Mrs. Morgan’s Third Grade

Class News

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:05:32 -0700

Dear Room 13 Families,
A big thank you to all of the parent drivers and helpers on our field trip to Ralston White Retreat. We truly couldn’t have done it without all of your help. I’ve been downloading all of the video and photo images and they are great. The final product might take awhile though as my new computer isn’t letting imovie and iphoto communicate. There is always something!
We are getting to the BUSY time of the school year and this year is no different from the rest. I wanted to get some dates to you as reminders, and also some new ones to pencil into your calendars.
This week is our celebration of Earth Week, and it begins with the garden sing this Wednesday. Families are invited to come and listen to each grade level sing and have a picnic lunch on Alto field afterward (lunch provided by you!). The sing begins at 11:00.
On Thursday there is a contest to see which class is most effective packing a trash free lunch! No pressure, but we would love to have an extra recess!
Thursday is also the Young Author’s Fair celebration for those participating. And, this week is when all of those science experiments are due in the office for the science fair.
Our class will begin STAR testing on April 30 and end on May 11. We love to have healthy snacks during STAR testing weeks. I will post a sign-up on our door for your perusal. Everything should be cut and ready to eat. Popular snacks have been fruit, cheese, mini muffins, mini bagels and cream cheese, etc. No juice or drinks are necessary.
For the upcoming two weeks we will continue to focus on test-taking as a distinct genre, i.e. what strategies can we use to be most successful. The kids have already come up with a list which includes deep breathing, rereading the passage or the question, process of elimination, and knowing that there will be questions you just don’t know the answer to!
On Thursday, May 3 we are off to Lake Lagunitas for our second attempt at this field trip. Keep your fingers crossed for a nice day.
On Friday, May 25 we go to Muir Woods for another rescheduled field trip. For both of these trips I will let you know via a future email what the driver status is.

Our Mill Then and Now projects are due May 16.

For the end of the year the entire third grade does a show called ‘The Third Grade Wrap’. It is scheduled for Friday, June 8 at 1:45, but come early if you want a good seat!
We also have two end of year grade level field trips, one to the Sewage Treatment Plant on June 7 and the other is our end of year party on June 11 (I need to double check this date!).
All this and packing too!
In between all of this activity, however, we will continue to read, write, and do arithmetic! I promise!
Hope this doesn’t overwhelm you, but I wanted to get these dates to you a.s.a.p.
Have a wonderful evening.
-Carrie

Class News

Sun, 1 Apr 2012 14:42:58 -0700

Dear Room 13 Families,
Welcome to the week before spring break! There’s lots to look forward to in the weeks ahead, but a break sounds good, too. I know some of you are planning to be away, and I wanted to be sure to pass along a few important reminders.
Most of the kids brought in their signed ‘deadline’ paper on Friday. Those who didn’t assured me that they had been to the library or visited online resources to gather the necessary material for their research. In one of our brainstorming sessions one of the students brought up the idea of looking for a plaque at the location to use as a resource. I thought this was so clever! Be sure to look for one in your child’s locale. I also wanted to mention that if your student chose either the plane crash or the ’29 fire, I have good directions of how to get there. The fire, of course, was everywhere, but there is still evidence in Blithedale Canyon that is easy to get to and photograph! If you look up directions for the plane crash online, I believe they have you starting at the Mt. Home Inn which is not necessary. Let me know if you want shorter directions. The ‘deadlines’ for the next two weeks of school, not counting break, are to collect notes. We have written two paragraphs in class, and will begin a third in class this week. By then, they should be expert! Let me know if otherwise....I can always help from this end.
On the Monday right after break, April 16, we are off to Ralston White Retreat, leaving at 12:15. The drivers for this trip are Brandt, Rivera, Whitehead, Karp, Cronander, and Harris (Vance). Thank you for your help in advance. This trip really is a working trip for parents, as they will help with the flip camera videoing and digital photography on site. We will break up into three different groups, and Jackie and I won’t be able to be with all three groups! The kids should be sure to wear layers that day as it is in the trees. We will return to school in time for dismissal.
Our time with Mr. M. and Ms. Zimmer began two Fridays ago. The emphasis for both groups was how to best work as a cooperative group, with a focus on how to develop positive coping behaviors when things aren’t going as planned, and be able to recognize negative coping behaviors like exclusion or unkind words. I must say it was a wonderful opportunity for me to sit back and watch our principal working with the girls two Fridays ago and then with the whole class last Friday. The kids were so honest and forthright in their assessments of how their behavior isn’t always perfect! At the end of our time together each child came up with an intent that they could bring to room 13 to work on everyday. Some examples were: thinking before I say or do something, doing extra-credit work when I have extra time, raising my hand, being a role model by speaking up when I notice that behavior on the playground isn’t appropriate, not laughing at an inappropriate joke, etc. You might ask your child what their intent was/is for this week. A few of you have asked me what precipitated this need for Lisa and Jason to work with our class. Originally, I felt that the girls needed some time to discuss and share the experience of being in a class with more boys than girls, then it looked as if the boys could use some time focusing on what it might look like to share leadership amongst themselves, and then some of the girls were hurting each other’s feelings.....you can see that the answer is never quite static. The classroom environment is a dynamic organism, and the timing to ask Jason and Lisa to participate was just right. I feel so lucky that they both had the time in their schedule to give us a little extra face time! It is usually reserved for fourth grade, and I hope that they get to spend more time with them next year, too. It has been very valuable.
Again, please don’t hesitate to email with any questions or concerns!
Regards,
Carrie

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:14:42 -0700

Dear Room 13 Families,
Boy, is it nice to start the week without rain! The kids did amazingly well last week with rainy day recess everyday! The trip to the library saved us from complete claustrophobia. While there, we learned about the resources available to the boys and girls for their Mill Valley Then and Now project. Jessica Ryan and Yolanda, two of the children’s librarians, did a great job with our tour.
The infamous third grade Mill Valley Then and Now assignment is going home with today’s homework packet.THe kids need to read it, choose three topics, and have you sign the last page. I’m hoping to have all of these signed pages back in class by the end of this week. The final project is due on May 16th. What the assignment doesn’t go into is that here will be ‘deadlines’ along the way. The first deadline is April 30, when each student should have collected all of the necessary resources and notes for their three topics. The Mill Valley Library is a great place to start. The second deadline is April 27 when the first topic should be completed: two photos, one ‘then’ and one ‘now’, and two paragraphs, one historical facts and one what they’ve learned about their topic by going there today. We will be practicing this in class for the next three weeks, so by the time they get to their writing they will have written several of these paragraphs.
In math we are beginning to look at fractions. This doesn’t by any means suggest that we are secure with our multiplication and division facts. Developing automaticity of these facts will continue throughout the school year. The standards for fractions in third grade include naming fractions, adding and subtracting like denominators, and some basic equivalencies.
On a sad note, our little trout are dying. There is a very good chance that all of our fish may have died by tomorrow!! Andy and Chuck (the program coordinator) strongly suspect that the eggs that we were given were not strong enough to survive. There has been tank failure all over the county! Poor Chuck....this is the first year this has happened. I would like to still go to Lake Lagunitas, but we might change the date. I will certainly let you know as soon as possible if that happens.
Beginning this Friday, Lisa Z. and Jason are going to do a series of three lessons with the boys and girls of room 13. Jason will work with the boys, and Lisa and I will work with the girls. This grouping provides an opportunity to work with a smaller group of kids, while also allowing for some discussion of issues affecting the two groups. I am excited for this chance to explore topics unique to the groups, and our class specifically. Again, more details to follow!!
Again, I apologize for not sending home progress reports on Friday. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Carrie

Class News

Sun, 4 Mar 2012 10:33:27 -0800

Dear Families,
As many of you may know, report cards are coming home in two weeks. Our standards based report card is meant to reflect the learning that happens for our third graders over the course of the year, not in any given trimester. The trimester reporting is to indicate progress towards the standard. If your child receives a ‘P’ for a particular standard, it means that they are on track to becoming ‘secure’ by the end of the year. If they receive a ‘B’ or an ‘L’, it simply means more practice is necessary.

In my conversations with parents and students over the past few weeks, it has come to my attention (again!) how much weight the kids put on speed as a measurement of academic success. You can imagine that this doesn’t usually help with accuracy, reflective thought, developing an idea, or .....many of the things we associate with academic success! One of our themes in our final trimester will be to s-l-o-w down!
I am also planning to send home the children’s biography report for your perusal and comments. Please remember to return them. I will be putting them on our bulletin board!

I hope many of you will find yourselves in our beautiful Edna Maguire garden this afternoon between the hours of 2:00-4:00. Please make sure to make yourselves known to someone there because the competition for most participants in our garden work days is on! No pressure, but last year the third grade won. That pizza at the end of the year was very tasty!

Thanks to all of our drivers to the Old Mill Creek last Tuesday. The creek is so low right now, but Andy Basnight was able to find a few aquatic insects for us to look at. It is a wonderful opportunity to bring our learning outside.
Our next field trip is to the Mill Valley Public Library on March 16. The drivers signed up are: Christine, Trina, Jenny, Justine, Jon, and Mari. It is more than we need. Anyone not able to drive? Let me know.

The following is a reminder about next week’s Variety Show:
Your children will have an opportunity to participate in a disability awareness program next year called A Touch of Understanding (ATOU) http://www.touchofunderstanding.org/ ATOU is designed to educate children regarding the challenges associated with disabilities and to accept and respect all individuals. Edna students will participate in a ½ day interactive program in the fall of 2013. Your class goal is to raise approximately $1600 through the Variety Show concession to pay for the program.

The show is this Friday, March 9, so please take a moment to see how you can help by signing up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0E45ACA9229-variety

Thanks for all that you do!
Carrie

Class News

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:25:06 -0800

Dear Families,
I realized I sent home the packet of permission slips without any explanation. Here’s a little background...

Our first trip Tuesday, Feb. 28, is really a simple outdoor science lesson at Old Mill Creek. The biggest goal is to take a look at the concept of a food web, and how it relates to our trout study. With Andy Basnight’s help, we will take a close look at aquatic insects in the creek, a main food source for young trout. There is a slight possibility that Ms. Monge may be able to join us to help with some video-ing of facts related to these insects.It is the Dr. Seuss Cafe that same day, which might provide just enough time for Ms. Monge to come find us at the creek. If not, we will persevere without her! We plan to leave as close to 1:15 as possible and return in time for dismissal.

The second trip is to the Mill Valley Library. Children’s librarian and fellow Edna parent, Jessica Ryan, will give us a tour of the Children’s Room and its resources for our Mill Valley History project, and a tour of the downstairs Mill Valley History Room. It is another short trip;we will leave school around on March 16th at 9:40 and return by 11:30.

The third trip I didn’t have dates yet when I sent home the slips. The permission slip will come home next Wednesday after our 4-day weekend. We will travel up to Lake Lagunitas in Fairfax to release our trout on Thursday, March 29 at 8:40, returning by 1:30. This is a fun day and I hope some of you can make it!

The last permission slip in the packet is for our trip to Ralston White Retreat. It is a historical house located deep in Blithedale Canyon that really gives us a good idea of what life was like long ago in Mill Valley. We will definitely need lots of parent help for this one as we split the kids into groups to film themselves presenting information about the site and to also take digital images. It is the Monday right after spring break, April 16. Jackie Lalanne, our wonderful art teacher, will join us for this one to provide instruction on photography. We will leave campus promptly at 12:15 and return by 2:30.

I hope this clarifies all of those permission slips!
Enjoy your 4-day weekend!!
Carrie