TWO Weeks: March 26-28 AND April 3-6

Hello Families,

Wow -- this seems to be a busy time of year. I can tell because my blog is getting longer and longer! Since these next two weeks are shorter, I thought I would just put in information for both of these weeks. We do have some new and exciting things coming up-- Egg crack-off, spring break, Forward tests, KAT...keep reading for more information on that!

It was wonderful seeing you for our portfolio conferences. It's always a great time to celebrate students' growth and to see just how far they have come! If you have any lingering questions or thoughts, feel free to contact me. I know those 15 minutes can go by so quick!

Reminders/Updates

• We are starting to practice for the Wisconsin Forward test. Since this is the first time students will be taking this, we went over a practice test in reading and math to have students practice using the tools. If you want to practice some more at home, you can click this link and click on Item Samplers Sign In or Online Tools Training - Grade 3 -  ELA or Math. We gave students the answers to each question so that they can really focus on getting comfortable and confident using the different tools available. 
• A letter went home describing the Forward tests and the dates when students will take them. I also have them listed in the blog. Since we are taking these tests right away in the morning, it will be important for students to get a good night's rest the night before and to have a hearty breakfast that morning!
• Students will need to type their answers for the ELA portions. If your child would like to practice their typing at home, here is the link to Typing Club. They just need to enter their username (which does NOT include the @kaukaunasd.org) and password. Remind them that they can only move on to the next level if they get 5 stars! 
• Fang Reading Program: "Second Base" was due Friday, March 23. You can turn in each Fang guy with your child on the due date, or you can keep them and turn all of them in at once on April 20th. Here are the rest of the due dates:
• Third base: April 6th
• Home plate: April 20th
• Our Knowledge-A-Thon (KAT) will be here before we know it! 
• If you are  interested in volunteering, please sign up by clicking the link: 2018 Knowledge-A-Thon (KAT) Day

• If you would like to volunteer, you will need to have a background check on file. If you do not have one yet, it could take 3 weeks to get approved. 
• The week of the KAT, we have some fun dress up days!
• Monday, April 9th: K - "Kozy" day - wear comfy clothes or PJs
• Tuesday, April 10th (No school)
• Wednesday, April 11th: A - "Answer" Dress up like an answer to a KAT question
• Thursday, April 12th: T - "Teacher" Dress up like a teacher
• Friday, April 13th: KAT! Dress like our grade's assigned Olympic color (each grade will come in one of the colors of the Olympic rings) 3rd Grade wears GREEN
• We will have our egg crack-off on Wednesday, March 28th, right before break! Please have your child bring one hard boiled egg to school that morning. 

Upcoming Events

March 28: Early Dismissal (11:30)
March 28: Egg Crack-Off! Bring one hard-boiled egg to school
March 29: NO SCHOOL
March 30: NO SCHOOL

April 2: NO SCHOOL
April 3: Wear Odd Clothes
April 5: First Forward Test - ELA 1

April 9: "Kozy" day  
April 10: NO SCHOOL
April 11: Dress like an answer to a KAT question
April 12: Dress like a teacher
April 13: KAT
April 13: 3rd Grade--Wear Green!

April 18: School trip to the PAC
April 19: Forward Test - Math 1
April 19: Family Night
April 20: Forward Test - Math 2

April 24: Forward Test - ELA 2 & 3
April 25: Forward Test - ELA 4

Curriculum Update

Math: Our mathematicians dived deep into area and perimeter! Be sure to go over your child's quiz with them to celebrate all they have learned and the mistakes they fixed up. This helps to solidify their knowledge! Just have them tell you how they solved the problem (they get to be the teacher!) The last thing we will be going over in this unit is fractions and equivalence. Students will be putting fractions on a number line and using fraction strips to understand that some fractions have the same value (1/2 = 2/4 = 3/6 = 4/8, etc.) These are called equivalent fractions. Right now, I'm looking at having the Unit 5 test be at the end of the first week in April, most likely April 5th or 6th. I'll send an email when the Unit 5 review goes home to let you know and to also provide the answer key for your sake! 

Writing: This week we continued to work on making short response answers a RADD answer--ask your child what that means. :) Many students were doing some of the things we talked about, but not all of them...yet! We worked with a checklist and our partners to provide and receive feedback to make our answer the best it could be. One common fix up was to make sure that we reread our answer so it makes sense and add correct punctuation and spelling. The next two weeks we will explore writing longer responses. This is one part of the Forward test. Students are expected to read a passage and answer a question in an essay format. They need to have a solid introduction, good evidence that is specific, and a strong conclusion. I don't know what the question will be but based on the Forward support sampler, I do know that it quite possibly could be on identifying a theme/lesson or analyzing a character or an event. We will work hard these next two weeks to make sure we are prepared and use ALL of our skills!

