Week of 5/22/2017

Ahoy!

I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful sunshine. Here is what we are learning in our classroom!

Reading: This week we are transitioning to a new unit learning all about Native Americans. Yesterday we engaged in a conversation about what we already know about Native Americans, today we started to learn about the Northeastern Woodland Native Americans. This will continue through the next few weeks!

Writing: Students are working on finishing up their fictional pieces. They will continue through the writing process for the next week.

Math: This week we are working on finding the area and perimeter of various shapes. We will be focusing on a comprehensive review towards the end of the week in order to feel prepared for state testing next week!

Spelling:
there
several
animals
family
often
upon
it's
up on
most
move
along
a long
work
once
turn
its
sure
water
later
another

Homework Journal:
If you could learn to speak another language, what would it be and why?

Mystery Questions:
1) Name three tribes in the Southwest Native American region.
2) Name four tribes in the Northwest Coastal Native American region.
3) What does "nomadic tribe" mean?

Dates to Know:
5/29- No School
5/31- Kindergarten Orientation
5/31-6/2- Math SBAC Testing
6/2- Family Game Night @ 5:00

Thanks for all your help teaching your kiddos this year!
Miss Irwin

Week of 5/15/2017

Ahoy!

I hope you are all have a great week! We are back to normalcy here in room 204 and 205! I am so proud of how hard my students worked during SBAC testing last week! We will be doing it all over again in 2 weeks for our MATH testing. Here is what we are working on this week!

Reading: This week we are focusing on finding the central message of a test and using the illustrations as text evidence. I am so impressed with how far our students have come in the last few months! We are also looking at how the same story can be told from different points of view. Please be reading with your child 20 minutes each night. This will help your child's fluency, which is an important part of them becoming a strong reader!

Writing: This week the students are working on writing a fictional piece using dialogue! We are currently in the pre-write and drafting stages.

Math: This week we are beginning our unit on geometry. We will be talking about what attributes different shapes have and how to classify the shapes based off of their attributes. Please be working with your child on memorizing their multiplication facts. This will be a great help to them come SBAC testing and 4th grade.

Spelling:
I'm
because
said
car
morning
right
didn't
made
body
several
soon
thought
best
himself
usually
people
something
try
others
their

Mystery Questions:
What birthstone represents the month of May?
What happens the first Saturday in May?
What is the most popular ice cream flavor?
When did Washington become a state?

Dates to Remember:
5/20- Family Fun Run 3-5 @ Cardon Field
5/30-6/2 Math SBAC Testing

Thanks,
Miss Irwin

Week of 5/1/2017

Ahoy!

I can't believe how fast the weeks are starting to go by! We have another busy week this week with 'mustache day' tomorrow and our field trip on Thursday. Here is what we are learning in room 204!

Reading: This week we are working on reviewing all of our reading strategies. Our main focus has been on making sure that our students feel as ready as possible to go into testing next week!

Writing: Again this week has mainly been focused on making sure that our students are ready for testing. They have been reviewing the 3 different types of writing that they have learned this year. Our big hope is that they will remember the formats that go with writing a narrative, informational piece, or opinion piece.

Math: This week we are working on division, area and perimeter. I am impressed with how quickly the kids are grasping the concept of division as the opposite of multiplication. We will be finishing this unit quickly and moving on to geometry.

Spelling Words: Will be posted in the morning.

Mystery Questions:
Have your student fill out a multiplication chart like the one below.

Field Trip Information: 

Thursday we head to LALOOSKA! This field trip is a blast and I am so excited to kick off our Native American studies with it. We will be leaving right at 9:00 on Thursday morning. If possible your child needs to be at school by 8:45. I will open my classroom door at 8:45 so that students have a chance to use the restroom and get their things put away before we line up to go on the bus. The weather is supposed to be very interesting on Thursday. I would send your child in lose clothing, with a light jacket because they are calling for rain and we are eating lunch outside. But, it is also supposed to be 84 degrees. Where we are going will be dusty so please wear tennis shoes. Students will need to bring their lunch. It needs to be in a paper bag with their name on it. If you have any questions please ask! 

SBAC Information: 

Next week we begin SBAC testing. This can often be a stressful time for the students, no matter how light we try to make it. Please make sure that students are getting a good nights sleep and are eating a healthy breakfast. We will begin testing on Tuesday with a reading test, and continue on Thursday with reading and writing. We are constantly reminding the kids that all we want is them to do their best and put their best effort in! 

Thanks for all you do to support your child! 

Miss Irwin 

Week of 4/24/2017

Ahoy!

