Weekly Wrap Up

Next week we finish up our study of addition and subtraction as your child learns to do what is called, “three digit subtraction across zeros with regrouping.”  What this means is learning how to do subtraction problems like 400-214. This can be a very tricky skill for third graders. I’ll be teaching it through the use of base ten blocks on the computer and iPad, which allows the students to drag and drop the blocks, as well as break them apart, which helps them see the regrouping needed. 

Since this skill can be so tricky for students, I’m going to make a change for homework next week only. Instead of math fact practice, I’m going to give them a regrouping practice sheet on Monday, and ask for it to be worked on at home during the week, and returned by Friday. It shouldn’t take them more than a total of 30-40 minutes during the entire week. If you find that it’s taking more, please have them stop, and send it back to me with a note. 

If you have an iPad and would like the same app we use, it’s Number Pieces Basic (by Math Learning Center). If your child wants to use the website, it’s linked off our class Just for Kids webpage. Also, your child can always re-watch the video that goes with lesson 3-9, found on the enVision website.

Our class wish list includes the following:

• Small plastic cups - for when kids don’t have a water bottle
• Animal print duct tape - great for repairing broken binders and notebooks, and so many other things 
• Ziplock type baggies with slider -sandwich size for storing word work materials each week, and many other uses 

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

• Reader’s Workshop: Unit skills review
• Writer’s Workshop: Putting together all the pieces that go into personal narrative writing, and working on individual goals
• Math: 3-digit subtraction with regrouping

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 number of you have expressed concern to me over whether or not your child has more homework than reading and math facts practice. No, they don’t. Board of Education policy limits homework at the third grade level to 30 minutes a night. This has to include reading time. So, that’s why it’s only 20 minutes of reading and 10 minutes of math facts. In just a little over a month they’ll be working on learning multiplication facts, so it’s really important that right now your child learns their addition and subtraction facts. Just as quickly as they know that 1+1=2, they should know harder facts such as 17-9. It shouldn’t take more than 2-3 seconds per fact, otherwise they don’t actually know them. Reading should be any book they want, 20 minutes a night, 5 nights a week, and math facts should be 10 minutes, 5 nights a week.

Speaking of math, as you might have noticed from the papers coming home, we’ve been doing some review of 2-digit addition and subtraction with regrouping (what we used to call carrying and borrowing). If you’re wanting your child to do more schoolwork at home, writing up some problems that involve regrouping would be great practice! Soon we’ll be doing 3 and 4-digit addition and subtraction with regrouping, and “double regrouping” such as 323-176.

We’ve also been working making predictions in our reading and using information we’ve already read, as well as what we know about the character’s traits and personality, to help support those predictions. When you talk with your child about what he/she has read, you can ask them to predict what might happen next, and encourage them to support those predictions.

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

• Reader’s Workshop: Decoding tricky words, using context clues, and figurative language
• Writer’s Workshop: Continuing to write small moment stories bit by bit, and including dialogue and characters’ thoughts and feelings
• Math: Estimating sums and differences

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 your child will bring home their first weekly progress report. It is intended to keep you informed of your child’s academic and social/behavioral progress during the week. It’s probably very similar to what was used in second grade. Please sign it and have your child put it in their Jungle Book to turn in on Monday. Children who return it signed on Monday get two Tiger Tickets!

Weekly reading logs and math fact logs start today, and will go from Friday to Friday.  This is your child’s homework. Each week your child is asked to read at home for 20mn., at least five nights a week, and record it in their reading log. They can read anything they want, that you approve of. They can also count time reading with you, to a sibling, or doing reading for any outside group or club such as scouts or church school. They’re also asked to work on their math facts for 10mn. a night at least five nights a week, and record it. Right now we’re sticking with just addition and subtraction facts. Later we’ll add in all multiplication and division facts. While there is a spot on the logs for parent signature, I don’t require it unless your child is not completing their weekly logs. You’re still more than welcome to monitor and sign them if you’d like.

I want to clarify that the student thoughts on how you can help them with math facts were their thoughts, not mine. :)  Please don’t feel like you need to go spend money on apps or give them extra computer time if that’s what your child wrote. Do what works best for your child and your family!

