.  At Music we played drums. We also played the maracas.

Tyler: Last week in Library Mrs. Patino read us a story called Nancy. After that we picked out books. I picked out a book called 100 Most Disgusting Things on the Planet. Then we could go on the computer.

Ali: In Math yesterday we drew pictures to solve math word problems. Mrs. Morrison came in and read us a story. It was called Edwina the Emu. Then she said to draw a picture of two cages, and split the twelve emus in the two cages as many ways as we can.

Seanalee: Last week we had 1^st grade reading buddies. The first grade reading buddies came over to our classroom. I read Madeline to my reading buddy. We also read The Cat in the Hat.

Jesse: Last week we went to Plimoth Plantation. When we went to the Mayflower it started raining. At the Mayflower I got to go on a hammock. I also saw a cannon. We also saw Plymouth Rock.

Jameson: Two weeks ago we played a bucket stack relay game. We stuck buckets on buckets on buckets. We also played tag.  This was all happening at Gym.

Elizabeth: We had to write thank you notes to our chaperones for the field trip. Our first sentence had to be “Dear Mrs. Olsen, Mrs. Smith, Mr. Bouffard, or Ms. Little, Thank you for chaperoning our trip to Plimoth Plantation and to the Mayflower II.” Then we had to write two sentences or more about what we learned or liked at Plimoth Plantation. When we were done we could decorate our note. Our last sentence had to be from or sincerely and your name.

Molly: Last week we went to Plimoth Plantation. We learned how the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags way of life were. We saw the insude of wetus and Pilgrim houses. It was really interesting!

Emily: Last week we listened to Alligator Baby on tape. It was about a mom and a dad and a little girl losing their baby at the zoo. First in the book they lost their baby and instead of a human baby they brought home an alligator baby! Then they went back to get their baby but it wasn’t a human baby, it was a seal baby! And then that went on and on, and then the little girl went to the zoo and brought back a human baby instead of an animal baby.  After the book was done we had to write what happened first, in the middle, and at the end, and kind of do a retell about it.

Tatyiana: Right now Ms Little is reading The Witches. We’re in the part when the Grand High Witch turned Bruno into a mouse. I like it because it is funny.

Katie: On October 11, 2012 we saw a movie that was about the Pilgrim voyage. I learned that they had a governor. I liked seeing the Pilgrims build their houses. I also liked seeing the Wampanoags help the Pilgrims live.

Logan: Every Monday we go to Art at the end of the day. We are starting to make masks in Art. First we wrote and sketched out what it was going to look like, and we looked in the name book to see what our name stands for. My name stands for “little hollow and I am very delicate, so do not break me!”

Ms. Little: We are looking for several medium or large-sized pumpkins to use for a math/science project in our classroom. Please let me know if you’d like to contribute one before Friday, October 19^th.  Enjoy the weekend.

Field Trip to Plimoth Plantation 10-12-12

The third grade had a successful field trip to Plimoth Plantation last Friday! 

First, we explored the Wampanoag Village. We sat inside a wetu (Wampanoag home) and explored the area. We learned many interesting facts by asking questions, such as what kinds of food they ate, how they caught fish, how they built mishoons (canoe-like boats), why they had holes in their roofs, and what games they played for fun.

Next, we walked on the path along the Eel River to the Pilgrim settlement. We explored the inside of many Pilgrim homes as well as the meetinghouse. We learned about what kinds of food they grew in their gardens and about the different jobs and chores they had to do each day.

At the end of the day, we visited Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II. We toured the inside of the ship to gain a better understanding of what the voyage was like for the Pilgrims.

Newsletter 10-11-12

Ms. Little’s Third Grade Beacon

October 11, 2012

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Friday, October 12^th – Field trip to Plimoth Plantation & Mayflower II (arrive at school at 7:15 AM)

·        Friday, October 19^th – Dismissal at 12:30

·        Friday, October 19^th – Book orders due

Classroom News:

Ali: Last week we learned about fact families. For example, the fact family for 6, 2, and 8 is 6 + 2 = 8, 2 + 6 = 8, 8 – 6 = 2, and 8 – 2 = 6. To play the game, one person rolled two numbers and the other person finished the fact family.

