Thursday, October 2, 2014

Language Arts                 

Christy Diefenderfer and Eileen Shelton

All third graders are working to develop reading fluency, reading comprehension, and reading stamina---with a goal of fueling a love of reading. During reading class, one focus of our lessons has been how to choose a “just right” book. Your daughter should always have an independent reading book in addition to the novel we are reading in class. It is important that your daughter’s independent book be one that she can read fluently and comprehend independently. Below are the guidelines we discussed in class for selecting a “just right” book.

A book is too hard for me if: 

• I get stuck on words
• It doesn’t make sense
• I can’t read with expression
• It is confusing

 A book is just right for me if:

• I can read smoothly at a good pace
• It makes sense
• I can read with expression
• I can retell the important parts
• I grow ideas as I read
• I like it

Sometimes the girls will choose books that are very challenging!  These books are wonderful to read with you at home or in a group so the complex sentences, plot, and rich vocabulary can be discussed. In class, however, the independent reading book cannot be discussed, since the class is reading and discussing a different novel. This is why when a student chooses a challenging book for independent reading in class, they are guided to select a “just right” book in its place.

Both classes have launched their writer’s workshop. Thank you for helping your daughter to decorate her writer's notebook. She will use this notebook as a special place to collect ideas and plan out her writing pieces. Her first writing project is a personal narrative: a true story about her life. Thinking of special people and special places are some of the strategies we use to generate ideas for our writing. Looking through family photos and videos, as well as sharing favorite family stories at home, are great ways to help your daughter brainstorm stories she may want to write about during writer’s workshop.

Our pieces are stronger when we learn to narrow our topics from great big watermelon topics to small seed ideas: writing about building a sand castle rather about than a week at the beach. We are using picture books, such as Shortcut and Fireflies, as models for our writing and will refer to them throughout the unit as we learn how to write descriptively and craft gripping beginnings.                                                

Math

Gail Dufek

Your daughter received her login information for her Every Day Math account. Please ask her to give you a tour of this versatile website!

Starting tomorrow, a story about a crazy, mixed-up t-shirt factory will provide a vehicle for the teachers to explore the girls' understanding of place value and the equivalence concepts required for regrouping and subtracting with understanding. The girls will organize t-shirts (and connecting cubes) into sets of ten, so they could keep track of their "inventory." As they “fill orders” and monitor “expenses” for the T-shirt factory, the girls will deepen their appreciation of our base 10 number system.

Social Studies

Christy Diefenderfer and Eileen Shelton

In social studies, the main focus during the first six weeks of school is building a nurturing community in which to learn and grow.  Each homeroom brainstormed ideas of what is necessary for our communities to function successfully.  After recording the many suggestions and discussing how each behavior would be important to each homeroom, the classes created a final list of homeroom expectations to display for the year.  Students have been busy learning daily routines and work expectations, all essential components for a smoothly-running classroom!

To foster a better understanding of each member of our third grade class, each student will conduct an interview of a classmate. This week in homeroom, students brainstormed questions that would be important to ask in an interview. Over the next two weeks, students will work in pairs or in groups of three to interview each other. When interviews are completed, each student will take her notes and convert them into a descriptive paragraph to be displayed in our hallway: Welcome to Holton Class of 2024! 

World Languages: Spanish

Claudia Chadwick Langbehn and Valeria Hornung Iglesias

Bienvenidas a la clase de español!  Welcome to Spanish class! Your daughters are learning key concepts such as “saludos y despedidas” (greetings and farewells) and “colores” and “dias de la semana”. We will “travel” together to Mexico and learn about that wonderful Central American country. There the girls will learn about “la familia” (the family) and “amistades” (friendships). You can support your daughter by going over the vocabulary at home and engaging in the short dialogues with them that we are practicing at school. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please email us any time.

Instrumental Music

Richard Tilley

The third grade winds are enjoying their first unit in our Recorder Karate series! Students have been engaging in musical notation and learning their first three pitches on the recorder, Do-Re-Mi. Through both large and small group activities, students are performing call-and-response patterns and collaborating with their peers to improve their tone and technique. The ensemble is on their way to earning their “white belt” for the first song, “Hot Cross Buns!”

Academic Technology

Lucia Hassell

Happy Fall Holton families! Since the beginning of August, we have been working hard to create an environment that provides educational technology to enhance lessons, engage students, and support teachers. Some of you may have witnessed these technologies in person at Lower School’s Back to School Night. It was a pleasure meeting and greeting everyone who attended.

