Happy Friday and welcome October!
The students are really getting into the swing of routines and we are able to do various jobs in reading and math smoothly!
In reading, we are working on summarizing by using the "Somebody, wanted, but, so, then" strategy. We are also describing characters by looking closely at traits rather than physical appearances.
In math we are almost done with unit 1, we will assess next week. We have been working on counting money, telling time, and reading graphs - this a review from 2nd grade. If you can do any extra practice at home, that would be great!
In science, we are also almost done with our "critters" unit. We were able to observe the life cycle of many different insects and some plants. We will talk next week about animal population and predator vs. prey.
I am sending home many papers today. On the lunch menu, they now write what day it is in our 6-day cycle so I will not send home a separate calendar for that. Here are a few reminders/notes about next week:
Monday - No school for teacher inservice.
Tuesday - We start the Global Read Aloud - we are reading The BFG. Stay tuned for more information.
Thursday - Stomp Our Bullying Day - wear blue.
We also start our fundraiser called Cherrydale, the return date is Oct. 20.
Friday - Fall Fitness Day - we will be extra active that day to celebrate healthy lifestyles.
Have a wonderful fall weekend! Thanks for all you do!
Mrs. Midthus
Friday, September 30, 2016
Friday, September 23, 2016
Friday, Sept. 23
Happy Homecoming 3C and Families!
We have had a very busy first few weeks of school. We are all working hard to establish daily routines and and the students are learning them quickly as we move onto assessments and curriculum.
In reading, we have built our Read to Self stamina up to 20 minutes. This is one job we will do everyday at school and hopefully each night at home. We also started Read to Someone. With this, students read the same book, side by side. One student reads one page and the other student shares a "Check for Understanding", then they trade jobs on the next page. A "Check for Understanding" is a great reading strategy where students say one sentence of "who is on the page and what happened to them?"
In writing, we have built our stamina to 19 minutes of uninterrupted writing. Our young authors are eager to share and their great thoughts.
I am very excited for our spelling this year. We have divided the students into groups and they travel to a third grade classroom, possibly our own, and we assess on Fridays and receive next week's list. I enjoy meeting different third graders and the students enjoy working with different teachers, students and in a different classroom.
In math, we are also setting up routines and daily jobs. We have started ST Math again and we have a new app that focuses on basic addition and subtraction facts. We have also learned games to play with a friend that practice our new skills.
In science, we have lots of critters in our classroom. We are working on our Plants and Animals Populations unit. We are observing an ant farm, fruit fly populations, aphids, and daphnia. Next week we will have a couple more!
Thanks for all you are doing to have a successful start to third grade. Just a couple reminders, Reading Logs are due each Monday morning, math packets are due back each Friday, and spelling tests are on Fridays.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Midthus
We have had a very busy first few weeks of school. We are all working hard to establish daily routines and and the students are learning them quickly as we move onto assessments and curriculum.
In reading, we have built our Read to Self stamina up to 20 minutes. This is one job we will do everyday at school and hopefully each night at home. We also started Read to Someone. With this, students read the same book, side by side. One student reads one page and the other student shares a "Check for Understanding", then they trade jobs on the next page. A "Check for Understanding" is a great reading strategy where students say one sentence of "who is on the page and what happened to them?"
In writing, we have built our stamina to 19 minutes of uninterrupted writing. Our young authors are eager to share and their great thoughts.
I am very excited for our spelling this year. We have divided the students into groups and they travel to a third grade classroom, possibly our own, and we assess on Fridays and receive next week's list. I enjoy meeting different third graders and the students enjoy working with different teachers, students and in a different classroom.
In math, we are also setting up routines and daily jobs. We have started ST Math again and we have a new app that focuses on basic addition and subtraction facts. We have also learned games to play with a friend that practice our new skills.
In science, we have lots of critters in our classroom. We are working on our Plants and Animals Populations unit. We are observing an ant farm, fruit fly populations, aphids, and daphnia. Next week we will have a couple more!
Thanks for all you are doing to have a successful start to third grade. Just a couple reminders, Reading Logs are due each Monday morning, math packets are due back each Friday, and spelling tests are on Fridays.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Midthus
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Welcome to Third Grade!
Hello students, parents, and families of 3C!
I am very excited to begin our school year together! I was disappointed to hear we had no school Wednesday but now we are ready to roll and hope for better weather for all!
Thank you all for coming to our first ever Back-to-School Conferences! It was wonderful to meet you and be able to chat with your families. Now that we know each other a little better, please feel free to contact me at school, home, or by email if you ever have a question or concern. I know some of you had questions at conferences so I just wanted to clarify a few things that I learned from the office.
I will try to post on this blog weekly, usually toward the end of the week to give you updates. I will also post reminders and schedule changes.
Some reminders students want shared are:
*A note went home asking for snacks for our classroom. We will have daily snacks throughout 1st quarter and possibly longer.
*A second note went home that asked for a $5 donation for our classroom celebrations for various holidays throughout to year.
*Students are welcome to bring water bottles to school as long as they are able to close them. Please no straws and no flavored water.
*Students need to bring a clean sock or stretchy glove to school. It will serve as an eraser of dry erase markers for math class.
*Finally, we would LOVE to observe the life cycle of a monarch caterpillar in the classroom as it changes into a butterfly. If you find one or more, we would love to have them in the classroom. If you send one, please also send milkweek.
Thank you so much for all you do! If you have questions for me, I have my contact information below. I look forward to working with you and your child this year!!!
Michelle Midthus
Home - 563 547 3203
School - 563 547 2300
Email - mmidthus@howard-winn.k12.ia.us
Facebook - Mrs. Midthus' 3C class
Twitter - MichelleMidthus
I am very excited to begin our school year together! I was disappointed to hear we had no school Wednesday but now we are ready to roll and hope for better weather for all!
Thank you all for coming to our first ever Back-to-School Conferences! It was wonderful to meet you and be able to chat with your families. Now that we know each other a little better, please feel free to contact me at school, home, or by email if you ever have a question or concern. I know some of you had questions at conferences so I just wanted to clarify a few things that I learned from the office.
- Background checks are good for three years at Howard Winn. If you would like to come to field trips or volunteer in the classroom, you will need an updated check once every three years. You can contact the office if you are not sure if you need one.
- Title I Reading will start for students who qualify after all the necessary students in grades Kindergarten-third grade are tested. This will take a bit of time. We will let you know the exact date closer to.
- Students are allowed to wear flip flops to school, just not out to recess. If a student wears flip flops they must change into tennis shoes or sandals for recess. They may keep them in their locker and change before going outside.
I will try to post on this blog weekly, usually toward the end of the week to give you updates. I will also post reminders and schedule changes.
Some reminders students want shared are:
*A note went home asking for snacks for our classroom. We will have daily snacks throughout 1st quarter and possibly longer.
*A second note went home that asked for a $5 donation for our classroom celebrations for various holidays throughout to year.
*Students are welcome to bring water bottles to school as long as they are able to close them. Please no straws and no flavored water.
*Students need to bring a clean sock or stretchy glove to school. It will serve as an eraser of dry erase markers for math class.
*Finally, we would LOVE to observe the life cycle of a monarch caterpillar in the classroom as it changes into a butterfly. If you find one or more, we would love to have them in the classroom. If you send one, please also send milkweek.
Thank you so much for all you do! If you have questions for me, I have my contact information below. I look forward to working with you and your child this year!!!
Michelle Midthus
Home - 563 547 3203
School - 563 547 2300
Email - mmidthus@howard-winn.k12.ia.us
Facebook - Mrs. Midthus' 3C class
Twitter - MichelleMidthus
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)