Another Monday come and gone. This year is FLYING by!

Quick updates: 

*YES- there is spelling and word wall words to study this week! :) 

*Emerson Barn Dance- rescheduled for Friday, February 3rd. 

  *Emerson Elementary FUNdraisers envelopes are due Friday, February 10th.

Math- We are working on some assessments here and there. I always as much information to base grades on as I can. Tomorrow we will test over time and money. On Wednesday we will start our measurement unit, which is always one of my favorites! :)  

Reading-   This week we do not have a story, but will spend time reviewing vocabulary from the last four stories and comprehension strategies. Students will take a unit test later in the week. Tomorrow we will read a story called Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers. After we read the story the kids will create our next bulletin board for the hallway. They will be writing the recipe for a good friend. I thought that would be nice and fitting as we go into the month of love and friendship.

Text Talk- Our text talk book is Dear Mrs. LaRue by Mark Teague. This story is written from the dog's perspective of an event versus how the newspaper reported it happened. Words we will work on are: despair, obedience, melodramatic, misconception, neglected, and persistent. 

Writing- This week we are actually starting our animal research and our rain forest ABC books. Both of these items should be ready to show you at conferences! :) The kids can't wait to find out their animals tomorrow.

Social Studies- Today students took a test in Mrs. Clark's room covering what they learned in the Social Studies unit. Tomorrow they will be starting their next science unit of Earth Materials. 

A lot of time lately has been spent on extra lessons happening in our room. Mrs. Zousel, the ELP teacher has been in conducting whole group lessons about perfectionism. Mrs. Shields, our councilor comes in twice a month and talks to the kids about social skills. Lately, they have discussing a lot about friendship. Also, we have had Lynne from the Iowa State University (Yeah Cyclones!) Extension office coming in and talking to the kids about nutrition. It has been very informative, and yummy! :) 

A look a head- 

* Students can start bringing Valentine's to school to pass out NEXT Monday (February 6th). We will be decorating bags on Friday.

*Early dismissal Wednesday, February 8th. 

Valentine's Party Tuesday, February 14th. 

No School Friday, February 17th. Teachers will be working on 2nd Trimester  report cards. 

Have a great week! 

Mrs. Jodie Yuska

MANY Announcements

Hope all the kids enjoyed their snow day and all the parents had safe travels over the weekend. There are a lot of announcements this week.  Please take a look at the information below and mark your calendars. :)

*Marion Pre-school open house- tonight. If you have a child ready to start preschool, please look at the flyer coming home today abut the open house being held tonight. 

*Book Orders due tomorrow (1/25/12)! :) 

*No School on Friday- Teachers' have in-service meetings all day. 

*No Spelling/ Word Wall words this week. Spelling and Word Wall will resume next week!

*Social Studies test next Monday, January 30th. Study guide will go home on Wednesday, January 25th. 

*Emerson Barn Dance- rescheduled for Friday, February 3rd. 

 

*Emerson Elementary FUNdraisers are going home today. If your child has attended Emerson before this year, this is the same as last year. Students are asked to collect money from people they know. 100% of the money raised goes back to Emerson. Envelopes are due Friday, February 10th.

Math- This week we will continue to discuss time. We started talking about elapsed time this morning. We will practice time through Thursday, complete a review of time and money, and have a unit test next Tuesday. This week I will give the January time tests for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division the week of the 23rd.  Goals for 3rd graders currently is 100 correct problems in 5 minutes on addition and subtraction (50 in 2 1/2 minutes) as well as 80 facts correct in 5 minutes on multiplication (40 in 2 1/2 minutes). 

Reading-   This week we will read The Streets are Free by Kurusa. This story is based on a true story about hoe neighbors in a poor district in Caracas, Venezuela join together to build a much-needed playground. The children’s inspiration and the adult’s cooperation are equally important in coming up with a solution to the problem. 

