End of the Year Party/Carnival

The END OF THE YEAR PARTY is quickly approaching and we would love for you all to be able to join!  The outdoor carnival will take place on Friday, June 13th from 12:00-1:00 for the Third Grade.  You are welcome to take your child home after the carnival.

The third grade will need volunteers to run following activities:

1.  Dunk tank ( a new person every 20 minutes)

2.  Face painting/tattoos (may need parents to bring additional supplies)

3.  Sack races

4.  Ring toss/hula hoops/sidewalk chalk

5.  Volunteer to bring an iPod with a playlist for the sound system

6.  Limbo

7.  Photographer for the hula girl/surfboard cut outs.

* We will also have bouncy castles and a pop a shot basketball game available and may need a few parents 

Please e-mail me if you are interested and able to volunteer!  Thanks!!

A Sneak Peek At Our Week ...

Reading:  We are continuing our "Perspectives" unit this week and students will be finishing The Sign of the Beaver, our shared classroom novel.  Lessons this week are focusing on what influences an individual's perspective (experience and culture), creating mental images that go beyond imagery, and forming opinions based on perspective.  On Friday students will complete a biopoem for the characters Matt and Attean from the text highlighting the perspectives, differences, and similarities between these two characters.  

Writing:  Students will finish drawing illustrations for their realistic stories this week and then will shared their published work with their peers.  

Math:  Lessons 11.3 and 11.4 will be instructed this week!

Social Studies:  Students will continue to research their city this week using different research resources online.  Then, they will begin comparing and contrasting their city and Chicago, noticing what features are different, and what features they have in common.  

City Research

Students are researching different big cities across the United States, and will ultimately, compare and contrast features of their city of study to Chicago's features for their final social studies unit this year.   

Yesterday, they were given their "city teams" - or students who they will work with to learn more about their city of study.  Students have been SO enthusiastic and interested in this unit so far!

The cities our class will be exploring are: Houston, Phoenix, Portland, Boston, Atlanta, New York City, Denver, Philadelphia, Miami, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles.  If you have any informational resources or items that would help students learn more about one of the cities listed above, we would love to use that resource in the classroom!

A Message from the Principal ...

Good Morning Skinner North Families,

On June 12th from 5PM-6PM we will be hosting our next Principal's Forum & State of the School Report.

I plan to present information on:

     a) The Skinner North CIWP (Continuous Improvement Work Plan)

     b) Staffing Model for 2014-2015

     c) Sample Student Schedules & Specials Schedules

     d) Budget Overview for 2014-2015

     

I hope you can join us! 

LSC News:

Please also save the date for July 2nd (at 5PM) for Skinner North's 1st ever LSC organizational meeting! LSC meetings are open to the public and all parents are encouraged to attend. I will post and email out an agenda prior to the actual meeting.

Thanks! -Ethan

School Happenings

• May 19th @ 5:15 - FOSN Meeting in the cafeteria
• May 23rd from 2:00-3:00 - Moovin' & Groovin' Music Assembly for grades 3-5
• June 6th from 4:00-6:30 - June Jamboree

Quarter 4 Project Speech - Update!

In the Quarter 4 project's description, it states that your child's Wax Museum speech should be 1-2 minutes.  The speech can be anywhere from 30 seconds - 2 minutes, as long as it highlights the required components!

A Sneak Peek At Our Week ...

Reading:  Students will begin looking closer at point of view and perspective this week using the mentor text Voices in the Park.  On Tuesday students will begin reading The Sign of the Beaver, a shared novel we will be reading as a class.  Lessons this week will focus on using details in the text to help us visualize, using key words to summarize, and understanding different perspectives of one event. 

Writing: Students will make final revisions to their realistic fiction story on Monday, and will spend the remainder of the week publishing their final pieces!  

Math:  The Unit 9 test will take place on Monday.  Students will take the Unit 11 pretest on Tuesday and will begin Unit 11: 3D Shapes, Weight, Volume, & Capacity lessons during the remainder of the week.  Check out the 3GW for resources!  

Social Studies:  We will begin Unit 4: Chicago & Other National Cities inquiry project this week.  On Monday students will choose a city a city to explore and will be put on different "research teams".  Students will spend the remainder of the week researching and exploring information about their city.  

