"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!