This year is winding down!  We will be doing a variety of final assessments to measure the year's growth.  We started Benchmarks today, we will be doing WRAP assessment, and the 2nd graders will participate in IREAD-2.  It is important that the students do their personal best on these assessments, as the results will be used to inform the administration and their teachers for next year  It is always great to see how much the students have grown over the year, and I am sure we will have a lot of success to celebrate!

Congratulations to the 2nd grade on their 1st Communion!!!

-Mrs. Elliot

Hello parents,
We are finished with ISTEP.  I did not assign homework this week due to ISTEP.  Please remember that the Wax museum is this Thursday.  They should have their speech memorized and their costume or props prepared.  The museum times are 9:30-10:30 and 11:45-12:30.  I hope you are able to come by!

3rd grade parents,

Please look for an envelope in your child's take home folder tonight.  It contains results from the IREAD test.  Let me know if you have any questions!

Have a great weekend!!

Next Week's Spelling Words

2nd- Congratulations!  All of your words have introduced! You will now keep reviewing your entire list of words as well as studying challenge words if you wish.

3rd- run, book, gave, order, open

Challenge- destruction, approaching, exporter, demolish

We started Literature Circles today.  The kids were really excited to use the ipads for reading, highlighting, and making notes.  Tomorrow we will have our first group discussions.

Remember, the biography packet is due Wednesday.  They had some time today for research, and the rest is to be done at home.

Here are this week's spelling words: (Thanks Dylan for reminding me to post these :) )

2nd- last, never, us, left, end

3rd- living, black, eat, short, United States

Challenge- atmosphere, biodegradable, sustainability, ecological footprint.

Hello parents,

We have some exciting things going on in our class this fourth quarter. I want to take this chance to talk about two of them.  I also have a volunteer opportunity.  If you are interested, read the first paragraph about Literature Circles.

We will be doing Literature Circles beginning next week.  There will be four groups, each reading a different novel in the genre "Mystery/Adventure."  All of the reading will be done on ibooks with the school's ipads.  (How fortunate we are to have this technology available to us!)  After completing the assigned reading, the groups will participate in structured discussions.  They will each be responsible for contributing to the discussion.  One person will share the unfamiliar vocabulary, one will share personal connections, one will be responsible for asking the questions, one will analyze the characters, and one will make predictions.  The roles will change with each discussion.  This is where I am looking for help.  I would like to have extra adults in the room to sit with the groups and help facilitate the discussions.  We will be doing the reading and preparation on Mondays and Thursdays, and the discussions will take place on Tuesdays and Fridays.  It will all take place in the mornings, probably from 8:30-9:30  If you are interested, please email me.  This will be going on for approximately 4-5 weeks.  You can be involved as little or as much as you wish and are able.

 I hope you all got the information about the Wax Museum.  If you haven't already done so, help your child choose an important person to research.  Someone famous, American, possibly a Hoosier, someone they don't already know a ton about, someone who made a contribution to society in some way- just a few guidelines.  Check out biography.com for help.  Once your person is chosen, be researching and completing the packet that was sent home.  Remind them to keep track of all websites and books on the references page.  The completed packet is due this Wednesday.  They will have an opportunity to do some research in class Monday afternoon.  The rest is to be done at home.

Thanks for all your support!!!
-Amanda

Hello parents,

I have been updating grades, however, they won't be completely finished until tomorrow, so ready for your viewing this weekend. 

Everyone should have a conference time scheduled for Wednesday.  If you don't know your time, you can call the office.  If there is a conflict with your time, please email me and we can change it.

We are reading Ramona Quimby, Age 8 as a class to learn how to do literature circles.  After spring break we will be doing literature circles.

Remember IREAD is on Monday for 3rd graders.  This is a mandatory test from the state.  If your child does not take the test, they will have to participate in remediation and retake the test in the summer.  So, please make sure they are in school on Monday and get enough sleep and a healthy breakfast!  Also, just like ISTEP, you may bring in a healthy snack.

Hello parents,

If you receive an email tonight from scholastic, it is about a writing contest the kids are entering.  If you wish, you can give them permission through the email and then create a password for them.  Have them write down your email and the password you create in their planner. (This is not the password to your email account, just one you create for this website.) If they do not have permission, they will still write the stories, they just won't be entered in the contest and they won't get to use the storybook tool.  Thanks!

