Mrs. Adkins’ Class

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 15                  sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                 February 13, 2009

Hello Parents!  Our highlight of the week was definitely our author’s visit from Aaron Reynolds.  He was terrific!  It sounds like many of you were able to make the Family Reading Night that evening so you were able to see him in action.  He was really captivating to watch, and most of us enjoyed the salsa he made during his presentation.  The kids have been much better behaved in library, and I appreciate your support in that matter.  We had lots of fun at our Valentine’s Day party this afternoon, be sure to ask your child all about it.  Yesterday we were a part of an effort to break a world record!  Mrs. Michaels has included more details about that event in the social studies part of this Newsletter.  We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story for this week was an African folk tale called Seven Spools of Thread.  This was a longer one, and I hope your child remembered to read it aloud to you at home.  More and more kids are coming in and telling me that they did not read the story aloud on Monday nights.  Please make sure they do this.  This was a great story for us all to relate to, as many of us have siblings that we have quarreled with too.  Please remember to go over our vocabulary words for the week and try to use them in everyday language.  They really need to expand their vocabulary, and that is best done through practice of everyday use.  Try to make it a challenge each day to use the vocabulary words in sentences!  Some of the skills we worked on included drawing conclusions and analyzing things in the story.  Ask your child to tell you about the book we read called The Black Snowman.

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson for this week was on linking verbs, which is an extension of what we have been working on for the past couple of weeks.  Again, this seems to be a lesson of common sense and what sounds right.  Hopefully they will all be successful on their test they took today.  The kids have really been loving our Writer’s Workshop which we have been having twice a week.  They get to write about whatever they want, and they have a variety of options for publishing their work.  Many of them have enjoyed creating a mini book out of their text, and I have had kids asking me to do this during their free time and at home!  I love that!  Our more formal writing time set aside for persuasive writing is coming along as well.  The kids have all chosen their topics, completed their four square, and are now somewhere in the midst of their rough draft. 

Math ~ We would like to congratulate Kevin, Szymon, and Edward for successfully completing their timed multiplication test this week!  They got 100% accuracy on 100 multiplication problems in 5 minutes.  We can’t wait to see who will pass this test next! Aside from this, during math this week we have still been talking about figures, however, we were talking more about how figures are similar, if they have lines of symmetry, how to flip, slide and turn a figure and how to find the distance around a figure! On Tuesday, we did something a bit different for our activity. Be sure to ask your child what we did and how they enjoyed it!

Science ~ This week during science, we continued to discuss the topic of energy. However, instead of talking about how energy is stored and its uses, we discussed how energy moves as waves and the different kinds of waves. In order for all of us to have a good understanding of this concept, we did an experiment to investigate exactly how energy can move as a wave! We used two types of models to explore this idea. Ask your child what they did for their experiment this week! Also, ask them to share some different examples of waves!  Here’s a heads up for you – energy test to be given on Friday, February 27.

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies the class learned how to use and understand the parts of a table and how to read one.  We learned to interpret information from a table by comparing and contrasting the qualifications and terms of office at the federal level for a member of the House of Representatives, a member of Senate, the President, and a Supreme Court Judge.  This past Thursday, we celebrated Abraham Lincoln’s 200th Birthday.  In celebration, Pennoyer School students from 3^rd thru 8^th grade had participated in the simultaneous reading of Lincoln’s most famous speech, the Gettysburg Address, in hopes of setting a Guinness World Record.  At 9:30 AM on the dot, we recited the Gettysburg Address along with (hopefully over) 300,000 other Illinoisans. After we read, all participants of the reading had signed a participant sheet. The forms then were signed by a witness as proof of the number of participants for the Guinness Record.  We will find out in time if in fact we have set a record.  I will let you know as soon as we find out.  Make sure you look for an article about Pennoyer School’s participation in the Pioneer paper.

Other Areas of Interest:

• Progress Reports went home today for grades less than a C- or 73%.  Please look for this in your child’s papers today, sign it and return back to me next week on Tuesday or Wednesday.
• There is no school on Monday due to President’s Day.  Enjoy the extra day with your family!

That’s it for now!  Kids have been coming in with only sweatshirts to wear outside.  Please pay careful attention to the weather reports so that your child is dressed appropriately.  This time of year it seems to change drastically on a daily basis!  It sure was nice on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the cold came back these past couple of days.  I wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day, and remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Miss Sarah Wierzgac

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 14                  sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                 February 6, 2009

Hello Parents!  Wow, it sure feels like a long time since I wrote one of these!  Hopefully you were able to get along without for the past few weeks. J As you know, these Newsletters are always posted on my blog on the Pennoyer School web site, but we are undergoing some changes to the web site that I am excited about.  When the new one is up and running (any day now) you will not only be able to access my Newsletters, but you can also get daily homework, Book-It forms, spelling words, and anything else I can fit on there.   It should be an excellent resource for you and your child.  I will be sure to let you know when that gets going.  I got a sneak peak and the format is very user friendly and it is a good update.  It was really nice to get back to our regular schedule, and the kids have been terrific.  Here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story this week was called Cook-A-Doodle-Doo.  It is the story of the great-grandson of the Little Red Hen.  We had great fun with this story this week.  During our literacy centers, the kids picked out recipes and we are creating a class recipe book that each child will have the opportunity to take home and share with their families.  We did a little bit of cooking ourselves this afternoon and had a really fun time.  Be sure to ask your child all about it!  We also spent time comparing and contrasting books and people using a Venn diagram, and we had a little fun with idioms too.  During our guided reading groups, I have really been working with the kids on using their comprehension strategies.  Good readers ask questions while they read, and some of our kids have struggled with this.  You can support this strategy at home by asking your child for some things they are wondering about while they are reading at home.

