Welcome to my classroom!

Welcome to 3rd grade!

It was so great to meet you all at Open House! I am looking forward to seeing you all again on Monday!

Mark your calendars: 3rd Grade curriculum night for parents is on Wed. August 29th at 6:30 pm. 

Students: please bring a t-shirt (any shirt: it will not be altered in any way) and hanger to school on Monday. We will be using it for a fun school project!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Olsen 

Happy Summer

Thank you each and every one of you for a fabulous school year! Thank you to a fantastic group of parents as well! Your generosity and kindness made this a year to remember!  I enjoyed this year so much and learned so much from the students. I am proud of everyone's hard work and dedication this school year. Please come back and visit me often! It is hard for me to say good-bye to such an outstanding group of students, but I do so knowing that I will see you in the halls next year when you are 4th graders! Have a great summer, playing, reading, and having fun! Don't forget to post on our Summer Reading Blog!



**Over the summer, it is very important that students continue to read! I have created a blog where students can write responses about the books they are reading. They can also see the books their friends have enjoyed.  The reading responses should be around 5 sentences and should include information about the book they read.  Just click on the link on my blog page to view the reading blog. In order to use the blog students simply click on the down arrow button and find their name. Then they can enter the password I have already given them. 


**School supplies: Your child received a dictionary from the Darien Rotary Club earlier this year. Please hold on to these dictionaries and use them in 4th and even 5th grade! Thanks! 

 Congrats 3rd Graders...Welcome to 4th Grade!

Happy Summer!

Mrs. Olsen 

Last week of 3rd grade 5/29

Odds and Ends:

*Thank you to any parents who are able to purchase and pick up class photos from Walgreens. Please send them to school with your child by Wed of this week so we can use them in our scrapbooks. Thanks!

*4 day countdown 'til 4th grade! We will celebrate our last days of 3rd grade with a 4 day countdown to 4th grade. The following spirit days will take place:

Thurs. 5/31: Crazy hair day

Fri. 6/1: Mis match day

Mon. 6/4: Sunglasses/hat day

Tues. 6/5: Crazy footwear day...wear silly socks, mismatched shoes or slippers!

*Bowling: We will go bowling with our PE classes on Thurs from 9-11am. Please send a sack lunch that day since we return right at lunch time and often eat at the bowling alley and don't want any hot lunches to go to waste. You can send up to $10.00 with your child the day of the trip for the snack bar. 

*Gluesticks needed! We will be working on putting our end of the year scrapbooks together next week. We need gluesticks to put these together. Thank you to those families who already sent some in. If you can bring in any more, it would be much appreciated! THANKS!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Mon. 5/28: No School: Happy Memorial Day!!!!

*Wed. 5/30: Social Studies: Egypt vocab quiz

*Thurs. 5/31: Social Studies: Are you an Ancient Egyptian Expert? test
Math: Logical reasoning quiz 
Bowling: AM

*Fri. 6/1: Math: 8's division test
Reading: Magic show for our 5th grade book buddies

*Mon. 6/4: All school picnic
Bike Show at 12:30

*Tues. 6/5: Last day of 3rd grade! Dismissal at 9:30. 

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: We started book club books and so far the students are really into their books! We will spend time discussing the books together and responding in our reading journals. We will also continue to work on our magic show in preparation for our show to our 5th grade book buddies in Mrs. Klacza's class.

*English:  We will work on some creative and persuasive writing this week.

*Spelling: No more spelling! We will practice some cursive writing and review frequently misspelled words together in class.

*Science: We will be looking at some tools scientists use and discuss and explore the scientific method.

*Social Studies: We will be focusing on the life and discovery of King Tut.

*Math: We are working on logical reasoning. We will have a graded review on Thurs. 5/31. We will also be working on 8's division. The test will be Fri. 6/1.I you have a math textbook at home, please return it next week.Thank you!  Our last day of math will be Fri. 6/1. I have enjoyed teaching math to this wonderful group of students!

