September Newsletter
Ms. Looney
We're Off to a Fantastic Start in Third Grade!
Reading Workshop
We began the school year discussing our summer reading and revisited "The Keeping Quilt" by Patricia Polacco. Students shared their special family traditions and designed a quilt square to add to our third grade class keeping quilt. Students are creating presentations in computer class about their favorite Polacco book. We are enjoying our class read aloud, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. An unexpected discovery has taken place too - we are finding a lot of math in this novel! Hmm...there may be a reading fair project on the horizon that involves finding math, science, and/or social studies in a favorite novel! Stay tuned for more details!
Writing Workshop
We spent the first two weeks of school setting up our writing workshop routine and getting organized. Students enjoyed decorating and personalizing their writer's notebooks. We generated ideas for writing by making a map of our hearts. This week we started writing descriptive color poems. Students are learning to add vivid details and description to their writing. We will learn our new word study activities and undercurve cursive letters.
We collaborated on Our first class poem today!
Math
Third Grade Is Going Global
International Dot Day
The Global Read Aloud
I am excited to share that my third grade class will participate in The Global Read Aloud project this school year. The Global Read Aloud project kicks off on Monday, October 5th and takes place over a 6-week period. We will read A Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt and collaborate with a third grade class at Davis Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. I connected with the classroom teacher, Ms. Michele Shapiro, through twitter #GRA15. She has a class of 18 students, 11 boys and 7 girls - very close to my 10 boys and 7 girls! We are excited to read this book with our classes and make as many global connections as possible. Ms. Shapiro and I have already thought of ways to connect our students and their thinking (Skype, twitter, email, etc.). She suggested using padlet and when I told her I was not familiar with it, she responded: "I love using padlet because it is very easy. It is pretty much a place to ask a question and then have people respond right on the same page. You can add a picture or video too! Here is an example of how I used it with the students’ parents for a discussion question: http://padlet.com/mshapiro/qma209hc6omd"
I love this type of collaboration and I am excited for my students to share ideas with Ms. Shapiro's class and hopefully a few more classes across the globe! You can learn more about The Global Read Aloud in the link below.
Lower School Conference Day Sign Up
I am also available to meet the week prior to conference day. Please email me if you would like to meet during one of the additional times I have available.
Additional conference times:
Monday September 28 "D"
9:35-10:05
Tuesday September 29 "E"
12:50-1:20
1:50-2:20
2:55-3:25
Wednesday September 30 "A"
1:50-2:20
2:55-3:25
Thursday October 1 "B"
9:55-10:25
1:50-2:20
2:25-2:55
Friday October 2
Sign Up on PTC Wizard
Join Remind
Text @esdpa to 81010
If that does not work, try texting @esdpa to (832) 850-2230 instead.
Important Dates
Tuesday September 15 - International Dot Day (dot clothing allowed)
Thursday September 17 - Back to School Night 4:30-6:00Friday September 18 - Lower School Conference Day Sign Up Open (PTC Wizard)
Wednesday September 21 - International Peace Day
September 22-23 - Lower School Picture Day
Thursday September 24 - Elizabeth Anne Worsham Visiting Author, Grace Lin 12:45-1:30
Wednesday Sept. 30 & Thurs. October 1 - Lower School Pumpkin Patch & Book Fair
Thursday October 1 - Marathon Kids Family Run 7:00
Friday October 2 - Lower School Conference Day
Monday October 5 - Our Class Global Read Aloud Begins (Fish in a Tree)
Wednesday October 7 - Lower School Eucharist
Friday October 9-12 - Fall Break - Enjoy!
Friday October 23 - Spooktacular Carnival
Birthdays
Happy Birthday Colin! - August 15th
Happy Birthday Lyle! - August 18th
Happy Birthday Betsy! - August 31st
Happy Birthday Sophie! - September 8th
Happy Birthday Hutch! - September 14th
Amber Looney
Email: looneya@esdallas.org
Website: esdallas.org
Phone: 312-404-2041
Twitter: @mslooneyesd