Reading Comprehension

When we return from vacation I will begin adding a new component to homework. Each Monday I’ll send home a reading comprehension passage along with questions to be answered. It will be due at the end of the week. There is a certain process that I will teach the students, and we continually use for answering comprehension questions. Students will be asked to use this process at home, so I want to be sure to share it with you.

Here’s how we’ll approach reading comprehension questions:

1. Read the passage
2. Read all the questions
3. Reread the passage, keeping the questions in your head.
4. Do question one, looking back at the passage to be sure it’s the right answer.
5. Underline the answer in the passage.
6. Write the paragraph number where you found the answer next to the question.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 for each question.

This process will ensure that students closely examine the text, and use text evidence, to answer questions about it. If you have any questions, please be sure to drop me a note.

Weekly Wrap Up

It was wonderful to meet with all of you this week at conferences! Since we have all just spoken, there’s not much I can put in t!he newsletter this week. So, I thought I’d let a few kids who wanted to share their thoughts with you do so.

• Rhiana- Today we learned how to read two passages on the same topic, take notes, and then we had to write a paragraph on what we took notes about. 
• Elizabeth - Today we learned about main idea and details when we are reading non-fiction books.
• Chloe - This week we learned division. 
• Hailey - Please check out our class on Twitter. 
• Ethan - We played 4-Square in Wellness this week.
• Jared - Remember to practice your recorder every week.
• Jacob - We are learning how to find certain books in the school library.
• Shannon - We finished painting our Picasso heads in art, and now we’re doing pottery.
• Mary - We’re learning how to play volleyball in gym.

One of the things that I do on an almost daily basis is place extra copies of worksheets and papers in our "extra copies" box. This way there's always an extra copy in case something gets lost. At the end of each trimester I let the children who like to play school take home any of these papers. So, if you see a lot of papers come today don't think it's work your child needs to catch up on, it's just for fun. :)

Here's what we'll be learning about next week:

• Reader’s Workshop: Reading for information and main idea/supporting details
• Writer’s Workshop: Information Writing
• Math: Division

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

Weekly Wrap Up

Did you hear we’re learning how to keyboard, and your child can practice with the same program at home? Generally we take about half an hour on Fridays to build our keyboarding skills. Sometimes we sneak in a few extra minutes other days if we finish something early, but not very often. We’re using the website, Typing Club. If your child logs into the Chrome browser at home with her/her district Google account information, and then accesses the site through the district apps link in the browser (I call it the “waffle”), they can pick up where they left off at school. Once they login again in school, they won’t have to repeat the section they did at home. The key is to make sure they login with their district Google account. We’ve done this in school before, so your child should be comfortable doing it at home.

If you’re following us on Twitter you’ve seen the links to the Native American project presentations. The projects and the presentations are incredible! Your children worked so hard, and I’m so very proud of them! The projects will be on display in the hallway during conferences, and QR codes will be available so you can also view their presentations. If you don’t have a QR code reader on your device, you might want to get one before conferences.

If you’re not following our class on Twitter you’re missing out on all the great things we do each day! You can find us sharing our learning at: @MrsCarnevale3rd. Follow us! You’ll know something that went on in our room each day, and hopefully never hear “nothing” when you ask your child what they did in school that day!  :)

Conference appointments went home early this week. If you didn’t get yours please let me know ASAP.  Also, if your schedule has changed since you returned the sign up form, and now you need to reschedule, please contact me ASAP.

Here's what we'll be learning about next week:

• Reader’s Workshop: Reading for information and main idea/supporting details
• Writer’s Workshop: Information Writing
• Math: Topic 6 test and begin Topic 7 - meanings of division
• Science: Habitats

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

Northeast Woodlands Native American Villages

Our Northeast Woodlands Native American Village Educreations are finished!  Enjoy!

