IXL

Our students have been hard at work using IXL to practice math skills. I have been very impressed with the amount of time some students have been putting into working on these skills. A sign up sheet is on my classroom door to allow extra time for them to research for inquiry group and utilize IXL for math practice. I have the ability to check to see who has been getting on, what they study, what they master, what they struggle with, and how long they study. This is another tool we can use to determine what skills we can work on, and who needs assistance in these skills. Thanks for being so flexible with us as we make changes in the homework and in their online sites etc.

Congrats to
Kelloch
Dylan
and
John

for putting in the most time in IXL:) Great job!!!

If your student has misplaced their IXL page with their login information email me at mbindrup@pinecrestnv.org and I can get that information to you. Thanks!

Thank YOU! and Winter Break

We made it to WINTER BREAK! Yeah! Thanks so much for all of the wonderful presents:) I feel so loved!

HOMEWORK over winter break: The students were asking me what they should work on over break. Here are some suggestions. This isn't mandatory, but suggestions:

Reading daily:) Yup, read, read, read:)
Math: IXL account. If your kiddo has lost their login sheet and password, just email me and I will get that to you.

Inquiry: Our topic is "What is the story of the Earth?"
Our six inquiry questions our students chose are:
What is the story of the Titanic?
What is the story of the Redwood National Forest?
What is the story of underwater volcanoes/the deep sea?
What is the story of fossils?
What is the story of glaciers?
What is the story of caves and volcanoes?

We have been having quite a few news reports and plays over the past few inquiry presentations. I am hoping they choose to make models, diagrams, maps, etc w this inquiry question. I think they have a good base for what they are researching. When we get back, that will be week 3. This is where they really need to decide on how they will present, and get their materials and specific roles taken care of. Week 4 is when we present.

Blinds and Holiday Party

As I was stressing over our window coverings, and Mrs. Hitchcock was heading to buy sheets, I get a call over the intercom that our blinds are here!!! Yeah! Luckily that was at the beginning of my break, so I hurriedly called Mrs. Hitchcock to make sure she didn't purchase any sheets. I found out that these blinds roll up and down, so that we can adjust the light. I think they will work for blocking the heat out as well. Yeah! All blinds should be installed by the end of tomorrow.

Also......

HOLIDAY PARTY!
We are joining k-2 to have a PJ day and hot chocolate with Polar Express. I like the pizza party idea, but since we are having treats brought in by our December birthday kiddos, maybe we can save the pizza party for a class reward we when fill up our marble jar? So, I was hoping we could still make a craft/activity? I know some parents have volunteered for that, so let me know. It will probably start after lunch (the craft and/or activity) and then the movie would begin around 1:00pm. We will have a hot chocolate break at about 145-200, and then watch the remainder of the movie until the end of the day. It should be fun! Our class will be watching on the projector in the MP room with k-2. I thought it would be fun for us to do something outside of the classroom. If you would like to bring a treat, help with a craft, or help keep our hyped up group in check during the afternoon, just let me know! Thanks again for all of your support!

plAnEt mOdEls

We have been studying our Solar System this unit. Each student has been assigned a planet or the Sun to research. To coincide with their planet reports, each student will make a model of the assigned planet, or Sun. I want to encourage the students to be creative, and not to spend a lot of money. It would be fun to see how resourceful they can be. I am having the report and model due by next Monday, December 17th. We will also be writing a persuasive piece, a commercial to convince others to visit their planet. This will be due on the 19th. Our unit exam will be on the 20th. I emailed the outline for the planet unit to the emails I have listed for each student. If you didn't get that email, please let me know so I can update my email list. Thank you so much!

Nevada Day "HALLOWEEN" Party

We are going to have a little Halloween (AKA Nevada Day) party in the afternoon on Wednesday. Sorry for the short notice, but third grade wasn't sure of the protocol for celebrations for 3rd. Sometimes we are lumped with 3-5, but sometimes we get to celebrate with the 1-2nd graders! Yeah! So we are going to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" after lunch around 1:15. I hope to have a craft for them to complete and a few snacks for them as well. Let me know if you would like to contribute to either craft or snack. I have researched a few ideas, but nothing is set in stone yet. Thanks so much!

NEED Uniforms?

We have uniforms available from students who have withdrawn. There is girl youth medium 8-10yrs, and boy youth medium 8-10yrs. Long sleeve, short sleeve, and jackets. Just let me know if you are interested and I will get their contact information for you. The long sleeves and jacket have never been worn.

