Happy September! We’re off to a great start in Room 314! Our focus for August was routines, organization, and attitude. We did quite a bit of reading, viewing, and talking about “Growth Mindset.” Please take a peek at some of what we’ve accomplished in August!
Growth Mindset Students viewed a short series of five videos from the people at Class DoJo about MoJo who learns that his brain is like a muscle that needs to be exercised by working through new challenges. He learned mistakes are powerfully good. (Our class read a poster on positive self-talk that said: If Plan A doesn’t work, there are 25 more letters of the alphabet. Keep trying!) MoJo also learned the Power of Yet…he might not be able to do something now, but given practice and determination he will get there one day. He also learned to seek help from someone who has skills that he can learn from. MoJo, Katie, and Bruce will visit with us again throughout the year. Students were introduced to the book Ish by Peter Reynolds. In the book, the main character likes to draw but when he is told that his drawings don’t look like his intended objects, he crumples up his work after each try and throws his works of art into a trashcan. Later, his sister comes to talk to him inquiring about why he’s stopped drawing. When he confesses that his work is not any good, she takes him to her bedroom where he discovers that she has decorated her walls with his crumpled up “mistakes.” His sister leads him to understand that his works of art are like an “ish.” His painting of a vase looks “vase-ish.” This term is how we are referring to our first attempts at mastering new objectives or creating what we see in our mind’s eye. Our attempts might not be perfect at first, but with practice and effort, we will improve and reach our goal. To support all the budding artists and writers in our room, each student was given an “ish” journal where they can create and record their personal thoughts. These “ish” journals are very popular with the class. During our chapter book read aloud at the end of the day, students are invited to draw their mind movies. Students are eager to visualize, create, and annotate their thoughts. Research shows that our cognition and ability to learn is linked to what we believe about our ability--students have to believe in themselves to unlock their full potential. My goal this year is be an encourager and a promoter providing many diverse opportunities for personal and academic growth. I want all my students to achieve their goals and more importantly, leave third grade feeling confident with a positive self-worth. Another book which hit home with several students was The Girl Who Made No Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubenstein. A girl is pressured by her reputation of being perfect—she never makes a mistake. Her parents even reinforce that label telling her she doesn’t have to worry about performing in the school talent show because she never makes mistakes. She limits her new experiences to ensure she doesn’t make her first mistake. Finally, she does make her first mistake and the pressure to be perfect is off! She is able to try new fun activities with friends and express herself creatively which brings her much joy. This is probably one of my favorite growth mindset books. So many parents feel the need to put their personal inclination for perfection onto their children causing their children to feel needless anxiety at an early age. Children should be allowed to discover their own passions and interests. If they do this, they are going to make mistakes, but these mistakes lead to finding a path that will ultimately lead them to personal success and enjoyment in life. Something I would want to share with helicopter parents—let your children fall down and pick themselves up on occasion. It builds confidence in their own problem solving abilities. It helps them think creatively. It helps them become resilient. The world is a tough place—they are going to need grit and determination to achieve personal and professional success in life. Love them unconditionally. Support their interests. Give them positive self-talk by modeling it and feeding it to them. Your kids are going to do amazing things and more importantly, they are going to be amazing PEOPLE. Your children are precious!! Procedures Students have been working on learning procedures. There is a procedure for everything in order to keep the classroom running smoothly. Students have learned how to get from the gym to the classroom, take time at the comfort station (restrooms), visit their lockers, pull out needed supplies, come to the room to make a lunch choice, get pencils and library books ready, and procure their reading bucket so it is ready when we begin. We’ve practiced hallway behavior—keep a short, straight, and silent line so learning can continue for students still in their classrooms. We’ve learned how to go through the cafeteria line, put items on our tray, use the salad bar, and then punch in our lunch pin when buying a tray lunch. Students found out that our seating in the cafeteria changes day to day. We sit at a different table each day which gives us different views of the cafeteria and outside. Students have learned so many academic procedures: how to keep a record of their reading, take a Reading Counts test, put a heading on notebook paper, and create entries in their reading and writing journals. Students have learned how to save and organize their incomplete work in a “ketchup” folder or mail their work into the appropriate trays. Academically, students have learned guidelines for running reader’s workshop—we respect others who are reading or responding to their reading by being quiet and whispering when needed. We are always productive. We may choose to read at our seat or on a mat in the room to ensure that we are comfortable as we enjoy our book. We take turns at the computer to RC test. We are on the path to becoming self-regulated learners. Organization We have all our journals/notebooks in order for organizing our learning this year. We’ve learned how to use each component and we’ve learned the reasoning behind each piece. Our reading journal is divided into two sections: “Mini-lessons” and “Reading Responses.” Our writing journal (also called our “seeds journal” for gathering ideas) is divided into “Author’s Craft” and “My Thinking.” We will add our writing process notebook when we begin our first project in the near future. We have a Reading Counts log for keeping a record of our reading and tests. We have a “ketchup” folder for work in progress and a daily take-home folder for assignments that need to be completed at home. Whew! Who says third grade isn’t busy! Positive Behavior Support (PBS) in All Settings We have