Happy Holidays!

Our class has been working hard to finish up our weather unit, read and write information books, complete our Lego Robotics projects and journals, and practice strategies to solve addition and subtraction number stories!  I have been so impressed with the effort that students have put into their work this week.

On Monday, Amy (Cyrus' mom) visited and taught us some relaxing yoga movements.  It was a wonderful way to start a busy week.  Thanks Amy!

We participated in Gifts for Giving on Tuesday and made some wonderful holiday presents.  A big thank you to families that helped out with this fun event!  On Thursday morning, we had the opportunity to relax and listen to some beautiful music performed by the U32 orchestra. 

On Friday, we have several special events planned.  At 1:05, we will head down to the gym for our annual Sing Along.  From 2:45 to 3:25, we will have our class holiday party.  Families are welcome to join us for this party.  Thank you to everyone who is contributing food and beverages for this special event!

I hope you all have happy holidays and enjoy some wonderful family time during this vacation!  See you in the New Year!

Classroom News

Chex Mix

Our Chex Mix sale was a big success!  We appreciated the supplies that families donated for this project.  The money that we raised will go to the World Santa Project to provide hats, gloves, jackets, and other outdoor clothing for children in Central Vermont who are in need of these items.  Thank you to Amanda (Selah's mom), Ashley (Bryana's mom), and Scilla (Eliza's mom) for baking the Chex Mix and getting it ready for our big sale day.  Thank you to Mrs. Christy for organizing and creating the mix in her classroom during math time!

Classroom Holiday Party

We will be having a classroom holiday party on Friday, December 20th from about 3:00 to 3:30.  I am sending home a sign up if anyone would like to contribute healthy snacks, treats, or drinks for this special event.  Please return the form or email me by Tuesday morning if you are interested in helping.   Families are welcome to join us for this party.

Yoga

On Monday, December 16th, Amy (Cyrus' mom) will be joining us for a yoga lesson.  If anyone has a yoga mat at home, it will be helpful if they can bring it in on Monday.

Lego Robotics

Students have been working with their partners to create programs for their bird robots.  It has been lots of fun to see them come up with new ideas, work out solutions to problems, and laugh at what happens when they run their programs.  Thanks to Ms. Arlyn for sharing this wonderful opportunity with our class!

Classroom News

Hopefully everyone enjoyed a wonderful holiday break.  We started right back in on Monday morning with a visit from the East Montpelier Fire Department.  On Tuesday, we participated in a Four Winds lesson and learned about cones and needles from different conifers.  On Thursday and Friday, we continued our Lego Robotics work, learning how to program our robots.  Students have been making predictions about what they think will happen when they make various modifications to their design and then testing out their predictions.

During literacy, we have started our new information texts with great enthusiasm!  We have been learning new facts as we read these books with a partner or small group.  Students have also been examining their books, looking for various non-fiction text features, such as the table of contents, glossary, headings, and captions.  They are busy discovering what types of information these text features give the reader and how they help us better understand the text.  This literacy work connects well with our information text writing unit during which students will be writing their own "expert" books.

As part of our weather unit during Discovery time, we have been going outside to collect weather data,  make observations about the current weather, and make predictions about upcoming weather.  We started learning about the water cycle this week and practiced a fun new song about water vapor that helps us learn some of our new vocabulary words, such as evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

Homework:

Third grade homework packets were due back today, Friday, December 6th.  If you didn't return your completed packet today, please bring it in on Monday, December 9th.

Second grade homework packets are due back next Friday, December 13th.

Upcoming events:

Chex Mix Preparation Day- Thursday, December 12th

Chex Mix Sale-  Friday, December 13th  (75 cents per bag)

Gifts for Giving-  Tuesday, December 17th 

Reminders:

Please help your child remember to bring their indoor shoes (sneakers on P.E. days) and appropriate outdoor clothing each day.  

Subtraction Facts - 3rd Grade Math

In third grade math, we have begun to focus more attention subtraction strategies.  One of the most commonly used and efficient strategies for solving basic subtraction facts is "think addition".  In this strategy, students might see the problem 15-8= and think 8 plus what equals 15.  In order for students to use this strategy they MUST know their basic addition facts.   Knowing the facts is defined as being able to orally answer within 2 seconds and answer in writing within 3 seconds.  We would typically expect students entering third grade to have mastered both addition and subtraction facts.  It is crucial that they have basic facts solidly in place in order to move on to more complex math. 

