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.

Newsletter 3-28-13

Ms. Little’s Third Grade Beacon
March 28, 2013

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Friday, March 29^th – Dismissal at 11:25 for Conferences

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

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

·        Friday, April 12^th – Book orders due

Classroom News:

Molly: In class we read a book called Fireflies. It was about a boy who caught fireflies and put them in a jar. Then the boy took them home. He went to bed, but the fireflies stopped glowing so he let them go to their habitats. We talked about the big idea. It was to respect nature.

Colin: We finished the 2^nd book of A Series of Unfortunate Events. We moved onto the 3^rd. The orphans have a new guardian: Aunt Josephine. We watched the movie a couple of weeks ago. I love books because they have excitement to them. I love the third book!

Seamus: Last week we filled the marble jar. We voted on several things. A few people were not here so we are going to vote again. The things that won are extra gym and pajama day. More people chose gym than pajama day.

Tatyiana: At Art last week we made mazes with swirls. You cannot have a start or an end. We used swirly lines to make the Irish mazes. It was very hard. Some people made mazes and some people made snakes when they were done.

Katie: We watched a video about the Revolutionary War. It was violent in some parts because it involved weapons. The video started with a talk about the Revolutionary War. Then we got to the Boston Tea Party part. It was about when the colonists threw English tea into the ocean. The colonists got unfair taxes.

Madison: In Library we are learning about the 13 colonies. There were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. After we talked about that we could either play on the computer or look for a book. If you look for a book it’s called book check out. After that, we wait until Ms. Little comes and when she does we line up and go home.

Nathan: We looked at our writing under the document camera on the Smartboard. We saw our answers for the open response on the MCAS practice sheets. We used a rubric to grade them a 1, 2, 3, or 4. 1 was the worst and 4 was THE BEST. To get a 4 you have to restate the question, answer the question completely, and use a lot of details from the story.

Elizabeth: We played a game called the synonym game. Ms. Little cut out cinnamon bun papers and put them in bags. We had to find a partner and put the cinnamon buns out on the table. Then we flipped them over, and then picked up two synonyms to see if they matched. If they matched (like “fast” and “quick”) you put them in a pile and if they didn’t, you put them back down.

Lily: We read The Snow Walker. It was a good story. In the story, the boy has to get milk but he is caught in a snowstorm so he makes snowshoes. It’s not easy to go out in a snowstorm. It had good pictures.

Daniel: We had Music last week. First we learned how a music staff works. A music staff has 5 letters. They are e, g, b, d, and f. A good way to remember is Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. Then we practiced recorder. Last, we played The Button and the Key. We played three rounds.

Tyler: Last week in Gym we went back into China and played some games from there. First, we played a bucket stacking relay race. After that, we played tag with some tennis balls. Then, we got in line and we did some laps around the gym. Finally, we went back to class.

David: During Literacy we started learning about prefixes and suffixes. A prefix is extra letters that you put in front of a base word that changes its meaning. A suffix is the same thing except you add the extra letters at the end. There are certain spelling rules for that though.

Sophia: We had MCAS last week. We read stories and answered questions about them. Our desks were separated. We read books if we finished before the time was up. On Thursday, we all finished early. Then, we played Flinch.

Cherokee: We started a new unit in Writing Workshop. It’s called the Essay unit. We have partners for it. My partner is Sophia. We have to read little essays and then make up a title for it. This week or next week we are going to start writing our own essays. It is fun to do it at Writing.

Phaydan: In Writing Workshop we have new partners for our Essay unit. My partner is Emily. We had to read an essay and then come up with a title for it. There were 4 different essays. Emily and my titles were “Everyone Makes Mistakes,” “Be a Friend,” “Hard Work Pays Off,” and “Stand Up for What You Believe In.”

Logan: We read The Doorbell Rang in Math and in Listen to Reading. In the story, 2 people were going to split 12 cookies. Then, the doorbell rang and 2 more people came to share the cookies. The doorbell rang again and 2 more people came to eat the cookies. Then, the doorbell rang and 6 more people came to eat the cookies. At the end, the doorbell rang and it was Grandma with more cookies to share.

Emily: Last week we worked on Cursive. In Cursive we learned the letter U in uppercase. This is what the letter U looks like:

Before we learn a new letter in Cursive we get out our white boards and then learn the letter. Then we practice it on the white board and then on the paper.

Ali: Last week we worked on antonyms. Antonyms are words that mean the opposite. For example, up and down are antonyms. Antonyms and synonyms are opposites. Synonyms are different words with the same meaning.

Jesse: We had a publishing party after we finished writing our realistic fiction stories. Our parents came in and they read our stories. Some people went up and read their story. Some of the people who did that were Phaydan, Cherrie, Madison, Sophia, and Brenna. We had a comment sheet because the parents read the story and left a comment and their name. Then after some parents took their kids home.

Brenna: We learned how to play Flinch. How you play is someone would stand in the middle and could pretend to throw the ball to you. We stand in a circle. The person with the ball might throw it or they might not. If you flinch, you’re out, and if you don’t catch it if they really throw it, you’re out. It’s ok to get out.  It is really fun.

Seanalee: We learned how to play the Syllable Game. This is how you play. Somebody goes in the hallway. The rest of the class stays in the room and chooses a word. Someone chose “impossible” so we broke it up into syllables. This is how to break it up: im-pos-si-ble. Everyone decides which syllable they will say if they get pointed to. Then the person in the hallway comes in and points to someone and they say their syllable, like “im” and the next person they point to says theirs, like “si” and the person keeps pointing to people until they figure out the whole word.

Ms. Little: Thank you to families who attended our Publishing Party on Friday! We were proud to share the hard work we put into writing our realistic fiction stories. Also, spring conferences are scheduled for Friday, March 29^th and Thursday, April 4^th. Please let me know if you need to change the date and/or time of your conference and we can reschedule. Enjoy the weekend.

