Back to routines!

Yeah for having a full week of school. This allowed us to get things starting to feel a little more normal of a typical day in 3rd grade. It also meant a lot of work to complete and learn! :)

Math-In math this week, we continued to talk about the perimeter (the distance around an object, think about something like a fence). We also have talked about the area of a polygon. This is how many square units are inside the polygon. Then of course with measuring a polygon, we needed to discuss and learn about what makes up a polygon. A polygon is a closed figure (no open spaces), which has all straight sides, and where the sides do not cross.  

On Monday, the students even had a chance to have a little fun with perimeter and area work with the help of Cheez-it crackers! 

On Wednesday we learned about polygons, and completed a polygon sort. 

Reading- In reading this week we read Aero and Officer Mike by Joan Plummer Russell. 

In this story we learned about the partnership between Corporal Mike Matsik and his K-9 partner, Aero. They have been partners for four years. This story gave us a chance to observe them on duty working as one. Aero can anticipate Mike's every move and watches or waits for Mike's commands. Aero's incredible senses of smell and hearing, his speed and strength, his pure canine instincts extend and expand Mike's abilities as a police officer. But when Aero is off duty, he can be as gentle and friendly as a family pet. We discussed the author's purpose of this story was to inform us of what it is like in the life of a K-9 police officer. 

On Wednesday, we had the chance to compare and contrast a police dog with a therapy dog. We had a visit from Jack, a 7 month old chocolate lab therapy dog, and his owner, Nicki White. Nicki explained the difference of a service dog and a therapy dog. The service dog assists one person to help them or their job, while a therapy dog assists multiple people just by making them happy and calm. The kids all loved having the chance to meet Jack. I took a quick picture when they were in Mrs. Clark's room. Sorry, I was too busy listening to her stories while she was in our room! :)

 *This will also the first week students will start to take their reading quiz completely independently. We shall see how this goes, but I want to get them use to it before Iowa Assessments. In February we will also add the skill of transferring our answers to an answer sheet for added Iowa Assessment practice. 

Writing- We brainstormed a list of things that could happen to a snowflake for our writing "If I were a snowflake, I would...." For a little added inspiration we watched a short video featuring Olaf from the Disney movie Frozen. 

We also finally had a chance to work on cursive. Hopefully, we will be finishing up our letters soon and will fill out our "cursive application" to get their "cursive license" and be free to use all the cursive they want in class. 

On top of that, we completed some winter activities to review some of the language arts work we have already completed this year.

Social Studies-  This week we continued using our Map Champ Atlas in Social Studies.

Lessons completed this week were: 

Monday:

 How do communities make the goods we use? After the lesson we talked about what a consumer is, how we are all consumers, and created a small lab book of different goods or services a consumer might buy or use. 

 

Tuesday:  What view does a map show? This included a discussion about viewing a building from the ground, from a birds-eye view, and from directly above. 

Wednesday: How are colors used as map symbols? For example, why is Flordia orange on the map, while Mississipi is pink?  How are colors used as map symbols?How are colors used as map symbols?”

Thursday:  How do maps show natural features? We discussed how a dessert, wetland, lake, river, ocean, and various other things might be represented on a map. 

Friday: How do maps show cultural features? This would include how a map show interstates and highways. 

We even had a chance to check out some fun social studies videos! 

Countries- "Tour the World"

 

States- "Tour of the States"

States- "The Nifty Fifty"

Upcoming dates:

Monday, January 20th- No School (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), Professional Development

Wednesday, January 29th- Happy Birthday Caden and Timmy!  

Wednesday, February 5th- 1:15 Dismissal

Thursday, February 13th- Valentine's Party

Friday, February 14th- No School

Saturday, February 15th- Happy Birthday Eden! 

Saturday, February 22nd- Happy Birthday Morgan! 

Tuesday, March 4th- I will be gone to Grant Wood AEA all day for a PBIS meeting

Tuesday, March 11th- 1:15 Dismissal, Conferences 1:30-5:30

Thursday, March 13th- Conferences 3:45-7:30

Friday, March 14th-Friday, March 21st- No School- Spring Break

Monday, March 24th- Happy birthday Allie! 

Calendar Changes: 
Monday, April 21st- Snow day make-up day, Students will need to be in attendance
Friday, May 30th- Full day of school, no early out
Monday, June 2nd- Last day of school, 1:15 Dismissal

Have a great weekend! 

