A week for creativity

FALL PARTY- this week you should have received a letter from Mr. Murphy about Halloween costumes and the parade. You should have also received a note from me as a reminder if you are signed up to bring items or help. Please let me know as soon as possible if you are unable to send something in so we can try to get it covered. THANK YOU! I am also copying Mr. Murphy's note into our blog, in case you missed it or misplaced it.

FMI Halloween 2013

Dear Parents:

FMI will celebrate Halloween, October 31st, this year with a party that will begin after last recess. Students wishing to dress up in costumes may bring their costumes to school and change into them at that time. No costumes should be worn to school. Costumes are welcome, but please leave the props (weapons, blood, hair spray, etc.) and make up at home. Costumes should be appropriate for school. If you have a question regarding the costume’s appropriateness, please contact your child’s teacher. If you have doubts, it’s probably not appropriate for school. Students do not have to dress up to enjoy the party. Parents are welcome to watch the students parade around the track. We ask that parents do not go into the classrooms to attend the parties unless they are the room parents in charge. If you are going to stay at school and pick up your child after school, you are invited to come into the workroom/music room and enjoy some treats while you wait. If it’s raining the students will parade through the gym. Parents may sit on the bleachers if rain changes our plans.

If you don’t want your child to participate in these activities, please let us know. You may pick up your child at 2:05 PM or they will read in the library.



Timeline:

1:45-200 Last Recess
2:00 Students into classrooms to change into costumes
2:15 Start parade around the track
2:40 All classes should be done
3:00 Students who need to change will do so
3:15 Dismissal

Parents welcome to the playground area or gym if raining.
 
Happy Halloween,
Mr. Murphy
FMI Principal
10-21-13



This week the kids were full of questions as they walked in on Monday morning to have doughnuts sitting on their desks. After a lot of questions we played a little "inference" game. Which also fit with one of our reading skills this week! :) Yeah me!
"I wanted to tell you something in a sweet way." 
"Why would I have blue and pink clothes pins on them?"
"They might mean I need to buy new clothes. I have a lot of bins of pink clothes at my house, but may need to buy new clothes if they are blue." 

And so on... it was great to watch the kids' faces when they started to piece it together. Even the kids who already knew I was expecting took a minute to piece all the information together. We talked about how we may need to have gender reveal cupcakes in December! :) 

 

Math- This week Ms. Wild started teaching math. They are working on making different collections and sequencing, adding, subtracting the numbers. They have also discussed how to break a large number into groups of 10's and 100's.

 

 As part of the unit, Ms. Wild had the class vote on an item they would wish to collect to show them the size of 1,000 objects. The kids voted on collecting pop tabs. If you have any EMPTY pop cans around your house, please consider sending the little metal tab to school with your child.

Reading- This week we read The Harvest Birds by Blanca Lopez de Mariscal.

In our story Juan Zanate likes to sit under his favorite tree enjoying nature and dreaming of becoming a farmer. However when his father dies at the beginning of our story, there is only enough land for his two older brothers. Juan learns to determine his own destiny, and asks for land from other people in his town. When no one is willing to give him land, because they do not believe in him, Juan visits Grandpa Chao. Grandpa Chao gives him a small patch of land on the condition, if he is not successful, he will have to come back and work for him for free. Juan is very excited, although the people of his town do not share in his excitement. While working in the fields the Harvest Birds offer lessons on the traditions of rural Mexico, the importance of respecting nature, and the possibility of making dreams happen. Juan ends up surprising the town with his bountiful harvest.

Writing- This week we finished color coding our T-charts and paragraphs. We will continue to practice this many times this year. However, we are moving on and starting a story about Frankenstein. This stirred a lot of excitement in our classroom. We are in various stages of the writing process. I am so excited to read and see their stories come alive. 

The ideas we came up with as a class. I am creating this story as an example.

Science- As a way to summarize our unit, the students had a chance to build plant and bee models from various materials. Not only did we work on reviewing the specific parts and following a rubric, we worked on time management when they had 5 class periods, almost a total of 5 hours to plan and build their models, responsibilty for staying on task as well as for their materials, and respect for others, their projects, and supplies. Thursday and Friday, the kids had a chance to work on some public speaking skills and show off their creations. Projects can be seen on the student work tab above. I was very impressed with the level of creativity.

