Mrs. Adkins’ Class

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 28                    sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                          May 29, 2009

Hello Parents!  This will be my final Newsletter of the year!  It has hard to believe that we have already reached this point.  This was the last week of our reading series, so no more reading, spelling, or grammar tests.  Next week we will wrap up our math and science units, and we are so busy that last week of school, there is not much time for teaching/learning.  But I will be sure to squeeze in some things!  I hope that you have gained some insight into what your child’s school day is like from these Newsletters, and that in the years to come, you will continue to discuss these things with your child, even without a Newsletter.  This has been a terrific group of kids.  I enjoyed working with them, and I will miss them very much.  You have also been a great group of parents, and I encourage you to continue to stay involved in your child’s education.  We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our final story was a suitable one, called Home-Grown Butterflies.  Since we are currently growing our own butterflies, the connections the kids made were abundant.  In fact, the butterflies started hatching yesterday, and the kids were so excited to see them come out.  We will hold onto them for about a week before we let them go.  It was interesting to see how such a project works in the jungles of Costa Rica, and the variety of butterflies they grew were amazing!  We spent time working on drawing conclusions, and multiple-meaning words (homographs).  For the next two weeks during our reading time, we will meet as a whole group and read the novel Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary.  We have already read the other two books in this series during our read aloud time, The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Ralph S. Mouse and I have enough copies for each child to have their own.  I always enjoy reading this book with the kids as it lends itself to great discussions and lots of new vocabulary words!

Language Arts ~ Our final grammar lesson of the year was on combining sentences with adjectives and adverbs.  This class has always done well with combining sentences, so hopefully this will be a strong lesson to end the year on.  During our writing time, the kids have been finishing up their original fairy tales.  Hopefully the kids will finish up their final copies today, and then we can share them with each other next week.  Be sure to ask your child about their fairy tale if you haven’t already!

Math ~ It was an interesting week for math.  We started with finding compatible numbers to estimate quotients, then we moved on to basic long division, to harder long division lessons yesterday.  Today we worked on determining exactly what the remainder means in story problems.  I gave the kids a quiz on Wednesday afternoon to see how they were doing with this chapter so far, and it was very insightful for me to see so many kids do poorly.  So I started our class yesterday with a challenge problem for the kids who did well on their quiz, and I spent time with the rest of the class reviewing the quiz.  I retaught the lessons, then gave the children an opportunity to take another quiz.  I wrote one on the board, and they completed it on the back of their original quiz.  Some did better, some need more help, so I will continue to work with the kids on this concept next week.  Please look for this quiz.  If your child has not done well, any help you can provide at home will be greatly beneficial and appreciated.  The kids will take their final math test on chapter 22 next week on Friday.

Science ~ We finished up our chapter on forces and motion this week with our final lesson on simple machines.  The kids’ received a paper showing examples of all six machines, and they will need to learn these for the test.  We did an experiment to find work using a simple machine, and we did the same experiment without the inclined plane.  Ask your child about that experiment!  We read through our final chapter yesterday, and the kids are ready for their test.  Our final science test on forces and motion will be next week on Thursday, June 4.  Their review is due the day before, Wednesday, and the assignment is page F86, numbers 1 – 20.  As always, the answers need to be written in complete sentences. 

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies class we described the effects of physical processes in shaping landscapes.  We learned that different kinds of changes affect the Earth.  We looked at various environments including climate, landforms, natural resources, and natural hazards.  We will continue reading and discussing chapter 6 the next two weeks.

Other Areas of Interest:

·         In the next two weeks we will be celebrating our summer birthdays.  Maria will turn 9 on June 28, and Kevin will turn 9 on July 22.  We wish them both fabulous birthdays, and we are happy to celebrate with them a bit early.  Happy birthday Maria and Kevin!

·         Looking ahead to our final weeks of school, there are some important dates you should be aware of:  Our Honor’s Assembly will be Tuesday, June 9 at 9:30, and all parents are welcome to attend.  This year, all the students in my class will be receiving an award for Book-It at the assembly.  Some of the other awards given at this assembly for third grade include citizenship, perfect attendance, and improved reading.  Wednesday, June 10 is our field day in the afternoon.  Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately, and feel free to send along some sun block for your child if you like.  There is no school on Thursday, June 11 as it is a teacher institute day, and the kids’ last day is Friday, June 12.  They will be dismissed at 9:15.

·         This week has been Physical Disabilities Week.  We have had a donation box in our room, and it remains empty.  We will be collecting for it next week as well, and we ask that you please be generous and donate money for this fund.  We have a student at our school with muscular dystrophy who we are trying to help, and this hits close to my heart as I have an uncle with MD and I shared my story with the kids.  Please donate!

That’s it for third grade!  We have had an amazing year together, and I look forward to watching your children grow up here at Pennoyer in the years to come.  I want to extend a special thanks to my parent volunteers who came in on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis to help out with our reading groups.  You guys were terrific!  Miss Wierzgac will be getting married tomorrow, so our thoughts are with her on her special day.  The weather is supposed to be good, fortunately!  I wish you all a fabulous summer, and I look forward to working again with those of you who have younger children in the future.  And of course, remember to keep your child reading this summer!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 27                    sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                          May 22, 2009

