School Closed Today, Wednesday, December 11.

We just heard and wanted to warn you as soon as possible that school is closed for today.  Stay warm, take your time and we'll see you tomorrow.
Mrs. McKenzie

Science in Room 21

Science in Room 21

This week and next we will be learning about the scientific process through our unit “Changes”.  Kids will explore the states of matter; liquids, solids and gases.  In preparation for the unit I asked kids to draw and to write about what a scientist is and what a scientist does.  Kids have some pretty good ideas, especially with parents who work in a wide variety of science based professions.  The drawings are great and an interesting assessment of the way kids see themselves and the possibilities they imagine for their future.  When I started teaching, all of the kids would draw scientists as men.  Then one or two of the scientists were women.  Now, all the girls are depicting their scientists as women.  The boys are still drawing a variety of “mad” scientists and several marine biologists as well.  It’s interesting.

We’re busy in our Reading Workshop with our novel studies.  Kids have enjoyed reading Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamilla.  They are reading at a pretty fast clip so that we can be finished by Winter Break.  Thanks to the parents who have been leading their groups.   Kids are very enthusiastic and we are learning about comprehension, vocabulary development and a love of good books.

We’ve been studying about geometric shapes in our math classes.  Kids are acquiring vocabulary about angles, types of triangles, attributes of various quadrilaterals and much more.  Math really is a second language.

It’s been very cold and some kids are bringing pretty light outer wear to school.  Please see that they have layers of clothing to wear.  The halls are cold and they have a 30 minute lunch recess outside. 

At the end of next week we’ll start our Winter Break.  I am looking forward to spending some time with my family.  Our son is coming up from southern California and our daughter is close by.  Life is good.  Enjoy the time you have with your family.  

Thank you for the wonderful children you are sharing with me.  I am so fortunate to work with them. 

Happy Break and Happy New Year!!!

Valerie McKenzie

PE this afternoon

This afternoon we have an extra PE!!  Kids will be released from the gym at 3:00.  They will have all their belongings with them.  If you are planning to pick them up, they will be in the gym.
Thanks,
Valerie

Volunteer Opportunity

Dear Parents,
I'm still looking for a couple of volunteers to work with small groups of kids in the Reading Workshop.  Thursday OR Friday from 11:00 -12:00 would be the time commitment.   Let me know if you can work this into your schedule.
Thanks,
Valerie McKenzie

News and a little poetry from Room 21!

  Rainy Day Haiku

On Thursday kids wrote Rainy Day Haikus.  It started when they arrived to class soaking wet.  We turned out the lights and looked at the playground and the rain.  Then we brainstormed ideas and images of the morning; red and white umbrellas, kids running to class, wet hair, a dark sky.  In the afternoon, as the day was clearing, we took our notebooks outside and observed the aftermath of the rainy morning; puddles and reflections, fast moving clouds, peeks of blue sky, raindrops clinging to railings.  Back in class, we wrote in the haiku form, three lines of non-rhyming poetry.  The first line and the third line each have 5 syllables and the 2^nd line has seven.  Most of us adhered to the rule and wrote beautiful, poignant poems about the power and beauty of nature.  Enjoy a few of them now.

Trees shaking off leaves,

Giant raindrops on my head,

My clothes are soaking.

                          Gage

Clouds steal the blue sky,

They tell a story to me,

A storm is coming.

                Maggie

Look up at the sky,

Downpour is on its way,

Everybody run for cover!

                                Eva

Rain comes pouring down,

All the umbrellas go up!

Raindrops cling to rails.

                                Ava

Trees droop as if sad,

Abandoned coat on the ground,

Twig fails to dry.

                                Alice

The foggy windows,

Kids running to their classes,

Water on the slide.

                                Beck

Raindrops drip off trees,

Wind races over my head,

Shoes and socks are drenched.

                                Stella

The lonely playground,

Sad, gray and drenched with raindrops,

The students in class.

                                Christian

In Reading Workshop we are working hard to develop the ability to dig deeply into text.  We use the Scott Foresman Anthology to support learning skills and strategies for comprehension, fluency and vocabulary development.  Kids are writing responses to the text, a hallmark of the Common Core Standards.  Our team has had a lot of discussions around Walk to Read and have come to the conclusion that the numbers don’t spread out evenly enough to make it a good experience for third graders.  Therefore we are going to continue to differentiate instruction in the Reading Workshop in our own classrooms.  But we will be adding some new things to the workshop.  First, I want to add some novel studies to the mix, but will need some volunteers to help.  Our Reading Workshop is from 11:00-12:00 daily.  (except late openings on Wednesday).  If you can volunteer once a week for a book group or support group, contact me, please! 

Conferences are coming soon.  Our first evening of conferences is next Thursday, the 21^st of November.  Then we’ll hold the others on the 25^th and 26^th.  I’ll have reminders out to you this week.  This is our time to meet please be on time.  We are required to meet for 20 minutes but I book them on the half hour so that we have a little wiggle room.  I look forward to talking to you about the progress of your wonderful children.

In math class we are finishing our second unit which has focused on Place Value and Subtraction.  Please continue to practice math facts with your student.  I plan to have an un-timed subtraction warm up for them every day this week.  After this week we’ll begin our unit on 2D and 2D Geometry. 

Play rehearsals for Portland:  The Musical, are proceeding well.  Kids have learned (not memorized) about half of the songs.  We meet just about every week and Mr. Nelson shares his vast knowledge of Portland history with our students.  He is a treasure and the kids hold him in high regard.

Thanks for bring me such a wonderful group of students ready to learn every day.  I love working with them.

Valerie McKenzie

Welcome to Room 21's Blog

Dear Families,
This is the address to reach our blog site:
http://mckenzieclass.blogspot.com/
This will be where I'll be posting updates on the classroom and emails will automatically be sent to you. You can go to the site to see other postings.

Field Trip on Wednesday

Dear Families,

We have our field trip to the Newmark Theater on Wednesday.  We have three volunteer parents; Caiden's mom, Brady's mom and Romeo's mom.  Volunteers, please be here at 10:00, we'll leave shortly after.

Kids will need a cold lunch, we'll eat half of it before we go and the other half when we return.  Kids should dress for the weather.

Thanks,

Valerie McKenzie