Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thank you to the parents that I had great conversations with last night at parent teacher conferences! I look forward to Tuesday night for more! It was another fantastic week in room 118! Check it out:
Reading:
We started the comprehension strategy of activating our prior knowledge. We are using what we already know about the book or topic to help better understand the story. Keep reading at home!
Writing:
We talked about how to write a good lead on a story, what a published piece in our classroom will look like and started creating our published narratives! I am very excited for you to see all the hard work put into these pieces!
Math:
We finished chapter 2 and began unit 3 on measurement. Practice with your child measuring the to nearest inch, half inch and quarter inch. Check your child's homework folder on Monday for their Chapter 2 math IPP.
Science:
We learned the names of our bones during the human body in Mrs. Amlong's classroom!
We also had a great conversation with Rachael, our UW Student in the Czech Republic. She will be skyping with us 3 more times and also sending emails before heading back to Wisconsin in December. She is hoping to come into school in January and meet the kids!
We have also started writing letters to 3rd graders in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at Birchview Elementary School in Ispheming. We received our first set of letters from them earlier in the week so we have been talking about what a letter looks and sounds like.
Thank you for all of your hard work at home and for sending such respectful and happy children to my classroom each day! Have a relaxing weekend!
Mrs. Luehmann
Reading:
We started the comprehension strategy of activating our prior knowledge. We are using what we already know about the book or topic to help better understand the story. Keep reading at home!
Writing:
We talked about how to write a good lead on a story, what a published piece in our classroom will look like and started creating our published narratives! I am very excited for you to see all the hard work put into these pieces!
Math:
We finished chapter 2 and began unit 3 on measurement. Practice with your child measuring the to nearest inch, half inch and quarter inch. Check your child's homework folder on Monday for their Chapter 2 math IPP.
Science:
We learned the names of our bones during the human body in Mrs. Amlong's classroom!
We also had a great conversation with Rachael, our UW Student in the Czech Republic. She will be skyping with us 3 more times and also sending emails before heading back to Wisconsin in December. She is hoping to come into school in January and meet the kids!
We have also started writing letters to 3rd graders in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at Birchview Elementary School in Ispheming. We received our first set of letters from them earlier in the week so we have been talking about what a letter looks and sounds like.
Thank you for all of your hard work at home and for sending such respectful and happy children to my classroom each day! Have a relaxing weekend!
Mrs. Luehmann
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Happy Friday! We had a quick, but exciting week!
Here's an overview:
Reading:
We worked really hard this week on picking "Good Fit" books for ourselves as readers. The only way your child will become a stronger, independent reader is by self selecting books that are appropriate for their reading level. This is a harder skill, and we'll continually work at it! We also started talking about how to expand our vocabulary through reading. Some students were disecting their books to find words that were hard to understand. We used context clues or the dictionary to try and figure out the meaning to a word. For next week, we will start another comprehension strategy called Activating Prior Knowledge.
Writing:
For writing we focused more on peer conferencing for the editing and revision portion of the writing process. We also started one on one editing and revision conferences with Mrs. Luehmann! We are starting to publish our personal narratives next week!!!
Word Study:
We are approaching the end of chapter 2. Your children worked this week on 3 digit addition and subtraction. There were a few new techniques taught for both addition and subtraction. I have been telling your children to choose the best technique for them and go with it! If your child wants some math review please check out the following link:
www.oregonsd.org/webpages/jamlong
then "Math Chats"
and then unit 2
You can choose any math chat from unit 2 for review. These are tutorials created by Mrs. Amlong to help review the math strategies taught in class. They are a GREAT way to review with your child!
Science:
Here's an overview:
Reading:
We worked really hard this week on picking "Good Fit" books for ourselves as readers. The only way your child will become a stronger, independent reader is by self selecting books that are appropriate for their reading level. This is a harder skill, and we'll continually work at it! We also started talking about how to expand our vocabulary through reading. Some students were disecting their books to find words that were hard to understand. We used context clues or the dictionary to try and figure out the meaning to a word. For next week, we will start another comprehension strategy called Activating Prior Knowledge.