 Mrs. Jodie Yuska

A short week

The snow days at the beginning of the week kind of threw off my curriculum calendar. We moved homework, spelling, and our reading plans to next week. This allowed us a chance for a slow step back into school after such a long break. I think that was alright with the kids, as some seemed very tired by the end of the day. I know I am tired by the end of the day! :)

Math- This week we worked on our multiplication wheels during RTI time. Next week as well as the rest of the month of January, we will be working with multiplication strategies and facts during RTI in our classroom. When your child is finished with their multiplication monsters, you will see them come home. Many students are bringing them home today. These are an excellent tool for your child to practice their multiplication facts or quiz themselves at home. We will be completing a lot of assessments over having their multiplication facts from memory.

During math class we have been working with perimeter. The perimeter of a polygon is the distance around all the sides. Basically, you need to look at the measurement and add all the sides together. Next week we will be learning more about polygons and finding their areas or their square units.

Reading- During guided reading we have started our DIBELS testing. I will send home letters about your child's progress as soon as the assessments are completed. During whole group reading we read Squirrel's New Year's Resolution and created our own New Year Resolutions and goal mobiles (these will come home on Monday).

Today we read the book Snowflake Bentley and created some very fancy snowflakes we will use for writing next week. 

Writing- We created a snowman gylph by answering questions about ourselves and turned them into a short story. Look for more information and pictures about these next week.

Social Studies-  This week we started using our Map Champ Atlas in Social Studies.

We have completed lessons introducing the atlas and how to use it, what kinds of communities there are, and what kind of places can be found in communities. Today we read the book Me on the Map, and completed a packet of what country, state, city or town, street and house where we can be found in our room (our own place on a map). 

Upcoming dates:

Monday, January 20th- No School (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), Professional Development

Wednesday, January 29th- Happy Birthday Caden and Timmy!  

Have a great weekend! Hopefully our schedule will be back to normal next week.
Mrs. Jodie Yuska

Welcome Back! / Gender Reveal

I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing winter break. It went really fast, but I am very happy to be back and get my children back on their routines. :) 

Today was a rather relaxing, and fun day where some work was still intermixed. We watched Despicable Me 2 with Mrs. Clark's class as part of our pajama/ winter party celebration. We also were very excited to find out the gender of the baby Mrs. Yuska is carrying around! :) 

Drum roll please........ 

It's a BOY! :) 
My family is very excited, especially his big sisters! We have the name Nolan picked out but are still working on a middle name. :)

Math- Today we jumped back into multiplication with a review and started to piece together multiplication monsters to help us practice our facts. Even though we will start to discuss perimeter and area for the next two weeks, we will continue to work on and be assessed over our multiplication facts. I sent home an additional "song and trick" sheet for multiplication today. 

Reading- We finished up our guided reading books and enjoyed looking at a new book they picked out from me.

Writing- We completed the final draft of our opinion writing of what it would be better to live in, a snow globe or a gingerbread house. I will look over these this weekend and send them home for you to enjoy! :) 

Planners did not go home today (Friday, December 3rd) as we ran out of time to fill them out. We kept them at school and will fill them out on Monday.

Upcoming dates:
Friday, January 10th- Happy Birthday Jada!  

Monday, January 20th- No School (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), Professional Development

Wednesday, January 29th- Happy Birthday Caden and Timmy!  

Please stay warm this weekend and on your way to school/ work next week! Brr!
Mrs. Jodie Yuska

2 in 1- HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Although winter is probably my least favorite season, I still love this time of year. There is just something about the feeling and all the eye appealing, colorful visuals that makes me feel all warm and giddy inside. Ask me again at the end of January and I may have a different opinion. 

Math- The students have been completing a lot of calculations and skill building in math. I am going to give you kind of a daily run down and some examples of what we have been doing. 

Monday 12/9- I reviewed and discussed different strategies students can use to solve a multiplication problem. 

Tuesday 12/10- We solved problems by placing things in equal groups. We also related multiplication to addition problems. This gave us the opportunity to discuss, in order for a problem to be a multiplication problem it has to be made of a certain number (first factor) of equal groups (second factor) for example I have 3 packages of 4 batteries in each package. How many batteries do I have in all? 3x4= 4+4+4=12

Wednesday 12/11- We discussed how to solve a problem when you multiply by 0 and 1. Anything times zero= zero. Anything times 1=the other number you are multiplying by. It is like making a photocopy, you get the same thing. 34x1=34. 

