Weekly Crandall Chronicle

What's Happening This Week

Spelling: This week we will have a review spelling test covering all of the words from Unit 1. The format of the test is multiple choice, and the students will need to identify misspelled words. 
Reading: This week we are focusing on reviewing the comprehension skills and strategies and vocabulary from Unit 1. After reviewing, we will be taking the Unit 1 assessment. 
Writing: We are continuing to focus on writing personal narratives. The students are practicing staying focused on a single moment while writing and really paying close attention to adding little details. 
Grammar: Our focus is reviewing sentence types, subjects and predicates, and compound sentences. The unit grammar test will be on Thursday.
Math: We conclude our unit on adding and subtracting whole numbers this week. The students will be bringing home a completed review guide today. The unit test will be Thursday.   
Science: We began our first science unit, habitats, last week. The students learned what it means to be a scientist and had the opportunity to use the scientific method with self-created experiments. This week we will investigate soil and seeds. Check our blog frequently to see some photographs!

Weekly Reminders
*  Picture Day is this Thursday, October 3rd. Please send in any orders on or before Thursday. 

* Dryden Just Jump (during lunch recess) Please send in any funds that were raised on or before Friday.

* I am sending home October Scholastic Book Orders. If you would like to order books, please submit your order with check to me by Friday (10/11/13), or complete your online order by Saturday (10/12/13). Thanks!      

Study Tip

We have been focusing on key reading strategies and skills such as analyzing story structure; identifying and comparing characters, setting, and plot; summarizing; and identifying main ideas and details. These comprehension strategies and skills help the students to better understand and connect to the books they are reading. While your child is reading at home, please take time to discuss the book and ask questions. This will help to reinforce the comprehension strategies that we have been using in class. Thanks!

AHFD Visit

We had a visit from Lieutenant Larson of the Arlington Heights Fire Department. He taught us all about how to stay safe in a situation involving fire and showed us all of his equipment. What a great learning experience!

Making Models in Science

Today students learned about and compared the benefits and disadvantages of different types of models. We also discussed why models are important and how we use them in both science and every day situations.

Map Projects

Map Projects

As a culminating project, students created their very own countries! They carefully and creatively designed maps of their islands and presented them to the class.

Flipper's Adventures with Adam

Parents: Everyday Math introduces many new ways to approach math that are oftentimes very different than the traditional methods taught while we were in school. Below is an example of how to use the Partial Sums Algorithm, which the students will use on their homework this evening and on the unit test.

Weekly Crandall Chronicle

What's Happening This Week

Spelling: Our spelling pattern this week is the long i sound
Reading: This week we are focusing on identifying the problem, actions taken, and solution in a story. Our vocabulary skill this week remains using context clues to determine the meaning of homographs.
Writing: We are continuing to focus on writing personal narratives. The students are practicing staying focused on a single moment while writing and really paying close attention to adding little details. 
Grammar: Our focus is writing compound sentences by joining two different ideas with a comma and a joining word like and, so, or but.
Math: We continue our unit on adding and subtracting whole numbers this week. Math concepts include story problems, addition and subtraction algorithms, and adding multiple addends.   
Social Studies: We are wrapping up our map skills unit this week! The students' map projects the students worked on are amazing! I can tell they worked very hard on these and spent a lot of time making their own private islands. You can see pictures of these on our blog once they have been presented to the class.  Our unit test will be Tuesday (tomorrow).

Weekly Reminders
*  The temperatures both outdoors and in the classroom can be a little unpredictable this time of the year, so please send your child with a jacket or sweater.      

Study Tip

The students will be learning several different algorithms in math for adding and subtracting large numbers. Many of these are different from the traditional methods taught to us when we were in school. Therefore, I will be sending home handouts and including samples on many of the students' worksheets. I will also post examples on our blog. This may be the chance for your child to teach you something new!

Function Machine Student Challenge

Function Machine

Each month the students will have the opportunity to complete a “Student Challenge!” I will propose a challenge for the students to complete that focuses on a concept or topic we are learning in class. They will have at least one week (and sometimes several weeks) to submit their answers, research, or projects to me. If they accurately 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! The Student Challenges are completely optional, but highly encouraged. It provides students with the opportunity to use their creativity and presentation skills. Those students who complete the monthly Student Challenges will have the opportunity to share their work with their classmates and it will be featured on our blog. 

This month's challenge: Create your very own function machine! Show your family and friends how it works, and then bring it to school to show your classmates! Please turn your function machine in before the unit math test, which will be on (or around) Tuesday, October 1st. 

The above video is a sample of the function machine that I made and showed the class today. 

Busy Hermit Crabs

Our hermit crabs are very busy critters! Since they are naturally nocturnal, we set a time-lapse camera to record their activity overnight. Hercules just never seems to stop eating!

I did share some sad news with the students today: Twice last week when I arrived to school the lid had fallen into the tank. The first time I thought that maybe the lid had been bumped by the custodian while the classroom was being cleaned, but when it happened a second time I thought that it couldn't be a coincidence. I don't know if this was a result of one of the crabs trying to escape or if another critter was trying to sneak in, but either way it occurred at night while the room was locked. Unfortunately Zo Zo appears to have been quite the escape artist and has since disappeared. We have searched the room and all teachers in our wing are on the lookout for our little crab. Hopefully Zo Zo will turn up unharmed! Until then we can only hope that she is having some amazing adventures right now. 

