Ms. Rajashekar's 3rd Grade Class

January 27th Update

2012-01-26T20:53:00.006-06:00

Happy crazy hair and hat day! We continued working hard, learning lots and doing our best. In addition to fun in the classroom, we saw an historical perspective assembly about Harriet Tubman. My final conference schedule was emailed to all families yesterday. I'm looking forward to talking with all of you next week.

Here's what you can ask your third grader about:

* Current event topics included "Copenhagen's Unusual Solution to Graffiti Covered Building" and other topics that the children had the opportunity to explore on the netbooks

* Reading "Messaging Mania" (our Treasures story of the week - an expository text) on the Smartboard

* Practicing the grammar skill of the week - past tense verbs and commas

* Reinforcing the reading comprehension skill of the week - cause and effect

* Writing a letter from space to a family member or friend

* Working in a homework packet with the spelling rule of the week - prefixes

* Using informational nonfiction leveled readers titled "Bright Ideas: Inventions That Changed History" for guided reading groups

* Working with place value (up to millions) and higher numbers in math

* Applying big numbers to the real world by looking at census data from 1995 and the current population of our country (ask your 3rd grader how often our population increases by 1)

* Practicing multiplication facts on iPod touches

* Reading "The Most Important Book" and doing an activity about what's most important about having a friend as part of our heros unit in social studies

* Preparing for the Contraption Convention - we began with our new science unit (force, motion & simple machines). This week, we learned about Newton's laws of motion. At the end of the unit, we will have a Contraption Convention as a culminating activity. We need your help to make it happen. Please send us any recyclable materials that can be used to make a contraption like toilet paper rolls, clean milk cartons, etc. Letters about the Contraption Convention were also sent home this week.

Important Dates and Events:

* Rajashekar Conferences - Wednesday, February 1st & Thursday, February 2nd

* Half-days of school (dismissal at 11am) - Thursday, February 2nd & Friday, February 3rd

* 3rd Grade Artist Reception at Oak Park Library (Main Branch) - Friday, February 3rd @ 4pm

* 3rd Grade Art Display at Oak Park Library (Main Branch) - February 2nd - 28th

* President's Day (no school) - Monday, February 20th

* 3rd grade field trip - Wednesday, February 29th (permission slips go home on Monday)

* Contraption Convention - Tuesday, March 20th

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Have a great weekend!

January 20th Update

2012-01-19T18:33:00.010-06:00

Hope you are all staying warm! We welcome back Mr. Knight, who is here everyday this trimester to do his student teaching. Thank you to the families who have confirmed their conference day and time. If you haven't had the opportunity to check the schedule, please do so and email me with your confirmation or request for a change. I will send a finalized schedule to you by Monday, January 30th. It's been a fast, busy week.

Here's what you can ask your third grader about:

* MAPS testing in reading (library) and math (lab)

* Current event topics - "Around the World in 5 minutes," "World's Most Expensive (non-existent) Sword," "Wakawaka Lights Bring Light to Africa"

* Reading "Dear Juno" (our Treasures story of the week - a fictional story) on the Smartboard

* Practicing the grammar skill of the week - subject & verb agreement with present tense

* Reinforcing the reading comprehension skill of the week - character, setting, plot

* Writing a paragraph about how we will help the world like Mary McCleod Bethune

* Working in a homework packet with the spelling rule of the week - r controlled vowels (or, ar)

* Using fictional leveled readers titled "Dear Ghana," "Faraway Home," "The E-Mail Pals" for guided reading groups

* Working with place value and higher numbers in math

* Talking about American heros and Dr.King in social studies

* Preparing for the Contraption Convention - next week, we start with our new science unit (force, motion & simple machines). At the end of the unit, we will have a Contraption Convention as a culminating activity. We need your help to make it happen. Please send us any recyclable materials that can be used to make a contraption like toilet paper rolls, clean milk cartons, etc.