Important Information:

• *** Notecards outlining students' wax museum speeches were originally due Friday, 5/23; I will be out of the building so students can turn them in on Tuesday, 5/27
• NO SCHOOL ON Monday, 5/26 - Memorial Day

Science Homework

*** For students' multiple choice homework for science, they are missing a page in their text so they will not need to complete #8! (They can attempt to answer the question as best as they can - it will not be marked against them!)

Pencils

With only a handful of weeks left in school, our pencil supply has been depleted!  Room 210 would appreciate any pencil donations to the classroom!  THANK YOU!! :)

A Sneak Peek At Our Week ...

Word Work:  Affixes and roots students will explore this week are: a/an, dec, derma, photo, port, struct

Reading:  Students will have their final literature circle this week for their biography book.  A biography assessment will take place on Wednesday.  Then, we will begin our final Perspectives reading unit.  Lessons on Thursday and Friday this week will focus on differentiating between third person limited and third person omniscient point of view.

Writing:  We will take the week to finish revising and editing students' realistic fiction stories.  They will begin publishing them next week!

Math:  Lessons 9.4-9.7 will be instructed this week.  A review guide will be passed out in the beginning of the week and we will have a Unit 9 review day on Friday.  The Unit 9 test will be Monday!

Science & Social Studies:  Early this week we will finish exploring different sound concepts.  A quiz will take place on Wednesday.  A study guide for the unit will be passed out on Tuesday!   Students can use their science notebooks, passed back items, and their Sound text to help them review.  With science ending this week, students will begin the final unit in social studies towards the end of the week.  More information about the unit can be found on the Social Studies page of the 3GW!

Important Dates & Information:

• 5/13: Storyteller Oba Williams will be performing at Skinner North tomorrow!
• 5/14: Q4 Famous Chicagoan essay due (rubrics, due dates, and information can be found on the Quarter 4 Project page of the 3GW!)
• 5/14: Progress Report signature due
• BINGO #3 Due: 6/2

Six Flags Read to Succeed Tickets

Congratulations to the following students for successful completing the 2013-2014 Six Flags Read to Succeed program!: Eva, Isaiah, Izaak, Ireland, Kevin, Jett, Maha, Joseph, Lauren, Zuri, Rohan, Sean, Isabel, & Sophia

Tickets will be passed back today!  Please be sure to look for it in your child's take home folder!

Progress Reports

Progress reports were passed back today!  Please review the report with your child, sign the bottom, and have your child return only the bottom portion on or before Wednesday, May 14th.  

Handouts and graded papers were also passed back today, as I was not in the classroom last Friday!  Be sure to check your child's homework folder for these assignments!!

A Sneak Peek At Our Week ...

NWEA Testing:  This week students will be taking the final NWEA assessments of the year.  Our classroom is scheduled to take the reading assessment Monday morning and the math assessment on Wednesday.  

Reading:  Students will continue their biography literature circles this week!  Mini-lessons will focus on different discussion strategies to enhance conversation and deepen student understanding during discussions.  

Writing:  We are coming to a close with our realistic fiction writing unit.  Students will draft endings this week, complete a self-revision checklist, and then complete a peer revision checklist as well.  

Math:  Lessons 9.3 - 9.6 will be instructed this week.  

Science:  Students will investigate the following key questions this week through labs, readings, and additional activities: Can sounds travel through liquids, solids, and gasses?  How is sound different when traveling through different mediums?

Important Dates & Information:

• 5/6, 4:00-5:30: Spanish Night
• 5/7: Progress Reports passed out

Literature Circles

Students began their Biography Literature Circle discussions this week.  Through literature circles, students have the opportunity to discuss the influences, strengths, and weaknesses of their chosen subjects. Through sharing, they will arrive at common themes and features of biographies and periods in history.  Students are very engaged and excited to participate in classroom discussions!

Personalize your own digital collage

Book Recommendations

Today students posted book recommendations from their first reading homework BINGO assignment.  This will give other students in the classroom an opportunity to explore different books that might interest them as well.  You can read your child's recommendation which is posted on their own STUDENT BLOG!