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this week was on the verbs be, have, and do.  Again, this is a lesson in which I encouraged the kids to use what sounds right.  These are verbs we use regularly, and if the kids take the time to completely read the sentences, they should get it right.  We spent our writing time this week working on persuasive writing, although I was able to squeeze in one day of writer’s workshop where the kids could write about anything they wanted.  Many kids have taken to the idea of creating their own mini books, and have asked to work on them during their free time and indoor recess.  Our formal persuasive writing is coming along.  The kids will choose their topics and get started on their own writing next week.

Math ~ We have survived our first week of timed multiplication testing, and it was very interesting to see.  It is very obvious at this point who has been practicing their flashcards and who has not!  Please continue to have your child practice their multiplication facts each night.  They need to become masters of multiplication if they are to be successful in math in future years.  No one passed the test this week, but there are a few who are close and will get it most definitely next week.  We give these timed tests every week on Tuesday and Thursday.  Our regular math lessons this week focused on geometry.  The kids learned a ton of new vocabulary words and had some fun, hands on practice with them.  The kids learned all about lines and angles, shapes and solids.  Yesterday we focused on figures that are congruent.   Miss Wierzgac taught a couple of math lessons this week (the pipe cleaners and play dough lessons she came up with went over very well with the kids) and starting next week she will teach math every day.  She has taken over science completely and has written the following paragraph for science herself.

Science ~ This week in science we started a new chapter in the textbook. This chapter is about energy and different forms of energy. To have a better understanding of energy and how it is stored, the children conducted an experiment and investigated this idea! Be sure to ask your child about the experiment and how they enjoyed it! In addition to the experiment, the class learned some new vocabulary words and their definitions. Ask your child to about the vocabulary words! They might want to demonstrate them for you!

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies class we identified the three branches of our national government.  We learned what determines the number of representatives a state has in Congress.  We described some of the duties the President of the United States has and leaned the significance of the Supreme Court as being the most important court in the United States. 

Other Areas of Interest:

• Our Family Reading Night is coming up this Tuesday night at 7:00.  Please try to make it if you can.  Author Aaron Reynolds will be there that night for you to listen to and meet.  He will be presenting for our students earlier that day, and I personally find these visits to be inspiring.
• The February Scholastic Book order form went home today.  If you would like to order books for this month, please complete the form and return your money to me by Tuesday.
• We will have a Valentine’s Day party next Friday for the last hour of the day.  Children are invited to bring in Valentine’s for each of the students in our class.  I am sending home a class list today for your help if you would like to personalize the Valentine’s.  We have 17 children in our class.

That’s it for now!  Thank goodness the weather is starting to warm up.  Everyone has cabin fever and can’t wait to enjoy being outside again.  We wish you all a wonderful weekend and remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Miss Sarah Wierzgac

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 13                  sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                             January 9, 2009

Hello Parents!  This has been quite a hectic week, to say the least.  Coming back from break after having left with so many loose ends, we have been playing catch up for much of this week.  Whew.  I finally feel like we have gotten back in our groove, and I expect next week to be much smoother.  Miss Wierzgac has joined us this week, and she will be with us until the end of April.  She has been getting to know the kids and helping out with little things throughout the day.  She will be taking over one subject a week until she is teaching full days.  I will still be here, helping out with the kids and guiding her in the right direction.  The kids have responded very well to her so far, and we are glad to have her with us.  We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story for this week was a realistic fiction story called The Jones Family Express.  This was a great story for making connections and inferences.  We had learned about inferring a month or two ago, and many of the kids needed reminders of what it is.  (To infer means to figure things out without the author directly stating it.  For example, you know the boy felt sad because of his actions, although it was not directly stated that he is sad.)  We will continue to work with inferring throughout the year.  We also focused on making connections and using good prosody (expression) when reading.  The page when Steve visits Mr. Perkins is a particularly fun page to read aloud and we spent quite a bit of time practicing talking like Mr. Perkins.

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson for this week was on future tense verbs.  The kids did really well with this when they learned to look for the special word will when using future tense.  During our reading centers, the kids put together posters that had examples of past, present, and future tense verbs.  They did a really good job!  So my plan for grammar after break did not work out as I had hoped.  Many kids lost their grammar papers over break, and they did not do well on their tests.  So I made the executive decision to only mark the grammar paper as extra credit, and to throw away the grammar tests.  Our grammar test from today should be much better.  For our writing time, we had one day of Writers Workshop, then I was able to introduce the kids to persuasive writing.  I finished grading their expository papers, and they are included in your child’s Friday papers they took home today.  These papers are worth 100 points of your child’s language arts grade, and I have attached a rubric to each paper so they know exactly why they got the grade they got.  Please look for this paper and read it with your child.  Many of you will find yourself featured in your child’s paper. J

Math ~ We finished up chapter 13 yesterday with a test on customary measurement.  We worked on capacity and weight earlier this week, and we reviewed in our centers on Wednesday.  We started metric measurement today, and that is much easier to learn.  That system makes much more sense than our customary.  Our chapter on metric measurement is short, and the test will be given next Friday.  Starting on Wednesday, January 21, we will be having Multiplication Mania for two weeks.  I will send home an explanation of this fun event next week so you understand exactly how your child will be learning multiplication.  Your child will be expected to practice their multiplication flash cards every night starting January 21, so please get a set of flashcards before then.