Important Dates and Events:

* Rajashekar Conferences - Wednesday, February 1st & Thursday, February 2nd

* Half-days of school (dismissal at 11am) - Thursday, February 2nd & Friday, February 3rd

* Contraption Convention - Tuesday, March 20th

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Have a great weekend!

January 13th Update

2012-01-12T21:24:00.006-06:00

Hello families! Happy New Year to you all! We are off to a wonderful start in 2012! We enjoyed the spring like weather and the first snow fall, incorporated a current events segment to starting off our days, and began new units of study in all curricular areas.

Here's what you can ask your child about:

* Starting unit 3 in Treasures and our new pod "Reading Around the World" incentive

* Reading "Author: True Story" (our Treasures story of the week - an autobiography) on the Smartboard

* Practicing the grammar skill of the week - action verbs

* Reinforcing the reading comprehension skill of the week - author's purpose (to inform, to entertain, to persuade)

* Writing a persuasive paragraph about our favorite author or book in our writing journals

* Working in a homework packet with the spelling rule of the week - r controlled vowels (ir, ur, er)

* Using biography leveled readers about Laura Ingalls Wilder, E.B.White and Sequoya for guided reading groups

* Watching a movie ("Our Friend, Martin") about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with the whole pod

* Reviewing math skills in our "Kicking off 2012 with a Winter Math Warm-up"

* Beginning unit 5 in Everyday Math (Place Value with BIG Numbers)

* Practicing multiplication facts on iPod touches

* Discussing kid-friendly current events - 18 feet of snow in Cordova, Alaska, the 28th Snow & Ice Festival in Harbin, China, annual weigh-in of Australia's largest python (Atomic Betty), the California teen who set a record for climbing the seven summits, the 75th anniversary of a famous bridge

Important Dates and Events:

* No school on Monday, Jan. 16th

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Have a great weekend!

December 16th Update

2011-12-15T21:06:00.010-06:00

Hello families! Thank you for returning the report card envelopes. In addition to our regular routines at school, we welcome Emily, an OPRF senior/Beye School alum, who is doing her final project for her astronomy class in our classroom. The students will meet her this afternoon when she will introduce a constellation project (star wheels and constellation art) to them. We had a busy week of learning at school.

Here's what you can ask your child about:

* Finishing our book club books (How to Eat Fried Worms, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Frindle, 26 Fairmount Avenue and Chocolate Touch)

* Reading "Castle on Viola Street" (our Treasures story of the week) on the Smartboard

* Practicing the grammar skill of the week - sentence combining with nouns

* Learning the reading comprehension lesson of the week - theme

* Working in a homework packet with the spelling rule of the week - contractions

* Watching more episodes "Liberty's Kids" with the whole pod

* Learning about the important events of the American Revolution - Midnight Ride, Declaration of Independence, the First Fourth of July

* Practicing more multiplication facts and reviewing concepts of multiplication and division

* Completing Unit 4 in Everyday Math today by taking the Checking Progress today

* Announcing the celebration for finishing our "Read Across America" trip

* Introducing our new POD reading incentive

* Electing the student council executive board members

* Attending an assembly titled "Kids on the Block" today

Important Dates and Events:

* Field trip to the Multicultural Center @ Julian - Monday, Dec. 19th

* Winter break start at the end of the school day on Friday, Dec. 23rd

* School reopens on Monday, Jan. 9th

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Have a great weekend!

December 9th Update

2011-12-08T21:48:00.008-06:00

Hello families! Report cards come home today. In class, we talked about celebrating our achievements, setting goals for areas of improvement and continuing to do our best work with our best effort. Please go over your child's report card with him/her and return the envelope with your signature. Thank you!

