Halloween at School

This week there were lots of Halloween activities around school. I have put up some pictures of some of those events, such as the cupcake decorating, the class in costume, the pumpkins and buddies!

Weekly Times October 29, 2010

Please Look in the Archives to see a post from toady with Pictures of Halloween at School!

Headlines

Language Arts

Spelling – Dig It Vocabulary

Reading – Guided Reading Groups

Writing – Halloween Stories, Story order

Grammar – Proper and Common Nouns

Read alouds: finished Marvin Redpost: Why Pick on Me by Louis Sacher

Maths

Ordering Numbers

Number patterns

Odd and Even Numbers

Halloween Math - Rounding review and multiplication

Mathletics –

We have decided to sign up for Mathletics for the rest of the year. Our trial is set to expire on November 1 and the actual purchase may not have gone through by then, so there may be part of the vacation when it doesn’t work. Further explanation of the program will be sent home after the vacation.

UNITS of INQUIRY:

DIG IT – How the World Works

Questions we have

Soil and Sand Laboratory

Announcements and Notices

• Monday to Friday, November 1-5 - Holiday – school closed. For homework, students should do some reading and work on their 3 and 4 multiplication tables. Have a wonderful, restful week!
• Thursday and Friday, November 25 and 26 – Thanksgiving Break
  
• Feel free to email me anytime at courtney.beeton@ambrit-rome.com

Weekly Times October 22, 2010

Headlines

Language Arts

Spelling – More Irregular Verbs, Quiz on Monday

Reading – Guided Reading Groups, Reading Log letters

Read alouds: Marvin Redpost: Why Pick on Me by Louis Sacher

Maths

Review for first assessment

First assessment

Mathletics –

Mathetics is a web site that many schools are now incorporating into their math curriculum. In 3B we are trying out Mathletics to see what it is like and if it could be useful at Ambrit. Today children are coming home with their user names and passwords to be able to log in and use the site over the weekend. They have not been given any specific tasks. I encourage families to have a look. Any feedback you may have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

UNITS of INQUIRY:

HOME SWEET HOME - Sharing the Planet

Presentations of our homes

Self-Evaluation of the presentation

*Homes should now be taken home – we must make way for the pumpkins!

DIG IT – How the World Works

Brainstorming ideas about what we already know

Homework to collect sand or soil sample for Monday

Announcements and Notices

Tuesday, October 26 - cupcake decorating at school to prepare for the bake sale, pumpkins due for contest

Thursday and Friday, October 28 and 29 – Bake Sale at school

Friday, October 29, 2010 - Haloween at school – Children may dress up, there is a bake sale and a pumpkin carving contest

Feel free to email me anytime at courtney.beeton@ambrit-rome.com

I am still working on how best to upload the videos to the blog. I hope to have them up soon!

Weekly Times October 15, 2010

Language Arts
Spelling - irregular past tense verbs
Writing - Pen Pal letters, Target Setting reflections
Reading - reading groups, introduction to reading log letters
Read aloud: Marvin Redpost: Why Pick on Me by Louis Sacher

Math
Perimeter and Area
Points on a grid

Units of Inquiry
House Presentations
World Food Day speaker - Ms. Ward from WFP

Announcements and Notices

Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - Ms. Wilson's last day, we will have a small party at the end of the day to say goodbye

Tuesday, October 26, 2010 - Cupcake decorating at school

Thursday and Friday, October 28 & 29 - Bake Sale

Friday, October 29, 2010 - Halloween celebrations at school, children may dress up, there will be an assembly

November 1- 5, 2010 - Holiday

Weekly Times October 8, 2010

PLEASE NOTE: The DUE DATE for the homes project has been changed to WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2010

Headlines

Language Arts

Spelling – Verb Endings -ing, -ed – 2 Rules:

1. DOUBLE the consonant to keep the vowel sound short when adding –ed and –ing

2. DROP the final e when adding –ed or –ing

Grammar – Verbs

Writing – sentences for research, sentences for spelling, about the weekend

Reading – Starting with the Raeading Log

- Choosing “Just Right” books

- Writing a reading log entry letter

Read alouds: Marvin Redpost: Why Pick on Me by Louis Sacher

Math

Geometry

- perimeter

- Polygons – 2-D shapes, sides, vertices, right angles, symmetry

- Triangles – equilateral, isoceles, right-angle

UNITS of INQUIRY: HOME SWEET HOME

Sharing the Planet

ICT- using Google Maps to look at a neighborhood

Researching our homes – looking most importantly at the effects of climate and landforms on the types of houses built in a place, as well as how the type of house is built and where the materials come from (locally or not, so links to other places)