PowerSchool

Finally! We have access to Power School! Please let me know if you are having difficulty logging in to view your student's grades. I am still in the process of entering their grades. We have determined what assignments we are entering, and the weights. This is how we are weighting their scores:

Homework: ONE point
Assignments: TWO points
Quizzes- ONE or TWO points depending on the quiz
Test/Assessments: THREE points

I have also been focusing on READING, WRITING, and MATH first. Science is not being evaluated at this time, so the first unit is complete. We are integrating more science into our reading, but that may not be reflected as their science grade.

Thank you for being patient with the gradebook. We have had to use other means to keep track of grades so far. We have had to transfer all of those grades, plus keep up with the new grades, lesson planning, additional assessments, differentiating for math, and getting our wonderful student portfolios ready for our conferences.

Portfolio Conferences went really well!! It was so nice to get chat with you and make sure we are all on the same page:) If we didn't get a chance to meet, and I haven't already set up a time to meet, please email me so we can do that. If it is not convenient for you to come in, we can chat on the phone, or email. It would be nice for you to see your student's work thus far.

Hallway decorations: we need assistance with cutting out leaves to go on our grade level tree. I can send home paper, or you can come in:) We will need help hanging our students' work on Wednesday. Thanks so much!

We also need marbles for our classroom to fill our SPECIALs jar. The students can receive up to five marbles for their behavior and participation as a class in art, music, PE, and spanish classes. 

Please email me if you have any questions:)

spOOkY dEcOrAtIng

Anyone want to decorate? Third grade is writing a spooky story using description this week, and we thought it would be fun to decorate around the third grade classrooms in the hallway. We thought it would be cool to decorate the hallway entering to room one as well. All of the third grade teachers are emailing or posting this announcement today hoping to get some volunteers to come to our prep on Monday at 1025am to discuss the plan. If you can't make that meeting time, but would like to help, just post a comment to this post or send me an email and I can get you together with the other parents willing to help out. Thanks again for your continued enthusiastic support!:)

Grade Book Access

Hello!
I have been frantically entering grades in PowerSchool so you can have access asap. I still have their assignments from their practice companion books (reading assignments), a few math assessments that take forever to grade since they are interpreting data/graphing assessments, homework, and a few writing assignments to enter. I have been sending some work home, and more is coming this week. Their writing and their assessments will be included in their portfolios, so you will be able to see those pieces when you come in for the portfolio conference. After this week, you will have access to their portfolios whenever you like! The students and I will be keeping up with creating, evaluating, and filing their pieces in their binder this week, and hopefully be able to keep current after that.

SPELLING GROUPS
Just a quick recap on what their spelling/word study will be for each night:
Monday: Open  Sort- students will sort any way they wish to explore their words
Tuesday: Closed Sort-this sort will be taught to the students, and I will post the sort in the homework section.
Wednesday: Speed Sort-students will practice their closed sort and see how fast they can sort their words
Thursday: Practice Sort and Teach- students will practice their sort and teach their sort to someone.

Thanks so  much for the treasure box supplies:) We are good for a while!

What we need: plastic ziplock bags for their word sorts to take home.
We also need more pencils. You would not believe how many pencils these kiddos go through.
MARBLES! I have a jar to fill with marbles for every point they receive from their specialist teachers.

THANKS! and NEW SPELLING GROUPS

Thanks so much for bringing in the awesome goodies/toys for the treasure box:) The students have been so excited about our new reward program.

Also, your student should be bringing home "spelling words" this week. We have been assessing them using spelling inventory assessments. There are various levels/stages of spelling: letter-name, within word, syllables and affixes, and derivational relations. There are also early, middle, and late stages to each level. We have each student assessed, then placed in the spelling group that is at their level. At first the list may seem easy, this is purposefully done so that the student can build confidence and be able to catch on to the activities. The lists will become progressively more difficult as the weeks go on. The homework for these groups are as follows:

Monday: OPEN SORT 
This is the time for the student to sort any way they choose: by beginning sound, living or nonliving, number of syllables, etc.

Tuesday: CLOSED SORT
During groups on Tuesday the students will learn the sort they will be studying for the week. They will practice this sort on Tuesday night.

Wednesday: SPEED SORT
How fast can they sort their word list?

Thursday: PRACTICE/TEACH SORT
This is a night to practice the sort by teaching the sort to someone else.

When the students learn the patterns for words, this aides in the correct spelling of words with similar patterns later on, and tends to carry over in their writing. When a student is giving a list to memorize, they may be able to write it correctly for the test, but may not carry over into their writing. Also, this is more fun than writing a word ten times and using it in a sentence. SNORE. So have fun with the lists:) We will be making two copies: one for home, and one for school so don't worry about them bringing their words back to school. Thanks again for all of your help and support!