Hello Parents!  What a terrific week we have had!  The circus day on Tuesday was so much fun.  The kids did a terrific job as circus performers, and we couldn’t have asked for better weather.  I hope you heard all about Cirque AmongUs!  We visited their web site on Wednesday during our computer time, and the kids got to see pictures of themselves.  Their goal was to get a picture of everyone in the school, and I think they must have accomplished their goal.  Feel free to visit this site with your child if you have a chance.  Although the weather is lovely, lots of children are getting sick.  We ended up with only 13 children in our classroom yesterday afternoon and today!  If your child has a fever or is vomiting, please keep them home.  They are dropping like flies around here!  We were able to attend the band/chorus concert this morning, as well as see the fifth grade roller coasters.  Third grade was asked to stick around after the concert so the kids could be introduced to the various instruments.   They are invited to play next year, and an information sheet was sent home in your child’s papers today. Please consider having your child join this fun group.  We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story this week was a biography about a woman named Helen Frances Theresa Delaney Martini, and the story was called Mother to Tigers.  This woman was the first woman to start a nursery at the Bronx Zoo, and she ended up saving many babies that otherwise would not have survived.  It was a good story, and I hope you enjoyed it with your child this week.  For our skills, we focused on author’s purpose, and we spent some time reviewing the three reasons that authors write books – to inform, persuade, or entertain.  I was surprised at the confusion I saw with this concept, as it is something we have gone over previously.  So I was able to spend some extra time during our groups this week to make sure the kids truly understood author’s purpose.  Hopefully they got it now!  Our kids were introduced to a woman named Jane Goodall through their fluency read this week, and one of the reading groups read a biography about her.  She has lived in Africa among chimpanzees, and I had a rare opportunity to share some interesting insight about her with the kids.  My sister works for the Nature Conservancy, and one of the programs she is in charge of is called Adopt an Acre.  My sister produced a short film on the disappearing of trees in Africa (yes, she got to go to Africa to research her film) and she met Jane Goodall and another woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize (can’t remember her name though).  I showed the short clip to the kids yesterday, and they got to see Jane Goodall interviewed.  This was a terrific way to bring this issue home to the kids, and they appreciated my sister’s work on the video.  Please ask your child about this!

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this week was on adverbs that tell when or where.  I created my own test for this one as the one in our book only had five questions, and I was delighted to see the attention that was paid to the directions. J During our writing time this week, the kids worked on their original fairy tales.  Please ask your child to share with you what their fairy tale is about if they have not already.  I can’ wait to read them!

Math ~ The kids finished up chapter 11 on Wednesday with a test that is included in their Friday papers they took home today.  I was pleased with how they did, and I feel that they now have a strong foundation in division in which to build on for long division.  We started our final chapter yesterday, chapter 22 on long division.  We started by practicing using basic facts to divide larger numbers, and finding remainders.  We will get to the meat of long division next week.  I am so proud that Michael, Kasper, Marcin, and Sarah all passed their multiplication timed test this week.  Good work, guys!  Please make sure that your child continues to practice their flashcards occasionally in order to maintain their multiplication skills.

Science ~ We learned about work this week in science.  Please ask your child to give you the scientific term of work.  The kids completed an experiment on Monday in which they had to multiply distance times force to find work.  Ask your child about some of the items they measured!  Yesterday we created three new vocabulary posters, and we worked on another FQR think sheet.  The bridges have been on display in the MPR all week, and they will be sent home next week.  Please look for a letter from me describing how and when this will happen early next week.

Social Studies ~ This week in social studies we learned that geographers study Earth and its people.  We identified and compared the human characteristics of selected regions.  The four regions discussed were: the Northeast, the South, the Middle West and the West.  Texas is the only state that has three of these regions.  Finally, we used a grid map to find exact locations.  We learned how to use a number and letter grid to find specific locations on a map.

Other Areas of Interest:

• Today we celebrated Shane’s 9^th birthday.  His actual birthday is this coming Sunday, and we were delighted to celebrate with him a couple of days early.  Happy birthday Shane!
• I forgot to mention our new friends we have in our class!  Last week we obtained ten caterpillars, and we have been watching them grow all week.  Yesterday most of them formed their chrysalis, and that was a fascinating process for the kids to watch.  Within 7 – 10 days they will come out as butterflies, and the kids just can’t wait to see that happen. 
• The field trip permission forms and money are due to me by next week on Wednesday.  Please make sure that gets turned in so that your child can enjoy this unusual experience we are in for on the Tall Ship Windy.

That‘s it for now!  It is hard to believe that Memorial Day is already here!  The kids are talking about the local pool opening this weekend, and it sure does feel like the official beginning of summer.  Next week is our final week for our reading, spelling, and grammar program, and it will be the final Newsletter I will write for the year.  I wish you all a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, and remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 26                    sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                          May 15, 2009

Hello Parents!  We have had a terrific week together!  The bridges turned out amazing, and I hope you were able to make it in this afternoon to view them.  The kids should be proud of their hard work.  I plan to leave the bridges in the MPR for a week or two so the whole school can admire them, and I will send home a letter when they are ready to be taken home.  This week we have run out of tissues in our classroom!  I have never actually run out before.  If you happen to have an extra box at home that you wouldn’t mind sending in, we would sure appreciate it.  Allergy season is here!  We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story this week was a nonfiction news article titled An American Hero Flies Again.  It is the story of John Glenn, the only astronaut to fly into space twice, and 37 years between flights!  I shared with the children my own memories of the Challenger that blew up in the 1980s with the teacher on board, as well as the one that exploded upon reentry about 6 years or so ago.  Those were terrible tragedies that happened, and I wanted the students to be clear about the challenges that NASA faces when they send someone up into space.  Please share any memories you might have of space missions with your child.  One of our skills we focused on this week was on problems and solutions.  I shared with the kids an article I found in the Sun Times about a teenage who racked up about $6,000 in charges from texting in one month.  I thought this would be a good article for them to read and identify the problems and solutions that go along with such a situation.  Plus hopefully it will make them aware of the price of texting if they aren’t already.

