November Update

Hello Third Grade Families,

It was wonderful to see so many of you at parent teacher conferences. I am so proud of our 3rd graders and the progress they have already made this year. Our next conference will be in March, but please get in touch with me anytime with questions or concerns. Here are some activities we have been up to. 

Ms. Senecal's class lined up for the Halloween Parade!

We are in the middle of our Project Lead the Way Flight Module. Students have been experimenting with balanced and unbalanced forces, flight simulations, and handheld propellers. 

We also took a fantastic field trip to the Museum of Mountain Flying. It is closed for the season, but I highly recommend a family trip during the summer. 

Communication Arts
In our current unit, we are studying a lot of informational (non-fiction) texts.
~I can identify the informational text features to improve my understanding of a text.
~I can determine the main idea and supporting details.

Math
We are continuing to work on multiplication and division. We are working on building fluency. You can practice at home online (click here), with dice, using playing cards, or with Dollar Store flashcards. Continue to make it fun!

Science
~I can apply a step-by-step design process to solve a problem.
~I can predict the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces.

Mark Your Calendar!
11/26/14 - 11/28/14 Thanksgiving Break
12/5/14 Fall Flagship Ends
12/17/14 Holiday Concert at 1:30
12/20/14 - 1/4/15 Holiday Break

Happy October!
3rd grade has been BUSY! Here's some things we've been working on.

3rd Graders tasting crops from our school garden.

Carrots!

Communication Arts
We are working on a unit of folktales, fairy tales, and fables. Here are some of the learning targets we are working on:
~I can identify the lesson of a story.
~I can describe the characters in a story and their motivations (goals). 
~I can sequence events in a story.

The kids really enjoy reading and listening to these types of stories. Click here to read some at home!

Math
We are working on multiplication and division with the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10 during this unit. We are focused on understanding the concept, but will begin working on fluency and learning multiplication facts. These can be practiced at home online (click here), with dice, using playing cards, or with Dollar Store flashcards. Make it fun!

Social Studies
We have been studying tribes of Montana, especially the location and traditions of the Salish. Students began working on year-long books where they will compare and contrast the traditions of the Salish to their own traditions each month. We will begin a Science unit soon!

Sharing our strengths with Ms. Bevington

October Dates
10/6/14 Happy Birthday Cole!
10/8/14 Midterms sent home. Please sign and return. I will make a copy and send home the original.
10/16/14 - 10/17/14 No school for students
10/22/14 Earthquake Drill
10/23/14 Pumpkin Carving at 6:30
10/28/14 Art!
10/31/14 Halloween Parade at 1:30 and Classroom Party at 2:00

Thank you to everyone who came to Open House and our class play!

Welcome to Third Grade!

Dearest Third Grader,                         

Welcome to third grade! My name is Ms. Senecal and I am thrilled to be your teacher. It is sure to be a year of learning and adventure!

I can’t wait to meet you, but let me tell you a few things about myself. I grew up in Upstate New York (not the big city) and had fantastic teachers which made me want to be one. After college, I spent a year living on the Mississippi River, rebuilding houses in New Orleans, and digging trail in Illinois. Before I came to Montana, I taught fourth graders in Virginia. I love to hike, travel, and read.

This summer, I had a lot of visitors who I took rafting, hiking, and biking. Here are a few pictures. I hope your summer was full of adventure.

Third grade is a very important year. You will become an aviator, a mathematician, and an author! Are you ready?

Love,

Ms. Senecal

Last Week

Wow, we are on our last week of school. These past few weeks have been BUSY and FUN! 

We finished our work with the Missoula Writing Collaborative and our resident Ms. Laurel. She put together an amazing website to show the students work. Click on the link below to check it out. She also created poetry anthologies which were sent home last week.
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/528229445606047745

Our class voted to have a final show and tell for each student. Our schedule for this week is below. 

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
Show and Tell for students with #1-10	Show and Tell for students with #11-20 Field Day @ 1:00	Show and Tell for students with #21-28	Last Day Dismissal @ 11:05

Please send students to school in tennis shoes and with sunscreen on for Field Day. Most student supplies will also be sent home on Tuesday.

