Tuesday, January 16, 2018

STEAM School with VEX Robotics!

This semester, we have started STEAM School during “Power Hour” and students are loving it!  Our STEAM School days are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Currently, we have four STEAM School classes in third grade.  Every teacher is hosting a different class.  There are classes on Vex Robotics, Movie Making, Chess, and Bots Boxes.  Eventually, every student will have the opportunity to attend every offered class. Every 5 weeks, students will rotate to a new STEAM School class.

My homeroom is currently attending my STEAM School class featuring Vex Robotics! Here are some pictures from our first week!  To learn more about the VEXRobotics Curriculum, please click here!

Click the picture to enlarge it for a closer view! 

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City Brochure Project Take Two!

Here are a few other examples to enjoy!

Students were able to choose to research either Garland, Rowlett, or Sachse.  Using iPads and research teams, students studied their city and then had to create informative brochures which also showcased different nonfiction text features.  Each brochure had to have information about the location of the city, its government, the types of transportation the population uses, local sites to visit, and the city's history.  Here are a few of our completed brochures!

Click on the picture to enlarge it for a closer view! 
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Friday, January 12, 2018

Snapshot for January 16

Click {here} to download the Snapshot
Snapshot for January 16

Here is this week's snapshot if you are unable to get the e-mails. You can download the pdf file by clicking beneath the snapshot picture. All snapshots will be available in pdf form on the "Weekly Snapshots" page {here} once they are sent out and posted!

 This week, we began our novel study, Tales of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.  Both classes have completed chapters 1-10 and next week, will complete chapters 11-15.  There will be a quiz over chapters 1-15 on Tuesday, January 23. A study guide will be sent home next week. Next week, we will continue to review the reading skills identifying theme and character traits.  Our upcoming skills are going to be determining the main idea, making an inference, and drawing conclusions. Please see the links below for optional skills practice over these concepts.

In writing, we continue to review contractions as we move on to focus on possessive nouns and pronouns.  There will be a graded assignment on possessive nouns and pronouns on Friday, January 19.  Please see the links below for optional skills practice over these concepts. 

This week students started working on a composition describing their hero and the traits their hero possesses.  Students will have time to complete this composition next week.  It will be due on Friday, January 19. Students will then start their Fractured Fairy Tale Project.  Students will create and write their own Fractured Fairy Tale.  Please see the snapshot email to access the rubric.

For homework, we will have our 100 minutes of at home reading assignment due on Monday, January 22.  Please see the snapshot email for the new spelling list. The spelling homework and the quiz will be due on Friday, January 19. Spelling City Certificates can also be submitted by email to my email address.  We do NOT have a TimeForKids assignment this week.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

+ Rachel Fendley
3rd Grade ELAR Teacher
Kimberlin Academy
RMLittre@garlandisd.net  


Reminders:
January 15 – No school- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 16 &18 – Fendley/Osborn Middle of the Year MAP Testing – bring a light jacket for the lab.
January 22 – Spring Explorers classes start!  3rd grade afterschool tutoring resumes!
January 24 – Class Pictures
January 29 & 30 – Mock STAAR! --- No Lunch Visitors.   

Helpful Links:
Spelling City: https://www.spellingcity.com/RMLittre/  

Online Resources for Skills Practice:
·         Reading Skills Inferences and Drawing Conclusions
o    The Detective's Notebook Game
o    Inference Battleship
o    Inference Jeopardy
o    BrainPop Jr (Please see the snapshot email for the username & password)
·         Reading Skills: Main Idea
o    Main Idea Millionaire
o    Main Idea Lightning Strike:
o    Main Idea Hamburger Game
·         Possessive Nouns:
o    Vocabulary Spelling City
o    Exploring Possessives
o    BrainPop Jr (Please see the snapshot email for the username & password)
o    Flocabulary (Link takes you to Ready Hub where you can access it)
o    Choose Correct Possessive Pronoun
o    Complete Paragraph with Possessive Pronouns
o    Fill in the Blanks with Possessive Pronouns
o    Practice Quiz
o    Turtle Possessive Nouns
·         Contractions:


o    BrainPop Jr (Please see the snapshot email for the username & password)
o    Contractions Maze
o    Dominoes Contractions
o    Contraction Action
o    3rd-5th Grade Contractions Games: 6 different games!
o    Pick the Correct Contraction
o    Contractions Matching Game
o    Contraction Games Galore – 20 different games!
o    Vocabulary Spelling City

o    Grammar Gorillas





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Sunday, January 7, 2018

City Brochure Projects

Students were able to choose to research either Garland, Rowlett, or Sachse.  Using iPads and research teams, students studied their city and then had to create informative brochures which also showcased different nonfiction text features.  Each brochure had to have information about the location of the city, its government, the types of transportation the population uses, local sites to visit, and the city's history.  Here are a few of our completed brochures!


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Chinese New Year Posters

During our Cultural Celebrations unit, students are comparing different ethnic and cultural celebrations.  Students are also explaining the differences and similarities between different cultural celebrations.  Last week, we focused on Chinese New Year!  Students were able to create informative posters to showcase their understanding of the holiday.



