12/13/2018 Third Grade

12/13/2018

Dear Families,
We have had a very productive week!  Here is an update:

Reading:  We have started our non fiction unit.  Students are learning to identify features of non fiction texts.  Students are learning how to read texts in order to learn about a topic.

Writing:  We have finished our personal narratives!  Students have shared their work with a partner and will be taking those home this week.  All learners should be proud of their first published writing pieces!

Important Dates:
12/24-1/1  Winter Break
1/18 Early Release Day
1/21 No School

High/low

High- the concert is coming up, the book fair is going on, we got to share our personal narratives

High- we are reading non fiction

Low- it's really cold

High- we finished our personal narratives

Low- it’s winter

High- I got to have a parent teacher conference

High- The book fair is here

Low- it’s -8 out

High- the book fair is here, it’s winter

High- I get to go bowling, the book fair

High- we are going to have indoor recess

Low- my bus driver’s bus is losing gas and I don’t think she realizes

High- It’s the bowling trip today

High- We’ve been learning about Italy

Low- we can’t play kickball

High- we may have indoor recess today

Low- it it isn’t I will be sad

High- my brother’s concert is today, I went to the book fair

Low- it’s cold

High- the concert is coming up

Low- the bowling trip is today and I’m not going

High- today is my mom’s birthday

Low- teachers have to stay after school for conferences

Low- the bowling trip is today and I didn’t buy it

High- I’m going on the bowling trip

Low- it’s winter

High- I finished my portfolio and I’m done with school until after Christmas!, Third grade does such a great job during read aloud with questions etc.

High- Non fiction is going SO well you are identifying text features

Low- missing a lot of home folders

High- reading all of the amazing personal narratives

11/29/18

Dear Families,
What a wild November!  Our students are enjoying all of the snow and the fun that it brings.  Here is what we have been doing:

Writing:  Students are well underway drafting their Personal Narratives!  They are drafting using Google Docs.  We have really been focusing on using a storytellers voice to write our narrative.  We will begin revising our work to make it better in the next few days.

Reading:  We have started our non fiction reading unit.  Students will be focusing on how they can use non fiction text features to better understand the text.

Conferences:  We are entering the parent/teacher conference window.  Forms to sign up for conferences are going home this week. 

Upcoming Dates:

12/7  No School, Conferences
12/24-1/1  No School, Winter Breaks

High/low

High- we had a snow day and I got to play outside

Low- we couldn’t go to the lower field at recess

High- we got to start typing on the computers

Low- I missed a day of school

High- we have trimester 2 electives

High- I get to be at school with you guys

Low- we had a day off

High- second trimester electives

High- reader of the months get to go to the library

High- I am going to be doing rehearsals as a soloist, snow day

High- I am one of the readers of the month, I am here today!

Low- we haven’t gone down to the lower field

High- I got reader of the month, I have after school practice

Low- It’s been really cold

High- It’s been snowing

HIgh- It’s the second trimester

High- it’s cold outside

Low- no heat at school yesterday

High- We had a snow day

High- I got to be here!  We had to get on a different bus

High- We got to finish The War with Grandpa

Low- it was a tough ride to school today

High- We get to do boom whackers with Miss Maroney

Low- I got buried in the snow at recess

High- I got to go sledding at recess

Low- I couldn’t sled yesterday

High- How well you have done with typing, snow day

Low- we didn’t have heat!

High- snow day

Low- no heat

11/15/2018

11/15/2018

Dear Families,
The freshly fallen snow has caused  great excitement in our classrooms!  It is important that students are coming to school with appropriate winter gear so that they can enjoy recess.  Please make sure your child's name is in ALL of their gear!  Here is an update:

Reading:  We finished The War with Grandpa!  Students have been doing a great job monitoring their own understanding of a story by giving themselves a comprehension check, thinking about what the text is signaling them to do, summarizing the book parts of the book, and making predictions.

Writing: Students are learning how to draft their personal narratives on Google Docs.  We are learning how to use a storyteller's voice and not a newscasters voice.  We have been analyzing a lot of examples of the difference between the two.

