E2 Quest: 2018

Dear 3EE Families,

Reminder: We have two Staff days tomorrow and Monday so there will be no school either of those days.

Kids are choosing their cities for our virtual Journey... a lot of kids use a Google slideshow to present their facts and pictures. It is pretty slick! You can look in the archive of our blog at www.e2quest.blogspot.com for examples of former projects since 2007. Look in the months of January, February and March for ideas from the past. Have fun with it!!

Hope this helps!

Here is the schedule for the next two weeks:

Dec. 3 Dec. 4 Dec. 5 Dec. 6 Dec. 7

Staff Day Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

Art Music Media Music

Phy Ed Phy Ed

Dec. 10 Dec. 11 Dec. 12 Dec. 13 Dec. 14

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

Exporations Art Music Media Music

Phy Ed Phy Ed

Lots going on!!! Hold on to your hats!!!

Mr. E.

Parent Night 3EE

Welcome to Parent Night!

Introductions:

Our 3EE Community this year:

My Teaching Philosophy: The goal is growth!!!! These kids are beautiful, brilliant and amazing. Let’s find our passion and find the wonder of living! The things you do the most are the things you do the best. Kindness is the key and employability is the goal!

Our Daily Schedule:

9:15 Students may arrive

9:30 Morning Meeting-Reading

11:15 Snack- Read Aloud

11:35 Specials: Day 1-Science Day 2- Art

Day 3-Music/Phy Ed Day 4-Media Day 5- Phy Ed/Music

12:35 W.I.N.

1:00 Lunch and Recess

2:00 Show and SPELL

2:10 Math

3:30 Social Studies, Health, Science

3:50 Clean Up and Pack Up

Communication:

Oxbow Main Office: 763-506-3800

Oxbow Absence Line: 763-506-3806

My Email: Neil.Eerdmans@ahschools.us

3EE Website: www.e2quest.blogspot.com

Bi-Weekly newsletter: Coming home every other Friday *?

Homework:

#1 piece of homework: Read! Read! Read!

Reading Calendars: Record your minutes on your reading calendar. Any minutes he/she reads count. Any minutes read to your child count as well! This is your child’s #1 priority when it comes to homework. We want your child to love to read. If recording minutes causes stress please DON’T do it! Just be sure to read with your child every night! That is the key!

A homework packet will come home on most Thursdays. This packet will have math problems that go along with what we are doing in math and a reading selection. Spelling words come home on Wednesday and the tests will be the next Tuesday.

Book a Day- Volunteers!

I love “book a day,” it gets kids to practice reading with quality literature! As far as “book a day” goes, if your child is not ready to read certain books, read the book to them and they can tell the volunteer what the book was about. This will show if your child is able to follow the stories and discuss parts of the story. (Plot, setting, and characters) Get your kids to give the starting sounds of words, words from context clues, and have them read easy sight words. Get your child to read on their own. Reading together will model that reading is a fun activity, and something that we can enjoy together! If you have a book going at home, USE THAT BOOK for book a day. The key is that we are reading! The kids get a charge out of reading to you and with you as well. It is critical that kids find reading to be an enjoyable activity!! I am very flexible with times; we can work it out! I will also use volunteers for mastery checking, although “book a day” is a great assessment tool in itself! Have fun with this and do it regularly!!

Spelling:

Spelling words will be delivered the first day of the Wonders Unit. Our spelling tests will be 5 days later. If a week has 3 or fewer days of school in it there will be no list for that week. Practicing daily will help students retain the words longer than cramming it all in Thursday night!

Those of you who really want to get a jump start should start working on common contractions. (i.e. does not=doesn’t) That’s our hardest test of the year!

Check out this site: SpellingCity.com Students can go to this site and test themselves with spelling words, hear a voice pronounce the words, use the words in a sentence. There are also games to play with the words.

What will reading look like in 3EE?

Wonders!! It is very comprehensive and I really like the focus on the standards and vocabulary! It has a great home connection piece through the website and it will be easy to follow along with where we are at! If you have a set of cheap headphones for the Chromebooks send them in!!