Have a beautiful Memorial Day weekend!

Mrs.Olsen

Week of 5/21

Odds and Ends: 

*THANK YOU to everyone who was able to attend our poetry cafe! The students had a great time and were thrilled to perform for everyone! Thank you to everyone who brought in delicious treats and drinks so we could have a real coffee house experience! Thank you for making it such a success!!!

*Scholastic Book Order: The book order is due 5/21. This will be the last book order of the year.

*Photos: I will be making the last photo orders to Walgreen's for the year in the next 2 weeks. Thank you to everyone who has graciously helped by purchasing picture orders for the classroom this year. If you would still like to help out, please email me and I can let you know when an order has been placed. These pictures become treasured memories and allow the students to create keepsake memory books of 3rd grade.

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Mon. 5/21: Public Library presentations about summer reading programs
English: Ch. 6 pronouns test

*Thurs. 5/24: 2nd grade pen pals visit

*Fri. 5/25: Math: 7's division timed test
Science: Ch 14 OPEN BOOK review

*Mon. 5/28: Memorial Day: NO SCHOOL

*Thurs. 5/31: Bowling AM (please send a sack lunch to school that day)

                        * A LOOK AHEAD:

*Reading: We are working on a magic unit. We will also be working on reading good fit books and working on responding to our literature in journals. The students were also introduced to our summer reading blog on Friday. I noticed that many students have already written responses about the books they are reading now! That is awesome! Please use the link on this blog to view the summer reading blog. Also, your child received a note with their Spring MAP scores on them. I showed the students how to access games on the district website that they can play according to their RIT scores. Please ask your child more about this.

*English: We are taking our ch. 6 pronoun test on Mon. 5/21. We will then work on narrative writing/creative writing and persuasive writing.

*Spelling: We have completed spelling for the year! 

*Science: We are wrapping up our ch. 14 unit. There will be an open book review on the chapter on Fri. 5/25.

*Social Studies: We are finishing up Eye on Egypt. We will learn about mummies, Cleopatra, and King Tut this week.

*Math: We will focus on word problems this week and do a short unit on logical reasoning problem solving. We will also work on 7's division with a timed test on Friday.

Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy the sunshine!!!!

week of 5/14

Odds and Ends: 

* Happy Mother's Day to all the moms! We hope you enjoy your gift and card from your child! =)

*Thank you all for making Teacher Appreciation Week a great one! I am so lucky to have an incredible class to teach each day! Thank you for being wonderful students and parents!

* Scholastic Book Order: The final book order of the year was sent home this week. Please place your order by 5/21, so I can have the books in time before school is out for the summer. Thank you for your orders online...each order online earns us free books for our classroom!

* Your child's MAPS scores will be sent home by me this week.  Once you obtain your child's scores, there is a link on our District website. Click here to play games according to your child's score to help them improve. This link would make for a great ideas for summer practice.
 

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

* Mon.5/14: Spelling: List 26 Pretest: Last Spelling list of the year~
Reading:  Poetry Cafe 1-2 pm.
Assembly: Concert and Choir 9 am

*Tues. 5/15: Reading: Good Fit Book Celebration Projects Due

*Thurs. 5/17: Math: 6's division timed test

*Fri. 5/18: Early Dismissal: 11:00 am
 English: Pronoun Test
Spelling: List 26 Test

                A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading:  We have been working hard to prepare for our Poetry Cafe on Monday. We are looking forward to performing to our friends and family on Mon. from 1-2. Hope to see you there! Please remember to have your child wear black on Monday (sunglasses and beret optional!)

*English: We are working on pronouns (ch 6). The test is tentatively scheduled for Fri. 5/18. A study guide will be sent home this week.

*Spelling: We will work on list 26 this week. This will be our last spelling test of the year. We will spend the rest of the school year working on different types of word work, including vocabulary building and practicing frequently misspelled words.

