February 7, 2012
Dear Parents-
IMPORTANT NEWS
TCAP– 3rdGrade reading – Wednesday and Thursday Feb. 15 & 16
Third Grade Program–
1. Thursday February 9th 6:30pm
2. Kids need to be at school at 6 – No Earlier
3. Kids (not 4thgraders) should report to room 106 NO earlier then 6!!
Artisan Fair– rescheduled for THIS Saturday February 11th
Valentines Day Party –
1. We will be having a party Tuesday February 14that 3pm
2. White bags have been sent home for the kids to decorate and return by the 13th!!!
3. Erin Markham (room mom!) will be organizing!
Opera Field Trip–
1. 4thGraders Only
2. Feb. 15 & 16
3. Ellie Caulkins Opera House
4. 9:15 – 12:45
5. Students need to bring a sack lunch to eat at school when they return!
Conferences–
1. February 21 – 10am – 6pm
2. Needs Based – If you would like a conference please let me know what would be a good time for you.
3. I will send Star Reading scores and Math Interim scores whether you sign up for conferences or not!
Aquarium Field Trip
1. Feb 24th
2. 9am – 1pm
3. Students need to pack lunch to be eaten in class when they return!
January 23, 2012
Dear Parents,
The class (3 and 4), will be taking our Balarat trip on Monday January 30th. Balarat is the Outdoor Park DPS owns and uses for environmental education. The Third Grade does not go all the way to Balarat., Instead: The bus will pick up the class at Southmoor at 12:30. The kids will eat lunch early at 11:35. We will travel to GeneseePark (off I-70) for an afternoon. There we will hike and enjoy educational activities! A Balarat teacher and HS students will work with the class. Ms. Matlock and I will be there. Parents do not accompany the class on Balarat trips. We will return by 3:30pm. Students need to be dressed appropriately! Please check the weather! It could be snowing or 60 degrees!! The ground WILL most likely be wet and slushy, so boots would be nice – but you needn’t go out and buy them! A spare pair of socks is a good idea as well!
Third grade reading CSAP will be February 15thand 16th! Please don’t schedule doctor / dentist appointments during this time!
We will be accompanying Mr. Bastoky’s class to the Aquarium on February 24th. This trip is possible due to a generous donation from the family of one of our Third Grade students!
Please remind your child that we still have 4 months of school left! Homework needs to be completed, and brought to school on time!
Parents of 3rd Graders- a 'Creativity Checklist' was sent home last week in Thursday folders. Please review, complete and return to class as soon as possible!
December 10, 2011
With the first semester and the year 2011 coming to an end, I thought an up-date was in order. We have accomplished much so far and I am very proud of our class.
We will have a pizza party in our room on December 16 at 11:30. The class won the pizza party because of participation in the Moose Walk. We will also celebrate Winter Break at this time.
Kudos to the students for their Science projects. The quality of the science projects was outstanding. The kids did very well as they explained their projects to the judges. They really knew their science!!
Joanne Matlock, our UNC practicum student will return in January as a student teacher in our class. Joanne works very well with the students. While her role will be different, she will continue to work with individual kids. I am very excited to have her in the classroom.
Reading /Wriitng
We have just begun a unit on fiction. The students will be assigned an historical fiction book to read with a modified literature circle. There will be a culminating project when the book is finished. This work will mostly be done in class. As you know, the kids read at different speeds. Because of this, students are welcome to take the books home in order to stay with the groups. I only ask that the books come back to school everyday.
The students will be writing a fiction story which will be started in January. Conventions, (capitalization, punctuation, grammar ) will continue to be addressed.
As a part of the non-fiction unit, the class wrote persuasive essays for the NASA GRAIL naming contest. They did a superb job, and we will wait to see if we had a contest winner.
The class has just completed the poetry unit. We will have a class anthology of poetry in the classroom . Please feel free to come in and check it out. The class has memorized “ ‘Twas the Night before Christmas”, which we will perform around the school.
Math
The third grade is almost through half of the fourth grade curriculum. They have continued to work hard, and have a really good record of completing homework. The kids still need to work on times tables until they have automaticity.
The fourth grade is well into the 5th grade curriculum. I am very pleased with how hard they work and their homework completion record. We move very quickly, and it is really important that the kids have their journals with them every day.
Social Studies
Both classes have completed research and produced a brochure about a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. These brochures were a group project that involved use of the computer lab and the mobile lab. The students have also used the IPAD cart for geography practice and research.
Students are now working on a project involving National Parks or National Monuments. Each student was assigned a park or monument to research. They will now writie a report from information in their two-column notes. Each student also will complete a culminating project. Please ask your student what he will be doing.
I hope all of you and your families will have a wonderful winter break. Happy New Year, and I’ll see you all back at Southmoor on January 4,2012.
October 16, 2011
Dear Parents,
I wanted to update you on happenings in the classroom. I hope the students have been filling you in on what they have been doing.
Skills: the spelling program is going well. I have been tweaking it often. I am training the kids to use their word books for all writing. I am considering adding an addition to the spelling program. This would be an alternate list of challenging words. The students may opt in to take this list, but will also be responsible for those pesky must learn words. This change will not be available to all students. They must have demonstrated that they are ready and willing to take on extra work.
We are working on basic grammar, beginning with subject/predicate. Parts of speech will be included. Grammar and spelling will be checked with DOL. We also have DOA (Daily Oral Analogies). The students must use higher level thinking skills to figure these out. Please ask your child to bring home his DOL book to show you. Just make sure it gets back into backpacks.
We recently published our first piece of writing: Personal Narrative. Please stop and read them when you are in the building. Also, across the hall are some lovely “In October” pieces. The class is working through a”Type to Learn” course in the computer lab. Please encourage your child to practice keyboarding skills when working on the computer at home. Our class has also used the mobile computer lab in the classroom. The kids were pretty excited to be the first class to use the brand new I Pads. The kids are teaching me!
Reading: Students have set up the reading notebooks. Four responses have been assigned. Students must keep current on their reading logs. We have completed our first guided reading books.
Read aloud is an important part of my classroom. I carefully select the book to be read aloud. During read aloud time, students learn about how to write different types of responses as well as figurative language, and author techniques. My favorite part of the day is reading to your children. Watching them absorb the literature and react to certain parts of the books makes my day.
Math: The third graders have finished Unit 3 of the Fourth grade Everyday Math. Most are working hard to achieve proficiency with the multiplication facts. This will help immensely as we move very fast. Hopefully you have seen the unit tests in your child’s backpack. The top sheet breaks down each skill that was assessed. You will see either an A for adequate, or an N for not adequate, which indicates how your child performed on that particular skill. The open response is scored 4 (being the highest) to 1. A 4 indicates that your child has figured out the correct answer as well as explained his thinking. Rarely will a child score a 0 as any effort is appreciated. However, a 0 score indicates no effort.
The fourth graders have completed fourth grade Everyday Math, and are beginning the fifth grade course. They are really excited. Please ensure that your child returns with his Math journal every day!
Science: Mr. Fell will be responsible for Science this year. However, we will still do Steve Spangler Science in here.
Social Studies: The students have researched state. With a group, they will produce a brochure about their state. To do this project, kids have learned two-column note taking, honing research skills, and producing the brochure on Microsoft Publisher.
As you can see your children have been busy. They seem to have adjusted to me and the routine of the classroom. For the most part, homework is being done regularly. Students are using class time productively. As problems arise, IF problems arise, I will let you know. Please feel free to e-mail me with any concerns. Papers are returned in Thursday folders. Please take some time and review with your child.
Miss Matlock (practicum student) has been working on an exciting writing project with the class. The students are writing essays to NASA. The subject is renaming the GRAIL probes that will be sent to the moon. The kids have really great ideas.
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Conferences will be on October 26, and 27. If you did not receive a conference letter, (sent home last week) please contact me for a conference time.
September 6, 2011
Ø S.P.R.E.E. TRIP is this Friday, September 9th!!
9:00am-2:00pm
Students need to appropriately dress for weather. The forecast says to expect cooler temperatures and some rain.
Bring Sack Lunch!
Ø Please get Birthday Bags to school!!
Math
- 3rd grade finished Unit 7 and will begin Unit 2: Using Numbers and Organizing Data
- 4th grade finished Unit 9 and will begin Unit 10: Symmetry
Reading
- We have begun Guided Reading groups.
- We are continuing to set-up our Reading Notebooks.
Writing
- We are working on our Personal Narratives.
- Fabulous job decorating your Writers Notebooks!
Social Studies
- We are studying the states of the United States.
Spelling
- Good job to students returning Spelling folders and completed the assignments!
August 12, 2012
Summer is over and School is open!!!! I've had a wonderful, relaxing summer (thanks to the many generous gifts from last year's class) and I am ready and eager to start a new year with a new group of students and parents. This year will be new and challenging and rewarding. I look forward to continuing with my previous group, my new third graders, and all of the students new to Southmoor and to the HGT program.
I will have curriculum details for you on Curriculum night. In the meantime, please help your child get his supplies to school, especially white boards and markers. The pocket folders must have the three prongs!!
I will not be at school on Monday August 15, for the meet and greet. Mrs. Dworak will be in the classroom to supervise the depositing of supplies. I will see all of the kids on Thursday, August 18.
yes, we will have a very large class. I am confident that your students will continue to leap forward academically and socially. I will have a lot of help. We will have several hours of para time, and we will have a UNC practicum student for the first semester. We also have just gotten a brand new Promethean board in our classroom! This is going to be great year.
This site is where you will get most of your information. I will try to remember to send you an e-mail when there are changes, but please try to check it often.
Mrs. Collins