Hello! This Wednesday is the Ronald McDonald Teeth Checking Bus that will be visiting Sandstone to take care of childrens' teeth. If you filled out the release form, your child will be visiting the bus! If you have not done so, but would like to have your child's teeth examined, cleaned, or sealed, please contact us at Sandstone.
So, here is the learning for the week:
Reading: We are exploring the question of "How do geography and natural resources affect a community?" The students will be reading Chapters 3 and 4 to learn about different communities that utilize their resources.
Comprehension: Metacognition....thinking about your thinking! It links together actually reading the words and thinking about the words.
Vocabulary words: tourist, village, trade
Writing: Basic elements of a paragraph and the corresponding colors used to outline paragraphs to recognize the topic sentence, key/star ideas, and details.
Math: We are finished filling out our multiplication charts, and the students will be working on solving equations grouped together in fact families. We are still working to understand the various properties of multiplication.
Extra Math: The students will be grouped into small groups in order to practice specific skills, such as rounding and adding and subtracting.
Special Note! The Holiday Music Program is next Wednesday! The times are listed to the right. I hope to see you there!
Miss Kimpton
Miss Kimpton's Third Grade: This blog is created for students and their families to stay connected with our school day. It will be updated weekly with learning goals and activities, school happenings, and pictures. Check it weekly!
Monday, December 8, 2014
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Dec. 1 to 4
Here is an update of our learning that has occurred and will occur throughout the rest of the week:
Reading: Our class is currently on Unit 3: The Shape of the Land. The students will be learning about the relationship between people and their environment.
Comprehension Skill: Questioning! The students will be focusing on asking and answering questions to deepen their understanding of a topic. We have already had some meaningful and effective lessons (did you hear about the kiwano?) about the types and purposes of questions. We will now connect it to reading and asking/answering those questions before, during, and after a text.
Vocabulary: geography, community, business
Math: We are working on deepening the students' understanding of multiplication by creating our own multiplication chart to show sums and products. Each day, we are adding to the chart and then discussing and making examples to practice the different strategies of multiplying (repeated addition, commutative property-switching the factors, and associative property-breaking down factors into smaller known factors and adding the products together)
Writing: The students are beginning the process of writing effective paragraphs. We will start with creating a writing folder, making a tool to remember the different parts of a paragraph, and identify the different elements in paragraphs.
Thank you!
Miss Kimpton
Reading: Our class is currently on Unit 3: The Shape of the Land. The students will be learning about the relationship between people and their environment.
Comprehension Skill: Questioning! The students will be focusing on asking and answering questions to deepen their understanding of a topic. We have already had some meaningful and effective lessons (did you hear about the kiwano?) about the types and purposes of questions. We will now connect it to reading and asking/answering those questions before, during, and after a text.
Vocabulary: geography, community, business
Math: We are working on deepening the students' understanding of multiplication by creating our own multiplication chart to show sums and products. Each day, we are adding to the chart and then discussing and making examples to practice the different strategies of multiplying (repeated addition, commutative property-switching the factors, and associative property-breaking down factors into smaller known factors and adding the products together)
Writing: The students are beginning the process of writing effective paragraphs. We will start with creating a writing folder, making a tool to remember the different parts of a paragraph, and identify the different elements in paragraphs.
Thank you!
Miss Kimpton
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Nov. 17 to 21
This week is the Cat Griz Spirit Week. Look at the following post to see the theme for each day!
Reading: This is our last week exploring how science helps us have fun. We will be reviewing the informational (non-fiction) and realistic fiction stories, Science at Play and Owl Moon. The students will review the practice of skimming and scanning a story to find text evidence (such as chapter namers, captions, and bold words) to answer a question. We will also practice finding words that identify a sequence of events in order to understand how a story is organized.
Vocabulary: The students will be reviewing the different vocabulary words from this Unit by writing sentences that link them to science, sorting into different parts of speech, and practicing them at the different reading groups.
Spelling: The spelling pattern focus this week is on the short vowel /o/ sound, spelled as "a before l", "o", and "aw".
Writing: The students will be identifying and highlighting different organizational structures of informative writing.
Math: Each day, the students will be practicing skip-counting, problem-solving with problems about area, and completing a lesson from the Math textbook. This will be our last week focusing strictly on area and the properties of multiplication to solve area problems.
Art: The students will be using paper scraps, color, and drawing to create a great horned owl.
I hope that everyone has a great week!
Miss Kimpton
Reading: This is our last week exploring how science helps us have fun. We will be reviewing the informational (non-fiction) and realistic fiction stories, Science at Play and Owl Moon. The students will review the practice of skimming and scanning a story to find text evidence (such as chapter namers, captions, and bold words) to answer a question. We will also practice finding words that identify a sequence of events in order to understand how a story is organized.
Vocabulary: The students will be reviewing the different vocabulary words from this Unit by writing sentences that link them to science, sorting into different parts of speech, and practicing them at the different reading groups.
