Hello Everyone!

Today is the first day this week that the students were able to play outside for recess! I'm sure you can only imagine how happy they were when they heard that they would be able to play in the snow! Hopefully next week is warm enough for them to go outside for recess.

In math we had a quiz over the first 5 lessons for unit 2. You will see the quiz in Friday Folders today. You will also see a test over the 3's for multiplication. If your child did not receive a grade of 27/30 or higher, they will need to retake it until they do. Today we started practicing the 4's. Please make sure your child is practicing multiplication facts at home.

Please make sure all gift exchange gifts are brought in by Wednesday, December 18th. If you have a concern about this activity, please let me know as soon as possible.

Have a wonderful weekend! Stay warm!!

Hello!!

Be sure to check your child's Friday Folder right away. There should be a folded sheet of paper that will explain our Christmas Gift Exchange. Each child in the class has randomly picked another student in the class to purchase a gift (no more than $5.00) for. Please be sure to have the gift wrapped and brought in by December 18th. You can start sending the gifts to school as soon as you have them. If you are not able to participate in this gift exchange for any reason, please let me know and I will assume the responsibility of getting a gift for the student that your child selected. The students absolutely LOVE doing this gift exchange! It really brings the class together as a community.

I hope everyone has a very safe and happy Thanksgiving! I am very thankful for the opportunity to work with your children!

Hello Everyone! We had some very cold days this week! Please make sure you are sending your child to school with a coat for recess. I sent home a scholastic book order today in Friday Folders. I am making it due a week from today (Friday, November 22nd). Please make sure all orders are in by then. We have many exciting events planned for next week. I'm sure you will hear your child talking about them during the week!

The Week Ahead
English: We will continue our unit on verbs.
Writing: We are learning how to organize our writing when we are comparing two things.
Math: We will explore time as a continuous measurement using a stopwatch, relate skip-counting by 5 on the clock and telling time to a continuous measurement model, the number line, count by fives and ones on the number line as a strategy to tell time to the nearest minute on the clock, and solve word problems involving time intervals within 1 hour by counting backward and forward using the number line and clock.
Reading: We will be reading a story called, Centerfield Ballhawk. This is a difficult story for some kids to understand. The story uses lots of baseball "lingo" and figurative language. Please make sure your child reads the story on Monday and Thursday when he or she brings it home. We will be working on understanding figurative language during reading class as well.
Science: We will continue learning about different animal habitats and ecosystems.
Social Studies: We will continue our discussions and activities about the first Thanksgiving.

PTA REMINDER: Orders for the yearbook are due Friday, November 22nd. Please get those turned in next week!

Have a great weekend! Please feel free to contact me at bcalcott@orionschools.us with any questions or concerns.

Math Update:

You will notice that your child will start bringing multiplication worksheets home. Today they should bring a multiplying by 2 worksheet home. I have explained to the students that I want them to be timed for two minutes and to answer as many of the facts in that time. When the two minutes are up, they should draw a line and then continue answering the facts until they have completed all of the problems. The 3rd grade teachers have determined that while the new math curriculum does a great job at teaching the students how and why multiplication works, students are still struggling with coming up with the answers. We hope that some fact practice will help students. I will periodically test the students over the various multiplication facts until they have been mastered. If you have any questions about this change, please feel free to e-mail me at bcalcott@orionschools.us. You can also call my classroom by calling the school and entering extension 1332. I hope everyone is staying warm!!

We had such a great week! Halloween is always such an exciting time, and the students were super grateful for the wonderful party that the PTA threw! I am impressed with how well-behaved the students have been today (Friday) even after a fun-filled night of trick-or-treating! I'm glad that the students were safe, and from what they have told me, they had a fun night! The students also seemed to have fun dressing up for Red Ribbon Week! How often to kids get to wear sunglasses during the school day? We are WAY too cool for drugs!

The Week Ahead
English: We will be reviewing the unit on nouns. We will take a test over the unit at some point during the week. I will send a note home with information about how to study for this test.
Math: We will learn to model the relationship between multiplication and division, apply the distributive property to decompose units, and solve two-step word problems involving multiplication and division and assess the reasonableness of answers.
Reading: We will be reading a story called, The Stories Julian Tells. We will discuss prefixes and suffixes and how to use them. We will also practice identifying homophones.
Science: We will continue learning about different ecosystems.
Social Studies: We will begin learning and discussing the first Thanksgiving!

Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! If you have not already signed up for parent teacher conferences, please call the office and set something up with me! Conferences are on Thursday and Friday of this week. I am looking forward to speaking with all of you!

The Week Ahead
English: We will continue our unit about nouns.
Writing: We are working on an expository writing assignment about Halloween safety tips. The students are really enjoying this assignment.
Math: We will learn to interpret the quotient as the number of groups or the number of objects in each group using units of 2 and 3, and we will learn to skip-count objects in models to build fluency with multiplication facts using units of 4.
Reading: My reading class will be working on fluency and expression by practicing some exciting reader's theaters!
Science: We will start learning about forest ecosystems!
Social Studies: We will learn about communities being started in different places.

Shoe Boxes
If you have any empty shoe boxes, please send them to school with your child. We will be doing a model of an ecosystem as a science project in the near future!

Hello Everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your long weekend! The students have been adjusting very nicely to our new math program. The homework is more challenging, and some students are struggling a bit, I am providing students with extra help as needed. If you have any questions about how your child is doing with the new math, please do not hesitate to contact me.

The Week Ahead
English: We will continue our unit on nouns.
Writing: We are working on organization of writing. We will also start a Halloween expository writing.
Math: We will learn to model division as the unknown factor in multiplication using arrays and tape diagrams, interpret the quotient as the number of groups or the number objects in each group using units of two and three, and model the distributive property with arrays to decompose units as a strategy to multiply.
Reading: We will be reading and exploring a story called, Little Grunt and the Big Egg. We will also discuss author's purpose, figurative language, and cause and effect.
Science: We are learning about habitats and ecosystems
Social Studies: We will be discussing where people start communities.

As always, please feel free to contact me at bcalcott@orionschools.us or by calling the C.R. Hanna office and then dialing my extension: 1332.

I hope everyone is enjoying their last September weekend! The leaves are finally starting to change, and it's starting to look a feel a little more like the correct season!

The Week Ahead
English: We are still learning about nouns. We will focus on singular and plural nouns including the different rules about how to spell plural nouns.
Writing: We will begin to focus on how to to organize our writing in a way that will be clear to our readers.
Math: We are going to be starting our new common core math curriculum on Monday. We will learn to understand equal groups as multiplication, relate multiplication to the array model, interpret the meaning of factors, and understand the meaning of the unknown as the size of the group in division.
Reading: We will be reading an amazing true story called, Balto, The Dog who Saved Nome. We will also discuss how to summarize parts of story, How to compare and contrast characters from various texts, and we will learn to identify an author's purpose.
Science: We are still learning about different types of animals.
Social Studies: We started to discuss time lines at the end of last week. This week, we will be making time lines of our own lives. I have asked the students to find out 4-6 events from their lives. They were to write these events including the year that the event took place on a piece of paper. During class time, we will turn them into time lines and then present them to the class. The students are very excited about this project!

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at bcalcott@orionschools.us. You can also call my classroom directly by calling C. R. Hanna and entering my extension (1332). Enjoy your Sunday and..... GO BEARS!

Hello Everyone! Happy Homecoming Week! It was so great to meet some of the students' grandparents and even great grandparents on Monday! This is one of my favorite PTA events! The students were so excited. Speaking of PTA events... Donuts with Dad is already coming up. A blue note went home with the oldest C R Hanna Child in each family. Please sent RSVP's back to school with your child.

Pink Math Note
Please take a few extra minutes to read the pink note that is coming home in Friday Folders. It is very important that parents read and understand the note. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

The Week Ahead
English: We started a unit on nouns, and we will continue to work on that unit next week. So far we have discussed what a noun is and what common and proper nouns are.
Writing: We will be working on how to stick to our topic while writing.
Math: We will learn to write fractions using the fraction bar, write fraction number sentences that equal one, identify dozen and half dozen, write a fraction to show a part of a set, read and write numbers to 1,000 using digits, and write money amounts using the dollar sign  and cent symbols.
Science: We will continue to learn about the different types of animals.
Social Studies: We will be learning how to read and create time lines.

Have a wonderful weekend, and enjoy this refreshing weather!

REMINDER: ENGLISH TEST TOMORROW!!!!!

Please make sure your child gets a good sleep and eats a healthy breakfast :)

These are some hot days we are having in September! Even though it is very toasty in the classroom, the students are working very hard. A note has been sent home that the Grandparent's Day Ice Cream Social has been postponed until Monday, September 16th. I am still really looking forward to meeting many grandparents on this day!

