Dec 14-18

“December, being the last month of the year, cannot help but make us think of what is to come.”
― Fennel Hudson


 We began our week with the amazing band and chorus concert.  The music certainly helped to get us into the holiday spirit!  Our Reading Buddies came for their last visit of the year.  We will look forward to seeing them after the holidays.

We began our Measurement Unit today.  Students cut out paper rulers and used them to measure to the nearest half inch.  Other lessons this week include generating measurement data and representing it on a line plot, determining distances in half-inch increments and reviewing the characteristics of polygons.  Students will have a one sided math assignment each night for homework.  In an effort to reduce the amount of paper we are using, the homework will now be found on the back of the Minute Math. 

Our spelling rule involves the double vowel syllable groups -oi, -oy, -au and -aw.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.

Have a fabulous week!  :)

Dec 7-11

"December daily is about celebrating the SEASON, finding the joys, and being THANKFUL for all the BLESSINGS we have in our lives." AE

We began our week with a visit from the PEA students.  Our Reading Buddies continued with the book If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island.  I am happy to report that students are really enjoying our Immigration Unit.  They will be working on their immigrant journals this week as they document their journey from the Old Country to America. We will also be reading Molly's Pilgrim and then comparing and contrasting the book to the movie. 

We finished Unit 3 in math today.  Students worked on Name Collection Boxes for various numbers.  They used number models, arrays, roman numerals, and tally marks to represent equal numbers.  They have a Home Link for homework tonight and Thursday night.  Tomorrow we will review for the test in class.  Students will have a second review packet to complete and study for homework tomorrow night.  The test will be given on Wednesday.  A challenge assignment will be sent home on Wednesday night for homework.  We will begin Unit 4 on Thursday.  Please look for the Family Letter on our new Measurement and Geometry Unit in your child's folder tonight. 

Our spelling rule this week involves the double vowel syllables -oa, -oe and -ue.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.

Thank you to my parent volunteers this week ~ Mrs. Allard, Mrs. Albertelli, Mrs. Sears, and Mrs. Kavanaugh.

Have a fabulous week!  :)

November 30th-December 4th

 “December, being the last month of the year, cannot help but make us think of what is to come.”  Fennel Hudson

We had a wonderful start to our week with a math lesson on square numbers.  Students played Rolling and Recording Squares with partners in class. They will play the game with an adult at home for homework tonight.  Other lessons this week focus on the Commutative Property of Multiplication, the Adding a Group strategy, and the Subtracting a Group strategy.  Students will have a one sided assignment each night for homework.

Our Spelling Rule this week involves the double vowel syllables -ai, -ay, -ee and -ey.  These vowel groups work together in a word to make one vowel sound.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework. 

Students will choose their authentic name and role in their immigrant family this week.  We will also learn about one family's choice to leave Italy in the story Journey to a New Land. 

Scholastic book orders are due back to school on Friday, December 4th.  A free book coupon went home today with your purchase of $10 or more. 

Have a fantastic week! 

November 23-24

"Give thanks for each morning and its light
for rest and shelter of the night
for health and food
for love and friends
for everything thy goodness sends"
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Students wrote Thankful and Grateful Acrostic Poems today.  These poems will accompany their crayon resist water color paintings that they made on Friday.  The poems were edited and then children chose to hand write or type them.  It is my hope that they will share them with family and friends on Thanksgiving.

The class was broken up into five families today.  Please ask your child what country s/he will be immigrating from in the coming weeks.  We also finished reading Klara's New World.  This historical fiction describes one family's journey from Sweden to Minnesota in the 1860s. 

We will not have homework this week.  Students have done a great job of completing their homework over the last few weeks so this is my thanks to them for their hard work!

Scholastic book orders are due back by December 4th.  Feel free to order books online using our classroom code - HB244.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  :)

November 16-20th

"No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face." John Donne

We had a wonderful start to our week!  Our Reading Buddies from PEA came to class to read with students.  They will be reading If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island with our class for the next few weeks. 

Students worked on the Counting Up method of subtraction today.  Other lessons this week include the Expand and Trade Subtraction strategy, creating Scaled Bar and Picture Graphs and exploring Multiplication Squares.  We will have a one-sided homework assignment each night this week.

We began our Immigration Unit this week.  Our new read aloud is titled Letters from Rifka.  This historical fiction is based on a true story and is a great introduction to the unit. It describes one Jewish family's daring escape from Russia in the early 1900s.  Your child should be prepared to discuss some of the details of the story with you by the end of the week.

I will be breaking students up into their European families by the end of the week.  We will have families from Ireland, Germany, Russia, Italy and Sweden.  Students will choose their authentic names and role in their families next week. 