Rewards:)

I have printed out these awesome "Caught You Being Good" labels to give to the students. I will have a jar or bucket for them to put them into after they have signed their "Caught You.." On Fridays I want to pick out some Caught You's from the jar for the students to pick out something from our Treasure Box. These is where I need help- I need some loot! I have some pencils, and a few things to put in, but I was hoping to have a variety. Here is where you come in, and an opportunity to get some credit hours! If you have anything to donate to the Treasure Box: stickers, pencils, pens, little toys, anything you think a third grader would like-send it in please! I want a way to reward students for staying on task and without using sugar. Thanks so much!

One Month!

Can you believe we have been going for one month?! Time is just flying by. Our grade level is working on differentiating for math, finalizing our spelling/word study groups, and getting progress reports sent out to our families.

Our class is having a great time:) I try to make the atmosphere fun and engaging. Sometimes our class of entertainers takes their behavior too far, and we are working on that. I don't want to dampen their spirits, but we need to learn when it is appropriate to be silly, and when it is just distracting to the learning going on. We have a class with big personalities, big brains, and big ideas. Our days are never dull.

For those of you concerned about the classroom getting warm when the sun beats through our massive windows: the school is working on ordering window coverings. In the meantime, I am hanging butcher paper over the windows to keep the heat from warming out the room by the windows. We are fine up until about 1pm, then the room has a hard time keeping cool. We don't want to eliminate the natural light from coming in, so we think blinds would be the best option. If you have any other ideas, please post a comment to this post, or email me directly at mbindrup@pinecrestnv.org . There has been a coating/tint already installed on all the windows, but it seems to not be enough.

Homework questions: homework is due on Friday. Your students may turn it in earlier, but with hectic schedules in our families, I understand not every night is ideal for all homework being completed. Please have your student turn in their signed homework form with their name on it on Friday. Thanks!

WEEKS One and Two

I will be posting weekly, but with the first week's work and getting the room together, I combined the two. YES:) there is homework. We will be sending home a homework sheet weekly. Please have the work completed and returned by Friday. Reading 20 minutes nightly is important. I know we get busy, I have children, too. Sometimes my third grader doubles up on Thursday if he has scouts or soccer earlier in the week. You do what you gotta do! We will have word study, but with the time spent making the bottle buddies, we decided to hold off on starting that until next week. I am adding a homework list to the side of the posts to be referred to if you lose the homework sheet. Thanks again and I look forward to speaking with you at open house!

First Day Reminder

Hello! I just wanted to add a quick reminder for the first day:

*Don't forgot to put your car loop cards in your window for pick up

*Feel free to walk your student onto campus the first day, but be aware of the limited parking space

*Please have your student bring their student information sheet filled out as well as the code of conduct (click on link below for the the code of conduct) Just bring in the last page w signatures.
http://www.pinecrestnv.org/2013/PAN%20Code%20of%20Conduct.pdf

* DON'T FORGET to have your student bring in their brown bag about them. They are to put five things/pictures that represent them and/or their likes, decorate the bag, and be prepared to share with the class. I will have extra bags on Monday if you don't have any at home. We wanted to have a fun way for the students to get to know one another. Don't stress about it, just have fun with it:)

*SUPPLIES: thanks so much for our wonderful supplies! We forgot to put box of tissues and a ruler on the list. I am ordering rulers for our class, but I don't know when they will arrive, so if you already have one for your student, then please bring it in.

Thanks again!!! I really appreciate how supportive you are! This is going to be a great year!!

Meet the Teacher

What a turn out! I met almost all of my students and their parents on meet the teacher yesterday. If you weren't able to make it, no worries. We will get some time to chat really soon. I am hoping I have the names of my students memorized, but with uniforms they will all be looking similar. Yikes! The students are going to help with the organizing of the remainder of the room, it is their room after all, too!
Parents had questions about lunch cards: If your student is buying hot lunch and are bringing in money- I will put the money in an envelope with a list of names and our 3rd grade aide will take the envelope to the Healthy Kids LV representative. She will be making lunch cards for the students this week to make the process easier.
SPECIALS: I will post our schedule and specials on a separate tab. I want to confirm the specials before I post. This week our specialists are floating around to assist us in our prep time, and helping out where they are needed. The following week they will have their normal schedule with our classes.
If you have any other questions, feel free to post them as a comment to this post or email me at
mbindrup@pinecrestnv.org
If you click on this link, it may send you to the Pinecrest Academy site. Select my name under the faculty or copy and past the address to your compose mail. Thanks so much!