Thursday 12/12- We used skip counting by 2's and 5's to show how to multiply by those numbers. This lent us into the discussion anything multiplied by 2 equals an even number. Also, when you multiply a 5 by an even number it will end in zero, anytime you multiply a 5 by an odd number it will end in a 5. We discussed how to solve a problem when you multiply by 3. We used the strategy of making arrays to practice these facts. 

Friday 12/13- Since I needed to leave for my ultrasound, and I did not want to confuse the class. They took a little break and had a chance to watch the Multiplication School House Rock.  

Monday 12/16-Students used number lines to multiply by 4's.

Tuesday 12/17- We used a multiplication table to solve various multiplication problems.

Wednesday 12/18- We used a number line, then created some riddles to learn about multiplying by 6's and 7's.

Thursday 12/19- We will use a bunch of different tricks to teach how to multiply by 8's and 9's. 

Friday 12/20- We will take a multiplication assessment.

Reading- Last week our story was Yonder Mountain: A Cherokee Legend by Kay Thorpe Bannon. 

Yonder Mountain is the truly impressive picture book retelling of a Native American folktale. A wise old Cherokee chief must choose a successor to lead him; so he sends three young men out on a journey to a mountaintop. One returns with precious stones that represent wealth; one returns with healing herbs to guard against disease. But the third, who climbs all the way to the top of the mountain, returns with something even more crucial to being a leader. 

This week we have been completing a series of activities about snowmen. 

Monday- Students read The Biggest, Best Snowman. Afterwards they completed a graphic organizer retelling the story.

Tuesday- We watched a video of the story The Snowman. This is a wordless book. In the video, the book is set to music. We had a long discussion about how a story can still be told through illustrations and music. It was exciting to hear everything the students picked up on and the comprehension of the story.

Wednesday-We read The Greatest Snowman in the World. After reading this silly story we made some connections to science and how the life cycle of a snowman can also show the states of matter in a solid, liquid, and a gas.

Thursday- We are going to read Sneezy the Snowman. Afterwards, we will journal about what happened to Sneezy. 

Friday 12/13- We are going to read Merry Un-Christmas. We will discuss what it would be like if Christmas was celebrated 364 days a year. What if there was only 1 day to eat leftovers, 1 day of no presents, 1 day to go to school, 1 day when mail was delivered, 1 day trash was collected.

 

Writing- Last week we read the book Snowmen at Night. We created our own paper tear snowman and wrote a descriptive sentence about what we thought they would do at night. 

This week we have been working on an opinion paragraph about whether we would want to live in a snow globe or in a gingerbread house. 

Monday- Students made their choice, wrote a topic sentence, and wrote facts about why they made that choice. 

Tuesday- We added more detail and wrote sentences about our facts. 

Wednesday- We revised our writing to make it create an picture in your mind while reading. 

Thursday- We will create the rough draft. 

Friday- We will create the final draft.
 

Science- Since our science unit is completed, we have been filling the time catching up on National Geographic stories and vocabulary. This has also been an excellent time to catch up on work and work on presents for someone special.


NEWS UPDATE:
The students had an exciting week with all kinds of news updates! 
 Last week, the students needed to pick another person in the class and be their "secret elf." We have completed a series of tasks. The kids all love coming in during the morning routine and seeing what their task will be for that day. 

On Tuesday, I showed pictures of my baby from the ultrasound. We discussed how they use sound waves (like echolocation) to create a picture of the baby. We also had a discussion about umbilical cords and how they turn into our belly buttons. :) There were a lot of questions about how the baby eats. It was hard to get good ultrasound pictures as the baby wouldn't stop "dancing" around. The class was quite upset with me when I wouldn't tell them if it was a boy or a girl yet. They eased up when the found out my husband, my children, nor the rest of my family will know until Christmas. The class will find out the Monday after winter break.

On Wednesday, I shared the exciting news of Mason's grandparents making a monetary donation to our classroom. I am planning on using the money to create a new science unit called "Kitchen Science." The class was VERY EXCITED about my ideas for this unit. We will complete this unit after we complete our social studies unit at the beginning of the new year.

