Newsletter 4-25-13

Ms. Little’s Third Grade Beacon
April 25, 2013

Upcoming & Important Events:

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

Classroom News:

Molly: Yesterday and last Friday Mr. Fleming came in and did math with us. Last week we did an activity with tiles. Yesterday we worked together as a table group. We were working on perimeter and area.

Logan: We made area and perimeter dream houses in Math. We took a big paper or a little piece of paper. I made mine 10 stories high. On the paper there were little squares. I used all big papers. Then, we had to count the area and perimeter.

Tyler: On Monday we did our spelling test. So first we had to find a partner and the words we practiced over the week. We had lots of weeks to learn the words. If we get all of the words right we get 100 percent. When you are done you put your words in the finished work bin.

Cherokee: In Writing Workshop we wrote We’re Blooming essays. We wrote about what we liked and what was challenging for us in third grade. I really liked it. We showed them at open house. I hope we do it again.

Nathan: We have new morning work notebooks because we basically used our old notebooks up. Here is the first question in our new notebook: There were five ducks in the pond. Each duck laid four eggs. How many eggs did they lay altogether?  We have morning work notebooks because it is easier and it would just waste paper if we used slips of paper.

Madison: In Social Studies we made posters of very important people. My group did Ben Franklin. Our group was Nathan, Logan, Emily, and me. It took a long time because we had to color it and write the important things about that person. Then we presented them to the class. Ben Franklin did a lot of important things. He figured out that lightning was electricity.

David: So far in A Series of Unfortunate Events, Aunt Josephine has jumped out the window and supposedly died. But, she left the Baudelaire orphans a note. The note had lots of bad spelling and grammar mistakes. But, something wasn’t right because Aunt Josephine is obsessed with spelling and grammar. Klaus noticed what was wrong and thought that Aunt Josephine was trying to tell them something. Klaus is trying to find out fast because Aunt Josephine just put them in the care of Captain Sham, aka Count Olaf. What will happen next?

Colin: Mrs. Cohen came in to read to us! She read Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type. She also read Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler. The Click Clack Moo was funny. In Click Clack Moo, cows take a typewriter and write letters to the farmer. And in Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler, the kids got 100 hearts of kindness!

Phaydan: In Social Studies we went to Mrs. Messina’s classroom. We watched social studies movies. They were called Liberty’s Kids. They were about 10 minutes each. In one of them it had Phyllis Wheatley.

Lily: In Time for Kids we read about classical music and a conductor named JoAnn Falletta. She has conducted orchestras. JoAnn is an interesting lady. My mom likes classical music.

Daniel: After lunch last Friday we had rest time. During rest time we could read or rest. We had 30 minutes to read or rest. We could bring a blanket, a pillow, or a stuffed animal. We could rest with one rug square. We got to have rest time for filling up the marble jar.

Jesse: We went to Music and we started Earth Day commercials. We have 4 weeks to do them. My group used drums. Our group hasn’t figured out what we’re doing. Some people are going outside to do it. Next time we go to Music we have to do our video.

Elizabeth: In Art we started the drawing unit. We drew lions. Mrs. Santillo gave us a red paper and a pen. She also gave us pictures of lions. She walked us through step by step on how to draw a lion. Then we had to draw another lion or make a background. Then we got a paper with lines and we had to draw them the best we could. Last, we got a folder to put the drawings in.

Sophia: Last week we had April vacation. We went home Friday and didn’t have school for a week. Some people stayed home. Some people went away! The boys want another week of vacation.

Brenna: We read Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler. We also saw a play of it. It was about being kind. The setting was at school. It was very good. One of the teachers that were in the play was Ms. Laughman. The next one was Mr. Mehigan. It was super.

Jameson: We played relay races at Gym. We had fun.  To play, we have to get the buckets and sprint to the center white line. Then we have to sprint to the back line. Then we bring the bucket back to the beginning.

Ali: The Thursday before vacation we had Open House. For Open House, Ms. Little gave us a list. The list was for the things we should show our parents. One of the things that was on the list was our symmetrical butterflies. If you fold them in half, they are exactly the same. That’s why they are symmetrical.