Here are this week's spelling words:

2nd- every, found, between, name

3rd- upon, family, turn, move, later

Challenge- conserve, interstate, executive, legislative, judicial

Hello parents,

The projects went terrific!! I was so pleased with the kids and all the effort they put into it.  Thank you so much for your help at home.  Also, I was praying that the technology would go smoothly, and for the most part it did.  We ran out of time and 7 people will be going on Monday. 

Also, 2nd graders- Mrs. Norman wanted me to remind you about the retreat on Sunday.

Have a great weekend!!

-Mrs. Elliot

Mrs. Norman wanted me to inform you that the 2nd graders will have a Religion test tomorrow.

Hello parents,

ISTEP went well!  I feel confident that the students did their best and showcased what they know.  I know you will be anxious to get results, as will I, but I don't want anyone too worried or stressed, especially the kids.  They all did their best, and that's what counts!

There is no homework or tests this week.  But the science project is still due Friday.  Be sure to practice at home, I should be able to tell that the presentation is rehearsed.  2.5-3 minutes. Make sure they include the following:

-the question they investigated or what the project is about
-the materials or references they used
-the steps they took
-what they learned

Bring in any visual aids, props, technology that you need! It is fine to use notes or posters etc.

If you feel you do not have enough time to complete the project and prepare for the presentation, please email me.  I would rather them be done well. So just let me know if you need an extension.

Thanks,
Amanda

ISTEP is Monday!  If your child is in 3rd grade please make sure they are at school Monday and Tuesday morning.  Testing will begin promptly at 8:30.  Make sure they have had enough sleep and eat a good breakfast.  They may also bring a healthy snack to enjoy during our break.

If you missed my post a few days ago, we are running out of some supplies.  If you can find that post and are able to replenish us with anything, that would be terrific!!

I will grade the science tests over the weekend and get those back next week.  I hope you will enjoy working on the science projects with your child.  If you want to use any pictures, videos, etc.  those will all work on the smartboard too.  As long as you can save or send the file to me, we should be able to open it.  Remember it should be between 2.5 and 3 minutes long.

Have a great weekend!!

Science project presentation

The science project presentations will be on Friday, March, 9th.  I am sending home guidelines for the presentation today.  Make sure the students practice their presentation at home.  The presentation should be between 2.5 and 3 minutes.

As an option, they may create a smart notebook file to use the smartboard for the presentation.  You can access a limited version of the software at home by going to this website:  http://express.smarttech.com/#
The file will need to be saved to a flash drive and brought to school, OR attach it to an email and send it to me.  They will have two opportunities to work on the smartboard presentation at school in the computer lab where they will have full access to all of the features.  This will be Friday and Monday afternoon.

I appreciate any help you can give to your child with their project.  I know the kids are very excited to be doing a science project!

Also, as a reminder the science test is this Friday March 2nd.  It is open notes so if they have their notes at home to study make sure they return to school by Friday.

Thanks,
Mrs. Elliot

Hello parents,

Classroom Needs
We have come to a point in the year where we are running out of supplies.  If you are able to help with any of the following items, I would greatly appreciate it:
Pencils- a good brand like ticonderoga please, also if you find the pre-sharpened kind that's even better!
Pink Pearl Erasers
Pencil sharpeners- small handheld kind
Notebooks- depending on how much they write, some students have filled up their journals, your child may need a new one
Loose Leaf Paper
That is all I can think of for now, but I will keep you posted if I find something else.  Thank you so much for your help and support! 
  

ISTEP
ISTEP will be given on Monday and Tuesday, March 5th and 6th for third graders.  We have been preparing for ISTEP in class by looking at sample questions and discussing good strategies.  To further prepare, we will be taking some practice tests next week.  To help, make sure that your child gets enough sleep and a good breakfast on those days.  I feel confident that we will have another 100% passing.

Science Project and Test
In Science, we are finishing up a unit about the physics of sound.  The students have learned what causes sound and how sound travels.  We will be doing an end of the unit project.  They have a list of project ideas that they are taking home tonight.  They can also get ideas for the project in their science notes under the "reflection" section of each investigation.  Please help them look over these ideas and decide on a project.  They can choose a different project, these are just a few ideas.  On the back of the ideas is a project proposal form.  Please help them fill this out and return by Tuesday for me to sign off on.  Then they may begin working on their projects at home.  The final project will be due on March 9th.  They will be giving a presentation on that day.