Here's what you can ask your child about:

* Starting book clubs (titles include How to Eat Fried Worms, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Frindle, 26 Fairmount Avenue and Chocolate Touch)

* Reading "Here's My Dollar" (our Treasures story of the week) on the Smartboard

* Practicing the grammar skill of the week - possessive nouns (singular & plural)

* Learning the reading comprehension lesson of the week - author's purpose

* Working in a homework packet with the spelling rule of the week - consonant digraphs

* Reading & discussing the leveled readers titled "Patching A Playground"

* Watching "Liberty's Kids" with the whole pod

* Learning about the causes of the American Revolution - Boston Tea Party, Loyalists & Patriots, taxation without representation

* Solving word problems with multiplication or division

* Practicing multiplication facts and more multiplication facts

* Figuring out how to use multiplication/division fact grids

* Incorporating iPods in our multiplication fact practice

* Finishing our trip on "Read Across America"

Important Dates and Events:

* Field trip to the Multicultural Center @ Julian - Monday, Dec. 19th (please return permission slips)

* Winter break start at the end of the school day on Friday, Dec. 23rd

* School reopens on Monday, Jan. 9th

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Stay warm and have a great weekend!

December 2nd Update

2011-11-30T21:42:00.014-06:00

Welcome to trimester 2! This week has been busy with starting new units in math and in social studies. We combined art and reading to demonstrate our understanding of the text. We held class elections to choose our student council representatives. Congratulations to Max and Olivia, who were elected by their peers! Our alternative representatives, Jack and Cynthia, are on stand-by to help or assist our elected officials. We are having a special read-in this afternoon to reach our goal of "Reading Across America." We're having a great time learning in class!

Here's what you can ask your third grader about:

* Using watercolors to show reading comprehension (check out the video link)

* Reading, discussing and answering reading comprehension questions about colonial life - the way they lived, the laws, school life for boys & girls, punishments for children's misbehavior, the jobs for kids & adults, etc.

* Taking the unit 4 pretest in math

* Practicing multiplication in differentiated workbooks based on their pretests (Multiplication Practice Booklets)

* Having a special grade 3 music afternoon

* Starting the day with daily analogies as part of our morning work routine for trimester 2

Important Dates and Events:

* Report cards go home - Friday, December 9th

* Field trip to the Multicultural Center @ Julian - Monday, December 19th (please look for permission slips to come home on Monday, December 5th)

* Winter break starts at the end of the school day on Friday, December 23rd

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership! Have a warm & wonderful weekend!

November 18th Update

2011-11-17T22:15:00.005-06:00

Hello Families! It is hard to believe that we are at the end of trimester one and that Thanksgiving Break is almost upon us! We have been hard at work finishing up unit 3 in math, the solar system unit in science and our first research project in class while continuing with language arts and social studies. I want to thank the parent volunteers who accompanied us to the Adler Planetarium. It was a great field trip and our 3rd graders represented Beye School very well!

Here's what you can ask your third grader about:

* Field trip to the Adler Planetarium last Thursday - the exhibits, the show, the view of the city

* Treasures stories - "Home-Grown Butterflies" (set in a fishing village in Costa Rica) and "Go West!" (how the railroads changed the Southwest)

* What is expository text?

* Picking out important details in a story and drawing conclusions

* Learning about nouns - common, proper, singular, plural

* Practicing spelling rules for silent letters (ex: "g" in gnat) and three letter blends (str, spr, thr, scr)

* Researching and writing our solar system reports - ask your child about his/her chosen topic and to show you his/her report on Google Docs

* Following the steps of the writing process (sloppy copy, meeting with Ms. Rajashekar to edit, publishing the neat sheet on Google Docs)

* Measuring to the nearest centimeter or inch

* Calculating perimeter and area of polygons

* Drawing rectangles and squares with a specific perimeter or area

* Learning songs from countries around the world in music

Important Dates and Events:

* Institute Day (no school for students) - Wednesday, November 23rd

* Thanksgiving Break - Thursday, November 24th to Monday, November 28th

* Reports go home - Friday, December 9th

* Field trip to Multicultural Center @ Julian - Monday, December 19th (permission slips with details coming soon)

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Have a great weekend!