Writing:
For writing we focused more on peer conferencing for the editing and revision portion of the writing process. We also started one on one editing and revision conferences with Mrs. Luehmann! We are starting to publish our personal narratives next week!!!
Word Study:
We had our first official word study test today! I will grade the tests over the weekend and get them back to your child on Monday. Please let me know if you have any questions about word study!
Math:We are approaching the end of chapter 2. Your children worked this week on 3 digit addition and subtraction. There were a few new techniques taught for both addition and subtraction. I have been telling your children to choose the best technique for them and go with it! If your child wants some math review please check out the following link:
www.oregonsd.org/webpages/jamlong
then "Math Chats"
and then unit 2
You can choose any math chat from unit 2 for review. These are tutorials created by Mrs. Amlong to help review the math strategies taught in class. They are a GREAT way to review with your child!
Science:
We began our Human Body unit and are switching with Mrs. Amlong's class. Your child will be learning about the organs and their function in our body for the next 3 weeks!
We also had a great Physics presentation on Thursday, sponsored by the PTO. The kids loved it and learned a lot about physics while seeing some entertaining experiments. It was also the kick off to the science fair in November. Notes went home with your child yesterday about the science fair on November 13th.
I am very excited to meet with most of you next Thursday for parent teacher conferences. I have some great things to share and can't wait to tell you how hard your son or daughter has been working. Pat yourselves on the back, Mom and Dad, because you have all done fantastic jobs raising some wonderful kids! Have a great weekend! Hopefully the Badgers can pull off an upset this weekend!
Mrs. Luehmann :)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
It was another fantastic week in 3rd grade! Here are a few highlights:
Reading:
We worked on a new strategy called cross checking. When you read and cross check, you go back, reread the sentence and make sure the words make sense. Sometimes we read words in 3rd grade and keep going on in the text, even though the word is wrong. We are working really hard on slowing ourselves down and making sure we are improving our comprehension by rereading.
Writing:
We moved into revision and editing in the writing process with our personal narratives. Most students started their 2nd drafts and are working on adding more details to their pieces. We have been discussing how long the writing process really takes. It is very typical in 3rd grade to want to write something once and be done! I have been telling the kids that great writers take several months and even years to write all of the fantastic books we all love to read!!!
Word Study:
We had our first "trial" week of word study. It was an easy transition this year, as your kids have had Words Their Way in the past. Make sure to check your child's homework folder on Tuesday for their weekly words.
Math:
Chapter 2 is going very well as we are working heavily on basic facts and fact extensions. It is so important for your child to know their basic facts. If you need fact triangles or flash cards, or a great website idea, please let me know! Ask your son or daugher about www.freerice.com
We also had a guidance class this week where we talked a lot about being a good friend and always telling the truth about others. In computer class we are working on basic computer skills in microsoft word.
I hope you all had a great week and have started enjoying this beautiful weather!!! Read a great book with your child this weekend and enjoy the Monday off!
Mrs. Luehmann :)
Reading:
We worked on a new strategy called cross checking. When you read and cross check, you go back, reread the sentence and make sure the words make sense. Sometimes we read words in 3rd grade and keep going on in the text, even though the word is wrong. We are working really hard on slowing ourselves down and making sure we are improving our comprehension by rereading.
Writing:
We moved into revision and editing in the writing process with our personal narratives. Most students started their 2nd drafts and are working on adding more details to their pieces. We have been discussing how long the writing process really takes. It is very typical in 3rd grade to want to write something once and be done! I have been telling the kids that great writers take several months and even years to write all of the fantastic books we all love to read!!!
Word Study:
We had our first "trial" week of word study. It was an easy transition this year, as your kids have had Words Their Way in the past. Make sure to check your child's homework folder on Tuesday for their weekly words.
Math:
Chapter 2 is going very well as we are working heavily on basic facts and fact extensions. It is so important for your child to know their basic facts. If you need fact triangles or flash cards, or a great website idea, please let me know! Ask your son or daugher about www.freerice.com
We also had a guidance class this week where we talked a lot about being a good friend and always telling the truth about others. In computer class we are working on basic computer skills in microsoft word.
I hope you all had a great week and have started enjoying this beautiful weather!!! Read a great book with your child this weekend and enjoy the Monday off!