*Science: We are working on ch. 14 lesson 2. The ch. 14 test is tentatively scheduled for Thurs. 5/24. More info coming soon about the test~

*Social Studies: Students were busy this week learning about ancient Egypt. Ask your child about the Nile River they made and about their sarcophagus. We will learn more about mummies and pyramids next week.

*Math: We are working on ch 24: Division with remainders. We will explore more division with remainders next week. We are also working on 6's division timed test this week. Please study your facts at home!

Have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend with your children!
Mrs. Olsen

Week of 5/7

Odds and Ends: 

* Inspired by cardboard: In reading our Time for Kids this week, we learned about a 9 year old boy Caine who made a cardboard arcade. We watched a short video on Friday called Caine's Arcade (click here to watch).  What imagination! What can you create this weekend or summer out of boxes and cardboard? The possibilities are endless!

*Book Worm Angel: Thank you to everyone who donated books. Prairieview was able to collect thousands of books for schools in need! WOW!

*Thank you to Mr. Hoffman, Mrs. Moy, Mrs. Sprandel, and Mrs. Messina for providing our class with a pizza celebration!  We had a great time! What a wonderful group of students and parents I have had this year. Thanks!

Materials Needed: Thank you for those who have already sent in these items! But...we are still in need for more of the following:
*Glue sticks
*toilet paper tubes

Also, please ask your child about their own personal school supplies...we are running low on pencils, erasers, red pens, and dry erase markers. We also have several students who need scissors. Thank you! 

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

* Tues. 5/8: Reading: Good Fit Book Vocab. due

*Fri. 5/11: Spelling: List 25 test
Math: 4's and 11's division timed test

             A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: We are busy writing poems and putting together our own poetry anthology. We have some very talented poets in our class. We are learning about idioms, alliteration, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, cliches, similes, metaphors, personification, and rhyming as we put our poems together.

Good Fit Book Celebrations: How is your reading and project going? Don't forget, the vocab. 4 square is due Tues. 5/8. I will begin quizzing students orally about the meaning of their 4 chosen words and how to use them in a sentence. Also, be sure they know a synonym and antonym for their words. Students partnered up this week to discuss their books. We will work together on some more activities this week to discuss our books, ask questions, and share interesting things we've read. 

*English: We are going to start ch. 6 pronouns this week.

* Spelling: We are on list 25. We are nearing the end of our spelling series! We will have a pretest Monday and the final test Friday.

* Science: We began ch 14: Heat, Sound, and Light. We will focus on heat this week-which is very fitting considering our warm weather lately!

*Social Studies: We began our unit on Ancient Egypt. Students learned to write their name in hieroglyphics. We will study pyramids and the Nile River next.

*Math: We are starting ch. 24: division with greater numbers and division. We will also be taking the timed test on 4's and 11's this Friday. Please study your math facts every night! Thank you!

Enjoy your weekend together! Create some memories (and maybe some cool things out of cardboard, too!)

Mrs. Olsen 

Week of 4/30

Odds and Ends: 

*Book Worm Angel Book Drive: WOW! We did great this week in our charity book drive. We collected over 300 books from 3rd graders. We have one more week of the book drive. Please send in your gently used and new books to help kids in need by Fri. 5/4.

*MAPS Testing: This week, we will be taking our Spring MAPS tests. This week in class we did goal setting and talked about good strategies to use while taking the test. Our class will be taking the reading MAPS test on Tues.5/1and the math MAPS test on Fri. 5/4. Both days we will take our test from 11:45-12:45.

Donations Needed!