Weekly Wrap Up

As the holiday season approaches, we often spend a great deal of time thinking about giving to others. At this time of the year, students and their families often like to give gifts to their teachers. This is certainly a very thoughtful and well-appreciated gesture. However, I feel that when one gives, the more people that can receive, the better. So this year, if you and your child would like to give, instead of giving me a gift please consider giving the classroom a gift that all of the children can enjoy. If you want to do this, but need ideas, I’ve asked the kids to help me brainstorm a list of things they’d like to have in the classroom. From that list I created an Amazon wishlist. You can find it here: https://amzn.com/w/NWRDR35SH61C - Please don’t feel obligated to get anything from that list, I just wanted to put together something from the students that has what they wish they could have in their classroom.

Lots of new pictures have been added to our class photo album, you can find it here. Stop by and peek into your child’s life at school!

Remember, conference forms are due soon! Please let me know if you need another copy.

Here's what we're learning about next week:

• Reader’s Workshop: Reading for information and main idea/supporting details

• Math: Topic 6, Multiplying by 3, 4, 6, 7, 8

• Social Studies: Create Native American villages and learn about the first Thanksgiving.

This is the time of year when we often pause to reflect on things we are thankful for. I want you to know that I’m so very thankful to have a class of children who are genuinely nice, care about and help each other, and work hard to learn new things each and every day. It is truly a joy to come to work each day and spend time with your children! They continue to put a smile on my face and make my heart sing! I hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

Weekly Wrap Up

Thursday is our trip to Indian Rock. We leave about 9:00, and return around 1:00. Most of our time is spent outdoors and walking through wooded trails, so it’s important that your child be dressed for the weather and wearing appropriate footwear. All drinks and lunches need to be in labeled, disposable containers. There will not be snack time on the trip, so just their lunch and a drink are needed.

Remember, Curl Up and Read is from 2:45-3:15 on November 20. Join your child in the classroom for a special half hour of reading together. Let them share some of their favorite classroom reads with you, and see a little of what they’re learning in action! Siblings from other classes are welcome to join us, as long as you send a note to their teacher. Also, if you want your child to leave our room and go to a sibling’s room, please send a note.

By mid-December we should be done with multiplication and starting division. Division can be tricky for students who don’t know their multiplication facts. So, it’s really important that your child keep working to learn their multiplication facts. It doesn’t matter whether they are memorizing facts written down, playing games, or using an app, do whatever works best for your child. It’s just important they are working on it.

A couple of reminders...

• Notes are needed each week a student brings electronics for Fun Friday.
• We have gym every Wednesday. Your child should be wearing sneakers on that day, or bringing them to change into.

Here's what we're learning about next week:

• Reader’s Workshop: Reading for information and main idea/supporting details
• Writer’s Workshop: Personal narrative assessment, then information writing.
• Math: Topic 6, Multiplying by 3, 4, 6, 7, 8
• Social Studies: Northeast Woodland Native Americans

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

Veteran's Day 2015

Weekly Wrap Up

Please try to set aside time from 2:45-3:15 on November 20 for Curl Up and Read time here at school. Join your child in the classroom for a special half hour of reading together. Let them share some of their favorite classroom reads with you, and see a little of what they’re learning in action! Siblings from other classes are welcome to join us, as long as you send a note to t!heir teacher. Also, if you want your child to leave our room and go to a sibling’s room, please send a note.

Earlier in the year I told the kids that after Halloween they could bring in electronics for Fun Friday so long as it’s okay with their parents. I wanted them to first spend some time playing with another human, and getting to know each other.  :)   So, now we’re past Halloween, they can have electronics. If you want your child to bring something in, the only thing I ask is that each week they bring a note from a parent saying it’s okay. Without a note, I won’t let them use it. All electronics have to stay either in their locker or in a container in the classroom closet until Fun Friday time. Don’t worry if you don’t want your child to bring in electronics, there are many classroom games and activities they can enjoy.

Don’t forget, Scholastic book orders, both online and paper forms are due Friday, Nov. 13. Please don’t send cash, check only or order online. Thanks!

All students are encouraged to wear red, white, and blue on Wednesday for Veteran’s Day!

