Mrs. Adkins’ Class

Third Grade Newsletter

Volume 7, Number 17                  sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                 February 27, 2009

Hello Parents!  We have had a pretty good week together.  Miss Wierzgac spent some time on Tuesday afternoon talking to the kids about being respectful to each other, and they really seemed to listen!  They had a fantastic day on Wednesday, and it is nice to see the kids making efforts to be kind to each other.  We have established a “who praised you today?” chart at the front of the room for kids to acknowledge who has been kind to them.  It is wonderful to see the chart full of names by the end of the day.  I will not write a Newsletter next week as we have the ISAT testing.  Please read the attached paper to find more details regarding this important week.  We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story this week was non-fiction and it was called Here’s My Dollar.  It is a terrific story about a girl who made a difference to her local zoo simply by writing a letter.  I was able to watch President Obama give his speech to Congress Tuesday night, and I was delighted to see a girl there with his wife who had written a letter to Congress, asking them for money to help her school.  It is so nice to see something like that happen for everyone to see.  I like that the kids can be exposed to the fact that one person really can make a difference in our world.  We spent time discussing author’s purpose, and that you should understand the purpose before you read a book.  We tend to read things differently for our different purposes, and that is important to understand.  The three purposes authors write for are to inform, persuade, or entertain.

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this week was on irregular past tense verbs.  I gave the kids some extra practice with this yesterday during our reading groups.  They each were to write a story using at least seven irregular past tense verbs.  So many of these grammar lessons have to do with what makes sense in the sentence, and I will always encourage the kids to reread their sentences to look for sense.  Our formal writing time has been spent finishing up with our persuasive papers.  Many of the kids finished theirs up today, and hopefully the rest will catch up soon.  Next week on the ISAT tests the kids will be expected to write a full, five paragraph paper on an expository topic.  We will take some time before that test to practice writing one in a 45 minute time period.

Math ~ Congratulations to Shane and Justyna this week for successfully completing their timed multiplication test.  They accurately answered 100 problems in 5 minutes.  Way to go, Shane and Justyna!  In other news, we have started two new chapters in Math. We have talked about fractional parts of a group, equivalent fractions, fractions greater than one and fractions as decimals. We did some fun activities with these concepts and they even got a treat! Ask them about their special candy they received and what they did with that candy! Also, ask your child about the artwork they created on Thursday that went along with their math lesson!

Science ~ On Monday, all the students played their energy review game to help prepare them for their test on Thursday. They all did a great job when they were answering the questions! They were pretty quick and both teams earned a lot of points! On Thursday then, the class took their test on energy. Please look for this test in your child’s papers they took home today.  After ISAT week, we will begin a new chapter on Heat. If you would like, at home, you and your child could discuss heat and different forms of heat. This could get them excited and ready to learn about heat when we get back to our normal schedule.

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies class we have read about Americans who have worked to make life better for others.  Such individuals are Harriet Tubman, Thomas Jefferson, Helen Keller, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  We recognized and discussed the risks some of them took to secure freedom for themselves and others.  We also read about ordinary people who exemplified good citizenship, such as retired Fire Chief Joseph Curry (New York City) who organized rescue teams after the attack on New York City.  Also, in the upcoming month, beginning March 9^th in social studies class, your child will be introduced to many famous historical people.  They will be introduced to these people through many written biographies.  Your child will read 6 – 10 biographies in class about famous individuals.  On March 20^th, your child will be required to pick a historical figure and complete a biography report on him or her.  This report will be due on March 30^th.  A detailed handout of instructions will be provided on Friday, March 20^th.  Following this lesson, your child will hold a WAX MUSEUM SPECIAL.  Your child will dress up as their famous individual and display their costume and appear as a wax figure for you and the students of Pennoyer to view. This will take place on April 2nd and April 3rd.

Other Areas of Interest:

• There will be school on Monday, April 13!  This is the day after Easter, and in the school calendar, this is scheduled as a day off.  However, since we have had so many snow days, administration has decided to use April 13 as one of our make up days.  They chose to do this because otherwise we will have to have school into the week of June 15, and we wanted to have the school year wrapped up by the end of the previous week.  So please make note that school has been scheduled for Monday, April 13.
• Our regular reading/spelling/grammar program will be suspended next week due to the ISAT tests.  There will be no homework given so that you child can go to be early and be well rested for the tests.  Please read the attached ISAT information sheet for more details.
• The February Book-It form was due today.  March is the final month for the Book-It program, and the kids are expected to read a total of 5 chapter books.  The form went home today with your child.