Science ~ We have finished up our chapter on the solar system, and we spent time reviewing.  We read through the last section on Monday, then yesterday we reviewed the chapter, created some mini books, then the kids got started on their review homework.  The assignment is page D86, problems 1 – 22.  I have changed question 21 to: Why is Pluto no longer a planet?  This review is due next week on Wednesday.  The chapter test will be on Thursday next week.  There are 11 vocabulary words for this chapter, so please make sure your child knows all of them by Thursday.

Social Studies ~ This week in social studies we read and discussed the three branches of government.  We identified local government officials and explained how they are chosen.  We also identified and used symbols to locate state and the capitals on a map, especially focusing on Illinois.  We identified states that border other states.  Finally your child drew freehand style, four states and labeled the city, capital, and bordering states.  Make sure you ask your child about this activity.  Just a reminder that next week Tuesday, we will be reviewing for the Chapter 3 social studies test, the test will take place on Friday, January 16th. 

Other Areas of Interest:

      We celebrated Annie’s 9^th birthday today!  Her actual birthday is tomorrow, and we were delighted to celebrate with her a day early.  Happy birthday Annie!

      Next Friday, January 16, is the final day of the second quarter.  Report cards will go home the following week.

      We have been having behavior issues in library here at school.  I received a list of 10 students who had “exceedingly poor behavior in the library” from our library teacher yesterday.  We only have 17 in the class!  I took time to discuss proper library etiquette and behavior in any library, and we are going to take more drastic measures to ensure better behavior.  If your child misbehaves in the library (some of them were screaming and running in the library) they will receive one warning.  After that, they will be removed from the library which means that they will not get to participate in their activities, they cannot check out a book, and I will send home a note to you, letting you know about their poor behavior.  I appreciate any support you can give us on this topic at home.

That’s it for now!  It is nice to be back with the children, and fun to hear about what they did over break.  I heard this morning that we are in for 30 hours of snow this weekend, so please be careful out there!  I wish you all a wonderful weekend and remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 12                  sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                 December 12, 2008

Hello Parents!  We had a really great week together.  The field trip on Wednesday to the Planetarium was fun for everyone, and hopefully the kids learned some new things about the solar system.  They were all really well behaved, and I was proud to be there with them.  We all had an especially outstanding morning yesterday for some reason, and I couldn’t stop singing their praises.  We have worked a lot on making good choices and doing the right thing, and the whole morning was filled with those kinds of decisions.  Hopefully they can keep it up.  Today we went to Santa’s Workshop (or whatever politically correct name they call it nowJ) and that was really fun for the kids to shop for you.  We had a special visitor at the end of our day today, so be sure to ask your child all about her.  Her name is Miss Wierzgac (pronounced where’s Zack) and she will be student teaching with me starting in January, and remaining with us until the end of April.  It was a pleasure to meet her, and we are all looking forward to working with her next semester.  We were busy this week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story for this week is one of my favorites, One Riddle, One Answer.  This was a tough one for the kids to figure out, and we spent much time this week finding other riddles.  The kids came up with quite a collection, and some of them chose to share what they had gathered with the class earlier today.  Ask your child to tell you a riddle!  Or maybe you have one you can share with your child.  Here’s my favorite, taken from Mr. Bilbo Baggins: A box without hinges, key, or a lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid!  What is it?  You can ask your child to help you out with that one if you get stuck. J

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this week was on present tense verbs.  I suggested to the kids to read their sentences aloud to see what sounds right.  He walk to school just sounds wrong, and hopefully they will remember to add the s to walk.  We only had a couple of days of writing this week due to our field trip and Santa’s Workshop, but I was able to introduce the Writing Workshop to the kids.  They seemed pretty open to the idea, so we will see how it goes next week.  Most of the kids were able to finish up their expository papers today, and I hope to get those graded and returned by next Friday.

Math ~ We worked on time all week.  We started with elapsed time, and that one proved a little difficult for some kids.  I was able to provide some extra support with that lesson in the afternoon, and that seemed to help.  We also practiced reading a calendar and schedule, and then today we went over temperature, a review from science.  We will review this lesson on Monday, and the chapter 12 test will be given on Tuesday next week.  Please have your child practice telling time to the minute and elapsed time as often as you can over the weekend.

Science ~ This week we learned about seasons and night and day.  We also learned much more during our trip to the Planetarium, so please make sure you ask your child about something new they learned at the museum.  Also have your child explain to you why we have seasons, and why we have night and day.  (Seasons because our axis is tilted, and night and day because Earth rotates on its axis.) We filled in four more vocabulary, so please make sure your child is starting to practice these vocabulary words.  Our test on the solar system will not be until January.

Social Studies ~ This week in social studies we recognized that community governments make laws to keep order and to keep people safe.  We also learned the role citizens have in settling disagreements.  There are four steps:  Smile about it, tell an adult, walk away, and compromise.  We expressed ideas about conflict orally, based on knowledge experiences, and recommend solutions.