Spelling: The spelling pattern focus this week is on the short vowel /o/ sound, spelled as "a before l", "o", and "aw".
Writing: The students will be identifying and highlighting different organizational structures of informative writing.
Math: Each day, the students will be practicing skip-counting, problem-solving with problems about area, and completing a lesson from the Math textbook. This will be our last week focusing strictly on area and the properties of multiplication to solve area problems.
Art: The students will be using paper scraps, color, and drawing to create a great horned owl.
I hope that everyone has a great week!
Miss Kimpton
Cat Griz Week!
To celebrate the upcoming Cat Griz game, we are dressing up at Sandstone! The following are our outfits for each day:
Monday: Pajama Day
Friday: Cat Griz Day
Monday: Pajama Day
Tuesday: Cowboy/Cowgirl Day
Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday (crazy mis matching outfits)
Thursday: 70’s Groovy Day
Friday: Cat Griz Day
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Nov. 10 to Nov. 14
This week and last have been very busy and out of the routine! For those of you that I have been able to conference with, thank you so much for your time and conversations about your children. I appreciate your help so much in helping them learn and grow. I will be sending home a copy of our notes from the conferences next week.
For those of you that I have not yet been able to conference with because of my illness, I will reschedule with you as soon as I am back to feeling better. It does not work very well for me to be sick, and I really dislike inconveniencing you.
This week, the kiddos have been learning a lot, even if I have not been able to be there for quite a bit of it! We have had some great substitute teachers, and I have notes on my desk each day telling me how great the class is.
Here are some of our learning target points this week:
Reading: The students are reading a literature selection (realistic fiction) titled Owl Moon. Some of the reading strategies that they are focusing on this week are identifying different text features (chapter titles, highlighted words, etc.) and making predictions.
Vocabulary: shadow
Writing: Our class is exploring the differences between narrative (story-type writing) and expository (information-based, instructions, persuasive-type writing) writing. The have sorted different elements of the two types of writing, and they will be sorting writing prompts into the two different categories.
Problem Solving: The students will be working on a problem called "The Frustrated Farmer" in which a farmer needs to complete a task in a set order. This will help them work on trying different option, developing perseverance, and working through frustrations.
Math: We are continuing to explore area and apply multiplication strategies and developing knowledge to solve problems based on area.
Spelling: This week, the focus is on the vowel sound found in "clown".
Again, thank you for your patience with the variances in the schedule over the last two weeks.
Miss Kimpton
For those of you that I have not yet been able to conference with because of my illness, I will reschedule with you as soon as I am back to feeling better. It does not work very well for me to be sick, and I really dislike inconveniencing you.
This week, the kiddos have been learning a lot, even if I have not been able to be there for quite a bit of it! We have had some great substitute teachers, and I have notes on my desk each day telling me how great the class is.
Here are some of our learning target points this week:
Reading: The students are reading a literature selection (realistic fiction) titled Owl Moon. Some of the reading strategies that they are focusing on this week are identifying different text features (chapter titles, highlighted words, etc.) and making predictions.
Vocabulary: shadow
Writing: Our class is exploring the differences between narrative (story-type writing) and expository (information-based, instructions, persuasive-type writing) writing. The have sorted different elements of the two types of writing, and they will be sorting writing prompts into the two different categories.
Problem Solving: The students will be working on a problem called "The Frustrated Farmer" in which a farmer needs to complete a task in a set order. This will help them work on trying different option, developing perseverance, and working through frustrations.
Math: We are continuing to explore area and apply multiplication strategies and developing knowledge to solve problems based on area.
Spelling: This week, the focus is on the vowel sound found in "clown".
Again, thank you for your patience with the variances in the schedule over the last two weeks.
Miss Kimpton
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Oct. 27 to Oct. 31
Whew! It has already been an extremely busy last week of the quarter. Thank you for your patience for my tardiness on updating our blog. I posted a schedule of the conference times and initials in the right column. We have a very packed schedule and only 15 minutes to discuss your child, so please be on time and call to make arrangements if you need to reschedule.
Here is a peek at our learning goals this week:
Reading/Science: We started a new Unit this week in which we will be investigating "Science at Play". This week, our reading and discussions are focusing on answering the question "What role does science play in sports?" The third-graders are loving this topic! The following are some other language arts skills that we are tying into our reading:
Non-fiction Book: Science All Around Us (this is available online on the LEAD21 link on the blog)
Word Work: Making contractions with am, is, are
Comprehension Strategies: Summarizing and Cause and Effect (tools to make sense as we read)
Vocabulary Words: energy, force, technology
Writing: The students wrote a story today using a prompt that invited them to write about discovering a yard of trees filled with candy on Halloween night. I can't wait to share them with you during the conference.
Spelling: The spelling words this week focus on a spelling pattern of three-letter clusters (thr-, scr-, str-, and spr-)
Math: We are continuing our progress in multiplication and building arrays (organization of images/shapes to show a certain number of group of a specific item, ex. 2 x 8 is 2 groups of 8.)
