It was one HOT week! :) (week 2)

With the hot weather we have taken a lot of water and bathroom breaks and even a few popsicle breaks (thanks Lori and all the other offers!).  I have pushed a lot of information towards their little brains this week and overall they have responded really well. I can't wait to dive in full speed to 3rd grade materials.

This is some of the things we have been working on this week:

Math- We have been discussing and working on one digit addition and subtraction facts as well as place value using the ones, tens and hundreds. These lessons will continue through next week.

Reading- This week we read The Little Painter of Sabana Grande by Patricia Maloney Markun and illustrated by Robert Casilla. This is a story about a boy who has a desire to paint. After his teacher shows him how to create paint Fernando is determined to make something special. He then discovers he has no paper. He convinces his parents to let him paint the outside walls of their adobe house, since the walls are smooth and white like paper. While he is painting the neighbors admire his beautiful drawings, and request he paint their houses as well. We ended up taking our reading quiz on Thursday while it was nice and cool in the room still. On Friday, when the heat from Thursday was still radiating in our room, we cooled off by painting our own "adobe brick".  More pictures can be seen under the "student work" tab. 
   
Writing- This is an area where students have the most struggles at the beginning of the year. I am working a lot with just getting ideas down on paper versus correcting all their grammar and punctuation, which I will do on many items.  We read a book called Dear Teacher by Amy Husband, students were then to asked to write a letter to me, in which I will respond back. :) Yesterday, we worked on describing ourselves in a positive way. We wrote comments about on cards saying, "I am, I hear, I see, I think, I feel, and I know." Coming home Tuesday, you will also see a piece of paper numbered 1-5 with random thoughts on them. These were your child's thought to a poem called "Welcome Back to School" by Kenn Nesbitt.

Welcome Back to School
by Kenn Nesbitt
“Dear students, the summer has ended.
The school year at last has begun.
But this year is totally different.
I promise we’ll only have fun."

“We won’t study any mathematics,
and recess will last all day long.
Instead of the Pledge of Allegiance,
we’ll belt out a rock ’n’ roll song."

“We’ll only play games in the classroom.
You’re welcome to bring in your toys.
It’s okay to run in the hallways.
It’s great if you make lots of noise."

“For homework, you’ll play your Nintendo.
You’ll have to watch lots of TV.
For field trips we’ll go to the movies
and get lots of candy for free."

“The lunchroom will only serve chocolate
and Triple-Fudge Sundaes Supreme.”
Yes, that’s what I heard from my teacher
before I woke up from my dream.


This activity is called free response. I pause different times during the reading and have students reflect and respond to various forms of written work. We will complete more of these next week.


Science- We continued some team building and had some activities just to help us cool off! :) We also look the opportunity of the hot weather to talk about heat and deserts and follow it up with some scientific reasoning from Bill Nye the Science Guy. :)

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful extended weekend. Enjoy the slightly cooler weather in the forecast! :) Next week may be short, but we will have a lot of assessments!

Mrs. Jodie Yuska

We are officially under way in 3rd grade

Although, I had an unfortunate start to the school year, I am back and we are quickly making progress of making our classroom a fun and unique environment. We have covered all our expectations. I am  excited to teach this group of individuals this year. They have shown they like to have fun, but are quickly learning to have fun in a respectful and responsible manner.

Here are some of the things we have done this week:

Math- This week we discussed place value. We covered counting by 10's as well as adding and subtracting by 10's to solve problems. During these lessons we were able to link how to write a proper equation and count using place value sticks and cubes.

Reading- This week we read Horrible Harry Moves Up to Third Grade by Suzy Kline. In this story Harry and Doug are coming back to school, starting their third grade year. So many things have changed, yet they soon realize a lot is the same. We discussed finding the main characters, creating a super sentence, and determining the setting where the story takes place.

Science and Social Studies time has been used for team and community building opportunities. We have interviewed members of our class, talked about how to become a bucket filler, and played numerous games to get to know one another a little better.

That is a quick wrap up of our week. We have quickly built a community. Which I am so proud to be a part of. Thank you for your assistance in raising such wonderful children. I look forward to our adventure to success together.

Please attend Parent Night on Tuesday, August 28th to learn more about our school and classroom procedures as well as the curriculum I will be teaching to your child.

Mrs. Jodie Yuska

Welcome to FMI!

Welcome to 3rd Grade and to FMI! I hope you had a great summer and are as anxious as I am to get back to school. We are all off for a new adventure in a new building with all of the third graders combined in one spot! I am so excited to be back with my teaching team from Starry as well as working with my teaching partner from Emerson all in one location! Our new room is very bright, colorful, and a little wild (kind of like me!). You will have to check out the class tour page above! :)

First, let me introduce myself to you. My name is Mrs. Yuska. I know that looks like an unusual name. It is pronounced like "YOU- SKA". I have been teaching 3rd grade for the last seven years. I taught five years at Starry Elementary and two years at Emerson. My husband, Brandon and I live in Cedar Rapids with our two daughters Katelyn (she will be 5 at the end of October) and Hayden (turned 2 in June) and our dog Dakota (a German Shepherd/ Black lab mix).

This is my third year of using a blog as an additional form of communication. I started blogging because I knew notes sent home often got shoved to the bottom of a child's bag or better yet lost altogether. My attempt was to place my newsletters on this site as well as any additional information you may need to provide a place to keep you up to date on what is happening in our classroom. This should also help limit the amount of paper being sent home. It has proved to be a great resource and I look forward to the added use of technology.

Some things about 3rd grade...Every night your child will be taking home a planner stating what we have learned that day. If an item is highlighted, it will be an assignment to be completed and returned to school the next day. This is a great opportunity to sit down with your child and talk about the day. I also ask that you sign or initial the bottom of the column so I know you have looked at it. If you have any questions, or comments for me, feel free to add them at the bottom of the planner. In the front cover will be your child's behavior chart. There is a key on the side of what each color of smiley face means.

I look forward to meeting each of you for the Supply Drop Off Night on August 20th between 4 and 6 pm.

Also, mark your calendars for a Parent Information Night on August 28th 6:00-6:45 pm. 

Mrs. Jodie Yuska
jyuska@marion.k12.ia.us