Week of January 24

  

Students had a blast snowshoeing at the Sarett Nature Center this week. They not only learned how to snowshoe, but learned about the history of snowshoes, the types of snowflakes, and how certain animals survive in the snow!

We will be ice skating at the Howard Arena the following week!

Mrs. Knuth's class will go on Thursday, February 3rd and Mr. Persenaire's class and Miss Yoder's class will be going on Friday, February 4th.
Complete the following form for your student's ice skate shoe size:

Mrs. Knuth: Shoe Size

Mr. Persenaire: Shoe Size

Miss Yoder: Shoe Size

The next report will be due on Friday, February 11th. 

This is a great time to do some goal setting with your child and figure out how many pages or chapters your child will need to read to finish in time. To step it up a bit this time we would like students to work on adding evidence to show how their characters in the story demonstrated the character traits reported.

We are in need of the following supplies to continue to be successful here at school:

• pencils
• kleenex
• notecards (for multiplication flashcards)
• Headphones--please check in with your student to make sure they have a pair of working headphones. We use them daily and many are missing them.

 💙What We Learned This Week 💛

💙Language Arts: This week, we continue to meet in small group instruction to work on comprehension and asking/answering questions. 

💛Writing: We have continued working on our informational writing. Students have begun writing their final drafts with the goal being completed early next week. 

💙Math: We have taken our multiplication a step further this week and are using all four operations to solve multi-step word problems. Students will determine the steps in the problem and represent it in the form of an equation then solve for an answer.

💛Science: We have paused Science while we begin our next Social Studies unit.

💙Social Studies:  We have completed Chapter 3 and will work on reviewing next week. Test day will be announced on Monday. Students are learning about explorers from far away including the first Frenchman to arrive, the founder of the city of Detroit, and various other explorers.

💙WORD STUDY💛

Next week, we will be working on long "o" vowel patterns in accented syllables. These are the words your student needs to know for the Friday check: 

suppose, rowboat, stolen

Week of January 17

 

 💙Winter Conferences💛

It is time for winter conferences! Please make sure to check your email for a message from your student's teacher. If you would like to have a conference with your student's teacher and did not receive a conference invitation, please reach out and let us know! 

We are going on our first field trip next week! We will be visiting the Sarett Nature Center to learn about snowshoeing and how snow travel was done long ago. Students will also have the opportunity to snowshoe through the nature trails. This field trip will be taking place on January 25th and we will be leaving at 9:00 am and returning around 11:30 am.

We will be ice skating at the Howard Arena the following week!

Mrs. Knuth's class will go on Thursday, February 3rd and Mr. Persenaire's class and Miss Yoder's class will be going on Friday, February 4th.
Complete the following form for your student's ice skate shoe size:

Mrs. Knuth: Shoe Size

Mr. Persenaire: Shoe Size

Miss Yoder: Shoe Size

Students are working hard on finishing their read-to-self books as well as creating thoughtful and accurate book reports. The next report will be due on Friday, January 28th. This is a great time to do some goal setting with your child and figure out how many pages or chapters your child will need to read to finish in time. To step it up a bit this time we would like students to work on adding evidence to show how their characters in the story demonstrated the character traits reported.

We are in need of the following supplies to continue to be successful here at school:

• pencils
• kleenex
• notecards (for multiplication flashcards)
• Headphones--please check in with your student to make sure they have a pair of working headphones. We use them daily and many are missing them.

Please help to ensure that your child has a mask that fits appropriately and will remain over the nose during classroom time. It is expected students come to school wearing a mask as well as being able to properly wear it throughout the day. We do have masks in case one breaks at some point. However, there is not an unlimited supply of masks at school and we have been handing out quite a few masks lately. We have expressed the importance of wearing masks at schools with our students as we want to keep everyone safe and healthy.

 💙What We Learned This Week 💛

💙Language Arts: This week, we continue to meet in small group instruction to work on comprehension and asking/answering questions. 

💛Writing: We have continued working on our informational writing. Students have completed Chapter 3 as well as their Introductions and Conclusions. They will be determining which words they would like in their glossary. Students will begin writing their final drafts next week. 

💙Math: We have taken our multiplication a step further this week and are learning to multiply one-digit by two-digit numbers. Students will use a break apart strategy to break a bigger fact into smaller facts to find the answer. 

💛Science: We have paused Science while we begin our next Social Studies unit.

💙Social Studies:  This week we have started our next Social Studies unit! Students are learning about explorers from far away including the first Frenchman to arrive, the founder of the city of Detriot, and various other explorers.

💙WORD STUDY💛

Next week, we will be working on long "i" vowel patterns in accented syllables. These are the words your student needs to know for the Friday check: 

surprise, minus, supply

Week of January 10

 

Nutcracker Recording: If anyone recorded even portions of The Nutcracker, please share it with Mrs. Richards at erichards@stjoebears.com. It was recorded but without sound. 

Hearing and Vision Screening has been postponed. We will let you know when it is being rescheduled. We will save the slips that were turned in for that time. *Please have your student bring in this slip if they have not done so already.

NO SCHOOL - January 17th, 2022 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. 

NWEA TESTING: is scheduled for next week on Tuesday and Wednesday from 9:15 - 10:00 am on both days. 