Mrs. Luehmann :)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
What an eventful and exciting week in room 118! Back to School Night, The Book Fair and Homecoming were definitely the exciting parts of the week! MAP testing was another large chunk of the time and your kids persevered through some LONG tests! I reminded the kids daily to do their best and use their reading strategies to help solve problems. MAP testing is one indicator of your child’s progress but NOT the entire picture of your child. I will be sharing their scores with you at parent teacher conferences but in the mean time if you have any questions, please let me know! Here’s the rundown of our week:
Reading:
We began our mini lessons on the Daily Café Menu, starting with comprehension. We learned a great comprehension strategy of Checking for Understanding. We would stop every couple pages to CHECK for understanding by asking, who and what? We will continue to learn new strategies in the next few days.
Writing:
We are working away at our personal narratives. We talked a lot about using details in our writing this week. We began using our senses to draw more details into our writing. I gave examples from my writing using my sight and smell senses to come up with more ideas within my writing. You children are building up their writing stamina and telling me some great stories about trips you’ve been on, places you have visited or favorite birthday parties!
Math:
We finished the oral portion to our Chapter 1 math test on Monday, had MAP testing on Tuesday and began Chapter 2 on Wednesday. Chapter two is really focusing on basic and extended facts. We cut up our addition and subtraction fact triangles and began practicing our basic math facts in 3 seconds or less. Please check your child’s homework folder tonight for their chapter 1 IPP. This will give you an idea as to how your child is doing on the skills taught so far this school year. Chapter 1 is a lot of second grade review, so overall the whole class did a great job!!! Basic facts are always a rough area to start the school year, so please start including fact practice into your nightly routine.
Social Studies:
We wrapped up our rights and responsibilities unit and will be starting to learn about the human body in the next few days. Science and social studies unfortunately will be interrupted next week with a guidance class, two computer classes and a library class! Not all weeks will be laid out like this, but due to MAP testing we had to rearrange our schedule a bit.
Overall, we had a very busy week! Back to school night was a lot of fun and I enjoyed having conversations with you and your families. We had a very spirited homecoming Friday reading some new books from the book fair, writing school spirit poems for the football team, making posters with our reading buddies and attending the parade! Please enjoy your weekend and time with your family! Happy Homecoming and GO PANTHERS!!!
Mrs. Luehmann :)
Reading:
We began our mini lessons on the Daily Café Menu, starting with comprehension. We learned a great comprehension strategy of Checking for Understanding. We would stop every couple pages to CHECK for understanding by asking, who and what? We will continue to learn new strategies in the next few days.
Writing:
We are working away at our personal narratives. We talked a lot about using details in our writing this week. We began using our senses to draw more details into our writing. I gave examples from my writing using my sight and smell senses to come up with more ideas within my writing. You children are building up their writing stamina and telling me some great stories about trips you’ve been on, places you have visited or favorite birthday parties!
Math:
We finished the oral portion to our Chapter 1 math test on Monday, had MAP testing on Tuesday and began Chapter 2 on Wednesday. Chapter two is really focusing on basic and extended facts. We cut up our addition and subtraction fact triangles and began practicing our basic math facts in 3 seconds or less. Please check your child’s homework folder tonight for their chapter 1 IPP. This will give you an idea as to how your child is doing on the skills taught so far this school year. Chapter 1 is a lot of second grade review, so overall the whole class did a great job!!! Basic facts are always a rough area to start the school year, so please start including fact practice into your nightly routine.
Social Studies:
We wrapped up our rights and responsibilities unit and will be starting to learn about the human body in the next few days. Science and social studies unfortunately will be interrupted next week with a guidance class, two computer classes and a library class! Not all weeks will be laid out like this, but due to MAP testing we had to rearrange our schedule a bit.
Overall, we had a very busy week! Back to school night was a lot of fun and I enjoyed having conversations with you and your families. We had a very spirited homecoming Friday reading some new books from the book fair, writing school spirit poems for the football team, making posters with our reading buddies and attending the parade! Please enjoy your weekend and time with your family! Happy Homecoming and GO PANTHERS!!!
Mrs. Luehmann :)
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