Upcoming Dates:
11/21    No School
11/22    No School
11/23    No School
12/7      No School

High/Low

High- It snowed

Low- we are done studying money

High- It’s snowing

High- We have the big turkey dinner today

Low- we can’t sled yet

High- we have a lot of snow

Low- I don’t have a guest for lunch today

High- we have the big turkey feast today with dessert!

Low- some people are starting to get sick

High- We finished The War with Grandpa

Low- My dad might not be able to come today

High- We had an extra day off, lots of yummy desserts today!

Low- We can’t go sledding yet

HIgh- we got to play in the snow at recess, we get to get on google docs

Low- no school on Tuesday

High- We are working on our personal narratives, we all were in here working together

Low- we couldn’t go to the lower field

High- The bowling trip is tomorrow,

High- The Thanksgiving lunch is today!  

Low- the field trip isn’t today

High- It started snowing so we got a snow day, today is the Thanksgiving lunch, Riley sent birthday cards

High- It’s snowing, We are doing our personal narratives, we have the Thanksgiving dinner!

High- Today is turkey dinner

Low- my mom can’t come

High- We finished The War with Grandpa, the snow day, and how well you all did learning typing expectations!

High- How well we did typing expectations!

11/8/18 Third Grade

11/8/18

Dear Families,
Here is an update:

Reading:  We are continuing to read, The War with Grandpa and are focusing on the author's craft.  We are noticing strategies he uses to write a personal narrative.

Writing: All students have chosen a topic, participated in a writing conference, and are ready to begin their personal narratives!  We will be focusing a lot on using a storyteller's voice when writing.

Upcoming Dates:

11/9 Noon Dismissal Teacher In-Service

11/12 No School, Veterans Day

High/Low

High- we got to do our commitment sheet in writing

Low- it’s cold

High- it was sunny out yesterday at recess

High- I finished the book I was reading

High- I am back to school

Low- it’s been windy at recess

High- We have gotten really far in The War with Grandpa

Low- it’s been cold

High- doing typing club

High- we are working on zebras in science

Low- it’s cold

High- I’ve been getting to play outside at recess

High- we are doing eat a rainbow

Low- it’s cold

High- it’s eat a rainbow week

Low- I got lost in the middle of the school building on Elective day

High- it’s rainbow week

High- we got to have inside recess this week

High- we’ve been going down to the lower field, I’ve been helping people make characters with legos

Low- tomorrow is a half day

High- I was able to play legos again

Low- I didn’t get help when I fell in the mud

High- It’s cold outside, reading The War with Grandpa

High- In the couple of weeks I’ve been in third grade I’ve made some great connections with you guys.  

High- Rainbow week!  

Low- Some of my students aren’t coming to school as prepared as they should (no backpacks, sweatshirts/coats etc.)

High- conferencing with students about their writing

Low- My carpet has been very noisy at the start of the day

11/1/18 Third Grade

11/1/2018

Dear Families,
We had 'spooktacular' day yesterday in third grade!  It was great to see so many creative costumes.  We hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween.  Here is an update:

Reading:  We are reading, The War with Grandpa and practicing asking questions to understand the text better.  Students are sticky noting questions in their independent reading books and sharing those with a reading partner.

Writing:  We are working on choosing a topic for personal narratives!  Students are learning how special people, places, and objects make great subjects for a personal narrative.

Upcoming Dates:

11/9    Early Release
11/12  No School
11/21  No School
11/22  No School
11/23  No School

High/Low

High- We got to have our Halloween party

Low- It was rainy

High- We had our Halloween party

High- We had a noon dismissal and a Halloween party

High- we had our Halloween party

Low- the computer websites weren’t working

High- we had our Halloween party

Low- I couldn’t get my make-up off from last night

High- my mom let me dress up for school

Low- it’s really wet out

High- we got to do a Halloween party

Low- I didn’t want to wear my costume to school and it’s rainy

High- we got to go on the computers

Low- some of the websites didn’t work

High- We had the Halloween party

Low- there was a minor crash this morning

Low- there was a minor crash this morning

High- I got to go trick or treating

Low- my costume was at my dad’s house

High- we had the Halloween party, we got to go on computers

Low- we had a ½ day yesterday

High- we had a Halloween party

Low- it was raining

High- seeing all of your creative costumes and our Halloween party

Low- it was a ½ day

High- seeing all of your creative costumes and our Halloween party

Low- it was a ½ day

10/25/2018 Third Grade

10/25/2018

Dear Families,
We have had a wonderful week of learning in third grade!  We have been so impressed with how focused and insightful our students have been.  Here is an update:

