Friday Email-Some of you are not getting my emails because they are coming back to me

Good Afternoon Parents!

                Here are several announcements before a summary of what we’ve been up to this week!

1. Group pictures will be this Tuesday, March 29th (prepay by envelope or online…..forms were sent out yesterday and today).
2. District Collaboration (Late Start) will be Thursday, March 31^st. Drop off will take place at 10:20 and school will begin at 10:40.
3. Individual spring pictures will be Monday, April 4th (no prepay….pictures are taken, printed, and sent home for parents to decide if they want to purchase).
4. OCCT Testing will be Monday through Thursday April 11^th-14^th.
5. Journey with Me performance will be Thursday, April 28^th at 1:45.

 

Classroom Needs: Mints for Testing, healthy snacks for test week, the DVD movie The Tale of Despereaux to borrow for Friday, April 15th

 

Reading: I feel like we have done so much in a weeks’ time. This week we focused heavily on synthesizing. The students read, took notes, responded, and reread an article titled “Hard at Work.” This article was about child labor in Ecuador. The students were able to think about kids around the world and held a great discussion over child labor. It was neat to see the kids think about child labor and how some kids around the world do not have the opportunity to go to school. Ask your kids to talk to you about what they learned and what their thinking is on the subject!

                The students also got to meet with their Book Club on Tuesday to discuss the first half of their new book. For the most part they did really well with staying on topic and discussing what was going on in their book.

                I introduced the students to ixl.com and they have really been enjoying it! This is an easy thing to access at home and is amazing test prep! To read more about ixl.com, please see my previous emails.

                We also used part of our reading time to practice stamina reading. One of the harder things about the OCCT is being able to sit in one seat and read for an hour. If possible, please practice this at home—maybe set a timer for 20 minutes and have them sit and read without stopping. The next time, bump it to 25 minutes and so on.

                We have been doing reading rotations every single day. The students have been able to do a lot of different activities and test prep during this time. The students have been reading specific books and then have had to answer test-like questions about the books (Venomous Snakes and Small Cities), they have done Word Work and Spelling City with their spelling words, Word Sorts with prefixes, Front Row Reading—which gives articles and then test-like follow up questions, Book Club where they read and respond using four boxes, and Fact and Opinion games and task cards.

 

Writing: I have been using our writing block to do even more test prep and reading. We looked at rhyming words and a poem titled “Shell Shopping” which used the figurative language of alliteration, did some more Fact and Opinion exercises, and even got to listen to Cimarron Sunrise author, Brenda Turner, about the writing process and a career as an author. The students absolutely loved meeting her!

 

Vocabulary-Our vocab words this week were destination, landscape, youth, and verdict.

 

Math: As you already know, the students took a practice test on Monday titled “CRT Practice Test” and for the most part did not do so well. To learn more information, please see my previous email. We finished going over the practice test today and I sent it home with them. PLEASE take time to walk through the test with your child and help them if they have questions. The main reason I believe why they did not do so well is that they did not take their time and read each question thoroughly. I stressed to the kids that I cannot help them on the OCCT and that they need to slow down and read each question all the way through. The good news is that we still have two full weeks until the test. We now know what kind of questions will be on the test so we can focus on things we do not understand and be prepared.

            Besides the practice test, we did a lot of work with coordinate grids and ordered pairs. The students seem to really enjoy this kind of math! We did several packets which I hope made it home.

 

***On Monday, we will take the state practice test for reading and on Tuesday we will take the one for math. I will grade these and send them home as soon as possible so you can use them as test prep.

 

Test Prep-synthesizing, reread and rethink, fact and opinion, main idea, poetry, figurative language, Front Row, ixl.com, synonyms and antonyms

 

                As always, please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or would like to donate to our classroom. Stick with me through this testing period-we can do! Keep encouraging and loving on your kids and have a great Easter weekend! J

 

Katie Jones

Third Grade Teacher

Jenks West Elementary

 

Snacks, Movie, and Testing Information

Here is some information/pleas for testing week!

          Testing will take place Monday-Thursday, April 11^th-14^th. We will test starting at 9 am every morning Monday through Thursday. We will test from 9- about 10:30. There is no time limit to take the test. When everyone finishes, we will play learning games, read, relax, and have a brain break until recess and lunch (11:35). The afternoon will follow our same learning schedule, except for the addition of an extra recess time. (TBA)

The Friday of testing week will be a bring pillow and stuffed animal day. We will follow our normal schedule; just have stuffed animals and pillows all day!

Please make sure your child has a healthy snack every day. I will probably buy two big bags of cheese sticks, a bag of apples, and some goldfish to hand out if needed. If you would like to donate these items, let me know!

