Happy Holidays from the Olsen's!

 From my home to yours, may your days be merry and filled with joy and love this holiday season and always! 

Merry Christmas....

And A Happy New Year!!!!

Declan: 9 months

Liam: 3 1/2 years old

Thank you all for the very generous and thougtful holiday gifts! I was so surprised and love the owl things! 

Thank you again!!!! I am so lucky!

Homework Update:

As we approach our winter break, we thought it would be a great idea to post a note about 3rd grade homework.  Although it varies by class, as a team we usually assign homework in at least one subject every day (less so on Fridays as we are mindful of busy weekends and time with family).  

Please know that additionally, the students are encouraged to read for 20 minutes each night and can always be writing daily in a journal.  These activities are optional for most classes, but will certainly help your student continue to work on their skills.  We will be sending home a list of writing prompts (with a self-editing checklist) to help get your student inspired to write as well as a Common Core aligned reading extension menus for students to use in conjunction with their "good-fit" books at home.  

Please know that homework is personal and what/how much your family can work on varies.  We as a team understand this and while we continue to send home "manageable" workloads for 3rd graders, you always have the option to extend with the aforementioned activity options.  Thanks for supporting your students and the efforts they put into their learning here at Prairieview School.  Have a wonderful winter break and Happy New Year!

The Third Grade Team

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Winter Break: See you next year on Jan 5, 2015!!

*Thurs. 1/8: MAPS Reading Test

AIMSWeb Benchmarking

*Tues. 1/13: MAPS Math Test 

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We will continue our ELA unit #2 as we talk about culture and tradition. We will focus on two stories by Patricia Polacco to illustrate the idea of traditions being passed down through the generations. We will also be working on cause and effect and non fiction text features in our guided reading groups. 

* English: We will continue to focus on verbs. 

* Spelling: We will not have a spelling list. Instead we will focus on prefix, suffix, and base words.  There will be a packet of activities we will work on in class and at home and there will be a final test covering our studies to be announced. 

* Social Studies: We will begin ch. 3 as we study culture, tradition, and immigration. Your child will be doing a culture day presentation, sharing a part of their culture with the class. More information coming home on this, but it might be a good time to begin discussing culture and tradition with family during the holidays! Grandparents are usually a wealth of information!

*Science: We will begin our study of matter (Ch. 11). 

* Math: We will begin ch. 6: continuing to learn about multiplication facts. We will focus on 5's multiplication facts the week we return. Please see your child's math folder for a green multiplication facts packet. In the packet, the dates that your child needs to master a certain math fact set is listed. As soon as they pass one fact, they move onto the next. Thank you for your continued help with facts at home. Please be sure to have your child practice these over the next 2 weeks! They can use xtramath.org or the link listed in my blog for some fun, interactive games to practice facts. 

Have a happy, relaxing, safe, and fun holiday break! See you in 2015!!!!
Mrs. Olsen 

Grade Level PRIDE Awards

Congrats to Eric...Winner of the Improvement Award! 

Sharing our Christmas Around the World Posters: England

Germany

Mexico

Holland

USA

Sweden

Italy

Waiting for the movie to begin

Merry Christmas to all!!

Week of 12/15

Odds and Ends: 

*Food Drive: We will continue to collect food for the food drive next week. Thank you to those who have already donated to this great cause!

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Mon 12/15: Bowling AM

*Tues. 12/16: Early Dismissal at 11:00 am
Math: Chapter 5 Test
Social Studies: Downers Grove and Chapter 12 Test

* Fri. 12/19: Pizza lunch in the classroom with Mr. Pagel
Tivoli Movie: Miracle on 34th Street

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We began our new ELA unit on cultures and traditions. We have been sharing some of our favorite holiday traditions.  When we return from break, we will continue this unit as we link it to our social studies unit on culture and immigration. Please spend some time over break talking abour your cultural background and traditions. This will help your child begin to prepare for our Culture Day Presenations that we will begin working on after  break.

*English: We will continue our study of verbs.

*Spelling: Due to the different schedule next week, we will not have any spelling list.

*Social Studies: We are wrapping up our unit on local government and Downers Grove. The students will be able to use their Downers Grove packets.  A study guide and vocabulary words to know were sent home this week. The test will be Thurs. 12/18. We will begin a unit on immigration and culture when we return from break.

*Science: We are busy working hard on our weather explanatory papers. They are turning out awesome! We will continue to finish these next week. We will begin a unit on Matter when we return from break.

