Quarter 1 Week 7 Update

Greetings Families,

Welcome to week 7! It is so hard to believe we've completed six weeks already. Time flies, especially when you are having fun. It has been great having kids in the classroom. I'm excited and looking forward to another great week.

So, like most weeks, I have a ton of things to communicate. It may be too much to handle at once, but please be sure to check back and make sure you read all of it at some point. 

DL vs. RL

DL stands for distance learning students and RL stands for remote learning students. They both mean the same thing, and I use them interchangeably. I apologize for any confusion this may cause. 

PROGRESS REPORTS

Progress reports are going out today (9/14) by email and tomorrow by letter. If your child received a progress report, please don't think this means your child is going to fail my class or is at risk of being held back. A progress report, like a report card, is just a snapshot of your child's current performance in my class on the content being learned at the present moment. For example, in science, a student may struggle with physical science, but he or she may do great when we get to life science. Another example is that a student may not have mastered rounding when we took the test on rounding, causing their grade to drop, but may master the skill by the end of the quarter. A progress report and grade report will likely never show the improvement students are making if it is happening behind the rate of the curriculum. 

However, progress reports and grade reports are helpful in that they let us know when a child is struggling and may need additional support. That is the goal of these reports. They are a way for me to communicate to you what your child is struggling with. It may mean they need to attend tutoring or some other intervention. In the long run, if your child receives a progress report, know that it is descriptive of your child's current standing and progress, not prescriptive of your child's academic ability. 

3B GOOGLE CALENDAR 

I have created a Google Calendar for the blog. You can find it under the tab "3B Calendar." If you use a Google Calendar, you can link this calendar to yours and better track when your child has something important. I will do my best to put all assessments and class/school events on the tracker. For example, we will have a Spalding and Math test every Friday. Those assessments are already on the calendar through the end of the third quarter. If things change, I will do my best to move or delete things from the calendar. 

CURSIVE

So it is finally time to teach cursive. Usually, we would do this week one, but we decided to hold off due to distance learning. Most students were introduced to this last year, but now is the time to make it the real thing. Going forward, almost all of their work should be completed in cursive. 

There are two big points when it comes to cursive. #1 - The students have to focus on making sure their letters are the right size. Some of them already make such huge letters so that their short letters are as tall as their tall letters. They will need to work really hard to correct this. #2 - They have to make sure they are forming their letters correctly, such as starting clock letters at two on the clock, and so on. This will be big. 

I've told them many times before that the key to success is attention to detail and always giving their best effort. This isn't a Spalding handwriting thing; this is an everything thing. However, it does apply to Spalding handwriting. They have to focus on doing their very best work every time if they want to get better. 

SCIENCE TEST THIS WEEK

So there are two dates for the science test. For RL (remote learning) students, the test is on Wednesday. For in-person students, the test is on Friday. For RL students, I probably won't get to grading it until later the weekend or early next week, so if they want to take an extra day to prepare, it won't impact me. 

Be sure to check out the "3rd Grade Science" tab on the blog. I've posted some study resources to help students prepare. If your child is a DL student, these things are already in Google Classroom. 

HISTORY TEST NEXT WEEK

Students will be completing their first history test of the quarter next week. I've also created some study resources for this test as well. You can find them under the "3rd Grade History" tab on the blog. 


SCIENCE AND HISTORY TESTS

Many students really struggled to complete science and history assignments and then upload them during the distance learning phase. What I plan to do is grade students more favorably based on their tests/quizzes grades than their classwork/homework grades. What I mean is that students who get really good grades on their test demonstrate that they learned the curriculum, which is the goal--learning is what matters--and thus I want to reward them with a grade that reflects their learning. Because homework/classwork is worth 40% of the grade, missing a lot of assignments can really hurt a great. However, if a student thrived during distance learning and completed and uploaded all of their assignments, their homework grade could positively impact their course grade. 