What will math look like in 3EE?

Daily Math Message, Mental Math, Using different strategies to problem solve, Understanding vs. memorization, Spiraling skills, Math journals, Student reference books, Math games, Homework Links!!

Science- Our Inquiry class is going to be great!! Get ready for crayfish!

Social Studies

Health

These will be intermixed with the theme books and centers. They will rotate throughout the year. We are now working on bus safety for health. The virtual journey is an incredible way to address these objectives!!

Our Learning Adventure- www.e2quest.blogspot.com

E2 Quest: From Coast to Coast (I still want to do this but I will have to modify it with the new reading curriculum! It is so fun and there is so much learning, I am going to try to make it work! It is hard to give this up after doing it with great success for 20 years.)

This year we will be touring the United States. Simply put, traveling is one of the best ways to learn, even if it is virtual. The places are real and all the situations we face teach lessons of independence and interdependence. We will face many celebrations and challenges. Each of these challenges contains a lesson. We have to deal with the weather, people, terrain, and each other. The lessons are applicable to life and made real by the Internet. If you want a peek, check out last year’s trip at www.e2quest.blogspot.com

What will grading look like in 3EE? The star system. Keeping it simple.

Field Trip volunteers are done by drawing names… over the years that seems to work best. I would like to apologize in advance if you do not get to go. On our last trip everyone gets to go!

THE REPORT CARDS Grade with a 4, 3, 2, 1 SCORING SYSTEM MATCHED WITH THE STATE STANDARDS!!

TEST SCHEDULE: MAP IN FALL, MCA IN SPRING.

Why do I like the MAP test so much? It is like a time trial! It shows growth!

Dates:

October 8, 11 and 16: Goal setting conferences

October 17-19: MEA (No school)

October 31: 3EE Fall Class Party 2:30-3:30

November: Mill City Museum

November 21-23: Thanksgiving (No school)

December 21: 3EE Class Holiday Party 2:30-3:30

Winter Break: December 24-January 1

February 14: 3EE Valentine’s Party 2:30-3:30

February 12, 19 and 21: Winter Conferences

March : Arts and Academics

April : Family Fun Night

May: Track and Field

Some practical ways to help your 3rd Grader:

1. Read with your child: Read to them and let them read to you! Talk about what you read. Make it pleasurable!

2. Limit screen time: When it comes to reading I don’t think T.V., video games, and computers are our enemies… but they surely are our competitors!

Look at the math if your child replaced just one ½ hour show a day with reading: 30 minutes x 30 days = A monthly calendar with 900 minutes!

3. The pleasure principle: Do all you can to connect pleasure with reading. Get cozy! Curl up together. Stack books around the house. Put books by your beds! They are watching you, story about Owen.

4. Money Jar: Give your child a jar with change and/or bills. Change the amount often. Practice counting. Ask your child to show you different combinations to make specific amounts of money.

5. Telling Time: Time can be very difficult for third graders. Point out the hour and minute hands. Count the minutes around a clock. Talk about what time it is throughout the day.

6. Writing: In third grade we do a lot of writing about everyday life experiences. Some kids have a tough time trying to figure out something to write about. As fun, interesting things happen in your child’s life remind him/her to write about it at school!

7. Handwriting: Help your child to keep practicing the correct formation of their letters. Remind him/her when to use upper and lower cases letters. We do not learn cursive writing in third grade.

8. Learning on the Computer: Useful Links on Oxbow and 3EE’s Website: These free links will connect you with all sorts of games and activities that support our learning. Kids will be familiar with these websites since we visit them during our computer time.

Miscellaneous:

Take home folder: Please check every night and send back every morning!

Water Bottles: Our brains need water so water bottles are very welcome in 3EE. Remind your child to bring it home for regular washings!

Snack Time: Sending a snack with your child is optional but the afternoons do get long! Healthy (or at least somewhat healthy!) snacks only. