Weekly Update: April 17, 2020

Happy Friday 3B Parents!

There are just a few updates I wanted to share before we embark on this well-deserved April break! Please tell your child how proud I am of all of the hard work they’ve done over these past 5 weeks!

Zoom “Office” Time-Beginning the week after vacation, Mrs. Newell and I are going to start offering a time in the morning, a few days a week where students can go onto Zoom if they have a specific question or need help understanding a particular concept. We will be in touch about these times at the end of vacation.

Enrichment Over Vacation—We will be adding a couple of projects/activities to the Optional Projects Topic on Google Classroom. These and all of the projects will be there for anyone who wants to continue remote learning through the break. We are also going to keep this week’s assignments posted through break to allow anyone who needs to, to catch up!

After today, I will be taking a break from checking email and Google Classroom so I too can be recharged for starting back again after next week. I apologize in advanced for the inconvenience, and look forward to getting back in touch with everyone again after break!

Feedback—Also after break, we will be sending another survey requesting feedback on Google Classroom so we can see what’s working and what needs to be improved. Thank you for your valued input! Hopefully we can continue to work together to make this work best for everyone!

Battle of the Books—Students can use the Battle of the Books resources through break to prepare for the competition on Friday, May 1^st! We’ve made discussion boards for each team if they want to use that to communicate!


From the Archdiocese Regarding Divine Mercy Sunday: As we approach Divine Mercy Sunday, April 19, please view and share this brief but great video explaining the Divine Mercy, in the words of St. Faustina! Also explained is how to receive the graces promised by the Lord even when our Churches are closed. These graces, also known as a plenary indulgence, are promised and available to everyone, this Sunday, so don’t miss out on this great gift from Heaven!

I wish you all a very relaxing and enjoyable April Vacation!  

Weekly Update: Digital Learning March 20, 2020

Happy Friday 3B Parents!

This is indeed a challenging situation that we’re in. I hope that you’re healthy and managing to cope - please know that I am thinking of you and missing your child very much!

Thank you again for your flexibility and patience this week as we try to figure everything out! I’ve been busy participating in webinars to learn new tools, meeting with faculty members through Zoom, and making some videos on ShowMe to help teach some of next week’s concepts! You have all been very patient and supportive! Please know how appreciative I am!

Starting next week we will move into using Google Classroom. This will be a place where students can see assignments and materials as well as where they can submit their work.

I am still learning how to use Google Classroom myself but hopefully what I have put together so far will be easy to use and with any problems that arise- we will learn together! *More on this to come!*

More exciting news-Next week, students will have the opportunity to be able to participate in a Zoom session with the class and me! We will have time to talk, catch up, and see how everyone is doing! *More on this to come as well.*

I wanted to share with you some tips for learning at home! As I can see from all of the emails and pictures I’ve been getting, that you all are doing a wonderful job! See pictures below!

Tips for At-Home Learning

• Learn when your child’s best “focus time” is. Many children function best in the morning. We know that your job obligations may restrict the hours when you are available to help your child - but perhaps there are things that he/she can complete with minimal assistance from you during “focus time.”

• Allow for frequent breaks. If your child seems frustrated or is getting antsy, set a timer for 5-10 minutes and allow them to choose another activity before returning to their work.

• Verbally tell and/or list out the assignments your child must complete in a day. A list where they can check things off can be very helpful. 

• Allow your child to plan a fun activity to do after assignments are finished.

• Grant yourself grace! :) This is a difficult and unexpected situation, and we certainly understand that.

Weekly Update: March 6, 2020

Happy Friday 3B Parents!

Students had a great reading week! We played reading BINGO, spent all day Tuesday dropping everything and reading (thank you pop-in readers!), and dressed up as book characters today!

Important Upcoming Events:

• Wednesday, March 11^th----Chapter 11 Religion Test
• Thursday, March 12^th---Topic 8 Math Test
• Friday, March 13^th----No School (Faculty PD Day)
• Friday, March 20^th ----Mass (Hosted by third grade) 10am.
• Friday, March 20^th ----Report Cards/MAP Scores go home
• Wednesday, March 25^th----Third Grade Battle of the Books at 12pm

Math: We continued with began Topic 8 this week. Students worked through numerous word problems. They are beginning to get more familiar with division and when to use it in relation to the other operations. Students circulated through math rotations as I used my small group time to reinforce and strengthen division skills. Their test will be next Thursday.

Check out our Math Rotations!

Teacher Time:

Lesson Work:

Solo Math Centers:

Partner Math Centers:

  

Tech Center:

Reading: As a class we read the book, I Wonder Why Penguins Can’t Fly.  This is an informational book about the arctic poles.

Our focus this week was learning how to determine the main idea and 

supporting details of a nonfiction text. I modeled this skill for students in both whole group and small guided reading groups. In whole group, I read a page about arctic plants. I modeled for students how I decided on the main idea and determined the important details that the author included to support the main idea.

After, I read students a page all about how arctic animals keep warm  during the winter. They were tasked with determining the main idea for themselves and including the details that supported it in their reading notebooks.

We also practiced this skill in our small guided reading groups this week.  One article we read was about Thomas Edison. Groups worked together to determine that the main idea of the article was to teach the reader about Thomas Edison’s accomplishments. Students then used the article to find and report the main accomplishments included in the article.

Religion: We worked through Chapter 11 this week. Lessons/discussions  focused on the parish community and how parish life is reflective of the lives led by the first Christians. We discussed ways in which Catholics can love and serve God.

As we continue on in this Lenten season we continue learning the 5 Finger  Prayer. We’ve been practicing as a class this week and will continue to do so next week. Soon students will be independently praying with the 5 finger prayer model.  We’ve begin our prayer time with a modern song of praise. So far students have been introduced to 2 songs and they have been enjoying learning the lyrics. The songs are “I Want to Live with Abandon” by Newsboys and “How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin.

Writing: In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, students wrote tongue twisters  using alliteration! They used the beginning sound of their name as the alliterative sound for their tongue twisters!

Check out our new bulletin board!