This Week

English: We will be finishing up our unit on sentences. I will be sending a note home with some information about the upcoming test. I am planning to have the test on Friday of this week.

Writing: We are learning how to write with the 5 W's (who, what, where, why, when).

Math: In math we will be playing a multiplication concept game. It teaches kids to understand how to count things that come in groups. We will also learn to read a thermometer to the nearest 10 degrees Fahrenheit, round numbers to the nearest 10, use logical reasoning to solve a problem, work backward to solve a problem, and name and draw polygons.

Reading: We will be reading a realistic fiction story called, Allie's Basketball Dream. We will also review the narrative elements, work on summarizing parts of a story, and practice using a dictionary.

Science: We will be learning about different types of animals.

Social Studies: We will be discussing how people get along in a community.

Three weeks down! Wow! Last week was so hot! I have to commend the students for handling the heat like champs! They really didn't complain, and they completed all of the work that was asked of them. What more can a teacher ask during a week like that? What a great group of kids! A few reminders: Picture day is Friday! Please have the forms turned in by then! The Ice Cream Social is on Monday. Please have your RSVP turned in as soon as possible.

This Week!
English: We are continuing to work on subjects and predicates of sentences. This is a very difficult concept for students. Please work on it at home as much as possible.
Math:We will learn to add and subtract 10 from two-digit numbers, identify relative values of pattern blocks, make a design with a given value using pattern blocks, write the date using digits, divide squares into two, four, and eight equal parts, and identify and shade halves, fourths, and eighths.
Reading: My reading class will be reading a mystery called Nate the Great: San Francisco Detective. We will also learn about the elements of fiction, make and confirm predictions, and compare fiction and nonfiction.
Science: We will continue learning about the needs of animals.
Social Studies: We will discuss the various jobs and places that make up a community.

Hello Everyone! We are off to a great start this year! We have survived the first two weeks of school! The students have been working very hard to adjust to 3rd grade. I am very proud of the progress they are making! I update this blog every week to inform parents of what we are learning in the upcoming week. I also try to put reminders for different school events that are coming up in the near future. If you ever need to get into contact with me, please send me e-mails at bcalcott@orionschools.us or called the school and leave me a voicemail. My extension is 1332. I check my e-mail often, and I try to respond as quickly as I receive them!

The Week Ahead
English: We have been working on a unit about sentences. So far we have learned the definition of a sentence, and how to identify one. We also learned about the four types of sentences (statements, questions, commands, and exclamations). This week we will learn about subjects and predicates of a sentence. This concept can be slightly difficult for students to grasp at first, so feel free to "quiz" your child on these concepts at the end of the week to keep it fresh in their minds!
Writing: We are going to be learning to come up with topic sentences while writing.
Math: We will learn to divide squares in to two and four equal parts, identify congruent shapes, make fractions on a number line, and we will start a discussion about multiplication by thinking about things that come in equal groups.
Reading: My reading class will be reading a realistic fiction story called, Pepita Talks Twice. We will also  be learning about the narrative elements for a fiction story, how to make and confirm predictions, how to use a dictionary, what synonyms are and how to identify them, and we will also discuss how the inflections -s and -es effect a root word.
Science: We have already discussed plants, their needs, and how they make food. We will move into a unit about animals and their needs.
Social Studies: We have been learning about how to read maps. The students have started to work in groups to create a map of the school. This week we will finish making the maps and we will present them to the class. All of the maps will include a title, a map key with symbols, and a compass rose. The students are enjoying this assignment and are working very hard!

Grandparent Ice Cream Social
This is one of my favorite days of the year! The Grandparent Ice Cream social is going to be on Monday, September 9th from 3:00-4:00. Students and their grandparents will be able to get a sundae after school and then come down to the classroom! I always LOVE meeting my students' grandparents! If your child and their grandparents are able to come please fill out the bottom portion of the sheet that went home in Friday Folders and return in by September 4th. If you have any questions about this event please contact Becky Nightingale at 781-6599 or Amy Kayser at amykayser@yahoo.com.

Hello Everyone!
We had some pretty neat lessons this week. On Thursday we had a 3rd grade assembly presented by Dave from the Wilderness Classroom. He just finished a 3 year adventure that started in Washington state, went north into Canada, came around down the eastern coast of the U.S., and ended up in Florida! He traveled this entire adventure by kayak, canoe, and dogsled. He showed us many pictures and videos of the amazing things he saw. He even brought in a kayak for us to see. We are excited to find out what his next adventure will be! On Friday we started learning a little about fossils, and we had a chance to pretend to be paleontologists. The students learned that digging up fossilized dinosaur bones is a tough job that can take a very long time.

