Valentine's Day

Third grade will not be celebrating Valentine's Day with a party; however, if your child wants to bring in valentines for everyone in the class, they are encouraged to do so.  Please keep in mind we have 18 students.  Our class list is below.  Students also have a pink sheet in their Beaver Folders with our class list. 

Ava
Daniel
Dakyia
Audrey
Elijah
Zion
Carsen
Lana
Madisen
Abigail
Alaina
Rahman
Jake 
Christopher
Calill
Angel
Charlene
Kaylee

Homework:

• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-5, 10 
• Opinion essay drafts (only students who haven't already finished in class)
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Report cards go home with students tomorrow
• Early Dismissal: tomorrow
• No school: Monday, February 15
• x4 Multiplication Quiz: Friday, February 19.

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low

Kidblog Link:  

• https://kidblog.org/class/RES11/login

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

Math Vocabulary

In Readers' Workshop, students read two different points of view on the same topic (SeaWorld).  They're considering text structure to help identify the different authors' points of view and recording their thinking on their comparing matrix.  Eventually we want students to be able to make claims about conflicting points of view.

In Writers' Workshop, students used editing symbols to reread their drafts and edit. If your child hasn't finished their opinion essay draft, they're bringing this home to complete for homework.

In Math Workshop, students studied characteristics of figures and lines.  They identified similar characteristics to help them explain the meaning of intersect.  This unit (Geometry) has a ton of vocabulary.  To help at home, frequently ask them what the following words mean:

• polygon: an enclosed figure with at least 3 straight lines
• quadrilateral: a four-sided polygon
• parallel: we say "parallel means they will never cross" with arm movements
• intersect: a point where 2 lines meet
• trapezoid: a quadrilateral with only 1 set of parallel lines
• parallelogram: a quadrilateral with 2 sets of parallel lines

You can also encourage your child to practice using this FREE online: Quadrilateral Shape Game

In case you didn't hear yet, we finished Holes.  Students can now watch the movie at home, if desired (I know many already did over the weekend :) ).

In Science, with partners, students are imagining and planning their bridges in their science notebooks.  They must consider limited resources, costs and other constraints and criteria. 

Homework:

• Math homework
• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-5, 10 
• Opinion essay drafts (only students who haven't already finished in class)
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Book Fair Night: Tomorrow
• Report cards go home with students this Friday
• Early Dismissal: Friday
• No school: Monday, February 15

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low

Kidblog Link:  

• https://kidblog.org/class/RES11/login

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

Multiplication Facts

Please continue to encourage your child to practice their multiplication facts at home.  Students need to be automatic with their facts.  Thank you for your continued support!

Here's a few fun links and games that work towards fact fluency:

• Math Man Multiplication
• Monkey Driving
• Rock, Paper, Scissors, Math!:  Play regular Rock, Paper, Scissors but instead of saying "shoot!", say "math!".  Each player holds down a random number of fingers (products).  Multiply both players' fingers together.  Whoever says that correct product first, wins.  

Homework:

• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-5, 10 
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Recess:
• Boots:  Students who bring boots are allowed to go in the field.  It's not necessary that your child brings boots as students can still play on the basketball court. 
• If the temperature is above 32F, we will try to go outside.  Please continue to send students to school with cold weather wear (winter coats, mittens, hats, etc.).  I will only take students out if our whole class is appropriately dressed.  We don't want anyone getting sick :).  Thank you for your support!

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low

Kidblog Link:  

• https://kidblog.org/class/RES11/login

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

Superheros!

Riverside students wore their superhero gear to celebrate filling our EAGER tube.

In Readers' Workshop, students are considering informational text structures to help them adjust their expectations and make sense of text.  We're using the matrix to record structures, main ideas, and evidence (see below).

In Writers' Workshop, students wrote "twin paragraphs" to summarize and conclude their opinion essays.  After drafting, they'll edit, revise, and publish what they've been working on.

In Read Aloud, we're in the last few chapters of Holes. Yesterday we came to a "contrast or contradiction" in our reading.  We noticed that the yellow-spotted lizards weren't biting Zero and Stanley (when usually they would).  Ask your child their theory, why aren't the lizards biting?  Have them use evidence from the text to support their thinking.

In Math Workshop, students are working in partners to break apart irregular polygons into quadrilaterals in order to solve for area.  Students' x3 and x10 quiz is tomorrow.

In Science, students used data from our bridge investigation to respond to the following question: How does the structure of a bridge affect its strength and how can we use different materials in our bridge designs?

