I hope everyone had a nice weekend. This week we are completely back to our normal routine since testing is over. There will be spelling homework this week. I am working on getting a celebration approved to celebrate the end of testing. I am hoping to have pizza and a movie on Friday. I will be sending home permission slips ASAP if it gets approved. I will let you know as soon as I know.

Spelling: We are looking at words with a chunk that makes the /oo/ sound. Our words are shoe, woo, new, blew, crew, import, export, products, goods, transportation

Math: We are wrapping up our fraction unit and we will be taking our unit test towards the end of the week.

Writing: We are working on opinion writing. We are specifically working on being able to pick pros and cons for a topic.

Social Studies: We are looking at the three types of resources and discussing the multiple ways businesses use human resources.

Science: We are examining the rock cycle and looking at the different types of rocks and minerals found in Michigan.

Daily 5: We are working on using text features to find answers to questions that we have ourselves or that we have been asked to answer.

Have a great week!

We made it to our last week of testing! We can see the end in sight and I am sure the boys are going to be relieved to get back to our normal routine. We are continuing on our math M-STEP today and have a few more sessions this week. Friday is the Color-A-Thon so get ready to wear your white clothing at the race.

This week:

Spelling- We are looking at words with the /ight/ spelling pattern. There is no worksheet this week so we can focus on testing for the last week. Our words are light, might, slight, delight, bright, goods, transportation, services, supply, and profit.

Our words can be practiced at https://quizlet.com/_3fq2n6

Math-We are working on partitioning shapes into even pieces and determining the fractions of shaded pieces. We are also looking at finding equivelant fractions with the use of manipulatives.

Writing-We are going to work on letter writing this week.

Reading- We are working on constructed responses and restating the question in the answer.

Science- We are looking at the rocks on the surface of the earth and how different things like weather, can change these rocks.

Social Studies- We are working on unit 4. We are focusing on the types of resources that are used in business which include things like capital and profit.

Have a great week!

Happy May everyone!

We are finished with our NWEA and almost finished with our District writing assessment. We are going to be M-STEP testing now on Tuesday, Wed., and Thursday. These can be very tiring for the students so I am going to do my best to limit their workload outside of school. I will not be sending home any spelling homework again because of this and will have them work on the words in class. If you would like them to practice more, they can practice Quizlet at https://quizlet.com/_3eo4o0 .  We still have to keep moving on our other subjects as much as possible though as we have about a month and a half left.

Our week:

Spelling: We are looking at singular possessives. Our words are

family’s, doctor’s, truck’s, turtle’s, author’s, kitten’s sister’s brother’s grandmother’s yesterday’s, decimal, fractions, denominator, numerator, solution

Math: This week we are working on finding equivalent fractions

Social Studies: We are working on the natural resources within Michigan and which ones are not renewable.

Science: We are looking the causes and types of severe weather.

Writing: We are finishing a district writing assessment and will be starting a new compare and contrast piece.

As things change or get updated with the testing schedule, I will let you know as soon as possible.

Hello everyone,

I hope you all enjoyed the weekend. It sure is nice to start seeing the sun and some warmer weather on a regular basis. This week we are continuing with testing. We are still working on other subjects, they are just not in our normal routine. We are going to have all make-up NWEA tests for my class done this week if possible. We are also taking the science today (Monday). I will not be sending home a spelling sheet again this week because I want the students to get a bit of a brain break. They have been working extremely hard. They should still practice the list on Quizlet for practice. This can be done at https://quizlet.com/_3dmqht or there is a great free app available on tablets and phones that will actually tell them how much they need to practice before they will get 100% on the test.

Spelling: Contractions- isn’t, didn’t, we’ll, she’s, you’ve  and experiment, hypothesis, millimeter, millions, thousands

Math: We are learning about equivalent fractions and placing fractions on a number line. Both of these skills are very tricky for the students and they are both extremely important for future grades.

Reading: We are still working on pulling out the theme with supporting evidence.

Science: We are starting to look at weather and the water cycle. This will move us into the rock cycle and different types of rocks.

Social Studies: Michigan issues and resources is our focus right now.

Have a great week!