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this week was on adverbs.  We learned about adverbs that tell where, when, and how.  The adverbs that tell how end in –ly, so those were easy for the kids to identify.  Please make sure you look for the kids’ grammar test from last week.  I wanted to identify who takes the time to read directions, as that can often impact the kids’ grades if they are not doing a test or assignment correctly.  Please discuss with your child the importance of always reading directions.  During our writing time this week, we worked on original fairy tales.  I had a short clip from the movie Happily N’ever After that discussed the various parts of fairy tales, and the kids even took a quiz that was on there.  Ask your child if they remember some of the questions!  The kids will start writing out their own original fairy tale next week.

Math ~ We have finished up chapter 11 on division this week.  We will review on Monday, but as we have our big circus day on Tuesday, the test won’t be until Wednesday.  Straight from there we will go into chapter 22 on long division.  The kids have done really well with this chapter, and I am looking forward to good test results next week.  Congratulations to Dylon for passing his timed multiplication test this week!  He worked extra hard to accomplish this goal, and we are all proud of him.  The others are getting close!

Science ~ We spent time on Monday learning more about motion with Bill Nye the Science Guy.  He is a fabulous scientist who has made science movies on a variety of topics.  I stopped the movie every few minutes for the kids to turn and talk about what they learned.  They particularly liked the concept of “butt boarding.”  We spent yesterday and today displaying our bridges.  Job well done!

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies class we took a break from our social studies book and began to research the fifty states.  We identified their locations, and we found facts about the states along with their abbreviations.  Next week we will return to the books and begin working on Chapter 6, “Thinking Like a Geographer”.

Other Areas of Interest:

• On Monday we celebrated Jessica’s 9^th birthday.  It was her actual birthday, and we were delighted to celebrate with her.  Happy birthday Jessica!
• On Tuesday we celebrated Sarah’s 9^th birthday.  Tuesday was also her actual birthday, and we enjoyed our celebration with her.  Happy birthday Sarah!
• Yesterday we celebrated Fatima’s 9^th birthday.  It was her real birthday, and we were all excited to celebrate with her.  Happy birthday Fatima!
• Whew, what a lot of birthdays we had in one week!  I’m not one to talk though, as my own daughter’s birthday is tomorrow.  (She will be 6.  Happy birthday Paige!)  Great time of year to be born, I suppose!
• Cirque AmongUs is this Tuesday.  If you are volunteering, the information meeting is Monday night in the MPR at 6:30.  I really haven’t received much information about this day, other than the kids will be learning circus tricks in the morning and putting on a show in the afternoon.  It is an all day event.  Please make sure your child is wearing comfortable shoes that day, not flip flops or sandals.  Also, if your daughter chooses to wear a dress or skirt, please put shorts on underneath.  It should be a really fun day.

That’s it for now!  Spring fever has hit hard around here, and the kids have become awfully antsy.  I still have lots left to teach them in third grade though, so please take time to remind your child about their behavior in school.  The year’s not over yet!  I wish you all a wonderful weekend, and remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 25                    sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                          May 8, 2009

Hello Parents!  What a beautiful week we have had!  The kids have been thrilled to not have to wear their coats outside for recess.  We stayed inside Wednesday due to the police activity so close by that was in the news, and I think we teachers felt safer staying inside, although the kids sure complained!  I was told to not explain what was happening to the kids so as to not alarm them, so it is up to you if you would like to explain to them or not.  We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story for this week was called Wilbur’s Boast, and it is an excerpt from the book Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.  I told the kids that many of you would be familiar with this book, so I hope you enjoyed a familiar read on Monday night with your child.  Many of the children in our class had also read the book, and the few that have not seem interested in taking it on.  Please encourage your child to read this book if they have not already.  One of our skills for this week was making judgments.  This was surprisingly difficult for the kids, although we do it all the time in everyday life.  I tried to make the concept more real for them by giving them real life situations, and asking their thoughts about the person after they did something.  Some judgments are positive, some are negative, but they all contribute to the moral aspect of our society. 

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson for this week was on adjectives that compare.  I was glad to have another week on adjectives, as a handful of students did not do well on their test last week, and I took time on Monday to reteach it to the small group.  We worked with these adjectives that compare (-er and –est endings) yesterday during one of our literacy centers, and they did pretty well.  Hopefully they will do better on their test this week.  The test from today has an added surprise on it, so be sure to ask your child about it!  During our centers, we also took time to look for words in magazines and newspapers that have various prefixes.  This was a big part of our spelling list this week, and it is important for the children to understand what the various prefixes mean.  During our writing time, the kids have finished up their letters to the mayor about building a road through Troll Mountain.  They are good!  I plan to put them together in a book for everyone to enjoy.  We will focus more on original fairy tales next week.

Math ~ We started on chapter 11 this week, which is on division.  Specifically, we practiced using the multiplication table to divide, using fact families, dividing by 3, and dividing by 4.  I’ve tried to keep up with Miss Wierzgac’s creative math plans, so we did some fun activities during math time that enhanced their learning.  No one has passed their timed multiplication test this week, although there have been vast improvements since the kids have had to work with me during recess! J

Science ~ We got started on our chapter on forces and motion this week.  On Monday, we completed an experiment using spring scales to measure force.  Please ask your child about that experiment, and have them describe a spring scale to you.  Yesterday I decided to try something new.  Instead of our usual read the chapter, write vocabulary definitions, and answer questions, I have come up with a new format that will hopefully help the kids retain the information better.  (I’m loving my graduate classes where I am learning lots of new ideas!)  Please ask your child for details on how our science class went yesterday.  I hope the bridges are coming along.  Some kids are done, and some kids have yet to start from what I have heard.  The bridges are due next week on Wednesday.  A letter will go home on Monday with more details for the drop off of the bridges.  All parents are invited to come and look at the bridges next Friday, May 15 from 1:30 – 2:15.  Hope to see you then!

