Plants, Postcards, and a Special Author Visit!

We planted green bean, parsley, chives, and basil seeds and have been tracking each plant's growth. We also learned about different types of soil, the parts of a plant, what plants need in order to grow, and the plant life cycle. Hopefully we'll see some green beans and herbs soon! 

Julie Berry, a well-known and published author, visited our class to teach us about creative writing. We learned the important ingredients of a creative writing piece and how to put them together to make fiction stories people will want to read. We're off to a great start with lots of unique ideas and story beginnings!

We did it! A postcard from each of the 50 states was sent to our class this year. Thank you to friends and family who helped us achieve our goal! 

Newsletter 5-23-13

Ms. Little’s Third Grade Beacon
May 23, 2013

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Monday, May 27^th – Memorial Day (no school)

·        Tuesday, May 28^th – Up Day at Fowler

Classroom News:

Katie: Last week we wrote alphabet poems. There are two kinds of alphabet poems. There is one kind where each line starts with a latter of the alphabet. The other kind of poem is where you write the alphabet in the corner of the paper and whatever letter you use, you cross off the letter in the alphabet in the corner. You have to use all the letters at least once in your poem. So those are the two kinds of alphabet poems.

Seamus: We got to write our own fiction stories about whatever we wanted. It was really fun. Everybody had good stories. My story was called Mango Wars. Mrs. Berry came in to teach us how to do creative writing.

Phaydan: In Science we made parts of a plant posters. First, we read a paper and underlined what we thought was the most important sentence in each paragraph. Next, we got a big paper. After that, we drew a flower and made a background. Then, we wrote the sentence that we underlined and drew an arrow to what part of the plant we were writing about.

Nathan: We learned about four parts of a plant. These are the roots, stem, flower, and leaves. We had to make posters about it. We wrote what every part of the plant does. I think my drawing was good. For example, the stem grows up so the plant can reach sunlight.

Cherokee: In Read Aloud we finished A Series of Unfortunate Events and started a new book called Swindle. It’s about two kids that were having a sleepover and not a lot of people came because they thought that the house was haunted. Then they found an old baseball card when they were in the old house. Then they went to a store to see how much it was worth and the guy who worked there said, “I’ll give you $120 for this,” but the baseball card was worth more.

Colin: In Math we were dividing arrays into groups in books. For example, one question said to find 1/5 of 25 so we did 25 divided by 5 and the answer was 5. There were 17 questions in all. My arrays were tiny. I like math a little.

Seanalee: We finished our essays. My essay was about how everyone should respect nature. I had fun doing it. It was hard to do because there were so many steps. First we had to write an introduction, then mini stories, then a conclusion. Then we wrote our final copy.

Madison: In Gym we ran 4 laps and we had to do 10 sit-ups and 10 jumping jacks and a 5 second plank. Then we played dodge ball with Mrs. Foss’s class. I got Ali out two times. I had a lot of fun. In the middle of the game we had to jump in order to throw the ball.

Jameson: Last Thursday we played recorders in Music. We were recording us playing the recorders. We were playing Pop Goes the Weasel, Jingle Bells, and Starlight, Star Bright. Then, at the end of Music we went to recess.

David: In Math we used to be doing fractions. There is something in fractions called mixed numbers. Mixed numbers are when you take a whole number and add a fraction on the end. For example, 2 ¾ is a mixed number. They were fun.

Brenna: We wrote final copies for our essays. My essay was about how people should be kind. We had to write nice and neat. We took our time. We wrote our final copies on pretty pieces of paper and colored in the border.

Emily: Last week we wrote rhyming poems. The first two we had to do were couplets and triplets. A couplet is a poem that has two lines and they both rhyme. A triplet is a poem that has three lines and the rhyming pattern can be AAA or ABA. The A stands for the rhyming part of the poem. And when you were done with those you could do a quatrain (a poem with 4 lines) or a rhyming poem that’s as long as you want it to be.

Daniel: On Tuesday an artist named Erin Sweeney came. We made little books. We drew our dream house. We also drew a dream store. And we drew ourselves. We are going to put them in cases we made in Art.

Tyler: Last Monday in Art we had some fake flowers in front of us. We had to draw the coolest flower we saw. And then we colored it. Then we made a background. When we were done we packed up and went home.

Tatyiana: Last week at Library we did Type to Learn on the computers. We had to type so we put our fingers on J and F. Mrs. Patino also read a book to us about the presidents.

Molly: Last week we had Math MCAS. We rearranged our desks in lines. Some of us chewed gum. MCAS stands for Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. It was not fun.

Ali: The week before last week we started working on poems. Ms. Little said we needed themes. The themes are so we can write poems about the same things. My theme is Christmas/holidays. So far we’ve written haiku poems, alphabet poems, and rhyming poems that were couplets, triplets, and quatrains.

Elizabeth: We learned about Haiku poems. A haiku poem has 3 lines. The first line has 5 syllables. The second line has 7 syllables. And the third line has 5 syllables. So a haiku poem goes 5, 7, 5.