Field Trip
Hopefully you noticed the green field trip form in your child's Friday Folder. We will be going to the Wapsi in Dixon, IA on May 16th. Please send the signed permission slip to school as soon as possible. If you would like to come on the field trip, there was a white sheet of paper that had a fox on it in Friday Folders that needs to be sent to school by Wednesday, May 8th.

Space Project
Just a friendly reminder that all space projects are due by Friday, May 10th. If your child finishes their project early, feel free to send it in before Friday.

The Week Ahead
English: We will continue our unit on pronouns. In writing, we are working on sentence fluency.
Math: We will learn to write tenths using common and decimal fractions, measure to the nearest tenth of a centimeter, work backwards to solve a problem, find the volume of a rectangular prism, identify the factors of a number, and identify prime numbers less than 20.
Reading: Since we have finished the anthology, we will start a chapter book called, What's Cooking, Jenny Archer? Each student have a copy of the book to use, and I will be assigning certain chapters to the students. I am planning on having the students read the first four chapters this week. We will also be having a spelling test this week. The list went home in Friday Folders.
Science: We will learn about the different types of landforms.
Social Studies: Last week the students started working on product maps. This week they will finish making their product maps, and present them to the class.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Hi everyone! We had a great week in 3rd grade! On Wednesday we had Ag in the Class. We learned about how pizzas are made, and where the ingredients come from. We even got to play a pizza bingo game with pizza goldfish crackers as our markers! It was great! On Thursday we were able to do our much anticipated Oreo activity. The students learned about each phase of the moon, and then used the Oreos to represent each phase. Thank you to everyone for donating Oreos or frosting for us to use during this activity. The students loved this lesson! I enjoyed seeing some of you at the carnival on Friday! What an awesome fundraiser for PTA! They work so hard to organize that event for the students.

Space Project Reminder
I just want to remind everyone that the space projects are due on (or before) May 10th. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact me.

The Week Ahead
English: We will continue our unit about pronouns.
Math: We will learn to multiply a single-digit number by a multi-digit number using the multiplication algorithm, identify a function rule, simplify expressions containing parentheses, multiply three or more factors, use the associative property of multiplication, write tenths using common and decimal fractions, and measure to the nearest tenth of a centimeter.
Reading: My reading class will be reading an expository nonfiction story called, Visitors from Space. We will also practice using text structure and format while reading nonfiction, and we will locate information in a nonfiction text.
Science: We will learn about the different types of rocks.
Social Studies: We will create our own product maps.

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weekend! Please feel free to e-mail me at bcalcott@orionschools.us with any questions or concerns. You can also leave me a voicemail by calling the school (ext. 1332).

It was great to see many of you at the Music Festival on Friday. The students did a wonderful job! I loved the post card theme that Mrs. Moen came up with! I hope everyone noticed the note in Friday Folders about the space project. To go along with our space unit, students are expected to do an at home project. The note listed several options for the students to choose from. If your child has an idea that is not on the list, please have them see me for approval before they begin working on it. These projects are going to be due by May 10th. If your child finishes early, please feel free to send it in to school. I also sent a note home earlier in the week asking for Oreos and frosting. We will be using these to do an activity about the phases of the moon. Some families have already sent Oreos or frosting in, so thank you! We still need two or three more containers of frosting, and about four more packages of Oreos.

Book Fair Help
The book fair is starting this week, and Mrs. Begley is still in need of volunteers. If you are available to help out, please contact her at dbegley@orionschools.us. I know she will really appreciate the help! :)

School Carnival
The school carnival is on Friday! Please send forms in for punch cards, pizza orders, pop/cake/cupcake donations, and volunteer times. I also want to remind everyone that Friday is a half day. I will be volunteering at the carnival, so I hope to see all of you there!