Hello everyone,

We have officially started NWEA and M-STEP testing. I will not be sending home the usual spelling homework this week as they are getting into the flow of testing and I do not want them wiped out. They can practice the words on Quizlet at https://quizlet.com/_3cruoe . The dates are going to shift on all of our tests and I will update you as soon as possible. Tomorrow will be our reading NWEA.

Spelling: We are looking at words with the /sp/ and /spl/ chunks. Our words are splash, spider, speak, sports, splinter, surface, soil, rotation, revolve, question

Math: We are starting our next fraction unit. We will start identifying and writing equivalent fractions.

Science: We are learning about the weather and water cycle.

Social Studies: We are focusing on writing constructed responses about public issues in our state.

Writing: We are working on poetry for poetry month.

Daily 5: We are comparing and contrasting the main idea with the theme and pulling out supporting evidence for both from a text.

There is no STEM Club this week due to a district meeting.

Have a great week.

Welcome back. I hope everyone had a restful Spring Break. Tomorrow is our Lansing Trip and I am sending home a reminder sheet for the day. Our schedule looks a bit different but everything else stays the same. We will have spelling words and we will be going through lots of reviews this week to prep for the NWEA and MSTEP starting next week. I will send out a sign-up sheet later for snack donations for each testing session. I am hoping we can get a healthy snack and drink for each student, for each testing session. We will also be looking for regular Life Saver Peppermints and small bottles of water. Water and peppermint are shown to increase brain function and will help the students do their best on their tests.

We also have no school on Friday of this week.

This week:

Spelling- We are looking at irregular plurals. Our words are

hot words: knives, scarves, shelves, geese, loaves

content words: weight, condensation, perimeter, area, angle

Math- We are finishing patterns in multiplication. We will get a study guide on Wed. and their test will be Thursday.

Science: We are starting our new PLTW unit on computer programming. We are also moving onto our final science unit which is study of the Earth’s systems.

Reading: We have the reading coach working with us and our small groups this card marking. This will help us keep moving on our reading levels. It is more important than ever that the kids are reading at home and working on their reading outside of school. This is our final push to get everyone to a DRA 38 or higher. That is what they need to be at to be at grade level. We are focusing on text features in informational text and main idea vs. theme in narrative literature.

Social Studies: We are starting our next unit which is Michigan’s Economy. Starting next week, we will need Michigan Made sent in again, if anyone would like to. Just comment on here or send me a Dojo if you would like to donate Michigan Made next week.

Keep an eye out for the testing schedule and snack sign up later today. Also, look for the Lansing reminder slip coming home this afternoon on pink paper.

Have a great week!

This week we are jam packed with things going on. Today is our World Cuisine Day. We have awesome volunteers bring in different food from our continent of Africa. Tomorrow is parent-teacher conferences for the Spring and Thursday is our Literacy Night. The theme is Reading Around the World. There will be activities and games throughout the building. I hope everyone can make it. Because of conferences, there is no STEM club this week.

This week in:

Spelling- We are looking at plurals and ending chunk changes. Our words are pennies, marries, stories, families, empties, measure, volume, mixture, solution and observation. Their sheets will be coming home today. They can also practice the words at https://quizlet.com/_39yrao

Math-We are continuing our unit of looking at patterns in multiplication and division. We are specifically using those patterns to solve two step story problems.

Science-We are getting our study guide today for the test and we will take our test on Thursday. This will be on animal adaptations. Look for the sheet to come home tonight.

Social Studies: Our common assessment for the county is today on the public discourse unit. We will be taking our test today and then doing a few social studies activities so we are not launching a new unit right before the week off.

Writing- We are just finishing our writing about spring time. We are going to move into a “how to” piece next. We are still struggling on capitalization so please reinforce capital letters on all proper nouns and at the beginning of sentences at home.

Hello everyone,

Happy first day of Spring! Thank you to everyone who helped take care of the bake sale on Friday while I was at the conference. We are pushing ahead this week and have many things going on. Lansing has been rescheduled for April 11th. New permission slips will come home today. If you were a chaperone for the first trip and are unable to chaperone on this date, please let me know ASAP. We need a Michigan Made product for Friday, if anyone would like to send something in. We have filled our spots for Faygo, Better Made and Kellogg’s. If you have something else you would like to send in, please let me know.

