3-4 Learning Center
Recent ActivityInstructor: Melissa Taylor, Michelle Bassi, & Alli Oeding
Welcome to the 3-4 Learning Center!
Class Announcements R-E-S-P-E-C-T!Classroom News and Announcements:
Something very exciting that is happening school-wide is the focus on new character traits each month leading up to the school play. The month of January we are learning more about trust and respect. Please help by using these words at home and asking your child for examples in their day of trust and respect with others, themselves, or their environment. The differentiated spelling groups have been working hard each week on various spelling patterns. This next week they will be given their first spelling quiz on Wednesday. The quiz will be on words from the spelling patterns they have been working on in class. Each student should have a sheet of words to study in their homework folder. We will continue to experience the ice rink on Wednesday during our PE time. Therefore, please send a helmet (any kind: hockey, ski, bike) and skates (if they have them) to school on Wednesdays. If they do not have skates, they may sign up to borrow a pair with Stuart on Tuesday. Please send your child with some indoor shoes to help save our floors from the winter mud and snow. Thanks! There is no school on Monday. Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Have a wonderful weekend! Back in Action!Classroom News:
After hopefully a restful and enjoyable winter break for all, we have quickly returned to school life successfully this week! Students discovered on Wednesday the remarkable adventures of Lewis and Clark and the brave individuals that joined them exploring the west and mapping a route all the way to the Pacific Ocean. We will continue our studies of this important piece of history and westward expansion next week with an interactive activity. We are also very excited about a new session we have started this week that will continue for subsequent Thursday mornings. We have students split up in four groups and each group will be focusing on reading strategies while working through the same book together. Our hope is to develop some deeper discussions about the book being read in each group. Fourth graders are wrapping up a math unit on multiplication/division and will be moving into some work with addition/subtraction of large numbers. Meanwhile, the third graders are jumping into work with larger numbers by using a thousands chart. Now, as writers the fourth graders are learning more about essay writing while the third graders are choosing a personal narrative to go through the revision/editing process. Announcement: We are asking all students that if they have any books in their book bags or at home to return them to the class library circulation for use by other students. If they have any books at home that they are not reading, please help them get the books to school. Thanks! 4 school days to winter break!Classroom News:
In Colorado History this week, groups of five students each put together information and a brief presentation about an important date in our history dating back to 1492. Try questioning your 3rd or 4th grade student on some of these facts! - Who came over across the Atlantic leading the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria in 1492? Christopher Colombus - What was the name of the ship the pilgrims sailed in 1620? Mayflower - How many stars did the first flag of the USA have in 1776? 13 - How much did the U.S. pay France in 1803 to buy the Louisiana Territory and double America's size? $15Million News for next week: - We are having a holiday craft party in the 3-4 learning center Thursday afternoon after lunch/recess (1:00pm). All parents are invited too! Come help or participate in the fun!!! - The winter musical performance is Wednesday night starting at 6 pm. - Please have your child bring back any ACS books from home so that they can continue circulating in our library! - Scroll down to the classroom update from last week to see the homework and reading classroom expectations. Have a great weekend on the slopes, traveling or relaxing at home!!! December Days!It has been an awesome week full of interesting information and hard working students! Spelling instruction is now in full swing and handwriting is progressing well. In Colorado History, we are developing a sense of the start of our nation with our student historians by stepping back in time to the days that pilgrims were traveling across the Atlantic and conquistadors claiming parts of America before we investigate Westward Expansion and the settlement of Colorado. In Math, third graders are starting a new unit of study on Data and fourth graders are discovering simple ways to solve big multiplication problems! We are focusing on many areas of reading and writing: summaries, retelling, punctuation and vocabulary. Oh my!