The Week Ahead
English: We will continue our poetry unit. The students have written some beautiful poetry in the last couple of weeks. I can't wait to send it home so you can read your child's work! We will also continue learning about pronouns.
Math: We will learn to identify a fractional part of a set, determine age, multiply a one-digit number by a two-digit number using mental computation, identify right, obtuse, or acute angles, name triangles by angle size, and measure line segments using millimeters.
Reading: My reading class will be reading a story called, The Armadillo from Amarillo. We will continue to look for cause and effect within the text, we will practice rereading for clarification, we will make inferences about the characters, we will work on identifying the rhyming words within the story, and we will also learn the meaning of the prefixes con- and com-.
Social Studies: We will learn that different countries have different cultures. We will also learn how to read and make a product map.
Science: We will continue our space unit.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. The weather is so wonderful today, and tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful, too! Please feel free to contact me at bcalcott@orionschools.us, or you can leave me a voicemail by calling the school (ext. 1332).

We had a very exciting week. On Tuesday the Orion Fire Department came to discuss fire safety with the students. I was impressed by the thoughtful questions that were asked during the presentation. It was also very exciting that Mrs. McConaghy gave us all of the artwork that was completed this year during art. I'm sure you enjoyed looking through the beautiful artwork that your child came home with! Friday Folders contained another set of School Carnival forms. This only went home with the oldest child in each family. This is a great way to support our PTA. If you are able to volunteer on the 26th, please do. I will be volunteering on this night as well.
I saw some of you at the OEF Gala on Friday night. This was my first time attending this event, and I was super impressed with the community's willingness to bid on items to benefit the district! Orion is an awesome community!

The Week Ahead
English: We have been working on a poetry unit. We will also start a unit on pronouns this week.
Math: We will learn to write number sentences for division story problems, multiply a multiple of 10, 100, or 1,000 by a single digit number, make a table to solve a problem, identify translations, rotations, and reflections, find  a fractional part of a set, and determine age.
Reading: We will be reading an informational article this week called, Rocking and Rolling. We will also work on location information within a text, we will learn how to adjust reading rate, we will find cause and effect within the text, and we will discuss homographs.
Science: We will continue our space unit. The students are loving this unit!
Social Studies: We will learn about Harlem and Jazz.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend! Please feel free to contact me at bcalcott@orionschools.us with any questions or concerns. Please enjoy these pictures from the field trip we took before Spring Break.

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful spring break. I would have liked it to be a bit warmer, but the weather is finally starting to cooperate! We have less than two months of school, but we have a lot going on! The Spring Music Festival is coming up on April 19th. I am super excited to see it, I've heard it is going to be awesome this year. I sent a note home in Friday Folders from PTA about volunteers for this night. We really need some more volunteers for the reception that follows the music festival. If the PTA does not get at least 4 volunteers, they will have to cancel that post-show reception. The School Carnival is also coming up. That is going to be on April 26th. The students are super excited about this. A note went home with the oldest child in each family asking for volunteers for this event. Along that same line, the PTA has organized for each grade level to make donations for raffle baskets that will be raffled off at the carnival. The 3rd grade theme is sports and other outdoor activities. I have only had a few students bring in donations, so I am hoping for a few more. Every donation will help to raise money to support our amazing PTA.

The Week Ahead
English: A note went home in Friday Folders explaining that we will be having a test over capitalization and punctuation on Tuesday. We will review in school, but I am expecting students to study at home as well. On Wednesday we will begin a poetry unit.
Math: We will learn to identify the properties of parallel lines, identify properties of quadrilaterals, identify perpendicular lines and line segments, add money amounts to $99,999.99, act out, draw pictures, and write number sentences for division story problems, and write number sentences for division story problems.
Reading: We will be reading a story called, Alejandro's Gift. We will also practice finding evidence from the text, identifying beginning, middle, and end of a story, and working on using context clues to figure out the meaning of a new word.
Science: We will start a unit about space.

Please feel free to contact me at bcalcott@orionschools.us with any questions or concerns. You can also leave me a voicemail by calling the school (ext. 1332). Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Quarter three is officially over! I cannot believe how fast this year is flying by. Report cards will be going home with students on Tuesday. On Thursday we will be going on our field trip to the John Deere Pavilion and the Locks and Dams. The students and I are really looking forward to it! I sent a note home with all of the students whose parents volunteered to come on the field trip.This note stated the names of the parents that will be going. I ended up having so many volunteers that I had to draw names out of an envelope! Our class is lucky to have such supportive parents! If you are supposed to come on the trip on Thursday, and for some reason can't, please let me know as soon as possible. Thursday is also Mismatched Sock Day for Mitochondrial Disease. Please bring in a small donation that we can donate to mitochondrial disease research.