Here's what we're learning about next week:

• Reader’s Workshop: Review of skills taught in unit 1 and assessment of unit 1 skills
• Writer’s Workshop: Finish small moment stories
• Math: Multiplying by 0, 1, 10, and multiples of 10
• Social Studies: Northeast Woodland Native Americans

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

Weekly Wrap Up

A few times a year I send home a Scholastic book order. This is just one of many ways to find reading material for your child. Please don’t feel obligated to purchase anything, but if you do want to buy a book, you can either order and pay online, or you can send in the form with a check (please do not send cash). A larger selection of books is actually available online. The order link and our class code are on our class website. Online orders are delivered to the classroom and distributed to your child. They do not get sent to your home. Click here for the link on the class website for Scholastic Book Orders. Online and paper forms are due Friday, Nov. 13.

This week we started learning about the meanings of multiplication. Next week we start with the facts. Our math program does not do them in order (0-10). Topic 5 covers multiplying by 2, 5, 9, 1, 0, and 10, in that order. I also throw in 11 since it’s so easy. Late in the week ask your child to show you the nine’s trick with their hands. I’ll also tweet out a video of the trick on the day we learn it.

Once again we are collecting treats for troops. This is a great chance for your child to be a Goodness Gorilla (ask them what this means). Please send in a bit of extra Halloween candy next week. It will be distributed to our troops serving around the world

Here's what we're learning about next week:

• Reader’s Workshop: Review of skills taught in unit 1
• Writer’s Workshop: Continue revising and typing small moment stories
• Math: Multiplying by 2 ,5, and 9
• Social Studies: Northeast Woodland Native Americans

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

Weekly Wrap Up

On Wednesday we begin learning about multiplication! It’s first introduced through the concept of repeated addition, such as 4x2=8 is the same as 4 groups of 2, or 2+2+2+2=8. We will also learn about it through arrays. An example of an array is shown on the attached family math letter. Another way that we’ll learn about multiplication is through skip counting. If your child can count by 3’s six times, then they’ll know that 3x6=18. Next week a skip counting chart and a multiplication chart will be sent home. Your child will likely need to refer to those while doing his/her homework.

Along with studying addition and subtraction facts, your child can begin studying multiplication facts. The website multiplication.com (http://www.multiplication.com) has some great games that kids tend to love. The “Just for Kids” page on our class website has many resources listed by topic, as well as basic fact sites. One thing I find is that in their excitement to learn something new and “grown up” kids often fall back in their subtraction progress as they focus on multiplication. So, they’ll need to keep circling back to study subtraction facts (and addition too).

Today your child is bringing home a sheet with of all of their logins and passwords for the various sites we use in school. This is so they can login from home if they want, and so you always have access to what we’re doing in school. If you ever have questions about these sites or want help with them, don’t hesitate to ask!

I realized that I never sent home the math test scores from Topic 2 last week. I’m so sorry! The kids took the test on the Chromebooks, and they can’t print from them. I meant to print them, and then it slipped my mind. They’re coming home today.

Friday we are making slime in class! It’s a VERY messy activity. Your child is very likely to get it on their clothes. Please don’t send them to school in good clothes that day.

Here's what we're learning about next week:

• Reader’s Workshop: Strategies to read and understand meanings of tricky words and phrases (including figurative language, synonyms, and antonyms)
• Writer’s Workshop: Typing small moment stories
• Math: Test topic 3 and start Topic 4- meanings of multiplication
• Science: Physical and chemical changes of matter

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

Weekly Wrap Up

Next week we start Topic 3 in math, which focuses on 3-digit addition and subtraction with regrouping (what we grew up calling carrying and borrowing). We’ve actually already been working on addition with regrouping as part of our morning work, so our lessons will be focused more on subtraction with regrouping. By late in the week we will be doing what’s called subtracting across zeros. This means doing problems like 400-127. To help students with this, there’s a great free iPad app we use in school, Number Pieces Basic. If you have an iOS device at home, you may want to download it for your child (there doesn’t appear to be an Android version, but there might be something on the same idea). It can also be accessed on the developer’s website: http://www.mathlearningcenter.org/web-apps/number-pieces/.

