Week of 9/28/15 - 10/2/15

ODDS & ENDS:

Thank you to families who donated supplies for Johnny Appleseed's Birthday: Our class had so much fun learning about the folktale legend of Johnny Appleseed and making homemade applesauce. The entire 3rd grade area filled with the sweet scents of warm apples & cinnamon! Thank you to all families for sending in those apples! A huge thank you goes out to Ella, Sam, Brennan, and Nedas' families for sending in apple juice, bowls and spoons. Check out our Homeroom Google Classroom for more pictures.

Student of the Week: Oscar is our "Star Student" this week. He will be sharing a poster about himself and his favorite things. We can't wait for her to share! : ) When your child is "Star Student", they will bring home a poster to complete. They can also pick a day to bring in a show-and-tell. We pick a student's name every Thursday.

COMING UP THIS WEEK:

Reading & Language Arts:  We are continuing our first unit of study, “Tales as Old as Time.”  This week, we’re comparing classic fairy tales to fractured fairy tales.  Students will be writing their own fractured fairy tale this week and writing their own version of Cinderella from another character’s point of view.

Students have been reading their own "good fit" fictional book during our Daily 5 - Read to Self station. They should start finishing their books. When done, they will complete some activities so that I can assess their comprehension level of that book. Those activities will be due Friday, 10/9.

Also September Reading Logs (reading 20 minutes for 20 nights this month) are due by Thursday, 10/1. Also, watch for the October Reading Logs to come home that day. Thank you to those students who already turned their Sept. logs in. : )

Spelling:   Students will get their new spelling words list this week. The 8 spelling activities "menu" & work are due in two weeks on Friday, 10/9. Student work should be stapled to the activities "menu" sheet to turn in. The students will also take their 15 words spelling test on the same day (10/9). Study those words! : )

Students are finding creative ways to complete their spelling activities! Ella used flour.  : )

Science:   On Wednesday, we'll begin Chapter 9, The Water Cycle.

Social Studies:  The Hemisphere quiz will be on Tuesday, 9/29. Students should know the names & locations of the 4 hemispheres, the 2 poles, the equator, and the prime meridian. A study guide was sent home. Students can use their worksheets in their Social Studies folders & the Map Essentials book for reviewing.

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:  We're finishing up Unit 1 "Addition & Subtraction Strategies" this week with a Unit 1 Test on Wed. 9/30. Study Guide practice sheets were sent home (it's the same Pre-Assessment we gave the students before we started the unit, but now they should recognize & be able to solve more of the problems). Then we start Unit 2 "Multiplication". Our Math Class has been developing their teamwork skills in solving story problems and skip-counting with friendly numbers!

 

 

IMPORTANT DATES:

9/29 - Last Magazine Drive turn-in day
10/12 - Columbus Day (no school)

10/30 - Halloween Parade & Parties

Have a great weekend!!!

- Mrs. Lopez

Week of 9/21/15 - 9/25/15

ODDS & ENDS:

We're celebrating Johnny Appleseed's Birthday on September 25: Your child brought home a note home about our upcoming Johnny Appleseed celebration. If you are willing to send in some apple juice boxes, disposable bowls or plastic spoons for our homemade applesauce, please email me (HLopez@ccsd66.org) . It will be a fun time!

Student of the Week: Diamond is our "Star Student" this week. She will be sharing a poster about herself and her favorite things. We can't wait for her to share! : ) When your child is "Star Student", they will bring home a poster to complete. They can also pick a day to bring in a show-and-tell. We pick a student's name every Thursday.

COMING UP THIS WEEK:

Reading & Language Arts:  We are continuing our unit of study, “Tales as Old as Time.” This week, we're comparing The Ballad of Mulan, The Mysterious Giant of Barletta, and Fin M'Coul. Then we will begin our close read of Rumpelstilskin. 

Spelling:   The "Words Their Way" 8 spelling activities "menu" & work are due on Friday, 9/25. Student work should stapled to the activities "menu" sheet to turn in.The students will also take their 15 words spelling test on the same day (9/25). Study those words! : )

Science:   In a couple weeks, we'll begin studying the water cycle!

Social Studies:  The continents and oceans quiz will be on Monday, 9/21. Students should know the locations of the 7 continents and 5 oceans and are expected to spell them correctly. There is a word bank of all the continent and ocean names on the quiz for our students to use. Check out our Google Classroom Homeroom for our class' version of the "7 Continents Song" and the PAAIS mnemonic to remember the ocean names. Next we will be studying Earth's hemispheres.

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:  We’ll continue with addition and subtraction this week. Our specific focus will be double-digit addition and subtraction strategies when solving story problems.