That’s it for now!  Thank goodness the weather is warming up again.  I will be glad to put away my long, down coat for the season.  Please remember to spend time every night reviewing multiplication flash cards with your child.  If your child has already passed the test, this only needs to be done once a week or so.  I 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 16                  sadkins@pennoyerschool.org                 February 20, 2009

Hello Parents!  We had a good but short week together.  I think our highlight of the week would be our science experiment we did Wednesday afternoon.  The kids loved it, and it was thrilling to see the excitement in their faces when they got their circuit to work.  Please ask your child all about it if you have not heard already.  Many kids asked me if we could do it again.  While we will not have time to repeat the experiment in school, this is one that could be done at home as well.  We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story for this week, Washington Weed Whackers was a news article about school kids trying to help out their community.  This was a great article for the kids to practice asking questions for.  Our related leveled books were drawn on the same theme, and provided the kids ample opportunities to be metacognitive and ask questions.  We also spent time working with contractions (ask your child about the posters we made) and comparing and contrasting various things. 

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this week was on helping verbs, which are very similar to linking verbs.  Hopefully the kids will all be successful on their test they took today.  We were only allowed enough time this week for one day of Writer’s Workshop (which they all complained about) and we spent the rest of our writing time working on persuasive papers.  Our goal for today was to have all rough drafts finished so that we can move on to editing and publishing before we take the ISAT tests in just over a week.

Math ~ Congratulations to Jason for successfully completing his timed multiplication test!  Four kids down, only 13 to go! This week, we were learning about area and volume in addition to learning about perimeter last Friday. The students did fun activities such as, moving around the classroom to find objects to trace on a grid so they could count the square units and find the area. They also used linking cubes to explore the concept of volume. To review this material, the children did math centers and worked together in groups. So please be sure to ask your child about area and volume! If you have sugar cubes at home, you and your child can explore volume by creating different figures!  Today the kids were introduced to fractions.

Science ~ Since there was no school on Monday; we scheduled science for Wednesday afternoon this week.  I was so pleased with everything about the science experiment; I wish every science class were like that!  Yesterday we read through the last section of our chapter on energy and started our review.  The energy test is scheduled for next week on Thursday, February 26.  The review homework is due next Wednesday, and it is page F32, numbers 1 – 21.  Please make sure your child’s work is written in cursive in complete sentences in their green science notebook.

Social Studies ~ This past week we identified the interactions between rights and responsibilities.  We learned about the importance of acts of civic responsibility, including obeying laws and voting.  We discussed the Bill of Rights and that it provides us with the rights and freedoms to all Americans.  We have the right to speak in public about our ideas and beliefs, including religion.  Lastly, we resolved a classroom dilemma by using the democratic process of majority rule.  We did this by identifying the steps in the voting process, we held a small election regarding the choice of school uniforms or not, we voted on ballots and tallied the results.  Ask your child what the majority vote was.

Other Areas of Interest:

• The ISAT tests are quickly approaching.  They will begin on Tuesday, March 3, and will last all four days that week.  I will send home detailed information on these tests next week, along with what our schedule will be like.

That’s it for now!   Although it has been very cold these past couple of days, they say the weather is turning warmer, thank goodness.  The kids wrote me a poem during their library time this week which was extremely sweet and fun for me to receive.  I understand that they read some poetry in library, and then created a poem for me as a class.   I have it posted just inside our door for all to enjoy.  Ask your child how they enjoyed the experience of writing their own poetry!  I 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 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 11                                    sadkins@pennoyerschool.org           December 5, 2008

Hello Parents!  Welcome to winter!  We sure were hit with a blast of it this week.  The rules at recess when there is snow out, is that children must have boots and snow pants to go on the snow piles and/or the playground.  If they don’t have both, they will have to remain on the blacktop.  Please make sure your child is dressed warmly.  We go outside unless the temperature or wind chill reaches zero degrees.  I enjoyed meeting with all of you last week for conferences, and I have made some changes with the kids based on our conversations.  Thank you for making the time to come in and see me.  My door is always open to you if you have any other questions or concerns.  We had a good week together, so here’s what’s been happening:

Reading ~ Our story this week was the folk tale of Stone Soup.  Some of you may be familiar with the story already.  Hopefully you enjoyed reading it with your child Monday night.  We focused on inferences this week, seeking out the implied message from the author.  I also introduced a thesaurus to the kids, and they had the opportunity to use one to find synonyms.  They really seemed to enjoy using this tool, so pull yours out at home if you have one for your child to look through and use.  Please remember to practice using our weekly vocabulary words with your child at home.  Our goal is for these words to become part of their everyday language, and the more they practice them, the more likely they are to use them.

Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson for this week was on verbs.  Finding these verbs can be tricky, especially the being words such as am, was, were, and is.  I gave them some extra practice with this in class in hopes of clearing up some confusion.  Hopefully they do well on their test today.  We spent our writing time on revising and editing our expository papers.  I am looking to start the kids on a writing workshop, which includes allowing the kids to write about whatever they like.  They just need more practice writing, and they are more likely to do so if they are interested in their topic.  I still need to teach them the formal writing of expository, persuasive, and narrative, but I am going to start having a writing workshop twice a week for now.  We’ll see how that goes starting next week.