 Did you hear the news? We blogged AGAIN this week! Last week your child wrote their introduction blog post. Today your child blogged about the favorite book he/she read in September. Please take a minute to read your child’s blog, and comment. Feel free to share their blog with every relative you have, and have them comment!, too. :) The kids LOVE it when people comment on their writing, and it is highly motivating.

 It was a techie week. Along with blogging, the children created their first Educreations slideshows on the iPads as a review for math. Each group had to choose whether to teach how to round numbers to the nearest ten and nearest hundred, or teach about the three properties of addition. A couple of the presentations are in the next blog post down.

 As you might have noticed this week, your child does not always have some type of worksheet to do for homework. I only send worksheets home when there’s been a skill taught in class that day (or sometimes that week), that I want them to practice and apply their new knowledge to, reinforcing their in-school learning. Even when there’s not a worksheet, they still need to be doing their home reading and math facts, and recording on their logs. 

Here's what we'll be learning about next week:

•  Reader’s Workshop: Strategies to read and understand tricky words and phrases (including figurative language, synonyms, and antonyms) 
•  Writer’s Workshop: Putting together all the pieces of personal narrative writing. 
•  Math: Addition and subtraction of 3-digit numbers with regrouping. 
•  Science: Matter 

 Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

Educreations Math

We've been learning how to use the iPad app, Educreations, to create math presentations to help us review topics we're learning about.  Here are two that were made this week:

Weekly Wrap Up

We are just a few weeks away from starting multiplication! What that means is that your child really needs to know his/her addition and subtraction facts. Once we start multiplication, they’ll need to start focusing on memorizing those facts. A couple of months after that we start division, and then they have to learn those facts. That gets tricky if they’re still working on addition and subtraction. Third graders should know their math facts with immediate recall. This means no longer than about 2 seconds per fact! As fast as a child knows that 1+1=2, they need to know that 15-9=6. Thanks for making sure your child is practicing their addition and subtraction math facts at home, five nights a week, for at least ten minutes a night, and recoding it on their math fact log.

The final copy of the contact list is coming home today. If you move, change your phone number, or email, and want it updated on the contact list, please let me know, and I’ll make a new one to send out.

This morning I ran across an article on the free app, Bedtime Math. I briefly looked at the website, and thought the app looked promising. I haven’t used it yet, but wanted to share it with you in case you might be interested. If you do use it with your child, please let me know what you think about it.

You know from our class Twitter that I take a lot of pictures in class. But, I don’t post all of them on Twitter, just a select few. All the rest of the pictures get posted in the photo album page of our class website. All of the pictures from September will be posted by the end of the weekend. Stop by and take a look!

Here's what we're learning about next week:

• Reader’s Workshop: Strategies to read and understand tricky words and phrases (including figurative language)
• Writer’s Workshop: Review using storyteller voice, not reporter voice.
• Math: Review and test Topic 2
• Science: Matter

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

Weekly Wrap Up

We’ve been working hard on learning to make higher level predictions in reading. This means that your child doesn’t just predict what might happen night in the story or with a character, but they also use evidence from the story to support their opinion. We’re even learning to kick it up another notch to include information we know from our own lives to help understand the motivation of the characters. You can help at home by asking your child to tell you about what they read, and then ask them to make a predication about what might happen next, reminding them to use “because statements” to support their prediction.

A DRAFT copy of the contact list is coming home today. Please note that DRAFT is on it. When I was putting it together I realized just how easy it is to make a mistake typing all that up. Please check over the info. for your child. In most cases of multiple phone numbers and emails I just listed the house phone and the first email written down. If you see an error or want all contact info. listed, please let me know by Wednesday. I’ll send home a final contact sheet by the end of the week.

Any time your child has a special event in his/her life, such as a sporting event, music or dance recital, trip, etc... feel free to send in a picture or email it to me. Short videos are okay too. I’ll put it up on the SmartBoard so your child can share his/ her big events with the class. No show and tell tickets are required for this! Also, I know it’s not until the end of the month, but send in a picture of your child trick or treating so they can show their costume off to their friends in school!

