3rd Grade ISSUE 2 2013 · NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

Days

K

Issue 2 2013 · November Editor

Laura Ferguson

Contributors Amanda Johnson

Any Stamper Sally Baker Jessie Barry Allison Davis Kelly Mitchell

Blog:

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4/ Class Website:

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Miss+Laura+Ferguson/15697.html

Electronic Mail: fergusonl@mtnbrook.k12.al.u

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3rd Grade  Days 2

3rd G

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3rd Grade  Days 3

5

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Featured : Technology In The Classroom............7-8 Boosterthon...........9-10 Why 3rd Grade is so Important......11 2nd Nine Weeks Standards…..17-19 Favorites A Note From Our Reading Coach…5 App-tastic....... 14 Calendars November............15 December.............16

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r Issue 2 2013 · November

Editor Welcome back! The feedback on the first issue has been warmly received. It was thrilling to accomplish so much with one publication. I appreciate the compliments and suggestions. This month I have asked Sandy Ritchey, our new reading coach, to be a featured contributor. She highlights the importance of lap reading at home. We are off to a fantastic 2nd nine weeks of 3rd grade! Holiday celebrations are right around the corner, and I am sure we won’t slow down until winter break. I would like to wish your family a safe, fun and memorable holiday season!

Sincerely, Laura Ferguson

Love

TH

IS

3rd Grade  Days 4

Add a little festivity to y o u r t a b l e t h i s Thanksgiving by making thankful turkeys out of pinecones. See the ins t ruc t ions here a t The Domestic Darlin.

“CHILDREN  ARE  MADE  READERS  ON  THE  LAPS  OF  THEIR  PARENTS.”  

   -­‐EMILIE  BUCHWALD  

Sandy   Ritchey   is   the   reading   coach  at  Crestline  Elementary.    She  works  with   teachers   to   support   their  classroom  instruc:on.    She  has  been  in  educa:on  for  12  years.  

By  Sandy  Ritchey  3rd Grade  Days 5

 Reading  aloud  should  be  fun  and  interacIve.    Ask  your  child  quesIons  during  the  book,    like  “what  do  you  think  will  happen  next”    and  make  personal  connecIons,  “remember    when,”  that  create  a  context  for  reading.    This  sets  your  child  up  for  success—even  adults  need  to  understand  the  context  of    reading  materials  in  magazines  and    newspaper  arIcles.    Laying  groundwork  for  future  independent  reading  is  done  when  you  first  read  aloud  to  your  children:  pause  to  confirm  and  revise  predicIons,  ask  quesIons  and  make  connecIons.  This  teaches  your  child  that  understanding  text  is  a  process  that  occurs  before,  during  and  aVer  reading.    Before  Reading  Choose  books  you  or  your  child  can  get  excited  about  reading.  There  are  so  many  books  out  there,  don’t  spend  Ime  reading  ones  you  won’t  enjoy!  If  you  haven’t  read  the  book  already,  scan  it  to  get  a  sense  of  it  before  you  start  reading  aloud.  Plan  an  introducIon—find  links  to  personal  experiences.    Introduce  the  Itle,  author,  and  illustrator.      During  Reading  Read  with  fluency  and  expression.  Children  need  to  hear  changes  in  your  voice  to  indicate  when  you  are  reading  dialogue.  Vary  your  pace,  too.  Slow  down  to  build  up  suspense  and  speed  up  during  exciIng  scenes.  Hold  the  books  so  your  child  can  see  the  illustraIons.    Try  to  establish  frequent  eye  contact  with  your  child.    Invite  your  child  to  quesIon  and  comment  but  keep  it  focused  on  the  story.    Explain  words  and  ideas  you  think  your  child  might  not  understand.      A0er  Reading  SomeImes  a  book  will  pique  curiosity  and  lead  to  quesIons  and  conversaIon  aVerwards,  someImes  not.  It’s  ok  either  way!  Allow  Ime  for  discussion.    Encourage  various  levels  of  response  with  quesIons.    Retell  the  story  or  reread  it  to  enhance  comprehension.      Reading  aloud  is  a  great  Ime  to  enjoy  books  together.  The  increased  vocabulary,  correct  grammar  and  comprehension  will  come  naturally.  Soon  enough,  it  will  be  your  child’s  turn  to  say  “all  by  myself”  and  read  these  books  to  you.  Then,  it  will  be  the  chapter  books  and  “just  one  more  chapter  before  I  go  to  bed,  please?”  Way  to  go  mom  and  dad,  you’re  building  a  strong  foundaIon  of  readers  who  WANT  to  read  when  YOU  read  aloud  today.      Jamison  Rog,  Lori  (2002).  Early  Literacy  InstrucIon  in  Kindergarten.  InteracIve  Storybook  Reading:  Making  the  Classroom  Read-­‐Aloud  Program  a  Meaningful  Experience,  6,  49-­‐55  Trelease,  Jim.  The  Read  Aloud  Handbook.  New  York:  Penguin,  2006.  