If your child is still struggling with fact knowledge, please spend a bit of time practicing at home.  If you need resources or suggestions on how to practice, please contact Mrs. Fitch or Mrs. Christy and we would be glad to help.

Chex Mix

For many years Second and Third Grade classes at EMES have completed a community service project during the holidays.  The project is the "Santa Project" conducted by The World newspaper. This project collects money and buys new coats, hats, boots, and mittens for Central Vermont Children.  Second and third graders will make and sell "Chex Mix" as a fund raiser for this project.

We are in need of many boxes of cereal, crackers, etc.  If you can donate that would be great!  Please remember we cannot accept any nuts or products that have been made in a facility with nuts.  It is not necessary to get brand name products.  Here is a list of what we can use:

• Wheat Chex (we need lots of this)
• Corn Chex
• Rice Chex
• Goldfish or similar crackers
• Cheez-it style crackers
• Small pretzels-please check labels carefully many are made where nuts are used!

If you can volunteer some time next Thursday afternoon, December 12th from 1:45-3:30 bake and bag mix that would be a huge help!  Just email Kathy Christy (kchristy@u32.org).  Thanks so much!

Math Games

We celebrated filling our 3rd grade math chip bucket with a game day!  Students worked in small groups to play math games.  It was wonderful to hear all the strategies being shared among students.

Speaking of games, they are an excellent way to acquire and practice math and thinking skills. Kids are typically motivated to invest time and energy into learning the skills necessary to play the game.  They might not even realize that they are learning while having fun!  Many card and board games involve sequencing, visual clustering, logical reasoning and communication of ideas.  Some games you might consider playing as a family that will interesting are:  Battleship, card games, Chinese Checkers, Cribbage, Mankalah, Othello, Parcheesi and Connect Four. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you to Heather (Will's mom) who joined us on Monday afternoon to tell us about the first Thanksgiving.  She told us about the voyage on the Mayflower and about her relative, a fourteen year old girl, who made the long journey on the Mayflower.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

3rd Grade Math

This week we have been practicing rounding whole numbers to the nearest 10 and the nearest 100.  We have also explored rounding money to the nearest dollar.  This practice with rounding helps to solidify students understanding of place value and to develop more flexibility when thinking about numbers.

Classroom News

We have been keeping busy these past few weeks.  During Discovery block, we have started our study of weather.  Students have been learning how to use a thermometer to figure out the temperature and we have been outside making observations about clouds and precipitation.  We will be looking for patterns as we record our data and observations throughout this unit to help us start making our own weather forecasts.

On Thursday, we started working with Arlyn on our Lego Robotics projects!  Students worked in teams to build their first robots, the dancing birds.

It was wonderful to talk with families at conferences.  Thank you to everyone for meeting with me to discuss your child's progress.

Students should start coming to school prepared for colder outdoor weather.  Please help your child to remember his/her winter jacket, snow pants (when needed), gloves/mittens, and hat.

It is also important for students to have indoor shoes.  We really love to have our floor and rug stay clean and dry, especially since we like to spread out to read and write during literacy times.

Geography

Last week, we finished "traveling" around the world as our continent groups presented their posters.

Classroom News

What a busy week!

We have been working on our post-assessment personal narrative writing pieces.  I have been impressed with the effort and thoughtfulness that students are putting into their writing work. 

On Thursday, we participated in a Reading to End Racism lesson with our special guest, Alyson Mahony.  Alyson read the book, Daisy and the Doll and we had a discussion about what was unfair to Daisy and how she felt throughout the story.  We also talked about how we can be thoughtful of others and accepting of differences.

I look forward to sharing more information about your child's progress at our conferences on Monday.

Geography:

As we finish up our geography unit, students are presenting the continent posters that they completed in small groups.  Each group researched their continent looking for interesting information to share and worked on labeling and coloring a map of their continent.  Now, we are taking a "flight" around the world learning from each group. 

