Weekly Update: October 25, 2019

Happy Friday 3B Parents! 

I have really been enjoying my days with this group of kids! They are all hard-working, enthusiastic to learn, and so lovable! They making coming to school every day such a joy!

I am looking forward to speaking with many of you next Wednesday night at conferences! 

Important Dates to Remember: 

• Wednesday, October 30th---Pumpkin Projects Due

• Wednesday, October 30th---Parent Teacher Conferences 

• Thursday, October 31st----Pumpkin Project Fair at 8:30-9:15am 

• Thursday, October 31st---Halloween Party at 1pm 

• Friday, November 1st---All Saint’s Day Mass at 10am 

• Tuesday, November 4th---Chapter 3 Science Test (review of all 3 lessons)

• Thursday, November 7th---Early Dismissal at Noon 

• Thursday, November 7th---Parent Teacher Conferences 

Morning Work: Students have been spending a couple mornings a week enjoying a new initiative I’ve implemented this year called “soft start.” 

Scholastic defines soft start as: 

• A soft start is similar to its name: it is a soft way to start the day. This means that when students come into the classroom, they are greeted at the door, then prompted or prepped with “put your mind at ease” activities to warm up their minds for the learning day. 

Soft starts help build classroom community as students ease into the day with mind-stretching activities. Some activities I have available for students are: Legos, Brain Flakes, puzzles, Geoboards, Rubik’s Cube, and block stacking puzzles. 

Math: We finished Topic 2 this week and took our test today. Next week, we will move onto Topic 3 which focuses on strategies for adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers. 

Reading: We have finished up our work with character traits with two final books. We first read Louder Lili and used evidence from the story to help us describe Lili. We then read the book Crow Boy and focused on Chibi’s emotions and how different events in the story changed the way he felt at the beginning when compared with the end. 

During Reading Rotations, students have been completing Character Trait reading centers. 

Religion: We have finished Chapter 3. Class discussions focused on how we can “stay awake” and prepare for Jesus’ second coming. We also learned how being a good Christian doesn’t only mean not doing anything “bad.” We learned that we have to show our love for others as well, and being a loving person is just as important as avoiding sin. 

Writing: Students began drafting their Ouch! stories this week. I was blown away by the level of detail they have been adding to their first draft. Everyone seemed so excited to write and it was hard getting them to stop so we could go to our special! Their enthusiasm for writing makes me so excited for what lies ahead! Once drafts are completed, students will be working slowly through their pieces revising it bit by bit. I will be going through the whole entire writing process with them and students will receive detailed mini lessons that will aid them in their independent writing time. I can’t wait to see how these stories turn out!