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies we reviewed for our Chapter 5 Social Studies Test.  We reviewed the different types of landforms and human features.  We discussed the importance about Portland, Maine.  We learned that Portland, Maine is located besides a natural harbor and that it is the largest fishing center in the U.S.  We also read and looked at pictures of the Pan-American Highway and why it is important to people.  This highway is the longest highway in the world and it connects 17 countries.  Students reviewed how to read a map using a map key and how to interpret a chart.  The test is on May 8th, and will be returned home on Monday, May 11th.

Other Areas of Interest:

• This week was Teacher Appreciation Week, and I want to thank all of the families that helped make this a special week for us teachers.  I appreciated all of the cards, pictures, and poems I got from the kids and well wishes from you.  Thank you!
• Remember the bridges!  They are due on Wednesday.  Please do not bring them in earlier than that.  Please try to come and view them all on Friday at 1:30.

That’s it for now!  I hope that you have been able to take a quick peek at the new web site.  It was not up and running until Monday evening, but I took time during our computer class this week to show it to all the kids.  I showed them how to find the homework and spelling words on my web site (I got a groan from the kids over that one. J No more excuses!).  I have not heard back from any of you, and I really formed this web site with the intention of it being user friendly for you.  Please send me a quick note regarding any suggestions or comments you may have, and I will try to accommodate your ideas.  I wish you all a wonderful weekend and Happy Mother’s Day!  Remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 24                    sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                          May 1, 2009

Hello Parents!  We are all sad to see Miss Wierzgac go, but we had a lovely farewell party for her yesterday.  She came back this morning to join us for our group class picture, so that is nice that she will be included in that.  She has been an important part of our school year!  Thank you for sending in the money for her gift – several of you were very generous!  We were able to get her a $100 VISA gift card to use at a teacher’s store, along with a bunch of “teacher items” in a nice teacher school bag.  The kids also wrote her letters of advice and memories of our time together, which I then bound into a book.  At our party yesterday we shared foods that reminded us of our time with Miss Wierzgac – pizza, popcorn, pudding, chips and salsa.  Overall we had a terrific experience having Miss Wierzgac in our class, and we look forward to seeing her again for our big circus day as well as Field Day.  We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story this week was called A Castle on Viola Street, and it was a realistic fiction story.  The connection that most of the kids had to this story is being able to relate to having hard working parents.  It sounds like most of you are fortunate enough to own your own home, but you work hard for it, which was an important theme in this story.  We can’t teach the importance of hard work too early for these kids!  It was a nice community story that lent itself to terrific discussions.  I’m glad to be back with these small groups as I had missed that intimate time we have together.  The skills we focused on this week included descriptions, themes, and coming up with a title for a given passage. 

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this week was on adjectives, words that describe.  We spent some time during our centers writing descriptions of pictures using as many adjectives as possible.  They did pretty well with this, and they enjoyed the books I had displayed for them to describe.  One of them, Sector 7, had no words in the book at all!  There were just fabulous illustrations that the kids enjoyed interpreting.  During our writing time, we have moved on to a new unit on fairy tales.  This is a particularly fun unit, and I introduced fairy tales to the kids by acting out my own fairy tale for them called Moo Moo Cow.  Ask your child if they can retell this story to you, or better yet, act it out for you themselves!  Please look for your child’s narrative paper included in their Friday papers they took home today.

Math ~ We finished up chapter 10 on division yesterday, and the kids proclaimed that to be the easiest math test they have taken this year!  I was delighted to see that they did indeed do very well on it, and it will be a nice boost for all of their math grades.  Please look for this corrected test in your child’s Friday papers.  Next week we will start on chapter 11, which is more or less a continuation of chapter 10 on division.  This is all leading us up to chapter 22 which is on long division.  There are still six children who need to pass their multiplication test.  I have sent home a letter to those parents today, making them aware that there are only eight opportunities left in the school year to pass this test, and that I will be keeping their child in for recess to help them achieve this goal.

Science ~ We did not do a whole lot in science this week, due to Miss Wierzgac leaving.  We spent Monday during this time writing out advice for her (it was hard to find time to do this when she wasn’t in the room with us!) and yesterday we watched a brief movie on forces.  We did spend time during computer this week looking up bridges, and there is a really cool web site we visited that goes into how force works on bridges, and it shows all kind of examples of real life bridges.  This web site is written at the top of the page the kids had to complete, and that has been sent home today.

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies class, we learned that predictions may help people plan for the future.  Students created a bar graph of some of the information they read about which included a chart form the lesson.  We discussed the number of businesses, homes, people, and cars and how it will increase year by year.  We also compared how people in different communities adapt to or modify the physical environment.  We learned which community geographic locations affect the way people live and how such resources as minerals and fuels help people adapt to the environment.  Last week we had celebrated Earth Day by going out and picking up all of the liter found on our playgrounds and the field area.  Fortunately, Pioneer Press Newspaper wanted to write an article about the third graders honoring Earth Day.  Please check out the upcoming issue.  

Other Areas of Interest:

• Our new web site will be up and running as of Monday, May 4!  I am so excited!  I have spent much time on my web page in attempts to make it user friendly and helpful to you.  Please see attached page for directions on how to access this information.
• We celebrated Jason’s 9^th birthday this week!  His real birthday was on Tuesday, and we were delighted to celebrate it with him.  Happy birthday Jason!
• Today marks the mid term for the fourth quarter.  I believe we have about six weeks of school left!  I have sent home progress reports today for children who have a grade less than a C- or 73% in any subject.  It is rewarding to see these progress reports grow fewer and fewer as the year progresses.  Please look for this form, sign it, and return back to school as soon as possible.