Upcoming dates:
Tuesday, October 29th- Happy Birthday Justice and Vincent!
Wednesday, October 30th- Mrs. Yuska's birthday
Thursday, October 31st- Fall Party

Monday, November 4th- I am at Grant Wood AEA all day for a PBIS meeting 

                                        (Mrs. Bullis and Ms. Wild will be teaching)

Tuesday, November 5th- Picture retakes (please bring packet of pictures in), SuperSkate Night

Wednesday, November 6th- Happy Birthday Noelle and Rebeckah!

Friday, November 8th- No School, teachers will be at school working on report cards. 

Wednesday, November 20th- BIG BLAST PARTY (from our fundraiser)

Thursday, November 21st- 1:15 Dismissal, Conferences 1:30-5:30

Monday, November 25th- Conferences 3:30-7:30

Wednesday, November 27th- Friday, November 29th- No School, Thanksgiving Break

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Jodie Yuska

Happy America Reads Day!

This week was a little crazy. Our field trip took up most of our day on Monday. On Tuesday, we celebrated filling our Brownie Point Tray with some extra time in the computer lab. We had a chance to meet and get to know Ms. Wild better on Wednesday. Today, we had America Reads Day. Tomorrow there is no school. 

We had a bunch of amazing readers and the kids loved each minute of being read to. 
Here is a run down from our busy day of reading: 
Travis Stearns- Arthur's Underwear by Marc Brown  
Mrs. Holmes- The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss 
Mrs. Johnson- The Paper Bag Princess by Robert 
                      N. Munch, There Was an Old Lady Who 
                        Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colandro, 
                       and The Hungry Thing by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler
Ms. Heather- Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble  
                      by Judith Byron Schacher

Gretchen Henriksen- the chapter "Space Race" and 
                        Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, 
                        No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst  
Tresa Stearns- Sloppy Joe by Dave Keane

Thank you again, we appreciated it very much and enjoyed being read to by you all! :)

Math- This week we finished working on 2-digit and 3-digit addition and subtraction and took a quiz over each. We will continue to review these throughout the entire school year. Today, we started our new Investigations unit called Collections and Travel Stories. So far we have created a thousands chart (a HUGE version of our hundreds chart). We will use this on almost every lessons. Ms. Wild will begin teaching math next week.

Reading- This week we read What do Illustrators do? by Eileen Chestelow.

This is an informative text which turns our attention to the visual side of creating a picture book. With a relaxed style and trademark humor, the author shows how an illustrator develops a book from rough sketches to finished artwork. In the book we follow two artists as they illustrate different versions of "Jack and the Beanstalk." The author uses a cat and dog to add a lot of factual information to the story while still making it humorous in places.

Writing- This week we on color coding our T-charts with green for the topic sentence and the conclusion sentence, yellow for the big ideas, and pink for give me more sentences. Give me more sentences work on adding key details that relate to our topic.

 

Science- This week we did not have much science time. However, we did have a chance to start planning our plant and bee models and determining what materials we may like to try and make them with. There may be items your child wishes to bring from home, if there was not something in my "craft box." We will be busy little bees making and presenting our models. 

Upcoming dates:
Friday, October 18th- No School, Professional Development All day

Monday, October 21st- Friday, October 25th looks like a quiet week as of right now. :) 

Tuesday, October 29th- Happy Birthday Justice and Vincent!
Wednesday, October 30th- Mrs. Yuska's birthday
Thursday, October 31st- Fall Party (usually 2:00-3:00) *Mr. Murphy is planning on sending a letter with more information. In the past student will come in from recess and change into their costumes. We will start a parade around the track outside around 2:15ish. We will come back into the classrooms to celebrate and have treats and games. The excitement usually goes up close to the time the bell rings. If you would not like your child to go home in their costumes, please let me know. It is usually easier to make sure all the pieces make it home that way. :) I am sure I will have more information coming your way.


Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Jodie Yuska

Announcements

Next week is an exciting week. First, our class and three other sections of 3rd grade start the week off with a field trip to Cedar Falls. The students will be eating lunch in the UNI-Dome. This will be the first stop of the day after leaving FMI. After lunch, the students will get back on the bus and go over to the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center and see the play. We are planning to be back at FMI around 3:00. If you are sending lunch with your child. The more "disposable" your lunch is, the easier on field trips. I am all for reusing, however if things can easily be disposed of, there is less of a change of leaving or loosing part of your child's lunch. If you pack something which needs to be insulated, by all means, use your lunchbox! :) With the addition of a few new third graders this week and various associates. We did not have room or any extra tickets for volunteers to go with us. Sorry for the delay in communication, but numbers were changing daily! 