Other Areas of Interest:

      Next week on Wednesday, December 17, is our winter concert.  I hope you all will be able to make it.  The kids have been spending their gym time every afternoon preparing for this concert, and they sound good!  The concert for parents is at 7:00 in the evening in our gym.  Please bring your child to school by 6:45, and they should come right up to our classroom where I will be waiting for them.  After the concert is over, please come up to our room to pick up your child from there.  I will keep them in our classroom until you can get up there.  See you Wednesday!

That’s it for now!  It actually looks like we have a warm front coming through this weekend, and we should get up to about 50 degrees!  Great shopping weather.  Too bad the Bears couldn’t play in temperatures like that last night.  I would like to extend a special welcome to my brand new niece, Evelyn, who was born at 1:15 this morning. J I can’t wait to go meet her in Evanston after school today.  All three of my sisters each have a son, so I’m delighted to finally have a niece.  My other two sisters are also pregnant at this time, both due this summer, so maybe I will end up with a couple more pretty soon.  I wish you all a wonderful weekend, and remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 10                  sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                 November 21, 2008

Hello Parents!  We have had an interesting week together.  We have been trying new things in reading (see below) and our class has really been working as a team to make things work.  The class filled their marble jar for the first time on Tuesday, so they were able to have a marble jar party yesterday.  Be sure to ask your child all about it if you haven’t heard already.  Today was spirit day, and we had an assembly at the end of the day.  Ask about that too!  We were busy this week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story this week was an autobiography called Author: A True Story.  This was a great inside look into the life of an author, and the frustrations that she has dealt with.  I think it was insightful for the kids to see how she repeatedly got rejected, but kept trying until she was successful.  I reassessed each child in our room last week with a running record, and I have revamped our groups and how we run our reading time.  I now have four groups instead of three, and I really enjoy the small groups and the individual attention I am able to give them.  I have had some interesting insights into their reading behaviors that I am looking forward to sharing with you on Monday at Conferences.  Ask your child to tell you about the changes we have made during our reading time.  Since it was our first week there are still some rough patches, but we are working through them and will have our new reading program up and running smoothly in no time!

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this week was on combining sentences.  The kids did very well with this lesson from our last unit, and I am expecting great test results from today.  We lost some of our writing time this week do to extended reading times while we worked out kinks, but we did get to buddy conferences.  All the children have finished their rough drafts, and they met with a partner to see what they could do to improve their writing.  I will do the final editing on their papers before they begin their final copy after Thanksgiving break.

Math ~ We spent this week on probability, and we got through the whole chapter.  This means that when the kids return from Thanksgiving break, we will review for a day, and then their test will be on Tuesday, December 2.  This was fun, short chapter, and the kids really seemed to enjoy it.  Please practice some probability over the break so they don’t forget everything when they return.   The concepts that we focused on were certain, likely, unlikely, and impossible; recording data; calculating the probability of an event (6 out of 9); deciding if a game is fair or unfair; and using experiments to make predictions.  Your child will bring their workbook home over the weekend, so you can use that as a source to review sometime over the Thanksgiving break.

Science ~ We only had one day of science this week due to our marble jar party yesterday, and the kids took their weather test.  Those are graded and included in your child’s Friday papers.  Please look over it with your child.  We will start our new chapter on the solar system when we return from Thanksgiving break.

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies we took the Chapter 2 Test.  We learned many new vocabulary terms and discussed many leaders that work in the capital city of Washington.  We read and discussed that the populations of Eagle, Colorado grew in the 1880s because silver was found there.  In 1890 there were 25 people.  As people moved into Eagle, the settlement grew from a few homes into a town.  By 1940 the town had 543 people.  Since then many people have moved to Eagle and the population has continued to rise.  We discussed our culture and customs by sharing special foods and music during  holidays.  Finally we learned that businesses are important to communities because they supply goods for people to buy and places for people to work.  We will begin chapter 3 after we return from Thanksgiving break.

Other Areas of Interest:

      We celebrated Zuleyha’s 9^th birthday with her yesterday.  Her actual birthday is this Sunday, November 23, and we were delighted to celebrate with her a few days early.  Happy birthday Zuleyha!

      Conferences reminders went home today to remind you of your scheduled time to meet with me on Monday.  Please try to be prompt, and I will do the same.  I was able to extend each conference time to 15 minutes this year (as opposed to 10 in previous years) and am looking forward to the extra time to spend with you.  Please bring any questions or concerns you may have with you and we can work together to come up with solutions.

      Your child has no school at all next week.   Enjoy the week off with your family!

      The November Book-It form is due back on Monday, December 1.  Your child should have read at least four chapter books by then.  Remember that this is part of your child’s reading grade and needs to be completed on time.

