Maybeury Elementary School
We had a special visitor today in third grade. Alex Mosley, a Highland Springs graduate and current defensive lineman from the James Madison University football team came to talk to us today! Alex told us what it takes to be a collegiate athlete, including the importance of working hard NOW in elementary school to set yourself up for a variety of different scholarships for college. What a treat to have another JMU Duke in our classroom for a bit of time today!
We know what multiplication is all about….it’s all about GROUPS!
This past week we learned about the basics of multiplication including the following vocabulary and concepts:
factors, product, arrays, equal groups, number lines, equivalent equations, the commutative property of multiplication
Ask your child to tell you about each of those terms! Enjoy a few pictures of arrays and word problems from this week…
So….subtracting is hard, right? I made a video that I hope will help you at home! Check out this video for some quick tips and reminders when subtracting. If you like this video, PLEASE, let me know and I will make more for other math skills and subject areas!
So much has been going on in our classroom, it’s about time I catch you all up!
Reading
*Our November book reports are due on Friday, November 30th. Remember that your child is reading a biography on a person of their choosing. They need to fill out the form attached to the project sheet sent home at the beginning of the month, and they will present their person to us on Friday using a poster. Please let me know if you can’t get a poster – I’m sure I can dig one up around here!
*We are now about halfway through our THIRD Roald Dahl book this year. We completed James and the Giant Peach, and Matilda. We are loving hearing all about Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. If you get a chance, ask your child to tell you how James, Matilda, and Charlie are all alike and how they are different!
*Word Study homework has been wonderful and I am really impressed at my student’s dedication to the letter patterns.
*We are learning about possessive nouns (nouns that show ownership.) Ask your child to tell you the difference between the words “boy’s” and “boys.”
Math
*We have started multiplication this week and are strictly focused on the different ways they will see and work with numbers in terms of multiplication in the future. Here are some terms and methods to show understanding of multiplication: factors, product, repeated addition, tally marks, equal groups, skip counting, drawing pictures, number lines, arrays, and how it relates to division. Ask your child to finish this sentence, “Multiplication is all about…..”
*We will be studying multiplication from now through January. Expect to see flashcards to slowly trickle home as we introduce the facts in class. There will be no flashcards this week. Next week (Dec. 3-7) you will see 2’s, 10’s and 5’s coming home. Have your child practice these every night before bedtime, in the morning during breakfast, or in the car while running around town. Even 5 minutes of practice a day can add up to 35 minutes in seven short days!
Science
*This week we are learning about life cycles of plants and animals. Ask your child to tell you how a human baby looks compared to their parents and how a frog baby looks compared to their parents!
We will be going to the Math & Science Innovation Center for a field trip about SPIDERS on Monday, December 3rd from 9:30 to 11:00. Your child will not need a special lunch that day because we will be back before our regular lunch is scheduled. If you were a child in the Richmond area, you might remember this as a field trip where you got to touch spiders…but rest assured (as I breathe a heavy sigh of relief) that there will be NO touching of spiders on this trip!
Graded papers will be coming home this week on Thursday, November 29th. Please sign and return any tests and be sure to talk to your child about their grades and effort!
As always, please let me know if there is anything I can do for you!
Did you hear about our day at school? Today, your children helped me find a recipe for and make two batches of Homemade Rosemary Mint Sugar Scrub. Through the activity, your child learned how to conduct a safe search on www.safesearchkids.com (a child-safe engine search powered by Google), learned to read the search results and determine which one fit our needs. They even converted a recipe to make two batches at once! We talked about the three states of matter and how all three were present in our recipe. That’s reading, math, and science taking place in 45 minutes! I have added the recipe here in case you’d like to make some at home. It’s very simple and child friendly.
Over the past week, we have been talking about our own American heroes – Veterans! In getting ready for Veteran’s Day, we have been watching a Pentagon documentary on the Old Guard – the men who protect the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. What my students have been the most amazed with is that no matter the weather – snow, sleet, hurricane – the Old Guard still protects the Tomb. Check out a picture from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier today and show this to your children! They are going to love it! Stay safe and I’ll see you when I see you!
And so is a hurricane?!?! Either way, have a great weekend and stay safe! Here’s a picture from our class at recess today. What a great group of good-looking students!
Wow! We have had a terrific two weeks! Here are some highlights:
-Your children are working on earning compliments from adults around the building for their hallway, cafeteria, & “specials” behavior. For every compliment, they earn a link that starts at the ceiling. When it hits the floor, they decided they want to have a pizza and movie lunch. We’ve already made it halfway!
-We are reading James & the Giant Peach after lunch each day. You wouldn’t believe the trouble that James and his giant insect friends are getting themselves into! Ask your child what happened today.
-Your children are learning how to work in a group to complete tasks. Today, they were asked to write specific directions on how to make a peanut butter & jelly sandwich in groups of 4. I was looking for complete sentences in a reasonable sequence. Ask your child what happened when I acted out their directions!
Overall, your children are special, special little people and I am enjoying getting to know them! Thanks for all your hard work and dedication to their education!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
6:00 pm
Parents & Guardians,
I would like to invite you to join me for a Back to School night on Wednesday, September 19th from 6:00 pm in our classroom, room 101. The official PTA Donahoe Back to School night will be held the next night, on Thursday, September 20th at 6:00 pm in the gym. Ours will be the night before due to a family event I have planned for Thursday night.