That’s it for now!  What a lovely weekend we are in for!  We were fortunate enough to be able to take our class picture outside today, although we were a bit chilly at 9:00 in the morning!  I wish you all a wonderful weekend, and remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 23                    sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                          April 24, 2009

Hello Parents!  Well, I would like to announce that I am finishing my time here at Pennoyer School and next week will be my last week! I will be leaving on Thursday, April 30, 2009. I will then be graduating from Concordia University Chicago on May 2^nd 2009. My degree is in Elementary Education with an Art Specialty and Middle School Endorsement. As much as I am happy that I am finishing my degree, I am very sad that I am leaving Pennoyer School! I had an AWESOME time here at Pennoyer and I will DEFINITELY miss all of the kids in this class!! I plan on coming back and visiting during different times before the end of the year! I also want to show all of them pictures from my wedding! So, since I am finishing here soon, I am lessoning my teaching time and Mrs. Adkins is taking back some of the teaching. So, her voice and mine are both in this newsletter! Here is what has been happening this week:

Reading ~ In reading this week, we read an informational nonfiction story called, Animal Homes.  This story talked about several different animals and their homes and how they construct their homes. While reading, the skill that we focused on was description. All of the students filled out a description chart that went along with their story. Doing this helps students comprehend and summarize the story. While in their centers, the students worked on this skill as well as details that are in stories. During our small group time, we read some other stories that were related to the reading. It was great to see that while we were reading the other stories; some of the students were recalling details or information from our text book reading. They always do such a good job over there!

Language Arts ~ Our grammar this week focused on contractions and apostrophes. However, we also focused on identifying synonyms, antonyms and analogies. During our literacy centers we had the art center set up with lap tops! What they did first was work together to figure and practice some different analogies. Then they paired up and played several different games on the lap tops that dealt with analogies! They all had a great time at that center!  Aside from this, during our writing time this week, all of the children where able to finish their final draft of their Narrative writing! They all did a great job; very good stories!! I have graded all of their papers and they will be going home with them next week instead of this week. We are doing this because we decided that it would be fun to share all of the stories in class today and MondayJ Be sure to ask your child how they did on the presentation of their story.

Math ~ It was unfortunate that no one passed their timed test this week! Again, most of them are SO close! I bet we will have some individuals pass next week! Some of the students keep saying to me, “Mrs. Wierzgac, I’m going to pass today, I know it!” So, I am hopeful for them, they seem to be confident and encouraging themselves to pass, which is good! All of the kids should be practicing their multiplication facts at home so they can memorize each fact! Aside from this, during the week we mostly talked about using different ways to divide and we worked on word problems. We did some fun activities this week and the kids were really exacted on Wednesday! We did a crazy activity so be sure to ask about it!  Their chapter 10 test on division will be next week on Thursday.

Science ~ I (Mrs. A) introduced the bridge project to the kids this week!  Hopefully you got the letter I sent home on Monday.  The kids have three weeks to get this bridge done, and they will need to meet outside of school with their partner to complete it.  Bridges are due Wednesday, May 15.  I told the kids that they will need some help from parents (driving places, buying materials, possibly using power tools) but that the majority of the work needs to be done by them.  Please do not do this project for your child as that will rob them of this unique opportunity to create something themselves with a friend.  Please contact me if you have any questions.  The kids gave me their partners yesterday, and they spent time in class brainstorming ideas for their bridges.

Social Studies ~ This past week we celebrated Earth Day.  Your child participated in many hands-on-activities which enhanced learning.  Your child created mini tree books with information they were required to collect from home on a state tree.  Also, we held class for one hour without using any electricity.  Finally, we went outside to clean up the playground and field area.  The 3rd graders worked very hard this week and were engaged with real-life conversations and exciting practices that have motivated them to care for the earth.  The students of Pennoyer did a fantastic job this week in celebrating Earth Day.  I hope that you continue to reuse, reduce, and recycle.

Other Areas of Interest:

• Next Friday, May 1, progress reports will go home for the fourth quarter.  Your child will receive one if they are earning a grade less than a C- in any subject.  Please look for this next week, sign, and return to school as soon as possible.
• I want to thank all of you for your kind words and thoughts about my car accident I was involved in last week.  My car is totaled, but everyone walked away, fortunately.  My daughters were in the car with me, but they were unharmed and it became more of an adventure for them if anything.  I was awfully sore and bruised up from the air bag last weekend, but I feel much better now.  It was a relief for me to know that Miss Wierzgac was here taking care of things for me.  It was such a nice feeling to come back to school on Monday to find so many concerned people and the lovely card Miss Wierzgac and the kids put together for me.  Anyone know someone who is trying to sell a car? J

That’s it for now!  Thank goodness the weather is finally turning warm!  I hope you are able to enjoy the good weather with your families this weekend.  We teachers are learning about the new Pennoyer web site this afternoon, so that should be up and running shortly.  I am excited!  We are all sad that Miss Wierzgac’s time with us is coming to an end, and we will miss her dearly.  Her creativity and love for the children has been appreciated by all of us.  We wish you all a wonderful weekend and remember to keep your child reading!