Weekly Update 5/19/14

We had a naturalist from MPG Ranch visit our class. We learned all about the ranch and checked out 2 osprey cameras! Click below to check on the osprey.
South Camera
North Camera

Communication Arts
Story: Love That Dog
Skills: Literal and Figurative Language
Spelling: Individual Lists - see the back of your reading log
Writing: Poetry

Math
Unit 13: Measurement

Social Studies
Wildlife Discovery with Ms. Becky from Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge

Mark Your Calendar!
5/19/14 Wildlife Discovery with Ms. Becky in class
5/20/14 Writing Poetry with Ms. Laurel in class
5/21/14 Poetry Festival at C.S. Porter 4:00-6:00: students can read their poems!
5/23/14 Writing Poetry with Ms. Laurel in class
5/26/14 No School - Happy Memorial Day, Happy Birthday Brock!
5/27/14 Field Trip to MPG Ranch - send a lunch if you did not order one
5/29/14 Literacy Luncheon

Weekly Update 5/5/14

Communication Arts
Story: Elena's Serenade
Skills: Illustrations
Spelling: Related Words - Click to Practice!
Writing: Poetry with our Visiting Poet Ms. Laurel through the Writing Collaborative

Math
Unit 13: Measurement

Social Studies
Montana's Natural Resources

Mark Your Calendar!
5/5/14 - 5/9/14 Walk and Bike to School Week
5/6/14 MAP - Reading
5/7/14 National Bike to School Day - wear your neon shirt!
5/8/14 Flagship Ends
5/9/14 Ms. Wolf's Last Day

Weekly Update 4/27/14

**This week students need a swim suit and towel Wednesday and Friday! Lessons have been a splashing success so far!

Communication Arts
Story: Two Bad Ants
Skills: Illustrations
Spelling: Vowel Sounds in Tooth and Cook - Click to Practice!
Writing: Opinion Writing - The Best Restaurant

Math
Unit 13: Measurement

Social Studies
Montana's Natural Resources

Mark Your Calendar!
4/28/14 No School for Students - You lucky ducks! Enjoy!
4/29/14 Visiting Author through the Missoula Writing Collaborative
4/30/14 Swimming Lessons at the YMCA
5/1/14 Smarter Balanced Math Class Activity
5/2/14 AM: Smarter Balanced Math State Assessment
                PM: Swimming Lessons at the YMCA!

Weekly Update 4/21/14

**Students need a swim suit and towel Monday and Wednesday! Goggles are optional. Please send their swim gear in a bag. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help!

Communication Arts
Story: Talking Walls
Skills: Illustrations
Spelling: tion, sion, ture - Click to Practice!
Writing: Opinion Writing - The Best Restaurant - Ask your third grader their opinion on this topic. We will be mailing our finished pieces to local restaurants!

Math
Unit 13: Measurement

Social Studies
Montana's Natural Resources: Ms. Wolf has some great activities planned for Earth Day!

Mark Your Calendar!
4/20/14 Happy Easter
4/21/14 Swim Lessons at the YMCA
4/22/14 Math Smarter Balanced Assessment
4/23/14 Swim Lessons at the YMCA
4/24/14 Hawthorne's Spring Social 5:30-7:00
4/25/14 Writing Collaborative begins
4/26/14 Happy Birthday Johnny!
4/26/14-4/27/14 Hawthorne Outdoor Learning Community Installation Weekend!

Weekly Update 4/14/14

Oops, the blog took an extended Spring Break. Sorry for the lack of post last week. I was so impressed and appreciative of the great attitudes and learning behaviors students returned from Spring Break with. It made the transition back smooth.

Communication Arts
Story: Happy Birthday Mr. Kang
Skills: Literal vs. Figurative Language and Illustrations
Spelling: Schwa - unstressed vowel - Click to Practice!
Writing: Opinion Writing - The Best Restaurant - Ask your third grader their opinion on this topic. We will be mailing our finished pieces to local restaurants!

