Our Week – May 24

This has been a week of special events.  There was something different every single  day . The most special event of all, however, was The Parade of the States. Thank you so much for your support with this project.  We so appreciate your time and effort to bring everything together this joyous celebration. We couldn’t do this without your family support and we are grateful. The children were excited about the day and so proud to have the opportunity to share with everyone – it was certainly the highpoint of the week, if not the whole school year.

Here is a bit about the other special events in our week and some information about the “regular” learning too.   On Monday our day started off with a puppet show about Personal Safety presented by the people from Haven.  The children thoroughly enjoyed the show and had the opportunity to make sure they thought of the trusted adults they’d tell if ever they needed help or felt they needed to support a friend.  A flyer came home in the communication folder about Haven and a worksheet summarizing the main points of the discussion is with the student work sent home on Friday.

On Tuesday we took the state math assessment.  Again this week, your children worked thoughtfully and carefully throughout the test session.  It is a challenging assessment and most agreed that there were some problems they had to guess at. The children didn’t know what the question was asking. It is frustrating to know that sometimes children answer incorrectly, because they just don’t understand the wording.  If we were allowed to reword the question, the students would be more likely to answer correctly.  We are near the end of the testing sessions.  A few of the students will need time next week to complete their writing and math tests. I am proud of their effort.  They certainly put forth their best effort throughout each test session.

We also were able to attend the 4th and 5thgrade’s Junk to Funk concert Tuesday afternoon.  It was obvious those students had learned a lot about rhythms and beat, about cooperation and teamwork, and about having fun.  It is something to look forward to for next year.

On Wednesday we started our day by practicing for the recorder concert.  It was the first time that the two classrooms had the opportunity to play together, and they were great together.  You could tell they were working to stay together and keep the correct tempo.  They sounded beautiful together because they were playing calmly and slowly.  Not all of the students play all of the songs, and that’s fine.  The children were encouraged to do what they could.  As Mrs. Oliver indicated, children had the opportunity to give up recess for extra support and to learn two of the more complicated songs.  Not all of the children wanted to do that and that is fine as well.

The Grade 3 Community Meeting is Friday, June 7.  We’ll be performing the concert again for the entire school, share a movie of each student’s float in the Parade of the States and finish it by asking the school to join us in singing America the Beautiful.  It will be another opportunity for the children to showcase their hard work.

The special event on Thursday was the dress rehearsal for the Parade of the States.  Before that the classroom was full of floats.  We were excited to see how each person represented the Wonders of their state.  Each float was a totally unique creation. At the rehearsal the first and second grades came so they’d be able see what it might mean when they come to 3rdgrade and have to select a state to research.

The children began writing persuasively about the Wonders of their state.  They are continuing to research so their final piece persuades readers to vacation in their state – the most interesting state in the country. They will finish these pieces in early June.  We will be using a writing app called Book Creator so this writing piece will be posted on their blogs as well.

To learn more about persuasive writing we created essays trying to convince everyone on what the best season is.   We’ve learned how to make a claim and then support that claim with actual facts and evidence.  We’re continuing to experiment with effective leads and conclusions too. Our goal was to have these done and posted on our blogs… As you can tell classroom time was short this week, so next week will be our goal.

Finally on Friday we went to the Memorial Day Assembly, thoughtfully planned and organized by the 7thand 8thgraders in Student Government.  It is important to be reminded that this is not just another day to be out of school.  Make sure to ask your children what they heard and saw.

In and around all those things we were able to spend time reading.  I have been impressed recently with the book choices and reading stamina. Many children have been selecting and completing much more complex texts.  It is also fun to see how books get passed from one reader to another because the first readers is so excited and offers a review that can’t be resisted.

It’s been a busy week full of some different learning opportunities and challenges. Hopefully we’ll be back on track next week and will have more time in the classroom to focus on our daily work.  Learning together is fun.

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