What We Are Reading This Week: Don Freeman

This week we are reading books by the amazing Don Freeman. 

All of his amazing books are available at your local library.

What We Are Reading This Week: Keiko Kasza

This week we are reading Keiko Kasza.  These are great books to read to your kindergartner at home.  Funny animal characters telling meaningful social stories.

What We Are Reading This Week: Judith Viorst

We are reading Judith Viorst this week.  She is a well known author who writes stories that we can all relate to.

What We Are Reading This Week: Peter Brown

@itspeterbrownThis week we are reading books by Peter Brown.
Your kindergartner is really enjoying his engaging illustrations and heartfelt storylines.  

What We Are Reading This Week: Mem Fox

 This week we are reading Mem Fox.  Your kindergartener has really been enjoying her books. Don't be surprised if they want to check out a few of her titles at your local library.

What We Are Reading This Week: Tomie dePaola

Tomie dePaola is a prolific children's author.  We will be reading reading some of his more age appropriate books this week and will be avoiding the holiday titles.

What We Are Reading Next Week

Next week we will be reading books by Eileen Spinelli.  We read a couple of them today and your Kindergartner loved them!  Have a great long weekend!

What We Are Reading This Week . . .

Happy New Year!  This coming week we will be reading books by Laura Numeroff.   

What We Are Reading Next Week: Pat Hutchins

Next week we are reading classic children's author, Pat Hutchins.

This is a very small sampling of her work.  More books are on the way from Multnomah County Library.  Thank you Ms. Rolfe for the recommendation! 

What We Are Reading Next Week: Jan Thomas

Next week we will be reading books by Jan Thomas.  These books are short, funny and pretty easy to read, 

just like your Kindergartner.  

Since Halloween is Thursday, we will have a few spooky reads as well.

What We Are Reading Next Week:

Here are a few of the books we will be reading next week.  I want to apologize in advance to all the boys in our classroom for all of the "Little Princess" Stories.  These books tackle themes that are very common to five and six year olds.

What We Are Reading Next Week: Eric Carle

Next week we will be reading the colorful world of Eric Carle.  These books teach concepts in fun and playful ways using repetitive phrases and amazing illustrations- which makes them great for Kindergarten!

What We Are Reading Next Week

This Week we will be reading books that continue to deal with going to school. We will also be reading some books that deal with social topics that we have been working on this week- like taking turns, sharing and having good manners.

What We Are Reading This Week

We made it through most of our "starting Kindergarten Books"this week.  Since Kindergarten is all about learning how to make and keep friends - next week we will be reading several books on friendship.  We will also be reading some books that deal with number and number order as part of our math unit.

What A Great Reading Voice!

We have been working on becoming fluent readers here in 3rd Grade.  We know that kids develop fluency when they can hear how they sound as a reader.  Ms. Rolfe had the great idea to have us read into our iPads and record the sound of our voice.  When our reading recordings are smooth, we can stop.

Donovan was able to cut is reading time in half!
Is he ready to do voice-overs for TV?  Not yet.  
But he's getting there!

So, what's the objective here?

We realize that our school days are very short here in 3rd Grade.  There's really no time to waste.  That's why, for all of our core subjects (Math, Reading, Writing, Social Studies and Science) we post our objectives before the lesson even starts.  We want to be very clear about what we will be learning as we work.  Do we have an objective for your 3rd Grader being here today?  You bet!

Mr. Crockett posting today's math objectives directly from our math curriculum.

What Reading in 3rd Grade Looks Like

This was our afternoon yesterday.  (Well, at least 45 minutes of it)  Your 3rd Grader is learning to sustain their independent reading.  You may see some of them writing as well.  They are actually responding to what they our reading.  This afternoon they will be sharing their responses in their reading groups.

Our class is learning that we really need it to be quiet in order to do our best reading.  Does your 3rd Grader have a quiet place at home they can read every night?  I know, with having a 3 1/2 year old daughter- that our house isn't very quiet.  Many parents have told me that they allow their kids to read for the last 30 minutes of the day before lights out.  This is a great strategy.  They younger kids are hopefully already asleep, it's quiet and it's a great way to let their minds unwind from the day.

Writing Buddies

Today we started a writing project with our Reading Buddies in Ms. Schnider's Kindergarten class. Our Reading buddies are now Writing Buddies.  

We are working on a writing project called 

"I FEEL STRONG WHEN . . . "     

Kindergartners will be coming up with ideas of what they want to say.  Third Graders are helping them with the mechanics of their writing and word choice.  This collaborative project will be going up next month at a local business near you.

Homework

Unless your kid is a speed reader, make sure they are choosing
books they can read in a week.

It is the end of May.  We, and when I say "we" I mean parents, kids and myself, have been working very hard on homework all year long.  As the weather warms up (hopefully) the days are getting longer, and your 3rd Grader is involved in after school sports and activities, summer is just around the corner.  
You have probably noticed that homework packets are no longer coming home.  What IS coming home are Book Reports.  Your 3rd Grader is getting these on Friday and they are due the following Friday.  

Reading along side your child
 is just as important as reading with your child.
Penelope hasn't learned about just right books yet. 

You can help your 3rd Grader by making sure they are reading a Just Right Book  It needs to be a realistic fiction or fantasy book they can read in a week.   Can't find the Book Report?  Just let me know, I have plenty of extras.

Give your 3rd Grader a jump start into 4th grade, keep up the healthy habit of reading with your child over the summer.  

Meet Our New Principal: Ms. Shelby

by Thea Sawyer

This year at James John School we have a new principal. Her name is Ms.Sheby.

I was very lucky to get an interveiw with her because she is very busy.

Here is what she said . . . .

 What was your favorite subject in school?
   "Reading.  I won a reading contest in 2nd grade and the prize was a book,".

Was homework to easy for you?
   "Easy for reading and writing but math was a little chalenging,".

What was the job you had before?
  "I was a teacher for a teacher for Kindergarten and 4th grade."

For how long? 
  "For thirteen years."

What was it you dreamed of becoming a child?
  "I always wanted to be a teacher.  My older sister taught me how to read."

Whose steps did you want to follow in?
  "My 8th grade teacher who I had for Language Arts and Social Studies."

Why was that?
  "He opened my eyes to the injustices in the world and the importance of working for the equity of everyone."

Why did you decide to become a teacher?

  "I was inspired by the poor performance of my eldest son's teachers.  I knew that all kids deserve better."

What do you like best about your job in school?

  "I like collaborating with the staff and working with kids."

Have you ever considered a profession in High School or Junior High or even College?

  "Yes, I have thought of  working at a college or  in a middle school."

Was college challenging or easy?

  "It was very interesting and challenging at the same time."

What classes did you take in college?

  "I took classes on Education Law, Finance, Evaluation, Leadership, tons of courses."

Did you drop out of any school?
 "No, but I transferred from University of Oregon to Portland State and Lewis & Clark College."

Were you a good artist in school?
  "I was okay, but I loved the (art) classes."

What are some of your hobbies?

  "I like reading, spending time with my family and dog, camping, gardening, sewing.  My first sewing project was an apron for my mother that I made in Home Ec."

Did you grow up in Oregon?

  "Yes.  I'm a fifth generation Oregonian, which means my family goes a longs ways back. My Great- Great-Great Grandparents lived here.