3rd Grade  Days 6

The  integraIon  of  technology  in  educaIon  is  no  longer  a  "new"  idea.  Technology  has  become  such  an  integral  part  of  society,  it  is  necessary  to  integrate  its  use  in  educaIon  in  a  variety  of  ways.  The  use  of  computer  technology  has  moved  beyond  computer  assisted  instrucIon  in  the  form  of  tutorials  or  drill  and  pracIce.  Today's  technology  can  provide  teachers  and  students  with  opportuniIes  for  teaching  and  learning  that  were  impossible  in  the  past.  Computers  can  be  used  as  devices  for  communicaIng  with  people  literally  a  world  apart.  They  can  also  be  used  as  tools  to  create  instrucIonal  materials  or  as  presentaIon  devices  to  provide  informaIon  in  ways  never  before  possible.    The  simple  fact  that  students  exposed  to  technology  will  be  more  comfortable  with  it  later  in  life  is  only  one  of  the  many  reasons  to  use  it  in  hopes  of  preparing  the  for  the  future.  The  Aspen  InsItute  of  CommunicaIon  and  Society  also  believes  that  students  learn  to  control  their  own  behavior  when  they  carry  out  instrucIon,  make  decisions,  solve  problems,  think  criIcally,  set  goals,  work  towards  goals,  and  then  assess  their  programs  when  they  have  completed  the  goal-­‐  all  skills  needed  later  in  life.    Computers  in  the  classroom  develop  important  skills.  In    business,  the  ubiquity  of  

computers  makes  understanding  how  to  use  them  essenIal;  thus,  the  use  of  computers  can  help  enhance  informaIon  processing  skills.  The  ability  to  locate  informaIon,  disInguish  the  important  from  the  unimportant,  think  criIcally,  work  effecIvely  in  groups,  and  present  informaIon  in  many  types  of  media  are  all  aided  by  the  use  of  technology  in  the  classroom.  It  is  important  to  me  that  my  students  don’t  simply  learn  how  to  use  these  technology  tools  for  the  sake  of  knowing  them,  but  are  able  to  consistently  apply  their  technology  skills  to  all  instrucIonal  materials.  It  is  only  then  that    technology  tools  become  interacIve  resources  and  learning  aids  that  enable  the  students  to  demonstrate  their  knowledge  and  comprehension  outside  of  our  classroom.        

Technology in The Classroom

3rd Grade  Days 7

Prezi  is  a  presentaIon  tool  that  helps  transform  lack-­‐luster,  staIc  presentaIons  into  engaging  presentaIons  that  tell  a  story.  Instead  of  moving  slide  to  slide,  like  a  PowerPoint  or  Keynote  presentaIon,  Prezi  presentaIons  capture  content  in  a  spaIal  context.  Because  of  this,  your  audience  may  be  more  engaged  with  your  presentaIon.  If  you’ve  been  using  PowerPoint,  you  can  import  an  exisIng  PowerPoint  presentaIon  and  transform  it  into  a  Prezi.  Let’s  take  a  look  at  some  example  presentaIons  using  Prezi  that  demonstrate  how  this  tool  can  be  used  to  take  your  presentaIons  to  the  next  level.  

To  learn  more  about  Prezi  click  HERE.  

Here  is  an  example  of  how  a  student  in  our  class  applied  classroom  content  to  a  technology  tool.  Through  this  Prezi,  the  student  applied  her  knowledge  of  our  classroom  vocabulary  words  for  the  week,  while  at  the  same  Ime  creaIng  a  study  aid  for  the  rest  of  the  class  to  benefit  from  that  week.  By  sharing  it  on  the  classroom  blog,  students  are  able  to  see  that  their  work  holds  value  as  they  share  it  with  their  classroom  peers.  

3rd Grade  Days 8

A Letter From Our Principal…

3rd Grade  Days 9

 Every  year  I  enjoy  the  Boosterthon  Fun  Run.    I  always  look  forward  to  winning  prizes  and  earning  money  for  our  school.    This  year  it  seemed  like  the  Boosterthon  crew  was  only  here  for  a  day.  That’s  how  much  fun  we  were  having!    Before  I  knew  it  was  the  day  of  the  Fun  Run.  I  was  very  franIc  and  nervous.    All  of  these  thoughts  were  running  through  my  head  like,  “Will  I  finish  on  Ime,  Will  I  get  sick,  and  will  I  run  all  the  laps?”  When  our  class  ran  out,  I  didn`t  feel  nervous.      I  actually  felt  exited!  When  I  started  I  was  having  an  enjoyable  Ime  and  I  was  joyful  too.  I  realized  the  only  thing  that  mamered  was  that  I  was  having  a  good  Ime!  When  it  was  over  I  had  ran  all  the  laps  and  was  saIsfied.  I  think  this  year  was  the  best  Fun  Run  I`ve  had.    It  turned  out  to  be  a  premy  great  day.    I  can`t  wait  for  next  year`s!!!!!!    