As part of this unit, we also have also participated in several movement lessons.  We have become skilled at working in our small groups to create the shape of our continents with our bodies.   Then, we move to the rug to complete a world map as a class, discussing where the continents connect and which oceans flow between them.  Once we have made the map, each group sings their part of our continent chant.  Ask your child to share this chant with you!

Here are some photos of groups presenting their posters.  I will post the photos from the other groups soon.

Second Grade Math: Geometry

Last week, we had fun creating rectangle riddles for our classmates to solve.  We gave clues about the number of rows or columns.  We also learned about finding the area of rectangles.

To explore the concept of area further this week, we worked in teams to find all of the possible rectangles with a given area.  Each team created a poster with all of their rectangles and presented them to the rest of the group. 

3rd Grade Math Strategies

Your child should have received a math information packet with the November homework packet.   It is a handy guide for the addition and subtraction strategies we use in math class.  Please have your child refer to this guide if they have questions during math assignments. 

This is also a great way for families to become aware of the strategies we use in class.  A HUGE part of our work with addition and subtraction is to build computational fluency with larger numbers.  This involves taking numbers apart, putting them back together and manipulating them in different ways to find the sum or difference.  There is a HUGE concentration on "mental math skills".  Please note we are not currently using the traditional method of  "carrying" or "borrowing" for these operations. Why?  The chief reason is that using strategies focused on our base ten number system allows children to build a much deeper, stronger foundation of conceptual knowledge rather than learn a rote skill, yet not understand the number sense around it.   I feel these guides will be a huge help in understanding the strategies we are using.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. 

Third Grade Math

Math Facts
One of the expectations for all third graders is that they know and are able to recall their basic fact combinations automatically.  This translates to seeing an equation such as 5+3= and being able to respond "8" within 2 seconds or less.  In math, we have been working on using strategies that are more efficient and less time consuming than counting on fingers.  The group of facts we are currently focused on is N+9.  N can equal any number.  Students are learning that N+9 is equal to N+10, subtract one.  It is important that students cannot only solve these problems but articulate their strategy, as we will be expanding the strategy to larger numbers.  Please practice adding 9 to any number at home.  If your child is struggling, ask what is ____+ 10 as a cue.  If he/she has mastered adding 9, extend the strategy to 90.  N + 90 is the same as N + 100, subtract 10.

6 Rolls to 100
The students learned a new game today that helps them practice their mental math and develop their awareness of place value.  They enjoyed the game and asked me to post the directions on the blog.
Materials: 1 die, game board or other recording sheet.
Each player takes turn rolling the die and recording the roll as either tens or ones.  Each player gets 6 rolls and must use all 6 rolls.
The object of the game is to get as close to 100 as possible without going over.  The score is calculated by subtracting the total of the rolls from 100.  If you go over 100, your score is 100!
A recording sheet might look like this:
Roll         Tens          Ones       Total
1                                  5              5
2                 3                             35
3                                   6           41
4                 3                             71
5                                   4           75
6                1                              76

score:  24 
We have also tried playing 6 Rolls to 1,000.  The rules are the same, we just add a hundreds column.

*Remember when recording your roll you are recording the roll, not the value of the roll. 

Classroom News

Thank you to everyone who returned their homework packets today. I will be correcting them this weekend.  If your child forgot or is not finished, please return the packet on Monday.

Upcoming events:

Thursday, November 7th:  Reading to End Racism

Thursday, November 11th:  Parent/Teacher Conferences ( no school for students)

November 27th-29th:  Thanksgiving Recess

Four Winds: Leaves

On Tuesday afternoon, we had our second Four Winds lesson about leaves.  We watched a puppet show and learned about the different parts of leaves.  Then, we went outside to make leaf rubbings and work in small groups to make leaf pictures.  In pairs, we sat with our backs to each other and described our leaves while our partners tried to draw them based on our wonderful descriptions.  Thanks again to Scilla (Eliza's mom), Michelle (Jaden's mom), and Amanda (Selah's mom), our Four Winds volunteers!

