Well, I suppose it's about that time again. Time to say goodbye to one year and hello to a new one. It's okay. I'm good with that. As a matter of fact, I'm feeling pretty good about it all.:) We completed our Unit of Inquiry with research projects that the kids worked on during class and at home during Thanksgiving Break. The kids chose an ancient civilization to study and report on an invention that this civilization developed and how it is of use to humans today.Happy Holidays my friends and thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your love and support.
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One of the most valued teaching philosophies I've held over the years is to teach to the whole child. Yes, I want kids to learn and grow academically, but it is also a big goal of mine to help them learn social and emotional skills that help make them into the kind of people that will help shape the world in a positive and peaceful way. For several weeks we studied how people from all cultures express themselves through beliefs, style, art, religion, and economics. During this unit we studied world geography, self expression, poetry, and so much more. As an end-of-unit activity our third graders participated in a street fair where they showed off their knowledge. Our guests wandered around the Brown playground, sipped on coffee and learned about cultures from around the globe. From Japan to Mexico, students described the cultural expression and shared information and facts about their country of choice. It was an outstanding day!October is upon us and there is SO much going on at school! First off, I have a Room Parent!!! Yay! Thanks Heather!
Secondly, We have 2 big things coming up next Friday October 16. We are hoping for lots of participation from our classroom! 1. Multicultural Street Fair on Oct. 16th, starting around 9:20am. As long as the weather cooperates, this will be outside (if not, the Community Room). At the Street Fair, students will be presenting their end of unit final project (poems, songs, art, dances, etc). As you know, our current unit is How We Express Ourselves. Since the beginning of the year, students have been exploring the idea of "Mood and Perspective are Globally Conveyed through the Written Word". A secondary idea to this unit explores access to literacy across the globe. We are near the end of the unit and gearing up for our final project. Final Project for How We Express Ourselves Our Third graders are being asked to participate in our Multicultural Street Fair on Friday, October 16th at 9:15 am YOU'RE INVITED TOO!! PROJECT REQUIREMENTS: - Research and present basic geographical information about their country (continent, near which major bodies of water, flag, climate) - Research and present an artistic piece based on that country. This is the tough one because it is intentionally vague. Students can choose a tradition - dance - music - sport - art - poem - holiday - food that is representative of this country. They will then either make that type of dance/poem/art/etc. or something that represents that sport. (example, a paper mache soccer ball for Brazil or a Chinese paper cutting or lyrics to a song about Greek gods or whatever you child comes up with! ) - Write and present a poem or creative paragraph about their artistic piece. This writing will include vivid verbs and figurative language. - Reflect on how they used the learner profile and research skills to successfully complete project. **I will provide some craft supplies, but may need extra help from you if I don't have what your child wants for their art piece** Please see this sign up for a few ways you can help: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080c4aa4ab2da75-3rdgrades 2. Fall Festival on October 16th from 4 - 6pm. This is a school-wide classroom fundraiser. We are organizing a few booths that will raise money for our specific classrooms. We of course want to invite everybody to attend. Additionally we have quite a few things that we are in need of (both time and donations) that will help to make this a success for 3rd grade! Here is a sign up with things that we need your help with: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080c4aa4ab2da75-3rdgrade Finally, Parent Teacher Conferences will be on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22. A sign up form has been created on Sign Up Genius for your convenience. Please visit http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0b44aba623aa8-october as soon as you can. Also - please see the attachment below on Parent Tips for Conferences. Have a great rest of the week! "Then summer fades and passes and October comes. We'll smell smoke then,
and feel an unexpected sharpness, a thrill of nervousness, swift elation, a sense of sadness and departure." - Thomas Wolfe This kind of descriptive language is part of what my third graders are learning to comprehend in reading and use in their own writing. Our current Unit of Inquiry, How We Express Ourselves, provides a canvas for learning thinking and reading strategies, descriptive language, perspective and international research. As we study and discuss poetry in our daily routine, we talk about the questions that arise in us, connections we make with the text, and inferences that help us comprehend the poets message. In reading we are using the writing of several mentor poets to identify the main ideas and themes of certain poems and to begin our year long genre study in which poetry crosses both fiction and non-fictional organization. By practicing the writing process we are being risk-takers by applying the elements of poetry to our own writing and learning to stick to the topic. Right now I am introducing my kiddos to the inquiry cycle by providing them with just enough information about how other cultures around the world express their beliefs so that they can choose a culture to research and present during the end-of-unit celebration. The end-of -unit celebration will be held on October 16th. Time and location TBD. This month of school has gone by so fast and I have really settled into a comfortable groove with this group of wee ones. I like em...I like em A LOT! Enjoy, Diane First off I want to give the parents and caregivers of my class of third graders a slow clap. *insert slow clap here* You have raised an amazing group of young people. Seriously, they make me smile! I have spent the last few weeks getting to know their personalities and the gifts that they bring to our little classroom community. I cannot help but wonder what fantastic choice my past-life-self made to put me here today.
Thanks to the many of you who came to Back-To-School Night last week. If you were unable to make it, I basically went over this web page and a little bit about our Class Dojo Behavior Management Tool. On Class Dojo you can always check on your kiddos progress and send me messages that go directly to my phone. If you have NOT yet signed into Class Dojo I will resend your username and password in your child's Friday Folder. We had library checkout today and I think it might be best that students take their books home for a couple of reasons. #1 It's ALWAYS good to have good reading material at home for nightly reading homework and #2 We tend to misplace books in the classroom and then they end up with someone else mistakenly. We will have Library Checkout every other Tuesday and I will do my best to post it as well as remind students to bring their books back to school. |
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December 2015
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