Another Great Guest

Today we had a guest come in and talk about his expedition in the Himalayas! Last week, we read a story that mentioned this amazing mountain range and today we saw real pictures! Thank you Mrs. Johnson and Ryan for sharing this incredible experience with us!

Weekly Update 12/17/12

During this special time of year, I want to express how thankful I am for spectacular students and supportive parents. I appreciate every one of you. THANK YOU!

Communication Arts:
Story: Pushing Up the Sky
Focus: Cause and Effect and Author's Purpose
Genre: Play
Spelling: prefixes - re, mis, dis, un
http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/

Math: 
Unit 6: Patterns

Mark Your Calendar!

Wednesday, 12/19/12 - 3rd Grade Rehearsal, 9:00, Unit 6 Math Test

Thursday, 12/20/2012 - 3rd Grade Holiday Performance 1:00

Friday, 12/21/2012 - Spelling Menu and Reading Log Due
Pajama Party, 2:00 Reader's Theater and Holiday Celebration

Earlier this week, students were sent home with green papers. These are the songs they are singing for the Christmas Performance. Please encourage your students to practice!

Love,

Ms. Senecal

Graphs

We have been studying different kinds of graphs and analyzing data. Today, we collected data by pulling colored cubes out of a paper bag. Each group collected data using a different method. I was so impressed by the students ability to organize the data on tally charts, frequency tables, and line plots! Last, we used the data to create bar graphs and pictographs.

Weekly Update 12/10/12

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Communication Arts:
Story: Hottest, Coldest
Focus: Cause and Effect and Author's Purpose

Spelling: vowel + r - ir, or, er, ar

http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/

Math: 
Unit 5: Use Addition and Subtraction 
Unit 6: Patterns

We will finish Unit 5 this week and start Unit 6. 

Science:

Simple Machines

The simple machines unit is coming to an end. On Friday, I sent home a project. Look for a blue paper with two choices. Choice 1 is an around the house project that requires a bit of time, but no materials. Students must complete the table by identifying simple machines around the house. Choice 2 is a hands-on material that requires some materials. I totally encourage creativity and using materials you already have. This project is intended to be a fun family event and not stressful. Please give me a call if you have any questions. 

Mark Your Calendar!

Monday, 12/10/2012 - Art

Thursday, 12/13/12 - Happy Birthday Morgan! Unit 5 Math Test. Early Out.

Friday, 12/14/12 - Reading Log and Spelling Menu due. Spelling Test.

Thursday, 12/20/2012 - 3rd Grade Christmas Performance 1:00

Earlier this week, students were sent home with green papers. These are the songs they are singing for the Christmas Performance. Please encourage your students to practice!

Love,

Ms. Senecal

A Dinosaur in Room 117!

The Nordtome family brought in a fossil of a dinosaur egg. The fossil is from Eastern Montana and weighs about 80 pounds. Thank you for sharing this prehistoric treasure!

Sara rolled in the heavy egg!

Volcanoes and Penguins and Landforms Oh My!

We had a visitor in our class last week! Ms. Dayton arranged for a presentation by a researcher who had made many visits to Antarctica. His presentation aligned well with the stories we read about volcanoes and penguins and the unit on landforms. Students even got to try on gear!

Mikayla trying on "Big Red"

Where's Tre?

Weekly Update 12/3/2012

Happy December! What a busy and fun month we have to look forward to!

Communication Arts:Story: A Symphony of Whales
Focus: Author's Purpose and Cause and Effect

Spelling: suffixes ly, ful, less, ness

http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/

Math: Unit 5: Use Addition and Subtraction
This unit focuses on rounding, estimating, counting on money amounts, and tables.

The mini-projects that have been turned in and presented so far are beyond my expectations. Picture to come!

Science:

Simple Machines

Last week we learned about different kind of levers with our Big Sky Buddies. The students used marshmallow catapults.

Mark Your Calendar!

12/3/2012 - 12/7/2012 Last week of Flagship.