Second Grade Math

Second graders have been exploring the features of two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes.  We have been sorting polygons based on the number of sides and learning about their names.  Next, we sorted our four-sided shapes (quadrilaterals) and used a square tile to figure out if they had any right angles.  We determined that rectangles, including squares, have four sides and four right angles.

It has been is fun to look around our classroom and notice all of the 2-D and 3-D shapes that surround us every day.  The best part, however, was when I asked the class if they would like some of my 6-sided crackers.  They happily joined in eating these hexagons and then began to notice their own snack shapes.  Some kids had crackers that were circles, triangles, rectangles, and squares.  We also noticed that many of our snack containers and lunch boxes were cylinders and rectangular prisms.  

We worked on filling larger shapes with different numbers of pattern block shapes.  As we worked, we discussed the ratios, such as how a triangle is half of a rhombus and that it takes six triangle pattern blocks to fill a hexagon.

Another day, we played a sorting game with three-dimensional shapes.  Students were given a rectangular or triangular prism and had to look closely to describe its attributes.  Then, they picked an attribute to name when was their turn and the rest of us had to decide whether our shapes matched or didn't match according to the attribute.  We also had fun building with geoblocks and drawing our 3-D sculptures.

As you can probably imagine, we have learned a lot of new vocabulary words as part of our geometry unit, including polygons, angles, vertices, edges, and faces.  We also learned the names for polygons with various numbers of sides, such as triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, and octagons.  

Third Grade Math

Tick tock... Telling Time

One of the expectations for third graders is that they learn to tell time to the minute.  In the age of digital clocks and technology, it is often difficult for students to learn to tell time on an analog clock (one with hands).  As with most skills, the more the opportunities students have to practice the more fluent and accurate they will become at using the skill.  You can help your child learn to tell time by practicing at home.  If your child has mastered time to the minute, try asking about elapsed time.  For example, "If it is 3:45 now and we need to leave in 20 minutes, what time will we need to leave?".

Another area that all students can benefit from is practice basic math facts.   Students should be able to orally solve both addition and subtraction problems to 20 in less than 2 seconds by this time in third grade.  Knowledge of basic fact combinations is crucial to being able to move on to more complex problems and concepts.  If you would like additional information or resources to help you practice with your child, please let us know. 

posted by Jenn Fitch

Classroom News

A few quick notes from the second/third grade:

The October homework packet is due back next Friday, November 1st.  Your child may hand it in earlier in the week if he/she finishes before Halloween.  (Something tells me that there will not be much time for homework that night.)  If your child has any questions about assignments, please remind him/her to bring the packet in by Monday or Tuesday to get help.  Also, if your child needs any reading books, just let me know and I will send some home.  Please remind your child to return borrowed books when done so others can read them, too.  Thank you for supporting your child with  completing homework with good quality.

Parent conference confirmation sheets are coming home today.  If I didn't hear from you, I have given you an available time.  Please contact me if the time doesn't work for you and I will let you know what other times are free.  I look forward to meeting with everyone on Monday, November 11th!

Some upcoming events:

Tuesday, October 29th:   Mix It Up Day (at lunchtime) and our next Four Winds lesson
Thursday, November 7th:  Reading to End Racism
Monday, November 11th:  Parent/Teacher Conferences (no school for students)

Have a great weekend!  Stay warm!

Classroom News

Congratulations to our third graders for working hard and finishing up with the NECAP testing this week!  All students did a great job with being flexible with the changes in our daily schedule due to the testing.  Everyone continued to work hard throughout the day.  Nice work, team!

Please look in your child's Friday Folder for a conference sign up sheet.  Parent/teacher conference day is on Monday, November 11th.  I will send home a conference confirmation sheet next week with your scheduled time.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Writing Workshop: "Small Moments"

Over the past few weeks, we have continued working on our "small moments" writing unit, in which we are choosing meaningful stories to tell.  We are learning about using our storytelling voices, rather than just reporting about a list of events.  We have practiced ways to stretch out our stories, telling them "bit by bit".

We are also learning ways to revise our work, thinking not just about adding details, but showing our intent.  I shared several leads (beginnings) to one of my stories and the class guessed what my intent was with each lead.  We talked about how they can use descriptions of the setting, dialogue, and actions to help set the scene for their stories.