Publishing Party

Dear Third Families,

Third graders have had fun learning to use Chromebooks to type and edit their stories.   Here are some photos of our publishing party and students working together on their stories and a variety of assignments throughout the day.

I wish each of you a happy Thanksgiving  and look forward to meeting with you at Parent/Student/Teacher conferences on Monday.

Sincerely,
Keelin Simpson

Native Americans

Dear Third Grade Families,

Our class has been learning about Native Americans who settled in the Arctic region of North America.  Third graders are reading and learning about the long, dark, cold Arctic winters and the clothing the Inuit people made from animals they hunted to stay warm.  Students have learned about different types of houses the Inuit lived in (sod houses, snow houses, and summer tents).  We have read about hunting techniques and learned about animals of the Arctic that were hunted and used for food, clothing, and tools.  Check out the photographs of our class making hunting necklaces from "animal teeth."

Sincerely,
Mrs. Simpson

News From Room 15

                                                                                                            11/13/15

Dear Third Grade Families,

We have enjoyed a week of busy learning, along with some special activities that provided a change of pace!

We started the week with a visit from Miss Lizzie and our Farm to School program. After some fun cabbage activities, we had the opportunity to try cabbage salad- yum! Mr. Melen came to visit on Tuesday to begin our five week Skills for Growing unit, which focused this week on problem solving.  We look forward to the next four sessions.

In literacy, we have started our next unit, which focuses on reading nonfiction. We will be looking at some of the ways that nonfiction text is organized in order to help us get the most from the content. We will focus on headings and subtopics and how authors use this structure to organize information.  Please encourage your child to do some extra nonfiction reading in the coming weeks.

 In writing, we are continuing to work in the finishing stages of our personal narratives.  We are spending time editing and correcting our spelling and punctuation, and typing our stories into our Google docs. We continue to have keyboarding lessons and weekly technology workshops with Ms. Courcelle.

In math, we have been working with ratio tables and arrays as we explore multiplication patterns more deeply. Students were challenged to see how doubling and using other strategies for creating equations could help them with larger numbers. In Number Corner, we explored fractions, multiplication arrays and patterns on our November calendar.

In social studies, we have discussed how the first Americans traveled across the land bridge from Asia into North America.  We have also started to learn about the Inuit tribes, who settled in the farthest northern regions.

On Friday afternoon, we enjoyed our school wide celebration for filling the honey hive by having EXTRA recess time!

             There are some important business items to mention, so here goes!

·                               The window for signing up for parent conferences through the Pick-A-Time site be closing soon.  You can always call Rose, 652-7415, to schedule a meeting time.  If none of the available conference times work with your family’s schedule, please send me an email or call 652-7415, and we can schedule a different time to meet.

·                              Monday we will be having the Puppets in Education program coming to Chamberlin. The program for third graders will be at 12:10 PM.

·                             The PTO fundraiser booklets are coming home today. If you choose not to purchase or sell yours, please return it to school with your child.

·                            Please remember to send in items for the Chamberlin Food Drive. We appreciate your generosity to help families in need.

·                            Next week is the Chamberlin Book Fair. Details are on the Chamberlin School home page.

·                            Next week is Spirit Week!

Monday:          Color Day- Our color is purple- get out your purple clothes!

Tuesday:          Mismatch Day- find those mismatched items and have fun.

Wednesday:    Well Dressed Day- jewels and glam!

Thursday:        Sports Day- show us your favorite team!

Friday:             South Burlington Blue and Gray day- show your SB spirit!

   Wow! Next week looks like it’s going to be great!  That’s it for now!

Have a great weekend,

Keelin M. Simpson

kmcgrath@sbschools.net

652-7415

              

Classroom Blog Sign-Up

Dear Families,

        In order to communicate with you throughout the school year, I will post announcements and updates on our “classroom blog.” Rather than send you a paper newsletter, I will post periodic classroom updates on our blog. This way, you can stay up-to-date with the learning that goes on in room 15!

        You can view the blog at any time through Chamberlin’s webpage, but you must subscribe to the blog in order to receive email updates. There will be some great features, such as sharing pictures, events, and websites. Plus, it’s convenient! The blog posts will be sent directly to your email.

        I hope you join our blog!

Here is how to view the blog and subscribe:

1.    Visit the Chamberlin School webpage: (http://chamberlin.sf.sbschools.net/)

2.   Click on Our Classrooms  (along the side menu on the main page)

3.   Next click on Mrs. Simpson. You will arrive at my blog!

4.   To subscribe, please enter your preferred email address in the box on the right where it says “Subscribe to Mrs. Simpson’s Blog.”

5.   After you have entered your email, click “submit.”

6. An email will be sent to you asking you to confirm your subscription. Your subscription will not go through unless you confirm this email!!

Thank you for joining! J

Room 15 News

Hello, families!

Our third graders have completed another busy week!  We have completed our reading unit on “Building a Reading Life”, which has focused upon developing good reading habits and strategies, and developing our skills in identifying the elements of fictional text.  Next week we will conduct our pre-assessment before starting our second reading unit of study. In this unit, students will explore the text structures of informational text.  Please encourage your child to make this shift in their at-home reading as well. They may certainly continue to read those wonderful stories and fantasies, but we appreciate it if you will help your child to delve a little deeper into the joys of nonfiction!

In math, we are continuing our study of multiplication concepts and skills. This week students were engaged in activities that challenged them to use arrays in order to solve problems. They discovered that there are many strategies that will lead to a correct answer, although some are more efficient than others. In Number Corner, we concluded our activities for October, which included liquid measurement, computation, multiplication strategies, and geometry. We look forward to our November adventures!

Our writers have completed a personal narrative, and we are typing the final drafts in Google docs.  We have learned about how to develop the voice of a storyteller and to share an experience as a story rather than a list of events. This is a skill we will continue to work to develop this year. We will also continue to work on skills related to sentence and paragraph structure, and using appropriate grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Third graders have started to learn keyboarding.  We are using a program called Typing Master. We practice keyboarding on our Chromebooks. 

In social studies, we have continued to explore skills related to maps and globes, and will begin our study of Native Americans. We will be starting our study with Native Americans of the far north, and the migration of early tribes into North America.

The Harvest Luncheon will be held this Monday. Families are welcome, but reservations are required. Please call Rose Datillio if you plan to attend but have not yet signed up.

Please be sure to use the Pick-A-Time system to sign up for your parent conference in the coming weeks. I look forward to discussing your child’s progress! If you need help with using the system, please call Rose at 652-7400.

We greatly appreciate the donation of disinfecting wipes for our tables now that cold and flu season is on the way.  We would also appreciate boxes of soft tissues.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Keelin M. Simpson

Ear Buds

Dear Third Grade Families,

Third grade students have been learning to use Chromebooks. They are learning to use a variety of tools to help them become more proficient readers and writers (keyboarding, text to speech, page simplifier, etc...).

It would be helpful to have ear buds in the classroom for a variety of activities that require students to hear sound.  If students have a pair at home to bring in and keep in the classroom, that would be great!  Fancy ear buds are not necessary.  They are available at the Dollar Discount Store if you would like to purchase a pair for a dollar.

Sincerely,
Keelin M. Simpson