I am really looking forward to meeting with you next week!
Miss Kimpton
Here is a peek at our learning goals this week:
Reading/Science: We started a new Unit this week in which we will be investigating "Science at Play". This week, our reading and discussions are focusing on answering the question "What role does science play in sports?" The third-graders are loving this topic! The following are some other language arts skills that we are tying into our reading:
Non-fiction Book: Science All Around Us (this is available online on the LEAD21 link on the blog)
Word Work: Making contractions with am, is, are
Comprehension Strategies: Summarizing and Cause and Effect (tools to make sense as we read)
Vocabulary Words: energy, force, technology
Writing: The students wrote a story today using a prompt that invited them to write about discovering a yard of trees filled with candy on Halloween night. I can't wait to share them with you during the conference.
Spelling: The spelling words this week focus on a spelling pattern of three-letter clusters (thr-, scr-, str-, and spr-)
Math: We are continuing our progress in multiplication and building arrays (organization of images/shapes to show a certain number of group of a specific item, ex. 2 x 8 is 2 groups of 8.)
I am really looking forward to meeting with you next week!
Miss Kimpton
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Oct. 20 to Oct. 24
I hope that everyone had a great weekend enjoying the sunny weather! Here are our plans for the week:
Reading - This is our last week of Unit 1 : Changes. The week will focus on comprehension skills that we have been practicing, such as making T-Charts to document finding text evidence (words or pictures) that answers the question "How do things change?", make inferences in order to understand what the author means, draw conclusions to make a decision about the reading, and compare and contrast ideas from the two different readings "Changing as .
Vocabulary - The students will complete activities that review and practice the words from Unit 1 : Changes (choose, responsibility, decision, prepare, confused, skill, familiar).
Writing - The students will be finishing their writing project about a change they would like to make in their lives. They will be working on a rough draft, editing, and writing a final copy.
Spelling - The list of words this week include short and long vowels. Each night through Thursday, the students will be assigned homework to complete at home to help them practice their words. If you are unsure of what the homework is, you can check your child's planner. It will be located in the "Spelling" section, and the students will have circled the assignment. We write it in the style "WS #", which corresponds with "Worksheet and page number".
Math - We will be introducing multiplication to the students this week. We will start with a pre-assessment on Monday to determine what students already understand about multiplication, and then we will reassign the students for Math groups. In order to introduce multiplication, we will focus on the understanding that, in order to determine the total amount, we will be looking at a specific number of groups with the same amount, as opposed to counting one-by-one. We will be completing many activities that further the students' understandings of groups vs. individual amounts, and they will learn that 5 x 8 means 5 "groups of" 8. The vocabulary words they will use are factors (the numbers that are multiplied together) and product (result of multiplying the factors).
Field Trip - As you are very familiar with, we will be attending Alberta Bair's production of Schoolhouse Rock Live on Monday. The bus will leave Sandstone at 11:50, and the musical begins at 12:30. I expect that the students will be prepared for a wonderful production. I also expect that will behave respectfully and appropriately when in the community.
Reading - This is our last week of Unit 1 : Changes. The week will focus on comprehension skills that we have been practicing, such as making T-Charts to document finding text evidence (words or pictures) that answers the question "How do things change?", make inferences in order to understand what the author means, draw conclusions to make a decision about the reading, and compare and contrast ideas from the two different readings "Changing as .
Vocabulary - The students will complete activities that review and practice the words from Unit 1 : Changes (choose, responsibility, decision, prepare, confused, skill, familiar).
Writing - The students will be finishing their writing project about a change they would like to make in their lives. They will be working on a rough draft, editing, and writing a final copy.
Spelling - The list of words this week include short and long vowels. Each night through Thursday, the students will be assigned homework to complete at home to help them practice their words. If you are unsure of what the homework is, you can check your child's planner. It will be located in the "Spelling" section, and the students will have circled the assignment. We write it in the style "WS #", which corresponds with "Worksheet and page number".
Math - We will be introducing multiplication to the students this week. We will start with a pre-assessment on Monday to determine what students already understand about multiplication, and then we will reassign the students for Math groups. In order to introduce multiplication, we will focus on the understanding that, in order to determine the total amount, we will be looking at a specific number of groups with the same amount, as opposed to counting one-by-one. We will be completing many activities that further the students' understandings of groups vs. individual amounts, and they will learn that 5 x 8 means 5 "groups of" 8. The vocabulary words they will use are factors (the numbers that are multiplied together) and product (result of multiplying the factors).
Field Trip - As you are very familiar with, we will be attending Alberta Bair's production of Schoolhouse Rock Live on Monday. The bus will leave Sandstone at 11:50, and the musical begins at 12:30. I expect that the students will be prepared for a wonderful production. I also expect that will behave respectfully and appropriately when in the community.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Oct. 13 to Oct. 15
We have a very short week this week. The students will be in school for a full day on Monday and Tuesday, and they will be dismissed on Wednesday at 12:00. Thursday and Friday they will have no school.
