Week of January 21st

Welcome Back after what seemed like a very long vacation!  It’s good to be back and the kids seemed very ready to settle back into their routine. (well, almost all of them!)

The last Acuity test before ISTEP is coming up.  We will take Math Acuity on February 3 from 10-11 and English/Language Arts Acuity on Tuesday, February 11^th from 1-2.  Please encourage your child to work through his/her acuity lessons-watch for the Acuity Letter coming home with your third grader this week!
 

The 3^rd graders also have the IREAD test coming up.  It is scheduled for the week of March 17^th. We will be reviewing lots of reading and language arts skill for this test in the next month.  Our 2^nd graders will review with us to help prepare them for the same test the following year.

Please remember that our entire class will perform with the third graders on Thursday, March 20^th.  Be sure to mark your calendars for this special event. See the picture for this program below!!

Here’s what we are doing this week:

Reading:  We will read two stories from our Storyworks Magazine focusing on fact/opinion and  context clues.

Spelling:  Rock List
 

English:  We learned the RUPR song last week!Be sure you have your child sing it to you and tell you what it’s for!  We will be working on adding details and using purple WOW! Words in our writing this week. Students will also be analyzing their past writing pieces to determine their strengths and weaknesses.

Math 2: Our next two lessons will be about Polyhedrons-reviewing 3-dimensional shapes and identifying bases of pyramids and prisms .
 

Students will review for a Unit 6 Test on Thursday and the test will be given on Friday.

 
Math 3:  3^rd Graders will review for their Unit 6 test on Tuesday and the test will be given on

Wednesday.  We will then begin Unit 7 which is about fractions and probability.

Science:   We will continue our second week of rocks. Students have learned about sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks. Identifying minerals, and Indiana rocks. Next week, we will be studying the rock cycles, how erosion changes rocks, and wrapping up the unit on Friday.

Have a great day off Monday!

 

Week of December 16th

It's so hard to believe this is the last week of school before Christmas!  We are having fun with special dress days this week.  Please see the image below! 

Our schedule is fairly quiet this week.  On Thursday, we will have Semester Celebration.  On Friday, students will enjoy a White Lick Sing-a-long from 2:45-3:15. 

Here's what's happening in the 2/3 class this week:

Reading:  We will finish Where the Red Fern Grows on Friday.  As we finish the book, we are also reviewing many skills that we have learned over the first semester! 

Writing:  Students are busy wrapping up their how-to writing pieces and finishing up a special surprise!

Social Studies:  This is our last week for economics.  Today, we created Play-Doh hamburgers.  One group created hamburgers on their own and the other group got to be in an assembly line.  I'm sure you can guess that the students in the assembly line created more hamburgers, but we all had a lot of fun in the process!! We will learn about Supply and Demand, Market Price, and Cost and Profits this week.  Students will have an assessment on Friday.  A study guide of vocabulary will come home tomorrow in order to help your child prepare for the test.  Students can bring the vocabulary sheet back to school on Friday to use while taking the test.

Math 2:  Our topics for this week are:  angles & turns, triangles, quadrangles, and polygons.

Math 3:  Our topics for this week are:  expressing & interpreting remainders, rotations & angles, and using a full-circle protractor. 

Thank you to those parents that donated snacks.  We were able to fill up our snack shelf thanks to you!  We should be good until later in January!!  Have a great week!!

December News

Here is what we are doing the week of December 9th..............

Wednesday, December 11th:  Pajama Day!!  Students earned a pajama party for raising over $350 for Brownsburg families in need. Thank you for your help with this endeavor!!   Slippers can be worn in the classroom, however, they should not be worn on the bus or at recess.

Friday, December 13th:  Spirit and Snack Sale:  Students can purchase a snack for fifty cents and dress like their favorite holiday.

Reading:  We are now about halfway through Where the Red Fern Grows.  Our focus this week is on summarizing. 

Writing:  Students are hard at work on writing How-To papers!  Check and see what your child has chosen has his/her topic.  The convention focus of the week is possessive nouns.

Social Studies:  We have started an economics unit.  So far, students have learned about producers, consumers, goods, services, and scarcity using Play-Doh.  This week, students will be creating items for opportunity cost, trade, money, and specialization. 

Math 2:  Unit 5 is finished.  Students will do a Unit 5 Review tomorrow and take the test on Wednesday, December 11th.  Please watch for a study guide!  Decimal place value has been very tricky but we've spent several extra lessons on it, so hopefully, your child is feeling better about that!