Seanalee: We went to the Book Fair during Library. I bought two books. One was Sea Creatures and the other one was True Ghost Stories. If you didn’t have money you could read or look around. It was fun to read and look around. Everyone had fun!

Emily: The week before April vacation we went to an assembly. The assembly was about Tigercast News and a Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler skit. The Tigercast News was put on by Mrs. Messina’s class. In the Tigercast news they interviewed preschool, kindergarten, 1^st grade, 2^nd grade, and 3^rd grade. In the Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler play Mr. Mehigan was Mrs. Ruler and it was funny. My teacher in kindergarten was the reader and she read the real book of Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler.

Ms. Little: Thank you to everyone who was able to attend Open House! Students were proud to show families around our classroom and the hard work they’ve done so far this year. Enjoy the weekend.

Newsletter 4-11-13

Ms. Little’s Third Grade Beacon
April 11, 2013

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Thursday, April 11^th – Open House 6:30 – 7:30 PM

·        Friday, April 12^th – Book orders due

·        April 15^th – April 19^th – Spring Break (no school)

Classroom News:

Sophia: Last week in Music we did our Earth Day commercials. We were separated into two groups. We had to make a musical commercial and it had to be about nature. We could use instruments if we wanted.

Nathan: We named key words in Math for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. Here is an example for subtracting: take away. I liked it because it made me think. We had 10 minutes to do it. It was a little hard. A key word for multiplying is product. A key word for adding is plus. A key word for dividing is split.

Logan: We were drawing symmetrical reflective butterflies in Math. We had to draw the other side to make it look the same. We had to color them in. I made two little ones. The other one I made was big.

Daniel: In geometry we learned about perimeter. Perimeter is the length around a shape. We had perimeter homework. There were numbers on each side of the shape and we had to add up all the sides to find the perimeter. We had to write inches, yards, or meters if it says to. We did an activity in class to find the perimeter.

Lily: We are doing people projects in Social Studies. They are not done yet. A people project is a report about an important person. My partners are Daniel and David. We are doing our project on Samuel Adams.

Jesse: We filled up the marble jar and it only took us two weeks to fill it up! When we fill up the marble jar we get to vote on what we do to celebrate. Now we are filling up the marble jar quicker because we get marbles for saying thank you. Today most of us will come up with an idea to celebrate to write on the board.

Elizabeth: Last week in Library we read poems. We read poems because April is national poetry month. Then, we talked about the book fair. After that, we did book check out. Last, we went on the computers and Ms. Little came.

Katie: In Math we made tangram animal pictures. The animal choices were polar bear, horse and rider, zebra, shark, lion, inchworm, goat, salamander/newt. Or you could make up your own picture. Some kids made cheetahs, some kids did different kinds of birds, and other kids did dogs or puppies. We had to use tangram shapes to make the animal and we had to color in all of it and not leave white spaces on the paper. Then Ms. Little hung them all up.

Molly: Today we got new seats. Ms. Little put us in groups. We got to choose a person that we wanted to sit with. My group is Emily, Brenna, Tyler, Colin, and me. We change our seats every month.

Jameson: Last week at Gym we played doctor dodge ball. It is very fun when we play doctor dodge ball. In doctor dodge ball you choose a team and you go to separate places in the gym. You start off on your belly. Then, when Mrs. Hazel dumps the balls, you run to get one. It’s called doctor dodge ball because the doctor has to give you a high five for you to get back in. If someone throws a ball at you and it hits you, you’re out.

Emily: Last week we had two super early release days and two third grade recesses. A third grade recess is when we only have one recess and all the third graders go outside together. The reason we have a third grade recess is because when we have regular days we don’t have all the third graders out for recess, we only have a few. When we have early releases we get out at 12:30. And on early, early releases we get out at 11:25.

Madison: In Writing Workshop we are writing a thesis statement. A thesis is a statement like, “I think kids should speak up for themselves.” And then we wrote why we think that. We come up with lots of ideas for our thesis statements and we’re still making more.

Brenna: We have book groups. We read the same books in our book group. I am reading Nate the Great. Nate is a detective. We have a couple copies so everyone gets their own. We read out loud and then we discuss.

