Welcome to December!

Hello Dear Parents of 3rd Graders! I apologize for how long it has been since my last post. November was a busy but short month in terms of teaching days. I really enjoyed getting to connect with you all last week and discuss the progress your children are making at school. I hope everyone had lovely vacations with their families. I was able to enjoy my first American Thanksgiving in three years! It was delicious. 

Here is what we have going on this month:

Literacy: We are wrapping up our Personal Narrative Unit and will have an Author's Tea/ Publishing Party this Friday afternoon (please let me know if you are interested in being a part of this event). We will also be wrapping up our read aloud book The One and Only Ivan this week before moving on to our study of Native American Folktales. Students will continue to build stamina by reading for at least 20 minutes on their own every day (we also have two to three volunteers reading with first graders every day). Starting next week they will be working in small groups to read and discuss the message of the short Native American folktales and present them to the class. 

Math: We have wrapped up our unit on Place Value and multiple digit addition and subtraction and have moved on to Two and Three-Dimensional Geometry. Before our break from school we read a story called The Greedy Triangle and practiced drawing and thinking about where we see shapes in our everyday world. This week we will be creating our own tangram sets and working with geoboards to continue to build geometric vocabulary and a deeper understanding of geometric concepts. 

Social Studies/Science: We had a fabulous time at the Lelooska Cultural Center on November 20th. We weren't able to take pictures of the actual performance itself but we heard a variety of folktales were told in front of the campfire and were then reenacted with dancing, singing, and colorful masks. We then had some time to explore the artifacts in their museum before heading to Lake Merwin Park for lunch and a group photo ( see below). Students will be bringing in their Gifts of Nature next week for our in class potlatch and gift exchange. We will continue our study of local indigenous cultures through the reading and discussing of folktales in the coming weeks. As of now it does not look like the Tribal Heritage Night will be happening this year.

Our Salmon Fry continue to thrive! We have only had a few casualties thus far and one minor "crisis" which ended up not being a big deal after all. We will be learning more about the salmon life cycle and anatomy in the next two weeks before we say farewell to the salmon and release them to their natural habitat on Thursday, December 11th. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Education Department will be coming in on Tuesday December 9th to lead an activity on Salmon Dissection, it should be very informative and slightly smelly and gross. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Homework for the Week of November 3rd

Homework has changed a bit in third grade. We will now have daily Spelling work with a "quiz" on Fridays and a Reading Response due the following Monday of each week as well as a Math game/worksheet.

Spelling Homework

Week of November 3rd, 2014

Week 1: Short Vowel Sounds

When there is one vowel in a word, either at the beginning or between two consonants, it usually has the short vowel sound.

Monday: Write each word five times in your spelling notebook

Tuesday: Use each of your spelling words in a sentence

Wednesday: Write each of your spelling words as a word triangle

Ex:      c

        ca

        cas

      cash

Thursday: Have an adult quiz you for "test" on Friday.

List of Spelling Words: 

(Students were asked to choose 8-12 of these words to study)

grass                          smell                     will            fox

fact                            hands                   camp         summer

plus                            can't                    else            well

Sunday                      spins                    drops         think

kitten                           fish                        

Challenge Words:

acknowledge

endless

upstairs

absolutely

Chinook

indigenous

particular

fashion

Reading Response 

Week of November 3rd, 2014

In your Homework Journal write one full page about what you are reading at home. If you are reading a chapter book please write a summary of the plot, characters and setting. If you are reading a non-fiction book, write at least two facts from your book. Do you read to yourself or with an adult or older sibling or both? 

Due: Monday, November 10th

Math: Home Connection 8: Play An Hour Or Bust with family member. Worksheet that goes along with it is due Monday, November 8th.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any comments or questions about this.

Thanks! 

Eagle Creek Photos

Friday's trip to Eagle Creek was a smashing success! We were able to see quite a few salmon who have made it back from their journey to the ocean. We spent some time examining their habitat before lunch. Then we participated in nature stations before our tour at the Cascade Fish Hatchery. Thanks to all the parent chaperones (& Mr. Nick) who helped make the day run smoothly. And a special thanks to Erin and Casey for these awesome photos!

Writing in nature journals.

Learning how to use binoculars for a bit of bird-watching (Thanks to Mrs. Fisher for letting us borrow her supplies!)

Taking notes on the salmons' habitat.

Salmon in action!

Checking out the salmon after we first arrived.

More habitat study.

Third graders had lots of thoughtful and insightful questions for our friend Neil at the hatchery. 

Cathlapotle Plankhouse Photos

Here are a few photos from our trip to the Cathlapotle Plankhouse field trip last Tuesday. Thanks to Nicole for taking the photos! 

Nature Walk

Entering the plankhouse

Front of the Plankhouse: This plank house is a replica of a traditional Chinookan plankhouse. The Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge collaborated with local Chinook Indians to build the plank house and it is still used by tribe members for ceremonies and events today. 

Class Photo :)

The traditional way of entering the plankhouse as a visitor is backwards. This shows the people inside the plankhouse that you were entering in peace. 

