Back to School!

I hope that you and your families have enjoyed this beautiful summer. I am so excited about starting this next school year with your children. Fourth grade together will be amazing!

I wanted to reach out with a couple of notes. First, I invite you all to our welcome back drop-in event this Thursday, August 30th, from 9:30-10:30. It's a great opportunity for the kids to reconnect and alleviate any back-to-school anxieties, as well as drop off their supplies. Please note that we have switched classrooms and are now in Room 302 (formerly Mrs. Colfer's room).

Second, I'd like to update our supply list. We received new desks over the summer which, while shiny and beautiful, are more limited in storage space than our desks last year. Because of this, there are some tweaks to our supply list. I am sorry to do this to those of you who have already purchased supplies! Also, we will have a communal supply system, meaning that most of the students' supplies will be shared over the course of the year. Each table group will have a caddy of supplies to use which will be replenished as the year goes on.

Here is the updated supply list. I have separated it into personal supplies (the student will use what he or she brings in) and communal supplies.

Personal supplies:

• 1 sturdy 3-prong pocket folder (for homework)
• 1 set of binder dividers with subject tabs
• 1 three-ring white binder- 1" with pockets inside

Communal supplies:

• 3 highlighters- different colors
• 1 package washable markers- fine point
• 1 dozen #2 Ticonderoga pencils
• 2 large glue sticks
• 1 package colored pencils
• 1 pair scissors
• 2 thin black flair markers (no sharpies please!)
• 1 package lined sticky notes 
• 1 box eraser tops

You do NOT need to purchase: plastic pencil box (no room!) or a 12" ruler

Optional supplies: 1 black and white composition book (we have many left over from last year)

I apologize for not getting this updated list to you sooner. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Lastly, I am in the process of updating this blog. Please check it out for news and announcements as we make our way into the school year!

I look forward to seeing you and your children on Thursday!

End of the Year Updates!

Happy Friday! I have a few brief announcements to share. These next two weeks will be action-packed!

• Monday, June 4th is the Third Grade Concert. The show begins at 7:00 p.m. but students should arrive between 6:45 and 6:55. They will wait in the classroom and we will enter as a group. I will not be in the room to supervise until 6:45. 

• Next week we are going on a field trip to the planetarium at USM. Because of the size of the planetarium, the third grade is going in two groups. Half of our class will go on Tuesday, chaperoned by Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Colfer, and the other half will go on Wednesday with me and the other two third grade classes. See your child's permission slip (in today's Friday Folder) for the date they are attending the trip and, if applicable, their chaperone. Please let me know if you have questions about this.

• I would love some help with putting together the kids' portfolios in advance of our learning celebration next Friday. If you are available for an hour or two for photocopying, hole-punching, and/or helping students put papers in their 3-ring binders, please let me know! 

• A reminder that our Learning Celebration will be on Friday, June 8th (next week!) from 7:45-8:45 a.m. Please bring a breakfast treat to share if you can, and just email to let me know what you will bring. Also, our well-received "Wax Museum" will return for an encore performance, so please make sure your child comes wearing his or her "famous person" get-up. We look forward to seeing you! 

• The next two weeks will be exciting but BUSY! Please let me know in advance if your child will be out due to doctor's appointments or planned family absences. With so much going on in terms of assessments, end of year wrap up, etc., it is helpful to know when a child will be missing.

I think that's it for now! Please continue to monitor this blog for updates over the next two weeks. As always, thanks for your continued support. It is so rewarding to look back at the year of tremendous growth these students have made!

Biography Poems & Wax Museum

It's hard to believe, but our school year is rapidly drawing to a close! Our geography unit has now wrapped up, and the kids are excited to share their brochures, commercials, and interviews with you at our learning celebration in June!

We have jumped into a mini-unit on biographies this week. Students have chosen to research a famous person from history. They will do the research in class, then write a poem about their person. Finally, they will be creating a wax museum to share what they've learned! 