Writing- This week we continued to study the rain forest and discuss our animal reports. The kids are so interested in this topic that we have just kind of taken it and ran with it. Next week we will spend a lot of time collecting information for our animal reports and other animals of the rainforest. We will be working on rainforest based topics during writing for the next month or so. :)

Social Studies- The students are finishing up their Map Champs Atlas'. They will complete a study guide tomorrow, which should also arrive home tomorrow. Please take time to review the study guide with your child as it will contain ALL the answers on their Social Studies test on Monday. 

A look a head- 

* I will send home names for Valentine's in tomorrow's brown envelopes. Please do not yet send these to school with your child. Letters about the Valentine's party will go home next week. 

*Early dismissal Wednesday, February 8th. 

Valentine's Party Tuesday, February 14th. 

No School Friday, February 17th. Teachers will be working on 2nd Trimester  report cards. 

Have a great week! 

Mrs. Jodie Yuska

Happy MLK day!

Those of you who have today off, I hope you have something fun planned! :) Those of you at work like me, make the most of it! It is still a VERY nice January day! 

Math- This week we will start to discuss time. We will continue to talk about money here and there. The kids are great at counting coins but we will continue to work with making change!

Reading-   This week we will read The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry.  Before chopping down a huge Kapok tree, a woodsman falls asleep. While sleeping, he is visited by the animals who inhabit the tree. They explain why the Kapok tree is important to the environment. When the man awakes, he decides not to chop the tree down. With this selection, we worked on the skill of cause and effect, looking deeply into what would happen to the animals of the rain forest if all the trees were cut down.

Text Talk- This week we will use The Great Kapok Tree again. Our text talk words will be different from our reading vocabulary words. So the kids will get a double dose of vocabulary from this text. Our text talk words are: ancestors, lulled, slithered, withered, defenseless, and intentions.

Social Studies- The students are finishing up talking about the seven continents. I believe they just have Antarctica to discuss.

A few mid-year assessments left to complete:

I will give the January time tests for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division the week of the 23rd.  Goals for 3rd graders currently is 100 correct problems in 5 minutes on addition and subtraction (50 in 2 1/2 minutes) as well as 80 facts correct in 5 minutes on multiplication (40 in 2 1/2 minutes). Division is not currently being assessed for reporting purposes, but I like to monitor their growth. It will be a requirement 3rd trimester.

Mrs. Jodie Yuska

Mid-year testing

Happy Monday! Today our school day started welcoming back an old friend. Lacey was in 2R last year and moved away in January. She is returning back to Emerson. We all gave her a warm welcome. I am sure she will make a great addition to our class. WELCOME LACEY! :)

Although, it does not look like much, your child will be working extra hard this week with testing. :) 

Math- This week we are starting by adding and subtracting money. We will start to discuss making change using the least amount of coins. Next, week we will start working on time.

Reading-   This week there will not be a story as we are practicing, then taking the Cognitive Ability Tests. A letter went home last week from Mrs. Zostel (our ELP teacher) asking you to make sure your child has plenty of sleep and eats breakfast in the morning. This is good advice for every school day, but extra important on testing days. 

Text Talk- No text talk story this week to be able and have extra work/ testing time.

Social Studies- Mrs. Clark will continue with the Map Champ Atlas for a few more weeks before starting the next science unit called Earth Materials. This is a fun unit discovering the properties and differences between rocks and minerals! 

A few mid-year assessments are approaching:

*DAZE the comprehension test, where students pick the correct word to use in a sentence is scheduled to take place tomorrow, January 10th. 

*DIBELS is scheduled to take place Thursday, January 12th. Our current goal is 92 correct words read per minute. 

*I will probably give the January time tests for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division the week of the 23rd.  Goals for 3rd graders currently is 100 correct problems in 5 minutes on addition and subtraction (50 in 2 1/2 minutes) as well as 80 facts correct in 5 minutes on multiplication (40 in 2 1/2 minutes). Division is not currently being assessed for reporting purposes, but I like to monitor their growth. It will be a requirement 3rd trimester. 