Highlights of Last Week

'Twas a busy (& short) week in 3rd grade. On Tuesday we had our schoolwide Jog-a-Thon. We ran our hearts out in an effort to "bridge the gap" and raise money for our school.

 

On Thursday we had our first expedition to Wapato Park. We got to know the park a bit and students had some time in their "sit spots" to quietly observe, sketch and journal about what they were seeing, smelling, hearing and feeling. Then we spent some time sharing in small groups before it was time to head back to school. 

What's Been Going on in 3rd Grade

Hello Dear Parents. I can hardly believe it is October already. Here is an overview of what has been going on in third grade. 

Math:  We have wrapped up our first unit in the Bridges curriculum, "Computation, Algebraic Thinking and Probability" and have started Unit Two: Place Value Structures and Multi-Digit Computation. Unit One was a lot of review from what they learned in second grade, i.e. different strategies for basic addition (up to 20) and subtraction. We also worked a lot on noticing patterns and developing language to discuss what is going on in a pattern. As most of you saw at Open House, our Number Corner calendar for the month of September was all about different tools of measurement (length, weight, etc). This month we will be working with base ten pieces to help us in computing math problems with larger numbers. We will also be working on expanded notation (100 + 50 + 2 = 152) and writing numbers in words. 

Reading: This group never ceases to amaze me with their enthusiasm and drive for reading! We have wrapped up our first read aloud book, Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things, and will be starting The One and Only Ivan later on this week (which is a 2014 Battle of the Books book). Students are getting into the routine of writing a letter to me in their reading journals once a week. These letters give them an opportunity to write about what they are reading and as well as ask me any questions about what they are confused about in their book and answer the questions I ask them. We owe Mr. Asa a huge thank you for leaving so many great books behind for our classroom library, it warms my teaching heart when I look around the room during D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) time and every single student is reading a book they are interested in from our library.

Writing: September was all about getting down the routine for writers workshop. We practiced brainstorming what to write about and sketching out a story to help us think about what we are writing like it is "a movie in our minds". Students are developing an understanding of the different phases of the writing process and most have been able to bring at least one piece of writing to final draft. This month we will zoom in on the qualities of narrative writing and be practicing writing true stories about our lives before moving on to imaginative narratives next month. I love reading their stories and getting a glimpse into their lives outside of school. 

Science:  We had our first walk about on school grounds yesterday to get us ready for our first trip to Wapato this Thursday. Students had their thoughtfully decorated nature journals in hand as we took advantage of the gorgeous weather we've been having and walked over the "forrest" near the grange. Students found a sit spot and spent about 10 minutes observing and writing about what they were seeing, smelling and hearing. We will be doing this same routine pretty much every time we go to Wapato, and will start off our field study this week by doing the Wapato Loop to get a feel for the park as a whole. 

Social Studies:  As I mentioned in my post last week we are just kicking off our study of Native people from this area. We were delivered a box of "mysterious artifacts" and a letter from a local archeologist asking us who might have made these objects. We have determined that it was Native or indigenous folks from this area but now we have been asked by the same archeologist to determine who might have wrote them. We are gearing up for our trip to the Cathlapotle Plank House next Tuesday where we will get to see a replica of a Chinookian plank house. We will be constructing our own models of these plank houses in the coming weeks as well. 

Also, there have been some questions about homework and specifically spelling. We will be starting to work with specific spelling rules this week which will eventually be part of their weekly homework, but for now we will just be getting the routine down as a class. We are working towards having a cluster of spelling words to study each week, one reading response to write and a math P.O.W. (problem of the week) to solve as well.. Thank you for your patience as we learn these routines as a class! 

Have a great week!

Ms. Shannon

Mysterious Artifacts Arrive!

Today was an exciting day in 3rd Grade! We received a letter from the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife asking for our help on an important project. The letter arrived with a box of very mysterious artifacts discovered in this area. Today and the rest of the week we will be investigating these artifacts to help Virginia Parks (who wrote the letter) determine what they are, what they are made out of and who might have used them... 

Our 1st chapter book read aloud of the year: Alvin Ho!

Meet Alvin Ho. He is afraid of pretty much everything. Girls, school, substitute teachers, you name it! But, he is NOT afraid of explosives and he loves superheros. He even considers himself to be one. He is about to start second grade and couldn't be more terrified.. Will he be able to overcome some of his fears? Will he EVER speak at school? The answers will be revealed as we make our way through this delightful piece of humorous realistic fiction together... 

Readers' Workshop

Today during readers' workshop we got to use our reader's notebooks for the first time. We will be using these notebooks all year to write down the books we read, the books we want to read and to write response about what we are reading. 

Our Reading Lists are going to help us documents all of the books we read at school. Each child is responsible for writing down the title, author and genre for the book they are reading and rating it as easy, just right or difficult for him or her. In the coming weeks we will be making goals for how many books from each genre we want to read this year. 

Homework for the week of September 15th-19th

Today students were given a two-sided math handout to complete for homework by Friday, September 19th. 

The first page asks students to answer a series of questions about a bar graph showing students' favorite pets (in a fictitious classroom). We have spent some time in class analyzing graphs like this one. I am looking forward to reading students' answers and especially curious to see what they write for their own question about the graph.

