Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year! We are already off to a great start! We have a class full of children who are eager to learn. There was a wonderful turnout at Curriculum Night. Thank you all for coming! Each month I will be posting a newsletter on our class website highlighting what we have done over the past few weeks and what we are looking forward to in the coming weeks. I will generally have newsletters available on the first Friday of each month. I decided to wait a few weeks before posting this first issue of the Crandall Chronicle since the school year just began.

Please take time to check our class blog frequently, as new information and student work will be added regularly.

Classroom News from 3-1

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

Crandall Chronicle

September 2012

Next week the students will take MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) assessments in the subject areas of math and reading. The students’ fluency is also being assessed using AIMSweb. The data from these tests will be used to plan for classroom instruction. You will receive your child’s scores with his or her progress report in November. Additional information about the assessments can be found at the Arlington Heights district webpage:

Assessments Overview

MAP Assessment

AIMSWeb

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Reading A few weeks ago we began our first unit in our literacy program called Treasures. This balanced literacy program includes instruction in reading, writing, spelling, and grammar. Each week in reading we focus on a specific genre, strategy, and skill. During whole class instruction, the class will read two short texts and one longer selection over a five-day period. During the first full week of school we read a humorous fiction story titled First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg. The students were able to connect well to the weekly theme, which was new beginnings.

The students have been focusing on analyzing story structure by identifying the characters and setting of the story, and finding important events that occurred in the beginning, middle, and end of the text. We continued to work on our skills in analyzing characters, setting, and plot as we read our next main selection, Dear Juno, by Soyung Pak. The theme was about communicating and keeping in touch with friends and family.

Recently, students also began working on centers. These include various activities that focus on skills

What We’re Studying

in reading, word study, writing, and content literacy. The students are responsible for completing the work at all four centers each week. They are graded based on the neatness and accuracy of their work, their quiet participation, and how well they get along with their group members.

On Fridays, the class takes an assessment that covers what we have studied in reading, grammar, and spelling that week. The points that the students earn on these assessments will be factored into their total points that they accumulate each trimester for reading. However, the main purpose of these assessments is to identify areas that the students may need additional support with and to inform me of strategies that may need to be taught again or reviewed. We completed the assessment together during the first week so that good test-taking strategies could be modeled. The students took their first assessment independently last week. We reviewed these graded tests today before the students took their second test. Please look for this assessment in your child’s take home folder.

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The students completed their third list of spelling words this week. Each Monday, the class takes a spelling pre-test. Students who score a 90% or higher on their pretest will have the opportunity to study spelling words from a challenge list. We will complete in-class activities throughout the week to learn and practice spelling patterns. However, it will also be the students’ responsibility to practice their spelling words at home, particularly if they are on the challenge list that week. Two spelling homework activities will be sent home each week to help the students practice their words. These assignments will be due each Thursday.

Since the purpose of the homework is to help the students learn their spelling words, it is crucial that the spelling words are spelled correctly on these assignments. If homework is turned in with misspelled spelling words, the students will be required to practice writing each word correctly ten times. This will help to ensure that the students will be prepared for their post-test, which will be given weekly on Fridays.

Spelling lists will be posted on our class website on Mondays

after the pretest has been given.

Spelling

Writing & Grammar During our first weeks of school we reviewed some of the writing strategies and skills that the students learned in second grade. The students spent time drafting, revising, editing, and publishing the letters you read at Curriculum Night. I hope you took as much pleasure in reading them as the children did writing them!

The students recently developed “juicy sentences” that are rich in detail. The goal was to include so much detail that the reader could picture the exact same thing that the writer has pictured. Their final products were illustrated and are hanging in the hallway.

In grammar the students are learning to distinguish between a variety of types of sentences including statements, questions, exclamations, and commands. They continue to work on forming complete sentences containing correct capitalization and punctuation instead of sentence fragments. In third grade, the students are held accountable for writing these complete sentences. Missing punctuation, incorrect capitalization, and sentence fragments will lead to students losing a half point for each occurrence on graded assignments.

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Social Studies Map Skills is our first unit in social studies. We have already been learning about many different types of maps along with the advantages and disadvantages of using each. The students are now able to determine which type of map should be used based on the types of information that they are looking for. Following cardinal and intermediate directions is another major topic that we are focusing. The students were recently assigned a project that reviews the many skills they have learned during this unit.

The students have been busy creating content in class. They created digital

postcards on the iPads using the apps TourWrist and Pic Collage. These postcards feature photos of landforms they toured. Links to a slideshow of these postcards and our seven continents film are posted on our class blog.

Don’t forget to have friends or family send our class a postcard if they travel to other states or countries! We are already off to an incredible start!

Mrs. Crandall’s Class (3-1) Dryden Elementary School 722 S. Dryden Place Arlington Heights, IL 60005

Math We have been steadily progressing through Unit 1 of Everyday Mathematics and will be taking our first math test on Tuesday. The students have been reviewing and will continue to review major math concepts such as number patterns, telling time, measuring, using a calculator, and identifying shapes. They also reviewed data-related concepts including collecting data, making tally charts and bar graphs, and comparing data. Thank you for taking the time to review these skills with your child each night on the Homelinks. In Unit 1 the students have also been counting money, finding differences, exploring number patterns, and solving word problems.

The students have been taking timed math fact tests twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is the students’ responsibility to continue practicing their math facts at home.

Don’t forget that our class website has a variety of links to websites that allow children to practice their math facts!

Students are also encouraged to visit the Everyday Math website, which is linked to our class website. Once they have logged in using their login name and password, they can access a variety of online games that will help them to practice skills we are learning in class, as well as the Student Reference Book that is mentioned frequently in the homework.

I sent home a Scholastic Book order with your child. Please place your order by Friday, September 21st. The online ordering continues through Saturday. Our activation code is GRNPB.

Please sign (and have your child sign) the school handbook form (blue papers) if you have not yet done so. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated!

Students will have gym class on Wednesdays and Fridays. Please remind your child to wear gym shoes to school on these days.

Our class will go to the LMC on Tuesdays. Library books that are checked out will be due after two weeks, but may be returned weekly on Tuesdays.

Please continue to initial your child’s assignment notebook each evening. Thanks for your cooperation!

The students have been doing a great job of filling out their weekly reading logs. Remember that students need to read 100 minutes every week! I will check the logs each Monday.

Visit our class blog to view recent updates including class projects and activities.

http://ccrandall3.blogspot.com

Monthly Reminders

IMPORTANT DATES & UPCOMING EVENTS September 19 – MAP test (Math)

September 21 – MAP test (Reading)

October 1 – School Photos

October 3 – International Walk to School Day

October 5 – SIP Day (No School)

October 8 – Columbus Day (No School)

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Student Challenge Each month’s newsletter will feature a section called “Student Challenge!” In this section, I will propose a challenge for the students to complete. They will have at least one week to submit their answers to me. If they correctly complete the challenge, their names will be added to our Student Challenge bulletin board. For each challenge that they complete, a star will be added next to their names!

This week’s challenge: Complete the ABC boxes worksheet that was passed out during class. Think of really juicy describing words that each begin with a different letter of the alphabet. Write at least one word in each box. You can write down words that you read in a book, hear in a conversation, or look up in a dictionary. Make sure that you know what the words mean! Try to write down words that you think will be different from your classmates’ words. Be creative! After finding your words, use each word correctly in a sentence on the back of the paper. An example has been done for you using the letter Z.

Turn in your ABC boxes and sentences by next Friday.

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