completed seven lessons on positive behavior in various settings around the school and bus. Students learned how to be respectful, responsible and safe in the classroom, hallways, restroom, cafeteria, playground, bus, and all settings. Together we created charts of what positive behavior would look like and sound like in those places. We also discussed earning DOJO points to save for personal rewards and earning class letters from other teachers to spell “BIS Liberators!” so the class can choose a group reward. We have already earned our first group award! Students will be playing dodgeball with Mr. Smith next week. ELA Assessments This past week students completed the fall writing prompt and taking a diagnostic spelling test. Both of these writing samples will be used for me to tailor instruction to meet the needs of individual students. Coming up this week, I will continue giving the fall DRA (Diagnostic Reading Assessment). Students will meet with me individually to determine which reading level to begin small group instruction. Students are timed as they read a short passage from a booklet. Oral questions are asked requesting students to make predictions or use the text features to show understanding. Later they are invited to finish reading the booklet and complete the written response. Students are familiar with this testing procedure since they have been taking this style of assessment since kindergarten. On Thursday this week, students will be taking a new assessment to our district, the iReady. This computer-based reading (and math) assessment will help determine Lexile reading levels and provide another piece of the comprehension puzzle. In addition, what’s exciting about this new test is the information we will receive about students’ word attack skills (phonemic awareness/phonics), vocabulary development, and specific comprehension skills. Grandparents Day Grandparent’s Day is coming up on Tuesday, September 12 at 9:00 am. Grandparents will meet in the lobby before being escorted down to our room. We will visit with grandparents in the classroom for thirty minutes before adjourning to the cafeteria for cookies and punch. The entire event lasts about an hour. If your child’s grandparents are unable to attend, you may invite a family friend or neighbor to be an honored guest. We understand that some grandparents live out of state or aren’t physically able to attend. Students who do not have a special visitor will be paired up with another grandparent and classmate so he/she may receive that special attention. Scholastic Book Orders Our first Scholastic Book Club orders are due this Friday, September 15. Please remember to put your child’s name on the order form and make checks out to Scholastic. I will complete the orders after the due date. We should receive our books in just over a week from that date. If you prefer to order online, our class still benefits by receiving points that can be redeemed for new books for our classroom library. Our class code is L7BC2. Reader’s Workshop Last week besides our read alouds focusing on Growth Mindset, we learned how to make three different kinds of responses to our reading. Students have completed a story hunt, filled out a graphic organizer, and have written a letter to me in their reading journals. Students took several Reading Counts tests on the computer. Mini-lessons included how to write a friendly letter, how to write a five-finger summary, and guidelines for reader’s workshop. We’ve also learned 14 vocabulary words and used them in meaningful sentences. This week we will prepare for the iReady assessment practicing how to navigate on the chromebooks and we will take the assessment on Thursday. Coming up is our first nonfiction Wednesday using Scholastic News to look at nonfiction text features and practice reading informational text. Students will have a personal copy to follow along as we use the interactive website on the Smartboard. Students will read independently from library books and make reading responses. I hope to conclude the DRA’s so we can begin guided reading next Monday with a comprehension focus on making connections. In the next weeks we will read books with the following themes: grandparents, individuality, and perseverance. Word Work We’ve concluded reviewing the basic cvc pattern (short vowels) and will move on to focusing on the cvce patterns of /-a-e/, /-i-e/, /-o-e/, and/-u-e/. Following this pattern, we will begin vowel digraphs starting with /-ea-/. Students have been enjoying the word activities Making Words and Boggle. Vocabulary words have been pulled from our mentor texts. Students created a motion for each word to help them associate meaning. After we begin guided reading, vocabulary will be pulled from guided reading books. In September we will practice dictionary skills and learn how to use a thesaurus. Writer’s Workshop We will be stretching sentences this week by asking questions (what kind, how many, which one; where, when, and how) to add more description and by using conjunctions to create compound sentences. Next on our agenda is asking “Who is a Writer?” and discussing guidelines for writer’s workshop. We will be exercising our writing muscles by doing Power Writes. Students will write in short spurts choosing between two topics and building from two minutes to ten minutes duration. Pencils must be constantly moving even if the writer can only write “hum.” After, students count up how many words, hums, and sentences. These exercises help boost confidence and work to achieve writing stamina. Students enjoy sharing their short pieces on a variety of topics. This month we will work in our writing journals collecting seeds (ideas), write interactive paragraphs, and work on descriptive writing. Social Studies In August, students learned the difference between a globe and map. They learned to identify and name the continents and oceans of the world. They learned about the lines on a globe and map. They also created a world map. This month we will continue our geography unit focusing on map skills—using the compass rose, legend/key, scale, and map grids. We will also look at different kinds of maps. We will use map skills the entire year as we look for places in the news and discuss people/places we encounter in books. THANK YOU, Parents! Thank you for providing support for students to complete their nightly reading homework. The Pizza Hut Book It program will begin October 1. I will attach a free personal pan pizza coupon to completed September reading logs. Until then, I have added DoJo points for each student completing the August reading log.
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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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