Happy Friday! Whew, we made it through our first week of school. What a great week we had this week. Here is what we have been up to.
Language Arts:
We run our language arts (reading, writing, word-work) block by doing the Daily 5. The Daily Five is a way of
structuring the reading block so every student is independently engaged in meaningful literacy tasks. These research-based tasks are ones that will have the biggest impact on student reading and writing achievement, as well as help foster children who love to read and write. Students receive explicit whole group instruction and then are given independent practice time to read and write independently while I provide focused, intense instruction to individuals and small groups of students.
When it is up and running smoothly, students will be engaged in the Daily Five, which are comprised of:
1.Read to Self
2.Work on Writing
3.Read to Someone
4.Listen to Reading
5.Word Work
There are very specific behavior expectations that go with each Daily 5 component. We spent our 2 weeks working intensely on building our reading and writing stamina, learning the behaviors of the Daily 5 and fostering our classroom community. In the weeks to come, I will continue to spend time learning about your child’s strengths and greatest needs as a reader in order to best plan for each student’s instruction. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.
One thing you’ll notice that may be a change for you is a direct decrease in the number of worksheets your child brings home. While worksheets keep students busy and some are necessary, they don’t really result in the high level of learning I want for your child. Instead, your child will be taught to select “Good Fit Books” or books they can read, understand and are interested in, which they will read during Daily 5. They will be spending most of their time actually reading, which research supports as the number one way to improve reading. I anticipate the motivation and enjoyment of reading will skyrocket when this gift of choosing their own books is accompanied by extended practice and specific reading instruction for each individual child.
Although this structure and routine will take some time to get used to for everyone, I feel that it also offers a great deal of independence and choice for your child to take charge of their own learning. If you have any questions about the Daily 5, please let me know. I will be doing blog posts later in the weeks highlighting each of the 5 parts and showing you more closely what your student is accomplishing.
Spelling
Our school is using the Rebecca Sitton spelling program to teach spelling. The focus of this program is different from traditional spelling programs. This program helps teach students about spelling patterns and it is focused on 1,200 of the most used words in college papers. These 1,200 words actually comprise 90% of the writing in college papers! If these are the words our students will be using the most in their lives, we need to make sure they know them. Each year the students are introduced to another group of words from the list (in the order of how often they are used). The words may seem simple for some third grade students, but please understand our students will be expected to spell these words correctly 100% of the time. The list of third grade words was sent home last week. Another copy is also in each students' agenda. Please encourage your child to continue to spell most frequently used words correctly in everything they do. We will be starting our first unit next week.
Math
Our first math unit has been focused on a review of second grade concepts. We have been working on place value. During this unit we are working on rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100. Rounding to each is a mastery skill for all 3rd graders. We have also spent some time this week talking about how we can use rounding in real life and 3 different ways to write numbers. Ask your student what those 3 ways are. They should be able to tell you. We also started math journals this week. We take time each math class to jot down important information from the day and also do some practice problems. Students were told to keep these journals in their file folders so they can take them home with them each night incase they are needed as a resource for their homework. Ask your student to take a look.
Science/Social Studies
Science and social studies switch will start next week. Students will see Mrs. Steier for social studies. They will have me for science.
Accelerated Reader
Your child will participate in AR again this year at Star Center. AR is an independent reading program for students to use in order to check comprehension on books that they choose to read. Students were tested and given a reading range the first week of school to help guide them in their book choices. Today your child brought home an AR report from their progress since the beginning of the school year. In an effort to save paper none of the TOPS reports to show progress will not print after each quiz. Instead you may check your student's progress as often as you want through using the AR home connect, or await their weekly report that I will send home each Friday. I will send home the past week's tests and percentages for you take a look at {They will be printed prior to Friday, so any tests that students take on Friday will be added to the next weeks report}. I ask that the reports are signed and returned on Monday. Students then will use the reports on Monday to set personal goals for the next week. If you have any additional questions about AR, I have downloaded the parent guide to our class website. Please look under the class schedule/information tab to access it.
