Reading with Mrs. Hartsock

This week we took a break for our reading series and focused on completing Little House on the Prairie. Students were a little surprised by the ending of the book (ask your child to share it with you!), and we're now working on some culminating activities.  Students were allowed to select a project (drawing, sculpture, letter, etc. of their choice) to share a favorite character or scene from the book.  Many students are already planning to read the next book in the series, On the Banks of Plum Creek, to learn more about Laura's pioneer adventures.

We're also watching the movie version of the book, and have had fun identifying things that are the same/different.

Social Studies

Due to our snow day and late start, we didn't have much time for Social Studies this week!  However, we were able to squeeze in a lesson on Resources in Communities.  We learned that just as the climate of a community can impact how its citizens live, the natural resources available can impact a community too.  For example, in our community, we have rich soil - therefore we have many citizens who are farmers.

Author Visit {Marianne Richmond}

We were so excited to have the opportunity to meet author/illustrator Marianne Richmond on Thursday!  Marianne traveled from her home in Minneapolis to spend the day at KE sharing her books and to tell us about the writing process.  It was fun to learn that REAL authors also follow the steps of the writing process (brainstorming, drafting, editing, and publishing).  

We learned that the boy in the book I'm Not Tired Yet is Marianne's son, Adam!

Marianne even showed the third graders her drawing talents by sketching Mr. Cayton!

This N That/Stations

• On Thursday, March 7 we are having Literacy Night at KE (scroll down to see post from last week with more info).  We hope that you'll join us for a FREE supper for your family and a night of literacy activities.

• P/T conferences are scheduled for March 25 and 26.  In your child's Friday folder you will find a form indicating your scheduled conference time/date (for spring conferences we use the same schedule used in the fall rather than asking parents to "sign up" again).  We realize that because you didn't select the date/time, you may need to request that your conference be rescheduled.  Please return the form asap, and if you indicate that you need to reschedule, your child's classroom teacher will contact you to find a date/time that works.

• February reading logs were due on Friday, March 1 and new logs for March have been sent home.  (We will still accept February logs on Monday). Thanks for helping your child remember to record his/her minutes read at home and encouraging life long reading habits.  Students who met their February reading goals will be celebrating next week.  All of the students are excited to watch the original Little House on the Prairie movie to see how it compares to the book that we've read.  Those who met their reading goal will get to enjoy a special snack provided by Mrs. B. and Mrs. H. while watching the movie.

• Donuts for Dads will be on Friday, March 8.  Thanks to those who have signed up to provide donuts for this fun event!  Donuts for Dads begins at 12:15 and ends at 2:30just prior to recess; students may leave early with their guest.  If your child is planning to leave early with a guest who is not a parent (grandparent, uncle, friend, etc.) please send a note signed by a parent.  Thanks!




And a peek at stations this week . . .  activities included creating leprechauns, catching up on math and language assignments, reading Time for Kids, and playing games using the laptops and ipads

Reading with Mrs. Hartsock

We're working our way through Theme 5!  Last week's shared reading story was Across the Wide Dark Sea, the story of the Mayflower.  We focused on the reading skill of making inferences.  This week we read Yunmi and Halmoni's trip.  Ask your child to summarize this story for you.  Predicting and questioning were skills that we covered.

Students also continue to read Little House on the Prairie (when we only read for about 30 minutes a day, it takes a while!). We're almost done with the book, and are looking forward to doing some fun culminating projects next week.

Language Skills

Spelling words for the week included words with the tricky -ough and -augh spelling patterns. We continue to learn about pronouns as our grammar focus.  Students have practiced selecting the correct pronoun to use in a sentence, as well as correcting sentences in which the wrong pronoun is used.  This week we wrapped up our research on presidents Lincoln and Washington using Encyclopedia Britanica online, and are starting to actually write our biographies using the notes we've taken.  Students are learning that it is important to take good notes, and to record their sources, or where they found their facts.

Social Studies

We've kicked off our new unit, Where Are Communities?, with a look at community environments.  This week we read about communities within each of the 5 regions of the US.  It was interesting to compare/contrast how these communities are alike and different, and how they compare to our community.

Math

Finishing our Geometry chapter this week (test on Monday).  We reviewed symmetry by cutting out shapes and folding them to find their line of symmetry.  The kids were surprised at which shapes did not have a line of symmetry or a mirror image.  We also review the parts of a 3-D shape, identifying the edges, base, face and vertices of an object.

Getting ready for the end of third quarter so have begun to average our grades.  Our homework percentage has really dropped this quarter!  Please remember to help your student complete their homework and return it to school the next day.

Reading with Mrs. Bender

This week we finished up Little House on the Prairie in reading class.  The kids summarized each chapter and then selected their favorite chapter to write about.  They are also making diaramas about their favorite chapter that we will display in the library next week.  Skill work focused on summarizing, selecting the main idea along with supportive details.  Also reviewed suffixes and prefixes this week along with identifying idoms within the story.  We also discussed the correct way to use our inferences as it changes if you are doing a fiction or nonfiction story.

Science

We started our independent projects this week in science.  The kids have done a variety of research on objects found in the Universe.  Now they have chosen a specific object to focus on.  We have a couple of planets being researched, dwarf planets along with several Black Holes being investigated.

They will have to create a model of their planet or Black Hole.  Look for homework coming home in the next week or so that will help them make their model at home.  Since we can not have latex in the building, the kids will need to make their paper mache' over a balloon at home.  Any painting needed for the model will be done here at school.