Weekly Crandall Chronicle

What's Happening This Week

Spelling: Our spelling pattern this week is the long o sound
Reading: This week we are continuing to focus on identifying main idea and details in nonfiction. Our vocabulary skill this week is using context clues to determine the meaning of homographs.
Writing: We are continuing to focus on writing personal narratives. This week the students are practicing staying focused on a single moment while writing and really paying close attention to adding little details. 
Grammar: Our focus is identifying subjects and predicates within a sentence.
Math: This week we are beginning our new unit on adding and subtracting whole numbers. Math concepts in the first week of this unit include fact families, math fact extensions, and story problems. The children will be using a variety of math diagrams to help them solve these types of problems, so please ask them to show you how to use them while they complete their homework.  
Social Studies: This week during our map skills unit we are focusing on reading community and transportation maps. The students' map projects are due this Friday, September 20th. Next week we will have a unit test covering all of the map skills we have been learning. Your child will bring home a completed review guide this Friday. The test will be next Tuesday.

Weekly Reminders
*  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.    
*  Please sign (and have your child sign) the school handbook form (yellow paper from Curriculum Night) if you have not yet done so. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated!     

* 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! Thank you to everyone who has already contributed to this project and please tell friends and family thank you too!!

Mrs. Crandall’s Class (3-1)

Dryden Elementary School

722 S. Dryden Place

Arlington Heights, IL 60005    

Study Tip

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, so please remind your child to check over his or her work carefully. Missing punctuation, incorrect capitalization, and sentence fragments will lead to students losing a half point for each occurrence on graded assignments. If you see the anagram COPS! written on your child's paper, it is a reminder to check over the work. C=capitalization, O=order of words, P=punctuation, S=spelling. 

Touring Landforms

The students explored various landforms using the app TourWrist. They took screen shots of the sites they toured and showcased them using the app Pic Collage.

Monster Writing Excerpts

Every two weeks or so I will be posting new writing excerpts from our WEX writing unit. These featured pieces of prose exemplify the writing skills that we are practicing in class. After hanging the excerpts, the class determines which skills were demonstrated and why each piece was selected for our "Monster Journal Excerpts" board. We already have six wonderful examples of the use of descriptive words, showing details, and exaggeration. Way to go writers!

Hallway Displays

Check out these juicy sentences! The students used "juicy" words to provide their reader with a  descriptive sentence. After reading the sentence, flip up the paper to see if you were able to visualize the same thing as the writer did. 

Weekly Crandall Chronicle

What's Happening This Week

Spelling: Our spelling pattern this week is the long a sound
Reading: This week we are focusing on identifying main idea and details in nonfiction.
Writing: We are beginning our third grade writing curriculum, called WEX, or Writer's Express. The first focus is on writing personal narratives. This week the students will learn about and practice the routines that will be followed during our writing lessons. 
Grammar: Our focus is identifying subjects and predicates within a sentence.
Math: This week we are reviewing and extending math concepts that include using money, patterns, and lapsed time. There will be a math test on Friday! Please look for a completed math review guide that will be coming home with your child on Wednesday. 
Social Studies: This week during our map skills unit we are focusing on landforms, coordinates, and measuring distances on a map. I will be assigning a map project that students will be completing at home. Please look for information that will come home on Friday.

Weekly Reminders
* Students will have PE on Mondays and Fridays. Please remember to have your child wear gym shoes on these days.
* Our class will be going to the LMC on Wednesdays. Books will be due after two weeks, but may be returned weekly on Wednesdays.
* Please send a water bottle to school with your child so that he or she can easily stay hydrated on these warm days. 

Study Tip
We are working with money during math and I am finding that many students find it difficult to calculate correct change when given the price of an item. Since many of us pay for our groceries and other items with a credit card, students may not see the exchanging of money very often. Please continue to practice this skill at home, and the next time you run to the store consider purchasing an item with cash. Then, encourage your child to calculate how much change you should be receiving and make sure that the correct change was given!

Hermit Crabs!

3-1 would like to welcome our new class pets! Three hermit crabs arrived yesterday to help us with learning about habitats in science. We will be learning all about their characteristics and behaviors. Please check back frequently to see updates! The class voted on names today and here are the results:

Presenting....

Tiny Steve

(He is still very shy. Hopefully he will "come out of his shell" soon!)

Zo Zo

(She is a speedy little crab, but enjoys a good nap, too!)

Hercules

(This is one big crab! He probably weighs more than both of his terrarium mates combined!)

We Love Science!

Yesterday, the students had an incredible time learning about and exploring concepts of light! Below are several pictures of the amazing activities the students participated in. A huge thank you goes to Mr. Patterson, for coming in and sharing his love for science with us!

Weekly Crandall Chronicle

What's Happening This Week
Spelling: Our spelling pattern this week is CVCe (long vowel with a silent e).
Reading: This week we are continuing to practice identifying characters, setting, and plot, with a focus on determining character traits.
Writing: We are practicing writing lower case cursive letters, using transition words in our writing, and filling out writing surveys. 
Grammar: Our focus is identifying and properly writing commands and exclamations.
Math: This week we are reviewing and extending math concepts that include finding differences, analyzing probability, and using money. 
Social Studies: This week during our map skills unit we are focusing on hemispheres and landforms.

Weekly Reminders
* Please place your Scolastic Book order by Friday, September 6th. The online ordering continues through Saturday, September 7th. Our class activation code is GRNPB.
* Students will have PE on Mondays and Fridays. Please remember to have your child wear gym shoes on these days.
* Our class will be going to the LMC on Wednesdays. Books will be due after two weeks, but may be returned weekly on Wednesdays.
* Please send a water bottle to school with your child so that he or she can easily stay hydrated on these warm days. 

Study Tip
Twice a week students will be taking timed math fact tests in class. You can help your child practice his or her facts by sneaking in little review sessions. While driving to school or an after school activity you can squeeze in a little math fact practice. Simply give your child a few math problems verbally for him or her to answer. You could also sneak in a few practice problems between bites of dinner or breakfast. Any time is a good time to review some math facts!