Social Studies:  We are finishing our unit on public discourse this week. A study guide will be coming home and the boys will have this Wayne County social studies assessment early next week.

Science: We are learning all about animal adaptations and how they help animals survive. We are also learning about the transfer of energy through a food chain or food web.

Math: We are continuing to learn about multiplication and division patterns. These patterns will help the students with their number sense and will increase their fact fluency as they learn the multiplication tables.

Writing: We are finishing up the poetry we were working on and will be starting a narrative.

Reading: We are learning about different genres and understanding figurative language. This week we are focusing on personification.

Spelling: We are looking at words that end in the /le/ chunk. Our words are tickle, riddle, table, puddle, pickle, muddle, able, giggle, bubble, middle, core, earthquakes, conservation, surface and crust. Online practice of the words can be found at https://quizlet.com/_3968p7.

Have a great week.

Hello everyone,

I have been working on trying to reschedule the Lansing trip. I am aiming for next month and will send you more information as soon as I have it. I do not wish to cancel the trip because I feel the kids really benefit from going.

This week is our school bookfair. The books are buy one, get one free. It is a great time to support the school and get a great deal on books for your house.

Our week:

Spelling: We are looking at words with the /air/ and /ore/ chunks. Our words are stairs, airplane, anymore, ignore, explore, liquid, gas, length, pollution and solid. The boys will get their spelling sheet today and they can practice all of the words on Quizlet at https://quizlet.com/_389zk9 .

Math: Unit 6 tests came home on Friday and we are starting unit 7 today. This unit focuses on patterns in multiplication and division. The boys need to have 75% of Khan Academy 3rd grade completed by April 7th.

Science: We are finishing our Flight and Motion unit this week for Project Lead the Way. The boys are also going to start learning about animal adaptations and how they help animals survive in specific environments.

Reading: Students are continuing with book clubs as usual. We are focusing on knowing the differences between different genres of texts.

Writing: We are learning about rhyme schemes in poetry and the boys are finishing up a research piece on a country in Africa and an acrostic poem.

Social Studies: We are learning about issues that are currently in Michigan Government and forming educated opinions about these topics. The boys will be writing opinion pieces on whether or not wind farms should be built in the Great Lakes or not, based upon multiple readings we have completed in class.

STEM Club: If your student is in STEM Club, there is no meeting this week due to a district meeting I have to attend. We will pick up again next week.

Have a great day!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. This will be a very busy week. We are continuing on our March is Reading Month activities and learning all about Africa. We have our Lansing field trip on Thursday which will be all day. We will still be having our normal routine for all other subjects. If your student is in STEM club, please sign up for the STEM blog at https://iblog.dearbornschools.org/nowlinstemclub/.

Spelling: We are looking at words that contain the chunks /ire/ and /ear/. Our words are heard, earth, hire, early, retire, adapt, system, ecosystem, mammal, and reptile. Students will have their usual practice sheet and can practice the list online at quizlet.com. We had the highest average test score last week with the introduction of quizlet.com so I encourage the students to practice if possible.

Math: We are taking our unit test on Tuesday. Study guides will come home Monday. We will be working on a geometry project for the remainder of the week before starting the next unit. Students should be working towards or 75% completion of the 3rd-grade mission on Khan Academy. This target percentage is due mid April.

Writer’s Workshop: We are learning all about poetry. The boys are working on writing acrostic poems based on research of African Animals. Next, we will be studying and writing poems with different rhyming patterns. All of our writing will be incorporating our continent of Africa for March is Reading Month.

Social Studies: We are still working on our unit on public discourse. This will all be connected to our trip to Lansing on Thursday.

Reading: We are focusing on understanding each genre and being able to justify why certain books belong to certain genres. We are also working on using context clues to figure out words or meaning that we do not understand. Lastly, each student will be getting to pick an African country to read informational text on. They will be creating travel brochures for the country.

Our bake sale is coming up this month and we are in need of donations and popcorn poppers/sellers. If anyone is able to help with this, please let me know. We also still have many slots open for guest readers or parent volunteers during Daily 5. Please sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0F44ADAD2EAAF94-march. I hope we can get as many people in as possible to read to the boys. Thank you in advance and have a great week!