Word Study:  We have been practicing reading and writing words with the r-controlled sounds AR and OR (like FORT, PART, ORBIT.) Our Unit 8 test will be on Tuesday so the word study packet can be turned in any time before then. The trick words from this unit are world, answer, and different. We'll start Unit 9 the week of April 3rd. We'll be practicing words with the r-controlled sounds ER, IR, and UR. The Unit 9 word study packet will go home the week of April 3rd. This is a two week unit, so students can be shooting for getting the Unit 9 packet finished about two weeks after that. 

Reading: This past week we reminded ourselves of what we can do when we are reading nonfiction passages. It is important to think about how the author structured the passage and to of course, think of the main idea! This coming week we will practice with a variety of unique passages. These might include interviews, recipes, step-by-step directions, etc. It is very important that your child is reading EACH night at home for at least 20 minutes. They should be reading the same book between school and home. This helps their comprehension if they are sticking with one book at a time and comprehension is critical! If you would like to have your child practice the tools some more at home you can click here. However, don't worry as much about the correct answers. We don't want to stress them out. I would rather have them feel confident navigating through this new test format.

Content: We started our last social studies unit for the year, Folktales Around the World. This unit focuses on the reading of folktales as a way for students to develop their reading skills while also learning about cultures around the world. We began by discussing the difference between folktales, fables, myth, legends, fairy tales, and tall tales. We then read one of each and determined which it was! Next week, students will read more stories from different countries and notice any common themes from each country.

Know that you can always contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful weekend!

Best,

Jenny

March 19-23

Hi Families,

I can tell that spring will be here soon! It has been nice having more hours of sunlight in the day with moving our clocks forward. As the temperatures start to warm up, please be sure to check the weather in the morning so your child is dressed appropriately for two twenty-minute recesses outside!

Reminders/Updates

• Conferences are already next week!! Here are some sign ups if you are interested and available:
• 2018 Spring Conference Teacher Meals
• 2018 Spring Book Fair
• We are starting to practice for the Wisconsin Forward test. Since this is the first time students will be taking this, we went over a practice test in reading and math to have students practice using the tools. If you want to practice some more at home, you can click this link and click on Item Samplers Sign In or Online Tools Training - Grade 3 -  ELA or Math. We gave students the answers to each question so that they can really focus on getting comfortable using the different tools available. 
• Fang Reading Program: "First Base" was due Friday, March 9th. You can turn in each Fang guy with your child on the due date, or you can keep them and turn all of them in at once on April 20th. Here are the rest of the due dates:
• Second base: March 23rd
• Third base: April 6th
• Home plate: April 20th
• Our Knowledge-A-Thon (KAT) will be here before we know it! If you are  interested in volunteering, please sign up by clicking the link: 2018 Knowledge-A-Thon (KAT) Day

• If you would like to volunteer, you will need to have a background check on file. If you do not have one yet, it could take 3 weeks to get approved. 

Upcoming Events

March 19: Badger Sports Wear
March 20: Portfolio Conferences
March 22: Portfolio Conferences
March 28: Early Dismissal (11:30)
March 29: NO SCHOOL
March 30: NO SCHOOL
April 2: NO SCHOOL
April 3: Wear Odd Clothes
April 6: NO SCHOOL
April 13: KAT

Curriculum Update

Math: We began talking about area and perimeter this week. Our mathematicians even helped me design a garden where I'd need the least amount of fencing (perimeter) but have the greatest amount of space to plant my vegetables (area)! We also started to talk about the Wisconsin Forward test and took a practice test on Friday. I just want students to be comfortable with the tools available so that they can focus on the content when the test comes. Next week, we'll find the area and perimeter of shapes made up of rectangles and solve word problems. It can be tricky to know if we're looking for the area, perimeter, or side length so we'll practice reading each problem closely! Continue talking to your child about where they might see area and perimeter outside of school! :)  

Writing: This week we worked to write RADD answers to short response questions! To write a RADD answer, we need to: restate the question, answer the question, write a specific detail from the text, and write a second specific detail from the text. To improve our how our writing looks, next week we will focus on when to capitalize words, correct punctuation, and common misspelled words. We'll pull this all together at the end of the week and type our best response yet, using all that we have learned. As testing is coming up soon, I am trying to get students to see that they CAN do this work, and they ARE doing it, so they feel confident and are able to show off their best work!

Word Study: We will be starting a new unit this week. This will be a short one! We will be reading and writing words with the r-controlled sounds AR and OR (like FORT, PART, ORBIT.) Our trick words will be world, answer, and different. 

