Weekly Update

Dear Families,

Welcome back and Happy New Year!! It is wonderful to be back in the classroom again with all of the students. They have so many exciting things to share about their vacation and it is great to share in their excitement.

We also have some very exciting news to share with you in our classroom. We have a new student join us from Williston and we could not be happier to have him with us. Welcome Corey!

We started our new Science unit this week and we will study “Solids, Liquids, and Gases” this time. While most students have been exposed to these concepts before, the expectation for 3rd and 4th grade rests more upon gaining an understanding about the properties of water vapor and gas; i.e., that gas takes up space, has pressure and weight. In this unit, the students will learn more about the water cycle, and they already explored the properties of liquids this week. Ask your child to explain our experiments in liquids. We explored how the densities and properties of various liquids, such as soap, oil, milk, water and food coloring, affected each other. The students are, once again, examining science through constructivist thinking strategies and are encouraged to “act” as scientists as they make predictions, observe and gather data upon which they construct their conclusions. They did a great job this week. Please view the blog and our classroom picture-sharing account for photos from these experiments. Thank you!

3rd graders started a new math program this week. I have the pleasure and privilege to pilot a new math program for the school. The program is called “Investigations” and the students and I just love this approach to math!!! Please ask your child to share some of the exciting mathematical discussions we have. A letter already went out to all the families affected explaining these new procedures. If your child did not bring home this letter, or if you would like some additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me per e-mail or phone. Please know you can also drop by anytime! Since our math homework schedule in 3rd grade has changed somewhat, I wish to remind everyone that Spelling and Vocabulary homework are still due on Fridays. Reading logs are also due. Please know that you and your child may choose any reading log you wish using our classroom Link Library on the wiki by simply printing out the one you wish to use.

Our unit on Ecology is wrapping up in a couple of weeks. The students will be expected to write a 4 paragraph essay in class as a culminating assessment on their animal of choice. The students are also expected to create a stuffed animal. This assignment must be completed at home and must represent the animal your child is doing his/her research on. Please see the attached assignment in this newsletter. The due date is 1/19/10. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Lastly, the students created their first Voicethread this week. Voicethread is an interactive multi-media platform that allows students to respond and show their understanding in many different ways; they can write, paint, speak and use a video camera. The students responded to our school policy “Be a STAR”. I have posted this as a link on the blog, but the actual Voicethread sits upon a new digital portfolio that I am creating for the class as a whole. This digital portfolio will be linked on the school web-site and it is my hope that it will serve as a permanent record of all the wonderful things these terrific students do every day in class. My hope is that this digital portfolio will motivate students further as an audience (you and your family) can easily access this information. The url for the web-site is www.summitprojects.pbworks.com. It is linked in the blog sidebar as well. If you have any problems accessing this page, please let me know or if you have any ideas for how to improve it, please let me know.

It is great to be back. I hope you had a great week as well. Have a nice weekend.
Regards,

Maria McCormack