On Friday the 15^th, I plan on showing the movie The Tale of Despereaux. We have been reading the book in class and thought it would be fun to show after a long week of testing. The problem-I do not have the DVD. Does anyone have the DVD that I could borrow? Please let me know ASAP!

I am attaching sample test booklets to this email so you can see what the test looks like! Also, your child will be bringing home this year’s booklet from the state department, sometime next week!

Katie Jones

Third Grade Teacher

Jenks West Elementary

ixl.com-GREAT Test Prep

Hello Parents!

            I have signed all your children up for a free trial of ixl.com. This is a tremendous site for test prep! The username will be the first letter of your child’s name with their last name and the number 471. The password is jones. Here is an example: kjones471, jones. Only three students have different passwords and I have contacted the parents.

                All you need to do is enter in the username and password and choose if you either want to do math or language arts. There are tons of options and they would all be great but I have listed ones I would especially focus on at the bottom. Obviously, please choose 3^rd grade J

https://www.ixl.com/

Language Arts:

Prefixes and suffixes

Context clues

Alphabetical order

Dictionary skills

Main idea

Opinions

Author’s Purpose

Synonyms

Antonyms

Similes

Cause and Effect

Math:

Measurement

Place values

Geometry

Properties

Compare fractions

Probability

Decimals

                Like I said, this is a free trial and will only last 30 days. I will be introducing this to the students in class ASAP and would love if you would do some at home. Again, great test prep!

Katie Jones

Third Grade Teacher

Jenks West Elementary

Newsletter Update

I have added most (if not all) my Friday Email Updates to the page on here that says "Newsletter."

New Homework Menu

I know...it's been forever since I've been here...I'm sorry! With the holidays and still getting use to my first year of teaching 3rd grade, I have fallen short. But I will continue to try!

I have created another Homework Menu and have posted it at the bottom of this post (there are now two menus). I know some of you have the Everyday Mathematics HomeLink which includes math worksheets that go along with our lessons and those are great to do. If for some reason you never got one and want one, please email me and I will send one home with your child.

                Under the first menu is the link to the Alexandria webpage where all of our online resources reside. Spelling City, Freedom Flix, Typing Pal, Math Games, etc. are all on there. Your child should know exactly where things are as we do several in class.

                If you use the menu or not, please encourage your kids to be reading every night and to always practice their multiplication and division tables whenever possible. These are the two key things that will really help them. 

Homework Menu

Read the book of your choice. Use your inner voice to remember what you read.	Math practice:  frontrowed.com Class Code is wofusq OR Bulls-Eye Math	Watch a Brain Pop and take the quiz! Username-jenkstrojans Password-jenks
Read an E-book online.  Capstone- User-Jenks Password-west Tumblebooks-user-westcampus Password-books Follett Shelf- User-wef Password-trojans	Practice Typing Pal Username-Student ID Password-Trojans	Write a story in Your writer’s notebook. Use an idea from one  Of your lists!
Read aloud to someone really focusing on your expression.	Research a topic on Science Flix and write about it in your writer’s notebook.  Username-jwestschool Password-science	Play outside or inside!

https://wefmedia.goalexandria.com/#_

Homework Menu #2

Write a story in your Writing Journal that includes at least 5 spelling words from the week	Math practice: Play Math Games on Alexandria Links	Write your own poem! Use at least one tool of Figurative Language*
Choose a topic from Freedom Flix to read and create an FQR (Facts, Questions, Response) Chart	Work on memorizing your multiplication and division facts—create your own flashcards to practice!	Stamina Read as long as possible! Time yourself!
Write a letter in cursive to a friend, family member, or teacher! J	Pick any book and find as many facts and opinions as you can. Make a T-Chart to keep track!	Do Spelling City online with your Spelling Words from the week

*Figurative Languages include Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Simile, Metaphor, Hyperbole, Personification, Idiom, and Imagery

Science Website

One website I am really excited about is our science website! The kids are able to log on and play games and do different activities that go along with each investigation. To access it at home, go to fossweb.com and hit “Class Login.” Our username name is jonesatwest and the password is jonesatwest. Feel free to add this to our list of menu items!

http://www.fossweb.com/

Live Feed

Man it's been a while since I posted on here! I wanted to share with you something we've been looking at in our classroom lately. We have been watching live feeds of animals from around the world! We are observing them in their natural habitats or in zoos and preservations. It's an awesome place where kids can observe animal behavior and the kids absolutely love it! Check it out!


http://explore.org/live-cams/player/live-penguin-cam-2