Wilson School

Room 2 will be attending several field trips this year to solidify the curriculum instruction occuring in class. Our first trip will be to Spring Lake Discovery Center in Santa Rosa on Wednesday, September 29th. I have had the pleasure of this field trip for many years as a third grade teacher and it is a well-developed set of three lessons on animal adaptations, our first unit of study in science. The lessons include a hike, an investigation and a puppet demonstration. Mark your calendars! » read more...

Room 4 Newsletter Mrs. Janice Garrigan, 3rd grade, Room 4 (707) 776-7325 Jbgarrigan@comcast.net Week of September 7-10, 2010 This is a short week with PE on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday is not a typical PE day but when Monday is a holiday Mrs. Campbell occasionally adds a Wednesday, when she can. The newsletter will go out on the first day of the week rather than Thursdays when there is already so much paperwork in your child’s planner. CURRICULUM - General We have begun work in the standard state curriculum as well as some small extension activities. All of your children have a range for their accelerated reader books. It is written on the front cover of their planners so that you may help them get new books as needed from the library. The accelerated reading program is outlined below. Your third grader will certainly need help maneuvering through it this year. MATH We have finished chapter one and a test was taken last week. These math tests can be super challenging and I will have a parent volunteer go over the missed ones with your child, as well as doing so in class, whole group. If you can, it would be even better to do so one more time at home. This will solidify the concept in their heads and you will eventually see improvements in their test grades. Do not panic at first….it always starts off this way, with relatively poor math scores. They get better as your child learns the “jargon” of the assessments and how to tackle them. A chapter two test AND a unit test will be administered today. I throw out grades lower than a C on a chapter test if they master those concepts on the unit test. LANGUAGE ARTS We studied our second story in the state adopted language arts series last week, titled The Ballad of Mulan. When we work in this curriculum, it is a whole class lesson where we study vocabulary, then the story is read aloud to them while they follow along in their books and we fill out a graphic organizer as a class that helps focus their thinking on a particular strategy, such as inferencing, for this story. Then they partner read the story and answer the comprehension questions together, practicing answering with complete sentences and following the directions at the top. Finally, your child does the SAME task independently, with much, much easier text. This whole-class lesson is supplemented with literature groups wherein your child is with like-leveled readers in a chapter book. There is very little writing involved with literature circles, we mostly sit in a circle and discuss the story. The children love this process. Groups are small and we talk about questioning, connecting, and make judgements, all higher-order thinking skills that do not come naturally to eight year olds. The ultimate goal here? For these children to “discuss literature” like grown-ups in book groups do. It’s probably the most powerful part of my teaching day for children, and takes place after recess daily from 10:20 to 11:20 except Fridays when we do math centers instead. All children have a “reading ticket” to finish while their group is not convening. They are to do work that supports the curriculum for the week (letter writing, homophones, sentences, writing, science, social studies) and are designed to be done independently, as review. This week’s spelling words are review. Study them at home any way you’d like. They are the homework in language arts Monday and Tuesday….Wed and Thursday you may help your child at home. Many of these students will have them mastered by the time Tuesday’s homework is done (they are not difficult, in general) Finally, your child will be writing every single day in Room 4. Last week we worked on a “descriptive” piece that we will finish this week as well as a personal narrative that will also get more attention this week. We are focusing on “ideas’ of the six traits and choosing one good topic. The majority of the writing we do at school ends up on our walls or in my folder for the writing grade, or in their journals so you may not see a lot coming home regularly. MATH This is a short week so we are not embarking on the second unit of study until Monday of next week. We will learn rounding to the nearest 10,000 Tuesday and then review for chapter two test and the unit test as well. Homework, then, will also be review. Fridays are math center days where children play games and enjoy the challenges of strategy, thinking-ahead, planning and problem solving with their friends. All math games each week reinforce what is being taught in class and the students have choices of what they wish to play. At this time I give further instruction to those who need it. SCIENCE Third graders are learning about “biomes’ in science, which are environments where living things have adapted to live. Each child has chosen a biome to learn about, research, and display in a poster format through words, pictures, maps and diagrams. Those will be in the making this week and thank you to all who volunteered to come in and help with this project. SOCIAL STUDIES We will be doing social studies with Room 3 3rd graders starting next week. We are beginning the first unit this week in our separate classrooms and then we will convene for the rest of the year together. Ms. Levin will teach social studies to all third graders (including ours) on Tuesdays and I will do so on Wednesdays. PE, LIBRARY, COMPUTERS AND MUSIC P. E. is held on Mondays, Thursdays with Ms. Campbell and Fridays certainly with me. There is PE one other day per week which varies so it is best if your child wears athletic shoes daily to school. It is also safer at recess and for the climbing, chasing, jumping and swinging that children naturally do. Library is held on Thursdays and will begin this week. It is at this time that I will make sure your child has an AR book to read. They may go to the library at any time, however, to get a new book or take an AR test. Computers started this week for one hour on Tuesdays. Music began last week on Friday with Mrs. Ferrara, at 10:50 to 11:20. FINAL NOTES Room 4 has “big buddies” with sixth grade every (almost) Tuesday at the end of the day. The children in both grades enjoy the friendships formed and we do fun games, art, and learning together. We have had the sixth graders teach the thirds how to write his/her name in cursive, how to read, how to play sports, etc. Usually there is a formatted activity for them to do, but sometimes it’s simply reading together or enjoying a game. ACCELERATE READING PROGRAM Your child has a level range as determined by the diagnostic element of the program. I have adjusted some children’s level based on what I know of their ability so far. The “test” is computer based and is more of a vocabulary test than a reading test, so is not always accurate as a level. I only adjust levels UPWARDS, not down. If your child’s level s eems too high as he or she brings home books for reading as homework, then let me know and we will adjust. Your child MUST read their AR book from the library or my classroom as homework. If they are enjoying another book out of their level with you or on their own, that is fine but the 20 minutes of homework each night are required from their reading level so that they may take tests, gain points and ascend through the levels in the format we use here at Wilson School. Each third grader brought home a book on Thursday to read. If it was a shorter picture book, then they may have finished and taken a test on Friday. They should have then returned their book and gotten another one. Your child should always have an AR book in their possession from school. The process is outlined below. You can help your child by knowing where they are in this process at all times, and by making sure they know, too. 1. Your child gets a book in their level at the library (can be done at recess, before school, after school, at centers or art time) 2. Put their name on the board at school for “need a test date” 3. Negotiate an “A/R quiz due” date from the teacher 4. Read the book 5. Put your name on the “need an A/R test” side of the board 6. Take a test THAT SAME DAY at school 7. Return the book and get a new one Begin again with #1 Your job as the parent? Check in with your child that they are moving through this process. Kids get STUCK with a book and are not reading it, nor are they taking tests on it, nor are they gathering points, getting new books and taking tests. When this happens, they are missing an integral part of their education and growth. Thank you for your help » read more...