Reminder: On Monday, Oct. 20, the third-graders will be attending the Alberta Bair Theatre for a performance of Schoolhouse Rock Live. The busses will leave Sandstone at 11:50, and the performance starts at 12:30. If you have not sent the permission slip back, please do so as soon as possible.
The following are our learning goals for the week:
Reading: The students will be continue to read The BFG by Roald Dahl as a whole class. We have been learning about the parts of speech, and the students will be looking for verbs to add to our list. They will also be working in Reading Groups to practice the skills from LEAD 21.
Spelling: No spelling words this week due to a short week.
Writing: We are writing a rough draft, editing, and publishing a book titled "The Important Thing".
Math: Math groups are going extremely well. We are finding that working with the different groups allows us to actively support and challenge each student. Talk to your child to find out what teacher he or she is going with. We are all focusing on the standard of adding and subtracting numbers to 1000.
Reminder: On Monday, Oct. 20, the third-graders will be attending the Alberta Bair Theatre for a performance of Schoolhouse Rock Live. The busses will leave Sandstone at 11:50, and the performance starts at 12:30. If you have not sent the permission slip back, please do so as soon as possible.
The following are our learning goals for the week:
Reading: The students will be continue to read The BFG by Roald Dahl as a whole class. We have been learning about the parts of speech, and the students will be looking for verbs to add to our list. They will also be working in Reading Groups to practice the skills from LEAD 21.
Spelling: No spelling words this week due to a short week.
Writing: We are writing a rough draft, editing, and publishing a book titled "The Important Thing".
Math: Math groups are going extremely well. We are finding that working with the different groups allows us to actively support and challenge each student. Talk to your child to find out what teacher he or she is going with. We are all focusing on the standard of adding and subtracting numbers to 1000.
Monday, October 6, 2014
October Notes
We have a few things on the horizon that I want to share with you:
1. To support the National Bullying Prevention Month and positive character development, zpizza is sponsoring a "Nice Slice Award". When I see a student displaying an act of kindness or positive act, I can reward them with a certificate for a free slice of pizza from zpizza. We will focus on a trait each day.
2. On Monday, Oct. 20, we have been invited to the Alberta Bair Theater for a showing of "Schoolhouse Rock Live!" at 12:30. I will be sending home permission slips today. Please fill them out and send them back as soon as possible.
3. Picture Day is Tuesday, Oct. 7!
4. The end of first quarter in on Fri., Oct. 31. We will be sending home Parent/Teacher Conferences scheduling forms at the end of the week. The forms that I receive back first have priority in scheduling, so please send them back quickly in order to save the spot that works best for you.
1. To support the National Bullying Prevention Month and positive character development, zpizza is sponsoring a "Nice Slice Award". When I see a student displaying an act of kindness or positive act, I can reward them with a certificate for a free slice of pizza from zpizza. We will focus on a trait each day.
2. On Monday, Oct. 20, we have been invited to the Alberta Bair Theater for a showing of "Schoolhouse Rock Live!" at 12:30. I will be sending home permission slips today. Please fill them out and send them back as soon as possible.
3. Picture Day is Tuesday, Oct. 7!
4. The end of first quarter in on Fri., Oct. 31. We will be sending home Parent/Teacher Conferences scheduling forms at the end of the week. The forms that I receive back first have priority in scheduling, so please send them back quickly in order to save the spot that works best for you.
Oct. 6 to Oct. 10
Here's a peek into this week's learning. Remember that tomorrow is Fall Picture Day! If you want to order copies of the pictures, please have the envelopes to me by tomorrow morning. Thank you!
Reading: We are focusing on the main question concerning "What changes can we choose to make?". We will be reading a fiction story "Scaredy Squirrel" in order to delve deeper into this question. The students will be working on the comprehension tools of reading to learn more, making inferences, and drawing conclusions. They will also be working on a fluency reading titles "Choosing to Change". When reading for fluency, they will be working on increasing their reading of words per minute.
Vocabulary: familiar, prepare
Writing: The students will write personal narratives about changes they would choose to make.
Math: We have an exciting plan for the third graders this week. In order to better meet each kiddos' needs, we will be sorting all 79 students into three groups. These groups will all be continuing their learning with adding and subtracting numbers to 1000, but we will tailor the learning and projects to better suit each person's needs. Mr. Groshans will teach one group, Mrs. Thomas will teach another, and I will teach the third. We will be moving them into their math groups on Tuesday, and they will be moving to their Math teacher's room during Math time. I am very excited to see the possibilities with this arrangement!
Spelling: Unit 5 Long /i/ Words. You may have noticed by looking at the list of Spelling words that we will be focusing on different ways to spell words that have the long /i/ sound in them. Specifically, we are practicing words with the spelling of igh, i, and ie.