Also, there will be a science test on March 2nd.  We have been taking notes throughout the unit.  On Monday, we will be reviewing our notes.  Then, they may take their notes home to study them the rest of the week.  They MAY use their notes on the test.

Spelling Words- Next week
I apologize that I have not been posting the spelling words frequently.  Some of you have brought this to my attention and I appreciate that.  Here are next week's words:

2nd- great, tell, men, say, small

3rd- didn't, car, morning, I'm, body

Challenge- krill, algae, atmosphere, additional
 

Valentine's Day Party

Tomorrow is our Valentine's Day party! Please feel free to join us at 11:30 for the fun!  If you lost your class list, here are the names of the students in our class (for the valentines)

1. Maddie
2. Tessa
3. Isabelle
4. Kylie
5. Luke
6. Sam
7. Nash
8. Delaney
9. Anna
10. Izzy
11. Kimmie
12. Jameson
13. Liam
14. Drew
15. Dylan
16. Amiya
17. Luci
18. Yael
19. Cirilo
20. Haden

 

Here is a link to newsletter created and updated frequently by Izzy Guinan and Liam Rolfson.  

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18PHW81YIuivAO8WYmfT4eYMy00qfWWoLUtmqSceciac/edit

Hello parents,

We did not have time to take a spelling test last Friday due to Mass and the pep rally, so we just took the test Tuesday.  I will be passing them back tomorrow.  I did go ahead and preview the new words with them yesterday so we will still have a test this Friday.  They should have taken home a list.  The words to study this week are:

2nd- place, well, here, such, take
3rd- room, sea, against, top, turned
Challenge- embarrassed, excluding, rumors, encourage, ashamed

Hello parents,

All of our readers did a beautiful job at Mass today.  We got several compliments about how well they read.  We also have Mass on the 17th.  Feel free to join us.

The Valentines' Day party is on Feb. 14 from 11:30 to 12:45.

We will be going on a field trip to the Ruth Lily Center on Feb. 21.  Information will come home this Friday.  We do not need chaperones for this trip.

For 3rd graders- ISTEP begins on March 5 and IREAD begins on March 19.  That is just around the corner!

Hello parents,

Please send in donations for our reverse raffle basket.  You can send in donations until Feb. 7.

We will be leading the Mass on Feb. 1 and on Feb. 17.  Everyone has a part in at least one of these Masses.  You are more than welcome to join us.  Mass begins at 8:30 am.  If your child has a reading, they will be bringing them home tonight.  It is always helpful to practice at home.

Thanks,

Mrs. Elliot

Scholastic Book Orders

Hello,
I wanted to let you know that I recently ordered 18 books from scholastic- 6 copies of each of the Titanic books on the last post (The kids are so excited to read them!).  I used all of my accumulated points from last year and this year.  Thanks to everyone who has ordered scholastic in the past for contributing to my point total!  Now, I am back down to 0 points so I wanted to remind you about scholastic book clubs.  See the letter below for information about ordering books.

Scholastic Book Clubs Ordering Information
www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
Class Activation Code: GQ2BW

Dear Parent,

This month's Scholastic Book Clubs flyer is ready for you to explore with your child. Once you've decided which books to purchase, please return the form and payment to me, or give online ordering a try. It saves time, offers more book choices, and earns extra rewards for the classroom.

To start ordering online, follow these simple steps:

1.  Register at Scholastic Book Clubs' secure Web site (www.scholastic.com/bookclubs), and create your own User Name and Password.
2.  Enter the onetime Class Activation Code above to link you to our classroom.
3.  Choose the books that you would like to order.
4.  Pay for your selections using your credit card.
5.  Submit your order to me online.

It's always a special moment to see an entire classroom bursting with excitement to open the book box!

Thank you,
Mrs. Elliot

Books we will be reading beginning next week: 

Next Week's Spelling Words: 

2nd- right, look, think, also, around

3rd- sure, knew, it's, try, told

Challenge- congruent, acute, obtuse, quadrilateral, scalene, isosceles,  equilateral

Welcome back!

I hope everyone had a wonderful break.  We are currently taking Benchmark assessments.  It will be exciting to see who met their goals!

We are reading about the Titanic.  We are working on measurement and geometry.  Here are the spelling words for this Friday's test.

2nd- man, too, any, day, same

3rd- best, across, during, today, however