Sorry about a late blog post this week! Here is what we are learning in 3rd grade! Next week we are going on a field trip to Lalooska. Students need to have their permission slips turned in ASAP! We will be leaving at 9:00; I have informed students that they need to be here as early as possible that day. I will be opening my room at 8:50 so that they can go to the bathroom and put their stuff away before we get on the bus. They will need to bring a sack lunch with them.

Reading: This week we are working on reviewing all of our 3rd grade skills that we have learned this year! With out SBAC test coming up in a few weeks, we want our students as prepared as possible. This test is on a computer, the more your child can practice their typing the better off they will be! Reading short passages and then answering basic comprehension questions is also helpful!

Writing: This is the last week for our opinion writing pieces. If you receive an email from Mrs. Blair or I it is because your student needs to work on finishing their writing. We need these done this week so that we can work on test prep next week!

Math: This week we are focusing on division. Using the idea that division is just the opposite of multiplication. The students are doing very well so far. Continue practicing multiplication fact fluency! We are taking time quizzes every other day now!

Spelling:
learn
little
children
play
city
there
point
about
which
its
young
toward
school
four
were
ever
said
called

Mystery Questions:
What is the least rainy place on Earth?
What city has the highest average rainfall on Earth?

Dates to Remember:
Character Ed Assembly: May 3rd
Lalooska Field Trip: May 4th
Smarter Balanced Testing ELA: May 9th and 11th
Smarter Balanced Testing Math: May 31st and June 1st

Thank you for all you do to support your child's learning!
Miss Irwin

Week of 4/17

Ahoy!

I hope you are all having a great week! Report cards went home today. Please sign in your child's planner if they gave you the report card unopened. Thanks!

Math: This week we are finishing our unit on measurement, time, and fractions. I am very pleased with how well the students have done on the assessment. Our next unit will be a very short review of multiplication and division.

Reading: This week we are reading the book A Storm in the Night. Our focus is on finding the main message of the story using what the main character learned. To practice this at home ask your students to keep track of what the main character in the book you are reading is learning. Then ask what the author is trying to teach the reader.

Writing: We have begun writing our opinion pieces. The students our choosing their own topic and then doing research to support their opinion. As we are working on this piece don't be surprised if you see work come home. We need to finish these piece quickly.

Spelling:
name
father
sea
because
much
very
several
called
room
top
their
against
turned
however
were
what
might
right

Social Studies: We are continuing to learn about the different regions of the United States. So far we have learned about the Northwest, Southwest and Northeast. Ask your student to describe each region.

Homework Journal:
Imagine that it rained for 10 days and there was a huge flood. What would you do to survive the flood?

Mystery Questions: We are working on prefixes and suffixes. Write a list of 20 words that have a prefix. ex: preheat, reheat, unhappy.

Thanks!
Miss Irwin

Week of 4/10/2017

Welcome back from Spring Break! I am so impressed with our classes ability to come back and be ready for learning this week. Here is what we are doing.

Reading: This week is the beginning of our next unit focusing on seeking explanations. We have started reading a new book this week and are working on finding the central message and the details that support it.

Writing: This week the students are beginning to work on writing an opinion piece. They are learning how to state their opinion and then back it up using evidence. We will be working on this piece for the next few weeks.

Math: This is the last week of Unit 4! We are finishing up our learning on fractions, time, and measurement. We also began our timed multiplication facts this week! Keep practicing those facts!

Spelling:
during
thought
their
would
heard
they
answer
could
several
example
use
change
landed
said
some
today
what
other

Social Studies: We are in the middle of learning about our regions in the US. Today we learned about the Southwest region.

Mystery Questions:
This week is a SUPER challenge. The site readworks.org is awesome for practicing all reading skills. Create an account, have your child complete one of the worksheets that goes with a reading passage and he/she will receive $25 Blairwin Bucks.

Link:
http://www.readworks.org/

Thanks,
Miss Irwin

Week of 3/27/17

Ahoy!

Happy last week before Spring Break! Here is what we are doing this week.

Math: This week we are starting to enter fraction land! We are learning that fractions must be an equal share of a shape. Coming back from Spring Break we will be starting our timed multiplication quizzes. Please be working with your students on memorizing their multiplication facts. The students have learned the basics of what multiplication is, now the students need to be able to quickly recall their facts.

Reading: This week we are wrapping up unit 2. We will be taking an assessment through the end of the week. It will be great to come back and start fresh after Spring Break!

Writing: We are learning how to tell the different between fact and opinion. When we come back from Spring Break students will begin writing their opinion piece.

Spelling:
there
said
about
would
little
through
don't
important
pictures
since
across
however
knew
young
sun
think
whole
hear

Mystery Questions:
Write about your favorite third grade memory. Make sure to show not tell. Needs to be at least 8 sentences.

Have a great week!
Miss Irwin