*Math: The students are learning the facts for 0,1,2, 5, and 9's this week. We are done with our subtraction fast facts, unless your child needs to retake it next week. We will focus on multiplication facts next week, beginning with the 2's. Once your child passes 2's, they will work on the 5's.  They will have all of next week to work on the 2's. 5's will begin the week following break.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Olsen

Week of 12/8

Odds and Ends:

*Winter Wear Drive: Please consider sending in new or gently used coats and winter gear (hats, mittens, boots, gloves, scarves) to be given to students in Chicago who need our help staying warm this winter. Drive ends 12/10.

*Food Drive: We are collecting non-perishable food goods to help those in need this holiday season. Thanks for your help!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

* Fri. 12/12: Spelling: Test List 12

*Mon. 12/15: Bowling Field Trip AM

*Tues. 12/16: Early Dismissal

*Fri. 12/19: Pizza lunch with Mr. Pagel (for being a top selling classroom for the coupon books)
Holiday Movie at the Tivoli in the PM

*Fri. 12/19: Winter break begins. See you in 2015!

Pictures from our Downers Grove Field Trip:

At the Blodgett House and Museum

At Pierce Downers Home

 A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

 *Reading: We will begin our next unit in ELA that takes a look at culture and traditions.

* English: We will work on verbs.

*Spelling: This week we will focus on list 12.  There will be no spelling next week due to the different schedule.

*Social Studies: We will continue our study of local government (ch. 12) and modern day Downers Grove. Thank you to Mrs. Edie, Mr. Guisinger, Mrs. Pangallo, Mrs. John, and Mrs. Miranda for chaperoning our field trip to Downers Grove. It was an educational and fun filled day for all!

*Science: We will focus on our explanatory/informative paper on weather this week. We will be using our Google Classroom accounts, so your child will have the opportunity to work on their paper at home on the computer.

We are still collecting change for water.org.

* Math: We will begin ch. 5 this week. We will focus on multiplication facts for 2, 5, 0, 1, 9, and 10. We will test out of this chapter next week before we go on break. We will also finish subtraction facts timed tests this week. If your child does not pass by Friday, they will retake next week. Each retake is a one point deduction (from 10 points). We will begin testing multiplication facts next week and after break, beginning with 0, 1, 2, and 5's.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Olsen

Week 11/24 and 12/1

Odds and Ends: 

* Thanksgiving Break: We will break for the Thanksgiving holiday Wed 11/26-Fri. 11/28. Enjoy these days with family and friends!

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

* Wed.11/26-Fri. 11/28 : No School

*Tues. 12/2: Downers Grove Field Trip

*Wed. 12/3: Math: Ch. 4 test

* Thurs. 12/4: Science: Ch. 9 Test

*Fri. 12/5: Spelling: Test

A LOOK AT UPCOMING WEEKS: 

*Reading: We will continue to read informational text and focus on authors view point and main idea and details.

*English: We are learning about nouns and verbs.

* Spelling: There will be no list next week. We will be on list 11 for the week of 12/1.

*Social Studies: We wrapped up our unit on the history of Downers Grove. We are looking forward to seeing many of the places we talked about in class during our field trip on Tues. We will begin modern day Downers Grove and local government next.

*Science: We are learning about types of clouds and weather. We will be finishing up ch. 9 and taking the final test on Thur. 12/4. A study guide was sent home. We will be researching a type of severe weather (child's choice) and learning how to write an informative paper. We are still collecting change for water.org. Thank you to those who have already donated!

*Math: Students are busy learning about multiplication. We will have the test on Wed. 12/3. Be on the look out for a practice test coming home next week.

Have a great weekend,
Mrs. Olsen

Learning about Google classroom

Today we welcomed Mrs. Foellmer into our classroom as we worked on Chrome books to learn about our exciting new Google classroom accounts. 

Week of 11/17

Odds and Ends:

Thank you to the PV PTO for providing us with the great author visit. We enjoyed meeting Amy Logan and hearing all about A Girl With A Cape as we learned about kindness and how we can "pay it forward".  We will proudly wear our super hero capes and remind ourselves we CAN make a difference!

Amy Logan reads her inspirational book to the class. 

Talking about the idea of paying kindness forward. 

Passing the kindness ball! 

Pay it forward! 

ROCK THE CAPE! 