Homework Note: It is so exciting for me to administer the Spelling test to students that are confident and feel prepared for spelling their words. I also love to watch their faces as they check their score on Friday afternoon before they go home. A couple of students got their first 100% this week, and they were so proud of their hard work. Other kids have been steadily increasing their scores each week, and they are starting to feel more successful. I really appreciate the follow through that you have at home to encourage them to complete their homework to they can build good study habits and have success. Thank you!
Reading: We are focusing on the main question concerning "What changes can we choose to make?". We will be reading a fiction story "Scaredy Squirrel" in order to delve deeper into this question. The students will be working on the comprehension tools of reading to learn more, making inferences, and drawing conclusions. They will also be working on a fluency reading titles "Choosing to Change". When reading for fluency, they will be working on increasing their reading of words per minute.
Vocabulary: familiar, prepare
Writing: The students will write personal narratives about changes they would choose to make.
Math: We have an exciting plan for the third graders this week. In order to better meet each kiddos' needs, we will be sorting all 79 students into three groups. These groups will all be continuing their learning with adding and subtracting numbers to 1000, but we will tailor the learning and projects to better suit each person's needs. Mr. Groshans will teach one group, Mrs. Thomas will teach another, and I will teach the third. We will be moving them into their math groups on Tuesday, and they will be moving to their Math teacher's room during Math time. I am very excited to see the possibilities with this arrangement!
Spelling: Unit 5 Long /i/ Words. You may have noticed by looking at the list of Spelling words that we will be focusing on different ways to spell words that have the long /i/ sound in them. Specifically, we are practicing words with the spelling of igh, i, and ie.
Homework Note: It is so exciting for me to administer the Spelling test to students that are confident and feel prepared for spelling their words. I also love to watch their faces as they check their score on Friday afternoon before they go home. A couple of students got their first 100% this week, and they were so proud of their hard work. Other kids have been steadily increasing their scores each week, and they are starting to feel more successful. I really appreciate the follow through that you have at home to encourage them to complete their homework to they can build good study habits and have success. Thank you!
Monday, September 29, 2014
Sept. 29 to Oct. 3
The big news of the week is...
1. the school-wide PTA meeting on Tuesday night at 7:10 pm. It will be 40 minutes, and, if adults attend, then kiddos may accompany them to a mega-Dodgeball event in the gym. The PTA is working very hard to encourage members and new members to participate in any way possible. One of the new adjustments is a 4-meeting schedule this year. The meetings will be short, to the point, and welcoming. Please consider coming to the meeting, and be sure to bring your children! It will be very fun for the kids in the gym!
2. the Charleston Wrap fundraiser is coming to a close.
3. the Spelling homework really helped increase the test scores last week! Thank you for following through on homework last week. The kiddos were very excited for the Spelling test, and they were very confident during the test. The extra practice at home helped them. We will continue this procedure of homework on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week.
We have quite a few of the same learning goals for this week as we did last week. With the half-day, parade, evacuation drill, and MAP tests, we did not have as much time for learning. So, with that in mind, some of the information below is copied from last week:
Reading - We are progressing to Week 2 of our Unit that focuses on Changes. The main question that the students will be focusing on this week is "What do we do when things change?". The three comprehension skills that we will be practicing this week are reading to learn, determining important information, and determining the author's purpose.
Vocabulary - decision, skill
Spelling - Unit 4 (Long o Words)
Math - Continue with 3-digit addition, practice the count-by's (skip-counting)
Science - Week 3: Cacti
Art - Continuous Line Drawings
Language/Writing - Creative Words for Verb Choices
1. the school-wide PTA meeting on Tuesday night at 7:10 pm. It will be 40 minutes, and, if adults attend, then kiddos may accompany them to a mega-Dodgeball event in the gym. The PTA is working very hard to encourage members and new members to participate in any way possible. One of the new adjustments is a 4-meeting schedule this year. The meetings will be short, to the point, and welcoming. Please consider coming to the meeting, and be sure to bring your children! It will be very fun for the kids in the gym!
2. the Charleston Wrap fundraiser is coming to a close.
3. the Spelling homework really helped increase the test scores last week! Thank you for following through on homework last week. The kiddos were very excited for the Spelling test, and they were very confident during the test. The extra practice at home helped them. We will continue this procedure of homework on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week.
We have quite a few of the same learning goals for this week as we did last week. With the half-day, parade, evacuation drill, and MAP tests, we did not have as much time for learning. So, with that in mind, some of the information below is copied from last week:
Reading - We are progressing to Week 2 of our Unit that focuses on Changes. The main question that the students will be focusing on this week is "What do we do when things change?". The three comprehension skills that we will be practicing this week are reading to learn, determining important information, and determining the author's purpose.
