Catie's Third Grade Class Blog: Weekly Spelling words and Wednesday early drop off

Hello Families

Our spelling words this week are focusing on the pattern of long vowel diagraphs (that is, when vowels say their name).

Generalizations:

Long a is sometimes spelled ai and ay : grain, Sunday
Long e sometimes spelled ee and ea : clean, agree
Long o is sometimes spelled oa and ow : window, float

1. clean
2. agree
3. teeth
4. dream
5. grain
6. coach
7. display
8. window
9. shadow
10. cheese
11. peach
12. braid
13. Sunday
14. float
15. thrown

Bonus (totally optional)
16. entertain
17. complain
18. bleachers
19. willow
20. wheat

Please help your students write, practice, and identify patterns in these words. The test will be on Thursday, as we do not have school on Friday. Please correct their capitals and lazy letters (should hang below the line, g, y, q, p).

ALSO, VERY IMPORTANT:

Please send your child upstairs by 8:30 at the latest this Wednesday. Our Tri-met bus is scheduled to leave at 8:57 am from Hawthorne and 34th Ave. If your student is not here by the time we leave, they will either have to hook up with another class (I think Jeremy's bus leaves 10 minutes later) or spend the day with another grade.

Chaperones, come on up with your student, and I'll brief you and we'll head out soon after. We can not miss our bus as it has been prearranged with Trimet. We will decide about whether or not to take our lunches that morning (depending on the weather), so please send your student upstairs with lunch and appropriate outerwear. Thanks!

The chaperones for our Field Trip this Wednesday, February 6 are Ian D., Molly R. Jennifer L. We do not have tickets for any extra chaperones, and siblings are unfortunately not welcome.

If your child is absent due to an illness I am happy to provide an overview of the work they missed in class that day or for those days they are out sick. Inevitably there are times when trips need to happen during the school year and your student should be assured that although they are missing class time, I encourage them to embrace the learning opportunities outside the walls of our school. Parents often ask me for a packet to bring along to keep their child engaged in some learning and kept busy in a car or on a plane, but I don't assign "trip work" packets. Trips on their own have the potential to be rich learning experiences from airport or car, to destination and back. Instead I ask that students keep a journal, photo journal or scrapbook of their trip which could be shared with me upon their return to class. They are also welcome to share these with the class, but I don't require them to do so. Finding a secret spot and having a special little journal in hand in which to write and sketch what they see is infinitely more valuable to your child than me giving them a story prompt. If you do want your child to have some 3rd grade-level busy work during travel you could visit Learning Palace or a similar store to purchase 3rd grade skills workbooks. The following are some ideas for meaningful learning during trips:

Math:
Have your child use math, reading and writing skills as often as possible. Have them pay for things and count change or add up the coins received back, use maps, figure out elapsed time or the time an activity took to complete, compare prices of menu items, look for patterns in nature or architecture, estimate the time it will take to complete an activity, collect data of some kind and create a bar graph (cars vs. trucks on a five mile stretch of road or the kinds of people around you on the plane who order soda vs. juice for example), etc.

Writing:
Have them bring their writer's notebook or more fun, have them choose and buy a special little notebook just for the trip where they can sketch possible characters, special spots or images to use in future writing. Everyone and everything they see can be given new life as a character or setting in future writing. A little set of colored pencils or tiny watercolors to go along with it can make it more fun as well. Have your child write and mail a postcard or letter to our class (even if it arrives after they return). Our school's address is 3421 SE Salmon St., PDX 97214. Thank you notes for guest accommodations or for hotel operators is always fun, too.

Reading:
Trips can be made more fun if your child is taken to the library or to Powell's for a special trip book or two. Perhaps they could visit a local book store at your destination where they can choose a book to read or purchase for the time they are there or for the trip back. As time permits, be sure they read at least 30 minutes or more each day.

Science or Social Studies:
We study rocks and minerals in 3rd grade and it's always a joy for kids when we begin this unit in winter to bring in a special rock from a place they have visited during the year. We also learn about the first peoples who lived on this land long before white settlers came to what is now known as Portland. It can be interesting for kids to learn about other first peoples who lived in places you visit. Just learning a bit about the history of a new place with a city walking tour, nature hike, scenic route or collecting little souvenirs or scraps can be fun for your child as well.

Catie's Third Grade Class Blog

Monday, February 4, 2013

Weekly Spelling words and Wednesday early drop off

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