Do you have any extra plastic forks and spoons hanging around your house? Do you have a growing collection of plastic silverware from take-out dinner nights? We could use them in the classroom! Kids often have a snack that needs a fork or a spoon, and if I don’t have any in the classroom they have to go down to the cafeteria to get one. Any extras you have and could send in would be greatly appreciated!

Remember to follow our class on Twitter and get up to the minute pictures and news! We are @MrsCarnevale3rd. Also, follow our district at @PlvComSchools. On Twitter you can also follow the district hashtag, #plainvilleschools as well as #plainvillerocks and #toffolontigers

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

• Reader’s Workshop: Comprehension checks and retell
• Writer’s Workshop: Using leads and stretching a story out bit by bit.
• Math: Place Value to 999,999 - 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!

Weekly Wrap Up

What a super job your children have done settling into third grade! As I'm sure (hope!) you've heard, we've spent time practicing routines and procedures so that once we’re into our regular learning schedule next week things run smoothly. We’re also trying out alternative types of seating like yoga balls and hokki stools (for those who want to try them) to see what best helps us focus. We’ve tried out and rated different reading spots in the classroom, book shopped for reading books, learned how to use a hardcover math book and to put the answers in a spiral notebook. We also took math, reading and writing pre-tests, as well as timed addition and subtraction tests. The math fact test scores will go home next week after I get them corrected. On Thursday we even learned how to log into our Google accounts, and find and bookmark our class website and the Just for Kids page on it. I also introduced them to a fun keyboarding program that will help them begin to become familiar with keyboarding. We’ll be putting some time into keyboarding this year. Once all of our various computer programs and logins are set up, I’ll put together an access sheet for you with all of your child’s login information, so they can access from home if you want, and so you can always see what they’re doing.

Although I had originally planned to start reading logs and math fact logs next week, I want to hold off one more week, and give the children in-class practice time filling out their reading logs, so they’re able to independently fill it out at home. I also want to be able to send home their addition and subtraction math fact score reports so you can know how they did and what they need to practice at home. I’m still asking them to continue reading for at least 20 minutes a night, but they don’t have to log it. If they’ve got flash cards or games/apps at home, they might want to start practicing facts with those, too.

Remember to follow our class on Twitter and get up to the minute pictures and news! We are @MrsCarnevale3rd. Also, follow our district at @PlvComSchools. On Twitter you can also follow the district hashtag, #plainvilleschools as well as #plainvillerocks and #toffolontigers

Please send in a water bottle for your child to keep in class. They get pretty hot and thirsty with two wellness breaks and recess! Water bottles that close in a way that help prevent spills are greatly appreciated!

Parents of girls with longer hair…. you might want to toss a few hair ties in your daughter’s backpack. With recess and wellness breaks, they can get pretty hot, and might want to put their hair up before or after being outside.

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

• Reader’s Workshop: Building reading stamina
• Writer’s Workshop: Finding ideas for true stories
• Math: Place Value to 999,999 - 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!

Weekly Wrap Up

Do you know if your child knows his/her address and your phone numbers? How about whether or not they know how to leave you a voicemail? I recently did a quick check, and found quite a few of them don’t know this. Many of them also don’t know how to use a traditional telephone, or what a dial tone is. As your child is getting a little older and more independent you might want to make sure they can do this in case of an emergency. Also, if your cell phone is locked but has an emergency access, you might want to show them how to use that.

For all you parents of summer birthday kiddos, your child is welcome to celebrate this month or early in June. We have 11 summer birthdays in our class, so it’s going to take some coordinating so that each child has their own special day. If your child is a summer birthday kiddo, and you want to celebrate in school, please pick a day that works for you, and let me know as soon as possible. 

Can you believe there are only 15 days of school left this year?  Wow!!!  Since we are at the point of starting to wrap things up, we are wrapping up math fact logs. This is the last week I will ask for math fact logs to be kept. That doesn’t mean your child is done studying his/her facts though. They should keep it up all summer long or they’re likely to forget the facts. The week of Memorial Day will be our last week for keeping reading logs. Just like math, keep reading over the summer to avoid back slide in levels!

