Week of 9/9

Odds and Ends

Thank you for attending this year's curriculum night. It was so great to see so many of you. If you were unable to attend, please email me and I can send you a copy of our presentation. Please feel free to reach out to me at any time with any questions, comments, or concerns!  Thanks!

*SEE SAW: An email was sent about our classroom See Saw account. I would encourage each family to join this great, safe website to see pictures of your child at school and pictures of their work. It's a great conversation starter to the question...what did YOU do at school today? My own boys have See Saw accounts at their schools and we love looking at what they do at school and they love to tell stories about the photos. Please email me with any questions on how to join this private group. Thanks! 



* Please be sure to check and sign your child's assignment notebook each night. Help them create  a responsible and independent routine at home of unpacking their binder every night and emptying the "Keep at Home" section and checking the homework folder and the assignment notebook. Thanks!

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Mon. 9/9: Magazine Kick Off Assembly 

*Tues. 9/10: MAPs Math test 
Picture Day 
Social Studies: Directions Quiz

* Wed. 9/11: MAPs Reading Test

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*ELA: We will continue to focus on a variety of reading strategies using various types of literature. We are also starting Daily 5 centers, so we are working on the expectations of each center. 

Your child was given a Sept. reading calendar. Please keep this in a safe spot. It is due 10/1. They need to read 20 min a day for 20 days to receive full credit.  Thanks!

*Spelling: We will begin spelling soon! 

*Social Studies: We are working on learning directions and the compass rose and how to use maps. A study guide was sent home this week.  Our first graded review will be on Tues. 9/10. 

* Mrs. Olsen's math class: We will begin the unit with number sense and addition and subtraction facts. We will be taking time tests on both skills - more info coming soon! Please send your child in with a small cloth (can be an old rag or washcloth or piece of fabric like felt) or an old, clean sock to be used as a dry erase board eraser. Thanks!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Olsen 

Week of 9/3-9/6

Happy Friday everyone!  We have had a terrific first week of

3rd grade. We have really gotten to know each other and I look forward to
a wonderful year with my new students!!   Families, please make sure you
check my blog weekly; I will put out an email with the link every Friday.
Today your child brought home a Star Student poster. Please complete them
and them back to school by Fri. 9/27 or earlier. Thanks!  
Curriculum Night for parents only is Wednesday, 9/4, at 6:30.   See you then

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Mon: No School: Happy Labor Day
9/10: Picture Day

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: SPELLING: We are continuing the spelling series Words Your Way.  Fortunately, the
students have worked with this program in 2nd grade.  I will be taking an inventory
on Tuesday and the students will be working with patterns they struggle with
during Word Work in Daily 5.  I should have their word sorts to them by the end
of next week. We’ll officially start the “menu activities” the following week.

Reading and ELA: We’ll be starting our year focusing on various reading skills
using fun literature.  This week our books will be Rainbow Fish and If you Give a
Mouse a Cookie. The skills studied will be character traits, theme, and cause and
effect.

Today the students will be bringing home their September reading log. I 
expect my students to read for 20 days, 20 minutes.  I know many read more
than that, but this log will be part of their grade.  

Social Science: We will be using a new series this year, Amplify Science;
more to come on that!

In Social Studies, we’ll be learning about directions this week and making our
very own compass rose.  There will be a short quiz on directions on 9/10.
A study guide will go home on 9/5.

Mrs. Olsen's Math Class:   I can’t wait to meet my math class!  Math will start
on Tuesday. Students will be getting a pretest this week to see what they know!

Have a great weekend together!

Mrs. Olsen

Week of 6/3

Dear Families of 3rd graders, 

I can't even believe the end of the year is here! I can remember meeting all of you at the open house back in August and it's amazing how quickly the year goes by! Your child has grown by leaps and bounds and I am so honored to be able to to be part of their 3rd grade year. I hope you all have a summer full of fun, playing, learning, and family and friend time. Please stop by and visit me in the future! I love to see former students and catch up on all they are doing! Thank you for a great year together! 

Thank you~ Thank you to the parents who were able to attend our zoo field trip! It was a great day and the weather cooperated, so we didn't have to worry about the rain. The students loved seeing the gorillas and the other animals. 