We are happy to say that every classroom in the Lower School is equipped with an Apple TV, wireless projector, and DVD player. Teachers use these technologies daily to provide a fun and interactive learning experience to your daughters. The Apple TVs allow teachers to stream audio and video content seamlessly from any Apple device. Teachers can present information and interact with their iPad, while walking around the room wirelessly. Additionally, teachers frequently checkout our laptop/iPad carts. Each cart is equipped with a classroom set of laptops or iPads. Classes use the iPads/laptop carts to complete research and papers, work on project based assignments, and practice various subject skills on safe activity websites and educational apps.  Additionally, students may share or present individual work easily from their iPad to the projector via the Apple TV— all from the comfort of their seats! We are dedicated to fostering an environment that supports 21^st century learners and breeds academic success!

Physical Education

Toni Henderson and Nan Smith

Our third grade is off to a running start in physical education this year – and hopping, skipping, galloping, and jumping starts, as well! Yes, our first unit was all about exploring ways of moving one’s body with control, coordination, balance, and speed. We used all the locomotor activities that make play active and fun, combining single movements (a step and a hop, for example) into combinations such as the skip which requires coordination, opposition, and agility. Spatial awareness – knowing where one is in relation to other players and boundaries - is a key component of success in all team sports, and our emphasis in every game is on safety,  good sportsmanship, respect for others, and kindness.

Our second unit, which runs from September 29 through the first two weeks of October, will introduce the concept of eye-hand coordination in using balls of all types. Throwing and catching are the essential skills to a host of physical education activities. We hope the girls will enjoy challenging themselves to practice diligently, both in class, and at home whenever possible. A game of throw and catch in the back yard will reinforce what your daughter has practiced in class and best of all, give her a chance to show you what she has learned!

Eye-foot coordination becomes the focus of our third unit in which we explore the kicking skills that are basic to soccer. We also incorporate instruction in striking a ball to give it momentum, direction, and force. These two skill sets give us a golden opportunity to discuss the principles of leverage and accuracy. We introduce the use of striking equipment, such as rackets, bats, and hockey sticks.

To ensure that your daughter gets the most from her physical education classes, please help her dress appropriately for class with shorts and proper foot wear. We have P. E. every day except E days, so keeping a pair of athletic shoes at school will avoid the unfortunate “sitting out” that we must require for safety reasons. Also, as the weather gets cooler, a sweatshirt and sweatpants are important. We try to go outside for as long as possible – hopefully up until Thanksgiving!

If your daughter is feeling unwell but is in school, we will encourage her to participate as much as she able. If you would prefer that she avoid all activity, a note from you will suffice for a single day. However, extended excuses from class require a doctor’s note, stating the reason for the limitation. In these cases, we also want to be sure that your daughter is cleared by her doctor to return to full participation.

We hope that your daughter will have fun every day in physical education. Any information regarding the units taught, rotation dates, or changes in our schedule can be found on the parent portal under homeroom resources. If you have any questions or concerns at any time, please feel free to contact Toni Henderson at 301-767-2342 or Nan Smith at 301-767-2343.

Guidance

Julie Rodriguez

During third grade guidance, we read the story “Exclamation Mark” by Amy Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld.  The story is about how we have an inner exclamation point that makes us who we are. The goal of this guidance lesson was to promote the importance of being proud of what makes you unique, an individual. After reading the story, we discussed how important it is to understand that it is not about “fitting in,” but rather about “finding the happiness from within.” The girls noted that happiness does not come from material things and it’s not about how many friends you have or even where you live. Happiness is about what makes you “shine” or what you are proud or grateful for in your life. The girls then decorated their own exclamation marks with the people, talents, hobbies, pets, teams, friends, etc. that makes them unique. Each and every member of the class brings something special to group that ultimately creates the bond they will carry with them for the next ten years and beyond. 

Extra! Extra!

Label Reminder:  Please remember to label all clothing, including shoes, with your daughter’s name.  Thank you!

After School Snack:  If your daughter is staying for Homework Zone or after school lessons, please pack a snack for her to eat at the end of the day.

Soup Making:  Our first soup making is Thursday, October 9.  Your daughter should bring in a third grader’s handful of fresh, washed vegetables for chopping that morning.

Upcoming Field Trips:

October 15: We are going to Politics and Prose to meet Ann Martin author of The Babysitters Club and The Doll People series. 

October 24: We will be heading to Homestead Farm for a day filled with pumpkin picking, class bonding, and community building.  This trip is a treasured memory for our Lower School students! 

For questions regarding PA events or volunteer opportunities please contact your Grade Representatives: 

Elizabeth Brody elizbrody@yahoo.com Jaime Schwartzberg JaimeKrat@aol.com