Here's what we'll be learning about next week:

• Reader’s Workshop: Strategies to understand a story, including retelling
• Writer’s Workshop: Writing endings
• Math: Estimation for addition and subtraction

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

We Will Round You

We made a math music video today!

Weekly Wrap Up, Sept. 25th

It was fabulous to meet so many of you at Open House! I know it can be a whirlwind of a night, especially if you have multiple classrooms to visit. Hopefully the tour your child gave you of our room and their things gave you a little insight into their life at school. Our first conference isn’t until December, so if you have any questions or concerns between now and then, or just want to check in on your child’s progress, please let me know. I’ll be glad to schedule an earlier conference.

As you know, we are working on writing small moment stories, telling a true story bit by bit, moment by moment. You can help at home when your child is telling you about something that happened. You can ask him/her to tell you their story in very small detail, bit by bit, moment by moment, so you can picture it like a movie. It’s often helpful for a child to rehearse telling a story, listing what happened across their fingers. This helps them remember to tell it in order.

If your child has trouble with their math homework, the instructional video from the day on the enVision Math website can always be watched at home. To access the video after logging into enVision from the link on our Just for Kids page, students can click on the “Explore” button on the right side of the banner. From there they can click on topic, and then select the lesson. I showed the children how to access their books and videos today, so they should be able to help you if needed.

Thanks to everyone who filled out the contact information/permission. I will send home contact information for the class by the end of next week. If you did not return the form to me, I cannot include your child’s contact information. When/if missing forms are returned, I’ll send out updated contacted information.

Here's what's on our learning safari next week:

• Reader’s Workshop: Strategies to understand a story, and focusing on increasing reading stamina
• Writer’s Workshop: Paragraphs in narrative writing, and mapping out elements in narrative writing
• Math: Using mental math to add and subtract (we start rounding to nearest 10 and 100 and estimation the following week)

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

Weekly Wrap Up

Yes, it’s true, I told your kids on Thursday that gum is welcome in our room. You should have heard the cheers when I said that! :) There are actually some studies that show that chewing gum can help improve concentration. So, as long as it’s okay with you, they can have it in class. The only rules I have are that they have to keep it in their mouth, not chew like a cow, and they can’t lay down with it. If they leave the room for specials, lunch, or wellness break, they have to throw it away.

I do not have enough computer headphones for everyone to have their own, so they need to share. If you would prefer that your child not share headphones, you are welcome to send a set of headphones or earbuds to school. The earbuds that fit iPods, iPads, and iPhones fit our computers just fine. Please send them in a zip lock baggie with your child’s name on it.

A few FYI items for you:

• It might not be cold outside yet, but our classroom can get chilly. Your child is welcome to bring a sweater or sweatshirt and keep it in their locker for when they need it.
• Stuffed animals, pillow pets, and small blankets are all welcome during reading time. If it makes your child cozy and able to focus on their reading, then I welcome it in our room!
• Please send a water bottle in with your child, if possible. They’re usually pretty hot and thirsty after wellness breaks and recess.
• Home reading and math fact logs MUST be turned in to earn Fun Friday play time. Missing time or incomplete logs will result in a loss of Fun Friday time.

Here's what's on our learning safari for next week

• Reader’s Workshop: Strategies to understand a story
• Writer’s Workshop: Using storyteller voice, and working on meeting goals set for themselves.
• Math: Place Value to 9,999 - including word, standard and expanded forms

Don't forget that Tuesday is an early dismissal day, with open house from 6:00-7:30PM, and Wednesday is picture day.

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

Weekly Wrap Up

This class is amazing! I wish you could have a little video window into watching your children throughout the day. They are organized, super listeners, hard workers, great with transitions, kind to one another, and so much fun! We really are starting off the year the right way!