Ali: On Friday someone came in to talk to us about bullying. There were two different types of bullies. The two different types of bullies are meanies and bullies. She also talked about what meanies do. Meanies tease people.

Cherokee: This week we listened to Is Your Mama a Llama? It’s about when a llama asks other animals if their mamas are llamas and they all say no, until the llama meets his friend and asks, “Is your mama a llama?” and she says, “Yes.” I like the story because it is kind of funny. I think other third graders would like it because it’s funny and interesting.

Phaydan: In Math we read Grandfather Tang’s Story. With every picture there was a tangram picture. While Ms. Little was reading she showed us the picture on the Smartboard (it’s not very smart). We got to make it with our tangram pieces. First we made a fox. Next, a rabbit, then a dog, then a squirrel, then a hawk, then a turtle, then a crocodile, then a goldfish, then a goose, and then a lion. My favorite was the rabbit. My second favorite would be the turtle.

Tyler: Last Monday in Art we made things out of cards and gold pieces. First we got some cards and some gold pieces. Then we made stuff up with them. Mrs. Santillo told us to make them up with movable parts. And finally we packed up and went home.

Seamus: This week and last week we had MCAS practice packet. It was a packet with some math questions about multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction. It was hard. When we got it done we returned it. Ms. Little taught us to explain our answers.

Tatyiana: We went to our first grade reading buddies publishing party on Tuesday. They read their stories to us. After they read to us we wrote down a compliment for them.

Seanalee: We made butterflies and both sides had to be the same. We colored the butterflies the same color on both sides. It was fun to do. My butterfly had pink, red, green, yellow, purple, blue, and orange. They had to be symmetrical.

Colin: We’ve had the same spelling words for three weeks. And now, we are having them for 4 weeks! I am bored of these words. I want new words. One of my words is limousine.

Ms. Little: Please join us for Open House tonight from 6:30 – 7:30 PM! This is an opportunity for students to show families the classroom and the hard work they’ve done so far this year. We look forward to seeing all families there!

The Paul Revere Museum comes to Green Meadow School!

Last week, our class had a special visitor from the Paul Revere House in Boston. She helped us reenact many important events that led up to Paul Revere's famous Midnight Ride and the Revolutionary War. Ask your child what part they played!

Newsletter 4-4-13

Ms. Little’s Third Grade Beacon
April 4, 2013

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Thursday, April 4^th – Dismissal at 11:25 for Conferences

·        Friday, April 5^th – Dismissal at 11:25

·        Thursday, April 11^th – Open House

·        Friday, April 12^th – Book orders due

Classroom News:

 Ali: In our book groups after we read we talk about what we read. In my reading group we are reading a book called Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Each time we read we look at the paper with questions on it. The questions on it are discussion starters, like I wonder… I predict… I was surprised when… Each person answers a question.

Seamus: Last week we watched a video about Paul Revere. It taught us about the midnight ride and the Revolutionary War. When it talked about the Sons of Liberty it said that the leaders were John Hancock and Samuel Adams. The Sons of Liberty were a group of colonists that wanted freedom from England. On the midnight ride, Paul Revere rode around telling everyone that the Regulars were coming.

Molly: We read Time for Kids last week and one of the articles was called Too Much Stuff! It was about a girl and a boy who had a lot of stuff. The girl said she saw things on TV and they looked really good, but when she got them they weren’t actually that good. I have a lot of stuff too, and some does not work.

Tyler: Last week in Music we first played Stella Ella Ola. Then we split up into groups of girls, girls, and boys. And whoever didn’t want to play practiced on their recorders. After that we played Doggy Doggy Where’s Your Bone? Finally, we went back to class.

Sophia: In Art last week we made sculptures out of wood. We used wood glue. When we were done we did free draw. Free draw is when we draw whatever we want. I drew a baby.

Phaydan: In Math, we played Division Jeopardy. We had 4 teams. We had to find something we had in common with everyone to make our groups. My group was Elizabeth, Cherrie, Sophia, and Tatyiana. The more fake money the question was worth, the harder it was.

