Report cards are on their way!

Report cards will be coming home on Tuesday, February 19th. Below you will find the rubric 3rd grade teachers use to help determine grades. 

Math- Last week, we worked on fractions that equal one half. We also used pattern blocks to mix and match 1/3, 1/6, and 1/2 combinations to make a whole. Students used these and turned them into equations. Today, we used fraction magnets to start our work on equivalent fractions.  

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- Last week, we finished our note taking on our animals. We then turned this into a T-chart. This week we will work on number notes, and the rough draft of our rainforest animal report.

Science- This week we started our Physics of Sound science unit. Here is a quick break down. 
On Monday- We took our Social Studies assessment. 

On Tuesday-  We explored sound discrimination and the properties of sound with drop chambers. After getting accustomed to the sounds, students created codes for their partner to spell out words depending on what object was being dropped in the chamber. 

Drop Chamber

Drop Chamber with objects

Drop Chamber in action

Codes

Codes assigned to objects

On Wednesday- We started our discussions on tone and vibrations. We took a look at a bean on a tone generator and how a high pitch vibrates faster than a low pitch. We continued to explore using long gongs (a cup on a string tied to a metal clothes hanger) and tuning forks. 

Tuning fork and ping pong ball

Long Gong

Tuning fork on paper

Tuning fork with water

Long Gong

On Thursday and this morning- We looked at pitch and how pitch is determined by the amount of water in a waterphone or the length of the tube on an xylophone. The smaller the amount of water or shorter the tube, the higher the pitch. The more water or the longer the tube, the lower the pitch.

Arranging xylophone tubes

Creating a song

Arranging waterphones

 Just a reminder, Thursday, February 21 is the 3rd grade informance. Our class will perform at 7:30 pm. The informance will last approximately 45 minutes. 

Have a great week! 
Mrs. Jodie Yuska

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2012-2013 Third Grade Reading Rubric for Report Card	Resource for grading	Trimester 2
Vocabulary: Understands 3rd Grade Vocabulary	Basal Story Assessment & Text talk	90% and above 4 80%-89% 3 70%-79% 2 69% or below 1
Comprehension: Independently Comprehends 3rd Grade Reading Material	Basal Story Assessment	90% and above 4 80%-89% 3 70%-79% 2 69% or below 1
Fluency: Independently Reads a 3rd Grade Passage	Guided Reading Level and Dibels Passage	N or above 4 M 3 L 2 K or below 1 Also use the Fluency 5 Point Scale with Guided Reading lessons to assess fluency.

2012-2013 Third Grade Writing Rubric for Report Card	Resource for grading		Trimester 2
Develops and organizes effectively in written form	Write Tools Writing Samples		*  Writes a paragraph with a topic sentence, concluding sentence, a big idea, and a give me more (2 greens, one yellow and one pink) all 4 = 4 3 out of the 4 = 3 2 out of the 4 = 2 1 out of the 4 = 1
Word Usage	Write Tools Writing Samples		·      Uses correct grammar
Applies correct capitalization and punctuation in written work	Write Tools Writing Samples		·      Capitalizes days of the week, months of the year ·      Capitalizes salutations and closings of letter ·      Capitalize beginning of nouns
Spells correctly in written work	Write Tools Writing Samples		·      Spells frequently used words (tricky words) correctly
2012-2013 Third Grade Spelling Rubric for Report Card	Resource for grading		Trimester 2
Spelling	Words Their Way		List D: 4- above 90% 3- above 75% 2- above 65% 1-below 65% List C: 3- above 90% 2- above 65% 1- below 65%
Handwriting	Loops and Groups Daily Work		Students will be assessed on their cursive handwriting as well as their handwriting on daily assignments.
2011-2012 3rd grade Math rubric	Resources	Trimester 2
Number and Operation:
Demonstrates understanding of place value	Investigations and McGraw Hill textbooks	·      Compare and order numbers through 100’s ·      Ordinal numbers and estimation ·      Rounding to 10’s and 100’s ·      Skip count by 2, 3, 5, and 10 (starting at various numbers)
Demonstrates an understanding of fractions	Investigations and McGraw Hill textbooks	·      Read, write, and compare fractions >, <, and = to 1 ·      Knows ½, ¼, and 1/3
Uses problem solving strategies	Investigations, ADD Math, McGraw Hill textbooks	·      Can solve multiplication, subtraction, and addition story problems
Uses multiplication skills	Time tests	·      % 0n Assessment o   90% + = 4 o   80-89% = 3 o   70-79% = 2 o   78% or less = 1
Algebra
Solving for an unknown	Investigations and McGraw Hill textbooks	·      Solve patterns for 2, 3, 5, and 10 ·      Solve for an unknown in addition and subtraction (5+?= 8,  10-?= 2) ·      Quantitative change with one variable leads to a change in the second variable (Stacy is 10, her mom is 38. When Stacy is 12, will her mom be older, younger, or stay the same?