We have worked the week with the students to clear up any myths about homework and reading at home. Here are a couple of the main points that we discussed: - Homework is sent home on Friday and due back on Wednesday. - 5 nights of reading and recording in their reading log is expected each week for homework (Friday - Tuesday). Wednesday and Thursday students are still expected to read at least 20 minutes; however, it does not need to be recorded on these nights. - They should be reading books at their level from school coming from their book bag. We are also reminding them to work on writing neatly on their reading log and respecting the books they are bringing home to keep them in good condition for years to come. Thank you for your help! Have a great weekend! Happy Thanksgiving!!!Third graders read their final draft personal narratives to the second grade class this week. Second graders were impressed and excited to write their own in the year to come! Third graders have also started a new math unit studying data this week.
Fourth grade Mathletes are showing just how strong they are in their math abilities by working hard through projects! Fourth graders have also been working on building their vocabulary by finding synonyms and antonyms of new words to improve reading skills. The Kindergarten class is asking for your help in their 12th Annual Gift Giving Project to help support families in need over the holidays. There are many ways to give support to this project. For some options, please look to the letter attached at the bottom of this webpage. Please help your child remember to read over the break! We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!!! 11.11.11 - A big day in history!A stimulating game of Colorado History Jeopardy began this week in our history lesson! Do you know why Colorady acquired the nickname the Centennial State or who John Routt is? What about the State Mineral or the State Fish? We are learning these interesting Colorado facts and more!
Fourth grade mathematicians were fully engaged this week as they started the newly developed Mathletes program to enhance learned skills and support new ones! Third grade mathematicians reached the thousands in the estimation jar and counting table while also engaging in some very educational math games to master important skills this week! Third and fourth grade writers are soon ready to show off their hard work in their final drafts of a personal narrative. They have been working really hard on editing/revising and it is showing! By taking the time to master the early skills the students are learning in Handwriting, we are confident that we are going to see some solid skills build. Keep watching for a good pencil grip and have them practice good posture when sitting for homework by having feet on the floor and sitting up in their chair. We hope to see you tonight at the AEF fundraiser in Snowmass for a fun evening!  Let it snow!Students came in some amazing costumes on Monday for a day full of Halloween activities! Congratulations to our class costume winners - William with his knight costume in 3rd grade and Eleanor in her pinata costume for 4th grade! Bryn and his brother Soren also won in the group category with their interpretation of the legendary cartoon characters Calvin and Hobbes. We also had the overall school costume winner come from our classroom - Tatum with an amazing rendition of being captured by an alien! Wow! What a creative class!
In classroom activities, third and fourth graders are really working hard on their personal narratives. They are focusing on improving their beginning of the story with an exciting lead, zooming in to the heart of the story, and making a strong ending. Draft processes have begun and we are on our way to a final copy! To improve speed and accuracy on the math facts we have been working on, we encourage you to continue practicing them at home. IMPORTANT NOTES: Square 1 Art is due on Monday! Also, it is that time of year to bring in the SNOW GEAR. Help your child be prepared for outside time in the winter by sending snow boots, a warm hat, gloves, and snow pants to school this week! Fall is in the air!The annual ACS Halloween Carnival will be next Wednesday, October 26 this year together with the 5-8 El Tioga. The El Tioga and the Carnival will be $8 together. A costume contest and the carnival will take place in the morning followed by the El Tioga and costume awards in the afternoon. Therefore, we would like students to arrive in costume and they will be able to change out of the bulk of their costume before El Tioga.
This year, the K-4 have decided to implement a new handwriting curriculum called Handwriting without Tears. In the 3-4 Learning Center we will be teaching all students how to write in cursive. Cursive is an important skill in order to be able to write faster. We instructed the students this week in the first step of successfully learning cursive - the pencil grip. They learned two techniques to find the right pencil grip and check themselves! We will be starting a new schedule format - including both handwriting and spelling - on Monday. The students have been wording really hard on revising one of their personal narratives this week. We encourage you to listen to the story they are writing as this helps them find more details to include! Conferences start after school next week Wednesday, October 26 and go through Thursday, October 27. Please sign up for a time with Cindy as soon as possible! IMPORTANT NOTE!!! We start class at 8:15 am each morning and if a student is tardy they are missing important class time. It is very importatnt to us that they are here on time. Thank you for your support! The Aspen School District SKI SWAP is tomorrow - Saturday, October 22nd - from 9:30am - 1pm. Come and support the school's outdoor education through this event! Here is the link to the photos of our classroom adventures to Holden-Marolt Barn, Maroon Bells, and Denver if you haven't had a change to check them out already! https://picasaweb.google.com/acs3.4lc City to Classroom!Check it out! We have such photogenic students that we wanted to share some of those precious photos with all of you! Now you can view our classroom adventures in photos from Denver, Maroon Bells, and the Holden-Marolt Barn on the PICASA website.