Math ~ I am so proud of how the kids did on their chapter 7 test this week on probability.  I am happy to report that my Please Correct stamp remained in my drawer as everyone got at least a C on that test.  Yay!  I also gave the kids a unit test this week on this chapter and our last one on charts and graphing.  They didn’t do as well on that test, but I’m still pleased with their effort.  Please look for both of these tests today in your child’s Friday papers and go over it with them.  We have skipped ahead in our book to chapter 12 on time and temperature.  Please practice having your child tell time on an analog clock at home.  Elapsed time is always a tricky lesson, so any extra help you can provide at home will be very beneficial.  I will be teaching multiplication (the skipped chapters) in an intense, 7 day span in January.  We will immerse ourselves in multiplication throughout the day, and I really enjoy those few days of Multiplication Mania that we do every year.  I will send home detailed information about that sometime in mid January.

Science ~ We have started our new chapter on the planets in our solar system.  The kids have been excited to get to this chapter.  We currently have a hanging solar system in our classroom, and the kids spend much time admiring it and observing the differences in the planets.  Please ask your child to explain to you why Pluto is no longer considered a planet.  We took a look at several mnemonics to use to help us remember the order of the planets from the sun.  The one our class settled on is Many Very Educated Men Just Seem Uneducated Now.  I’ve shared my own mnemonic with the class that I learned as a child (Mary’s Violet Eyes Make John Stay Up Nights Proposing) and if you remember yours, please share it with your child.  We are all very excited to be going to the Planetarium next week on Wednesday as an extension of this chapter. 

Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies we read a story about Jane Addams, “Peace and Bread”.  We learned who Jane was and that she decided at age 6 that she wanted to grow up and improve life in Chicago.  She wanted to help others and by doing that she exemplified good citizenship.  We learned many interesting facts about Hull House so please ask your child about it.  Finally, we read and discussed other volunteers who believed in justice, equality, and responsibility for the common good.  We gave examples of community changes that resulted from individual or group decisions.  We also are able to distinguish between elected and appointed government leaders.

Other Areas of Interest:

      We celebrated Marcin’s 9^th birthday this past Monday.  His actual birthday was on November 25, and we were delighted to celebrate with him a few days late.  Happy birthday Marcin!

      Progress reports went home today for any grades less than a C- or 73%.  Please look for these in your child’s Friday papers, and return it to me signed next week.

That’s it for now!  It is looking like a really cold weekend ahead of us.  Brrrr!  Hopefully the cold will be an advantage for the Bears in their game this Sunday, and they can win!  Be careful out there with any holiday shopping your find yourself doing, as the malls have been crazy busy.  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

3^rd Grade Update

Friday, November 14, 2008

sadkins@pennoyerschool.org

Hello parents!  Even though there is no Newsletter this week, I do have a few updates for you that I would like to pass along:

      All third graders will need to purchase a large, plastic candy cane for our winter concert.  These can be found at the dollar store, Target, or most anyplace that sells Christmas stuff.  The candy cane should be at about the height of your child’s hip, no higher than their waist.  Please send those in to school as soon as you can get one.

      I wanted to remind you about the book preorders available for our guest Author this year, Aaron Reynolds.  Orders are due next Tuesday, November 18th.  Aaron will sign all books at Pennoyer’s Family Reading Night.  You could take a sneak peek at the website and get an idea of what his books are like.  Visit www.aaron-reynolds.com

      I wanted you to be aware that I am going to be teaching vocabulary a little differently starting next week.  I have been searching for a more effective way for the kids to learn their reading vocabulary, and I think I have found one.  Instead of copying the definitions in their notebooks, we will instead take time to discuss each word and use them in sentences.  The kids will create their own sentences using these words, and sketch an illustration to go along with it.  The idea is for the kids to start using our vocabulary words in everyday language, so please reinforce this at home.  On Mondays, ask your child what their vocabulary words are (they are also listed on the spelling page I send home every Monday) and encourage them to use the words at home as well.  We will keep track at school of how many times we hear these words in everyday conversation.  Hopefully this will allow the kids to have a deeper understanding of our new words we learn.

      We celebrated Dylon’s 9^th birthday this past Wednesday.  His actual birthday was on Monday, and we were delighted to celebrate with him a couple of days late.  Happy birthday Dylon!

That’s it for now!  Please remember that your child has a science test this Monday on weather.  Based on our review we had yesterday, many of them still need to learn their vocabulary definitions.  We are in for a chilly weekend, and that is perfect weather to snuggle up and read!

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