Math 3:  Students started Unit 6 which is titled:  Division; Map Reference Frames; Measures of Angles.  The Unit 6 Answer Key was sent home last Friday. Please encourage your child to check his/her own work and make corrections as needed--many have been missing several problems on weekly homework packets.  I'm really proud of the 3rd graders for doing such a great job with their multiplication time tests! 

**We will not have a December Reading Log.  I know it's such a busy time for families--but please try to keep your child reading at least 15-20 minutes a night. 

**We are so grateful to those parents that have sent in snacks!  Believe it or not, we are almost out again.  The students always appreciate their snack break during our long afternoons.  Thank you!!

Have a great week,
Mrs. Mitchell

November Newsletter

Charlotte's Web Play and Much More!

Wow, next week is an extremely busy week!  Please be sure you read all of this post so you know what's going on!  Don't forget reading logs are due on Monday, September 30th! 

Next, let's cover costumes for our play next Friday, October 4th at 2:45 in the White Lick Cafeteria!!  Below is a list of costume ideas and items that I have accumulated over the years for each character.  The top line is the suggested item while the * means what I have or can provide for your precious little character!!  If you have something different or better that would work, I am fine with that.  Please just have all costumes here by Wednesday, October 2nd for our dress rehearsal on Thursday and again on Friday morning! 
 

Costumes for Charlotte’s Web Play

 Narrators and Announcers: Wear blue jeans and white shirt
                                                 *Can bring cowboy hats IF they have one
                                                 *Bandanas will be supplied
Fern:  Wear blue jeans and t-shirt for under plaid shirt or bring plaid shirt
          *Bandana and plaid shirt can/will be supplied
Old Sheep and Lamb: Wear white shirt and white pants (cream and/or black is fine if
                                        you don’t have white)
                                      *Lamb hood and nose will be supplied
 Wilbur: Wear pink/white shirt and jeans or light-colored pants
              *Pink pig hood and nose will be supplied
 Charlotte:  Wear black as much as possible
                    *spider hood will be supplied
Avery:  Wear blue jeans, red shirt, and ball cap (can wear overalls IF you have them)
Mrs. Arable:  Shirt and pants, skirt and top, or dress depending on what’s most
                        comfortable for character
                        *apron and straw hat will be supplied
 Mr. Arable:   Wear blue jeans and t-shirt to go under plaid shirt (or can bring plaid or
                        striped shirt if you have one)
                       *Plaid shirt and cowboy hat will be supplied
 Mr. Zuckerman:  Wear blue jeans and t-shirt (can bring plaid or striped shirt if you have
                              one)
                             *Plaid shirt and cowboy hat will be supplied
 Lurvy:  Wear blue jeans and t-shirt (can bring plaid or striped shirt if you have one)
              *Plaid shirt and straw hat will be supplied
 Templeton:  Wear gray or brown as much as possible
                     *Gray rat hoot, tail, and rat nose will be supplied
Baby Spider:  Wear black as much as possible
                       *Spider hat will be supplied
 Goose, Gander, and Gosling:  Wear white as much as possible
                                                    *White sweatshirts, pants and orange bills will be supplied

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On Tuesday, October 1st, we will be walking to Eagle Elementary to attend an Indianapolis Zoo distance learning activity about plants and animals from 1-2. 
 
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On Wednesday, October 2nd, we will have a  Kasey the Fire Dog presentation for White Lick to learn about fire safety.   This is a great time to discuss safety plans at your house!

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On Thursday, October 3rd, our 3rd graders will have their Language Arts acuity test from 2-3.  You can check your child's scores at the website listed on your child's password page or on the red card provided by Scott Smith at Open House.  Some students may have some assignments that he/she can work.  I will be going over this with my third graders on Monday.  Email me with any questions you might have!

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On Friday, October 4th, we will have a dress researsal in the morning and our play at 2:45.  We hope you can make it!

As you can see, it's an extremely busy week!!  Thanks for hanging in there with us!  Just think Fall Break is right around the corner!!

Have a super weekend,
Mrs. Mitchell

News for September 23rd

Can you believe it's already fall?  Time goes by so quickly!  Our third graders will take their first Acuity test this week. Math Acuity will occur for only 3rd graders on Thursday, September 26th from 1:00-2:00.  Language Arts Acuity is scheduled for Thursday, October 3rd from 9:00-10:00.  Our 2nd graders will work with a parent during this time.  We receive immediate feedback on this testing and students will then be assigned problems for them to practice on based on what they missed.  I will send home more detailed information about Acuity practice on Friday.

