January 2009

Mr. Kelly's on his way! During the week of January 5th we have an author-in-residence coming to our third grade classrooms! Jeff Kelly, author of The Basement Baseball Club, has written many stories about his childhood adventures. As a wonderful storyteller, Mr. Kelly inspires students to reach into their own lives to find the stories that need to be told. Along with details from his own journey as a writer, our author shares his tricks and advice for writing effective personal narratives. Nightly homework will involve assignments from Mr.Kelly so that each student will have a chance to compose an entertaining piece of writing. Learning how to write effectively is a critical life-long skill. We appreciate all of your support for the homework assignments connected with Mr. Kelly's visit. Look for the finished stories on this website soon.

In social studies, we will introduce the concepts of civil rights and freedom for all through peaceful action by sharing facts about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life. Visit the Dr. King page on this website for information and links about this great man.

Dropping, sliding, pulling, and pushing...Things will really be moving in room 17. The students are beginning a science unit about simple machines by learning some basic laws of physics. We will investigate gravity, friction, and Newton's first law of motion (inertia). Students should be more aware of these basic concepts as they push and pull toys, play on the playground, try to walk on icy driveways, and ride in the family car. These are laws that cannot be broken!

The six simple machines we will be focusing on in our science unit are all used to reduce the amount of work we need to do to move objects in our environment. These simple machines make it easier for us to overcome friction and gravity. Our homes and garages are full of levers, wedges, inclined planes, pulleys, wheels and axles, and screws. They are used alone or in combination with each other.

It can be lots of fun to go on a simple machine "scavenger hunt" in your home. Everyone will probably be surprised at how many places these simple machines are found. You need several of them just to enter your home (lock, doorknob, hinges, etc.). Let the items in your home inspire an idea for an upcoming simple machine project.

Next month, your child will be creating a simple machine which will demonstrate and/or use one or more simple machine. Your child will be given the grading guide so he/she will know how the projects will be scored. There are lots of resources and information on the Simple Machines page on this website. Good luck and have lots of fun!

Reading/Language Arts: Our theme in the Scott Foresman reading series for this unit is: How people and nature are connected . Through our readings, we will consider ways people gain pleasure through observing nature, and how we can learn from and protect it. For spelling lists and vocabulary, click on this link.

In Writer's Workshop students are continuing to work on narrative writing. Students are working on writing clear statements. They have to make clear connections among the ideas presented as well as remembering to elaborate on their details. Students are being reminded to remember grammar rules, as well as to check their spelling.

Calling all parents! We are beginning to explore and study multiplication in math. Your support is critical for your child's success with the times tables. When your child masters the basic math facts, all of the math activities, tasks, and tests become so much easier. Your son/daughter will develop a feeling of success and the I can do it ! attitude.

It is a lifelong gift to your child to help them master the addition, subtraction and, now, the multiplication facts. There are lots of fun ways to practice the times tables. Learn how to become an awesome multiplication expert by visiting the Multiplication, WOW! page on this site. If you check out www.multiplication.com you can access outstanding lessons to help your child become a MASTER MULTIPLIER!

As we explore Multiplication, many laws of Algebra will be mentioned. The students will become familiar with the associative, identity and distributive properties of multiplication. Thank you for all of your support at home. We are a great team!

Classroom Notes: Hats off to all our volunteers for coming in to help us with all our December crafts. (Great fun was had by all!) The hats were a big success. The children made over 80 hats for patrons of the Hyannis Baby Center . Our Holiday Gathering and sharing about Holidays around the World on the Friday prior to our winter break was a wonderful way to come together and celebrate as an entire group.