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Friday, January 5, 2018

Snapshot for January 8

Snapshot for January 8

Click here to donwload the Snapshot
Here is this week's snapshot if you are unable to get the e-mails. You can download the pdf file by clicking beneath the snapshot picture. All snapshots will be available in pdf form on the "Weekly Snapshots" page {here} once they are sent out and posted!

Wow!  The City Brochures that were turned in this week are amazing!  

Next week, we will begin our next novel study, Tales of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.  This will kick off Unit 4 and will return our focus to fiction texts.  We will be focusing on the elements of the fantasy genre and will review the reading skills identifying theme and character traits.

In writing, we focus on contractions.  There will be a graded assignment on these skills on Thursday, January 11.  Please see the links below to practice identifying and forming contractions.

We will wrap up our study on different cultural celebrations. Next weeks, we will focus on the different celebrations Hanukah and Kwanza.  This week, we focused on Chinese New Year.  Students had the opportunity to create informative posters at the extension station to teach others about the holiday. If your family celebrates another cultural celebration, please let me know so I can add it to our study. 

For homework, we will have our 100 minutes of at home reading assignment due on Monday, January 8.   The spelling homework and the quiz will be due on Friday, January 11. Spelling City Certificates can also be submitted by email to my email address.  We do have a TimeForKids assignment this week. The TFK quiz will be due on Friday, January 11.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
+ Rachel Fendley
3rd Grade ELAR Teacher
Kimberlin Academy
RMLittre@garlandisd.net 


Reminders:
January 9 – College Shirt Day
January 15 – No school- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 16 &18 – Fendley/Osborn Middle of the Year MAP Testing – bring a light jacket for the lab.  J
January 22 – Spring Explorers classes start!  3rd grade afterschool tutoring resumes!
January 24 – Class Pictures
January 29 & 30 – Mock STAAR! --- No Lunch Visitors.  


 Online Resources for Skills Practice:
  • Social Studies
o    Brain Pop Jr Winter Holidays   (Username: Kimberlines Password: Brainpop)
o    Pebble Go: https://www.pebblego.com/   (Username: Kimberlinac Password: kimbac)
§  Go to the “Social Studies” tab and then click “Holidays”.  There are 18 different holidays to read about!
o    Kwanzaa Sites:
o    Hanukkah
·         Grammar:
o    BrainPop Jr (Username: Kimberlines Password: Brainpop)
o    Contractions Maze
o    Dominoes Contractions
o    Contraction Action
o    3rd-5th Grade Contractions Games: 6 different games!
o    Pick the Correct Contraction
o    Contractions Matching Game
o    Contraction Games Galore – 20 different games!
o    Vocabulary Spelling City
o    Grammar Gorillas



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Thursday, January 4, 2018

Snapshot for January 3


Snapshot for January 3


Welcome back!  I am so excited to start 2018 with you all!  

This week, we will focus on the book “Snowflake Bentley” as we review skills such as character traits, theme, setting, and sequence.  Next week, we will begin our next novel study, Tales of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.  This will kick off Unit 4 and will return our focus to fiction texts.

This week, we will complete our final copies of the city brochures.  For this project, we only have access to a black and white printer here at school.  Students were asking if they could bring in color printed pictures, maps, or photographs to use in their city brochure.  Some of them wanted to use photographs of themselves at certain local sites or with certain city council members that they know.  I told them that that would be great as long as you, the parents, are okay with it! As a rule of thumb, please keep pictures 3 inches by 3 inches or smaller in order to fit inside of the brochure.  We will spend class time every day this week to complete the final writings and glue in our photographs/pictures.

Example of City Brochure 

I enjoyed being your fall semester Social Studies teacher!  Mrs. Osborn will take over for the spring semester due to the alignment between the upcoming Social Studies, Math, and Science topics, such as landforms and economics/personal financial literacy. I will continue to support her with this unit as we wrap up our study on different cultural celebrations. For the next two weeks, we will look at different celebrations such as Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, and Chinese New Year.  If your family celebrates another cultural celebration, please let me know so I can add it to our study. 

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

+ Rachel Fendley
3rd Grade ELAR Teacher
Kimberlin Academy
RMLittre@garlandisd.net  

Reminders:
January 3 – First day back from Winter Break!
January 9 – College Shirt Day
January 15 – No school- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 22 – Spring Explorers classes start!  3rd grade afterschool tutoring resumes!

 Online Resources for Skills Practice:
·         Social Studies
o    Brain Pop Jr Winter Holidays       (Username: Kimberlines     Password: Brainpop)
o    Pebble Go: https://www.pebblego.com/   (Username: Kimberlinac Password: kimbac)
§  Go to the “Social Studies” tab and then click “Holidays”.  There are 18 different holidays to read about!
o    Chinese New Year Sites:
o    Kwanzaa Sites:
o    Hanukkah Sites:
·         Grammar:


o    Comma Chameleon:
o    The Quest of Comma Castle
o    Comma Games Galore:
o    Many interactive comma and punctuation games:
o    Comma Jeopardy Multiplayer:
o    Comma Rules:

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