A lot of work makes for one quick week!

This week seemed to fly by. I think that is partially because we just had so many things I was trying to get through to make up from kids and myself being sick and gone. We had some crazy schedules this week and I think the kids were very relieved when the bell rand at 3:15 today! :) 

 

*Book Orders due (2/12/12)! You can order online as well as bring your order in to school.

*Social Studies test next Monday, February 11th. A study guide will be posted below.

 
*No School Friday, February 15th. 

 

 * I will sent home names for Valentine's Monday in mailboxes (there is also be a list at the bottom of our blog). Students can start bringing Valentines to school on Monday, February 11th. Our class party will be on Thursday, February 14th. 

Math- This week we used different fractions to make a whole, or as our investigation book calls them cookie shares. It was a chance for us to get out the pattern blocks and make hexagon cookies broke down into thirds, halves, and sixths. Then we mixed and matched so we could write equations equaling one whole. For example, 3/6 +1/2 = 1 whole or 1/3 +1/3+1/6 +1/6 = 1 whole. We reviewed that if a fraction had the same number on the top and the bottom it would equal one whole as well as the larger the numerator (bottom number) the smaller the fraction. We used the example that if I get 1/2 of a brownie I would get a lot more than if I received 1/6 of a brownie. This would be like me sharing a brownie with one other person, versus sharing the same size brownie with five other people.  We will continue learning about fractions for the next few weeks. This will include equivalent fractions and mixed fractions. Time test went home this week, along with the letter below explaining report card expectations for multiplication. I will post report card rubrics next week.

Fluency on Multiplication time test

Reading-   We are well into our research. This is a project that is easy for some and more difficult for others, especially if you have to "hunt" for information. This is also a time when our class is a little less structured due to everyone at different places of research which resulted in a few class discussions. :) Anyway, most have research done, we are working on our posters which will be in the hall soon. After that we will start using our research in writing to create a T-chart, and take number notes before writing a multi-paragraph report. 

Writing- We have been working very hard on collecting information and creating ABC books. We have learned about copyright and dedication, as well as plagiarism of our information. The best part is we all have learned about some new animals we may have never heard of or seen before. We have a few letters to finish up before we will start our final copies with our best handwriting and illustrations.

Social Studies- We have completed our social studies unit. Yellow folders went home today that we have been working on since the beginning of the year. We also took some time to review for the test. The kids loved the big felt map and creating our own maps on plastic blue plates. Below you will also find the pages for the study guide for our test on Monday, in case one did not make it home. (On a side note, if your child goes to Mrs. Meth in the morning, they have not completed this unit and will not need to worry about studying or making up the test. Thank you!)

