Counting Seeds!

Last post of the night!  Here are some pictures of the class counting seeds from the fruits you donated for our investigation.  Thanks so much for your generosity.  We had a fabulous time dissecting...and tasting! 

Pomegranate Dissection



Eager Tasters!

Mixed Results!





Meet Miss Head!

Hello Parents!

My name is Kristen Head and I will be student teaching in your child’s classroom for the remainder of the year. I am very excited to share this experience with your child and Mrs. Johnsen. I have only been in their classroom for a few days and I have already learned so much! They will teach me as much as I will teach them.

I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about myself. I am from Dow City, Iowa. It is a small town located on the Western part of Iowa. I am the youngest of 3 children. I have 2 older brothers, Scott and Wesley. I am your average small town girl. I love outdoor activities and spending time with my family. In my free time, I enjoy reading, playing games, and watching movies. I am a senior at the University of Iowa. I am majoring in Elementary Education with endorsements in reading, math, and social studies. After I graduate in May, I hope to find a teaching job somewhere in Iowa.

On my first day in your child’s classroom, I had a stack of letters on my desk from each student telling me a little bit about each one of them and giving me advice on how to be a good teacher. I wanted to thank them and answer their questions, so I wrote each student back. We have developed a 2-way form of communication to get to know each other and ask questions. I would like to get to know your child as much as possible. I feel that the more I know your child, the more I can contribute to their learning and alter my instruction to best fit their needs. Therefore, I have also planned to eat lunch with 4 students every Tuesday for the remainder of the year. I have randomly chosen students and created a schedule we can follow.
I am very excited for this opportunity and hope to meet you soon!

Sincerely,

Kristen Head

Weekly Update!

Good evening!  I hope your families are staying healthy.   My daughter, Matilda, made a cameo in the classroom this morning while I waited for my husband to come rescue her and take her home sick. We have had quite a bit of illness surrounding us lately.  Thankfully, we have been sanitizing those desks!

Curriculum Update:

Reading:  This week's main selection is called Dogzilla by Dav Pilkey.  Our comprehension strategies are determining cause and effect and using it to summarize what we have read.  The small group books will help to reinforce these skills.

Spelling:  Students are practicing spelling the vowel sounds heard in the words boot and cook. 

Grammar:  We are identifying how to appropriately use the past tense of irregular verbs.  Ex:  He will come to the house.  He came to the house last week.  He has come the house before.

Writing:  Students will begin brainstorming ideas and planning a persuasive essay this week. 

Math:  We started Unit 7:Multiplication and Division this past week. Unit 7 extends the basic multiplication and division skills that we learned in the first half of the year. Unit 7 has four main areas of focus:

• To review multiplication and division patterns
• To extend basic multiplication facts
• To practice making estimates of costs
• To explore ratios and geometric figures

Students have fact triangles that they have cut out at school. They keep these in the zipper pocket of their Leopard Books. Students should be bringing these home to practice each night.  

Here is the Everyday Mathematics website below. I encourage your child to play Baseball Multiplication. If it seems too difficult at first, have your child use a multiplication table to help them.  Please let me know if you would like me to print off a copy for your use at home.

https://emgames.everydaymathonline.com/demosite/demo_chooser_3.html

Science:  We started our new unit called Structures of Life.  The students are very excited about it!  Today we discussed our thoughts when completing the sentence, "When I think of seeds, it makes me think of..."  Tomorrow, students will observe the properties of bean pods.  Thank you to all of you who sent fruit in with your child!  We will be using those fruits on Wednesday to observe and count seeds. 

**Students should continue working on their Optimist Good Reader Program reading and summaries.  The due date for this program is Friday, February 15. 

**Please help your child remember to share his/her planners with you on a daily basis, especially if a signature is needed for late assignments. 

**Stay tuned for an introduction to our fabulous student teacher, Miss Head!  She will be "guest posting " very soon!

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Johnsen

johnsen.jill@iccsd.k12.ia.us

Good morning third grade parents!  We have been having a great week so far.  Here is a brief update on what we have been doing in class.

