We had a terrific Valentine’s Day party yesterday! Thank you to all of the parents who donated treats and other items for the party. A huge thank you to the parents who spent time planning the fun festivities!

Classroom News from 3-1

In this issue: Writing 1 Reading 2 Social Studies 3 Math 3 Science 4 Web Updates 5 Dates/Events 5 Student Challenge 6

Crandall Chronicle

February 2013

In February, we began the second unit of the WEX (Writers’ Express) writing program. This new unit introduces the students to Responses to Literature. As we read the novel My Name is María Isabel by Alma Flor Ada, the students are writing responses to the story and analyzing the main character, María Isabel. This has been a very challenging concept for the children since they are no longer describing their own experiences like they did during the previous unit with the personal narratives. Instead they are reflecting on the literature and using textual evidence to support their claims about the characters and events.

Over the next few weeks, the students will be working on their final response to literature piece of writing, which uses their own ideas about the characters as well as specific details from the story. We will complete the writing process by revising, editing, and creating a final polished piece of writing.

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Each month the students receive a new list of monthly writing words, which they are tested on at the end of the month with a cumulative test. Please continue to help your child to practice and prepare for these tests.

Writing What We’re Studying

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Reading A few weeks ago, the students completed the third unit of our Treasures literacy program. The students were assessed on key reading strategies that have been focused on during the past six weeks. These skills and strategies include visualizing, making inferences, identifying cause and effect relationships, and describing a sequence of events within a story.

The students continue to practice new vocabulary that is introduced in the weekly stories. These words are listed on the informational letter from Treasures that comes home each week. Please ask your child to share with you what they know about these new words at home.

The class also continues to practice reading fluency daily using the Six Minute Solution program. Students read with partners and provide comments about each other’s intonation, tempo, and expression. Please ask your child to read out loud to you at home every once in a while so that you get the opportunity to hear how he or she reads with expression!

You can reinforce these skills at home by having your child look up unfamiliar or confusing words that they encounter while reading or through daily conversation at home.

While your child is reading at home, please take a moment to ask him or her to share what they are reading and their thoughts about the book with you. Some conversation starters include:

* Give me a summary of what you read today.

* Were you surprised by anything that happened in your book?

* Do the characters or events in the story remind you of anything?

* If you were the character, what would you have done?

* How do you think the character felt?

* Why do you think the author wrote this?

By talking with your child about the literature they are reading, it will show them that you are interested, reading is valuable, and it will encourage them to reflect on their reading, which will assist them with their comprehension and understanding of the text.

This week in guided reading we began reading novels. The students are very excited about the new literature they are reading and eager to meet in our groups to discuss the books. I am so excited to see this eagerness to read!

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Math We recently completed Unit 6: Geometry in Everyday Math. The students worked very hard to learn and understand the new vocabulary that was introduced in this unit.

Throughout the month of February, the students will be learning many new math concepts through small mini-lessons. These will help prepare them for problems they will encounter on the ISAT test, which will be in the beginning of March. Some of the concepts include using parentheses, plotting coordinates, and measuring volume.

Please make sure that your child is practicing his or her math facts at home. By memorizing their addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts, it will be much easier for them to calculate more challenging math problems in class and on their homework. Quiz your child anywhere and at any time! Here are a few ways you can take advantage of your time to help your child practice his or her facts: * in the car * waiting in line at the store * while clearing off the table * during a commercial break Remember, every little bit of practice helps!

Our current social studies unit is Illinois. The students will continue to learn all about the history, economy, and people that have impacted our state. On February 26th a program director from the Illinois Farm Bureau will be coming to our class to teach us about the importance of agriculture in Illinois. It is a free field trip, so no money or permission slips are required. An informational letter came home last week.

The students have already been tested on the Midwest and Northeast states and capitals. Your child will be bringing home flashcards and a map for the western states, which is the next region that the class will be tested on. Please make sure that your child is studying and preparing for the test. The students will be responsible for locating the states on a blank map and matching the states with their capitals. There are many links to fun websites on our class blog. They can be found on the Race Across the States page.

Social Studies

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Visit our class website and check out these recently added items:

Student Techspert Reports

Photographs of Art Appreciation

Class Pet Adventure Stories

Photographs from our Valentine’s Day Party

Class Website Updates!

Science

IMPORTANT DATES & UPCOMING EVENTS February 14 – Valentine’s Day Party

February 18 – President’s Day (NO SCHOOL)

February 21 – Monday Schedule

February 22 – Dolphin Spirit Day

February 26 – Ag in the Classroom (In-School Field Trip)

February 27 – First Grade Musical

February 28 – Third Grade Spelling Bee

The students really enjoyed our most recent science unit: Light. We explored light through a variety of hands-on activities and experiments. The class was given the opportunity to utilize some exciting new technology to assist in our learning about the new light concepts and show our understanding.

The use of a light sensor or probe provided students with the ability to

make more precise observations about the amount of light being emitted from various light sources and the amount of light that passes through different objects.

We completed this science unit a few weeks ago. To see some videos and other photographs from our lessons, look at previous posts on our class blog.

Student Challenge This month’s student challenge will involve doing some thinking! The students have enjoyed trying to solve some brain busters in class, so the challenge will involve solving a packet of tricky mind benders and puzzles. They will need to be creative with their answers and do a lot of thinking.

Students: Remember, the student challenge is to be completed by you! If you need help, you may ask someone for help, but do not ask anyone to do the work for you!\

Good luck and have fun!

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