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

Mon. 6/3: Favorite Vacation/Summer shirt

Tues. 6/4: Field day! Wear sunglasses and hat day! 

Wed. 6/5: FINAL DAY of 3rd grade. Bring a fancy pen to sign autographs. 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!!

What We've Been Learning!

*ELA: We did a final argumentative paper on the pros or cons of zoos. We did research on our opinion and then put the facts into a paper. We will share these papers as we finish them today and Monday. 

*Social Studies: We have been learning so much about Ancient Egypt. Look from some cool projects coming home! 


*Mrs. Olsen's Math Class: We spent the last few days exploring greater number multiplication. We will work on some more multiplication and division. Our last day of math is Monday. 

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Olsen 

Week of 5/20

Odds and Ends: 

Thank you to all of the Brookfield Zoo volunteers. If you haven't turned in your permission slip yet, please send it in so your children can join us on this fun field trip. 

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

* Thurs. 5/23: Math: 12's division test

* Fri. 5/24: Brookfield Zoo Field Trip: dress for walking and for the weather. Pack a disposable sack lunch!

A LOOK AHEAD: 

*Reading: We are working on making inferences, specifically character inferences.

*Spelling: We will be starting our last spelling word sort for the year! Our last spelling homework and test will be due Fri. 5/31. 

* Social Studies: We will begin a short unit on Ancient Egypt. We will be learning about a fascinating part of our world's history as we review main idea and details, sequencing, recalling facts, and making inferences. 

* Mrs. Olsen's Math Class: We will finish up our "fast facts" as we work on 12's division this week. We will take the test on Thurs. 5/23. We will work on greater number multiplication and division and fractions. 

Enjoy the warm weather this weekend!
Mrs. Olsen 

week of 5/13

Odds and Ends:

We are approaching the end of the year! How can it be?!?!  The students have been busy working on MAPs testing. We will take the MAPs Math test on Monday. We will also take our end of the year benchmark tests in reading and math next week.

*Brookfield Zoo Field Trip: Thank you for sending back in permission slips for our upcoming Brookfield Zoo trip on Fri. 5/24. Please send them in by Fri. 5/17 if you already haven't done so. I will be selecting chaperones soon and emailing anyone who showed interested if they were chosen or not.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Fri. 5/17: Early Dismissal
Spelling: test and activities due
Math: 9's division test

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: We will focus on character and story inferences this week. We will learn more about what an inference is and apply it to the characters in  The One and Only Ivan.

*Spelling: We will continue to work with the same words this week. 3 activities and the test will be on Fri. 5/17.

*Social Studies: We will wrap up our unit on Chicago with group presentations put on the by the students who will be resident teachers on their area.  We will then begin a unit on Ancient Egypt.

*Mrs.Olsen's Math Class: We will begin Unit 7 next week. This will focus on greater number multiplication and division. We will also focus on 9's division this week with a test on Fri. 5/17.

Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day!

Mrs. Olsen

Week of 5/6

Odds and Ends: 

MAY! What a year! We are nearing the end of 3rd grade which is so hard to believe!

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

*Fri. 5/10: Math Unit 6 test and 8's division test

Social Studies: Chicago Quiz #3

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK: 

*Reading: We will continue to focus on point of view and context clues. We are finishing up The One and Only Ivan. We will also work on a persuasive writing paper. We are starting our Friendly Letter writing unit as well. 

*Spelling: A new word list will be sent home Monday. 3 activities and test will be due on Fri. 5/17. 

*Social Studies: Students are working in cooperative groups to "become the teachers" as they prepare presentations on the last sections of the Chicago book. A study guide was sent home today for our final Chicago Quiz on Fri. 5/10. If your child completes the study guide, they can use it for the quiz on Fri. 

* Mrs. Olsen's Math Class: We are spending time focusing on area and perimeter. It is so important to remember to add labels to our answers! We are working on finding the area to irregular shapes and how we can break the shape apart to smaller shapes, find their areas, and then add them back together to final the total area. We are focusing on using the formula length  x width = area. We will focus on 8's division this week with a test on Fri. The Unit 6 test is also on Friday. 

Have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine ! (Finally!!)

Mrs. Olsen