Book Reports: Students have completed and shared their first book report since returning from winter break. Students who did not finish in time will be working on reading their books and completing the book reports next week during recess as we would like to keep them caught up and progressing with their independent reading skills. We want to encourage students to read, but also take responsibility for when assignments are due. The next report will be due in two weeks (Jan. 28th). This is a great time to do some goal setting with your child and figure out how many pages or chapters your child will need to read to finish in time. 

We are in need of the following supplies to continue to be successful here at school:

• pencils
• kleenex
• notecards (for multiplication flashcards)
• Headphones--please check in with your student to make sure they have a pair of working headphones. We use them daily and many are missing them.
• Masks--please help to ensure that your child has a mask that fits appropriately and will remain over the nose during classroom time. 

E. P. Clarke will be accepting donations for the Warming Hearts Kits to support the local homeless population until Wednesday, January 19th. Donations can be placed in the boxes in the hallway around the school. Any and all help to support this awesome cause is appreciated!

 💙What We Learned This Week 💛

💙Language Arts: This week, we continue to meet in small group instruction to work on comprehension and asking/answering questions. 

💛Writing: We have continued working on our informational writing. Students completed Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 this week.

💙Math: This week, we have explored the relationship between division and multiplication. Students also made flashcards for the multiplication facts of 0's, 1's, and 2's. We will continue to create flashcards as we progress through the multiplication facts.

💛Science:  We reviewed our last science unit, Animals Through Time, and completed the test. Those tests were sent home with your student. Ask them what they learned! 

💙Social Studies:  We will resume social studies next week.

💙WORD STUDY💛

Next week, we will be working on long "a" vowel patterns in accented syllables. These are the words your student needs to know for the Friday check: 

crayon, complaint, bracelet, label

Week of January 3

Swimming: Unfortunately, our trip to the Aquatic Center has been postponed. We hope to reschedule it later in the school year. We will hold on to the permission slips that were turned in. 

Nutcracker Recording: If anyone recorded the Nutcracker, please share it with Mrs. Richards at erichards@stjoebears.com. It was recorded but without sound. 

Hearing and Vision Screening that was scheduled for this week has been postponed. We will let you know when it is being rescheduled. We will save the slips that were turned in for that time. 

NWEA TESTING: is scheduled for next week as well as the following week. We will be testing on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week from 9:15 - 10:00 am on both days. The same times apply to the following week. We will begin with reading and continue with math the following week. 

Book Reports: Students have signed up for their next book report at the beginning of this week. This will allow them two weeks to read and finalize their book report which is due Friday, January 14th. We are checking to see if students are taking books back and forth from school each day to help them make the most of reading!

 💙What We Learned This Week 💛

💙Language Arts: This week, we continue to meet in small group instruction to work on comprehension and asking/answering questions. 

💛Writing: We are beginning a new informational writing project. Students have chosen a topic and 3 subtopics. 

💙Math: This week, we are diving into division. Students are becoming very confident in their understanding of division word problems. 

💛Science:  We completed two science lessons this week, including how the environment affects the population of insects and how physical traits change when someone goes to space for a year. 

💙Social Studies:  We have pressed pause on social studies to complete our science unit.

💙WORD STUDY💛

Next week, we will be working on open and closed syllables and inflectional endings. These are the words your student needs to know for the Friday check: 

admitting, arguing, huddled, appeared, repeated

Breakfast

Thank you for talking to your children about breakfast. 

We have seen a significant improvement. 

IMPORTANT WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS (Jan. 3)

 

Welcome back! We hope everyone had a restful and relaxing 2-week break. We were so thrilled to see our 3rd graders and return to learning. Breaks are nice but structure in our lives is great for growing minds!

We have a number of important announcements so we are including a special mini-blog this week. Please read the information carefully and let us know if you have questions.

SWIMMING BEGINS NEXT WEEK

All 3rd graders will be swimming Monday through Friday next week. Here are some helpful tips to make the week as stress-free as possible. 

• Each night help your student pack his/her backpack. Your student will need
• swimsuit
• towel
• plastic bag for wet items
• goggles (if they wish) but students must be able to independently put on and take off
• Students may wear the swimsuits under their clothes if they wish. If this is the case, please be sure to pack underwear in the bag so there are no issues after swimming.
• Students who don't have swimming gear will not swim for the day
• Please sign and return the permission slip ASAP.

The swimming schedule for Clarke students is as follows:

• Yoder: Leave at 12:20, return by 1:45
• Knuth: Leave at 1:05, return by 2:30
• Persenaire: Leave at 1:50, return by 3:15

WINTER GEAR

Winter has arrived and we want our students to enjoy the snow at recess! 

• Students must have snow pants and boots to participate in field activities or play in the snow. 
• Be sure to label ALL items as they are often found and difficult to return without names. 
• Please talk about playground safety with your student. There is absolutely no throwing snow as it can be mixed with ice and can be dangerous. Save this fun activity for home, please!

COMPUTER CHARGING

 We had quite a few students who forgot to charge computers last night. This disrupts classroom routines and creates difficulty with learning. Please help your child get back into the routine of charging nightly and review your home procedures with your student. Thank you in advance!