Movin' & Groovin' Spring Music Assembly

What: Movin' & Groovin' 3rd, 4th, &5th Grade's Music Assembly
When: Friday, May 23rd at 2:00
Where: Skinner North Auditorium

The students at Skinner North have been working hard in the music room and can't wait to share their talents with you.  Join the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders as they sing, dance, and groove with their instruments!

Last Library Check-Out

The last week students will be able to check-out books is the week of May 12th!

FOSN Meeting Tonight

Please read the below message from FOSN:

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your interest in tomorrow's Town Hall Discussion about the CHA Redevelopment Plan. However, the meeting has been postponed.

 

With the announcement of the proposed Barack Obama College Preparatory High School on Thursday, it seems the CHA's Cabrini-Green Redevelopment Plan will have to be amended. Therefore, we are postponing tomorrow's Town Hall Discussion until more information is known about the streets, parking and other issues associated with the high school. As soon as we know more, we will let you know.

 

We will still host a FoSN meeting tomorrow night: pizza dinner and child care start at 5:00 p.m., meeting starts at 5:30 p.m.

 

On Monday May 19, our guest speaker at that 5:30 p.m. FoSN meeting will be a Chicago police detective who will give a no-holds barred talk about keeping our kids safe online. We will also elect new FoSN leadership. You won't want to miss it!

 

Again, thank you very much for your interest. The high level of parent involvement is one of the factors that makes Skinner North such a great school!

IXL Shout-Outs

Shout-outs to the following students who practiced an hour or more of IXL last week!  Keep up the great work!: Harry, Daniel, Joseph, Lauren, Sydney, Zuri, and Rohan!

A Sneak Peek At Our Week ...

Writing:  Students will begin revising their realistic fiction drafts this week.  A revising checklist can be found on the 3GW under the Realistic Fiction tab.  (A final rubric will be posted this week as well!)

Reading:  This week students will begin literature circles!  Students already chose a subject they were most interested in and will begin working in groups of four, participating in literature circles for the next two weeks.  Each group has created their own calendar and schedule for their discussions.  Lessons will focus on discussion strategies that promote student interaction and higher level thinking skills.

Math:  Students will take the Unit 8 math test on Monday and then will begin Unit 9: Fractions, Decimals, and Percents this week!  Be sure to check out the Unit 9 page of the 3GW for the family letter, vocabulary resources, the IXL checklist, and games! 

Science:  Students will investigate the following key questions this week: How are high and low sounds made?  How does length affect the rate of vibration, and therefore pitch?  The Sound page of the 3GW has great resources and games for your child to explore!

Important Dates & Information: 

• 4/28 - FOSN Meeting @ 5:00
• 4/30 - Final day to purchase Starry Night tickets
• 5/3 - Starry Night fundraiser 

Open Books Field Trip

Students had a great time creating "colorful poems" about themselves using similes and metaphors during our field trip to Open Books on Friday.  After creating their poems, students got the chance to present them to the class wearing a pencil costume!  The field trip ended with students having the opportunity to choose their own book to take home from the store.  A great day for all! 

Make a digital slideshow

Math Test - Monday

Third grade will be pushing the math test back to Monday, April 28th, instead of having students take the test tomorrow!

Famous Chicagoan Wax Museum Project

Listed below are the "famous Chicagoans" that students in class have already selected: Jane Addams, Frank Lloyd Wright, DuSable, Harrison Ford, Mike Ditka, Dorothy Hamill, Hillary Clinton, Daniel Burnham, Shel Silverstein, Barack Obama, Walt Disney, Enrico Ferni, Rahm Emanuel, George Halas, John Kinzie, Oprah Winfrey, Bart Conner, Ludwig Meis van der Rohe, Harold Washington, William B. Ogden, Michelle Obama, Sandra Cisneros 

Blue forms with students' top 3 choices (and a parent signature) are due tomorrow!

*** Updated 4/9/14

Reading Homework BINGO Board

Both today and yesterday students have had the opportunity to ask questions regarding the Quarter 4 Reading Homework.  I've had a few questions regarding the Quarter 4 Reading Homework from parents as well so I wanted to address a few points:

• The reading BINGO assignment is not the quarter 4 project - it is reading homework for the quarter
• Because it is reading homework, no additional worksheets/responses/assignments will be sent home for homework (unless it is reading work that was not finished in class)
• An expectation for the year has been that every night students are required to read 30 minutes (or a weekly total of 150 minutes); therefore, the student "reading/homework load" should be staying the same - just the types of books students are choosing will change
• In my classroom, I told students that the middle square (N3) is a free space
• Students are more than welcome to use any books from the classroom library!
• Students should have one BINGO completed on each of the due dates listed in the assignment description 
• Depending on how students get the BINGO for each of the due dates, the number of books read/response logs may vary
• An assignment description along with handouts can be found on by clicking the following link - Reading BINGO Homework 

The purpose of this assignment is to make sure students are reading at home and to really push them to explore genres, authors, and topics that they might not usually try!

As always - please let me know if you have any questions!

Quarter 4 Reading Homework

Students will be completing a "Reading Bingo Board" for their quarter 4 reading homework.  Information and due dates for their reading homework can be found under the Reading section of the Third Grade Website!  

Please let me know if you have any questions!

A Sneak Peek At Our Week ...

Writing:  Students have been working hard drafting the different scenes of their realistic fiction stories, organizing the scenes so they are consistent with the story/plot mountain structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution).  Lessons for the remainder of the week will focus on drafting the scenes, dialogue, and settings.   

Reading:  Students will also continue progressing through the biography unit.  Lessons this week focused on how the setting and people influence a subject.  Students will complete a reflection assignment based off of the past five lessons instructed in class on Thursday.  Then, they will begin reading a new biography focused on a new subject of their choice.  

Math:  We will wrap up Unit 7 this week.  The Unit 7 test will take place on Friday!  A review guide is being passed out today and will be due Thursday.  

Science:  Later in the week students will begin a new unit of study focused on Sound.  Information about this unit can be found on the Sound page of the 3GW.  Essential questions of the unit are listed below:

• What are properties of sound that make them identifiable?
• How are sounds made?
• How are high and low sounds made?
• How does length affect the rate of vibration, and therefore the pitch?
• Can sounds travel through liquids, solids, and gasses?
• How is sound different went traveling through different mediums?

To wrap up the unit students will complete a mini-inquiry on a sound topic of their choice.  

Quarter Projects:  Students' digital "Rock Stories" should be posted early this week!  Information about the Quarter 4 project will go out towards the end of the week.