~I think that is all for updates this week. As always if you ever have any questions or need anything, don't hesitate to contact me! That's what I'm here for. ~
Have a great week------- Ana
Language Arts:
We run our language arts (reading, writing, word-work) block by doing the Daily 5. The Daily Five is a way of
structuring the reading block so every student is independently engaged in meaningful literacy tasks. These research-based tasks are ones that will have the biggest impact on student reading and writing achievement, as well as help foster children who love to read and write. Students receive explicit whole group instruction and then are given independent practice time to read and write independently while I provide focused, intense instruction to individuals and small groups of students.
When it is up and running smoothly, students will be engaged in the Daily Five, which are comprised of:
1.Read to Self
2.Work on Writing
3.Read to Someone
4.Listen to Reading
5.Word Work
There are very specific behavior expectations that go with each Daily 5 component. We spent our 2 weeks working intensely on building our reading and writing stamina, learning the behaviors of the Daily 5 and fostering our classroom community. In the weeks to come, I will continue to spend time learning about your child’s strengths and greatest needs as a reader in order to best plan for each student’s instruction. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.
One thing you’ll notice that may be a change for you is a direct decrease in the number of worksheets your child brings home. While worksheets keep students busy and some are necessary, they don’t really result in the high level of learning I want for your child. Instead, your child will be taught to select “Good Fit Books” or books they can read, understand and are interested in, which they will read during Daily 5. They will be spending most of their time actually reading, which research supports as the number one way to improve reading. I anticipate the motivation and enjoyment of reading will skyrocket when this gift of choosing their own books is accompanied by extended practice and specific reading instruction for each individual child.
Although this structure and routine will take some time to get used to for everyone, I feel that it also offers a great deal of independence and choice for your child to take charge of their own learning. If you have any questions about the Daily 5, please let me know. I will be doing blog posts later in the weeks highlighting each of the 5 parts and showing you more closely what your student is accomplishing.
Spelling
Our school is using the Rebecca Sitton spelling program to teach spelling. The focus of this program is different from traditional spelling programs. This program helps teach students about spelling patterns and it is focused on 1,200 of the most used words in college papers. These 1,200 words actually comprise 90% of the writing in college papers! If these are the words our students will be using the most in their lives, we need to make sure they know them. Each year the students are introduced to another group of words from the list (in the order of how often they are used). The words may seem simple for some third grade students, but please understand our students will be expected to spell these words correctly 100% of the time. The list of third grade words was sent home last week. Another copy is also in each students' agenda. Please encourage your child to continue to spell most frequently used words correctly in everything they do. We will be starting our first unit next week.
Math
Our first math unit has been focused on a review of second grade concepts. We have been working on place value. During this unit we are working on rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100. Rounding to each is a mastery skill for all 3rd graders. We have also spent some time this week talking about how we can use rounding in real life and 3 different ways to write numbers. Ask your student what those 3 ways are. They should be able to tell you. We also started math journals this week. We take time each math class to jot down important information from the day and also do some practice problems. Students were told to keep these journals in their file folders so they can take them home with them each night incase they are needed as a resource for their homework. Ask your student to take a look.
Science/Social Studies
Science and social studies switch will start next week. Students will see Mrs. Steier for social studies. They will have me for science.
Accelerated Reader
Your child will participate in AR again this year at Star Center. AR is an independent reading program for students to use in order to check comprehension on books that they choose to read. Students were tested and given a reading range the first week of school to help guide them in their book choices. Today your child brought home an AR report from their progress since the beginning of the school year. In an effort to save paper none of the TOPS reports to show progress will not print after each quiz. Instead you may check your student's progress as often as you want through using the AR home connect, or await their weekly report that I will send home each Friday. I will send home the past week's tests and percentages for you take a look at {They will be printed prior to Friday, so any tests that students take on Friday will be added to the next weeks report}. I ask that the reports are signed and returned on Monday. Students then will use the reports on Monday to set personal goals for the next week. If you have any additional questions about AR, I have downloaded the parent guide to our class website. Please look under the class schedule/information tab to access it.
~I think that is all for updates this week. As always if you ever have any questions or need anything, don't hesitate to contact me! That's what I'm here for. ~
Have a great week------- Ana
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