Homework:

• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-3, 5, 10 
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Book Fair: Students are allowed to purchase books in the morning if they forgot money today.
• Multiplication Quiz: x3 and x10 this tomorrow
• Recess:
• Boots:  Students who bring boots are allowed to go in the field.  It's not necessary that your child brings boots as students can still play on the basketball court. 
• If the temperature is above 32F, we will try to go outside.  Please continue to send students to school with cold weather wear (winter coats, mittens, hats, etc.).  I will only take students out if our whole class is appropriately dressed.  We don't want anyone getting sick :).  Thank you for your support!

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low

Kidblog Link:  

• https://kidblog.org/class/RES11/login

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

In Math Workshop, students identified parallel lines and used addition and subtraction to find missing side measurements.  Then, students broke apart irregular polygons into quadrilaterals to solve for area and perimeter.



Homework:

• Math homework
• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-2, 3, 5, 10 
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Book Fair: Students are allowed to purchase books in the morning if they forgot money today.
• Unit 4 Assessment due back Friday, February 5. 
• Multiplication Quiz: x3 and x10 this Friday.
• Recess:
• Boots:  Students who bring boots are allowed to go in the field.  It's not necessary that your child brings boots as students can still play on the basketball court. 
• If the temperature is above 32F, we will try to go outside.  Please continue to send students to school with cold weather wear (winter coats, mittens, hats, etc.).  I will only take students out if our whole class is appropriately dressed.  We don't want anyone getting sick :).  Thank you for your support!

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low

Kidblog Link:  

• https://kidblog.org/class/RES11/login

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

Boots

In Readers' Workshop, students read an article on baby sea turtles.  They noticed that the text was mostly explaining the life cycle of a baby sea turtle.  We used this text to help us explain the chronological and order text structure.  Students are considering text structure when developing insights about main ideas and author perspective.  

In Writers' Workshop, students used "reasoning starters" to help them begin explaining how their evidence supports their claim.  Students then worked independently or in pairs to apply our mini lesson and write their body paragraphs.  Most students are either arguing their opinion about their favorite holiday or video game.

In Math Workshop, students explored and defined characteristics of quadrilaterals; polygons with four sides.  Students' Unit 4 Assessment is coming home today.  Please review, sign and return by Friday.

In Word Study, some students worked in their letter-pattern group while others explored our read aloud, Holes.  They found unknown words, determined their meaning using context clues and comprehension strategies, and then created a Frayer Model to explain and define their unknown word. 

Homework:

• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-2, 3, 5, 10 
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Unit 4 Assessment due back Friday, February 5. 
• Multiplication Quiz: x3 and x10 this Friday.
• Recess:
• Boots:  Students who bring boots are allowed to go in the field.  It's not necessary that your child brings boots as students can still play on the basketball court. 
• If the temperature is above 32F, we will try to go outside.  Please continue to send students to school with cold weather wear (winter coats, mittens, hats, etc.).  I will only take students out if our whole class is appropriately dressed.  We don't want anyone getting sick :).  Thank you for your support!

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low

Kidblog Link:  

• https://kidblog.org/class/RES11/login

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

Welcome Back!

If the temperature is above 32F, we will try to go outside.  Please continue to send students to school with cold weather wear (winter coats, mittens, hats, etc.).  I will only take students out if our whole class is appropriately dressed.  We don't want anyone getting sick :).  Thank you for your support!

In Readers' Workshop, students are considering informational text structures to develop insights about point of view and main ideas.

In Writers' Workshop, students used evidence sentence starters to introduce supportive examples/ evidence in their opinion essays.

In Word Study, for the next few weeks, students will be working on the following spelling patterns based on a re-assessment they took before "Snowcation".  The groups are as follows: blends, long vowels, other long vowels, inflected endings, unaccented final syllables, and harder suffixes. All groups will have started by the end of the week.

In Math Workshop, we started our Geometry Unit of Study.  I have graded Unit 4 Assessments and results will come home tomorrow. 

In Science, students finished a pre-assessment for the district. This is not graded, just a baseline assessing students ability to respond to scientific questions in writing. 

Homework:

• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-2, 3, 5, 10 
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Multiplication Quiz: x3 and x10 this Friday.
• Again I'd like to reiterate that students are encouraged to retake any of the multiplication quizzes, if they were not pleased with their score. Students have the opportunity to retake quizzes every morning.
• Recess: If the temperature is above 32F, we will try to go outside.  Please continue to send students to school with cold weather wear (winter coats, mittens, hats, etc.).  I will only take students out if our whole class is appropriately dressed.  We don't want anyone getting sick :).  Thank you for your support!

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low

Kidblog Link:  

• https://kidblog.org/class/RES11/login

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill