Hot Time in the Lily Pad

Well, it's September and summer finally arrived in Madison!  We have had a hot start to the year but the weather seems to be changing.  The heat was an added challenge to our community but I am happy to report that the students and teachers persevered and we are a stronger community because of it.

The weeks have been busy with establishing routines, goal, and guidelines. I am hopeful with how quickly this community is forming.  Students went from being able to read for 1 1/2 minutes without interruption to 33 minutes!

We also began working on gaining independence as writers.  This work will help us as we begin our writer's workshop next week.

One of the weekly expectations for work at home will be a responsive journal.  Students will be asked to write in their journals twice a week and return to school on Fridays.  This will begin in October.

We began establishing and practicing routines for our math block, as well.  Students are learning games and strategies to practice their basic math facts.  On the sidebar of the blog are a few websites that are helpful for practicing facts. There are also several iPad apps that are helpful and I will be highlighting those in future weeks.

Playing Addition Top-It

We have also been working on graphing and making statements about the graphs we created.  Here are a few examples of graphs we created this week.

Friday was a big day at Marquette. The school store officially opened!  This is very popular with the students.  Each Friday the school store is open and students can bring money to buy a few items each week.

Homework:

On MONDAY, September 16, the Lily Pad will be decorating their writer’s notebooks. Students are encouraged to bring in things to personalize their notebooks that represent their interests and personalities.

·        Examples of things that students can bring in (but are not limited to) include: Stickers

·        Drawings,  Copies of photos,  Magazine clippings,  Images from old calendars,

·        Pictures from the internet that are school-appropriate.

We will begin our weekly homework this week.  Homework is given on Mondays and Wednesdays and is due by Friday.  Students also are expected to read daily at home.  We will begin with 15 minutes and these minutes are to be recorded on a calendar.  Calendars should be turned in at the end of the month.

The calendars will also be used to record math fact practice.  Students are expected to practice their facts for 5 to 10 minutes a day.  Please record the minutes on the calendar and turn in at the end of the month.

Upcoming Events

• September 19 is Talk Like a Pirate Day
• September 27 3rd grade Pancake Breakfast
• September 30 Photo Day
• October 9 - 3rd Grade to Farmer's Market
• October 10 - stone soup
• October 17 - Trip to the Overture Center to see Dr. Kaboom!
• October 18 - Marquette Mile (1:30)
• October 20 - PTG Packers and Pumpkins
• October 24, 25 - No School for Students