Are you aware of what your child is doing online? Do you know what apps they have and might be using to communicate with others? I’ve been listening to some of the discussions the kids are having about apps they’re using, and I urge you to not only be aware of what they have, but also know how they’re using them and how they’re communicating with others, and potentially with strangers. I teach them digital safety with the programs we use in school, but some of what I see and hear about the apps and the potential of them really goes beyond that. Please look at your child’s devices and talk with them about them, discuss how to stay safe online, and what your family rules are for safety and privacy. Also, explore their apps, look for ways to leave comments or messages, and look for the use of hashtags. Hashtags mean they can click them and see things others posted with the same hashtag, even people they don’t know! It may or may not be appropriate for your child. If you need resources to help you, I recommend http://www.netsmartz.org and https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews  (this one is good for app reviews).

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

Reader’s Workshop AND Science: Animal Research Clubs/Habitats

Writer’s Workshop: Fairy Tale Adaptations

Math: Elapsed Time and End of Year Review

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

How is it we only have about 35 days of school left this year? Yikes! There will be lots of special events and activities that take place over the next month and a half, but our learning continues. Homework still continues on, and it gets a little harder now for some children to manage their time when they have school events, sporting practices, and various other activities. Even though your child has been doing homework all year, they might need a little extra help from you now to budget their time between homework, events, and just being a kid and playing. 

We’re getting close to doing our end of year math fact tests. Students are expected to score at 80% or higher in order to be considered proficient in their facts. Some children are coming home today with specific facts they need to work on. Please ask your child what he/she needs to memorize.

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

Reader’s Workshop: Comparing and contrasting characters across books

Writer’s Workshop: Persuasive Writing and assessment

Math: Area and perimeter review

Social Studies: Plainville

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

What super hard workers your children were this week! I wish you could have been a fly on the wall watching them write amazing 5 paragraph persuasive papers, thoughtfully discuss the books they have been reading, and carefully calculate area and perimeter,. One way you can help your child with area and perimeter at home is to help them measure and calculate the area and perimeter of their room, a small rug on the floor, the dining room or kitchen table (if they’re square or rectangular), or even just a book they’re reading. This week they learned the “secret formula” for area is length X width.

Now that spring has arrived, many of the children are talking about their spring sports, games, and upcoming recitals. Any time your child has a special event in his/her life outside of school, feel free to send in a picture or email it to me so they can share it with us. Short videos are okay too. I’ll put it up on the SmartBoard so your child can share his/her events with their friends in class. No show and tell tickets are required for this!  :)

Students do not need to keep track of their home reading and home math fact practice during our April vacation next week. I’m sure they’ll keep practicing those facts, and still read, But, it’s vacation, so enjoy and don’t worry about keeping the logs!

Here's what we'll be learning about after vacation:

• Reader’s Workshop: Comparing and contrasting characters across books
• Writer’s Workshop: Persuasive Writing
• Math: Area of Irregular Shapes
• Social Studies: Plainville

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

Happy New Year! I hope that the holidays and vacation were fun and restful for all families!  We are totally back in the swing of things, and your kids have been focused, hard workers this week! You should be a fly on the wall to see their amazing effort and focus!

Early next week we have our January timed addition, subtraction, multiplication and division tests. After I correct them I’ll send a score report home to you so you know how they did. Remember, goal is 80% or higher. Next week is our last week with division, then we move to fractions! Wow! So far this year the children have learned place value to the hundred thousands, adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers w/regrouping, multiplication, and division! 

Your child has PE every Wednesday. Please make sure they are wearing sneakers on that day, or have them in their bag to change into. Speaking of changing into shoes, at some point we’re going to have snow, and that means big winter boots. Once that happens you’ll want to make sure your child has their sneakers or other shoes in their bag if they’re not going to wear their boots all day.

Just a reminder that students are expected to read at home 5 nights a week for at least 20 minutes a night. They need to fill out their reading logs for each night. Also, students are expected to practice their basic math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) at least 10 minutes a night, 5 nights a week. They need to fill out their math logs for each night. Thanks for helping monitor your child’s home reading and home math.

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

• Reader’s Workshop: Reading biographies

• Writer’s Workshop: Note taking on information writing topic, maybe start writing

• Math: Finish division, topic 8 test and start Fractions

• Social Studies: Connecticut

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!

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

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!

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!