10-­‐11-­‐13  Boosterthon  Fun  Run  

By:  Anne  McKinley  Walker  

In  each  issue  of  the  magazine,  I  would  like  to  feature  arIcles  wrimen  by  the  students.    If  there  is  ever  something  exciIng  going  on  in  your  life  at  home  or  something  educaIonal  your  child  would  like  to  share  with  the  class,  please  encourage  them  to  write  an  arIcle  for  our  classroom  magazine.    

3rd Grade  Days 10

Children  who  have  made  the  leap  to  fluent  reading  will  learn  exponen:ally,  while  those  who  haven't  will  slump  By:  Annie  Murphy  Paul  Take  a  guess:  What  is  the  single  most  important  year  of  an  individual’s  academic  career?  The  answer  isn’t  junior  year  of  high  school,  or  senior  year  of  college.  It’s  third  grade.  What  makes  success  in  third  grade  so  significant?  It’s  the  year  that  students  move  from  learning  to  read  —  decoding  words  using  their  knowledge  of  the  alphabet  —  to  reading  to  learn.  The  books  children  are  expected  to  master  are  no  longer  simple  primers  but  fact-­‐filled  texts  on  the  solar  system,  NaIve  Americans,  the  Civil  War.  Children  who  haven’t  made  the  leap  to  fast,  fluent  reading  begin  at  this  moment  to  fall  behind,  and  for  most  of  them  the  gap  will  conInue  to  grow.  So  third  grade  consItutes  a  criIcal  transiIon  —  a  “pivot  point,”  in  the  words  of  Donald  J.  Hernandez,  a  professor  of  sociology  at  CUNY–Hunter  College.  A  study  Hernandez  conducted,  released  last  year  by  Annie  E.  Casey  FoundaIon,  found  that  third  graders  who  lack  proficiency  in  reading  are  four  Imes  more  likely  to  become  high  school  dropouts.      Too  oVen  the  story  unfolds  this  way:  struggles  in  third  grade  lead  to  the  “fourth-­‐grade  slump,”  as  the  reading-­‐to-­‐learn  model  comes  to  dominate  instrucIon.  While  their  more  skilled  classmates  are  amassing  knowledge  and  learning  new  words  from  context,  poor  readers  may  begin  to  avoid  reading  out  of  frustraIon.  A  vicious  cycle  sets  in:  school  assignments  increasingly  require  background  knowledge  and  familiarity  with  “book  words”  (literary,  abstract  and  technical  terms)—  competencies  that  are  themselves  acquired  through  reading.  

Meanwhile,  classes  in  science,  social  studies,  history  and  even  math  come  to  rely  more  and  more  on  textual  analysis,  so  that  struggling  readers  begin  to  fall  behind  in  these  subjects  as  well.      In  operaIon  here  is  what  researchers  call  the  “Mamhew  effect,”  aVer  the  Bile  verse  found  in  the  Gospel  of  Mamhew:  “For  whosoever  hath,  to  him  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  more  abundance:  but  whosoever  hath  not,  from  him  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  he  hath.”  In  other  words,  the  academically  rich  get  richer  and  the  poor  get  poorer,  as  small  differences  in  learn  ability  grow  into  large  ones.  But  the  Mamhew  effect  has  an  important  upside:  well-­‐Imed  intervenIons  can  reverse  its  direcIon,  turning  a  vicious  cycle  into  a  virtuous  one.      Recognizing  the  importance  of  this  juncture,  some  states  have  been  taking  a  hard  line:  third-­‐graders  who  aren’t  reading  at  grade  level  don’t  get  promoted  to  fourth  grade.  “Mandatory  retenIon”  bills  have  already  passed  in  Arizona,  Florida,  Indiana  and  Oklahoma,  and  are  being  considered  in  Colorado,  Iowa,  New  Mexico  and  Tennessee.  But  many  educaIon  researchers  say  holding  kids  back  isn’t  the  answer.  The  ideal  alternaIve:  teachers  and  parents  would  collaborate  on  the  creaIon  of  an  individualized  learning  plan  for  each  third-­‐grader  who  needs  help  with  reading  —  a  plan  that  might  involve  specialized  instrucIon,  tutoring  or  summer  school.  Most  important  is  

taking  acIon,  researchers  say,  and  not  assuming  that  reading  problems  will  work  themselves  out.    It  might  seem  scary  that  a  single  school  year  can  foretell  so  much  of  a  student’s  future.  But  maybe  we  should  feel  grateful  instead  —  that  research  has  given  us  a  golden  opportunity  to  both  build  on  what  has  already  been  accomplished  or  turn  kids’  academic  lives  around.      