*Water.org: In response to the idea of paying kindness forward and in conjunction with our study of water in science, we will be collecting change to be donated to water.org to help those in the world in need of clean water. Since my son Liam's first birthday in 2012, my family and students have made a donation in his name to help those in need. I will be collecting loose change until the end of January (when Liam turns 4) and put the money collected towards our annual donation to this great cause. Check out their website and video  here: www.water.org
/

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Tues. 11/18: Social Studies: Downers Grove History Quiz
Math: Ch 3 Test

*Fri. 11/21: End of 1st Trimester

*11/24-12/10: Winter Wear Drive: Send in new or gently used winter coats, hats, scarves, mittens, gloves, boots, etc to be donated to help students in Chicago stay warm!

*Tues. 11/25: Downers Grove field trip and money due

*Wed. 11/26-11/28: No School: Happy Thanksgiving!

*Tues. 12/2: Report Cards sent home
Downers Grove Field Trip

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: We will continue to practice a variety of comprehension strategies as we focus in on our reading voices. We will work on cause and effect and point of view as well.

*English: We will work on point of view with our turkey stories. We will also work on nouns.

*Spelling: We will work on list 10. There will be a pretest on Monday. Homework will be due Thursday and the test will be Friday.

* Social Studies: We will wrap up our history portion of the Downers Grove unit this week. The quiz will be on Tues. 11/18.  A study guide was sent home. Students also made main idea/detail flash cards to help them prepare for the open note quiz.

*Science: We will continue to work on ch. 9 as we learn about severe weather and clouds in lesson 3. We will begin researching a type of severe weather to write an informative paper on.

*Math: We will be wrapping up ch. 3. A study guide and practice test were sent home. Your child can earn a PAW by returning the complete practice test and signed study guide on Tues. 11/18 (the day of the test).  I am so proud of all of the students...100% passed the addition facts fluency test! We are practicing our subtraction fluency facts now.

Have a great weekend...stay warm!
Mrs. Olsen

Week of 11/10

Odds and Ends:

*Thank you! It was great to meet with you all for parent teacher conferences. I really enjoyed the positive conversations had about your child and look forward to a great year together! Please feel free to contact me at any time with any questions or concerns.

*Local Author visiting Friday, 11/14! We are excited to meet Amy Logan, author of the book The Girl With A Cape. We will be talking about the super hero in each of us this week as we prepare for her visit.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Tues. 11/11: Veteran's Day

*Fri. 11/14: A Girl With A Cape: Amy Logan author visit
Spelling: list 9 test

*Mon. 11/17: Turkey's in a Disguise due


A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: We will focus on reading non fiction text and understanding text features. We will finish up our reading and discussions of The One and Only Ivan.

*English: We will focus on nouns. We will work on point of view writing. We will also work on building our academic vocabulary with these week's wise words.

*Spelling: We will work on list 9. There will be a pretest on Monday and the homework will be due Thurs. The final test will be Fri.

*Social Studies: We will continue to learn about Downers Grove history. We will focus on the underground railroad and other important places and people. A study guide will be sent home. The quiz will be scheduled for Tues. 11/18.

*Science: We will continue to study the water cycle and weather. Our test is tentatively set for Tues. 11/25.

*Math: We will continue to focus on addition and subtraction with greater numbers and problem solving. We will continue our addition fact fluency.  If your child passes the fast fact test, they will move onto subtraction. If they do not pass by Wed. 11/12,  each day of retake will result in a one point deduction from their fast fact grade in addition (worth 10 points). Please email me with any questions. Our ch. 3 test is tentatively set for 11/18.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Olsen

Week of 11/4

Happy Halloween!
Enjoy our Character Pumpkin Patch Pictures! 

Students doing a "gallery walk" to view Character Pumpkins

Happy Halloween!!

Mummy Game

Candy Science

Relay Games

Candy Science

My son Liam joined in on the fun! 

Spider web game

Declan joined us too! 

*Thank you to all of the parents who donated supplies, organized the party, and came to the classroom to help run the party! A SPOOK-tacular time was had by all!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

* Mon. 11/3: No School

*Tues. 11/4: No School: Teacher Institute Day

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: We will continue to talk about standing up for what you believe in as we continue reading The One and Only Ivan.

*English: We will begin focusing on nouns. We will also work on

*Spelling: Due to the shortened week, we will not have spelling.

*Social Studies: We will continue to learn about the history of Downers Grove. Ask your child about the classroom debate we had discussing the views of Chief Wabounsee vs. Chief Blackhawk.

*Science: We are busy learning about the water supply around the world. We will begin discussing access to clean water and how lucky we are to have clean water right at our fingertips! We will brainstorm ways we can conserve this precious resource.

*Math: We will continue to work on ch. 3, focusing on subtracting greater numbers. Please continue to great work of working on fact fluency at home!

Thanks for checking in!
Mrs.Olsen