Plastic plate map

Felt map for review

First page of study guide- fill in the blank and multi-option lists

Second page of study guide- short answer

Third page of study guide- North America countries and oceans

Last page of study guide- continents and oceans

 

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Jodie Yuska
Valentines: We have 25 students in the class. As always, valentines are your choice to send to school. If you do choose to send valentines, please make sure you have one for each child. THANK YOU!    
Avrien, Dylan, Drake, Brylea, Declan, Keenan, Brayden, Julian G., Austin, Alyssa, Sidney, Colin,      Shelby, Aubry, Patience, Julian A., Maggie, Allison, Elise, Emily, Zander, Katie, Ray, Joy, and Tyler 
Adults in the room (optional): Mrs. Yuska, Deb (associate) , and Karla (associate)           

I AM ALIVE! :)

Yes, I am still alive! :) Thanks for the emails and get well wishes. The bug finally hit my house. So far, just my daughter Hayden and I were brought down. We are thankful it only lasted a couple of days. However, I don't think either of us were very alive those couple of days. I can't tell you the last time I slept that much and ate so little! :)

Hope all the kids enjoyed their snow day and all the parents had safe travels over the last crazy week of weather. There are a lot of announcements this week, as I am now trying to play catch up a little.  Please take a look at the information below and mark your calendars.  

 

*Book Orders due (2/12/12)! They are ready to go and will be sent home on Monday.

*Early dismissal Wednesday, February 6th. 

*Social Studies test next Monday, February 11th. Study guide will go home on Wednesday, February 6th. I will let you know if that changes and post a completed copy on the blog.

*No School Friday, February 15th. 

 

 * I will send home names for Valentine's Monday in mailboxes (there will also be a list at the bottom of our blog). Please do not yet send these to school with your child. Students can start bringing Valentines to school on Monday, February 11th. Our class party will be on Thursday, February 14th.

Math- Last week, students had a place value review on Thursday for the 100th day of school. On the other days they continued working with fractions. At the beginning of the week we discussed fractions as parts of a whole and as a group of objects. The class caught on to these very quickly! :) On Friday, they talked about if you were sharing among several friends, how would you divide things up to make a fraction. We will do a review with this on Monday and continue working with this concept next week. 

Reading-   This week we did not have a story as we are taking a short break to make sure everyone has time to work on animal research projects since we have students in and out of our room all morning. With me being gone this was put on hold and we will pick right back up where we left off on Monday. This will also be helpful to members of our class who were sick and need some time to catch up. While I was gone, the class discuss and had a lot of practice with inference skills. We will be hitting this skill very hard in the upcoming weeks as it is one a lot of 3rd graders struggle with. We will continue reviewing other comprehension concepts as well, but focus on inference skills for a while.

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. :) I collect a bunch of new resources today, and we will be off and running for this long project again on Monday! I can't wait for you to see what they will have completed at student led conferences in March!

Social Studies- Students worked on inference, main idea and supporting details, as well as context clues while reading two of the three National Geographic stories this week. They were titled "Fancy Feathers" and "Eureka". We will move back to our atlas. Here is what I have planned for the week: 

-Monday: Australia

-Tuesday: Antarctica

-Wednesday: Study Guide

-Thursday: Map review (will need to know all 7 continents, 5 oceans and be able to label their locations on a map)

-Friday: Map and atlas detail review

*Please make sure you take the time to review the study guide with your student. The study guides have all the answers to our test, possibly worded a different way, but the same concepts are covered. This will be very important with the map portion of our assessment. 

Have a great week and STAY WARM & HEALTHY! 

Mrs. Jodie Yuska

Valentines: We have 25 students in the class. As always, valentines are your choice to send to school. If you do choose to send valentines, please make sure you have one for each child. THANK YOU!    
Avrien, Dylan, Drake, Brylea, Declan, Keenan, Brayden, Julian G., Austin, Alyssa, Sidney, Colin,      Shelby, Aubry, Patience, Julian A., Maggie, Allison, Elise, Emily, Zander, Katie, Ray, Joy, and Tyler 

Adults in the room (optional): Mrs. Yuska, Deb (associate) , and Karla (associate)                               

A cold, and icy day!