3rd Grade  Days 11

3rd Grade  Days 12

Insight  Wanted  Want  to  share  your  opinion  or  ask  a  ques:on?  You  may  be  

featured  in  one  of  our  publica:ons!  

Contributors

Sally Baker 3rd Grade Teacher

Jessie Barry 3rd Grade Teacher

Allison Davis 3rd Grade Teacher

Laura Ferguson 3rd Grade Teacher

Kelly Mitchell 3rd Grade Teacher

Amanda Johnson 3rd Grade Teacher

Amy Stamper 3rd Grade Teacher

Sandy Ritchey Reading Coach

3rd Grade  Days 13

App-­‐tasIc  Our  Picks  

AppTA

STIC

Third Grade Skills- Math $1.99 This app inc ludes 120 math problems. This is a wonderful resource for learning 3rd grade math. A 2 time award winning 3rd grade teacher designed this app. All seven concepts in this app are taught into 3rd grade. It covers place value, rounding, patterns, money, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Third Grade Skills- Language Arts $1.99 There are over 150 questions on this app. This app is designed to help third grade students master language arts. This app includes graphics for each section, which will help all visual learners. Sections this app includes are: types of sentences, capitalization, punctuation, subject and predicate, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, a n t o n y m s , s y n o n y m s , a n d homonyms.

Prezi Free Create and present beautiful presentations with Prezi for iPad. Get started by choosing one of their stunning templates then add your text and images!

Math Word Problems- Grade 3 $2.99 Practice grade specific math skills with “manipulative” that can be used as visual clues to solve problems. Select from multiple operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, probability, logic, and more.

3rd Grade  Days 14

S M T W TH F S 1 2

Makeup Picture

Day

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Veterans

Day Program

8:30

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Veterans Day No

School

Scholastic Orders

Due (use code

GMWH4 for online

ordering)

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Interim Reports

Go Home

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Wear your

favorite team

colors!

November

3rd Grade  Days 15

·············Thanksgiving Holidays············

S M T W TH F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Holiday

Program at 8:30

(K parents) send

change of clothes

each day

Holiday Program at

8:30 (Grade 1 parents)

Holiday Program at 8:30 and

9:45 (Grade 2

and 3 parents)

Holiday Party

End of Second

Nine Weeks

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31 1 2 3 4

Students Return

to School

December

·····················································Winter Holidays·····················································

3rd Grade  Days 16

································Winter Holidays································

Use addition, subtraction,

multiplication and division

to solve word

problems

Use mental math to

decide if the answers are reasonable

Tell and write time to the

nearest minute

Understand that the area of plane shapes

can be measured in square units

Measures areas by

counting unit squares

Round numbers to the nearest 10 or 100

Find and explain

patterns in addition and multiplication

tables

Measure area by using what I know

about multiplication and addition

Add and subtract

numbers within 1000

Solve real world math problems

using what I know about perimeter of

shapes

Place shapes into

categories depending upon their attributes

Write to inform and

explain ideas

Stay focused and

organized in my writing

Plan, edit and revise my writing with the help of

peers and adults

Use technology to create pieces of writing and to interact and

share ideas with others

Organize short research projects

3rd Grade  Days 18

Watercolor Dots by PaperSource.com

Objectives A sampling of the many skills and behaviors

Use apostrophes appropriately

to show possession

Effectively participate in discussions

Come to discussions prepared to share my

ideas

Follow appropriate

rules for discussions,

such as taking my

turn

Say and write simple,

compound and complex sentences

Write on a regular basis with stamina for different

tasks, purposes,

and audiences

Explain how the author

uses illustrations to help the

meaning in a story

Read and understand words with common

prefixes and suffixes

Research and use what I have

experienced to gather information

Read fluently, accurately and

with expression

Read words with more than one syllable

Explain how nouns,

pronouns, verbs,

adjectives and adverbs work in

different sentences

Read third grade words that are not spelled in a regular way

Correctly say, write and use

all types of plurals nouns

Use conjunctions in the correct

way in my speech and

writing

Make sure that all of my

subjects, verbs and

pronouns are in agreement

in the sentences I

say and write

3rd Grade Days 19

Third grade children are practicing for mastery this nine weeks of school.

Ask questions to

help me understand discussions and stay on

topic

Explain my own thinking

and ideas after

discussion

Speak clearly and at a good

pace

Speak in complete

sentences to make what I am sharing

more clear to others

Ask and answer

questions about

information I hear from another speaker

Figure out the main idea and

details of what I see and hear

Report on a topic or tell a

story with correct and appropriate

facts

3rd Grade Days 18

Watercolor Dots by PaperSource.com

Objectives Continued…

Questions, comments, and ideas for the next issue are always welcome!