Reading: This past week we continued going over test-taking tips. We practiced discussing and answering questions in a different genre, narrative nonfiction. Students are doing a great job! We also watched the Wisconsin Forward test taking tutorials. We even practiced taking the practice test to manipulate the tools they will be able to use on the test. If you would like to have your child practice the tools some more at home you can click here. However, don't worry as much about the correct answers. We don't want to stress them out. I would rather have them feel confident navigating through this new test format. This next week we will venture into nonfiction and remember all of the strategies we already know. Students are continuing to learn so many practical test-taking strategies. I am hoping this is easing their minds and making them feel more confident!

Content: It was AMAZING to hear (and see!) students give their presentations as if they were a Civil Rights leader! Students seemed to enjoy this unit and learning more about our leaders who fought for equality. Next unit will be Folktales Around the World. This social studies unit focuses on the reading of folktales as a way for students to develop their reading skills while also learning about cultures around the world.

Check out Seesaw for some more pictures!

Know that you can always contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful weekend!

Best,

Jenny

March 12-16

Hi Families,

What a busy week! It was great seeing most of you either at Culver's Night or at Author's Breakfast. Thank you so much for showing support for our school and your child!

As state testing will be here sooner than we know it, we have begun talking about some test taking tips and what the tests will be like. We're hoping that talking about this and practicing beforehand will help alleviate some stress that any kind of test can cause. If your child is feeling overly nervous about these tests, let me know! The best thing we can do is help them feel confident going into the test.

Reminders/Updates

• Fang Reading Program: "First Base" was due Friday, March 9th. You can turn in each Fang guy with your child on the due date, or you can keep them and turn all of them in at once on April 20th. Here are the rest of the due dates:
• Second base: March 23rd
• Third base: April 6th
• Home plate: April 20th
• Our Knowledge-A-Thon (KAT) will be here before we know it! If you are  interested in volunteering, please sign up by clicking the link: 2018 Knowledge-A-Thon (KAT) Day

• If you would like to volunteer, you will need to have a background check on file. If you do not have one yet, it could take 3 weeks to get approved. 

• Portfolio Conferences are coming soon! If you have not yet, please sign up for conferences. The link to sign up is here.
• Our 4K teacher, Mrs. Krueger, recently went to a training in New York and asked that we share this with our NDLC families:

Loose Parts

Many of the sessions that I attended in New York last week explained that play with open-ended materials encourages a child’s imagination and deepens their creativity.  I am looking to transition our classroom from traditional toys to more open-ended materials. I am hoping families can help with donations of items you may have around your house or you may also consider an inexpensive donation to our class.   I will be sharing this list with our school staff and also my friends and family. If you have any family members that are ‘collectors’ please consider asking them for donations to our 4K class as well.

Below you will find a list of possible ideas of items that can be used for this type of play.  Really, any ‘loose parts’ we would love to add to our classroom.

Large plastic buttons perler beads shape blocks wooden cubes glass stones mini erasers matchsticks felt shapes foam numbers river rocks different sizes sticks Empty boxes (from shoe to refrigerator sizes) Tape (variety of types) Fabric (variety of sizes) Nature recycled materials paper tubes, papers, ribbons, caps, lids, wood scraps, wire, foam, cardboard

Upcoming Events

March 15: Yoga
March 16: Wear Green
March 16: Homeless Connections presentation at Assembly
March 16: Beauty and the Beast performance
March 19: Badger Sports Wear
March 20: Portfolio Conferences
March 22: Portfolio Conferences
March 28: Early Dismissal (11:30)
March 29: NO SCHOOL
March 30: NO SCHOOL

Curriculum Update

Math: We wrapped up Unit 4 this week by taking the test! The next unit that we will start focuses on area, perimeter, and fractions. We'll start by first determining what area and perimeter are and how to find them. Students often will get area and perimeter mixed up and forget which one is which. We'll talk about how you can find area and perimeter if you know the side length, or how we can find the side length if you know area or perimeter. You can help students see that we use this stuff outside of math class by talking about when you might need to find the perimeter (garden fences, bulletin board borders, window frames) and area (painting a wall, floor in a bathroom, ceiling tiles, the space a pool would take up). 

Writing: Our writers created some amazing pieces of writing in this last unit! I was impressed with how engaged students were and the quality and quantity of work they were able to accomplish! Next week we will be starting a new unit: test prep. We really are going to be focusing on making sure we answer exactly what the question asks and take evidence right from the text to answer it. Students will be typing their answers to short response questions as well. They will be expected to answer the question with TWO pieces of textual evidence and with correct punctuation and capital letters, as that is how they will be graded on the state test.

Word Study: This week we learned more about prefixes and suffixes -- specifically the suffixes -ly, -y, and -ty. When y is a suffix, it always makes the long E sound. We will be wrapping up this unit (finally!) next week and taking the test. 

Reading: This past week we began our test prep unit. Students have been learning SO many test taking skills already. Here are some we learned for multiple choice questions:

• After reading a question, cover up the answers and see if YOU can guess the answer first. Then see if your answer is an option.