We are in need of the following items: 

* Glue sticks

* Empty toliet paper tubes

THANK YOU! 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Tues. 5/1: Reading MAPS Test 11:45 - 12:45
Last Jr. Achievement Class

*Wed. 5/2: Pizza luncheon

*Thurs. 5/3: Reading: Poetry fluency reading

*Fri. 5/4: Spelling: List 24 test
Math: 3's division timed test
Math MAPS testing 11:45-12:45

                A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: We will continue to study poetry. We will apply the poetic devices we have been learning  and reading about as we write our own poetry.  Your child chose a poem that they will read to the class on Thurs. during step one of our Poetry Cafe reading for fluency and expression. They should be practicing this poem at home.They do not need to memorize the poem,but they should be familiar with the poem.

Good Fit Book Celebration: Your child should be reading or completed reading their good fit book. Did they choose 4 vocabulary words from their book and complete the 4 square worksheet? They will be orally quizzed on their 4 words on 5/8.  I will be checking their worksheets next week.  The projects will be due 5/15. I can't wait to see the final products!

*English: We are working on friendly letter writing. We finished our letters to our pen pals in 2nd grade. For our final letter, we will write to a celebrity. This letter will be graded. Our next unit will be pronouns.

*Spelling; We will work on list 24 this week. We will have a test on Friday. Homework will be due on Friday.  Remember, all work for spelling should be done in cursive. Thanks!

*Science: We will begin a new unit on heat, sound, and light (ch. 14). Be sure to look for your child's ch 10 space test, which was handed back this week. The students were "out of this world" during this unit.

*Social Studies: We have finished our study of Chicago. We will be traveling back to time to study an ancient civilization-Ancient Egypt.

*Math: We are working on ch. 23-multiplying greater numbers. We will continue to practice this concept in class. We will have a graded review this week and a ch. 23 test. We will also be working on 3's division facts. The 3's division test will be on Friday.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs.Olsen

week of 4/23

Odds and Ends:

*Our school has organized a wonderful Book Angel Book Drive to collect books for schools in need.  Students have been asked to bring in new or used books and the grade level with the most books collected will win a prize! The drive begins Mon. 4/23 and ends Fri. 5/4.

*Dress Code: As the warmer weather approaches, the students have been reminded of the district dress code. Remember to make sure skirts and shorts are long enough (when your child puts their arms down, the bottom of the skirt or shorts should reach their fingertips) and tank top straps need to be 3 fingers width wide. Thank you for your cooperation!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Tues. 4/24: First Junior Achievement Session
Science: Ch. 10 Test Space

*Wed. 4/25: Early Dismissal: 11 am
Reading: Good Fit Book Project Idea due date (have your idea chosen!)

*Fri. 4/27: Spelling: List 23 test
Math: 5's and 10's division timed test
Reading: Poetry Vocab Quiz

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: We are busy learning about difference poetic devices and immersing ourselves in reading and learning about poetry. We will begin writing some of our own poems next week. There will be a poetry vocab quiz on Fri. The vocab words are in their reading folders.

We are also working on our "Good Fit Book Celebration". If you have not seen the yellow packet explaining this project and your child's timeline, please ask them about it. They should be reading their book each night. This can count as their 30 minutes of nightly reading. Also, they need to pick 4 unknown or unique/interesting words from their book to add to their vocab 4 square worksheet. They will be orally quizzed on their words starting 5/8. The book projects will be due 5/15. I can't wait to see the final projects!

*English: We are working on friendly letter writing. Please have your child bring 2 stamps to school by Mon. 4/23. They will be writing a letter to a famous person of their choice, as well as to their 2nd grade pen pals.

*Spelling: We are on list 23. The test and homework will be on Friday.

*Science; We are wrapping up our unit on Space. The test will be on Tues. 4/24. Please make sure you are studying a little bit each night! Our next unit will be on heat, light, and sound.

*Social Studies: We are almost done with our Chicago unit. We will be talking about famous Chicagoans next. We will then be turning back the hands of time as we study Ancient Egypt!

*Math: We began ch. 23 (multiplying by greater than 1 digit numbers). We will work on this for several days. The test will be in a few days.  Look in your child's assignment notebook for the exact date. We will also be testing on 5 and 10's division facts on Friday. Keep studying those facts each night...the daily practice helps so much!