Our Spelling Rule this week involves the Consonant -LE Syllable and the Exception.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework. 

Have a wonderful week!  :)

"Now every field is clothed with grass, and every tree with leaves; now the woods put forth their blossoms, and the year assumes its gay attire." 
-  Virgil

Miles in May is in full effect.  Our class is one of the top three competitors in the third grade!  Please ask your child about this awesome school activity.

Our spelling rule this week involves adding more than one suffix to a base word.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.

We will continue with our Measurement Unit this week.  Students learned about the difference between grams and kilograms today.  They also worked on measuring to the nearest quarter inch.  Students have a one-sided assignment each night for homework.

Our Wax Museum will take place next Tuesday, May 26th in the library from 1:45-2:20.  We hope to see you there.  Please help your child find props or a costume to help represent his or her famous person. 

Integrated Arts Night will be next Thursday, May 28th from 6:30-8:00 p.m.  This is such an amazing night for our school.  Invitations went home with students on Friday.  Please contact me with any questions or concerning regarding this evening.  

Have a fantastic week!  :)

"The world's favorite season is the spring. 
All things seem possible in May."
-  Edwin Way Teale

We started this beautiful week with a measurement activity and our Reading Buddies from P.E.A.  Students were happy to see their buddies and enjoyed reading about the famous Black American US Marshall, Bass Reeves.

The class seemed to enjoy measuring line segments to the nearest inch, half inch, quarter inch, centimeter and millimeter this morning. We will continue to work on measurement over the next couple of weeks as well as various graphing techniques.  Tomorrow our lesson will involve line plots.  Students will have a one-sided assignment each night for homework.

Our spelling rule this week focused on the various sounds of -ch and 
-que.  There is only one list this week.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.  

Enjoy the sunshine!  :) 

"Sweet April showers
Do spring May flowers."
-  Thomas Tusser, A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry, 1557 

We began our last week before April vacation with math and our P.E.A. Reading Buddies.  Students read a book called If You Traveled On the Underground Railroad with them.  We will be beginning our Black American Unit when we return to school in May.

We will finish our Fraction Unit this week.  Hooray!  Students are excited to move on to measurement, multiplication and geometry after vacation.  They will have a one-sided assignment each night for homework this week.

Our Spelling Rule involves the V-C-E Exceptions this week.  In these words the silent e does not make the vowel long.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice for homework each night.  

Please be sure to sign and return your child's gold report card envelope if you haven't done so yet.  

Have a fantastic week!  :)

"And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest."
-  Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Sensitive Plant 


We began this beautiful week with math, reading and a visit from our PEA Reading Buddies.  We hadn't seen them since March so it was great to get back into our regular routine.

Our spelling rule this week involves split vowels.  These vowels are heard separately though they may look like a team.  The words poem, quiet and museum are all examples from this pattern.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.

We continued with our Fraction Unit this week.  Students did an excellent job answering number stories involving fractions on the board.  We will continue to work on fraction word problems, number lines, mixed numbers and greater than/less than questions this week.  Students will have a one-sided homework assignment each night.

We are wrapping up our European Immigration Unit now.  We will move on to Nutrition this week.  I look forward to completing experiments in this unit with the class and studying healthy living choices.

Enjoy this wonderful sunshine and the warmer temperatures!  :)

"And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest."
-  Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Sensitive Plant 

We began our week with the math portion of the Smarter Balanced Test.  Students did a wonderful job and seemed to find it easier than last week's test.  

Our spelling rule this week involves -ight and -eight words.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.  

We will continue to study fractions in math this week.  All homework will be done in class.  

Report cards will go home on Friday.  Please keep the report card for your child's records.  But please remember that the envelope needs to be signed and returned to school. 

I look forward to seeing parents at conferences over the next couple of weeks.  Thank you!  :)

"In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb"

by Lorie Hill

March roars in like a lion
So fierce,
The wind so cold,
It seems to pierce.

The month rolls on
And Spring draws near,
And March goes out
Like a lamb so dear.

We started Smarter Balanced Testing today.  Students did an excellent job.  We will continue with the ELA portion this week and then move on to Math next Monday.  Thank you to all the parents for contributing hard candy and gum.  

We will have limited homework this week.  Math will be done in class.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.  Our rule this week involves sounds of -ie and -ei.  I taught the kids this rhyme to help them remember the pattern...  I before e except after c, unless it sounds like long a, as in neighbor or weigh.  

Our Ellis Island simulation will take place this Wednesday morning.  Thank you to parents for their willingness to help with costumes, food court donations, and volunteering.  I truly appreciate all of your help with this special project.  