The Week Ahead
English: We will continue our unit on capitalization and punctuation. We will also continue to practice writing with good sentence fluency.
Math: We will learn to measure and draw line segments to the nearest quarter inch, make an organized list to solve a problem, identify parallel lines and line segments, and identify the properties of quadrilaterals.
Reading: We will read a story called, If I Made a Million. We will also discuss cause and effect, fantasy versus reality, and interjections.
Science: We will learn a little about nutrition and how to read food labels. Dioramas should be brought to school tomorrow.
Social Studies: We will continue our unit about Illinois.

Just a reminder: No school on Friday, and the following week is Spring Break!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hello! I am so proud of the students for their hard work during ISAT week! I am sure they are all happy that they do not have to worry about those tests until next year. Our movie party was awesome! We just finished reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, so we started watching the movie Friday afternoon. We didn't quite finish the movie, so we will continue watching on Monday.

There were many notes that went home in Friday Folders. Here are some of the highlights:

• Picture Day has been rescheduled for Monday, March 18th.
• Scholastic Book Orders are due Friday, March 15th. This will be one of the last book orders of the school year.
• Please send ecosystem items by Monday.

The Week Ahead

English: We will continue our unit about capitalization and punctuation. For writing, we will begin working on sentence fluency.

Math: Saxon homework will be starting up again this week. We will learn to subtract across zero, identify units of weight and mass, tell and show time to the quarter hour, show fractional amounts greater than 1, and measure and draw line segments to the nearest quarter inch.

Reading: We will be reading a story called Cocoa Ice. We will also compare and contrast the two locations discussed in the story, we will practice making mental images as we read, and we will learn how to paraphrase from a text.

Science: We will work on our ecosystems

Social Studies: We will begin a unit on Illinois that will connect with our upcoming field trip!

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend, and that the students are resting up after a long week of testing!

Please feel free to contact me at bcalcott@orionschools.us with any questions or concerns. You can also leave me a voicemail by calling the school.

ISAT week is finally here! There were two notes in Friday Folders regarding ISAT week. One note was from Mr. Lowe, and the other note is from me. Please be sure to read them both. We do not start testing until Tuesday, so tomorrow will be a regular day for the kids. The note from me mentions a movie party on Friday to reward the students for all of their hard work on the tests. Feel free to send your child with a light snack and a drink (I will allow pop) to enjoy during the movie.

Since our schedule will be different this week, we will not be having reading. This means no story and no spelling test for the week. We will be having some English, science, and social studies lessons during the week.

Another note that was in Friday Folders was about our upcoming field trip to the John Deere Pavilion and the locks and dams. Please send in the signed permission slip as soon as you can.

If you have any concerns about testing, please feel free to contact me at bcalcott@orionschools.us. You can also leave me a voicemail by calling the school.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Kindergarten Pre-Registration

Kindergarten Pre-Registration Event Rescheduled!

Due to the impending severe weather, we are rescheduling the Kindergarten Pre-Registration to Tuesday, March 5 from 3-7 p.m. and Wednesday, March 6 from 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Thank you for your understanding.

Reminder: President Posters are due tomorrow! Please e-mail me at bcalcott@orionschools.us with any questions.
Please make sure your child is bringing cold weather recess gear. If it is 10 degrees (with wind child) or above, the students go outside for recess. I am still seeing some kids with no gloves! It makes me cold to look at them sometimes! So please... bundle them up in the morning!

Picture Day
Picture Day is on Tuesday. If you are planning to purchase the pictures, please make sure you send your child with the picture forms by Tuesday morning. If you do not send the form in, the company picks a default background.

The Week Ahead
English: We will continue our unit on capitalization and punctuation.
Math: We will learn to compare and order fractions using pictures, identify units of weight and mass, subtract money amounts, and subtract across zero. We will also do a bit of ISAT prep this week!
Reading: We will be reading a historical nonfiction story called, Boom Town.We will also review fact and opinion, discuss how to self-question while reading, practice identifying the main idea and details of a story, and we will learn about regionalisms.
Science: We will start a unit about rocks, minerals, and fossils.
Social Studies: We will learn about Ellis Island, and how people immigrated to the U.S. from different parts of the world. We will also learn about the culture of Harlem.

Please feel free to e-mail me at: bcalcott@orionschools.us with any questions or concerns. You can also call the school office and leave me a voicemail. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend! We had a great week! Thursday was Valentine's Day, and the students had so much fun passing out valentines to everyone. They also loved the cupcakes and juice that was provided by two families. Thank you so much! 