I did send home a gallon Ziploc bag for your child's electronic item. If you would rather they did not bring something, that is completely up to you. I will be collecting electronics in the morning and placing them in a backpack. They will be redistributed on the bus and collected when we park at the UNI-Dome. I will have the items in the backpack during the play, then pass them back out when we get on the bus for the ride home. 


On Wednesday, we will welcome our student teacher Ms. Wild. I will talk to the kids more about her on Monday and Tuesday, but will have her complete get to know you activities with the kids. Ms. Wild is a student at Mt. Mercy University and has an extensive background working with children. I will have her write up a small post if or when she feels comfortable, so you can all get to know her a little better. Ms. Wild will be in our class until the second week of December, so you will get a chance to meet her at conferences. 


On Thursday, we will have some guest readers come to our classroom for America Reads Day. We will also be doing some extra reading of our own. :) 


There is no school on Friday. This will be a professional development day for teachers. Next week I will add details about Halloween parties at FMI. Last year we had a parade around the track. I will talk to Mr. Murphy and see if one is planned for this year also.

Here are some of the things we did this week: 
 
Math- This week we continued to work on 3-digit subtraction with regrouping. Today we reviewed how to subtract across zeros. This is usually the hardest part of these lessons, yet this group of kids caught on to it quickly and enjoyed subtracting with zeros! You should see a lot of our math practice come home next week. We will continue to practice these, but will take a quiz over them next week also. It was awesome to see all the "light bulbs" going off in their brains this week, when they were able to make connections. 

   

Reading- This week we read Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies. 

"Bat is waking, upside down as usual, hanging by her toenails. Her beady eyes open. Her pixie ears twitch. She shakes her thistledown fur..." So begins the introduction to the world of bats. We followed mother bat as she awakens at dusk, flies out into the night hunting and searching for food, then returns home at sunrise to feed her batling, and sleep again until nightfall.We tied this with our guided reading books, not only by topics, but also by sequencing events.

Writing- This week we worked on verbs. We spent the first 3 days, looking at each type of verb, whether an action, linking, or helping verb. After studying these we added a few pages to our language arts notebooks. Next week we will go back to our Write Tools and review color codes and work some more on T-charts and paragraph writing. 

 
  Science and Social Studies- This week we did a lot of reviewing for our test, we had also taken our plants off the water and away from the light. This allowed them to dry up. Today, we opened our seed pods and collected the seeds. Completing the life cycle of our plants. The next few weeks, we will be making bee and plant models. Then the students will practice public speaking and share their models with the class. I am sad to see this unit end, but I am glad to have my counters clean again! :)

 

Additional Note: Some of you may or may not already know, my family is expecting our 3rd child in May. 

I have not yet told the class as I was waiting until after my next doctor's appointment on Friday, just to ensure everything was all and well. However, I had made an announcement on Facebook, which spread to others like wildfire. I just couldn't keep the secret any longer. Plus, all the staff at school had if figured out quickly. On Wednesday, I decided to foolishly ride a scooter, where I hit uneven pavement and rolled myself. I thought it was very funny. Many people watched my unsuccessful adventure and rushed over as I laid on my back laughing so hard I thought I might pee my pants. However, many wonderful FMI staff members became very worried and have shared my secret. I figured before you heard it from someone else, if you haven't already, I would be the first to share with you our excitement.



Upcoming dates:
Monday, October 14th- Field Trip to Gallagher-Bluedorn (10:00 am- 3:00 pm) *I sent a reminder note about lunch
Wednesday, October 16th- Our student teacher Ms. Wild starts
Thursday, October 17th- America Reads Day!
Friday, October 18th- No School, Professional Development All day
Tuesday, October 29th- Happy Birthday Justice and Vincent!
Wednesday, October 30th- Mrs. Yuska's birthday
Thursday, October 31st- Fall Party (usually 2:00-3:00) *I will send home more information as it gets closer.


Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Jodie Yuska

Rainy Weekend Ahead

Rainy stormy nights, usually mean great sleeping weather for me. Until my kids crawl into my bed, that is! :) 



This Wednesday, there is a lot going on. First, we have an early (1:15) dismissal. Second, it will be a day where the kids can bring in a non-motorized scooters, roller blades, roller skates, skateboards, and heelies can be used around the track during recess. Please send your child with helmets. Helmets and "wheels" can be brought to our classroom to be stored when they are not in use at recess. This is a whole school reward for filling our red ticket jar. Third, we are asking all the students to wear orange as a way to show we are against bully behavior. If your child does not have anything orange, please have them wear their red PBIS paw print shirt. 


