Welcome to the Class of 2015-2016!

Today, I am welcoming a new group of families to our classroom blog.  Thanks for joining us!  We'll have an exciting and learning filled year together!  I have about 14 families signed up.  It would be great to have a full roster.  Please let others families from room 21 know about this opportunity to get classroom news in a timely and paperless way!
Valerie

September. 11, 2015

Dear Families,

Whew!  Eleven days of school under our belts.  Students are on their way to a great year third grade.

Our focus the first couple weeks has been centered around our learning community.  We have been establishing routines, building stamina and assessing strengths and areas for growth.  Your students show a willingness to attend, to learn and to share.  It is a great group of kids.  

In the Reading Workshop we are engaged in a “Storyline” around the book, Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary.  Students are closely reading the text for character traits, the setting and problems and solutions that come up in every chapter.  Now we are creating “Friends of Henry”.  Each student has created a character that lives in Henry’s neighborhood.  As we progress through the storyline, we’ll ask questions about the decisions Ms. Cleary made in her writing, we’ll write a couple opinion pieces drawing from actions within the story and we’ll begin the habit of citing evidence within the text to support our ideas.  Big stuff for eight and nine year olds!  Our storyline will culminate with a walking field trip to the Hollywood neighborhood, to Beverly Cleary’s childhood home and Klickitat Street.  

In the Math Workshop we are building a “toolbox” of strategies for subtraction.  We are estimating and measuring in inches and we are graphing data.  Kids will be routinely assessed on their basic facts knowledge.  This is a timed quiz with 30 facts.  The expectation is that third graders can finish 30 facts in a minute and a half.  Meeting the benchmark is a 25/30 score.  I have stressed to students that this is one part of a bigger picture and not to put too much pressure on themselves.  At the same time, these facts are the cornerstone of math to come.  They need to be practiced.  I showed them a website through our curriculum that they can access at home:http://www.mathlearningcenter.org/resources/families  You scroll down to third grade then scroll down to Math Magician.  They drill kids on 20 facts in one minute.  Kids get to pick the level they need to work on.  We’ve tried it out in the classroom, try it at home.  I’m sending home the first addition fluency checkup.  The kids finish all they can in 90 seconds with a regular lead pencil, then get another 90 to finish up with a colored pencil.  That gives the kids that can’t finish in a minute-thirty a little more time and a little more confidence.    Timed testing can be stressful for some kids and we try to be as supportive and encouraging as we can.  

Kids have been thinking about their reasons for reading and are using them to decorate their book boxes.  They’ve added quotes about reading and favorite first lines from books.  It’s fun to see how they balance the need to read for information with the pleasure of a fun read.

That is a taste of life in Room 21.  I look forward to meeting and visiting with all of you at Back to School Night on the 24th.  That is the time to get the total lowdown and to sign up for conferences.

Thanks for all your support,

Valerie McKenzie

vmckenzie@pps.net

OOPS! Special Delivery Envelopes are still here!

Hi folks,
It was such a wonderful Coffee House yesterday afternoon.  Kids took such ownership of their writing and were poised and confident sharing their poems with us.
In the swirl of goodbyes we didn't get out the envelopes with some writing samples AND the CD of the Play, if you ordered it.  I'll have the file box outside my classroom today and Monday.  Please stop be and pick them up. So sorry for the inconvenience.
I have an assignment for the kids.  We didn't make copies of the Color Poems or the Haiku.  If kids can type them up on google docs and share them with me, I'll get them pulled together into a class book.  I can send that to our district print shop along with the I Am From poems,  and get them out to kids in September.  I just ran out of time this year..  But those Color poems were so cool, I'd love to have copies.  Call it "Summer Homework".
Thanks again for all your support this year. It has been a wonderful experience for me.
All love,
Valerie

Walking Field Trip and the last few days!

Dear Families,
I'm sitting in the classroom while kids are in Music Class.  The fan is trying to cool down the room but, it is hot!  Here's hoping the temperature drops a little each day so that our Coffee House does not seem like a Sweat Lodge!  Hope you all can make it to our Coffee House event on the last day of school 2-3:00.

I'm planning a walking field trip to Laurelhurst Park for Wednesday afternoon.  This is something I usually do in the fall but, it didn't happen this year.  We'll look at the types of trees, talk about the history of the park and retell the legend about the Douglas Fir cones.  I'll have Ms. Orem with me so I am not pressed for volunteers.  If you would like to join us, you are more than welcome to do so.  This is a walking field trip within the neighborhood and the permission slip you signed at the beginning of the year should be sufficient.  I'll double check to see that I have one for every student.  We'll leave at 1:00 and return before 3:00.

We'll be taking down art work and sending home workbooks on Wednesday.  Each kid should have a grocery bag, paper or cloth, to put their things into.

It has been such a pleasure working with your kids, they are ready for fourth grade!

Thanks so much,
Valerie McKenzie

COFFEE HOUSE IN ROOM 21.

May 29, 2015
The last hour of the last day of school is set aside for our annual poetry reading.  Kids dress in black, sport a beret and look very "beat generation".  We will snap our fingers instead of applaud (you'll find out why when you join us!)
Parents are invited to attend.  This is a celebration of our year as writers and a wonderful way to teach and learn until the last bell rings.
This week we are finishing up our I Am From poems and next week we'll start to practice reciting them in front of an audience.  We'll have a craft project and then on the last day of school, we'll turn the classroom into a very hip cafe, low lights, jazz music.  Get the idea?
We'll start at 2:00 and stay until the last poem is shared.
This is fun, be there or be square.
Valerie McKenzie

Date Change for SBAC Math Performance Task

Due to the Rose Show on the 29th we will postpone the Math Performance Task until the following week, starting either Monday or Tuesday.  Please try to have your student in class on Monday, June 1st.  We need full attendance to present the pre-lesson.  Then we can take the test Tuesday and Wednesday.  This test has been taking less time than the others, hooray!  We'll all be glad to see the testing window close.  Kids have worked so hard and I am so impressed by their stamina and willingness to try.
I've cancelled spelling tests for the rest of the year, lots of research says that with spelling tests, the gain is short lived.  The best way to learn to spell is to read and write!  Today, kids took at least 10 of the current spelling words and, either wrote sentences or wove them into a short story.  These kids can write!  They have a strong understanding of story arc and are providing details for the reader.  I was so impressed!!!
Enjoy your three day weekend.
Valerie

Field Trip Tomorrow!!

Tomorrow we go downtown as a grade level to see the play, Ramona Quimby.  We will leave at 8:50 in order to be there for the 9:45 performance.
Volunteers, please be here at 8:35 so we can make the mad dash for the theater!

Also, I am out of Clorox-type disinfectant wipes.  Please, if you have an extra floating around send it to school!
Thanks,
Valerie

Oh, the presentations are great!  Kids have really practiced.  I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!