Another busy week (week 3)

I hope everyone enjoyed their nice long weekend. Thankfully the weather has cooled down. Our classroom felt incredible today! 

Here are some of highlights of our week:

Math- We continued to look at place value with ones, tens, and hundreds. Next week we will add the thousands place and start to add and subtract 3-digit numbers. A challenge in the past has been to determine the expanded form of a number (ie. 345 would be 300+40+5=345). We also took at look at standard form (ie. 145) and the word form (ie. one hundred forty-five).

Reading- Our story this week was Lon Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China.  A Chinese version of the famous tale, this story teaches the important message of triumph of courage and cleverness over evil. Dramatic illustrations that incorporate techniques used in ancient Chinese panel art make this selection even more interesting. Strategies we looked at with this story was comparing and contrasting other versions of Little Red Riding Hood and analyzing character and plot, as well as determining the moods used to tell the story. 

 

Text Talk- 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. This 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.

Writing- We completed our last "free response" activities for a while. We read poems by Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein, both whom I greatly love reading.   Enjoy! :)

Tuesday we responded to: 

"LAST NIGHT I DREAMED OF CHICKENS"
Last night I dreamed of chickens,
there were chickens everywhere.

They were standing on my stomach,
they were nesting in my hair,
they were pecking at my pillow,
they were hopping on my head,
they were ruffling up their feathers
as they raced about my bed.

They were on the chairs and tables,
they were on the chandeliers,
they were roosting in the corners,
they were clucking in my ears.

There were chickens, chickens, chickens
for as far as I could see...
when I woke today, I noticed
there were eggs on top of me.

Jack Prelutsky 

Wednesday we responded to: 

"Smart"
My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more than one!

And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes -- I guess he don't know
That three is more than two!

Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just 'cause he can't see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!

And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!


And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head--
Too proud of me to speak!

- Shel Silverstein

Thursday we responded to:

"Jimmy Jet And His TV Set"

by Shel Silverstein

I'll tell you the story of Jimmy Jet --
And you know what I tell you is true.
He loved to watch his TV set
Almost as much as you.

He watched all day, he watched all night
Till he grew pale and lean,
From "The Early Show" to "The Late Late Show"
And all the shows between.

He watched till his eyes were frozen wide,
And his bottom grew into his chair.
And his chin turned into a tuning dial,
And antennae grew out of his hair.

And his brains turned into TV tubes,
And his face to a TV screen.
And two knobs saying "VERT." and "HORIZ."
Grew where his ears had been.

And he grew a plug that looked like a tail
So we plugged in little Jim.
And now instead of him watching TV
We all sit around and watch him.

Today we responded to

"Spaghetti" by Shel Silverstein

Spaghetti, spaghetti, all over the place,

Up to my elbows—up to my face,

Over the carpet and under the chairs,

Into the hammock and wound round the stairs,

Filling the bathtub and covering the desk,

Making the sofa a mad mushy mess.

The party is ruined, I’m terribly worried,

The guests have all left (unless they’re all buried).

I told them, “Bring presents.” I said, “Throw confetti.”

I guess they heard wrong

‘Cause they all threw spaghetti!

Science- This week we looked at the properties (color, size, texture, odor) of a dry lima bean and one that was soaked over night in water. The kids were amazed how much they grew over night. After recording their properties we took the lima bean apart and took a look inside. The students located the seed coat (used for protection, like our coat in the winter), the cotyledon (the embryo's food source), the embryo (baby plant), and the leaves of the embryo can even be spotted. Today we planted our Brassica Rapa plants also known as Wisconsin Fast Plants.  Picture attached are of our "quads" (containers of 4) that we planted and have under a light and on water tubs 24 hours a day minus the time we will take to observe and discuss them growing. 

Assessments- a lot of our beginning of the year assessments are finally coming to an end. Your child had their DIBELS assessment this past week. An additional component of this test is a retelling section. For this section, your child had a minute to retell everything they could remember that happened in the passage they read during their one minute DIBELS timing. In the past a student has simply been asked to read as fast as they could and we determined their rate. Two years ago we added a DAZE, comprehension in sentences component which I believe starts in third grade so was new to all the kids. They looked at me rather strange while I was giving the directions. :) I am sure I will get a chance to report out scores soon! 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. I am looking forward to watching Iowa State win on Saturday! :) I just had to throw it in!

Mrs. Jodie Yuska

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

A lot of fun and a lot pictures!

We have evidence of a lot of fun had by all this week. Please scroll through our pictures from our field trip to Lebeda, our last Marion Way assembly, and our end of the year goal treat! 

Today in brown envelopes you will find information about your child's Iowa Assessment scores. There is a bright green letter attached. As this is a new test, Mrs. Clark and I are trying to answer a lot of questions as well. But if there is something you need help understanding, please do not be afraid to ask one of us!

Events next week: 

5/28 -No School
5/30 – Emerson Beach Party/  Lunch – Deli sandwich, carrots, apple (sack lunch)
5/31 Last Day of School/ Lunch – Hot dog, green beans, oranges

Math- This week, we have filled our math time with a lot of fun events. We have worked on key fact mastery and finished up our year end assessments. 