Today your child is bringing home a packet with their math vocabulary words for topic 1. They’ll need to keep the packet throughout the unit to help them with any math worksheet homework. If they have time, it would also be helpful for them to study terms they don’t know. They have another set at school in their math notebooks. Attached to the print newsletter you will find a letter explaining a game they can play at home with you to help reinforce skills for topic 1. If you play the game, please send a note to school and your child will get tiger tickets for doing extra homework! Also attached you’ll find your child’s login information for XtraMath this year. They logged into it at school on Thursday. This is just one tool your child can use for practicing math facts. Some kids like it, some find the timing frustrating. Do what works best for your child, whether it’s this site, another site, an app, or flashcards. It’s just important that they study their facts.

With all the exercise your children get with wellness breaks and recess, they’re hot and thirsty quite often. They’re allowed to have water bottles on their desks all day long, and strongly encouraged to get a good long drink after both breaks and recess. If your child doesn’t have a water bottle at school, please consider sending one in.

Here's what's on our learning safari next week:

• Reader’s Workshop: Strategies to understand a story
• Writer’s Workshop: Using storyteller voice
• Math: Place Value to 9,999 - including word, standard and expanded forms

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

Scenes from the First Fun Friday

We had our first Fun Friday today! There were lots of smiles and lots of laughter all around the room!

Weekly Wrap Up

What a fun first week of school we’ve had! We’ve eased back into the swing of school while having fun getting to know our new classmates, and learning about our new classroom. We’ve also spent quite a bit of time practicing third grade procedures. I think the children are really surprised by the amount of independence (in their eyes) and self-direction that comes with third grade.

Next week reading and math logs will come home in your child’s Jungle Book. Students should read for at least 20 minutes 5 days a week, and record their reading on their reading log. It’s the same log we’ll use in school, so it’s important they get in the habit of putting it back in their Jungle Book at home. For each night they read at home students earn 2 Tiger Tickets. Students are asked to practice their basic math facts for at least 10 minutes, 5 days a week, and record it on their math log. Students also earn 2 Tiger Tickets for each night they practice their math facts. Until we start on multiplication they should focus on practicing their addition and subtraction facts. Ideally, just as quickly as your child knows that 1+1=2, he/she should know other facts, such as 15-7=8.

 Here are some things you might have in your house that we could use in our classroom:

• Plastic spoons and forks for forgotten ones at snack time
• Plastic cups for forgotten water bottles
• Back issues of children’s magazines, such as Highlights, Sports Illustrated for Kids, or National Geographic for Kids

As a reminder, please look over your child’s behavior calendar and sign in the spot for parent signature. Don’t forget to follow our class on Twitter!

Here's what's coming up next week in our learning safari:

• Reader’s Workshop: Routines for Reader’s Workshop and building reading stamina
• Writer’s Workshop: Finding ideas for true stories
• Math: Place Value to 9,999 - including word, standard and expanded forms

Please remember that my door is always open if you have any questions or concerns. I also check email frequently. Together we are partners in your child’s education!

Play Doh Fun for Morning Work

This morning that children walked in to find Play Doh  on their tables, and morning directions on the Smart Board asking them to create something that they've learned or noticed about third grade. They also had paper to write a couple of sentences to tell about it. I love the thought and time they put into their creations. It's also quite cute what really stuck with them, especially the pillows in the room and the Wonderopolis wonder of the day video on how invisible fences work.

Enjoy their creations!

Day One Was a Great Success!

What a wonderful first day of school we had today!

After our first classroom morning meeting and then the school wide town meeting, we went on a treasure hunt to find things around our classroom. (Note: You should be able to click any picture to see it larger.)

We got to pick the color book box we want, and then design our name tag for it.

We BEGGED Mrs. Carnevale to let us read in our new classroom library. How can a teacher say no to kids begging to read?

Later we played Find a Friend, and had to find friends in the classroom who matched things like Flew a kite this summer or helped bake cookies or brownies this summer.

Towards the end of the day we did an activity to help us think about ourselves as learners, what kind of year we wanted to have, and help Mrs. Carnevale learn about us, and what kind of teacher we want her to be.

Here are the final charts from that activity:

Throughout the day there were lots of smiles on the faces of the children, and the teacher! It's going to be such a fabulous year!