Vocabulary - decision, skill
Spelling - Unit 4 (Long o Words)
Math - Continue with 3-digit addition, practice the count-by's (skip-counting)
Science - Week 3: Cacti
Art - Continuous Line Drawings
Language/Writing - Creative Words for Verb Choices
Monday, September 22, 2014
Sept. 22-25
Welcome to the fifth week of school! Some important things to remember about this week are:
1. MAP Testing - The third graders will be completing their fall standardized testing on the afternoons of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. These are tests taken online, and they require concentration and focus. Please make sure that your kiddos get plenty of sleep, eat healthy breakfasts and lunches, and have a chance to talk to you about the tests after school. They need to feel confident and calm when they are showing what they have learned.
2. Early-Out Thursday - On Thursday, we will be dismissing school at 12:00 in order to attend teacher trainings. Some exciting things that we have planned for our morning in school is an all-school assembly to showcase the dancing of some our American Indian students. Two of our students will be dancing in the assembly. It will be fantastic! We will also be participating in an emergency evacuation drill that morning. We will be practicing the procedure of evacuating the building and going to our safe meeting place.
3. Skyview Parade - Friday afternoon is the Homecoming Parade for Skyview High School. The high school students will be making a parade that proceeds down Wicks and then takes a right onto Nutter. They will be directly passing our school, and we will be outside cheering them. Your children may wear Skyview colors on Friday (blue and silver), although please do not allow them to wear face paint or colored hair spray.
Here are some of the subject-specific topics that we will be learning this week:
Reading - We are progressing to Week 2 of our Unit that focuses on Changes. The main question that the students will be focusing on this week is "What do we do when things change?". The three comprehension skills that we will be practicing this week are reading to learn, determining important information, and determining the author's purpose.
Vocabulary - decision, skill
Spelling - Unit 3 (Long a and Long e Words)
Math - Introduce and practice 3-digit addition, practice the count-by's (skip-counting)
Science - Week 2: Dolphins
Art - Continuous Line Drawings
Language/Writing - Synonyms
Thank you for checking the blog and supporting your child's education!
Miss Kimpton
P.S. Due to the increased request for homework, I will be giving a short homework assignment each night. This work will be related to our topics for the week. It is designed to be completed in a maximum of 10 minutes and be worked on individually. Please check the planner in order to know that homework assignment for that night.
1. MAP Testing - The third graders will be completing their fall standardized testing on the afternoons of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. These are tests taken online, and they require concentration and focus. Please make sure that your kiddos get plenty of sleep, eat healthy breakfasts and lunches, and have a chance to talk to you about the tests after school. They need to feel confident and calm when they are showing what they have learned.
2. Early-Out Thursday - On Thursday, we will be dismissing school at 12:00 in order to attend teacher trainings. Some exciting things that we have planned for our morning in school is an all-school assembly to showcase the dancing of some our American Indian students. Two of our students will be dancing in the assembly. It will be fantastic! We will also be participating in an emergency evacuation drill that morning. We will be practicing the procedure of evacuating the building and going to our safe meeting place.
3. Skyview Parade - Friday afternoon is the Homecoming Parade for Skyview High School. The high school students will be making a parade that proceeds down Wicks and then takes a right onto Nutter. They will be directly passing our school, and we will be outside cheering them. Your children may wear Skyview colors on Friday (blue and silver), although please do not allow them to wear face paint or colored hair spray.
Here are some of the subject-specific topics that we will be learning this week:
Reading - We are progressing to Week 2 of our Unit that focuses on Changes. The main question that the students will be focusing on this week is "What do we do when things change?". The three comprehension skills that we will be practicing this week are reading to learn, determining important information, and determining the author's purpose.
Vocabulary - decision, skill
Spelling - Unit 3 (Long a and Long e Words)
Math - Introduce and practice 3-digit addition, practice the count-by's (skip-counting)
Science - Week 2: Dolphins
Art - Continuous Line Drawings
Language/Writing - Synonyms
Thank you for checking the blog and supporting your child's education!
Miss Kimpton
P.S. Due to the increased request for homework, I will be giving a short homework assignment each night. This work will be related to our topics for the week. It is designed to be completed in a maximum of 10 minutes and be worked on individually. Please check the planner in order to know that homework assignment for that night.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Open House is tonight! Mr. Venner will be talking to the 3rd grade families in the gym at 6:45. The students will then go with other teachers while the parents/adults head off to the classrooms. I have a few things to share with you at 7:00. You will be reunited with your children at 7:15, and then you will be off to find the ice cream!
I hope that you can make it tonight. The kiddos are really excited to show you our room, their desks, their work, and their projects.
Miss Kimpton
I hope that you can make it tonight. The kiddos are really excited to show you our room, their desks, their work, and their projects.
Miss Kimpton
Saturday, September 6, 2014
September 8 - 12
Hello Families!