However, going into the second quarter, I won't be as flexible because students need to learn to be responsible and attentive to their work. This is just an exception I'm making because I know distance learning was difficult for many children and families. 

MATH WORD PROBLEMS AND BAR MODELS   

One of the biggest changes in third grade is the transition from number bonds to bar models. As students get older, they will no longer be able to rely on manipulatives to help them make sense of math concepts because the numbers are too great. Imagine teaching addition with a pile of a few thousand counters on their desks. My classroom would be a complete mess!

As students transition away from concrete manipulatives, they will transition to pictorial representations of the work they are solving. We use bar models to create these pictorial representations. I recommend that you go to the "3rd Grade Math" tab on the blog, then down to the math thinking blocks. These are fun online (also available for tablets) games that help students learn how to use bar models to solve problems.

Now, one theme I heard this week is that the models don't help students solve the problems. There are two answers to this objection. #1 - Many times they do. Sure, a one-step problem probably doesn't need it, but many students get confused about what they are trying to solve on a two-step problem. The model is a powerful tool to help students see what they are trying to do and to determine what steps are necessary to solve the problem. #2 - We learn how to bar model with relatively easy problems so we know how to use them for more difficult problems. As students progress in third grade, but especially in fourth and fifth, there are problems that are rather challenging to solve if not for bar models. So they better understand how to use models then, they should use them on easier problems now.

Students who do not use bar models on classwork, homework, or assessments will not receive full credit. A number of students skipped this step on the last test even though I specifically went over it with them. 

REMOTE LEARNING ASSESSMENTS

I strongly recommend that students watch the videos that accompany math, grammar, science, and history tests online. During the videos, Mr. Udovich and I go over what students are expected to do when completing these tests. Students who do not complete a test correctly will lose points. Please make it a habit to have your child watch the video as he or she completes the test using the pause and play functions. 

REMOTE LEARNING READING A-Z SCHEDULE

Starting this week, we will be having scheduled reading times with each RL student. This is a time for students to read their Reading A-Z book with us. We will also be using this time to do DIBELS benchmark progress monitoring and assessments. Students will use the Reading A-Z links found in Google Classroom. 

IN-PERSON READING A-Z SCHEDULE   

For students who are on campus, there isn't a schedule for them to follow. Instead, Ms. Rasic and I will be pulling students out into the hallway or up to our desks to have them read to us one-on-one. This will often happen before school starts. My goal is to have every child read to Ms. Rasic or me individually each week. 

LESSONS

Language Arts: We will be learning cursive this week! We will also have 5-6 words Tuesday and Wednesday and a heavier load (16) Thursday before our spelling test. For grammar, we will learn to diagram helping verbs and proper nouns. We will be reciting “The Bee” by Isaac Watts and will receive a new poem Wednesday called “The Crocodile” by Lewis Carroll. Children should review the poem daily at home. Recitations for "The Crocodile" will be on Wednesday the 30th. 

Math: During week seven, the focus will turn to subtraction when renaming multiple place values is necessary. Students will continue to use estimation to see if their answers are reasonable and to use the operations of addition and subtraction in solving word problems. 

History: Students this week will be reviewing information on the major rivers of the world in preparation for the end of Unit 1 Assessment: World Rivers. They will be reintroduced to the continents the rivers are on, what the geography of the regions are like, what important facts to know about the rivers, how they are similar and how they are different. In addition, they will be completing an assessment review in open discussion, using any notes that they have made up to this point. Important vocabulary words related to this unit will also be revisited for understanding. It is important that they know the names of the continents and where in the world they are located, as well as the climates and landforms found near the rivers on these continents. 

Science: During week seven, students will spend their second day reviewing for the mid-unit test on Thursday and will take the test on Friday (RL students - review on Monday and test on Tuesday). Students who opted to do the optional test extra credit should work on this during the week as it is due on Friday. 

I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any additional questions, concerns, or comments. Enjoy the rest of your Monday evening.

Best,
Michael Naaktgeboren