I understand that coming to Donahoe two nights in a row can be stressful for parents with children in multiple grades. I would encourage you to go to PTA on Thursday night, but swing by our classroom and pick up a packet of information that will be located on the desk just outside of the door.
For those of you that can come on Wednesday night, we will be reviewing classroom rules and expectations, homework, behavior, and I will answer any questions you may have.
I realize this is not the ideal set up, but I appreciate your understanding the importance of family! As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns you may have!
Thank you,
Donahoe Elementary (804) 328-4035
I can’t wait to meet my new students! Join me for a Donahoe Open House from 1 to 3 pm on Thursday, August 30th! Please bring your school supplies if you have them so I can sort through them and we can be ready for the first day of school without all the craziness! Feel free to e-mail me any questions!
wabeck@henrico.k12.va.us
As July winds down and we start seeing the school supplies in the stores, go ahead and pick up a few things at a time so it doesn’t seem so overwhelming in late August!
I have included the Third Grade Supply List below and you can get the other grade level lists by clicking here!
Third Grade
Please label all supplies
3 boxes 24 count of # 2 YELLOW pencils
4 highlighters
Safety Scissors (labeled)
12 Glue Sticks
* 2 boxes of crayons (24 count) NO colored pencils or markers
1 package Wide Ruled loose leaf paper
1 – Two pocket poly folder
***************4 marble composition books (black, red, yellow, green) – SUPER important!
3 large boxes of tissues for classroom use
Zippered pouch for storing supplies (no pencil boxes)
Boys – 1 large box of gallon size Ziploc bags
Girls – 1 large box of sandwich size Ziploc bags
Hand Sanitizer or wet wipes
2 bottles white glue
1 pack 3 x 5 index cards
1 clipboard flat spring style
Flashcards (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)
Erasers
1 book sock
2 red pens
We spent all day Friday playing various review games to stir our brains up for SOL testing. Check out these smarties in togas!
Have you heard? We’re starting our SOLs next week! The schedule is as follows:
Monday, May 28 – No School, Happy Memorial Day!
Tuesday, May 29 – REVIEW!!!
Wednesday, May 30 – Reading (1st half)
Thursday, May 31 – Reading (2nd half)
Friday, June 1 – History
Monday, June 4 – REVIEW!
Tuesday, June 5 – Math
Wednesday, June 6 – Science
Thursday, June 7 – BREATHE!
Please help your child study! Here are some things you can/should use!
*binder sent home last week
*notebooks sent home this week
*Study Island (link on our class PortaPortal)
*VDOE website (click the link and your child knows what to do)
*any links on our PortaPortal
Please contact me if you have ANY questions or concerns!
Miss Beck
(804) 328 – 4035
We had a glorious time in Charlottesville today. Be on the lookout for more pictures and reflections on our trip coming soon. In the mean time, enjoy this picture of the West Front.
Parents, check out this list of things that your child *should* be able to be independently completing by each year of age all the way up to 18. What are your thoughts on this list? Too broad? Not specific enough? I’d love to hear what you think! Click on the link below….
This is School Counselor’s week and we wanted to list some reasons why school counselors help us to become better students. Thank you, Mrs. Lahrman!
Have you checked out the Live Richmond Webcam on our very own Bald Eagles? Check it out!
We are getting rid of these old cabinets from the 1970’s! Check out the progress below!
And the final product! How beautiful!
What can your child use to study for these mid-year benchmarks?
-subject notebooks
-Reading Textbook (for reading obviously)
-old papers you have saved at home
-graded tests in SOL binder
-links on our class portaportal website
Please let me know if I can help in any way! If you have found some great sites that other families might be able to use at home – leave a comment to let us know!
Miss Beck
Boys and girls – do you ever feel like this guy? After talking to you all this morning, it seems that a LOT of us have felt sick lately. What do you think we can do to prevent us from catching germs?
From Ai-Zane’ to you!
“Parents, your kids, my friends, have been doing good in math. Division is really hard! But it’s starting to make sense now, so we’re doing pretty good!”
I have noticed in looking at our XtraMath, First in Math, and Study Island pages that there are some all-star students who have been working hard over break! Thanks for being so dedicated Ai-Zane’, Destiny, Gracie, and Nicholas! I can’t wait to see the rest of you on Monday!
Happy New Year!
Miss Beck
Dear parents, I often wonder how you keep your children productively occupied over winter and summer breaks. I have put together a website called a “Portaportal” that you can access from any computer anywhere, as long as you have the link (see below.) I will be adding sites to this list over break – so have your child check back often. I will also be sending home a note tomorrow complete with your child’s passwords to many of these sites that are locked without the password. Please let me know if you find that some of the links are broken, or if you have a site link that you think other families would benefit from accessing! Thanks for all you do! Miss Beck
http://guest.portaportal.com/wabeck
Click on the 4 for a great YouTube link for 4 times table practice!
Dear Parents,
report cards are coming home today, and they are full of things to look at, sign and return to me tomorrow. Feel free to keep your child’s awards at home and make a big deal about them – they have been working hard for those! Please do not seal the envelopes as you send them back. Each child is only allowed to have one envelope per year! Thanks for all you do!
Miss Beck