Miss Sarah Wierzgac

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 21                     sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                          April 9, 2009

Hello Parents!  This was a shortened week! Since Good Friday is tomorrow, the school is closed. However, remember that school WILL be in session on MondayJ. Earlier in the week on Tuesday, Pennoyer School had the gymnasium open to the public for voting. They utilized the playground blacktop as parking space for the public. We had indoor recess all day on Tuesday. It was funny because I don’t think that some of the kids knew about it and so when they looked outside and saw the cars they were shocked. They said things like, “What!? There are cars on our playground!” I got a kick out of it! So, except for all the fantastic learning (Yay!) not too many other exciting things happened this week. But here’s what’s been going on:

Reading ~ Our story this week was a nonfiction article called, A Carousel of Dreams. It was a good story to relate to the kids because the children in the story were around their age and it talked about carousels, which most kids are familiar with. We had a shortened week, so we were only able to have two days for our literacy centers instead of our usual three.  When we were in our centers I had some good discussions with the students about fact and opinion, which is what our focus was for our reading. For some of the groups, I had them look through their book and find sentences from the story that are either a fact or an opinion. There were a lot of facts in this last story that we read! Also, it was funny, while we were talking in the reading corner; I had asked the students, “Wouldn’t it be cool to draw a design for a carousel!” And a lot of them said no! Instead, most of them thought it would be a better idea to design images for a roller coaster!

Language Arts ~ This week in grammar we focused on possessive pronouns.  During our literacy centers, we worked on this at the back table in addition to understanding apostrophes. I placed some newspaper and construction paper at the back table and had the kids look through them finding words with apostrophes. When they found a word such as, “Chicago’s,” they had to use it in a sentence and tell me whether the apostrophe was showing that it was possessive or a contraction. All the kids seemed to really love this activity! Aside from this, during our writing time, we focused on getting our four square graphic organizer all filled out. I was really happy to see how many of the students were able to get all their ideas down on their paper and quickly too! I feel that because this is narrative writing, telling a story from a real life experience that happened to them, they are having an easier time filling out their four square. Not only was the four square done, but some students even had their rough draft completed! So, they seem to be doing well so far!

Math ~ Congratulations to Jessica for completing her timed multiplication test in 5 minutes!! Woo-hoo! Along with some other individuals, Jessica was super close each time and she finally got it! I am excited to see who will pass it next week! Just a few left! Also, even though most of the children have passed their timed multiplication test, make sure that your child is practicing their flashcards each and every night! It is important that they are able memorize their facts! Aside from this, this week we worked on multiplying three digits numbers. We did some fun activities so be sure to ask your child about the different things that we have done! Their chapter 21 test will take place on Tuesday next week.

Science ~ In science this week we finished up our chapter on Heat. We read through our last section in the science text book and we finished up our vocabulary. Today we watched a School House Rock video and I gave the students the chance to get started on their review questions. Next week the children will play their review game and take their science test on Heat on Thursday. We will also be going to Annetti’s Pizzeria just down the street!  It will be a nice end to our Unit!

Social Studies ~ This week in social studies class we went back to the books.  We have started Chapter 5,”A Community’s Geography.”  The students learned the correct terminology to describe landforms and bodies of water.  The students learned to classify landforms, including highlands and lowlands and to explain the significance of climate. 

Other Areas of Interest:

• For our field trip to Annetti’s on Wednesday next week, the kids will be exposed to how a pizzeria is run, with an emphasis on heat.  The kids will learn interesting facts about their rotating oven and hot boxes.  The kids will then be able to make their own pizza!  Kids will partner up to make a pizza for them to then eat.  We teachers will supply juice boxes for everyone, and we will also provide a snack for the kids to eat in the lunchroom at 11:45, our usual lunchtime.  Please do not send a lunch for your child that day. 
• Next Friday, April 17 is our annual Family Pizza Lunch event.  The third graders will be eating at 11:25, going outside for recess at 11:45.  I hope to see many of you there!

That’s it for now!  Despite the snow everywhere Monday morning, the weather is finally warming up.  Hopefully for good!  It looks like decent weather this weekend for Easter egg hunts!  I hope you are able to enjoy the extra time with your families.  We wish you all a wonderful weekend, happy Easter, and remember to keep your child reading!

Miss Sarah Wierzgac

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 20                    sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                          April 3, 2009

Hello Parents! So this week was a very important week! All of the third graders participated in the Wax MuseumJ. Parents, thank you so much for preparing your children with what ever they needed! It was super fun and exciting to see what each one of the students wore for their costumes! They were all so creative! By they way, on Monday, I was really happy to hear about all of the student’s spring break vacation and what they did. I too had a great break! I announced to the children that I became engaged over spring break! They all clapped for me! I thought that was so cute! I also heard that some of your children told you that I was engaged and that you told them to congratulate me, thank youJ. So, aside from this, here is what has been going on this week:

Reading ~ The story that we read this week was a narrative nonfiction story called, Beatrice’s Goat. It was about a girl and her family who lived in western Uganda and could not afford to send her to school. What was so great about this story is that Beatrice would do anything just to be able to go to school and often times most children do not realize how privileged they are to be able to attend school. This is something that was brought up in our guided reading groups during our literacy centers. I am pleased to say that I had some wonderful conversations with your children about how thankful they were for having the opportunity to come to school everyday! J  The story really put this in perspective for them. While reading the story, our skill that we focused on was cause and effect. The students worked on cause and effect in one of their literacy centers. They had to think about their day at school and events that happen throughout their day that involve a cause, action that makes something happen and the effect that happens because of the action. They did a good job with this, maybe you can ask your child about what they wrote down for their cause and effect!

Language Arts ~ Our focus in grammar this week was on subject and object pronouns. It seemed as though most of students in the class had a hard time understanding pronouns. So, during literacy centers I took some time to explain this concept a little more. They then did an activity to go along with this. I was happy to see that they did a better job! In addition to this, we did an activity with word families. At the back table, students cut out words and glued them on a poster with other words that were in the same word family. I absolutely loved the posters that they made! There were so many word families on there! They did such a great job!  Aside from this, during our writing time, we focused on organizing ideas into a four square graphic organizer. I took an exceptional amount of time to model and explain how to properly complete this particular four square graphic organizer just because it is very different from the persuasive four square graphic organizers. I just wanted to make sure that the students were very clear on the format.  The persuasive papers are in your child’s Friday papers they took home today, along with their rubric that explains their grade.