Katie: In Math, we divided by 0 and 1. An example is 0 divided by 1 = 0 and 7 divided by 7 = 1. The rule for dividing with 0 is that everything is 0. The rule for dividing by 1 is that everything divided by itself is 1, and anything divided by 1 is the number you started with.

Colin: We are reading the 3^rd book of A Series of Unfortunate Events. I love books! In this book, Aunt Josephine is afraid of almost everything, from the front step to her car. We have read the 1^st and 2^nd book. Now, we’re on the 3^rd book. Also, Count Olaf has found them again!

David: In Math, we practiced for math MCAS. It was in a packet with three pages. The whole class did it together. The questions were mostly word problems. It was fun. We also have to do one for homework.

Nathan: In Math we had a division test. It was a test that is based on division. There were all sorts of division questions. Here is a question: Divide 30 buttons into 5 bags. How many buttons would be in each bag? I LOVE MATH!

Daniel: We are learning about geometry in Math. Geometry is the study of shapes. We looked at 3-D shapes like cubes, pyramids, rectangular prisms, and cones. We made posters for our shape. We made the posters in groups.

Lily: In Writing Workshop we read Prudence Wants a Pet. We talked about the big idea in the story. I like Prudence because she’s funny. Prudence gets a stick for a pet… it breaks. At the end, Prudence finally gets a pet and she loves it!

Cherokee: In Library Mrs. Patino has us sit down and we talk about stories and we use the computers. Then it’s time for book check out. We watched something about Paul Revere. Then we got to play games on the computer. Then we left to go home.

Madison: We received postcards from Arkansas and Maine. One of our classmates had them sent in. Ms. Little has the person read the postcard at meeting. Then Ms. Little put them with the other postcards. We have a lot of postcards. We need to get all 50 states!

Logan: We played Division Scoot in Math. Division Scoot is a math game. Every minute we scoot. On a little paper on each desk is a math problem. There are big papers that we scoot with and write our answers down on. The other paper we don’t scoot with. 

Tatyiana: We played dodge ball and soccer in Gym. We played soccer with a big ball. Then we switched the ball to a small ball. I love soccer now! You get to play with your friends and have fun.

Jesse: We went to a presentation in the cafeteria. The presenter’s name was Officer Phil and he did magic tricks. He was really funny. He drew a stranger on a white board and he asked us if the stranger should have a bushy mustache or a small mustache and we all said bushy. Officer Phil talked about how we shouldn’t talk to strangers. Phil brought out Cosmo the alien and he kept interrupting. I learned not to talk to strangers.

Elizabeth: On Monday we had extra Gym because we filled up the marble jar. In extra Gym we played doctor dodge ball. When you play doctor dodge ball, you have a team captain and they have to choose people for the team. I was on Madison’s team. And then you pick a doctor and a nurse without the other team knowing. Then you start throwing dodge balls and if you get hit you sit down where you are and the doctor or nurse can come and high five you and you’re back in. If the other team hits the doctor or the nurse then you can’t get back in.

Emily: Last week we learned a new spelling choice. It is Sign Language. When we do Sign Language we have to get a partner. When we get a partner, then we get our spelling notebooks, and then we sit down somewhere and this is what we do. We look at the first letter of the word and show it to our partner in sign language, and then we make all the letters in the whole word. Our partner has to figure out which one of the words on their list we are spelling out.

Seanalee: We learned what homophones are. They are words that sound the same but they are not the same meaning. One example is wood and would. One more is see and sea. We played a matching homophone game. We matched the homophones that meant the same.

Brenna: We have 1^st grade buddies. We read with them last week. We can read to them or they can read to us. We go every other Wednesday. Sometimes we go to Ms. Burns’ class and sometimes they come to us. My buddy is Ann.

Jameson: Last week we went to the Paul Revere Presentation. I was Paul Revere Jr. At the presentation, we learned about Paul Revere and his ride. Everybody had a part in the presentation. I learned that Paul Revere got captured by the British soldiers in Concord.

Ms. Little: Please join us for Open House on Thursday, April 11^th from 6:30 – 8:00 PM! This will be an opportunity for students to show families the classroom and the hard work they’ve done so far this year. We look forward to seeing all families there! Enjoy the weekend.