Have a beautiful weekend together!
Mrs.Olsen

Week of 4/16

ODDS AND ENDS:

*THANK YOU for coming to our Spring open house. The students have been working hard and were so proud to show off their beautiful work. It was great to see so many families fill up our classrooms.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Mon. 4/16: Dental Hygienist presentation to 3rd grade students

*Thurs. 4/19: Social Studies: OPEN BOOK Chicago Quiz III

*Fri. 4/20: Wear GREEN for Earth Day (4/22)
Math: 2's division timed test
Spelling: List 22 Test

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: We will begin our Poetry unit where we will explore reading a variety of poems as well as try our hands at writing some! We will also work in guided reading groups on poetry and work on vocabulary using our good fit silent reading books.

*English: We will save unit 6 on pronouns for later and focus on friendly letter writing this week as we get ready to write our 2nd grade pen pals at Elizabeth Ide.

*Spelling: We are on list 22 this week. We will pretest on Monday and have the test on Friday. As always, homework is due the day of the test.

*Science: We are wrapping up our unit on space. We have tentatively set the test date for Tues. 4/24. A study guide was sent home this week.

*Social Studies: We will finish up our unit on Chicago. We will take an open book quiz on the last third of the book. A study guide will be sent home on Monday, but the students will be able to use their book during the quiz. We are finishing up the last touches on our Chicago brochures as well.

*Math: We are focusing on ch. 11 and ch. 12 : division. We will begin having timed tests this week starting with the 2's. It is similar to how we did multiplication. Every Friday will be a test on division facts. The tests will be worth 10 points. Please continue to study both multiplication and division at home each night. Thank you for your help!

Have a beautiful weekend together!
Mrs.Olsen

Week of 4/9

Odds and Ends:

*Open House: Please mark your calendars for our Spring Open House on Thurs. 4/12 from 6:30-8:00. Come visit your child's classrooms, visit 4th and 5th grade classrooms, shop at the book fair, and stay for ice cream! Our theme is Chicago, so your child (and family members!) can wear their favorite Chicago sports team apparel. Hope to see you there!

Upcoming Events:

* Thurs. 4/12: Open House

*Fri. 4/13: Spelling: List 21 test

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: We will focus on non-fiction reading strategies as we apply this to our Chicago books.

*English: We will begin unit 6 on pronouns.

* Spelling: We will be on list 21. There will be pretest on Monday and the final test on Friday.

*Social Studies: We will continue to work on our Chicago unit. We are learning so much about this great city. We will focus on our cumulative project, which is our Chicago brochures. In our discussions about the World's Fair that took place in Chicago in 1893, we learned that the Heinz company had a booth in a poor location. To attract visitors to their booth, they began handing out small, plastic pickle pins. Their idea worked and many more visitors came to their booth. If you visit this link, http://www.heinz.com/our-company/investor-relations/request-information.aspx, you can request a pickle pin to be sent to your house for free. I tried to get one for each student in 3rd grade, but it is only one per household. I made the students a paper pickle sticker pin instead and we talked about how this can symbolize creative thinking. If they are ever in a situation where things aren't going their way, they can remember the pickle pin and come up with a creative solution!

*Science: We are on ch 10 lesson 3, focusing on our solar system. Ask your child about our "egg-cellent" egg hunt for planet questions we went on today. We had a great time searching for eggs and answers! We will continue to learn about the planets this week. A test will be scheduled in the near future: look in your child's assignment notebook for the exact date. A study guide will be sent home.

*Math: We are finished with ch. 19 decimals. We will spend a day or 2 reviewing probability. Then we will begin ch 11 division. Please continue to review multiplication facts. We are going to spend a great deal of time relating multiplication with division and the better your child knows their multiplication facts, the easier the division facts will be.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Mrs. Olsen