Other events happening this week: 

Monday- Playstation Night 5:00-8:00

Friday- Emerson night at the basketball game. If you are planning on attending, please send back the paper which was in your brown envelope. Students will receive free admission.

Mrs. Jodie Yuska

Hello 2012!

Welcome to 2012! I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing break. Not to mention a terrific holiday season filled with fun, festivities, and family! This school year has already seemed to fly by. I always think the second half goes even faster. Here is what I have planned for next week (including some upcoming assessments):

Math- This week we are going to re-introduce and work with money. We will begin by reviewing coins and dollar bills. We will identify what they are, what they are worth and how many are needed to move to the next amount. After that we will be counting, adding, subtracting, and making change.

Reading-   This week we will read Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. Miss Rumphius is a story about a lady who keeps the three promises she made to her grandfather as a child. She first travels the globe, then returns to live by the sea, and finally she does something to make the world more beautiful. Her stories inspire her niece, Alice, to fulfill the same three promises. With this story, we will analyzed the plot as well as think of our hopes and dreams that could make the world more beautiful.  We will also we practice for the Cognitive Abilities Tests. We will take the actual test during a series of three days next week

Text Talk- This week we will read Just Plain Fancy by Patricia Polacco. Just Plain Fancy is the story of a young Amish girl, Naomi who longs to have something fancy in her life. One day as she and her sister are searching the field for eggs, they stumble upon a peculiar-looking one. The girls slip the egg into the nest and when it hatches, they name the "chick" Fancy. As Fancy grows he certainly lives up to his name, and Naomi is frightened that the Amish community will shun the beautiful creature. During the frolic the next morning, Fancy unexpectedly escapes the henhouse, and runs toward the elders…"At that moment, pleased with all the attention, Fancy ruffles his feathers and did for the guests what he had done for the girls in the henhouse the day before. Those who weren’t speechless were stunned!"

Social Studies- According to my year-long plan, Mrs. Clark will continue with the Map Champ Atlas for a few more weeks before starting the next science unit called Earth Materials. This is a fun unit discovering the properties and differences between rocks and minerals! 

A few mid-year assessments are approaching:

*DAZE the comprehension test, where students pick the correct word to use in a sentence is scheduled to take place Tuesday, January 10th. 

*DIBELS is scheduled to take place Thursday, January 12th. Our current goal is 92 correct words read per minute. 

*With all the assessments next week. I will be waiting to give the COMPUTATION and APPLICATION math probes on different days during the week of the 16th. I will probably give the January time tests for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division the week of the 23rd.  Goals for 3rd graders currently is 100 correct problems in 5 minutes on addition and subtraction (50 in 2 1/2 minutes) as well as 80 facts correct in 5 minutes on multiplication (40 in 2 1/2 minutes). Division is not currently being assessed for reporting purposes, but I like to monitor their growth. It will be a requirement 3rd trimester.

Mrs. Jodie Yuska

Time flies when you are learning!

I can't believe the middle of December has already passed. If your house is like mine it is buzzing with planning and getting ready for the upcoming holidays. There is nothing like wrapping presents, grading papers, baking, hiding the elf that is currently living in my house (Elf on the Shelf), writing lesson plans, and having that cycle around while still enjoying my two little ones! :) Life is hectic at times, but I love it!

Math- For the last month we have been working on fractions. We have discussed the numerator and denominator, equivalent fractions, mixed fractions, and improper fractions. The class has learned how fractions are made by breaking something into equal parts. We experimented with this with paper brownies and pattern block cookies. You should hear the groans from both math classes when we talk about food, since math is usually before lunch! :) After learning and practicing our fractions, we started turning our fractions into decimals. We discussed how the place value turns around. After the decimal you have a tenth, hundredth, thousandth, but the kids only practiced tenths and hundredths. They had to write decimals from their mixed fractions as well. All the kids seemed to really enjoy this unit. Our assessment was today, but I have a lot of students from the other class whom need to make it up. As soon as everyone has taken the test and I have them graded, they will be sent home. Next week, we are going to review place value, addition (single, two, and three digit), subtraction (single, two, and three digit), and have some fun winter math activities.