That’s it for now!  Brrr, it has been really cold this week.  Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather with winter coats, hats, scarves, and gloves.  They say that a warm front is moving through the area and it should be back into the 40s by Sunday.  Let’s hope so!  I wish you all a wonderful weekend and Thanksgiving holiday, and remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 9                    sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                 November 7, 2008

Hello Parents!  We had a really great week together, and it was full of election coverage.  We held a mock vote here on Tuesday afternoon, and Obama won over McCain, 23 to 13.  We spent our computer time looking at Barack Obama’s web site and each child learned at least five new facts about our President elect.  Ask your child what they learned about!  Since we only have three days of school next week (no school Monday and Tuesday due to Veteran’s Day) I will not write a Newsletter next week and we will not have new reading, spelling, or grammar.  We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story for this week is a wonderful preview into our next weather chapter – Planets in our Solar System!  Much noise was created over the fact that this story had a lot of student pencil writing in it.  I am here to assure you that I told my previous students to put those marks in so that the story will be accurate.  This book was published before Pluto was reduced to dwarf planet status, and we now teach the kids that there are only 8 planets in our solar system.  This caused great confusion, and I hope I got it sorted out. We will go into more depth on this topic of Pluto when we start our new science unit before Thanksgiving.

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this week was on possessive nouns.  The rule for these is in order to make a word possessive, you add ‘s to the end of the word.  If the word already ends in an s, you only add an apostrophe to the end, after the s.  The kids actually did a great job with this in class.  The test shall tell!  We spent our writing time working on our rough drafts.  Hopefully they all got their rough drafts done by today.  The kids have been doing a really great job with their expository writing, and I am excited to see how the final product turns out!

Math ~ We worked on chapter 6 this week which was on graphing and analyzing data.  We actually started the week with a Unit 2 test which was multiple choice and covered addition and subtraction.  From there we learned about surveys, finding the range, median, mode, and mean of a set of numbers, reading and making line plots, making a table to solve problems, and pictographs and bar graphs.  Whew.  We will just have one more lesson next week in this chapter on ordered pairs, then we will have a review day and chapter 6 test will be given next Friday.  Fortunately there will be no other tests that day due to the short week.

Science ~ We have finished up our chapter on weather and are now starting to review.  Yesterday the kids watched a short movie on weather, and we got started on our review homework.  The homework is page D52, numbers 1 – 19, all answers to be written in complete sentences.  This review is due next Friday, November 14, and the test on weather will be given on Monday, November 17.  Please make sure your child is studying for this test a little bit every night.

Social Studies ~ Unfortunately, Mrs. Michaels has been out sick this whole week with pneumonia, and I was unable to get a paragraph from her describing what they did in social studies.  I know that they did some reading and some vocabulary definitions, but you will have to ask your child for more specifics on what they did in social studies this week.

Other Areas of Interest:

      Szymon’s 9^th birthday was this past Tuesday, and we were delighted to celebrate with him on Election Day.  Happy birthday Szymon!

      Report cards went home today.  Please look for these and go over them with your child.  I will need the empty envelope back next week with your signature on it, please.  I am looking forward to discussing your child’s progress with you coming up on Monday, November 24.  The time of you scheduled conference is located at the top right of your child’s report card, and I highlighted it in yellow.

      The kids attended a Veteran’s Day assembly this morning.  Be sure to ask your child all about it!

      As of this week, the kids have officially learned all of their lower case letters in cursive.  They are invited to start writing in cursive (anything except spelling words) at home and at school, and I will certainly start writing things in cursive to get the kids used to reading it.  Starting in January in the 3^rd quarter, all third graders will be expected to write everything (except spelling words) in cursive.

      The November Scholastic book order form went home today.  If you would like to order books for this month, please return your order form and money to me by Thursday, November 13.

That’s it for now!  I couldn’t believe how beautiful the weather turned out on Halloween last week.  I can’t remember a better day of trick-or-treating in my life.  My own children certainly enjoyed quite a bounty because of it!  It is looking like a cold front is coming through town, and we are in for cold weather now for many months.  Please remember to dress your child appropriately for the weather.  The kids will continue to have recess outside unless the temperature or wind chill reach below zero.  I wish you all a wonderful weekend, and remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 8                    sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                 Halloween, 2008

Hello Parents!  Happy Halloween everyone!  What a week we had.  The kids are so glad that this day is finally here, and so am I.  We had some kids making some poor choices this week, but we talked about it and they did much better yesterday and today.  Those darn consequences will get you every time!  It is always hard for children to concentrate when a fun holiday is so close.  I hope many of you were able to see our parade from this afternoon – what a lovely day!  We sure got lucky with the weather.  We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story for this week was informational non-fiction.  We had fabulous discussions about this!  I have been teaching the kids new words to associate with reading while we are practicing skills that good readers do.  I introduced the word schema, (pronounced skeema) which means your background knowledge – what you already know.  We have also been using the word metacognitive, which means thinking about what you are thinking about while you are reading.  Good readers ask questions while they read, and I did a number of think alouds with the children to model for them my thinking while I read a story.  The kids have responded extremely well to these “fancy” words, and have enjoyed using them all week.  I will continue to use these words and focus on these skills with the kids throughout the year.  We have practiced using these words lots of times this week, so please ask your child to explain to you what they mean.

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson for this week was on irregular plural nouns.  Some words change completely (or don’t change at all!) when they become plural and they don’t follow the normal rules that we learned last week.  Some examples are: child becomes children, man becomes men, and fish stays fish.  The children did very well with this as they were familiar with those plural versions already.  You could say they were already stored in their schema. J During our writing time, I have been able to have mini conferences with each of the children while they work.  Everyone got their four square done this week, and they did very well.  We will get started on our rough draft next week and get into a little editing as well.