November 4th Update

2011-11-03T14:02:00.008-05:00

Happy November! It's been a wacky week starting off with Halloween. Thank you to all of the families who put together great activities and a fun afternoon for our children on Monday. This week, we learned a lot and welcomed a new student, Jontavion Hunt, to our class. We have a wonderful group of friends who made him feel a part of our community right away!

Here's what you can ask your third grader about:

* A writing piece about guessing our favorite candy

* "Boom Town" - a historical fiction story about a little girl who helped a town grow

* Going west during the California Gold Rush

* Summarizing a story with the main details/events from the story

* Unit 3 Checking Progress on measurement

* "Shoe" length activity with partners

* Measuring with rulers to the nearest 1/2 inch/centimeter

* Book discussion groups with the leveled readers titled "Start Your Own Business"

* Starting our solar system mini-research projects

* Surprise fire drill

Important Dates and Events:

* Adler Planetarium Field Trip - Thursday, November 10th (students need to bring a bag lunch)

* Veteran's Day (no school) - Friday, November 11th

* Institute Day (no school for students) - Wednesday, November 23rd

* Thanksgiving Break - Thursday, November 24th to Monday, November 28th

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Have a great weekend!

October 28th Update

2011-10-27T22:15:00.008-05:00

It was great meeting with all of you last week! Thank you for taking the time to come in for a conference. We are so lucky to have such wonderful families supporting our 3rd graders and celebrating their achievements. Yesterday's poetry breakfast celebration was fantastic! Thank you for bringing delicious treats and for sharing in our celebration. We have a group of fabulous poets. As we near the end of October, there is a lot to talk about so let's get started.

Here's what you can ask your third grader about:

* Picture Day last Tuesday

* CAST performance ("Bernice gets a bob") last Wednesday

* Our poetry breakfast celebration

* Indoor POD recess

* Opera for the Young

* Doing whiteboard math

* Trading first when subtracting in math

* Practicing lots of addition and subtraction with big numbers

* Applying addition & subtraction to story problems

* Taking the Unit 2 Checking Progress today

* Continuing to learn about the Earth, Moon and Sun with netbooks & Time for Kids

* Learning more about the sun with space probes

* Reading "My Very Own Room" and writing a summary of the story

* Writing compound sentences

* Taking the unit 1 assessment in Treasures

Important Dates and Events:

* Opera for the Young - Today @ 1:30pm in the auditorium

* Halloween Parade - Monday, October 31st (1:15-2pm) with a party following in our classroom (2-2:45pm)

* Adler Planetarium Field Trip - Thursday, November 10th (permission slips went home yesterday)

* Veteran's Day (no school) - Friday, November 11th

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Have a great weekend!

October 14th Update

2011-10-13T17:32:00.010-05:00

It is definitely feeling like fall out there! Our 4-day week went by very quickly. We worked hard in the classroom and played hard out in the sunshine (for most of the week). With parent-teacher conferences upon us next week, please look for the next class update in two weeks. Please feel free to check your child's assignment notebook or today's email titled "October Conference Schedule" for your day and time. Looking forward to seeing all of you next week.

Here's what you can ask your third grader about:

* Autumn sensory poems

* Our story of the week titled "Wolf!" (hint: ask your child about educated animals)

* Small group reading with fantasy books titled "Running with Wolves," "Katie and the Wolf," "A Dog's Life"

* Personal narrative writing about meeting a friend

* Time For Kids article of the week title "Learning with Laptops"

* Partial sums addition

* Ballpark estimates

* Solving word problems with quantity, quantity, difference diagram

* Learning about the Earth & Sun on netbooks

* Applying our map reading skills with an Illinois map activity

Important Dates and Events:

* Picture Day - Tuesday, October 18th

* Rajashekar Conferences - Wednesday, October 19th & Thursday, October 20th

* Half-days of school (dismissal at 11am) - Thursday, October 20th & Friday, October 21st

* 3rd Grade Poetry Celebration Breakfast - Thursday, October 27th @ 8am in the Commons (please mark the date & look for more information to come home soon)

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Have a wonderful weekend!