I hope that the start of the school year has been going well for you. It is sure busy around Sandstone School! One of the things that I introduced to the students this week was the Student Planner. Please bear with us as we learn the best ways to make these work for us. We completed many of our tasks this week, such as assessing each student's reading level, comprehension skills, vocabulary, and understanding of place value. We also took a rounding pre-test in order to determine what the third-graders already know about rounding. Earlier in the week, I found that the class needed more review in place value, so we spent the week reviewing that, and we will start rounding next week. One of the major challenges this week was actually in following directions and transitioning from place to place in the room without talking. The students had to practice this quite a bit, so we were unable to complete some of the learning that I had hoped to do. These skills of school behaviors are so important that I am wanting to get them very solid right at the beginning of the year.
Here's a peek into our goals for the next week:
Reading - We will be starting the procedures for our reading time. I will be introducing the small reading group rotations, study stations, and the inquiry project process and resources.
Spelling - This is our first week for spelling! I will post the spelling list on the blog this week if you and your child need access to it and do not have the list at home. We will be completing a pre-test on Monday, various activities throughout the week to practice spelling the words, and we will test on Friday. Students are required to use lower-case/upper-case letters as appropriate.
Math - The students will be practicing rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100.
Writing - The students will be completing the journal entries and story starters during their reading rotation stations.
Art - The third-graders will complete their display boards this week. We hope to have them done and ready for you to see at Open House on Sept. 18!
Computers: I am so grateful for the passage of the technology levy. Because of that levy, we were able to purchase more Chrome books for our school. The most helpful part of this is that the students can work at their own, individualized level for a period of time during the days that we have the lab of computers. I will be introducing the students to MobyMax this week, and they will be working on math and language arts skills.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me. Have a great weekend and next week!
Miss Kimpton
I hope that the start of the school year has been going well for you. It is sure busy around Sandstone School! One of the things that I introduced to the students this week was the Student Planner. Please bear with us as we learn the best ways to make these work for us. We completed many of our tasks this week, such as assessing each student's reading level, comprehension skills, vocabulary, and understanding of place value. We also took a rounding pre-test in order to determine what the third-graders already know about rounding. Earlier in the week, I found that the class needed more review in place value, so we spent the week reviewing that, and we will start rounding next week. One of the major challenges this week was actually in following directions and transitioning from place to place in the room without talking. The students had to practice this quite a bit, so we were unable to complete some of the learning that I had hoped to do. These skills of school behaviors are so important that I am wanting to get them very solid right at the beginning of the year.
Here's a peek into our goals for the next week:
Reading - We will be starting the procedures for our reading time. I will be introducing the small reading group rotations, study stations, and the inquiry project process and resources.
Spelling - This is our first week for spelling! I will post the spelling list on the blog this week if you and your child need access to it and do not have the list at home. We will be completing a pre-test on Monday, various activities throughout the week to practice spelling the words, and we will test on Friday. Students are required to use lower-case/upper-case letters as appropriate.
Math - The students will be practicing rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100.
Writing - The students will be completing the journal entries and story starters during their reading rotation stations.
Art - The third-graders will complete their display boards this week. We hope to have them done and ready for you to see at Open House on Sept. 18!
Computers: I am so grateful for the passage of the technology levy. Because of that levy, we were able to purchase more Chrome books for our school. The most helpful part of this is that the students can work at their own, individualized level for a period of time during the days that we have the lab of computers. I will be introducing the students to MobyMax this week, and they will be working on math and language arts skills.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me. Have a great weekend and next week!
Miss Kimpton
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Welcome to the Week of Sept. 2-5
Hello families! This week our main focus will be on refining classroom procedures, assessing your kiddos so I know what they know, establishing the students' Hopes and Dreams for the year and thus creating our own set of classroom expectations (rules), and reviewing items from last year. This is a more in-depth look:
Procedures: The students will be introduced to using Daily Planners (The students will be required to write the various assignments for each subject in their planners each day. The planners will go back and forth each day with the Home and Back Folder. There is a code in the back for you, me, and the student to know if he/she completed the work.), using Whiteboards for Spelling, using Math Textbooks, and choosing books for SSR (Silent Sustained Reading). I will be requiring that students ALWAYS have a book that they are in the process of reading in their desks. They are welcome to bring a school-appropriate book from home if they'd like!
Classroom Community: We are continuing to build our sense of community in the room. The students will be identifying "Hopes and Dreams" for themselves to work towards this year. With those goals in mind, we will be discussing what we expect from each other and ourselves in order to help each person attain their personal best. We will then create a set of expectations for our class. This will give each student personal accountability and input in making our classroom a safe learning environment.
Reading: We will be completing some vocabulary and comprehension assessments in order to put the 3rd graders into reading groups. We will also be doing a computer-based SRI testing on Friday, which will give me a reading level for each student. We will also be reading stories that identify positive character traits.
Writing: We will be reviewing what the students already know about writing, including the definition of a sentence, paragraph, and parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, and adverb), as well as the purpose of writing. We will complete one writing sample this week in the students' journals.
Math: We have quite a bit going on in Math this week! I will be introducing daily "Drops in the Bucket", which are Math worksheets with an assortment of skills to practice. We will practice counting by 2s, 5s, 9s, and 10s. We are continuing our work with problem solving. We will also be reviewing place value. My goal towards the end of the week if the students are ready for it will be to introduce rounding to 10s and 100s.
