Happy New Year, Parents! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas break celebrating, relaxing, and playing. I had a wonderful time with our adult children and grandchildren Owen and Naomi. We had such a great time playing games, eating, and watching movies. There were many memories made around the kitchen table just like in the past. I'm looking forward to seeing the class tomorrow! I'm sure they will have so much to talk about. We are going to "ring in" the New Year sharing about our holidays. We will then move into finishing up our reading/writing units which we didn't have time to complete before the break due to the three snow days. What’s New? Congratulations to Emmaline Manis who will be recognized this week for displaying our BIS Monthly Character Word! The word for December was “Courtesy.” Our definition for courtesy is “showing respect and consideration for others.” Emmaline consistently demonstrates polite manners. She takes turns, talks respectfully to others, says “please” and “thank you,” and readily shares. She is a joy to be around! Congratulations, Emmaline, for being our example of courteous behavior! Report Cards: Second Quarter report cards will be sent home on Wednesday, January 15. Attached will be the results of the iReady Midyear Reading Assessment. This assessment shows your child’s new Lexile reading level and itemizes the various components of the test. An explanation of the different components are described on the handout. Students showed great individual reading growth! Keep encouraging your child to complete the nightly reading homework: 25 minutes of independent reading four nights a week for a total of 100 minutes per week. Reading practice makes the difference! Reading Focus: After studying nonfiction texts for second quarter, we are excited to begin a fiction study. Our third quarter focus will be Character Studies. This quarter we will focus on getting to know a character as a friend, follow a character’s journey, and compare/contrast characters across books. Students will read a variety of fiction texts making jots about their observations and then discuss their findings with partners or in groups. We will start off reading books with African American main characters as we lead up to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. After, we will begin books with a variety of characters who live in a snowy setting. Hopefully, it will be a perfect time of year to touch base about inclement weather. We will start out with a mentor text that all groups will read that has a snow setting. These texts will spring all groups into chapter books with a snow setting. The spotlight bookshelf will also house both fiction and nonfiction books from the library about snow. For our chapter book read aloud, we will be reading the book Snow Treasure which is set in 1940 Norway and based on a true story about Norwegian children who saved their country’s gold during the Nazi invasion. This quality book is rich with suspense, vocabulary, and heroism. Before we begin our Character Studies unit, we will spend the first two weeks in January with a mini-biography unit with a focus on famous Missourians. I will model reading, notetaking, and creating a timeline about a famous Missourian (students will help me select the Missourian they are most interested in) before they choose a person to study independently. Students will be allowed to pick a Missourian or branch out to other people past or present to study. Third graders enjoy learning about famous people. This is going to be a high interest study! Writing: We have just a few students who did not turn in their state research report before the break. They will be given time to complete their cover and map work tomorrow. Students who turned their reports in already will be excited to see the reports displayed in the hall along with a picture of each student holding their mentor text. This week we will begin our "Changing the World" unit which is writing opinion and persuasive pieces. You'd be surprised at the number of opinions third graders have already formed. This unit will help students support their opinions and present them in a persuasive way. Fundations: Due to missing three days before break, we did not conclude our Fundations Unit 1 study. We will review material Monday and Tuesday before taking our test on Thursday. Here is what is going to be on the test for those who want to study at home: Sounds: tch, ch; k, ck, ck; olt; unk Sound Alikes: know/no; write/right; which/witch Words: bolt, scold, stitch, spring, grind (students will need to mark the syllable) Sentences: Which leg did the child scratch? Frank should have squash for lunch. A note from Mrs. Endres: Student performance sometimes slumps during third quarter but I don’t anticipate that to be the case with our class. We have many high interest topics this quarter supported with a bevy of fabulous books and creative opportunities. I love third quarter! Our new crayons are coming out this week along with goal setting. We will be ready to conquer all that 2020 brings during January-March. Thank you for your continued support! I appreciate our partnership! Blessings, Mrs. Endres Important Dates January 6-14 Miles for Smiles (dental van) will be at BIS January 10 End of Second Quarter January 15 Report cards will be sent home January 20 No School--Martin Luther King, Jr. Day January 27 Happy Birthday, Kinzzy! January 28 Happy Birthday, Brayden! January 30 Happy Birthday, Lexi! P.S. Be sure to check-out the pictures uploaded over the break. Here are our Third Quarter Power Standards and I Can Statements: Reading: Fiction
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AuthorHello! My name is Heidi…I love my family, the Lord, and chai tea lattes! I’m a wife to an amazing husband, mama to four wonderful kids, new Grammy to a cute baby boy, and a chubby 3rd grade teacher. (I've eaten too many birthday cupcakes!) I love people, learning, and creating. Thanks for stopping by! May you be blessed today as you bless others. Archives
March 2020
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