Newsletter 3-14-13

Ms. Little’s Third Grade Beacon
March 14, 2013

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Friday, March 15^th – Book orders due

·        Friday, March 15^th – Dismissal at 12:30

·        Tuesday, March 19^th – English Language Arts MCAS

·        Wednesday, March 20^th – English Language Arts MCAS

·        Friday, March 22^nd – Dismissal at 12:30

·        Friday, March 29^th – Dismissal at 11:25 for Conferences

Classroom News:

Madison: We have first grade buddies. They read with us last week. My buddy is Demetri. He read a book to me. It was called Railroad Toad. The book was about a toad that traveled. And then he read a counting book. He was good at reading.

Lily: We read Time for Kids last week. Time for Kids, or TFK, had an article about healthy foods. There was a bunch of food! I liked that article. After we read, we answered questions. It’s fun reading Time for Kids.

Jameson: We did not have Gym last week because of the snow day. The week before we practiced hockey at Gym. Everyone got a hockey stick. We played tag. People had a ball and chased other people that did not have a ball. The people tagged you with the ball.

Molly:  We finished A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was about kids who have a bad life. The kids’ names are Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. Count Olaf is a villain who wants the Baudelaire fortune. Count Olaf murdered Uncle Monty, the Baudelaire’s uncle.

Cherokee: We have a new job. It is called Poet of the Week. It is a nice job. What you have to do is every time at morning meeting you choose a poem you want to read. Then you read it out loud, and then everyone reads it together and we talk about it. This week I’m the Poet of the Week. It is a fun job!

Seamus: Last week we had a snow day. We were going to have Gym but the snow came and we did not have school. Most kids played in the snow. Some kids played indoors. On Monday we came back to school.

Katie: Last week we wrote division word problems. Here is an example: There are 14 bananas but only 7 people. How many bananas will each person have if they are shared equally? You had to use key words when you wrote your problem like equal, each, share, split, and divide.

Jesse: We did an MCAS practice sheet by ourselves. It was called The Big Orange Splot. It begins when a seagull drops a can of paint and everybody was stressed. The seagull dropped the can of paint on a man’s house. His name was Mr. Plumbean. The next morning he painted his own house but everybody else still had the same houses and they were mad. In the story he bought an alligator and a hammock. The lessons in the story were you can’t change someone’s personality and to respect other people’s differences.

Phaydan: On the first week of March we made March calendars. We first got a paper from the paper passers Elizabeth and Cherrie/Cherokee. After that we wrote our names and March at the top. After we wrote in the little rectangles the names of the days: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Then we wrote the numbers in the squares. Last we wrote what we are doing in March in the right square.

Nathan: On Monday we cut out triangles that had multiplication and division facts on them. There were 36 of them! There are 3 numbers on each triangle: 1 big number, 1 small number, and another small number. To use them, you cover up the big number if you want to do multiplication and the other person solves that problem. If you want to do division you cover up one of the small numbers and the other person solves that problem.

Logan: We read I Wanna Iguana. It was about a kid that is named Alex. He is begging his mom to get an iguana by writing notes. Then his mom said to look on his dresser. He looked on his dresser and there was an iguana on his dresser.

Tyler: Last Monday in Art we made snakes in the grass. First we got a cardboard piece. Then we got some tape and some string and we taped the string and we wrapped it around the cardboard to make grass. Then we cut out a snake, and then we put it in the grass. Then we left for dismissal.

Ali: In our Writing Workshop stories we made About the Author pages. An About the Author page is something to tell you about the person who wrote the book. In the About the Author usually people write about what they like. They also write about what they do in their free time. Then we drew a picture of ourselves at the bottom.

Elizabeth: Last Wednesday we had Library. In Library, Mrs. Patino read us stories about women who helped America. She read that because March is Women’s History Month. She read us two stories. When she finished reading we went on the computers and checked out books.

Tatyiana: Last week we went to Music. We played on our recorders. We played Jingle Bells, we played pages 9 and 10, and then we went to another station. We played a game and then our teacher came so I said bye to Miss Lilley.

Emily: Last week we got new seats. There are three groups of desks. I’m sitting with Ali, Phaydan, Lily, David, and Daniel. My friends Molly and Madison are sitting at a different table. They’re sitting with Brenna, Jesse, Logan, Seamus, Sophia, Katie, and Jameson.

Brenna: We saw a drumming performance last week at the cafeteria. It was loud. Very loud! It was two girls from a drumming group. They played all kinds of drums. I liked watching it.

David: In Math we started learning about fact families. A fact family is a group of 4 math problems all with the same numbers. One example is:

7 x 10 = 70

10 x 7 = 70

70 / 10 = 7

70 / 7 = 10

We started fact families in first grade. You can also use fact families with addition and subtraction. Here’s an example:

5 + 5 = 10

5 + 5 = 10

10 – 5 = 5

10 – 5 = 5

Seanalee: In Math we played a dice game to practice fact families. We rolled two dice. For example, if I rolled a 5 and a 6 my partner would need to find the third number in the fact family. They would find it by doing 5 x 6 and 30 is the answer. Then we wrote the fact family.

Sophia: In Literacy we learned about contractions. Contractions are two words put together, then you take away a certain letter and in its place you put an apostrophe. We worked on contractions for a few minutes and wrote some in our notebooks.

Ms. Little: The English Language Arts portion of MCAS testing will be administered the 19^th and 20^th of March. There will be no homework assigned during that week. Also, spring conference reminders were sent home in your child’s backpack folder last Thursday. Please let me know if you need to change the date and/or time and we can reschedule. Enjoy the weekend.