Side 2 is a series of addition and subtraction problems. If you have time to ask your child how the problems in #1, 2, and 3 are related, that would be super helpful. The challenge problems at the bottom are optional and students can chose to do none, some or all of these. Thanks for your support! 

Homework for the Week of September 8th

Students are asked to read for 20-30 minutes every night.

On Tuesday they received a paper to fill out about their Homework Spot and helpers for the year. This is due on Friday, September 12th.

Readers' and Writers' Workshop

Readers' Workshop

During Readers' workshop we have been discussing all sorts of strategies to become even better readers including how we chose books, how to pick out a "just right" book, getting to know our classroom library, why we abandon books and how to "buzz" (talk about books). Ms. Shannon has been reading books to the class ("Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Suess, "Applemondo's Dreams" by Patricia Polacco and several stories by Leo Leoni just to name a few) and students have been working on building stamina by reading on their own during D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) time every day. 

Writers' Workshop

So far in writers' workshop we have decorated our notebooks and brainstormed different topics to write about. We have been learning about narrative writing and how to generate ideas when you aren't sure what to write about (see below). Today we learned the difference between a watermelon and a seed story. A watermelon story is when we try to summarize a larger event (i.e. "My Summer Vacation" or "My Trip to Florida") where as a seed story is focusing or zooming in on a small moment. We are going to do our best to write seed stories and "zoom in" on all of those juicy details. 

IPad Exploration

Students were assigned IPads today. After we created our list of expectations they had a chance to explore the apps and games already available on them. How lucky we are to have these in our classrooms! 

Homework for the week of Sept 2nd

Students are asked to read at home for 20-30 minutes every night. 

Tuesday: Students were asked to discuss the meaning of their name with their families and write about what they discovered. They were also given a "Welcome to 3rd Grade" packet to share with parents which included all sorts of useful information as well as a few forms (permission slips, volunteer info, etc) to be filled out, signed and returned to Ms. Shannon.

Wednesday: Students are to bring a small souvenir that represents their summer vacation. It can be a picture, a map, a postcard, etc (no toys or video games please). We will be sharing our souvenirs during class meetings this week.

People Glyphs

We have been learning so much about each other the first two days of school! For Math, students made "People Glyphs" to represent what kind of Math Learner they are. A glyph is a simple picture or figure whose features represent information about a subject. I learned a lot from these glyphs, first and foremost being that we have quite a creative and innovative group in third grade. We also learned that the majority of us prefer to work with just one other person and we mostly prefer learning math in the morning or evening.. Night school anyone?

Welcome to Third Grade!

Dear Third Grade Families,

Hello and welcome to Third Grade at Sauvie Island Academy! I am delighted to have your child in my class.

Since I will be spending a lot of time with your child during this school year, let me start by telling you a bit about myself.

Top 10 Fun Facts about Ms. Shannon

1. I have lived in all three states that start with the letter “C”.
2. I went to high school in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
3. I have one younger brother named Patrick who is a music teacher in the Boston area and is also the fabulous father of my niece (Jasmine, 1) and nephew (Rhodes, 9). My parents also live in the Boston area.
4. I graduated from the University of California in Santa Cruz in 2003 with a degree in Community Studies…. Go Banana Slugs!!
5. I moved to Portland in October of 2003. I have now lived in Portland longer than I have lived anywhere else.. almost 10 years (minus the past two years in Ecuador)!
6. I graduated from Lewis and Clark College in 2010 with a Masters in the Art of Teaching (Mr. Asa and I were in the same class!).
7. I am a writer and have been part of several Portland-based writing groups for many years. I mostly write creative non-fiction and a bit of poetry.
8. Before returning to Portland this summer, I was teaching fourth grade at an American school in Quito, Ecuador for the past two school years. (Si, yo hablo espanol).
9.  I have recently moved to the Kenton neighborhood of North Portland. I love hearing all of the train noises (except for when I am trying to sleep).
10. Before moving to Ecuador, I worked as a substitute teacher as well as an educational assistant for students with special needs. My year-long graduate internship was in a 4^th/5^th grade blended classroom at the Metropolitan Learning Center in Northwest Portland.

As a teacher, I believe in building a community where we respect each other, feel safe with each other, and have fun. I believe learning should be meaningful to children and that each child learns differently. I believe in flexibility, compassion, curiosity, and humor.

 I believe that we (teacher and parents) are part of a team, working together to think well about your child. If you would like to take a minute to write me a short letter about your child, I would truly appreciate it. What is your youngster like? What things do you think are important for me to know? What are your child’s interests?

This letter is certainly not required but please do send one if you would like. You can send it to school with your child, have Sam put it in my in-box, or simply email me if you would like. I really do enjoy reading these letters, they provide great insight! Additionally, please don’t hesitate to contact me as any questions or concerns arise throughout the year. The best way to contact me is through email:                spate@sauvieislandacademy.org

I check my email regularly. I look forward to meeting and working with you all. It is going to be a fantastic year!

Sincerely,

Shannon M Pate, M.A.T