I hope everyone was able to stay in this morning and not have to venture out into the cold and ice. 

Math- This week we discussed the meaning of fractions, how to divide up 12 into equal pieces, and how to compare fractions using a number line.

Reading-   This week we 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 used 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. We will continue talking about these words this week.

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' this week. This past week we have compared Marion, Iowa to the rest of the continent of North America, to South America, and to Africa. Next week, we will look at the continents of Europe, Asia, Antarctica, and Australia. They will complete a study guide on Thursday. 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, February 3rd. 

A look a head- 

* I will send home names for Valentine's in tomorrow. Please do not yet send these to school with your child. I will let you know when our bags are up and ready! :) 

*Early dismissal Wednesday, February 6th. 

Valentine's Party Tuesday, February 14th. 

No School Friday, February 15th. Teachers will be working on 2nd Trimester  report cards. 

Snow make-up day Monday, February 18th. 

Have a great week! 

Mrs. Jodie Yuska

2 weeks= 1 post

I am sorry for the delay. I am having trouble getting back full swing after winter break and entering tax season. For those of you that don't know, my husband Brandon, is a tax accountant. I go from having a very hands on, helpful husband, to being at home before and after-school with both girls. They consume a lot of my time, but I love the time with them! Please be patient with me through April 15th. I promise to do the best that I can! :) 

The last two weeks have been a blur for me. Here is a quick rundown of our weeks back from break. 

Math- Right after break we continued our review with multiplication. We currently have daily, to every other day time tests. Students will be bringing home a "CONGRATULATIONS" slip if they passed for that factor. They will bring home an "OOPS" slip if they still need some practice. They will need above 95% on the two minute time test to pass! :) This week we started learning about fractions. We discussed the meaning of fractions and had a lot of practice with numerators and denominators.

Reading-   This week we 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

The week before we read A Fruit and Vegetable Man by Roni Schotter. Ruby Rubenstein is a fruit and vegetable man. Every day he picks out the very best fruits and vegetables for his store. Every day he arranges them in beautiful rows and pyramids of color. But one day, Ruby is sick. Luckily, he had been showing young Sun Ho how to choose the best produce, arrange it, and work the cash register.

Sun Ho first watches the artistic fruit and vegetable man, Ruby Rubenstein, at work; then he begins helping in the store--even offering something new: bean sprouts.

 

Text Talk- This week we  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!" Words we worked on were: shun, peer, exotic, constantly, gossiped, and simplicity.

Social Studies- We have jumped all over the place for the last two weeks in Social Studies. Here are our lessons: 

 

-->How are maps and globes different?

--> Which are continents and which are countries?

--> Which places have seasons?

--> How do people use natural resources?

--> Where in the world is the United States?

--> Can you find Iowa?

--> What are the branches of our government?

--> How has transportation changed our country?

On Friday, we looked at who Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was and what he stood for. We watched a short video and read a few books about him. We also created a chart about what we know, what we want to know, and what we learned about him. Last, students created a picture and short paragraph about what they would do to make the world a better place. This was a great connection with our Miss Rumphius story.       

Last week we took a bunch of mid-year assessments. Here is a run down... 

*DAZE the comprehension test, where students pick the correct word to use in a sentence. 

*DIBELS where students are tested on reading rate, accuracy, and retelling skills. 

*With all the assessments last week. I also gave the January time tests for addition, subtraction, multiplication,   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). 

I am hoping to have a minute to write down scores from all these assessments (I finished grading them all today!) and send home midterm grades next week. 

This past week we also took Cognitive Ability  practice tests. We will take the actual tests this coming week. 
Please 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.

Happy early MLK day! Those of you who have today off, I hope you have something fun planned! :) Those of you that will be at work like me, make the most of it! Either way, stay warm on a very chilly January day!  

Mrs. Jodie Yuska