The Week Ahead

English: We will continue our unit about capitalization and punctuation.

Math: We will learn to subtract two- and three-digit numbers, compare and order fractions using fraction strips, add and subtract fractions using fraction strips, compare and order fractions using pictures, and identify fractions that equal one half using pictures.

Reading: We will be reading a story called, Yippie-Yay. We will also discuss elements of non-fiction, how to go back in a non-fiction text to find information, and how to determine which information is important in a non-fiction text.

Science: We will discuss the long history of the relationship between people and animals.

Social Studies: We will continue to learn about the many people of a community.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to e-mail me at bcalcott@orionschools.us. Please remember to have your child start working on his or her President Project.

We had a great week! It is amazing how much students can enjoy division when candy is involved! On Friday, the students were given some M&Ms and were able to explore the concept of division. Once we finished this lesson, the students felt a little more comfortable with the concept of division.  Friday was also Hat Day. It was a great success. Our class was able to make a contribution to a larger donation that is going to a children's hospital! In Friday Folders there is an important pink note about a U.S. President project. Please be sure to read this note. If after reading the note you still have questions, please feel free to contact me. This is a great way to get students used to doing research. I am looking forward to hearing and seeing the students' presentations at the end of the month!

The Week Ahead:
English: We will be having our English test over adjectives and adverbs on Tuesday. I sent a note home in Friday Folders that explains the pages to study. I also had the students take their English books home over the weekend. I will be sending the students home with their books on Monday as well.
Math: We will learn to estimate and find the area of a rectangle, divide by 2 and 5, work backwards to solve a problem, find the sum of three addends, determine the likelihood of an event, and determining the fairness of a game.
Reading: We will be reading a story called, Leah's Pony. We will discuss fact and opinion, learn how to self-question while reading, review narrative elements, learn to spell and read compound words, and discuss why authors use alliteration.
Science: We will be learning about food webs.
Social Studies: We will be learning about reasons people leave a community, and we will start a unit about the many people that make up a community.

Reminder: Friday is a half day.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! Please feel free to e-mail me at: bcalcott@orionschools.us with any questions or concerns.

We are getting into the month of February which means Valentine's Day is around the corner. Last Friday, I sent a note home explaining how we will be handling Valentine's Day this year. I also sent a class list home during the week. The class list is meant to be used by your child when they are filling out their valentines. If you do not have a copy of the class list, please let me know, and I will send one home to you.

Kids Helping Kids
A note went home in Friday Folders inviting all students to participate in a "Hat Day" next Friday as a fundraiser. We are asking that each child bring in $1.00 that will be donated to The Illinois Children's Hospital. Teachers will also be making a contribution to this donation. If you do not wish for your child to participate, that is completely fine. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

The Week Ahead
English: We will continue our unit about adverbs and adjectives. We are getting close to the end of this unit. I will send a note home as soon as a test date is set. In writing we are learning all about word choice that will keep our reader interested in our writing.
Math: We will learn to identify the commutative property of multiplication, identify and solve "larger smaller" difference problems, identify the number of inches in a foot and in a yard, feet in a yard, and centimeters in a meter, make a draw arrays, and write number sentences for arrays.
Reading: We will be reading a play called, The Crowded House. We will discuss the elements of a play, how to read with expression while performing a play, and we will discuss story sequence.
Social Studies: We will learn that sometimes communities move to a different location.
Science: We will continue to learn about how living things depend on one another.

ENJOY THE SUPER BOWL!!

Hello Everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend. We had a very special event on Thursday of last week. The Orion Lions Club came and presented each Third Grade student with a dictionary! The students will be keeping these dictionaries at school for the rest of the year. Once we finish the year, the dictionaries can be taken home. The students have already discovered some of the many uses of  a dictionary. They are really enjoying them!

Book Orders
Some of the students thought that they still might be placing an order through Scholastic. Please have your orders in no later than Monday afternoon. I will place the order after school on Monday.

The Week Ahead
English: We will continue to learn about adjectives and adverbs. In writing, we have moved from how to organize our writing to how to select interesting words to make our writing come alive.
Math: We will learn to find square roots of perfect squares, to find the length of a side of a square given the area, how to add money amounts with decimals, how to read and show temperature on the Celsius scale, how to identify the number of days in each month, and how to identify the number of days in a year.
Reading: My reading class will be reading a story called, Lon Po Po. We will also discuss sequencing story events, we will discuss cause and effect within the story, we will continue to learn the difference between similes and metaphors, and more.
Science: We will learn about food chains, and how animals get energy from food.
Social Studies: We will learn about a community's various resources, how to find intermediate directions on a map, the government within a community, and how to find state capitals and borders.