Lily: Last week we saw our 1^st grade reading buddies. We got new buddies. My partners are 1^st grade Jada and 3^rd grade Brenna. We read two books. The books were very good. We read a book about a dog.

Jesse: Mrs. Copley from the bank came in to talk about money. She brought in money from different countries. She passed them around. She stayed for 20 minutes. I learned that different countries have different types of money and that I should save my money.

Logan: We signed a paper that is going to go on a t-shirt that we will get on the day before the last day of school. We had to write our name on the front or back of the paper. All the 3^rd grade kids will get a shirt. The people print what’s on the paper on the shirt. Have a good weekend. 

Ms. Little: Thank you to families who have contributed shared classroom supplies throughout the year. We are running low on tissues, extra snacks (goldfish, saltines, graham crackers), and pump bottles of hand sanitizer. Any donations would be greatly appreciated.  Enjoy the weekend.

Newsletter 5-9-13

Ms. Little’s Third Grade Beacon
May 9, 2013

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Friday, May 10^th – Dismissal at 11:25

·        Monday, May 13^th – Math MCAS

·        Tuesday, May 14^th – Math MCAS

Classroom News:

Ali: In Music last week people were finishing their PSA projects. Our PSA projects are videos that tell people to protect the environment. Mine is about saving trees. It’s also about recycling. We also had to include music in our video.

Molly: The week before last week we planted green beans. Only 2 plants have started to grow. Ms. Little is growing parsley, basil, and chives. I’m excited to see them grow!

Daniel: In Math we made fraction strips for a game. We rolled a die. We had 1 whole, 2 halves, 4 fourths, etc. We put whatever we rolled on the whole strip. Whoever filled the whole up first won. I did not like it.

Cherokee: Last Friday we went up to Mr. Mehigan’s room to watch a play his class did about Paul Revere and the midnight ride. It was about a person named Paul Revere. He had a family and a wife named Rachel. The British were taxing them for lots of things like tea. Paul Revere had friends named John Hancock and Samuel Adams.

Katie: On Tuesday we changed seats. I sit next to David and Cherrie and also Seanalee. The seats stay like this for a month. Ms. Little changes our seats after school is over. We wait until the next month to change seats again.

Sophia: Last week in Social Studies we watched a Liberty’s Kids episode. In the episode we learned that no one knows who made the first shot at the American Revolution. Don’t you want to know who made the first shot? The unknown shot is called the shot heard round the world. It was such an interesting movie.

Lily: In Writing Workshop we started our introductions. My essay is about smiling. It is important to smile! We also made mini stories. A mini story is a little story about you that you put in your essay.

Nathan: Last week we read my birthday book because it was my birthday! The book was Shrek. I think it was a good book. It was a little weird too. I think everybody liked it.

David: In Math we’re learning about fractions. Something we’re learning about in fractions is equivalent fractions. Equivalent fractions are two fractions that have different numbers but they mean the same thing. An example of this is 1/4 = 2/8.

Logan: In Writing we wrote conclusions for our essays. I wrote: I know one thing for sure, that I will NEVER bully and I will ALWAYS stick up for myself. From now on I will try to make the world a better place. You should listen to my conclusion. If you don’t, you will have a miserable life. Have a good weekend.

Tatyiana: This week we went to Gym. We played dodge ball. We also did bucket stacking. We had to put blindfolds on our partners. It was harder to do because you could not see where you were going.

Colin: We are almost done with A Series of Unfortunate Events. I love that book! In A Series of Unfortunate Events, the Baudelaires find Aunt Josephine in Curdled Cave. Count Olaf gets bit on his fake peg leg by Sunny and it falls off. We only need to read 4 more pages in the book.

Seanalee: In our book groups we got new books. Some book groups didn’t get a new book. My book group is reading Secrets of the Rainforest. We have one chapter left. The book is fun to read.

Phaydan: In Writing Workshop we wrote sloppy copies for our essays. I am doing an essay about how you should listen to others. My essay partner is Emily. Emily is writing her essay about how you should listen to your parents. It’s pretty much the same. 3 people in our group are writing essays about how you should listen to something. Logan is writing his essay about how it’s important to stand up for what you believe in.

Madison: In Library we learned about birthdays. We looked at the American Zodiac. I was a scorpio. Elizabeth was a fish. Daniel was a fish. Colin was a crab. After that we did book check out. Mrs. Patino put out magazines because the teachers were using the library for a meeting.

Brenna: We saw our first grade buddies last week. We are going to get new buddies soon. We read with our buddies. We go on Wednesdays. Sometimes we go there and sometimes they come here.

Jameson: Last week in Math we learned about area. Area is when you count the boxes inside a shape. For example, a shape that is 3 boxes down and 4 boxes across has an area of 12 (square units). You need to know area when you plant a garden so you can have equal spaces and know how big it is.

Elizabeth: In Art we are doing the drawing unit. On Monday Mrs. Santillo taught us how to fix lines we don’t like. Also, she taught us how to draw birds. After we finished drawing 3 birds we could do the eye exercise level 2 or do the owl challenge. The owl challenge is when Mrs. Santillo gives you a picture of an owl and you have to try your best to draw it.