Math
Unit 12: 3D Figures
Unit 13: Measurement

Science
Science of Flight: We completed our final launch last week. Students worked hard to design, build, and launch gliders that would carry supplies into an area after a natural disaster. Pictures to come!

Social Studies
Montana's Natural Resources: Our student teacher Ms. Wolf, is working hard to develop this unit. She has some special activities planned for Earth Day.

Mark Your Calendar!
4/14/14 Art!
4/16/14 Happy Birthday Tory!
4/16/14 and 4/17/14 Smarter Balanced Assessment*
4/21/14, 4/23/14, 4/30/14, 5/2/14 Swim Lesson at the YMCA - students will need to bring swim suits and a towel. Goggles are optional.

*Smarter Balanced Assessments are the new state test we are participating in this year. This year is a field test. We are testing on the following dates. 4/16/14, 4/17/14, 4/22/14, 5/1/14, and 5/2/14. Please make sure students are well rested and encouraged on these days.

Weekly Update 3/24/14

Communication Arts
Unit 4 Review Week
Skills: Point of View and Informational Text Features
No spelling this week!
Writing: Opinion Writing - We will be reading and studying various picture books that share opinions and attempt to persuade the reader!

Math
Unit 10: Time
This is a short review unit.

Science
Science of Flight: We had a blast designing and launching gliders last week! We will redesign and continue launching this week.

Mark Your Calendar!
Monday 3/24/14: YMCA Swim Lesson Permission Slips sent home
Tuesday 3/25/14: Class and Individual Picture Day
Wednesday 3/26/14: Parent Teacher Conferences - evening
Thursday 3/27/14: Half Day for Students; Parent Teacher Conferences - afternoon
Friday 3/28/14 - Sunday 4/6/14: No School for Students - Happy Spring Break!

I look forward to seeing many of you this week for conferences!

Hawthorne in the News!

KGVO featured Mrs. Sorenson this week talking about our STEM program. Third graders, Andrew and Addison, are pictured with their gliders! Click here to check it out!

3/17/14

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I apologize for being so far behind. Third grade has been BUSY!

Communication Arts
Story: How My Family Lives in America
Skill: Informational Text Features and Point of View
Spelling: Homophones --> Spelling City
The test will be given using sentences to help students distinguish the homophones.
Writing: Opinion Writing: Ask you kid what makes a better pet, a cat or dog?

Math
Unit 11: Fractions
We will wrap up this unit this week with an assessment on Friday.

Science
Flight: The week is finally here! We will be building and launching gliders.

Mark Your Calendar!
3/18/14 Please return Parent Teacher Conference forms.
3/20/14 Winter Flagship Ends
3/26/14 Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00-8:00
3/27/14 Half Day for Students - Dismissal at 11:00; Parent Teacher Conferences 11:00-4:00
3/28/14 No School 
3/31/14 - 4/4/14 Spring Break!

Weekly Update 2/25/14

Communication Arts

Story: Prudy's Problem

Comprehension: Point of View

Spelling: Compound Words --> Spelling City

Vocabulary: collection, enormous, realize, scattered, shiny, strain, clutter, inspiration

Writing: Opinion Writing: Cats vs. Dogs

Math
Unit 11: Fractions, Decimals, and Probability
Click here for Fraction Games

Science Science of Flight --> Click here to learn more about Project Lead the Way



Dates to Remember



2/25/14 Family Science Night 5:30
2/25/14 Happy Birthday McKinley
2/28/14 Trimester 2 Ends

Family Science Night

Next Tuesday, February 25 is Hawthorne's Family Science Night! Each grade level will be showcasing activities from Project Lead the Way modules. Visit Ms. McGrew and I in her room to learn about flight using ipads and gliders! Dinner will be served at 5:30 and activities will begin around 6:00. I hope to see you there!

Weekly Update 2/17/14

Communication Arts

Story: If You Made a Million

Comprehension: Informational Text Features

Spelling: vowel digraphs

Vocabulary:

Writing: Biographies --> Students will present and listen to each other's biographies.