To create our wax museum, each student will need to come up with a costume and props reflective of their historical person. It does not have to be anything elaborate or expensive, but the costume should help us understand who the student is portraying. The wax museum will be showcased at Grandparents Day (9:15-11:15 a.m. this Friday, May 25th) and as part of our end of the year learning celebration.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Spelling this week

The combination of the snow day and read-a-thon last week threw us off our normal spelling routine a bit. As a result, we are not doing Unit 20 in the Sitton spelling program until next week and thus there is no spelling homework this week. 


Our spelling words this week help us to kick off our Geography unit:

Yarmouth

Maine

United States

04096 [our zip code]
In addition to these four words (well, four words and a number!), students also need to correctly spell their street address.

On Thursday, the "spelling test" will be an envelope that students need to properly address to themselves. I will mail the letters on Friday and, as I told the students, if they spell the words correctly, they will receive their letter!


The purpose of this spelling "unit" is for students to understand the real-world application of these specific place names, and to learn how to properly address an envelope.

Guest Speaker: Yaeko Collier

Last Wednesday, February 29th we were lucky enough to have a guest speaker present to all third graders. Portland resident Yaeko Collier was born in Japan and she shared many different artifacts, maps, and pictures from her home country. 

We all learned a lot about Japan's culture and customs. 

When asked what was the most interesting/coolest/most memorable part of the presentation, here is how students responded:

• I think the coolest part was the emperor and empress models (Austin)
• When she showed us the helmet (Xan)
• When Ned and Ellie got dressed up (Alex)
• I didn't know Maine was part of Massachusetts (Dylan)
• When she showed the Japanese clothes because they were different from ours (Kate)
• After this, I could take a day in Japan (Patrick)
• When I dressed up (Ellie)
• My favorite part of the presentation was when she talked about the holidays and the fish [windsocks] (Kiarah)
• My favorite part of the presentation was when she showed us both of the maps so we got to see what their world looked like (Madison W.)
• The helmet (Maddy L.)
• The houses with the big fat mats on the floors (Parker)
• The helmet (Chase)
• Looking at the house (Margaret)
• The globe (Odin)
• I would love to take a trip to Japan! (Emma)
• The fish flags (Will)
• When she showed us the helmet and when Ned and Ellie got dressed up (Carter) 
• Seeing pictures of the house and the dolls (Olivia)
• Seeing how different the houses were from ours (Ned)
• When Ned dressed up (Ruben)
• All I want to do is take a trip to Japan! (Camden)
• The different maps (Lilly)

Happy Pig Day!

Today we read the hilarious book, Happy Pig Day, by Mo Willems and had our own Pig Day celebration! 

We read some Mo Willems books with friends...

 We learned how to speak Pig Latin! Here is Kiarah reading a note written in Pig Latin from Olivia.

Some of us were inspired to make Gerald and Piggie puppets and masks!

At the end of the day, we enjoyed three performances: two puppet shows and one play, all inspired by Happy Pig Day. (The videos for the puppet shows are below. Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties while filming the play, but we have some great photos courtesy of Austin!)

Starring Olivia as Gerald (Elephant).

 Starring Kiarah as Piggie. Also featuring Ruben, Odin, and Ellie.

Thanks so much to Alex and his mom, Liz, for sharing their collection of Elephant and Piggie books!

Happy vacation week!

Mid-Year Conferences: Clarification

There have been some questions regarding the timing of the Mid-Year Conferences. Your conference will last 30 minutes, beginning at the time you signed up for on PTCFast. For the first 15 minutes, your child will share his or her portfolio with you. After 15 minutes, I will join your family to share your child's progress in third grade.

Please let me know if you have any further questions. I look forward to seeing you all in the next few days!

A Peek at Our Week 2/6/12

Thank you so much to those of you who have filled out the parent survey. Based on feedback I received, I have made two changes. First, I am handing out spelling homework on Mondays so that your child has four nights to complete it. Second, I plan to send home a weekly "Peek at Our Week" newsletter so you know what we have been working on in class and what we will be learning about in the upcoming week. Please see below for an electronic version of this week's newsletter.