Have a fantastic week!  :)

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."

Charles Dickens

We had an awesome start to our week.  We continued with our Fraction Unit.  Students have been progressing nicely and I'm pleased with their progress.  We practiced a third grade informational reading and explanatory writing performance task.  Students will share their work tomorrow morning in class.  

We will write our fourth immigration journal entry this week.  Students will be writing from the perspective of an immigrant, on the steamship, crossing the ocean.  Information pertaining to the Ellis Island simulation went home on 3/12.  A $2.00 donation was requested from each student to help with the food court items.  Please send money in by March 27th.  Our simulation takes place on April 1st.  

We are so lucky to have Gary Sredzienski visit our school this week.  He is an incredible speaker who focuses on his family's migration from Poland.  He plays various accordions for students and takes them on a journey through time with photographs, stories and music.  Students will have the opportunity to hold and play all of his instruments.  

Our spelling rule this week involved the changing y to i pattern.  There were three rules concerning this pattern.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.

Students will have a one-sided math assignment each night for homework.

Have a fabulous week!  :)

March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life's path.

Khalil Gibran

Welcome to the unpredictable month of March!  We will be very busy over the next few weeks preparing for the upcoming Smarter Balanced Test.  Students will be working on technology skills on Tuesday mornings with Ms. Tabet's assistance.  

It's a fraction frenzy in math for the next few weeks.  Students will be working on finding equal shares, naming unit fractions of a whole, and naming fractions of a group.  They will have a one sided assignment each night for homework.  

The spelling rule this week involves words ending in -tion and -sion.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.  

I'm looking forward to seeing parents tonight at our March Music Concert!  Students have worked hard to learn the songs and music for tonight's event.  :)

Have a fabulous week!   

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire:  it is the time for home."  
-  Edith Sitwell

We began our week with a very cold day.  Thank goodness for the delayed opening!  Students worked hard to accomplish three hours worth of learning in only one hour.  :)

We will finish our Area Unit in math this week.  Then we will move on to fractions.  Our Fraction Unit will be lengthy.  It can be a difficult unit for students to conceptualize until they are given a lot of practice and strategies to solve problems.  Please contact me if your child is struggling with homework or seems overly frustrated.  Students will have a one-sided assignment each night for homework. 

Our spelling rule this week involves words with -tch and -ph.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework. 

Students were broken into their European families for our Immigration Unit this week.  They will be choosing an authentic name, job and reason for leaving their homeland in the coming days.  Our Ellis Island simulation will take place in early April.  More information will be forthcoming.

Have a wonderful week!  :)

"I had forgotten how thrilling a snow day is until my son started school, and as much as he loves it, he swoons at the idea of a free day arriving unexpectedly, laid out like a gift."  Susan Orlean

Students were very excited about the prospect of a snow day tomorrow and possibly again on Wednesday.  All conversations during snack time revolved around the weather.  :)

We will continue to practice our multiplication and division facts this week.  Students worked on fact extensions in class using the adult weights of North American animals.  We will also work on perimeter and area problems assuming the weather cooperates.  Students will have a one-sided assignment each night for homework.

Our spelling rule this week involves the double vowel syllables -eu, -ew, and -ui.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.

Scholastic book orders are due this week.  Our classroom code is HB244 if you choose to order online.

Have a wonderful, snowy week!  :)

"January is here, with eyes that keenly glow,
A frost-mailed warrior 
striding a shadowy steed of snow." 
-  Edgar Fawcett

We had a fantastic Monday!  Students worked hard on fact extensions in math.  They learned a song to help them solve this type of problem. Please ask them to sing it to you at home.  We will work on multiplication puzzles, and patterns in multiplication and division.  Students will have a one-sided assignment each night for homework.

Our spelling rule this week involves double vowel syllables -ou, -ow, and -oo.  Students have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.  

Scholastic book orders are due on January 28th.  Please feel free to order books online using our classroom code HB244.

Have a beautiful week!  :)

"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something."  Neil Gaiman

Happy New Year!  We began our day with a writing workshop.  Students wrote about their holiday, vacation and New Year's Resolution.  It was great to hear about all the fun and exciting activities that went on over the break.  

We will continue with our multiplication division unit this week.  Students will solve word problems using multiplication and division number grids.  We will also work on square numbers, patterns, factors and products.  Students will have a one-sided assignment each night for homework. 

Their spelling rule this week involves the double vowel syllables -oi, -oy, -au, and -aw.  They will have a Spelling Cafe choice for homework each night.

Have a wonderful week!