Math
Unit 11: Fractions, Decimals, and Probability

Dates to Remember
2/17/14 President's Day no school
2/18/14 Flagship begins
2/20/14 Patriotic Sing Along - wear red, white, and blue!
2/25/14 Family Science Night - we will be kicking off our Science of Flight unit!
2/25/14 Happy Birthday McKinley!

Acts of Kindness 2/14/14

This week our class completed Acts of Kindness to celebrate Valentine's Day! I gave students some ideas. Click on the link to see the ideas they came up with themselves and completed!

Acts of Kindness

Created with Padlet

Weekly Update 2/11/14

Communication Arts

Unit 3 Review Week

Story: Keep the Lights Burning, AbbieGenre: Historical Fiction

Comprehension: Character Traits and Sequence

Writing: Biographies --> Students are almost finished typing their reports

Spelling: no spelling this week

Math
Unit 8: Area and Perimeter

Dates to Remember
2/11/14 Happy Birthday Gus!
2/14/14 Flagship forms due
2/14/14 Happy Valentine's Day! A class list went home last Friday. We will celebrate Friday at 1:15 with a smoothie and movie party!
2/17/14 President's Day no school

Weekly Update 2/3/14

Happy February! 
This past week I attended a fantastic conference in Great Falls. The conference was focused on Math, integrating Common Core Standards, and making Math fun. I plan on implementing a lot of the new ideas I learned in the next few weeks. I also hope to start sending more ideas home. 

Communication Arts

Story: Suki's Kimono
Genre: Realistic Fiction

Comprehension: Character Traits

Writing: Biographies --> Ask your student who they are studying.

Spelling: Consonant = C Vowel = V: CVVC or CVV Click Here!

Click here to see student's perform this story!



Math
We will continue Unit 7: Multiplication and Division

Multiplication War
A fun way to practice multiplication facts is to play the card game war, with a twist. Each player throws 2 cards and must say the equation including the product of their cards. 2 x 4 = 8. The player with the greater product takes the cards. Be sure to use cards we have practiced and take out the rest. So far, we have practiced the multiples of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10.

Dates to Remember
2/3/14 Flagship forms sent home. Sign up for one of the awesome programs.
2/3/14 Art!
2/6/14 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony
2/14/14 Valentine's Day: I will send a class list home on Friday.

Weekly Update 1/29/14

Communication Arts
Story: America's Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle
Comprehension: Sequencing and Character Traits
Spelling: Suffixes er, or, ist Spelling City
Writing: Biographies
Math
Unit 7: Multiplication and Division with 0-5, 9, and 10
Students have been working hard on memorizing facts to earn their multiplication licenses. Keep practicing those facts! 3s this week!

Mark Your Calendar!
1/27/14 Ms. Wolf, our student teacher, begins
1/29/14-1/31/14 I will be at a conference in Great Falls. There will be a substitute and Ms. Wolf

Read for Peace on the News!

We were featured on the news for the MLK "Read for Peace" event. Click to watch!

Weekly Update 1/17/14

Sorry about the lack of posts! 2014 and third grade have been BUSY!

Today, a volunteer came to read a book about Martin Luther King, Jr. to our class. The kids thought a lot about Mr. King's message and what peace means. They wrote poems that will be in displayed at Missoula Public Library. ABC Montana News came in to take a quick video. Look for it tonight! I'll post a link if I can find it.

Also, Mrs. Gazdag, Dionysus' mom, brought in a pig heart and lungs. She taught the class about the the functions of these organs as she dissected.

Communication Arts
Story: Rocks in His Head
Comprehension: Sequencing and Character Traits
Spelling: Prefixes mid, pre, out, over Spelling City


Math
Unit 7: Multiplication and Division with 0-5, 9, and 10
Students have been working hard on memorizing facts to earn their multiplication licenses. Keep practicing those facts!

Mark Your Calendar!
1/20/14 No School - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
1/22/14 Glider Night - come help us cut out 60+ gliders 3:00 - 5:00
1/24/14 Midterm Reports sent home