Art: We will make display boards for work in the hallway.
These are lofty goals for the week, and I am excited to see the kiddos on Tuesday morning. I am really looking forward to learning more about their comfort levels in various aspects, such as reading and math. Thank you for checking into the blog!
Miss Kimpton
Procedures: The students will be introduced to using Daily Planners (The students will be required to write the various assignments for each subject in their planners each day. The planners will go back and forth each day with the Home and Back Folder. There is a code in the back for you, me, and the student to know if he/she completed the work.), using Whiteboards for Spelling, using Math Textbooks, and choosing books for SSR (Silent Sustained Reading). I will be requiring that students ALWAYS have a book that they are in the process of reading in their desks. They are welcome to bring a school-appropriate book from home if they'd like!
Classroom Community: We are continuing to build our sense of community in the room. The students will be identifying "Hopes and Dreams" for themselves to work towards this year. With those goals in mind, we will be discussing what we expect from each other and ourselves in order to help each person attain their personal best. We will then create a set of expectations for our class. This will give each student personal accountability and input in making our classroom a safe learning environment.
Reading: We will be completing some vocabulary and comprehension assessments in order to put the 3rd graders into reading groups. We will also be doing a computer-based SRI testing on Friday, which will give me a reading level for each student. We will also be reading stories that identify positive character traits.
Writing: We will be reviewing what the students already know about writing, including the definition of a sentence, paragraph, and parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, and adverb), as well as the purpose of writing. We will complete one writing sample this week in the students' journals.
Math: We have quite a bit going on in Math this week! I will be introducing daily "Drops in the Bucket", which are Math worksheets with an assortment of skills to practice. We will practice counting by 2s, 5s, 9s, and 10s. We are continuing our work with problem solving. We will also be reviewing place value. My goal towards the end of the week if the students are ready for it will be to introduce rounding to 10s and 100s.
Art: We will make display boards for work in the hallway.
These are lofty goals for the week, and I am excited to see the kiddos on Tuesday morning. I am really looking forward to learning more about their comfort levels in various aspects, such as reading and math. Thank you for checking into the blog!
Miss Kimpton
Monday, August 25, 2014
Welcome to the 2014-2015 School Year!
Thank you for checking the class blog! I am so excited to see old and new faces and start building our classroom community. The first day of school is Wednesday, August 27. The teachers will be outside at 8:00, and we will be lined up by our grade signs (look for cups stuck in the fence). If I am your child's teacher, please come on over (I'll be holding a sign) and introduce yourself. I'd love to meet you! The bell rings at 8:20, and we will line up and head into the school to start our day.
My main goals for the week are to teach our classroom procedures (using supplies, sharpening pencils, lining up, lunch expectations, etc), build our sense of community, and, most importantly, get to know each other! The best learning occurs when we feel secure and have strong relationships. My classroom will be one filled with kindness, safety, and respect, and we will be doing many activities and games to build towards this environment.
This week, the students will be integrating some writing about themselves, graphing and sorting data to answer questions about school and themselves, reading books about character traits, and completing an art project that shows that we can work together to complete great things. By the end of the week, my goals are for your children to be excited about our school year and ready to dive into next week.
As the days progress, I will be adding more information and links to the blog. It is my primary newsletter source, so please check it weekly (you can certainly check it more often-I love to post special tidbits during the week).
On Wednesday, I will be sending home a large amount of paperwork that needs to be carefully read and signed by both students and guardians and returned as soon as possible. On Friday, I will send home more information about myself, permission slips for the classroom, and a student information questionnaire. If you have any questions at all, please email me at kimptonw@billingsschools.org or call the school at 281-6220.
I hope to see you on Wednesday morning!
Miss Kimpton
My main goals for the week are to teach our classroom procedures (using supplies, sharpening pencils, lining up, lunch expectations, etc), build our sense of community, and, most importantly, get to know each other! The best learning occurs when we feel secure and have strong relationships. My classroom will be one filled with kindness, safety, and respect, and we will be doing many activities and games to build towards this environment.
This week, the students will be integrating some writing about themselves, graphing and sorting data to answer questions about school and themselves, reading books about character traits, and completing an art project that shows that we can work together to complete great things. By the end of the week, my goals are for your children to be excited about our school year and ready to dive into next week.
As the days progress, I will be adding more information and links to the blog. It is my primary newsletter source, so please check it weekly (you can certainly check it more often-I love to post special tidbits during the week).
On Wednesday, I will be sending home a large amount of paperwork that needs to be carefully read and signed by both students and guardians and returned as soon as possible. On Friday, I will send home more information about myself, permission slips for the classroom, and a student information questionnaire. If you have any questions at all, please email me at kimptonw@billingsschools.org or call the school at 281-6220.
I hope to see you on Wednesday morning!
Miss Kimpton
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