IMPORTANT DATES:

9/22 & 9/24 - Magazine Drive turn-in days

9/24 - Early Dismissal (11:35 am)

9/25 - Johnny Appleseed’s birthday celebration

9/26 - Fall Family Day & Community BBQ (Team 66)

Have a great weekend!!!

- Mrs. Lopez

Week of 9/14/15 - 9/18/15

Remembering 9/11:
Yesterday was the 14th anniversary of 9/11. Our class discussed it by reading the story, Fireboat.  It’s an inspiring, true story about the John J. Harvey fireboat, used to put out the fires in NYC on 9/11... since all the fire hydrants were broken.

ODDS & ENDS:

MAP TESTING: We finished up our MAP testing (Math & Reading) yesterday. Our class was excited to take the tests on their own Chromebooks! The children are being very responsible by charging their Chromebooks each night & bringing then back to school each morning. Keep up the great work, 3rd Graders!!!

ABSENCES & EARLY PICKUPS: 

* If your child will not be coming to school, please call Prairieview's Attendance Phone #630-783-5290 and leave a message for our school office secretaries.

* If you need to pick up your child early from school or they will be going home in a different way, you have a few options...

• Write me a quick paper note (Mrs. Lopez) with your signature and the date & send it to school with your child in the morning, or 

• Email me (HLopez@ccsd66.org) AND the school office secretaries (ktannhauser@ccsd66.org) & (ncaliendo@ccsd66.org) to let us know, or

• Call our school office secretaries, Kathi or Nisa, at the main office phone #630-783-5100

COMING UP THIS WEEK:

Reading & Language Arts:  We are continuing our first unit of study, “Tales as Old as Time.”  This will cover folktales, fairytales, myths, legends, tall tales, and fables.  We read Mulan for the first time and will be “digging deeper” this week.  We’ll then read The Mysterious Giant of Barletta.  Daily 5 stations are also starting.   

Spelling:   We will be starting the Words Their Way spelling series. Many of our students used it in 2nd grade at Elizabeth Ide. Watch for a Spelling homework "menu" coming home.

Science:   Coming soon!!

Social Studies:  We’ll continue our "Using Maps Unit" with identifying continents and oceans.

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:  We’ll continue with addition and subtraction this week.

IMPORTANT DATES:

9/14 - Magazine Drive kick-off

9/24 - Early Dismissal (11:00)

9/25 - Johnny Appleseed’s birthday celebration (more information coming soon!)

9/26 - Fall Family Day & Community BBQ (Team 66)

Our class learning how to complete assignments through Google Classroom.

Have a great weekend & enjoy the beautiful weather!!!

- Mrs. Lopez

Week of 9/8

Odds and Ends: 

* Thank you to all of the parents who attended Curriculum Night. It was so great to see all of you and hope that the night was informative for you. If you were unable to attend, please view this link to learn about the Chromebook.

http://www.zaption.com/tours/55b7dab6aa298778608079d6

To see the Curriculum Presentation, please use this link:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1l_n3sKS5JbBnEGyHQwQFxQbimiarA5KCvDKO9Ds0t8E/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=5000


* It has been a pleasure for Mrs. Lopez and myself to get to know your children. We have a great class and are looking forward to a wonderful year.  Due to medical reasons, my year long maternity leave will begin today, Fri. 9/4 instead of my originally planned date of Fri. 9/18.  I will keep Mrs. Lopez and the class posted on the arrival of the baby. Thank you all of your continued support as I leave and welcome Mrs. Lopez into a long term maternity leave position. She is a tremendous teacher and your children are so lucky to have her this year.  Mrs. Lopez and I will continue to be in communication through out the year and she has a great team of 3rd grade teachers to help support her this year. It's going to be a Prairieview Perfect year!

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Mon. 9/7: No School: Labor Day. Happy Birthday Jokubas!

*Tues. 9/8: Chromebooks sent home with optional insurance paperwork

*Wed. 9/9: MAPs Reading Test

*Thurs. 9/10: MAPs Math Test
Social Studies: Directions Graded Quiz

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We have been busy learning about close reading and reading strategies that we will use through out the year. We will begin our first ELA unit; Tales as Old As Time, learning about genres and folktales next week.

*English: We will begin our interactive notebooks as we learn how to write accurate, complete sentences.

*Spelling/Words Their Way: We will begin our first word sort on 9/14. Stay tuned for more information:)

* Social Studies: We are working on learning our directions and using a compass rose. A study guide was sent home today. There will be a graded quiz on Thurs. 9/10. We will begin a unit on continents and oceans next.

* Science: We will begin our first unit in a few weeks.

*Math: We are learning about addition facts in math. The students are doing a great job!

Have a great long, relaxing holiday weekend!

Mrs. Olsen and Mrs. Lopez