Reading:  We have been focused on our reading 'grit'.  Students completed a reading grit survey, analyzed it, and then made goals to improve their grit.  We also selected our October Reader's of the Month!  We are excited to announce that Weston and Dom were chosen for their excitement and focus during reading time.

Writing:  We focused on building our writing stamina by completing Memory Bingo and a memory write in our writer's notebooks.  We also launched our first writing piece, a personal narrative!  Students will be learning about characteristics of a personal narrative and ways to brainstorm possible writing topics.

Halloween Information:

• Early Release- noon dismissal

• Please feel free to send in any healthy or sweet treat for your child to share with their homeroom class at snack time!  (Both homerooms have 13 students.)

• Costumes
• Students can wear costumes all day
• NO masks
• NO props

High/Low

High- we got to write in our writer’s notebooks

Low- it’s really cold

High- we got to write in our writer’s notebooks again

Low- it’s snowing

High- we did our memory write

Low- it’s snowing

High- it’s snowing

Low- it isn’t snowing a lot

High- almost Halloween

Low- I have to keep waiting

High- I really like Halloween and it’s coming up

Low- hope it’s not too cold

High- we are going to talk about our Halloween party

High- we get to write memory writes, talk about Halloween party

Low- Halloween is not here

High- I have all of you as friends

High- First school Halloween party

High- It’s almost Halloween

High- Halloween is coming up, Memory writes

HIgh- I got here

HIgh- It’s snowing, Halloween is coming

High- we might have a Halloween party

Low- it’s snowing

High- The Halloween party is coming

High- Halloween is on a school day so I can see your costumes

Low- I have a lot of homework to do for my class

High- Halloween is coming up

Low- Ms. Franklin wasn’t here

High- Seeing you all so focused in your writer’s notebooks on your memory writes!

10/18/18 Third Grade

10/18/18

Dear Families,
There was a lot of excitement this morning with the arrival of our first snow!  While it won't last long this time, it is a great reminder that it is time to pull out all of our winter gear.  Students go outside for recess everyday unless the temperatures are below

Reading:  Students have been working on how we can understand a story better.  This week we focused on summarizing the big parts of their book.  We are practicing this skill during our read aloud, Stone Fox.

Writing:  We have been working on making our writing better by adding precise verbs, color words, and sound words.  We also have been brainstorming writing topics by playing Memory Bingo.  We will soon move into our first writing piece, a personal narrative.

Halloween:  The 31st is a noon dismissal.  Students are allowed to wear costumes to school but Mr. Kinnarney does not allow masks or props.  If students choose, they may bring in a special treat to share with the class at snack.

Upcoming Dates:
10/31     Noon Dismissal

High/Low
High- we are reading Stone Fox

High- we got to swing on the ropes in elective

Low- we didn’t get a lot of snow

High- we are going to play outside today

High- it snowed at our school

Low- it’s outdoor recess

High- we got to read more of Stone Fox

Low- it’s snowing

High- snow means we may get to make igloos, we are at a really interesting part of Stone Fox

Low- it’s really chilly out

High- we read two more interesting parts of the book

Low- we are going to have more snow in the next few days

High- we have snow, winter is finally here, 3 things of multiplication

High- it’s snowing

High- Miss Pam read us Never Say Boo, it’s snowing

Low- I wasn’t here for buddy reading

High- the teachers are back, it’s snowing

High- it’s finally snowing

Low- it’s freezing

High- it’s snowing, we earned a new word, onomatopoeia

High- it’s snowing

High- it’s snowing

High- it’s snowing winter is my favorite season

Low- feel like the week is dragging by

High- Mrs. T is back, having Miss Bri in our room

Low- we haven’t gotten Lexia fixed for everyone

High- the snow

Low- being out one day