Nathan: A fact family is basically a group of numbers that + or – and = something, like 6 + 1 = 7, 1 + 6 = 7, 7 – 6 = 1 and 7 – 1 = 6. You just have to put the numbers in different ways like I just did.

Lily: In Math we are learning about mental math. Mental math is when you do math in your mind. The kind we learned was about breaking apart numbers to help us add easier. Mental math is hard but I can make it!

Elizabeth: In Spelling we learned to practice our words with a partner. Practice with a partner means to sit across from each other and read their words to them. Then they answer you. For example, if the word was “shell” they would answer back S-H-E-L-L. If they answered wrong you would tell them the right way to spell the word so they could get it the next time. Practicing with a partner helps us learn how to spell our words.

Seamus: We are reading The Witches. So far the little boy is in the ballroom at the hotel. He is at the grand high witch’s meeting. The witches are in the ballroom with him.

David: Last week in Writing Workshop Ms. Little gave us our writing notebooks. We read our stories, then took our stories from our notebooks and put them in our minds.  Next, we made sure that we had the story right and told it to our partner. Then we wrote it down on special draft paper.

Madison: One day Ms. Little said she was going to teach is a new game that was called Sparkle. It was really fun because I liked knowing that I’m spelling the word right. I liked the part when you get to make someone sit down by saying “sparkle.” We played this game to practice spelling.

Colin: In Social Studies we made little plays. In my group there is Jesse, Logan, Nathan, and me. Our play is about Medusa.

Tyler: We played a game last week to practice skip counting. We counted backwards and forwards. I like counting backwards and forwards because I get better with my math. We counted by 2s and 5s. We stood in a circle and we sat down if we were out.

Emily: Last week in Literacy we had some choices. They were spelling, read to someone, and read to self. We needed to pick one to start on. In spelling we had a lot of choices. I can’t remember all of them but here’s some I can: rainbow writing, partner word search, and write your words three times. In read to someone you have to find a partner and get your book box, then you pick your book and sit EEKK with your partner. Sitting EEKK means elbow to elbow and knee to knee. In read to self we just read quietly to ourselves.

Brenna: When we had picture day it was in the Gym. We all had our pictures taken. We all wore nice clothes. It was fun.

Daniel: In Math we learned about in and out boxes and played an in and out box game. We all had in and out boxes for homework. This is how an in and out box works. Let’s say the rule was +7. If you put 3 in then 10 would come out. Here is an example:

In	20	40	17
Out	30	50	27

Rule: +10

Molly: In Library we got computer accounts. Mrs. Patino showed us how to make one to log on/off. Now we have them so when we go to Fowler we can save things.

Jameson: Last week we played tag at Gym. We played soccer at Gym. Sometimes we play dodge ball at gym.

Seanalee: Last week we learned lowercase b and h for cursive. Now we all know cursive b and h.

Katie: At Music we played the drums and maracas. We were practicing the beat with the drums. We were also practicing the rhythm with the maracas.

Jesse: We received postcards from Alaska, Massachusetts, Idaho, and Wisconsin. We are collecting postcards from all fifty states. We have collected 19 postcards so far.

Tatyiana: Our class took a place value test in Math. Some of us used place value blocks to help.  I love place value now.

Phaydan: Every month we make calendars. First the paper passers give us the calendar papers. Then we write the days on the lines at the top of the calendar paper. After that we write the numbers of the days in the boxes. Then we bring it home to write what we have planned for each day and we have to decorate it with crayon or colored pencils.

Logan: Every Friday we read Time for Kids magazine. It said we are having an election on November 6, 2012. The other one said that farmers need rain for their food, animals, and plants. We read that there was a flood in Kansas and 100,000 people moved. It said there was 6 inches of rain and some people are still there!