Please feel free to e-mail me at: bcalcott@orionchools.us with any questions or concerns. You can also leave me a voicemail by calling the school.

Brrrr! It is so cold this weekend! From the looks of the forecast for this week, it's going to stay cold. Please make sure your child is dressed for cold weather. We will be having outdoor recess as long as it is 10 degrees (with the wind chill) or above outside.

Pringles Cans and Shoe Boxes
We are still in need of empty Pringles cans and shoe boxes. We are getting close to having enough, but we're not there yet.

Scholastic Book Orders
I sent home the January book order on Friday. If you are wanting to order, please have them in by Friday, January 25th. I just wanted to let all of you know that I have been able to get 10 free books for our classroom this school year. That is all thanks to the orders that parents have placed through scholastic. Thank you! The students get very excited each month when I am able to order books for our class.

The Week Ahead
English: We will continue to learn about Adjectives and Adverbs.
Math: We will learn to make reasonable predictions by collecting and analyzing data, how to read and write numbers to $1,000, how to write checks, how to select coins for a given amount, and how to read and write Roman Numerals.
Reading: My reading class will be reading a West African tale called, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears. We will learn to make and confirm predictions, compare and contrast different stories and characters, how to make inferences, and how to interpret figurative language.
Science: We will continue to learn about how animals find food.
Social Studies: Last week, I spent time discussing bullying. We also learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This week we will learn the social studies lessons about Cahokia and St. Louis that were originally planned for last week.

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend! Please feel free to e-mail me at bcalcott@orionschools.us. You can also leave me a voicemail by calling the school office.

We survived our first week back from break! I really enjoyed hearing all of the stories the students told about their holiday celebrations! On Monday we had our belated holiday party. We had a treat and exchanged gifts. Even though it was January 7th, it really felt like Christmas in our classroom!

Pringles Cans and Shoe Boxes

Please continue to send empty Pringles cans and shoe boxes. We will be using them for a project. We still need quite a few more.

The Week Ahead

English: We are starting a unit on adjectives and adverbs. In writing, we are still working on organizing our ideas when writing about a topic.

Math: We will learn to write a fraction to show part of a whole, compare fractions, add and subtract fractions, write an extended response for a math problem, and use and understand ordinal position.

Reading: My reading class will be reading a story called, Coyote Places the Stars. We will also continue to sequence story events, we will identify cause and effect in a story, we will learn about onomatopoeia, and we will continue to learn about figurative language.

Science: We will learn about living things and food.

Social Studies: We will learn the story of Cahokia and St. Louis.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at bcalcott@orionschools.us. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful break! With those two snow days, this break felt really long. I hope the students are ready to get back into the swing of things tomorrow! Since we did not have our Christmas party on the Friday before break, we will be celebrating tomorrow (Monday) afternoon.

Pringles Cans
Please continue to send your empty Pringles cans. I only have about 6 right now. I need one for each student.

Shoe Boxes
We will also be needing shoe boxes to make ecosystem dioramas. I am hoping that there are some empty shoe boxes hanging around your houses after the holidays. We will need one box per student.

The Week Ahead
English: Since our English test was scheduled on Thursday, we were unable to get that finished. I am going to assume that the students are going to need a full review before being tested. We will start reviewing on Monday, and we will take the test on Thursday. I will be sending students home with their English books starting Monday. Once we finish the test, we will be starting a unit on adjectives and adverbs.
Math: For multiplication, we will start off by reviewing all of the facts that we have learned so far. I am hoping the students were studying their facts over break. During math lessons we will learn to draw and read a line graph, tell and show time to the minute, round numbers to the nearest hundred, estimate sums and differences of three digit numbers, compare fractions, and add and subtract fractions using pattern blocks.
Reading: My reading class will be reading a historical fiction story called, Papa Tells Chita a Story. We will also learn what a good summary should do and not do, how to sequence story events, to identify figurative language, and to understand meanings of different prefixes and suffixes.
Social Studies: We will learn why communities are built where people meet, and about Cahokia and St. Louis.
Science: We will be learning about how living things find food, and we will also look at the different types of animal teeth.

Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions or concerns at bcalcott@orionschools.us.