Math ~ Unfortunately this week, none of the remaining students passed their time multiplication testL. However, just like before, there were several students who were very, very close! Some of them only had about 5 or 10 left! I just keep encouraging them to practice their flashcards and that they will get it next time! I do hope that your children are taking some time each night to practice their flashcards. It is very important that they dedicate time to work on their multiplication. It can be easily forgotten if not practiced. Aside from this, we started a new chapter in math. This week we talked about multiplying two digit numbers with one digit numbers. In order for the students to understand this material, we did a variety of actives such as using base-ten blocks, finding multiplication problems around the room and rounding them and playing a game. Be sure to ask your child about our game that we played today!

Science ~ In science this week, we have continued to learn about heat by experimenting with tools that are used to measure temperature. The students did a great job in their investigations! I was happy when I read through their worksheets. They all had really good information about what they learned and they used their data to explain it! We did not get a chance to read through the last section of our chapter because of the Wax Museum. Next, week we will read the section and finish up our unit on heat!

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies class we have completed our unit on Biographies.  On Monday, your child had turned in the biography report, which in turn, was graded and returned back so that he/she could practice memorizing the important information for the Wax Museum.  It was then time for your child to appear as a historical figure, dress up as their famous figure, and display their costume and themselves as a wax figure for you and the students of Pennoyer to view.  If you were able to make it, I hope you enjoyed the 2009: Third Grade Presentation of the WAX MUSEUM.

Other Areas of Interest:

• Report cards went home today.  Please look for them, keep the report card, sign and return the envelope to us next week.  If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s grades, please contact us to set up a conference.
• Please read the letter that is included with your child’s report card.  It has a reminder that school is in session on Monday, April 13, and it also asks for volunteers for our big circus day in May.
• There is no school next Friday, April 10.  Reading, spelling, and grammar tests will be given on Thursday, and Friday papers will go home that Thursday as well.

That’s it for now!  Tomorrow is supposed to be a gorgeous day, so I hope you are able to get out and about.  This week has either been rainy or too windy, and the kids are craving a nice day outside.  Fabulous news – everyone in our class has completed all 6 months of our Book-It program!  We have never had 100% participation from a class, and we are very proud of the kids and all of the books they have read.  We wish you all a wonderful weekend, and remember to keep your child reading!

Miss Sarah Wierzgac

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 19                     sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                          March 20, 2009

Hello Parents! This is Miss Wierzgac writing to you! I have been teaching all day for the past two weeks now! My goodness, time seems to by flying by for me but I am definitely having a wonderful experience here at Pennoyer School! I absolutely love working with your children and developing good relationships with them! So, having that said, this past week was a bit mixed up. We had to change some things around for St. Patrick’s Day and because of the Variety Show that is taking place today! By the way, if your child came home trying to show you some Irish Dancing moves, it was because I used to Irish Dance with the McNulty School of Irish Dance and I wore my wig and showed them some cool moves! Aside from that, here’s what’s been happening in their different subjects:

Reading ~ Our story this week was a historical fiction story called, Boom Town. The story takes places in the colonial era and it’s about a family that moves to a frontier in California and creates some exciting changes! The story was quite long so we were not able to finish it during our reading time. It really seemed like all the children did a great job of finishing the story at home so, thank youJ. While reading the story, we really tried to pay attention to the sequence in which events happened. When we met in our centers this week, we focused on the idea of sequencing a bit more. In one of the centers, the students had to put a story in the correct order. They seemed to struggle with this concept so I decided to change it up a bit for the next day. When they did the sequencing again, I had them read a very short story using clues in the story to help them place the events in the right order. They did much better! In addition to this, when I got to meet with them one-on-one in the reading corner, we read some short stories that were informational nonfiction and had the same settings as our story in our reading book.

Language Arts ~ For our grammar this week, we focused on singular pronouns, plural pronouns and pronouns. The students worked on creating sentences that demonstrated the different kinds of pronouns. In order to this, they picked a card from a box that had several different cards in it. On the cards were things such as, singular pronoun, pronoun, plural pronoun, or examples like “they” “me” “you” etc. They then used construction paper to create sentences and draw a picture to go with it. They did great! Aside from this, during our writing time, we were really working on brainstorming for our Narrative writing that we will begin after spring break. In order to do this, we used different scents to help provoke memories. Each day we would smell two different kinds of scents. All of the kids had to write down any thoughts or memories that came to them when they took a sniff of each smell. Ask your child what kinds of unique scents they smelled this week!

Math ~ This week in math we did not have anyone pass the timed multiplication testL. However, there were some students who were very, very close! I keep telling them, “You’ll get it next time!” So, hopefully they can practice their flashcards over spring break and be ready to pass when they come back. They have had two months to learn their multiplication facts and it seems as though some of them are not taking time to study their flashcards at home. Make sure that your child is practicingJ.  Aside from this, we finished up chapter 20 this week and the students took their test on Thursday. I am hopeful that they will all do well. They seemed as though they really understood the material. Also, since our schedule has been a bit goofy, we had some time in the afternoon on Thursday to play a multiplication review game. It was very fun! We got the chance to change things up a bit and we went down into the multi purpose room. All of the children were VERY excited and VERY engaged! They were all shouting and cheering! It was super fun! Ask your child about the game and how they enjoyed it! 

Science ~ In science this week, we have continued to learn about heat by investigating and reading through the next section in our chapter. All of the students were able to conduct and experiment to figure out what kinds of materials get hot. We used typical household utensils such as a wooden spoon, metal spoon, plastic spoon and several different cups. We had to be very careful because we were placing hot water in the cups and the students all had to touch the different spoons and cups to compare them. Luckily, they all did a great job of being safe and listening to the directions! In addition to this, we read through our second section and our vocabulary for this week was conduction, conductor and insulator. The students were able to connect the words really well with the experiment and identify the different materials that we used as either a good conductor or an insulator.