The Charlotte's Web script is being sent home tonight.  Please talk with your child about what type of part he/she would like, fill out the form, and return it to school tomorrow.  I will be drawing names out of a hat to select parts and all parts will be assigned Tuesday, September 24th.  Students are expected to memorize their parts by Wednesday, October 2nd.  Remember that our play is scheduled for Friday, October 4th at 2:45 in the White Lick Cafeteria. 

Our week at a glance:

Reading:  We will be studying about synonyms, inferences, and theme as we wrap up Charlotte's Web.   Also, remember reading logs are due on Monday, September 30th!!

Science:  Today we wrapped up our health and nutrition unit with a visit from the high school athletic trainer!  We will start animals tomorrow!

Math 2:  We will begin Unit 2 tomorrow.  This unit focuses on measurement so we'll be doing lots of measuring to the 1/2 inch, 1/4 inch, centimeter, 1/2 centimeter, and millimeter.  Some of us are really struggling with telling time to the minute.  Encourage lots of work with that at home along with practicing those addition and subtraction facts.

Math 3:  Students will be hard at work learning those multiplication and division facts and measuring length and using a map scale!  Our mutliplication time test will be every Thursday!  Practice those multiplication facts!!

Writing:  Our focus will be abbreviations along with writing friendly letters this week! 

Vegetable Soup and Fruit Salad

Thank you so much for all of the donations for our vegetable soup and fruit salad.  The kids surprised me because so many really, really loved the vegetable soup.  They especially liked the juice!  I was proud of those students that tried something they weren't too sure about their veggies!! The fruit salad was very popular and they just wanted more and more of it!  We are enjoying our nutrition unit and we owe you a big thanks for that! 

What's up for next week?

Reading:  We will be reading Chapters 7-15 next week in Charlotte's Web.  We will be focusing on the following skills:  drawing conclusions and synonyms.  We will review main idea/details and fact/opinions.  The students are doing a good job remembering to bring their novels and novel packets back and forth to school!  They are also improving on writing their answers in complete sentences!  Thanks for helping them work hard, use good effort, and stay focused!

Health:  Nutrition will be our focus again this week.  We will be learning about the dairy group and proteins.  Look for a study guide and test coming home towards the end of the week!

Writing:  We have been learning about expository text. (writing that gives information)  Last week, students researched animals using books by author Steve Jenkins.  This upcoming week, we will be researching and writing about spiders--all in honor of Charlotte!  We will also be learning how to use quotation marks correctly. 

Math 2:  We sailed right along until we got to subtracting two to three digit numbers!  Students learned the counting up method and the trade first method for subtraction.  While students need to learn this, this skill will not be tested for a grade on the Unit 2 test.  We plan on reviewing these skills and the rest of unit 2 for a test on Thursday. Please watch for a study guide on Wednesday evening.  Remember that your child will receive 5 bonus points for reviewing the study guide and Test Alert with you and a parent signing and returning this form!   Keep working on xtramath.org at home!!

Math 3:  Unit 3 is all about MULTIPLICATION FACTS!! Students will be cutting out triangle flashcards for multiplication and will take their first multiplication time test--on Tuesday!  This will be a practice test and it will come home that day for you to check over and see how this process works!  The students will take a pretend trip to Africa on Friday as they take complete another leg of their World Tour Project in math!  Ask your child what country he/she has already visited!  Keep working on xtramath.org at home!!  We have two students that just passed their subtraction facts in xtra math!

Charlotte's Web Play

The students don't know this little tidbit of information yet but I wanted you to get this date on your calendar.  We will be performing a Charlotte's Web play on Friday, October 4th at 2:45 in the White Lick cafeteria.  Soon, we will be drawing names for parts, practicing, and creating the set background.  Mrs. Kirkeiner has graciously volunteered to help the students learn the song, "Some Pig".  The kids will be super excited.  If any parents are interested in helping with the set, costumes, or background, please email me!  I'd love, love, love any extra help!  By the way, the students will find out about the play on Monday, but feel free to tell them if would like!

Our week looks pretty quiet for next week--just learning, learning, learning! We will be so excited to see how much was raised for White Lick at the Step-a-Thon Celebration convocation on Friday, September 20th at 3:00.  Did you know that our White Lick PSG is awesome?  They are so supportive of our school!!  Hope you can find a way to help out this great organization over the year!!

Have a great week!
~Mrs. Mitchell