Haven't filled out the parent survey yet? Please click here:

Parent Survey

Also, if you haven't signed up for a conference time yet, please do so as soon as possible.  To pick a time slot, enter this link in your Internet browser:

www.ptcfast.com/reg1

At that link, you will be asked for your Entry Code, where you should enter ZTV110541

 

******

A Peek at our Week Newsletter

Mrs. Parkin

February 3, 2012

 

Upcoming Events

February 9: First night of conferences

***Please sign up if you haven’t already***

Math

• This week: We explored triangles, quadrangles, and regular and irregular polygons.  We also started drawing angles and thinking about angles as rotations either clockwise or counterclockwise.
• Next week: We’ll continue our geometry unit with explorations of symmetry, congruence, and 3D shapes like pyramids and prisms.

Spelling

• This week our core words were: best, across, during, today, however. We We’ll worked on the /ou/ and /ow/  spelling pattern.
• Next week: We’ll work on contractions.
• Next week core words: sure, knew, it’s, try, told

Reader’s Workshop

• This week: Our afternoon literacy block is flourishing with book groups, writing, listening, and word work centers. If you’re interested in volunteering during our literacy block (1:30-2:50) to read with kids, please email me.  
• What’s next: We’ll continue to practice partner reading and sharing portfolios for our upcoming conferences.

Writer’s Workshop

• This week: We used the Story Starters website (linked to our YES Educational Resources page) to do some creative writing. The kids loved this approach!
• Next week: We’ll work on Better Answers writing and begin a poetry unit.

A note on conferences…

Students are invited to attend. Conferences are 30 minutes long. For the first 15 minutes, your child will present his or her portfolio to you. After 15 minutes, I will join you. Please contact me with any questions.

Winter Updates!

We are back in the swing of things after our holiday break, snow day, and long weekend! It's hard to believe that we are almost halfway through our year-- time flies in third grade! 

I have a few brief notes to share:

• Mid-Year Conferences: I will holding conferences on February 9th and 16th in the evening, as well as the morning of the 16th. Please see my separate blog post for information about how to sign up for an appointment.

• Early Dismissals: Please be aware that our literacy block is from 1:30-3:00 p.m. daily. When students are dismissed early, it stops the flow of the reading workshop.  It interferes with students' reading stamina, disrupts any groups working together, and also makes it difficult for me when I'm assessing their reading skills. I completely understand that from time to time these disruptions are unavoidable. However, I want the students to know that our learning time together is extremely valuable. Thank you for helping me with this!

• Winter Gear: Please ensure that your child has sneakers to change into after taking off his or her wet boots. This helps keep our floors dry!

• Absences: If your will be absent from school, please call the YES office or email Lisa_Bianchini@yarmouthschools.org or Lauren_Guiney@yarmouthschools.org. I appreciate it if you also cc me on the email. 

On another note, I am so impressed with the quality and quantity of reading in our classroom! We are truly a community of book lovers-- thank you for supporting reading at home!

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Mid-Year Conference Sign-Up

You are invited to sign up for a Mid-Year Conference with Mrs. Parkin. 

DATE:  February 9, February 14 and February 16
PLACE:  Mrs. Parkin's classroom
REGISTRATION DEADLINE:  End of day before first conference day

To pick a time slot, enter this link in your Internet browser:

www.ptcfast.com/reg1

At that link, you will be asked for your Entry Code, where you should enter ZTV110541

If you do not have Internet access, please let me know by sending in a note with your child.

I look forward to discussing your child's progress thus far in third grade.

IMPORTANT CHANGES THIS TIME AROUND:

The format for these conferences will be different from the fall, and your child is invited to attend the meeting as well. Please plan to be in the classroom for 30 minutes. For the first 15 minutes, your child will take you on a guided tour of his or her portfolio. During that time, I will be meeting with another family. Following those 15 minutes, you and your child will join me to discuss his or her progress in third grade.

If you have ANY questions, please contact me. I look forward to meeting with you soon!