Thursday, 12/6/2012 - Early Out

Friday, 12/7/2012 - Spelling Test

Monday, 12/10/2012 - Art

Thursday, 12/20/2012 - 3rd Grade Christmas Performance 1:00

Love,

Ms. Senecal

Weekly Update 11/26/2012

What a fantastic holiday! I hope everybody enjoyed time with family, friends, and food. We cut down our Christmas tree in Lolo National Forest. It is a bit of a Charlie Brown tree, but I love it!

Communication Arts:
Story: If You Made a Million
Focus: Author's Purpose

Spelling: ee, ea, ai, ay, ow, oa

http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/

Math: Unit 5: Use Addition and Subtraction
This unit focuses on rounding, estimating, counting on money amounts, and tables.
Look for a Math Menu with mini-projects coming home soon.

Science:

Simple Machines

 

Mark Your Calendar!

Thursday, 11/29/2012 - Early Out

Friday, 11/30/2012 - Spelling Test / Big Sky Science Lesson

Thursday, 12/20/2012 - 3rd Grade Christmas Performance 1:00

 

Love,

Ms. Senecal

Weekly Update 11/19/2012

Happy Thanksgiving Week! I am thankful for my awesome students and supportive parents. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Communication Arts:
Story: William's House

Skill: Summarizing

Spelling: Consonant Blends - ch, sh, th, tch, ph

http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/

Math: Unit 5: Use Addition and Subtraction

Science:

Simple Machines

 

Mark Your Calendar!

Monday, 11/19/2012 - Welcome Grandma Ann!

Monday, 11/19/2012 - Big Sky Science Lesson

Tuesday, 11/20/2012 - Communications Art Benchmark 2

Tuesday, 11/20/2012 - Thanksgiving Celebration 2:00

11/21/2012 - 11/23/2012 - Thanksgiving Break

 

Love,

Ms. Senecal

Weekly Update 11/12/2012

It was awesome to see all of you at parent teacher conferences. My goal is to build a relationship as partners in your child's education. Thank you for all of your support!

Three questions to ask your third grader:

1) What are some sensory words that describe volcanoes?

2) What are some real-world examples of times that people estimate?
3) How do simple machines like the pulley and lever make work easier?

Communication Arts:

Story: William's House

Skill: Summarizing

Spelling: Consonant Blends

http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/

Math: Unit 5: Use Addition and Subtraction

Science:

Simple Machines

Mark Your Calendar!

Monday, 11/12/2012 - Happy Birthday Freya

Tuesday, 11/13/2012 - Volcanoes Spelling Test

Thursday, 11/15/2012 - Early Out

Monday, 11/19/2012 - Big Sky Science Lesson

Tuesday, 11/20/2012 - Thanksgiving Celebration

11/21/2012 - 11/25/2012 - Thanksgiving Break

Love,

Ms. Senecal

Halloween Celebration

Thank you to the fabulous parents who made our Halloween Celebration a success! We had so many delicious treats including spooky centerpieces! What a fun day!



Patiently waiting for the parade to begin.

 

In costume!

 

Freya's Spooky Centerpiece

 

In Costume!







When does the parade begin?









Kadee's Spooky Centerpiece



Weekly Update 11/5/2012

Happy Election Week! This is a busy week at Hawthorne. Please look at the Mark Your Calendar section for upcoming dates.






Three questions to ask your third grader:

1) What is a synonym for the word shivered?

2) What does the math vocabulary word congruent mean? Same _________, same _________!
3) How do simple machines like the inclined plane and wheel and axle make work easier?

Communication Arts:

Story: Volcanoes: Nature's Incredible Fireworks:

Skill: Main Idea and Details

Spelling: silent consonant: gn, kn, mb, wr

http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/

Math: Unit 4: Figures, Angles, and Triangles

Science:

Simple Machines

Mark Your Calendar!