Reading-  This week we finished our novel Stone Fox. We completed a comprehension packet, and as part of our goal reward we watched the movie and made comparisons to the book while enjoying a special treat!  When I have 24 kids that all love doughnuts and mustaches- I just had to incorporate the two! :)

 

Social Studies- Mrs. Clark reviewed different material covered this year. The last couple days she has been introducing the students to different regions and states making up the United States of America.

Writing- We are finishing up our work on country reports. Either tomorrow or Monday, your child will present their materials to the class and take them home.

Our Field Trip to Lebeda and Emcom Advertising

 Our Last Marion Way Assembly

We started off by having a dance party in the hallway to "Celebration," then formed a human tunnel for all the other kids and staff of Emerson to make their way through to the gym. During the assembly, Girl Scouts presented some special gifts to Mr. Meth, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Randall, and Mrs. Weisinger, teachers expressed what they enjoyed about the Marion Way, and certificates were handed out to students being recognized for being respectful. We ended the assembly decorating the playground with things we liked about The Marion Way.

 

Have a great Memorial Day weekend/ and last week! 

Mrs. Jodie Yuska

Last Full Week= A VERY Busy Week!

The last full week of school is upon us. This will be a very busy week with field trips, assemblies, and finishing a lot of work! :)

Events this week: 

5/21- 2nd and 3rd Graders from Emerson visit FMI- This is to assist in the transition to FMI. Included in this visit will be a short introduction from Mr. Mike Murphy, principal, and a tour of the building. We will be leaving to go over there at 10:00 am.

5/22 – Grade 3 Field Trip to Lebeda (10:00-12:30) I will be sending lunch reminders home on Monday.
5/23 -  1:30 Dismissal

5/24- Last Marion Way assembly/ celebration
Math- Today we took our last assessment. Unless your child is not finished or was absent from school lately. They will be finished with their math curriculum and move on to enjoying math games and figuring out math strategies.  

Reading-  Last week we started reading a whole class novel, Stone Fox. We will continue to read this novel as a class and discuss comprehension questions. 

Social Studies- Mrs. Clark is covering a wide range of topics left in Science/ Social Studies. Anywhere from the sun, down to the germs on our hands! :)

Writing- We are working on country reports. This week your child researched a country. Next week they will turn it into a travel brochure and a travel poster.

On Thursday, in brown envelopes you will find a summer packet for your child. The front page shares a lot of research Mrs. Clark and I have read. We feel it is very important to keep your child's brains focused, even for a just a little while during the summer. Summers are busy, but your child has made a lot of growth. Please continue to help their education grow forward instead of feed into the typical summer regression. 

Upcoming this month: 
5/28 -No School
5/30 – Emerson Beach Party
5/31 Last Day of School (OH MY!) 

Have a great weekend/ week! 

Mrs. Jodie Yuska

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!
 I can't believe there are only 13 days of school left! How time flies! 

Events this week: 

5/17 Emerson Night at the Kernals Game 6:30
5/18 FMI information night- 6:00-8:00 at Francis Marion Intermediate (see below for more information)

Math- We took a couple extra days on our Measurement Olympic games (long-jump, high-jump, shot put, javelin throw, and discis throw) as well as on our number and operations test. This week students will be tested over multiplication/ division facts, and elapsed time.   

Reading-  This week we will start reading a whole class novel, Stone Fox. If you have this book at home, please send it to school with your child.  I do have several copies that the students will be sharing. Last week we read mysteries, and worked hard to try to solve them using our comprehension skills. 

Social Studies- Last week the students learned about the different zones in a city. This information will be useful as we travel to Lebeda Mattress Factory for our field trip on May 22nd.  At Lebeda the students will get to see how a mattress is made from start to finish.  A small portion of the history of Marion was also shared with the class. Ask your third grader about the Swamp Fox or how Starry got it's name.  In social studies we will begin our country reports. The students will choose a country to research. From this research the students will create a brochure and a poster of the country's flag. 

Writing- We will use this time to work on the country reports that will be started in Social Studies. :)

Friday Night information- FMI Parent Group (Troops) will provide hot dogs and chips to celebrate the end of a wonderful year for FMI students and welcome the current 2nd and 3rd graders to their building in the fall. There will be activities such as basketball, four square, sidewalk chalk, and more. Please feel free to bring an activity you enjoy as well. At 6:00 there will be a 15 minute presentation by Mr. Murphy (the principal at FMI) in the gym. Please arrive on time. The 3rd and 4th grade teachers (including myself) will be available from 6:00 to 6:30. Please bring lawn chairs and/ or blankets and come to have a fun evening with your family and friends.

Upcoming this month: 

5/21- 2nd and 3rd Graders from Emerson visit FMI- This is to assist in the transition to FMI. Included in this visit will be a short introduction from Mr. Mike Murphy, principal, and a tour of the building. We will be leaving to go over there at 10:00 am.

5/22 – Grade 3 Field Trip to Lebeda (10:00-12:30)
5/23 -  1:30 Dismissal
5/28 -No School
5/30 – Emerson Beach Party
5/31 Last Day of School (OH MY!) 

Hopefully you received and enjoyed your presents. I thought they turned out really cute! :) 

 

Have a great week!

Mrs. Jodie Yuska