October 7th Update

2011-10-07T07:57:00.010-05:00

Happy Friday! It's another gorgeous day! As we wrap up for the 3-day weekend, please allow me to give you a quick update of our classroom learning and happenings.

Here's what you can ask your third grader about:
* Making a plan for our sensory poems using kidspiration (this graphic organizer is on the 3rd Grade Beye website under student materials)
* Writing our sloppy copies of our sensory poems in our writing journals
* Reading a Bantu folktale called "The Name of the Tree" and an informational text called "Earth Smart" about a green school
* Learning about natural resources
* Using the vocabulary words of the week - members, donate, contribute, unaware
* Thinking about the main idea and supporting details
* Reading about map-making (cartography) in Time for Kids
* Focusing on solving story problems in math with diagrams and number models
* Practicing addition and subtraction with flash cards
* Exploring the solar system on netbooks (this site is on the 3rd Grade Beye website under science) & taking notes
* Reinforcing cardinal & intermediate directions by using them in context
* Running in the Fun Run on Tuesday

Important Dates and Events:

* Conference Confirmations (with your day & time) will be stapled into your child's assignment notebook - Wednesday, October 12th

* Columbus Day (no school) - Monday, October 10th
* Picture Day (forms going home today) - Tuesday, October 18th
* Rajashekar Conferences - Wednesday, October 19th & Thursday, October 20th
* Half-days of school (dismissal at 11am) - Thursday, October 20th & Friday, October 21st

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Have a wonderful long weekend!

September 23rd Update

2011-09-22T21:27:00.005-05:00

Hello All! We continue to work hard, focus on doing our personal best and aim for quality learning. As a class, we are working on making smooth transitions, putting forth our best listening skills and learning to follow directions well. The students set individual goals for learning and behavior this week during one of our morning meetings. We are in the flow of school and learning lots.

Here's what you can ask your third grader about:

* Our "Read Across America" miles and location

* Our introduction to netbooks by Ms. Splunt, the technology integrationist at Beye School

* Logging into custom typing

* Continuing with guided reading groups & grammar practice with statements & questions

* Taking a practice quiz with the "Time for Kids" article

* Modeling and practicing our new weekly language arts assessments (grammar & reading quizzes with multiple choice questions and an essay)

* Reviewing frames and arrows in math

* Taking more time to practice telling time and figuring out elapsed time

* Completing Unit 1 in math with the Checking Progress - please look for the graded papers to come home next week

* Starting our study of the solar system with talking about what we already know and what we want to learn

* Learning more about maps (map key, map title, compass rose) and giving directions

* Letting you know that the Art to Remember envelopes went home yesterday along with the D97 Parent Handbook and D97 Student Handbook

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Have a great weekend!

September 16th Update

2011-09-15T23:21:00.008-05:00

Hope your week was as wonderful as ours in class! We continue to get to know Mr. Knight, to get more accustomed to reading & writing routines in Treasures, to get better acquainted with our kindergarten buddies in Mrs. Childress' class, and to get better focused on quality learning in the classroom. In language arts, we practiced our weekly spelling routine, learned new vocabulary words, started guided (small group) reading, wrote to a prompt and reviewed some grammar. In math, we continue to review concepts and skills in unit 1 of Everyday Math and practice telling time in partners. In social studies, we discussed the different types of communities (urban, suburban, rural) and new vocabulary (citizen, population, climate, compass rose, cardinal & intermediate directions). We also established our morning work routine of Morning Math Minutes & Revving Up with Reading, which reviews all of the reading comprehension skills. Starting this week, the kids started getting a sheet of language arts homework along with their math and reading. The language arts homework consists of activities in spelling, vocabulary, grammar & reading comprehension practice. It reinforces our language arts learning in class. As you can see, we've had a very full week of learning.

