In the afternoon, 221 artists mixed paints to find their own, unique skin color. They painted the shade onto a plain piece of paper which they will use to cut out their face and create their self portrait in collage. They are amazingly realistic! We will notice and celebrate the difference of each one.
This morning, Room 221 listened to "The Colors of Us" by, Karen Katz. It's a story of a young girl's walk through her neighborhood as she notices the beautiful and unique shades of each person's skin. She returns home to mix white, black, red and yellow paint to recreate each skin tone and paint portraits of her friends. The young girl connects the shades of skin to many familiar foods. "My mom's the color of french toast... Sonia is a light yellow brown, just like creamy peanut butter..."
In the afternoon, 221 artists mixed paints to find their own, unique skin color. They painted the shade onto a plain piece of paper which they will use to cut out their face and create their self portrait in collage. They are amazingly realistic! We will notice and celebrate the difference of each one.
0 Comments
Third grade students help each other, help their teacher, learn responsibility and build a sense of ownership when they have a classroom job. In Room 221, we will have two types of jobs. Students will hold one job at a time.
Monthly jobs - These jobs will rotate monthly. However, students need to complete an application to receive these jobs. Hopefully you found a classroom job application in your child's folder this afternoon. These are not mandatory, they are a choice. If your child chooses to apply for a monthly job, the application is due Friday. Weekly jobs - These jobs will rotate weekly. Students do not need to apply for these jobs, but will choose these jobs at the end of each week. If your child does not receive a monthly job, they will definitely get a weekly job. Please ask your third grader if they are interested in applying for a job. Don't worry if they shy away, they will have a new opportunity each month! Yesterday, Room 221 mathematicians brought home a letter that included directions to enroll/reenroll with their Xtra Math account. Please be sure to follow the directions on this letter so that the math facts students are practicing at home match the math facts they are practicing at school. Third graders were excited to use Xtra Math yesterday. Many of them wanted to get started at home right away! I will send home a formal homework assignment for Xtra Math use at home next week.
If you have any difficulty with this enrollment, please don't hesitate to call or email me. I'm happy to provide any necessary assistance. Lots of things have come home in the last week or so. If you're like me, it can get tricky keeping track of all the paper work. So I thought I would give an overview here. If you missed something, no worries. Get it back to me when you can. If you lost something, send an email and I will send home a new copy.
1. Picture Day - Picture Day at Eliot is Tuesday, September 20. An order form went home on Monday. You can send your order to school or you may order online. 2. Assignment Notebook - Each child will receive an assignment notebook to keep track of homework throughout the year. The notebook costs $1.65. Checks can be made payable to John Eliot School. 3. Recorder - Third graders learn to play the recorder in music class. Mr. Vallatini sent home a notice about recorders last week. Your child can choose to bring a recorder from home, but they do need a copy of the instruction booklet. 4. Scholastic Book Club - Scholastic Book Club is a great way to purchase books inexpensively. You can send a paper back to school (checks made out to Scholastic) or you may order online. Our class activation code is DRVHV. 5. Reflection Notebooks - If your child has not yet returned their reflection notebook to school, please be sure they bring them back tomorrow. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you! Did you see a spiral notebook in your child's backpack this afternoon? It's their third grade reflection notebook. Every Friday students will brainstorm a list of the activities and lessons we learned throughout the week. Students will use these ideas to write a letter home each week about one or two of their favorite lessons. In third grade, this takes a LOT of practice! We work on our letter writing skills for the entire school year. Please read and respond to these letters. Students look forward to hearing from you and it is a great way to model writing a friendly letter, which is a component of the 3rd grade curriculum. The journal also provides an opportunity for you to see your child’s writing progress throughout the year.
We wrote our first letters today! Our goal was to write about one focused topic with several details. We also worked to include capital letters at the beginning of sentences and punctuation at the end. We encourage students to take risks as spellers, writing fluently and making their best guess with words they don’t know. Please don’t panic if your third grader has misspelled words. We will be learning strategies to develop our spelling skills throughout third grader. Enjoy the letters! This week we read "Big Al", by Andrew Clements. It is the story of a big, ugly fish who dreamed of having friends. His hopes and dreams led us to think about our own hopes and dreams for third grade. Children brainstormed what they might like to accomplish this school year. Next, each child completed a reflection sheet to help them narrow their decisions down. Finally, today they chose one aspiration to share. They decided based on what's important to them at school, what they want to get better at, or what they want to learn about.
Have a conversation with your child. Talk about your hopes and dreams. You'll be able to see your child's final decision hanging in the classroom when you come for Curriculum Night, Wednesday, September 28. Please be sure your child checks his/her folder each evening and delivers any important papers to you. I often send home important notes and homework. I expect each third grader to return their emptied folder the following day. It should only have new notes or completed homework in it.
Thanks for your help as your children learn to handle new responsibilities. Third grade mathematicians learned how to solve a new, fun puzzle today! KenKen puzzles are almost like Sudoku, but there's even more thinking involved...Can you KenKen? Room 221 third graders can! :o)
Learn how to KenKen by clicking here. Already an expert? Go right to kenken.com, where they frequently publish more puzzles for you and your third grader to try! |
AuthorMrs. Sullivan wants you to feel informed! Check out this blog to learn about what's happening in Room 221. Feel free to leave a comment. Let us know what you think or ask a question. Archives
June 2018
Categories |