**Be sure to check out an amazing slideshow put together by Bob (our bus driver) of our Maroon Bells trip! It is the second picture in the Maroon Bells folder.** This link will take you there: https://picasaweb.google.com/acs3.4lc A couple of notes from the classroom: - All students are practicing how to write a "friendly letter" and edit those to send out in final paper presentation. - We have been teaching the students about I-messages to help them with conflict resolution. If you would like to help them practice this at home here is the format we have been using with them. I feel _________ because _____________. I would like / Will you please __________________. A reminder that it is really important to us that your child arrive to begin class promptly at 8:15 each morning. We would like to acknowledge and thank some people that have helped make our classroom so successful! Thank you Janie Rich and Holly Corcoran - our supportive, brave parent representatives. Thank you Bonnie Kowar (our fearless trip coordinator); Crystal McNamee, Peter Feer, and Bonnie Kowar (for keeping the students happy in the vans to Denver and keeping the drivers in the right direction plus for being a hotel chaperone); Tricia Johnson, Jenny Peterson, K Cesark, Lani Shaw, and Elizabeth Ward (for helping out as a hotel chaperone). Our trip to Denver would not have been possible without you! We would also like to send a big shout out to all those who brought in such delicious food for the El Tioga before Denver and to those who came to help out during the event. THANK YOU!!! We also want to send out our appreciation to Susan Chelec for helping out in the classroom today. You are all AWESOME!  Bears at the Bells!What a beautiful fall week and perfect time for the 3/4 learning center to get outside for a whole day and enjoy the sunshine and golden leaves! Tuesday we traveled to the picturesque environment of the Maroon Bells wilderness area. The interesting geologic formations of this area tied in nicely to our classroom science studies of rocks and minerals. While looking for their "special rock", our amateur geologists found bears along the trail to Crater Lake and mountain goats on the far mountainside! What an awesome day in the wilderness!
This week third and fourth graders have been introduced to a new classroom management strategy we have decided to implement in our learning center. You might want to ask them what it means to be a "STAR listener". We are waiting to give instruction until 100% of our students are Sitting up, Tracking the speaker, ready to Ask and Answer questions, and Respecting the others around them. We decided on this strategy after discussions about a book that the whole ACS staff decided to learn from this year. The book is Teach Like A Champion: 49 Techniques that put students on the path to college by Doug Lemov. DENVER!!! We are all so excited for this educational trip! There is a packing list and an agenda for the trip attached to the bottom of this website. As mentioned in the agenda, we will all be meeting at 9 am Tuesday morning at the Community Banks parking lot next to City Market in El Jebel. This will also be the pick-up location on Friday evening at 5:30 pm. Enjoy the outstanding fall colors!  Zapotec weavers,candle making, magnetic rocks, and more!We are welcoming the warmth of the sunshine this week and observing those temperatures rising again in third grade math class on the weekly temperture graph! Fourth grade mathematicians are becoming experts in multiplication. You can expect to see them practicing this skill for their math homework this week. Readers are excelling with "just right" level books. Our writers are finding great details to put in their personal narratives. In Science, we completed a rock study discovering different features and ways to describe rocks. Ask your student if any rocks are magnetic!
