Owl Pellet Dissection

The children had mixed emotions before dissecting their owl pellets, but I think everyone ended very excited. It was great to see their enthusiasm and they had a blast finding bones to rodents, birds, shrews, and moles. A huge thank you to Mrs. Gardner for helping teach! The kids loved working with you!

Beautiful Bird Projects!

If you are at school anytime soon, please take a moment to stop by our room. Our bird projects are now on display. The kids did a great job, way to go!

No homework tonight!

We will do our homelink together tomorrow. The students earned no homework tonight due to outstanding behavior today! Way to go!

Spring is Here!

Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful and well deserved Spring Break. The weather is actually starting to cooperate, hopefully we don’t see anymore snow for awhile!
You should have received a note about our upcoming field trip on Thursday, April 23rd. We will be going to the Van Andel Museum downtown Grand Rapids. The cost is $5 per person and everyone needs to bring a sack lunch. If you are interested in going, please let me as soon as possible.
Science: We are having so much fun in our bird unit. We have learned about the different parts of the bird and are starting our bird projects. All of the children have selected a bird and are researching information for their report. I look forward to seeing the finished products in the hall.
Math: We nearing the end of unit 9. The children will be taking a unit test next week and moving into unit 10 before the end of April.
Language Arts: To tie in with our Michigan studies for Social Studies, we are reading aloud “Traders in Time”. This is an exciting story about two boys on an adventure in the Michigan wilderness and they travel back in time where there are no police or parents to keep them safe. The children in the story are helped by fur traders. The children have continued working hard on their writing. We did an activity this week writing about a first time doing something. As always I stress the importance of editing and revising.
Some exciting news...third graders will be publishing stories in the next school newspaper. We are so excited, I look forward to seeing interviews, current events, poems, songs, etc...

Dates to Remember

April
23rd– Field trip to Van Andel Museum. The bus leaves at 9 a.m. and returns at 2p.m. Don’t forget a sack lunch!
30th– Joe Kopecek from channel 13 is coming to talk to the third grade about weather.

May
8th-Third grade relay lunch. We enjoy a picnic outside for lunch this day.
22nd and 25th– No school. (Memorial Day)

June
4th– Half day.
5th– Last day, half day!

See you soon!

Have a wonderful Spring Break! School is back in session on Monday, April 13th. Thank you for attending parent/teacher conferences, it was great to see everyone!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

It’s hard to believe that we are only a couple of weeks away from conferences and spring break! Just a reminder that if you can’t make your conference time, please contact me as soon as you can and I will find a time that works best for you.
Today the district’s gifted and talented department tested the children on the annual NNAT. As soon as we have the test results back I will be sharing those with you!
Language Arts: Last week we incorporated power writing. This is a great way for the children to create a structured paragraph. We really focused on transitional words and it helped many of the kids to stop from being repetitive. We also made new writing journals with the help of Mrs. Langworthy. The kids absolutely loved stamping and decorating. Thanks again Mrs. Langworthy! We also have been working on our letter writing. We are fortunate enough to have penpals from an elementary school in Wyoming, MI.
Social Studies: We continue to learn about Michigan and will be making our globes to help us with our mapping skills and identifying continents.
Science: The children are loving the bird unit. We are having so much fun learning about the many different parts of birds.
Math: We have just started unit 9. This unit focuses on multiplication, number stories, fact extensions, arrays, area, fractions, money, and lattice multiplication. We will also continue the timed tests. I am so impressed with how quickly the children are passing their tests, keep up the great work!

Dates to Remember:

March 2009
21 Rockford Expo
30 Parent Teacher Conferences in evening. Full day of school.
31 Parent Teacher Conferences in evening. Full day of school.

April 2009
1 Noon Dismissal. Parent Teacher Conferences in the afternoon.
2 No School.
3 No School.
6 - 10 No School. Spring Break.
13 School resumes.

March

We are quickly approaching one of my favorite months. I love how the weather starts warming up and I also LOVE March is reading month. We will be doing many fun things this month to celebrate Reading month. Be on the look out for reading slips from our fabulous Mrs. Kalee and Mrs. Foote.
I also want to thank those of you that have sent in plastic bags to recycle. Keep them coming...we have until the end of March to keep collecting them!
Conferences are coming up at the end of March right before spring break. I have sent home slips to tell you your scheduled time. If for any reason you are not able to make your scheduled time, please let me know. I am sure that we can figure something out. I’m very flexible!
The districts’ 3rd grade students will be taking a short reasoning ability test. We are scheduled for March 16th. It will Take approximately 30 minutes, This test requires students to complete picture puzzles from the multiple choices given. The results of this test will provide classroom teachers with valuable information to guide planning and instruction to meet each student's needs. The results will also provide teachers and administration with a benchmark for educational programming. Finally, the test is used as a screening tool for the gifted and talented program.
Language Arts: The children have continued working on seed stories and really zooming in to add detail. They also have enjoyed doing literature studies and selecting projects to share their books.
Social Studies: I am so excited about the many things we have been learning about Michigan. We learned about the underground railroad and how many slaves left the south and came to Michigan. We also learned about how even after Abe Lincoln abolished slavery that segregation occurred. This definitely sparked many interesting conversations in our room!
Science: We start our bird unit in March...I’m sure you will hear your child come home with many interesting facts about birds. Each child will get to select a bird to research and do a small project on.
Math: We are working on fractions in unit 8. I really try to stress that it is very helpful to draw pictures and/or use counters. We are also finishing our mid year assessment. I will be sharing this test at spring conferences.

Dates to Remember

March 2009
7 Odyssey of the Mind @ FHC all day!
14 Carnival
15 Rockford Expo
30 Parent Teacher Conferences in evening. Full day of school.
31 Parent Teacher Conferences in evening. Full day of school.
April 2009
1 Noon Dismissal. Parent Teacher Conferences in the afternoon.
2 No School.
3 No School.
6 - 10 No School. Spring Break.
13 School resumes.