PRESENTING:  ROOM 109

DIRECTORS: 

MRS. WIEDRICH & MISS MURPHY

       ASST. DIRECTOR: MRS. CARNEY

January has come to a close and the New Year is officially upon us!  It was wonderful to "catch up" with the children after our recess.  They had many exciting events and stories to share with one another.  After settling back into our routines and realizing that we really were "back," they all came together and were ready to move forward.

We opened up our next reading theme this month, which focused on animal habitiats.  We read, The Night of the Pufflings, which was about a group of children in Iceland who help save the baby pufflings who unsuccessfully attempt their first flight out to sea.  Often distracted by the lights in their town, the pufflings can get confused and land in their city streets.  Have your child tell you how the children help save the pufflings.  We showed the students some photos and video clips of pufflins.  They are a unique looking bird- can your child describe them for you?  We also read the story, Seal Surfer, which was about a little boy and his grandfather and their love for the sea.  They visit the seashore often and observe the seals that come and go throughout the seasons.  The young boy has a scary experience that leaves him feeling a special connection with one seal.  Have your child tell you all about this!

In math, we began our multiplication chapter.  The students learned several strategies for solving multiplication problems- drawing arrays, pictures, using a number line, and using repeated addition.  Of course, we shared that the best way is to work hard to memorize them.  We provided them with a few "tricks" to help them solve the problems.  Have your child show you how they can use their 10 fingers to assist them in learning their facts for 9's.  Flashcards are still a valuable resource and we encourage the children to use them for practicing.  They also learned the properties of multiplication which include the identity, zero, commutative and associative properties. 

We began our next unit in Science, which focuses on Structures.  The children have had much fun creating structures from clay, index cards, straws and paperclips.  They have learned important concepts about foundations for structures, properties of the materials that are used to create structures and techniques for working with the materials that they were provided with.  After learning the concepts, they needed to apply them to the tasks they were given.  It's always exciting for them when they accomplish their goal (index card "skyscrapers" that reached a certain height, a cement slab that held a certain amount of weight,  index card supports that could hold several books).  We will be finishing up this unit over the next few days, then beginning our unit on Systems.

As the students returned their map projects, we were very pleased with the quality of their work.  We enjoyed seeing their creativity and it was evident how much time and effort went into them.  The children applied the skills that they learned throughout our map unit, and the end results were something they felt proud of.   The maps will be displayed in our hallway for others to enjoy.  Thank you for your assistance with these!

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

The students will be selecting a country to begin researching on.  They will be spending the remainder of the year gathering information on their country, writing a research report, creating a map of it, and creating their country's flag.  All of this will be part of our 3rd Grade Country Presentation in June.  It's a very exciting time for them and their hard work over the next few months will be evident during the presentation!

Family project for March:  The children will be bringing home a baggie of gold coins.  As a family, you will be asked to write on each coin one thing that is "golden" to each of you.  The children will return them and fill their pots with their "family's gold."  Thank you in advance for your support and cooperatio

     We are looking forward to seeing your children continue to grow with us as our year continues.  Please feel free to contact us at any time with questions/concerns/comments.  The best way to reach us is through our e-mails at  tlwiedrich@bataviacsd.org or jamurphy@bataviacsd.org.

     Thank you for your continued support in your child's education. 

     Mrs. Wiedrich and Miss Murphy

» Math Magician
Great practice for math facts. This site allows you to choose the operation and level, and it assigns an amount of time that you have to answer a certain number of questions in.
» Math Cats
From home page click on the multi-colored "mathcats" box to enter the categories. Select "math cats explore" and scroll down to the "fact family cards" and "interactive mulitplication table." Both of these are great ways to practice the facts.
» Math Playground
This site offers a variety of options from flashcard on-line practice to making worksheets that you can print for your child to practice. I especially like the multiplication chart option where the children fill in the missing numbers on a multiplication chart.

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