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies we read about a fictional character such as Robinson Crusoe and how he created a new community.  We learned that geographic locations affect the way people live.  We saw pictures on how Crusoe modified the physical environment so he could survive.  Your child created a map which showed Crusoe’s island.  Ask your child about this activity.  Regarding our biographies, we read about Joan of Arc and her courage that helped her take on England and saving the King of France.  Finally, please look for your invitation regarding the Wax Museum.  We hope you could come and see the hard work the 3rd graders have done. 

Other Areas of Interest:

• Today is the last day of the third quarter.  Any corrected work must be turned in by Tuesday, March 31 at the latest.  Report cards will go home on Friday, April 3.
• The final Book-It is due after spring break on Tuesday, March 31.  We have had 100% participation in this program so far this year, and I hope we can keep it up for our final month.  They should have lots of time for reading over spring break!
• Remember to come to our Wax Museum if you can on Friday, April 3.  Please take time over spring break to help your child settle on an appropriate outfit to wear for this special event.

That’s it for now!  It looks like we are in for beautiful weather this weekend and next week during our spring break.  Yay!  It sounds like some of you are planning to travel, so please be careful out there, especially if you are planning a trip to Mexico.  We wish you all a wonderful weekend and spring break, and remember to keep your child reading!

Miss Sarah Wierzgac

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 18                  sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                 March 13, 2009

Hello Parents!  What a relief for all of us that the ISAT tests are over!  Yay!  We tend to have a more relaxed feeling in school now that these high stakes tests are over, especially in math.  I would like to thank all of you for getting your children here and on time for each day of testing.  It is so nice to not have to deal with any make-up tests in our class!  Hopefully the students used their many strategies that they have learned this year and exceeded the state’s standards.  Miss Wierzgac is now teaching the full day, and she has been doing a great job.  I will hand the rest of this Newsletter over to her.  Here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story this week was a realistic fiction story called My Very Own Room. Our focus while reading this story was to monitor our comprehension by making predictions and reading to see if they were right. When I met with each group in our centers on Tuesday, we used our story to continue with the idea of making predictions. Now, even though they already knew what was going to happen, and they finished the story, I decided to ask the children to make predictions about how the story could continue and what could happen to the girl now that she has her very own room. So, while we were talking about this, we also discussed the importance of imagery and how it helps us understand the reading. If the illustrations weren’t there, could you create an image in your mind to help you? Next time you and your child are reading at home, try covering the images in the book and begin reading. Take the paper off as you go to see if the images, which your child created in their mind, were similar to the ones in the book!

Language Arts ~ The grammar lesson this week dealt with comparing words, words that end in –er or -est.  The kids each created a mini book using words and pictures in magazines, and each page had to have at least one –er or –est word in it.  The children also created a story during their reading centers using contractions. Aside from this, we have begun a new topic in writing. We are now talking about Narrative writing and we have been brainstorming in different ways to provoke memories. Narrative writing can be a bit tricky. The children should think about their life and choose an experience or a story to write that they remember. Most of the time, the kids will tell me stories randomly and they start off by saying, “When I was a baby I remember….” I usually tell them that they really can’t remember stuff from when they were a baby, someone told them that story. So, the activities that we have been doing and will be doing will help them think of times in their life that they ACTUALLY remember! J

Math ~ Congratulations to Matthew for successfully completing his timed multiplication test this week! He completed 100 problems in 5 minutes. The rest of the children in the class keep getting super close!! I bet next week we will see a few more names on here! In math this week, we continued a chapter that we started prior to the ISAT tests. We are working on chapter 20, which is mostly about decimals. We did different activities such as writing decimals that are greater than one, deciding whether an answer is reasonable or not and comparing and ordering fractions and decimals. Ask your child about the different ways that we explored these concepts! Also, we left our classroom and did something extra special today!

Science ~ We started our new chapter on Heat. To start off the week we investigated the idea of how to get thermal energy. Your children used simple everyday items such as buttons, wool, paper, and pennies to figure out how thermal energy works.  Try this at home! Ask your child if they can show you what they learned from how they did their experiment! In addition to this, we read through our first section of the chapter and covered three new vocabulary words, thermal energy, friction and heat. Most of the children thought that the words were easy! That’s good! Next week we will be conducting an experiment and reading the second section of the chapter.

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies class we read and discussed different biographies about many historical figures.  Some figures we read and talked about were John Glenn (astronaut) and Betsy Ross (designed the first American Flag).  We will continue next week with different literatures on famous historical figures.  Be sure to ask your child about this.  Your child has turned in the slip declaring who he/she will be for the Wax Museum.  As a reminder, the biography report is due on March 30th.  If your child should finish the report earlier, they could hand it in immediately.  The Wax Museum is on April 2nd and April 3rd.  You will be able to come April 3rd anytime between 1:00 - 2:20.  Please make sure your child is well prepared for the museum with his/her costumes and props.  If you are not sure about something, feel free to email me at rmichaels@pennoyerschool.org. 

Other Areas of Interest:

• The last day of the third quarter is next Friday, March 20.  Since that is also the last day before spring break, report cards will not go home until Friday, April 3.

That’s it for now!  It looks like we are in for a warming trend in this weather, thank goodness.  Spring fever is in the air!  Please remember to have your child practice their multiplication flash cards regularly and they should be reading every night.  We wish you all a wonderful weekend, and remember to keep your child reading!

Miss Sarah Wierzgac

Mrs. Sarah Adkins