Thank you parents for supporting your child's M-Step success. Not one single student in room A210 had to take a make-up M-Step. I so appreciate everyone's efforts. Especially your 3rd grader's; that ELA test was long!
Please continue to encourage your child to read their baggie book each night. Those will continue through the end of May. On Wednesday the 24th, Jeffers student council will have a bake sale. All items cost fifty cents. There will also be a Girls on the Run lemonade sale on the 24th and 26th for fifty cents a cup. May 26th will be a big day. Celebration day will take place in the afternoon. In the morning, the 4th grade has invited us to their Market Day. Items made by 4th graders will be on sale for prices between $0.75-$2.00. Please send your child with money if you wish for them to make purchases. Here are some talking points from our week:
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The M-Step continues this coming week, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. Math is the focus this time. All efforts to have your child present at school during this testing time are appreciated.
Please remember your child should be bringing home a just-right book to read every evening. This will continue through the month of May. Thank you to all who have turned in permission slips and money for our visit to John Ball Park Zoo on May 31st. Your child will be presenting a really cool STEAM project they have been working on with Mrs. Kipling and Mrs. Andrews, as well as an informational report while there. You won't want to miss it. The "official" parent chaperones for the zoo trip have been contacted. However, any and all are welcome to meet us there and join in the fun. Just be aware you will need to pay the zoo's admission fee. SUMMER LEARNING LOSS - It is real, even for our best learners. According to Oxford Learning, over the summer students typically lose......
Here are some dates to mark on your calendars:
Tomorrow is our first day of M-Step. Any accommodations you can make to ensure your child is here on time, with their iPad FULLY CHARGED, are appreciated. Likewise, your efforts to avoid any early dismissals and/or medical appointments tomorrow are kindly requested. Ensure your third grader, as I will, that all we expect of them is to do their best. I am confident we are going to be successful!
Please note there are many upcoming dates you will want to mark in your calendars.
M-Step will be taking place the week after next. As with many new experiences, this may cause a bit of worry for some of my third grade friends. Please reassure your child that M-Step is no different than anything else in that their only job is to try their best. Beyond that, they can also prepare by getting a good night's rest the night before and eating a healthy breakfast the morning of the test.
April is autism awareness month and we had lots of special activities to raise awareness among our Jeffers community. Thank you for the support, donations, and enthusiasm. In room A210 we celebrate our uniqueness and believe "Normal is boring!" Thank you as always for your continued support of your child's learning. Baggie books will still come home throughout May. Remember, 90 minutes of reading per day is necessary for kid's to stay on grade level. Here are some talking points from our week:
April is Autism Awareness month and the Jeffers special education teachers did some cool stuff to help raise everyone's awareness and knowledge of autism. Ask your child about the sensory room experience and other activities we've had lately.
Summer is fast approaching. I am including information on a Barnes & Noble summer reading opportunity. Just click here. Also consider summer tutoring. Let's make it a priority to diminish summer learning loss. Some talking points from our week:
So much has gone on this week it might be hard to fit it all into one blog post.
Please remind you child to read their baggie books at home EVERY NIGHT. Many have gotten out of this habit since spring break. On Wednesday we got a visit from the John Ball Zoo. They brought along some of their animals and talked to us about what sorts of thoughts go into creating their habitats in the zoo. All of the third grade got to spend the entire day Thursday learning about Michigan lumberjacks in the 1800s. Lots of pics are included on the photos page. Check them out! Students learned a very short unit in math focusing on classifying and describing shapes using precise mathematical terms. This was a tough unit, so we will spend some time reviewing before taking a test. So far, we are all experts on ONE of the following animals:
Some talking points from this week:
This week was all about the birds & the bees. That's right, we learned all about the characteristics of plants, how they make food, adapt, & even reproduce. Ask your child to share the pollination song.
We also enjoyed an assembly with the poet and songwriter Kevin Kammeraad. He and his puppet Jacob told us all about how he gets his ideas for his poems and songs and encouraged us to "play with words." Next week we will become researchers, becoming experts on specific animals. Now that spring has sprung, I am noticing goofier behaviors springing up in room A210. Please continue to help your child stay organized and make good choices each day. This will make the final weeks of school as pleasant as possible. Here are some talking points from our week:
Some important upcoming dates:
It was truly a delight to meet with so many of you at conferences recently & share the growth your child has made this year. Thank you for being such an active supporter of your child's education.
Many of you wanted to know how you could further assist your child with their reading. I have included a list of questions that you can ask your child about their books. In particular, I would encourage you to ask them beyond & about the text questions. These will truly deepen their comprehension. These kiddos were fraction rock stars on our latest math test. We are now focusing on measurement of time, capacity, & mass with both standard AND metric systems. Michigan, like our nation, has 3 branches of government. We spent some time learning about those branches, who is in them, & what their jobs are. Lots of ick going around our school lately, Keep your kiddos healthy!!! Here are some talking points from our past week:
Just in case you didn't know it, March is Reading Month & we absolutely celebrate it here at Jeffers! You should have received three handouts this week with information on all the fun we will have during this month. If you didn't, let me know!
Our character studies unit is drawing to an end. Kids will have an opportunity to show me their growth next week Wednesday. I'm excited!!! I just KNOW they're going to do great. Students are still working on the final draft of their fairy tales. Sometimes it's hard for a third grader to understand that revision & editing might mean making changes to a story. We are working hard to understand that doing those things only makes our writing stronger! "I love fractions!" That's a phrase I've been hearing this week & it just warms my little teacher heart. Hopefully they still feel this way at the END of the unit. I am looking forward to meeting with all of you at parent-teacher conferences. Please make all efforts to be punctual to your conference time & I promise to do the same. Fifteen minutes is simply not enough time to talk about how amazing your child is, but I'm going to try! Here are some talking points from our week:
We have wrapped up the last full week of February, though it has felt more like April. For better or worse, the winter weather should be returning this weekend.
This coming week will bring some more new learning opportunities. Our next focus in reading will be in comparing & contrasting characters in different stories. Similarly we will be comparing fractions in math. I am also hopeful that we will complete the final drafts of our original fairy tales by Friday. Also next week, Jeffers will kick off our March is Reading Month activities. Emails and hand outs will be coming soon with details. The kick-off assembly will be March 1st at 9AM. This coming Monday will be the Honors Choir concert. Please send your child to school with what they will need on Monday. Contact Mrs. Kaufman with questions. Have you scheduled your child's spring parent-teacher conference yet? If not, you will need to do so soon. Spots are filling up quickly. Our class is going to be in the Tribune!!! NEXT week Friday (March 3rd) we will be the featured classroom of the week. Can't wait for the community to see these amazing kiddos! Some talking points from our week are:
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