Monday, 11/5/2012 - Art

Tuesday, 11/6/2012 - Election Day

Wednesday, 11/7/2012 - Parent Teacher Conferences 3:15 - 7:00

Thursday, 11/8/2012 - Half Day for students, dismissal at 11:05. Parent Teacher Conferences 11:15 - 4:00

Friday, 11/9/2012 - No School

Sunday, 11/11/2012 - Veteran's Day

Monday, 11/12/2012 - Happy Birthday Freya

Tuesday, 11/13/2012 - Volcanoes Spelling Test

I look forward to seeing you at Parent Teacher Conferences!

Love,

Ms. Senecal

P.S. Look for another post with pictures from our Halloween Celebration!

Weekly Update 10/29/2012

Hello Third Grade Families,

I can't believe November begins this week! I need to toughen up for the winter. I would rather have cold weather than the "Frankenstorm" that the East Coast is getting! Please send your child in weather appropriate clothing so they will be comfortable at recess.

Three questions to ask your third grader:

1) What does the word sum mean? Give an example.

2) How are the story Penguin Chick and the documentary March of the Penguins similar?
3) What is a valley?

Communication Arts:

Story: A Day's Work

Skill: Summarizing

Spelling: words that end with le

http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/

Math:
Unit 3: Addition and Subtraction Situations
Unit 4: Figures, Angles, and Triangles

*We will be wrapping up Unit 3 this week and begin Unit 4.

 

Science:

Big Sky High School students will be working with our third graders to teach science lessons.

Mark Your Calendar!

Wednesday, 10/31/2012 - Halloween Celebration

Thursday, 11/1/2012 - Parent Teacher Conference Forms sent home

Friday, 11/2/2012 - Trimester 1 Ends / Big Sky Lesson

Wednesday, 11/7/2012 - Parent Teacher Conferences After School

Thursday, 11/8/2012 - Half Day for Students - Parent Teacher Conferences

We will celebrate Halloween on Wednesday, 10/31/2012. Students will participate in a school-wide parade. Costume must be school appropriate, not scary or bloody. We will continue the day with a classroom celebration.

 

Also, Parent/Teacher Conferences will be next Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon. Forms will go home this Thursday, 11/1/2012. Please return the form as soon as possible. Due to our class size, I would appreciate if families could attend conferences together so that I only need to have one conference per student. Also, I can do some conferences on Election Day, Tuesday, 11/6/2012. If you are voting at the Hawthorne School, we could conference before or after you vote. I look forward to seeing you all!

Love,

Ms. Senecal

Weekly Update 10/22/2012

Three questions to ask your third grader:

1) Create a Math Mountain with the number 5, 7, and 12.

2) How did the boy get knowledge in the fable What About Me?
3) What is missing from the Hawthorne office?

Communication Arts:

Story: Penguin Chick

Skill: Main Idea and Supporting Details

Spelling: Syllable Pattern 

http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/

Math:
Unit 3: Addition and Subtraction Situations

*We have been working on finding the unknown partner in Math. The unknown partner can be written in the form of an equation. 5 + __ = 12. Students set up a Math Mountain to find this unknown partner and should be able to write eight different equations!

Mark Your Calendar!

Monday, 10/22/2012 - Happy Birthday Xaria!

Thursday, 10/25/2012 - Northwest Energy Presentation

Thursday, 10/25/2012 - Pumpkin Carving 6:30 PM

Wednesday, 10/31/2012 - Halloween Celebration

We will celebrate Halloween on Wednesday, 10/31/2012. Students will participate in a parade. Costume must be school appropriate, not scary or bloody. We will continue the day with a classroom celebration. Thank you to Belinda and Lyndia for helping with the planning! If any other parents would like to help our class celebrate, please send me an email. cmsenecal@mcps.k12.mt.us

Love,

Ms. Senecal

Weekly Update 10/15/2012

We have spent time the past few weeks discovering Montana's Landforms. Over the weekend, I had a spectacular view of many of these landforms.



Lookout Cabin



Montana's Magnificent Landforms



Sunrise View



 Three questions to ask your third grader:

1) What is a quadrilateral? (Clue - Q.U.A.D)

2) Is a fable fiction or nonfiction?

