Welcome back! I hope you all had a very relaxing break and a

joyful holiday season. We had a very eventful week before we left for winter break. It was filled with fun activities and interesting lessons. We ended our busy month of December by unveiling our secret snowpals and touring the Midwest.

Race Across the States Our class has been doing well with our Race Across the State project. We have been lucky enough to receive nearly 150 postcards from destinations across the country and throughout the world. We are very thankful to everyone who has helped us with our goal. Postcards from 32 different states and 19 foreign countries have taught the class a variety of information and interesting facts. The students are really excited about the possibility of receiving a postcard from all 50 states, so they are really hoping to get postcards from the following states: Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia.

Classroom News from 3-1

Before leaving for break, our class began the third unit of our Treasures literacy program. We have been focusing on three main comprehension strategies that include visualizing, analyzing story structure, examining text structures, and making inferences. While reading, students make visualizations, or create mental pictures, of what is

In this issue: Race Across the States 1 Reading 1 Writing 2 Social Studies 2 Science 2 Math 3 Writing Words 3 Web Updates 4 Reminders 4 Dates/Events 5 Student Challenge 5

Crandall Chronicle

January 2013

Reading What We’re Studying

occurring in the story. This helps the students to better understand what they are reading. The children have also been paying close attention to plot and setting while reading.

Due to the shortened week that is coming up, we will begin Unit 4 next week and then take the Unit 3 test the following week. This will apply for spelling and grammar as well.

We concluded our Midwest unit right before winter break. Each student created a scrapbook containing important information about his or her Midwest state. I was so impressed with their hard work and all of the interest they showed during the project. The students had the opportunity to share what they learned about their states while on our train tour of the Midwest. Students boarded our imaginary train and set off on a trip through each state. While visiting the states, students viewed photographs of the state and listened to the tour guides provide fascinating information.

Prior to the trip, students each chose one or two pages from their scrapbooks to share with their classmates. They recorded their voices onto an iPod and downloaded images from the Internet, which were both later uploaded into a Keynote presentation.

The students enjoyed learning from their classmates and were excited about hearing their own voice recordings. I have posted a QuickTime movie on our class blog so that you can take our virtual tour of the Midwest.

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The students have really been enjoying our new science unit. We continue to explore light through a variety of hands-on activities and experiments. The class will be given the opportunity to utilize some exciting new technology to assist in our learning about the new light concepts and show our understanding.

A software program called Animation-ish allows students to create digital models of light, through which they can show how light bounces or reflects off surfaces into our eyes enabling us to have vision.

The use of a light sensor or probe provides students with the ability to make more precise observations about the amount of light being emitted from various light sources and the amount of light that passes through different objects.

Visit our class website to access links to a variety of resources for our light unit. You can also view students’ projects, observations, and photographs.

Before winter break, we completed the first part of our Writers’ Express writing program. The focus of these first four units was focusing on a single moment and showing with detailed descriptions through the writing of personal narratives. We will soon begin our next unit, which focuses on responding to literature. I will be reading the novel My Name Is Maria Isabel, by Alma Flor Ada, aloud

to the class. Each day we will focus our attention on and analyze an excerpt from the novel.

The students will experience and discuss how an author provides showing details to promote visualizing among the readers. After a short skill drill that focuses on a specific skill or strategy that the author has used, the students will have the opportunity to use that skill or strategy in their own journal writing.

Social Studies Science

Writing

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During the weeks before winter break, we concluded Unit 5: Place Value in Whole Numbers and Decimals. The students learned how to read numbers through 9 million, and practiced even larger numbers! Our class also worked on comparing large numbers to one another and added these super-sized numbers. We then turned our focus to small numbers. Students learned the place values for decimals, including tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. They practiced showing these decimals using base-10 blocks and writing them as written-out words, decimals, and fractions. The students were given a three-part unit math test that included written, listening, and speaking portions.

This week we began Unit 6: Geometry. This unit is full of new vocabulary that the students will be required to learn. Some of the new terms that we are currently learning and practicing include line segment, line, ray, vertex, and angle. The students will also be responsible for learning the names of various polygons and polyhedrons (3D figures). The unit will be split into two parts, and the students will be quizzed next week on the first part of the unit covering the topics of lines, line segments, rays, angles, and turns.

Math

Every month the students receive a list of writing words that they are responsible for learning how to spell. Since the month of December was so short, we did not have a list of writing words for that month. However, we have quickly gotten back to our routines and the children already brought home their list of words for January. A cumulative test will be given at the end of the month. The test will be on all of the words from October, November, and January. Remember, once the students have been tested on a set of words, they are held responsible for spelling them correctly on all assignments. One point will be deducted on graded assignments for having a misspelled writing word. Therefore, please encourage your child to look over his or her work carefully to check for correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation!

Writing Words

Visit our class website and check out these recently added items:

Tour of the Midwest

Light Observations

Race Across the States

Class Pet Adventures

Other class projects

Class Website Updates!

* The students will be taking a test on the Northeast states and capitals at the beginning of February. A majority of their time studying will need to be done at home, so please remind them to practice. They may use the flashcards that were brought home on Monday or any of the interactive websites found on our class website. Click on the Race Across the States tab.

* Remember to send your child to school with appropriate clothing for outdoor recess. If we do ever get any snow, your child must be wearing snow pants and boots to play in the field.

* The students will be tested on the October, November, and January writing words at the end of this month. I will keep you posted on the exact date.

* MAP testing will be taking place next week. Please check your child’s Take Home Folder for a letter with more information.

MONTHLY REMINDERS

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IMPORTANT DATES & UPCOMING EVENTS January 16 & 18 – MAP Testing

January 21 – Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday (NO SCHOOL)

January 22 – Institute Day (NO SCHOOL)

January 23 – Monday Schedule

January 25 – Spirit Day (Crazy Hair)

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Student Challenge This month’s challenge: Cut out the 6 circles on the other piece of paper. Glue them onto some thin cardboard like a cereal box or the back of a notepad. Then, carefully cut around the circles on the cardboard. Have a parent help to poke a hole in the center of each circle. Now, choose one of the options below to make your circles spin. 1. Have a parent put the circles on the end of an electric screwdriver or drill. Watch as the circles spin. 2. Poke a sharpened pencil through the circle to create a top that you can spin. (This option will not produce the best results.) 3. Place the circles on a top that you already have and spin them. 4. Use any other creative idea you have to make the circles spin. After spinning each top, record what you see happening to the black and white patterns. Experiment with spinning them at different speeds. Write down your observations on the worksheet next to each of the spinners. Think about how this might relate to what we are learning in our science light unit. Turn in your worksheet by Friday, January 25th!