Ms. Little: We have started our addition unit in Math. Over the next few weeks, we will be working on adding two, three, and four-digit numbers. It would be beneficial to help your child become automatic with their basic addition facts (0-10), either by practicing with flash cards or aloud at home. Enjoy the weekend. 

Newsletter 10-4-12

Ms. Little’s Third Grade Beacon

October 4, 2012

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Friday, October 5^th – Dismissal at 12:30

·        Monday, October 8^th – Columbus Day (no school)

·        Friday, October 12^th – Field trip to Plimoth Plantation & Mayflower II (arrive at school at 7:15 AM)

Classroom News:

Phaydan: We filled the marble jar last week! We earned the marbles by walking in the hallway quietly. We also earned marbles if nobody gets sent back to their seat at morning meeting.

Katie: On Friday we were rounding. We rounded to the nearest hundred. For an example, 426 would round to 400 because the number in the tens place is lower than 4, so we would round down.

Molly: We finished reading the book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. In the end, Edward returned to Abilene. Then we voted on a new book for read aloud.

Colin: In Spelling we did a word search activity. We made a word search for a partner. You need to write your partner’s spelling words and when you’re done you write random letters in the rest of the boxes.

Ali: In Social Studies we learned about the Wampanoag homes. In the winter they lived in long, sturdy houses called longhouses. In the summer they lived in short round wetus.

Lily: In Writing Workshop we added to our writing. We looked for different kinds of leads in books. A lead is a first bit of a story that grabs the reader.

Tatyiana: I love Art! In Art we are making faces and we are doing idea books. It is fun!

Nathan: On Friday we had an assembly. It was a singing assembly. We sang “America the Beautiful” and Ms. Lilley was in charge of making sure we sang all the words right.

Seanalee: We played a jeopardy game in Math. Our team was called the Maynard Tigers. We were in last place at the end. There were a lot of choices for the categories. One of them was Base 10. We had to use place value blocks on the Smartboard to show the answer.

Seamus: Last Library we read about tall tales. After we did that, we played on the computers. We watched a movie about Johnny Appleseed.

Jameson: Ms. Little moved the desks. I bet it was hard. I have a good spot. I sit next to Katie now.

Sophia: On Friday last week we had a pajama day. We got to wear our PJs to school. We also got to bring a little stuffed animal. We had pajama day because we filled the marble jar with good deeds.

Elizabeth: In Social Studies we drew pictures of Massachusetts state symbols. We drew either four or two symbols. I drew four symbols. They were the Pilgrims, the Red Sox, the Tabby Cat, and the Ladybug. I enjoyed it.

Jesse: We started a new read aloud called The Witches. We just learned how to spot a witch. The witches wear shoes but they have no toes.

Daniel: Last Gym on September 28^th we started with a bucket relay. It was pajama day so we got to run in our pajamas. We finished Gym with practicing dribbling.

Madison: Last week our 1^st grade reading buddies visited us. I have a first grade buddy named Jada. I think we’re getting along great. We’ve read lots of books together and I can’t wait to read more!

Emily: Last week we had to take spelling tests. Ms. Little paired us up with another person. Then we got a rug square and found a place to sit. The person that went first had to give their list to the other person.  So the person said the words out loud and the other person wrote them down.

Logan: Last week we started collecting postcards. I just got two. One was from Pennsylvania and one was from Buffalo, New York. We read them every day at meeting. After meeting, Ms. Little tacks them on the door. On the door we have about 30 now. It is fun collecting postcards. I was waiting so long for just one but now I have two so that is great. We all have a map and we color in the state where the postcard is from. We keep our map in our unfinished work folder.

Ms. Little: We have started our addition unit in Math. Over the next few weeks, we will be working on adding two, three, and four-digit numbers. It would be beneficial to help your child become automatic with their basic addition facts (0-10), either by practicing with flash cards or aloud at home. Enjoy the weekend.