Time Travels Tuesday took us to the Wheeler Stallard museum in Aspen. This next week we will be traveling to Maroon Bells on Tuesday to take in the beauty of the fall colors and continue our study of geology in the field. We listened to an awesome presentation by Bulmaro Perez and Elena Gonzalez from Oaxaca, Mexico this week during Friday's All-School Meeting. Be sure to ask your student about what Zapotecs from Oaxaca use to die the yarn they use to make colorful rugs, bags, and more! If you would like to check out the weavings with the whole family, you can visit Elena at Toklat (which is across from the Ashcroft ghost town up the Castle Creek valley). She will be up there two more weeks this fall, but will return again at the beginning of next summer. Please bring in the money for the Denver trip soon if you have not already as it is coming up fast! Have a great weekend full of sunshine!  Rhodochrosite...Wow! The first full week of school has come and gone and our students are diving into some exciting new studies! We are noticing 3rd and 4th graders flourishing during the Independent Study time Monday-Thursday morning. Personal narratives are the topic in Writing Workshop and also outside the classroom doors. Numbers, numbers, and more numbers! We are continuing the master place value and number sense in third grade and multiplication in fourth grade. There were many astonished looks while listening to parts of Molly Brown's colorful life in a Colorado history session this week. Magnetic rocks?! The students are discovering fascinating features of rocks and minerals while learning to identify them in Science class.
Some highlights from our "Tuesday Time Travels" field trip this week were seeing an old steam engine in action and being shown how lixiviation (process of extracting silver from the rock) works at the Holden-Marolt site. Ask your child to tell you what the state mineral - Rhodochrosite - looks like! Next week, on Tuesday we will travel to the Wheeler-Stallard house on Bleeker Street in Aspen to continue our Colorado history discoveries. If you have not brought in payment for the upcoming Denver field trip, please do so as soon as possible. Also, we have room for three more parents to join us in Denver! Provided that we already have three parents of 4th grade students, it would be awesome if there are any third grade parents available to come on this exciting adventure. Send us an email if interested. We look forward to seeing you all at the All-School BBQ on Thursday of next week! Have a great weekend!  Super Second Week!There were many awesome things that happened during the second week of class in the 3rd/4th grade learning center! Top on that list would probably be the field trip to the Smuggler Mine! The students were able to discover the mysteries of the mountain and how important mining was in Aspen's past. All students are working on gathering ideas for personal narratives in Writing Workshop and exploring how much fun reading can be in Reading Workshop. In Math, 3rd graders are mastering the number sense and multiples of ten while 4th graders are working on multiplications. In Science class they are finding that "Geology isn't just rocks, but for sure, geology rocks!" After learning about the Earth's layers, we found out more about the Earth's crust through it's landforms by creating our own landform maps of Colorado.
There will be another field trip this week to Holden-Marolt to continue our Colorado history study on Tuesday, September 12th. Also, Denver is coming up fast!!! We ask that you please send in payments for the trip by the end of this week. Please let us know if you have any questions/concerns after the first week of homework! Welcome Back to School 3-4Wow! What a great beginning to what promises to be a very productive and exciting year in the 3-4 Learning Center. Your student spent the week doing many things but getting re-aquainted with old friends and new teachers was the most important thing. The incredible transition your child made from one grade to the other was done with such ease and grace that by the end of the week we all started to feel like we'd been together much longer than four days. Please take the time to ask your child about Independent Study, Reading and Writing Workshop, Math, Geology, Game Time and how to be a productive, responsible and caring communtiy member.
We have four field trips planned for the monthe of September. Our first one will be on the 6th of September, to the Smuggler Mine. Please print and fill out the release from on this page and send it in on Tuesday morning. Class Files
|
|||
| There are currently no quizzes. |
3-4 Learning Center Calendar
Websites to explore....
Curriculum Resources
http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/math/archives/instructional_resources/Mathematics instructional resources
http://www.rif.org/This a great general reading resource. Go to "printable parent guide" and "booklists" for some excellent ideas.