Math ~ We had a lesson on subtracting across zero on Monday, and explaining their answers on Tuesday.  We reviewed Wednesday and the kids took their chapter 5 test yesterday.  Please look for this test in your child’s Friday papers.  This will be their final math grade for the quarter, so please have your child correct it if they got a D or F.  Many of the mistakes I noticed were either simple subtraction mistakes, or else they regrouped incorrectly at one or two places.  We had a fun day today, and we will get started next week on chapter 6.

Science ~ We did our final experiment this week on weather maps, and we read through the final section of this chapter.  Please have your child start reviewing for our test.  It will take place on Monday, November 17.  They should at the very least bring home their green science notebook to review the vocabulary definitions twice a week.  I will remind them in class as well.

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies we have identified that George Washington was our country’s first President.  Also we used information on a map to identify locations and we compared and contrasted cities, suburbs, and rural areas.  The lesson students learned is that communities range from small to large.  They learned that cities are the largest communities and that a capital city is where the leaders of a state or country’s government work.  Students learn that the smaller communities are suburbs and rural areas.  We ended the week with a discussion about the two candidates running for presidency.  Voting takes place next Tuesday.  Just as your child is going to vote in school, we hope you vote as well.

Other Areas of Interest:

      Today is the final day of the first grading quarter.  Report cards will go home next Friday, November 7.  I will meet with you on Monday, November 24 to discuss any concerns and/or questions you may have regarding your child.

      Since the quarter ends today, I will not be able to accept any late or corrected work for this quarter after Tuesday.  On Monday I will send home any low grades that need correction from their tests taken today so that your child can get that done and returned to me the next day.  I will officially close the books for this quarter on Tuesday.

      I sent home the November Book-It form today.  Again, your child needs to read at least four chapter books in the month of November.  Please have them record their book on their paper as they finish it, and I will accept the forms any time on or before Monday, December 1.

* We had two birthdays to celebrate this week, both on the same day!  Justyna and Matthew both turned 9 this past Tuesday.  What fun to celebrate a double birthday!  We sure don’t see that very often.  Happy birthday Justyna and Matthew!

That’s it for now!  I would like to thank all of our room parents for helping contribute to our party today, with a special thank you to Mrs. Plesha who took charge and helped me organize the day.  I wish you all a fun and exciting weekend, and please be safe out there tonight.  Remember to vote on Tuesday if you haven’t already!  It is exciting to see such a historical event taking place this week.  Remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 7                        sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                         October 24, 2008

Hello Parents!  This has been an interesting week we have had together.  Some students are still struggling with behavior (we have not had a class reward at all this month due to the loss of more than four apples in a week) but the kids are mostly pulling themselves together.  I was able to try some new things with them that were very successful.  My favorite is a chart we started on book recommendations.  Whenever a student finishes a chapter book and they liked it, they have the opportunity to recommend it to someone else.  The books are reviewed, and these reviews are available for everyone to look at.  This will help the kids when they choose a new book.  Sometimes they seem rather lost and don’t know what book to pick to read, so this list of recommendations should help.  The whole class has been very enthusiastic about this idea, and they have added quite a few books to our chart already.  We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story for this week was a fantasy story called Wolf!  Most of the kids seemed to enjoy this story, as did I.  Personally, fantasy stories have always been a favorite of mine since it evokes the imagination to think about things that are not possible.  Be sure to ask your child what they thought of the story!  The kids need more practice with summaries, so you could also ask your child to give you a summary of the book.  This is a good thing to do after every book they read.  You could even have your child tell you a summary of each chapter they read while they are still working their way through the book.  Another important skill that good readers have is making predictions.  It is always a good idea to ask your child what they think will happen next.  We work on these things in class, and any reinforcement you can give at home will be very helpful.

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this week was on singular and plural nouns.  This is where we start getting into those tricky grammar rules.  Most nouns just need an s to make them plural – the exceptions are words that end in s, sh, ch, x, or y.  They did pretty well with this in class, but the test from today will tell the true story!  The kids have finally started working on their own expository stories in our writing time.  They had two topics to choose from: Write about a real life hero that you know, or write about your favorite subject in school.  Be sure to ask your child which topic they chose!  We just started working with our four squares today, and I have been having mini conferences with each child about their writing to make sure they are on the right track.  So far so good!  Once the four squares are filled out, the actual writing of the paper is easy.  Ask your child to tell you the chant we have that goes along with our four square!

Math ~ We got into regrouping this week!  On Monday the kids rounded numbers to find differences (they are rounding pros by now!) and then we got into regrouping Tuesday and Thursday.  We spent Wednesday in our centers, reviewing the chapter up to that point.  There were quite a few kids who struggled with regrouping (even though they learned it last year) so I spent time in the afternoons helping those kids who needed it.  You should be able to find those extra practice papers in their folders.  I feel pretty confident that the kids have a grasp on regrouping now.  Next week the kids will learn how to subtract across zero and how to explain an answer.  Their chapter 5 test will be next Thursday, October 30.

Science ~ We had an experiment on Monday this week where the kids created simple thermometers.  Please ask your child to explain this experiment to you!  We read through the next section of our chapter and completed the final four vocabulary words.  We still have another section to go, but the test is coming up quickly.  It looks like it will happen on Monday, November 17.  Our schedule gets goofy with days off in November.  Please encourage your child to bring home their green science notebook to start practicing their vocabulary words and definitions.

