Highlights Aug. 23-26 First Week of SchoolWe had a wonderful first week of school! Everyone seemed to enjoy our getting to know you activities, especially our team building group challenges. Our challenges included Saving Fred, the Cup Challenge, and The Marshmallow Challenge. Be sure to ask your child about them. More info about these will be posted on my website along with pictures later today or tomorrow. We also really enjoyed our gallery walk to view all of the "Me" items. It was a great way to connect with classmates and learn more about each other. I loved looking at all the photos, medals, and special items the kiddos brought in. Decorating our writing notebooks was also a favorite. Everyone was so excited and interested in personalizing their notebook. They look amazing! Now that we are settled into our routines and procedures, it's time to shift the focus more to academics. We'll still continue to build our classroom community this week as this is so important for ensuring a positive classroom learning environment throughout the year. See below for a glimpse of our week. Exploring Math Tools During math, students worked in groups to explore math tools and record how the tools could be used in math. They had some great ideas and I could tell they remember a lot of math concepts! The groups were counting, creating designs, sorting, using symmetry, and building. This is a great way to get to know each other and have a little fun on the first two days of school. Getting to Know Each Other with A Math Bingo Game Saving Fred This is one of my favorite group challenges. Students worked together to save Fred, (a gummy worm), after his boat capsized, (a cup). The challenge was to turn the boat over, retrieve the life vest, (a gummy lifesaver), put the life vest around Fred, and place Fred back in the boat. The hard part..they could only use paper clips to save Fred, (no hands). Everyone had tons of fun and saved Fred! The Cup Challenge In this challenge, we worked with Mrs. Lipe's class to stack 6 cups in a pyramid without touching the cups. I was so impressed how well the kiddos worked together to complete the challenge. Most of the groups finished early and came up with their own challenges. Lots of cheering filled the room! Shopping for Books We are ready for reading workshop! Everyone has books that they chose in their bookboxes ready to read. Playing the Game of Squares in Math Students played the Game of Squares, (click here for the link). In this game you have to figure out how to move different squares, There are NO directions-no words at all. At each level there are new challenges that you have to figure out, (and some things that applied in previous levels change). I recorded what students said as they played. Early on, there were lots of positive comments like, "This is so easy." Later, most of the comments were more negative such as, "This is too hard. I can't do level ___." I used this experience as an entry point to math. We discussed how mathematicians have to solve challenging problems by exploring possibilities and using prior knowledge. The best part is...the game is sooooo much fun! The Marshmallow Challenge Another fun challenge during eslot on Friday! Students worked with Mrs. Frost's/Raney's class to build the tallest structure using 20 pieces of spaghetti, a yard of tape, and a yard of string. The challenge is not only to make the tallest free standing structure, but it has to support a marshmallow on the top. The winning group had a structure that was 16 inches tall! Decorating Our Writing Notebooks Coming up...Week of Aug. 29-Sept. 1Writing: As we are getting to know each other, this is the perfect time to create Friend Wanted Ads. Students will brainstorm ideas about what makes a good friend and how to be a good friend. Then they will write an ad showcasing what they are looking for in a friend and how they will be a good friend. These were a real hit last year. It's a great way to reinforce how to build positive relationships while working on writing skills. Reading: Our reading book boxes are ready! Each student chose books they want to read during reading workshop after learning how to use our classroom library. This week, we'll learn strategies for checking for understanding and how to make meaningful connections to improve comprehension. Math: Our first math unit is on summarizing and analyzing data using bar graphs, pictographs and dot plots. We have already collected data to created some class pictographs. This week students will learn how to conduct a survey to collect data and how to organize that data in a graph. Students will also participate in some fun data collecting activities to learn about dot plots. Science: Students will review safety in science, science tools, and science careers. The focus will be on STEAM careers. Then we will move on to our first science unit on matter. Social Studies: This week students will work together to create our class social contract. This will be used throughout the year to reinforce how we want to treat each other throughout the year. We'll also learn about Growth Mindset-the idea that everyone can develop and grow their brain, (and thus their intelligence or skill) through dedication, effort, and hard work. Upcoming Events Monday, September 5th- Labor Day, (no school) Friday, September 9th- Grandparents lunch Friday, September 9th- School Spirit assembly in the cafeteria Thursday, Septembre 15th- Third Grade Parent Night
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Hello Parents!
Welcome to the 2016-2017 school year at Elsa England! I am happy to announce that I will be your child's teacher this year! I am excited to start the new year and begin our learning journey together. I hope you will be able to attend Back to School Night on Friday. You can stop by any time between 4:00-6:30 to see the classroom and drop off supplies. If you ordered supplies through the school, the packs will be here in the classroom ready for you to unpack. If you can't make it this Friday, I'll see you bright and early at 7:35 AM on Tuesday for the first day of school! Please feel free to email me or call the number below if you have any questions. I look forward to meeting you and working with your child this year! |
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November 2019
Mrs. Swyers3rd Grade Teacher |