Announcements and Notices

· Friday, October 15, 2010 – Target Setting Conferences – no school for STUDENTS, please use the wiki to sign up (www.ambritplanning.pbworks.com)

· Wednesday, October 20, 2010 – Ms. Wilson’s last day

· Tuesday or Wednesday, October 26 or 27 - cupcake decorating at school to prepare for the bake sale – volunteers appreciated (you can let me know by email if you are available in the afternoon)

· Friday, October 29, 2010 - Haloween at school – Children may dress up, there is a bake sale and a pumpkin carving contest (which is judged on the Friday) - more information to follow

· Feel free to email me anytime at courtney.beeton@ambrit-rome.com

Change in Due Date of the Homes Project

The due date of the homes project is now Wednesday, October 13, 2010. On that day, students should bring in their model and their visual (poster, booklet, power point, etc.). We will do presentations on Wednesday and finish up on Thursday. Please feel free to email me with any questions you may have.

Wednesday Homework October 6, 2010

Dear Parents and Students,

Tonight is the first time that we are trying the reading log and I am sending home the Homes research pack for you to take a look at, so I will not ask students to do spelling homework. Thank you!

Home Sweet Home Final Project

Dear Parents and Students,

We have been working very hard on our Home Sweet Home unit and are ready to begin our final project.

Students are asked to:

• Research a particular type of home
• Present their findings clearly as a booklet or poster
• Construct a model of the home they have chosen
• Present their model home orally to the class

The students will be selecting and researching the home of their choice in school. We ask that you help your child construct their model home and in preparing their oral presentation. The model should be finished and brought to school on Monday, October 11, 2010. The presentations will be going on all week and you will be able to visit the display of the childrens' homes on October 15^th when you come for the Target Setting Conference.

Please see the "Home Sweet Home" page for helpful links and the "Home Sweet Home Final Project Guidelines" page for ore specific information. I have also prepared a slide show of pictures of all of the houses. It is located at Houses around the World (as well as on the links page on this blog, as well as on the curriculum links page of our Ambrit Class Web Site).

Have fun!

Nikolaos	Romanian Farm House
Noemi	North American Brick House
Aurora	Houseboat - Holland
Veasna	Indonesian pointed roof house
India	Himalayan stone house
Blasco	Indian Kutch house
Giovanni	Eco house in Rome
Annalisa	Arctic house
Lucie	Trullo - Puglia
Ginevra	Amazon Yanomami
Matteo	Container homes
Noah	Traditional Japanese House
Giulia	Spanish Guadix cave house
Sebastian	Togan mudhouse
Matthew	Log cabin (Canada)
Nicholas	Skyscraper (New York City)
Edoardo	Mongolian Yurt
Eilidh	Botswana hut
Veera	Lighthouse Thacher Island Massachusetts
Loet	South African Rondavel

Weekly Times October 1, 2010

Headlines

Language Arts

Spelling – Verb Endings –s, -ing, -ed

Grammar – Verbs

Read alouds: Where Do You Live by Janice Vail, How a House is Built by Gail, Gibbons, UNICEF’s A Life Like Mine

Maths

Metric Measures – meters, centimeters and millimeters

• measuring precisely with a ruler
• converting measures from mm to cm using fractions (out of 10)

UNITS of INQUIRY: HOME SWEET HOME

Sharing the Planet

ICT- using Google Maps to look at a neighborhood

Video – shelters

Language Arts centers using construction vocabulary

Example of how we will be researching our houses, using a frame house (NJ)

World Food Day – discussions of this year’s theme “United Against Hunger” and posters for the FAO poster contest

Announcements and Notices

Saturday, October 2, 2010 – BBQ from 11 to 3 at school

Friday, October 15, 2010 – Target Setting Conferences – no school for STUDENTS, please use the wiki to sign up (http://www.ambritplanning.pbworks.com/)

Wednesday, October 20, 2010 – Ms. Wilson’s last day

PLEASE NOTE: This will be the last paper-based WEEKLY TIMES. From now on, you should check the 3B blog at http://www.ambritgrade3b.blogspot.com/

for the WEEKLY TIMES and other important information

Feel free to email me anytime at courtney.beeton@ambrit-rome.com