I have a lot of papers to pass back. In the process of grading, the program I use to keep grades decided to not longer be able to be used with the operating system we have on our school computers. This left me no choice but to look for something else. Thankfully, I have a written record of all the scores so far, but wanted to get the others in the new system before I had a chance to loose everything. It is much easier to keep track of a basket of papers then a few single sheets at times. :) 


One last note- All 3rd and 4th graders are invited to join the FMI Reads Book Club. This club meets from 3:20-4:00, usually in Mrs. Wicke's and Mrs. Donohue's rooms (depending on the amount of kids). When students sign up for book club they receive a copy of the book as well a snack and a drink at each meeting. All of my students who were involved last year loved Book Club. There are usually a few offered through out the year. Information was on a purple note sent home on Thursday. If you are interested your permission slip is due no later than next Friday, October 11th. 

Here are some of the things we did this week: 
 
Math- This week we did a lot with subtraction. We worked on basic subtraction facts, learned how to regroup by taking one from the tens place and moving it over and adding ten ones. We started to learn how to regroup and borrow with place value blocks and moved on to just paper and pencil. I am still working on reminding students to cross out their numbers so they made sure they followed the steps. :)

 Next week we will continue working on regrouping/ borrowing with 3-digit numbers and across zeros.

Reading- This week we took some time to work with our Text Talk books as our new curriculum keeps our reading block pretty jammed packed.
 
Text Talk is a program that provides robust vocabulary instruction tied closely to comprehension. With this program, I will read aloud a picture book stopping at key places where we will discuss comprehension questions, check for understanding, or review vocabulary words. Each day of the week, we will complete some fun short activities using these vocabulary words in and out of context with the book, then take a multiple choice quiz. 

At the beginning of the week we read Wolf! by Becky Bloom. In the book, A wolf trades in his "growl" for "spoken words" in order to impress a group of educated farmyard animals he has met. He goes to school and shows a lot of perseverance to become a great reader whom everyone wants to listen to.  Vocabulary words we discussed this week are concentrate, industrious, achieve, passion, confidence, and emergency.

Towards the end of the week we read  Rats on the Roof by James Marshall. This book is a compilation of seven different stories. We focused on a story about a brontosaurus who begins to eat an oak tree which is the home of an owl. The owl asks her bird friends for help and eventually the brontosaurus leaves them alone.  Vocabulary words we discussed this week are collaboration (work together), steadfast (loyal), ferocious (mean and scary), queasy (feeling sick), relocate (move), and lumbered (move slowly).  

Writing- This week we worked a lot on the Word Choice writing trait. We discussed how the words we use can be more entertaining, more detailed, and can paint a better picture in our minds. 

With this lesson I introduced our "Flower Power" words. These flowers give options to replace some words that might be old, tired, or worn out. Here is a small sample as we have 20 flowers full of words to use in our writing.

After practicing making better sentences by changing our word choices, we read the story Moosetache byMargie Palatini.

Science and Social Studies- Today we took our plants off the water system and out from under the lights. We will allow them to dry out through out next week so we can take the seeds out of our seed pods. 

I am including pictures of the orange study guide which should have came home in purple folders tonight. Our Science test over this unit will be on Thursday, October 10th.

I am also including a lot of the vocabulary we have been using during our science unit.

Our little root view jars aren't doing so hot. Our lima bean somehow started to mold, our onions didn't grow, but we have carrots to watch! :) 

Our lima bean was healthy and green last week, this week it turned brown and mushy. I decided to throw it away. :(

Upcoming dates: Tuesday, October 8th- FMI Night at Wendy's, Happy Birthday Breanna and Rayna!   Wednesday, October 9th- 1:15 Dismissal, Recess on Wheels
Thursday, October 10th- Fundraiser Pick-up day

Monday, October 14th- Field Trip to Gallagher-Bluedorn (10:00 am- 3:00 pm) *I will send a reminder note about lunches
Wednesday, October 16th- Our student teacher Ms. Wild starts
Thursday, October 17th- America Reads Day!
Friday, October 18th- No School, Professional Development All day
 
Tuesday, October 29th- Happy Birthday Justice and Vincent!
Wednesday, October 30th- Mrs. Yuska's birthday
Thursday, October 31st- Fall Party (usually 2:00-3:00) *I will send home more information as it gets closer.


Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Jodie Yuska