Social Studies ~ This week in social studies we used information on a map to identify locations.  We watched a short video that used exciting footage of Washington, D.C.   The children were able to watch and explore the many types of maps, the differences between maps and globes.  We discovered the necessity of using maps to help learn about and navigate around the nation’s capital.  In the next couple of weeks, we will be discussing some general information about the two candidates that are running for presidency, and what each stands for.  We will hold a mock election on November 4th.  If you have not already, please begin to inform your child about the two candidates that are running for presidency and what each stand for.  The results will be given on November 5th.

Other Areas of Interest:

      Next Friday is Halloween.  Students may dress up in costume, but please no weapons or masks.  Your child needs to be able to work in their costume, so please do not dress them in anything too cumbersome.  We will participate in a parade along the back of the school at 1:15 and parents are invited to attend!  Do not send any candy to school with your child on that day.  Our room parents will take care of treats for our party in the afternoon.  We are all looking forward to this extra fun day!

      Halloween is also the last day of the first quarter.  Report cards will go home the following Friday, November 7.

      The Book-It forms are due on Halloween.  Your child should have been reading one chapter book a week in order to complete their goal.  Please have those forms turned in to me by Halloween at the latest.  This is a mandatory assignment and is worth 100 points of your child’s reading grade.

That’s it for now!  It looks like the weather is taking a turn for the worse next week, with highs in only the upper 30’s on Monday and Tuesday.  Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather!  Also, toys coming to school have continued to be a problem.  You would not believe the amount of Lego’s I have taken away just this week!  When I see toys in my classroom, they will remain in my possession until Friday.  Please do not let your child bring toys to school.  I wish you all a wonderful weekend and remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 6                                                                                      October 17, 2008

Hello Parents!  We have had an interesting week together.  We had the opportunity to experience the Dome Theater on Tuesday afternoon, and we watched a show called Passport to the Universe.  It was something new for us, and the kids really seemed to like it.  Some of the effects were really cool.  This group of children tends to get really chatty when they are excited, so I experienced some frustration with all the talking that was going on throughout the show.  It was almost pitch black inside the dome, so it was difficult to see who was talking and stop them.  I spent quite a bit of time this week talking about making the right choice and doing the right thing, even if you would rather be chatting with your friend.  Not only do you miss out, but you are disturbing others around you.  I would appreciate any reinforcement you can give me on this topic at home.  Be sure to ask your child all about the dome if you have not already heard.  We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story for this week was a play called The Strongest One.  I hope your child read it aloud to you Tuesday night!  We spent some time discussing a script and which words are to be spoken aloud, and which ones were not.  Our leveled books were also plays, so I took time Wednesday afternoon for each group to meet and then perform their play.  They weren’t bad for a first try!  I really tried to emphasize using your voice differently and using your body to show what is being said.  I hope to have another opportunity like this later in the year so the kids can try acting again.  Some of them have real talent!  Ask your child what their play was called and what part they played.

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this week was on common and proper nouns.  Proper nouns are spelled with a capital letter.  This is a good hint for the kids to look for.  They did very well with this in class, and I expect successful test scores from this morning.  We spent our writing time on expository writing.  I showed them examples of five paragraph papers and we discussed at length exactly how they are formatted.  I also showed them our graphic organizer, the four square that we will be using to organize our thoughts before we write our papers.  I showed them the rubric I use to grade their papers as well so that my expectations are clear to them.  Today we started writing a five paragraph paper together on the importance of trees.

Math ~ The kids took their chapter 4 test yesterday on addition.  They have done so well with this chapter in class, I really expected the test to be fairly easy for them.  They ended up having a lot of questions for me once they got started, which was a little alarming.  I stayed up late last night to get those tests graded for today, so please look for them in your child’s Friday papers and go over the test with them.  We got started right away today on our next chapter on subtraction.

Science ~ The Dome Theater was our science class early in the week, and yesterday we focused on the types of storms that take place across our planet.  We learned about storm chasers, and the kids each decided what kind of storm chaser they would like to be.   We had quite a discussion about it and the kids were very enthusiastic to share stories and experiences they have had with the various types of storms.  We made a list of nine storms – ask your child if they can name all nine!  We will get back to our regular science schedule next week.

Social Studies ~ This week in social studies we were introduced to Chapter 2, Where on Earth Is Your Community?  We read and used information on a map to identify locations.  We compared and contrasted a map and a globe by creating a Venn diagram and listing our responses.  We also learned to describe a location by hemisphere.  We have learned to locate the equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, Eastern Hemisphere, and Western Hemisphere.  We also are able to identify the North and South Poles.  We found out that the Himalaya Mountains are the highest mountains in the world and that the plains in Africa can stretch for miles.  We have read pages 36 – 41 and have taken notes.  Feel free to reread the lesson with your child and review all notes.

Other Areas of Interest:

      Today is Edward’s 9^th birthday!  We were delighted to celebrate with him on his actual birthday.  Happy birthday Edward!

      Next Friday, October 24 is a school improvement day.  That means early dismissal for the children and meetings in the afternoon for me.  The kids will be dismissed at 11:30 next Friday, so please make arrangements for them to be home early.  Buses will take them home at 11:30 if they normally ride the bus.

      Please remind your child to write down the books they are reading on their Book-It form.  They may include their book club book for this month as well.  Please check up on your child that they are reading every night.