Reading:  The kids really enjoyed reading a small book titled Dino Sue by Conchita Gomez and our main selection called The Albertosaurus Mystery by T.V. Padma.  We had wonderful discussions about how good readers are similar to paleontologists.  Paleontologists use clues to draw conclusions about the past.  We, as readers, find clues in texts in order to draw conclusions about what the author is trying to tell us.  Our small group books will also be about dinosaurs and the discoveries that have helped scientists to better understand them. 

As many of you are aware, we have a new class pet that has joined us this week!  The kids have had so much fun watching him stomp around, roar, dance, purr, eat, and wag his tail.  Here is a picture of our class with Rex, the T-Rex dinosaur.

Spelling:  Students have been practicing spelling the /j/ sound with a g followed by e, i, or y and the /s/ sound with a c followed by e, i, or y. 

Math:  The kids worked hard on their Unit 6 Geometry assessment yesterday!  We will be spending the rest of the week reviewing concepts covered throught the first half of the school year. 

Science:  The Water Unit test was handed back and reviewed yesterday.  Please look it over with your child, sign it, and send it back with him/her.

Social Studies:  We began Chapter 4 of our Social Studies Alive! Communities and Beyond text this week.  Great conversations about immigration have occurred.  We read a historical fiction piece titled Tell Me a Story  by Megan Mac Donald and have explored some interactive websites about immigration to Ellis Island.

**Some Reminders: 

Please check the Spring Conference Sign-up sheet that was sent via email.  If you signed up during Open House in the fall, please make sure that date/time still works for you.  If you are not listed on the sign-up, please send me your top three choices for dates/times.  If none work for you, let me know and we can arrange to meet at another time.

Students should be making some progress on their Optimist Good Reader Program by now.  Please check in with your child to be sure they have been reading/writing summaries for their books. 

On Tuesday, January 22, we will be welcoming University of Iowa College of Education student Kristen Head into our classroom!  Miss Head will be completing her student teaching semester with us before graduating in May!

***We are in need of some Clorox disinfecting wipes and tissues!  If you have any you can share with our class, please send them in.  Thanks!

Have a great rest of the week!

Mrs. Johnsen

johnsen.jill@iccsd.k12.ia.us

Happy New Year!

Hello families!  I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season and that the first week of the new year has been treating you well!  My husband, children, and I traveled to both Minneapolis and Chicago and are looking forward to spending next weekend in our own home. 

It was so wonderful to open the door last Thursday morning and see all of your children's smiling faces!  I missed them all very much throughout our two weeks off of school.

Curriculum Update:

Reading:  This week's main selection is called A Mr. Rubbish Mood which is an exerpt from a chapter book by Megan McDonald titled Judy Moody Saves the World!  Students will be using this text and their small group books to find details for the authors' purposes for writing.  Each of the selections we read this week will also focus on the impact we have on our environment and how we can work together to make our world a healthy place. 

Grammar:  Students are learning to identify whether adjectives are used to describe nouns by telling what kind, which one, or how many. 

Spelling:  The pattern this week is called the "vowel + r sound in air and fear.  The three ways to spell these sounds are ear, are, and air. 

Writing:  Students will be identifying the important parts of a persuasive letter as well as composing one on their own. 

Math:  We are continuing our geometry unit.  This week, students will be learning about lines of symmetry and building and exploring polyhedrons. 

Science:  We have completed the investigations for the Water unit in science!  The unit assessment was originally planned for Tuesday, January 8, but we decided to move it back one day to Wednesday, January 9th.  We are needing more time to go back and revisit some of those earlier investigations.  Your child should have brought home a science composition notebook and a blue guide sheet.  Students should be reviewing each investigation and what they learned in order to help them be prepared for the assessment on Wednesday.  Please help them remember to bring their notebooks back to school tomorrow for extra review. 


Putting water to work by building waterwheels:

Some enjoyed getting wet more than others...

Torro!  Torro!

Observing condensation on our chambers...

Practicing the Water Cycle Dance!

Liquid water on the ground

The sun is coming up

Eee...vaaaaaporation!

Connnnnn....densation!

Preeeee.....cipitation!

**Stay tuned for information on the upcoming Optimist Good Reader Program!
Have a wonderful night and a great rest of the week!  As always, please feel free to comment or contact me via email or phone.
Mrs. Johnsen
johnsen.jill@iccsd.k12.ia.us