Here's what you can ask your third grader about this week:

* Fun Run Assembly (letters & pledge forms went home on Wednesday)
* Telephone game during morning meeting
* POD time - our current location on the "Read Across America Map" (We skipped an entire state!)
* "First Day Jitters" - our first story in Treasures
* "Give Me Normal" - poem read aloud
* "Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key" - our new chapter read aloud book
* Our vocabulary words for the week - chuckled, fumbled, nonsense, nervous, trudged
* Getting used to our spelling routine with pretest & practice activities in class
* Reading a "Time for Kids" article relating to poverty in Bangladesh
* Drawing a Compass Rose with Cardinal directions (N,E,S,W - Never Eat Soggy Waffles) & Intermediate directions (NE, SE, NW, SW)
* Making a bar graph in math
* Writing Equivalent Names for numbers in Name Collection Boxes - we shared our thinking with our classmates by going from desk to desk
* Reviewing money and coins, place value, time

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Have a nice weekend!

September 9th Update

2011-09-09T08:33:00.008-05:00

Hello Families! We continued to get into the routine of school this week. We also completed our MAPS testing and DIBELS fluency checks this week. We met Mr. Knight, our student teacher from Columbia College who'll be with us for the entire school year. He will be with us two days a week this trimester, every day the next trimester and back to two days a week in the last trimester. We are really excited to have him working with us this year. It's been a cool and comfortable week for learning in our classroom.

Here's what you can ask your third grader about this week:
* POD Reading Program called "Read Across America" - your child should read at least 15-20 minutes every night as part of their homework. Please have them write the number of pages that they have read each night in the message box in their assignment notebook and get your initials or signature for verification. We will total up our pages in class every day. Each week, we will meet with our POD mates to get a grand total for the week and travel those miles on the map (200 pages = 1 cm). We are starting off in Washington state and are traveling all the way to Maine. Please remember that your 3rd grader should have an ongoing chapter book as part of their nightly reading repertoire.
* Start Smart in Treasures - setting up our writing journals, reading a writing rubric, responding to a writing prompt, rereading & revising our writing, making vocabulary word squares, getting to know the 6 syllable types, taking spelling pretests, and reviewing reading strategies.
* Read Aloud Books - "Miss Malarkey Doesn't Live in Room 10," "Miss Nelson is Missing," "Zen Shorts," "The Giving Tree"
* Starting Social Studies with an introduction to communities - rural, suburban, urban
* Using Math tools (templates, rulers, calculators)
* Practicing place value and telling time in partners
* Finishing up morning word problems
* Doing math boxes for homework this week

Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you for your support and partnership. Have a wonderful weekend!

What A Great First Week!

2011-08-25T20:59:00.014-05:00

Happy one week of school! It's been a fun & fabulous week of getting to know each other and into the routine of school. We welcomed Ja'Myra Riley to our Beye Community. We reviewed the Beye Laws, created a POD community, met new friends, read interesting stories, showed our artistic skills, wrote our first piece and started problem solving in math. It is my goal to create a safe, challenging, fun and cooperative learning environment for our terrific third graders.

Here's what you can ask your third grader about:

* Cool Tools Stations - reviewing Beye laws and expectations in the hallway, on the playground, in the bathroom and as we enter/exit the building

* POD Meetings - POD community rules, auditorium activity, peapods,

* Spot the Lie - two truths, one lie

* Me Bags (first homework assignment) - 5 things about you

* Me People

* First Fire Drill

* Quality Learning

* Read Alouds - "Brand New Kid," "To Think That We Thought We'd Never Be Friends," "Araboolies of Liberty Street," " Arachne the Spinner," "One Grain of Rice," "Greatest Treasure," "It Takes A Village"

* Our New Vocabulary Routine - DEA

* Review of the Story Elements
* Getting to work in our Everyday Math Journals

* Beye's New Approach to Birthday Celebrations - alternatives to food

Important Dates & Events:

* Curriculum Night - Thursday, September 1st at 7pm

* Labor Day (no school) - Monday, September 5th

I am looking forward to a wonderful year with you and your child. I value our partnership and encourage open communication. Please remember that the best way to contact me is via email (vrajashekar@op97.org). Thank you in advance for your support and partnership.