• Read ALL of the answers before deciding on one

• Eliminate obvious wrong answers

• ALWAYS go back in the text to make sure you can support your answer.

• Test makers might try to trick you with wording. Lesson can also be moral or central message.

• TRY your best!

• Take your time!

• ANNOTATE---jot and highlight parts that you know are important

Students have been doing SUCH a great job! We've done a lot of practice this past week with fiction passages. This coming week we will start looking at narrative nonfiction. These tend to be biographies and are tricky for students because they not only read it like an information book but they should also read it like a story. We will practice this and consider ALL of our skills we already know! Students are having a lot of fun trying to NOT let the test makers trick us. :)

Content: Students have been busy researching their Civil Rights leader or movement. Ask your child what they have learned! To showcase all of this new knowledge, students will be typing a biography about their person and decorating a poster to teach our classmates. I know students will be excited and interested to learn more about the brave and historic leaders of this movement!

Know that you can always contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful weekend!

Best,

Jenny

Week of March 5 - 9

Hi Families,

Wow, it was great to see such the overwhelming support for your child and our school at our Family Night this month! Students blew my socks off with their performance of their song. If you didn't get a chance to go, or if you'd just like to see it again, I have a video of them singing their song again on Seesaw!


Check out some pictures from our Book Character dress up day!

Reminders/Updates

• This week we have some extra fun things going on: Culver's Night is this Monday, our Symphony field trip to the PAC is Tuesday afternoon, Author's Breakfast Thursday morning, and an early dismissal on Friday!
• Our Knowledge-A-Thon (KAT) will be here before we know it! If you are  interested in volunteering, please sign up by clicking the link: 2018 Knowledge-A-Thon (KAT) Day

• If you would like to volunteer, you will need to have a background check on file. If you do not have one yet, it could take 3 weeks to get approved. 

• Portfolio Conferences are coming soon! An email should be coming to you soon to sign up for conferences. The link has been from "PTCFast," so be sure to check for that as I know it can be easy to look past! 

Upcoming Events

March 5: Culver's Night 5:00-8:00 (Ms. Feldkamp will be serving from 7-8!)
March 6: PAC Artistic Adventures field trip in the afternoon
March 8: Author's Breakfast
March 8: Unit 4 Math Test
March 9: Early Dismissal (11:30)
March 16: Wear Green
March 19: Badger Sports Wear
March 20: Portfolio Conferences
March 22: Portfolio Conferences
March 28: Early Dismissal (11:30)
March 29: NO SCHOOL
March 30: NO SCHOOL

Curriculum Update

Math: This week we reviewed time and also got into our last big concept of this unit: graphs! We interpreted and created our own bar graphs and pictographs. This is fun to do with data! Some students even asked if they could create their own graphs based on students' favorite pets or colors. This was awesome! Having students see that what they learn in school is something that they can use in other parts of their lives is exactly what I want to happen! Next week, we will be reviewing for our Unit 4 test. Continue having your child work on the review a little bit each night. I also put some more practice onto Think Central if your child is interested! Let me know if you have any questions regarding the test. We will take the test on Thursday. As always, the test will look VERY similar to the review.

Writing: Our writers have been doing their best to make their piece of writing their best yet! We have been improving our writing by providing and listening to feedback from our partners and using a checklist to be sure we have all the good writing moves in our current piece of writing! Next week, we'll talk about adjectives and then publish our writing. It will be perfect timing as we will then be able to showcase our published writing during our Author's Breakfast on Thursday!

Word Study: Students have been really thinking about how to spell each syllable in their words. We learned about prefixes; understanding what each prefix means can help us understand the entire word! Our trick words for next week will be night, carry, and something. When your child is practicing writing the trick words, it is ok and actually encouraged to let them see the trick word if they do not know how to spell it. We want to make sure they're spelling the trick words correctly each time it's written, as this helps them to write it correctly in the future. 

Reading: This past week we finished up analyzing our poetry! Students did a great job reading deeply. This is a skill they should have for not only poetry, but anything they read. This coming week we will begin a new unit! This unit is TEST PREP! There was a letter that was sent home explaining it in more detail. Overall, the unit will remind students of skills they already know and teach them practical test taking tips! This is the first year of state testing for your children and this unit does a great job at making them prepared and LESS stressed! I did tell them there will be a big celebration after all the testing they are going to do. I think they were pretty excited! :) Let me know if you have any questions.

Content: We started our next Social Studies unit -- the Civil Rights Movement! We kicked this unit off by reading the book The Other Side and by getting a little background on the Civil Rights Movement. Students will be selecting a leader from that time to research deeper so that they can share that knowledge with all of us! Feel free to talk to your child about this era - we talked a lot this week but I'm sure there are some more lingering questions or comments!

Know that you can always contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful weekend!

Best,

Jenny