3) We know five names for the figure below. How many can you think of?

Communication Arts:

Story: What About Me

Skill: Main Idea and Details & Summarizing

Spelling: Plural Nouns - add s, es, ies

http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/

Math:
Unit 3: Addition and Subtraction Situations

Mark Your Calendar!

Monday, 10/15/2012 - 500 Club Celebration. Way to go bookworms!

Wednesday, 10/17/2012 - Spelling Menu Activities Due

Thursday, 10/18/2012 - No School for Students
Friday, 10/19/2012 - No School for Students

Monday, 10/22/2012 - Developing Mathematic Ideas Training - Substitute

Tuesday, 10/23/2012 - Developing Mathematic Ideas Training - Substitute

Love,

Ms. Senecal

Weekly Update 10/8/2012

We had art today!

Shevonne, Weslee, Aiden, and Arabelle

Three questions to ask your third grader:
1) You can measure a line segment, but you can't measure a line. Why?

2) How do we sequence in Math? Spelling?

3) What is the high flyer focus this month?

Communication Arts:

We are finishing Unit 1 and will have a Unit Test on Wednesday. Student's in my reading group did not come home with spelling words today. Next week is a short week so we will begin the new story and spelling words on Thursday and be tested next Wednesday, 10/17/2012. Students will be able to practice over the weekend!

Story: What About Me

Skill: Summarize

Spelling: Plurals - Adding s and es

http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/

Math:

Unit 2: Lines, Line Segments, and Quadrilaterals

Social Studies:

Montana Geography: Landforms and Natural Resources

Say Cheese! Picture Day is Wednesday, 10/10/2012.

Mark Your Calendar!

Saturday, 10/6/2012 - Happy Birthday Ryan!

Monday, 10/8/2012 - Art

Tuesday, 10/9/2012 - Happy Birthday Gracie! 

Wednesday, 10/10/2012 - Picture Day! Unit 1 Reading Benchmark. Midterm Reports sent home.

Thursday, 10/11/2012 - Early Out and Papa John's Pizza Night! Look for the flyer!

Friday, 10/12/2012 - Reading Log due

Thursday, 10/18/2012 and Friday, 10/19/2012 - No school for students.

We will celebrate those students who have reached the goal of reading 100 minutes each week and made it into the 500 Club next Monday, 10/15/2012! Keep reading and returning reading logs on Friday!

Love,

Ms. Senecal

Weekly Update 10/1/2012

Happy October! It was wonderful to see so many of you at the Hawthorne Picnic. What a beautiful and fun evening! 

If you haven't heard, we recently welcomed Melissa Kirk to the third grade team. Mrs. Kirk will be teaching differentiated reading and math instruction. We are excited to have her!

Three questions to ask your third grader:
1) How are addition and subtraction related?

2) If someone is astonished, what might they look like?

3) Where do many rivers start?

Communication Arts:

Story: Tops and Bottoms

Skill: Fantasy vs. Realism and Sequencing

Spelling: Words with str, squ, thr, spl

http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/

Math:

Unit 1: Review and Test

Unit 2: Lines, Line Segments, and Quadrilaterals

Social Studies:

Montana Geography: Landforms and Natural Resources

Mark Your Calendar!

Monday, 10/1/2012 - Happy Birthday Ethan! Flagship begins.

Tuesday, 10/2/2012 - Math Unit 1 Test - no math homework!

Wednesday, 10/3/2012 - Math Unit 2 begins!

Thursday, 10/4/2012 - Early Out

Friday, 10/5/2012 - Spelling Menu and Reading Log due*

*Reading every night is an important part of developing a life long reader. Please help your child reach the goal of 100 minutes per week by reading at least 20 minutes each night. It can be silent reading, reading to a sibling, or a family read aloud. Signed reading logs are due each Friday. If your child's reading log is not turned in or signed, they will read during recess on Friday. Thank you for your support in this effort!

Love,

Ms. Senecal