That’s it for now!  This is such a fun time of year for various fall fest type activities, and I hope you and your family are able to take advantage of it.  Red Ribbon Week begins with a walk this Sunday.  We will be doing all kinds of activities and having special days next week: Monday:  Your future is bright without drugs – wear sunglasses!  Tuesday: Scare away drugs – wear your hair crazy!  Wednesday: Be your self, be drug free – wear mismatched clothes!  Thursday: Drugs turn your life inside out – wear clothes inside out!  Friday: Follow your dreams, be drug free – wear pajamas!  That should be fun for all of us next week.  I wish you all a wonderful weekend and remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 5                                                                                                  October 3, 2008

Hello Parents!  I would like to welcome our new student, Fatima.  We are glad to have her here, and it has been heartwarming to see our class welcome her so nicely.  Our class size is now up to 17.  Her timing was good as I was able to include her in our All About Me book.  That book has been put together, and will be making its rounds to your homes starting next week.  Each child will have a turn to bring the book home for one night to share with their families.  Each page is so unique, and I hope you can all appreciate everyone’s hard work.  When the book does come to your home, please make sure it is well taken care of (it will arrive in a bag) and returned to school the next day.  We had a busy week together, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story for this week was called The Perfect Pet.  Please remember to have your child read these stories to you on Monday nights.  The genre of this story is humorous fiction, although I found that much of the humor was over the children’s heads.  It’s not as funny when you have to explain everything. J Next week there will not be any reading, spelling, or grammar because of the Terra Nova testing.  I will not send home any homework next week so that the kids can go to bed early and be well rested for the testing.  Please see the end of this Newsletter for more information about the Terra Nova tests in the Other Areas of Interest section.

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this was sentence combining, which ended up being easy for the kids.  They only had to combine two related sentences with a comma and the word and or but.  Hopefully this will be a nice grade booster for everyone in grammar.  We spent our writing time this week doing really fun things.  The kids loved creating figures out of toothpicks and marshmallows, then having to explain how to make the same structure to their partner who was sitting back-to-back with them.  Many of them really caught on to the importance of using lots of detail and did a terrific job.  Be sure to ask your child about it.  We took Wednesday’s writing time to decorate our classroom.  It now feels spooky in here and is all decked out for Halloween.  The kids did a terrific job decorating and I appreciated their help.

Math ~ We started chapter 4 on addition this week.  The kids learned about the three properties of addition – associative, zero, and commutative properties.  Ask your child to explain each property to you!  We also worked on estimating answers by rounding, and regrouping numbers in the tens and ones place.  Today we learned how to solve problems by guess and check.  These problems can be difficult, so I sent home an explanation on a separate paper with your child today to help them with their homework this weekend.  We will continue to work on this chapter next week, although no math homework will go home.

Science ~ We started our new chapter this week on weather.  We did a couple of experiments on Monday that proved two of the three properties of air.  Give your child a quick quiz to see if they remember the three properties. (Air takes up space, exerts pressure, and has weight.)  Ask your child to explain our experiments to you!  We read through the first section of this chapter, and your child got their first three definitions written out.  Be sure to review those vocabulary words with your child at least once a week.

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies we identified reasons people have formed communities, including a need for security and law.  We gave suggestions on possible courses of action that could be taken in given situations, and assess the consequences of irresponsible behavior.  Finally, we identified and explained the importance of acts of civic responsibility, including obeying laws.  Your child completed many vocabulary definitions and note taking.  We will conclude Chapter One this week and the test will take place next Friday, October 10th.  Please make sure your child prepares for this test.  Review all notes from his/her yellow notebook, pages 12 – 31 from the social studies book, and the review sheet.

Other Areas of Interest:

      Terra Nova testing is next week.  Our schedule is as follows: Monday testing will be from 8:20 – 11:00.  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday testing will be from 8:20 – 10:30.  There is no testing on Friday.  We will continue to have science and social studies in the afternoons, but no homework will go home next week except that the kids need to study for their social studies test on Friday.  No other tests will be given on Friday.  I will not write a Newsletter next week as our regular subjects are mostly put on hold.  You may send your child to school with a healthy snack to eat after testing is over each day.  Please do not send pop or candy for a snack.  Your child will need to be well rested and on time for school as we start promptly at 8:20 and your child will have to wait in the office until we have a break in testing if they are late.  Please feel free to send me an e-mail or note if you have questions about this testing.  Remember, the purpose of having no homework next week is so your child to go to bed early and be well rested so they can perform their best on the test.

      The October Book-It form is included in your child’s Friday papers they took home today.  Sorry I did not get that out to you on Wednesday.  Your child can write down any book they have read starting October 1.  Each child needs to read 4 chapter books for this month, and the form is due back to me by Friday, October 31.

That’s it for now!  What a disappointment in our baseball teams this week!  Hopefully the Cubs and Sox can pull it together this weekend and start winning some games.  Hopefully our economy will turn around after the House votes today on the new plan.  We are all in need of some good news here!  If you were able to watch the vice presidential debates last night, it is a good idea to talk about them with your child.  This upcoming election is so important to our nation, and your child should know about it and your personal views on the matter.  I am hoping that next week’s presidential debate will be more interesting than the last one!  I wish you all a wonderful weekend and remember to keep your child reading!

Mrs. Sarah Adkins