Reading-  Last week we read On Granddaddy’s Farm by Thomas B. Allen. This is an autobiographical account of the author’s life as a child on his grandparents’ farm in the 1930s. He describes how life on the farm revolved around his grandfather’s job with the railroad. He also recalls the farm chores and playtime typical of the era. We worked on sequencing events and applying the text to the knowledge we had of farm life. This week we did not have a story. We review material covered in the last unit and took our unit quiz. We were also introduced to some new characters of Reciprocal teaching. A reading strategy your child will practice often in whole group and guided reading. Reciprocal teaching works on predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing. We worked a lot on making predictions this week!

Text Talk- This week we read The Princess and the Pizza by Mary Jane and Herm Auch. This is a story about a princess named Paulina who thinks she wants to get back into princessing since her father has given up the throne. She undergoes a series of princess tests (pea under the mattresses, an essay, etc.) to prove she is fit to marry Prince Drupert. After accidentally inventing the pizza, she decides not to become a princess but to open a pizza palace instead. Words we discussed were: fragrant, gracious, humble, muttered, fret, and practical. 

Social Studies- Student have been working in their Map Champ atlases to discuss government and timeline of the United States history events.

For the last four weeks, we have had a volunteer named Dru Bridges, come into our classroom and teach Junior Achievement.  Junior Achievement is about a community. So they have volunteers from the community teach lessons about what makes a community, and what types of communities do we live in.  Our class has built a town, run a doughnut business (Sweet O' Donuts), worked with financing the company, and talk about government (we even elected Samantha S. as our Mayor!).

Mrs. Jodie Yuska

Welcome December!

News of the week:Thank you to everyone who attending their child's conference or still has one pending! :) I know it is not always at the most convenient times for you or there is a wait to be seen. All teacher's greatly appreciate your dedication to your child's education!

Math- This week we started with discussing division with remainders. These were only introductory lessons and did not need to be fully mastered. Most students did an excellent job with the assistance of a picture or using cubes. On Wednesday we started our fractions unit. This seems to be the favorite of the year so far. They just can't seem to get enough fractions! :) We have talked about fractions as parts and as parts of a whole. We discussed the meaning of fractions is how we divide something up, how many pieces were given away, are a certain color, etc. out of how many pieces were there total. Yesterday we had paper brownies we had to cut and show how we would evenly share them with friends and write the fraction. Today we created fraction circles to use when we discuss equivalent fractions next week.

Reading- This week we read Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary. Ramona is showing a range of emotions as she gets ready for a new baby in her family. She is anxious about her mother's condition, then disappointed and humiliated when she is too young to see the infant in the hospital. In the end, an excited Ramona takes center stage, as she shares how intrigued she is by her new sister Roberta. During this story we analyzed Ramona and her wide range of feelings and behavior. We also made inferences about how Ramona was feeling different times in the story when the author did not come straight out and tell us.

Text Talk- This week we read A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon. This is a story about a girl named Camila Cream who is too busy worrying about what everyone else thinks, to be her true self. She comes down with a case of stripes, which then changes into other things as she is easily influenced by others. Only when she is true to herself and honest about her love for lima beans does she go back to normal. The words we studied were: altered, contagious, distraction, remedies, perplexed, and vanished. 

Science- Student have been discussing various inventors and inventions. They wrapped up their unit on Ideas and Inventions with reflections and using mirrors. Please look for a study guide from Mrs. Clark for this assessment to come home soon.

Notes for people bring items for the winter party will go home next Thursday in brown envelopes. For our winter party we will be watching a movie and spending time with 3C students (they will enjoy their own treats), so no other volunteers will be needed at this time. :) THANKS!

Mrs. Jodie Yuska