 Happy Holidays from my family to yours! 

Upcoming dates:
Friday, December 20th- PAJAMA DAY! - winter party 2:40-3:00

Monday, December 23rd- Thursday, January 2nd- Winter Break, NO SCHOOL
Friday, January 3rd- No School unless we have a snow day.

Have a safe and relaxing winter break!
Mrs. Jodie Yuska

I AM SO EXCITED!

I am so excited, I get to be back in front of our classroom next week. I will gradually start taking over subjects and lessons. I can't wait! I have enjoyed sitting in the back of the room and watching all the wonderful ideas your children have come up with. However, I am ready to be back to being hands on and a lot more interactive with everyone! :)

On a more serious note, our friend Mason was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes last week. On Monday we explained to the class what Diabetes is and how it effects his body. Mason also showed the class how he tests his blood sugar and answered any questions they had. He did a wonderful job and I was very impressed with how comfortable he is with his new self. Way to go Mason!

With this diagnosis, I am asking a big favor. If possible, I would like to do away with birthday treats. I know this is something which is very important to my own children and they would have a hard time understanding this concept. I take a lot of time building a community or a "family" in my classroom. This means we all stick together and do what is in the best interest of the entire group. Some students have individual needs, and we address these as they come. However, my intention here is, no student is left behind or feels left out, especially because of something they can not control. I am proposing instead we turn birthdays into a celebration day. I will have students choose if they would like to watch a short movie, have indoor recess, or maybe even a chance to switch desks or complete a fun craft. I will try to discuss this with the birthday boy or girl and come up with a plan that way. If you child is insistent on bringing a treat, that is fine. I do not want to ruin anyone's birthday. I am trying to help students learn a sometimes hard skill of compassion. As of right now, I am planning on keeping the winter party and Valentine's party the same. I will send home another note at a later date if something is to change. Thank you in advance for understanding. 

Math- In math Ms. Wild taught the patterns of multiples on a 100's chart (I have included pictures of a few to demonstrate). On Friday, Ms. Wild introduced to students to arrays. 

Reading- This week our story was Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens. 

When I first picked up the story I was initially certain that this was a kind of Brer Rabbit tale. It had animals in clothing tricking one another out of food of one sort or another. The hero was a hare and the villain a bear. However, a staple of the Brer Rabbit tales is the idea that sometimes luck and laziness go hand in hand. Brer Rabbit is forever tricking the other animals into doing his work for him rather than the other way around. But in "Tops and Bottoms" we have a very familiar message to contend with. Hard work pays off.
 

 In this story, a lazy bear owns most of the land. One day, Hare decides its time to buy some of his own land back. He strikes up a deal with the prematurely hibernating neighbor and the two become business partners. If Hare does all the work, Bear can chose the part of the crop he prefers. Either the tops or the bottoms. It soon becomes clear that Bear is no match for the sly hare. After all, when Bear chooses the tops, Hare plants carrots. When Bear understands his mistake he chooses bottoms and Hare plants lettuce and celery. And when Bear demands both the tops AND the bottoms, Hare plants corn and gets the middle. In the end, Bear learns the benefits of hard work (and staying on top of things) and Hare has enough money from the crops to own his own land again.

Writing- At the beginning of the students enjoyed reading The Library Gingerbread Man. Afterwards, the students planned out a gingerbread story and made their story come to life. They enjoyed sharing their stories on Tuesday.  Later in the week, students planned their writing with a graphic organizer and wrote a paragraph about their favorite holiday. 

Science- This week students were introduced to using mirrors to look at symmetry and mirror reflections. I think the class enjoyed the lesson called "seeing around corners," where they experimented with homemade periscopes the best.

Upcoming dates:

Monday, December 9th- I will add areas of teaching each day. 
Wednesday, December 11th- 1:15 Early Dismissal
Friday, December 13th- I will be leaving early for my 20 week ultrasound (Hopefully, we can find out if we are having a boy or a girl. I will share with the kids after winter break, as I am making my family wait to find out till Christmas.)
Saturday, December 15th- Happy Birthday Ian! :) 

Friday, December 20th- Ms. Wild's last day, winter party

Monday, December 23rd- Thursday, January 2nd- Winter Break, NO SCHOOL
Friday, January 3rd- No School unless we have a snow day.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Jodie Yuska and Ms. Wild