Jesse: We filled up the marble jar and we chose to watch a movie. Everyone got to bring in a movie and we voted on watching The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. In the beginning a 10 year-old boy named David passed a note to a girl named Becky. The note blew away and David chased it into a store and asked the man who worked there if he saw the note and he said no. The man gave him a magical ring. I liked the movie.

Emily: Last week we made May calendars. On the May calendars at the top we had to write May and 2013. Then we have to write Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Then we have to fill in all the dates in the month and add anything we’re doing that’s important to us. Then we get to decorate it and we can draw anything we want on it.

Ms. Little: The Math MCAS will be administered on Monday, May 13^th and Tuesday, May 14^th. There will be no homework given next week. Please make sure your child goes to bed at a reasonable time, eats a good breakfast, and arrives at school on time.  Enjoy the weekend.

Newsletter 5-1-13

Ms. Little’s Third Grade Beacon
May 1, 2013

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Friday, May 3^rd – Dismissal at 12:30

·        Friday, May 10^th – Dismissal at 11:25

Classroom News:

Logan:  We read about parts of soil in Science. The book Soil is about the parts of soil. The pages we read were pages 1 and 2. It talked about all the layers of dirt. It goes like this: topsoil, subsoil, large pieces of rock, and bedrock. Now I know the layers of soil.

Sophia: On Monday we watched a Bill Nye the Science Guy movie about plants and soil. There was a grass-covered car. The movie also showed a Venus Fly Trap. I liked that part. It also showed how the way we breathe helps plants.

Lily: In A Series of Unfortunate Events, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are sailing across Lake Lachrymose. The found Curdled Cave! They found Aunt Josephine, too! She was hiding in Curdled Cave. She thought that she was going to be staying there but she’s not.

David: In Math, we started a unit about fractions. A fraction is a part of a whole. One example of a fraction is 1/10. That means 1 out of 10 pieces of the whole shape. With fractions, it’s always the first number on top out of the second one (the number on the bottom). I think they’re easy!

Daniel: Last week we watched a brainpop video about soil. We also watched a brainpop video about rocks and minerals. In the video about soil it told us about plants and how to plant. In the rocks and minerals video it told us about different rocks and gemstones. Some gemstones are more valued than others.

Phaydan: In Math we played I Have, Who Has? For fractions. On round one I had the card that said “I have 7/9, who has 5/9?” On the second round I had a card that said “I have 4/4.” We played three rounds. I can’t remember the third card I had though. The first card that starts says “Who has ¼?” The last card said “I have ¾ end.”

Cherokee: In Social Studies we have been watching Liberty’s Kids. It tells us about how we became free from England. We watched one about Paul Revere and the Midnight Ride and we also watched one about the Intolerable Acts. It is a nice show and I really like it. It’s fun to watch it. I learned that living back then wasn’t as good as living now.

Nathan: In Writing Workshop we wrote mini stories for our essays. You have to have a thesis if you want to write mini stories. My thesis was “Hard work pays off.” Our mini stories are really good. I think our essays will come out really good.

Molly: Yesterday the fire alarm went off. Everyone lined up. Then we went outside. All of the classes were lined up. It was not for a real fire. The teachers counted us. Then we went back inside.

Ali: In Science we planted green beans. Each person has their own green bean plant. We got to make our own labels so we know whose is whose. None of them have sprouted yet. We put them in topsoil. Topsoil is the first layer of soil in the ground.

Seamus: On Friday we had Gym. We played dodge ball. Before dodge ball we did relay races and our group won. We were the red buckets. I got out a few times.

Katie: Last week we read Time for Kids. It was about elephants. We read all of the paragraphs and all of the pages. Elephants are endangered. They’re getting killed for their tusks. We are trying to protect the elephants. It is very important to protect elephants because they might become extinct.

Seanalee: We received our last postcard! We got Oklahoma, our last one! Yah! Daniel and Colin got them. Colin has two postcards and Daniel has three postcards from Oklahoma. The capital of Okalahoma is Oklahoma City. We’re going to color it pink on our map.

Elizabeth: We filled up the marble jar! We voted on what we were going to do. Most people voted on a movie. We are going to vote on what movie we’re going to watch. We’ll watch the movie on Thursday.

Brenna: We got the idea of making hearts by reading Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler. Kind things that we do are written on the hearts. They are hanging on the wall in our class. I hope to make 100. We can decorate the hearts. An example of something we wrote on a hearts is “I helped a friend pick up pencils.”

Emily: Last week we got new book groups. The new book group I am in is with Sophia and Phaydan. When we were choosing our book groups we had to choose a book instead of the people we wanted to go with. The choices for books were: Does a Whale Have a Belly Button? Animal Shelters, Is a Dolphin a Fish? Freaky Fish, Secrets of the Rainforest, and Underwater Animals. The book that Sophia, Phaydan, and I chose was Is a Dolphin a Fish?

Ms. Little: Thank you to everyone who has donated shared classroom supplies this year. We are running low on tissues and extra snacks (saltines, graham crackers, goldfish). Any contributions would be greatly appreciated! Enjoy the weekend.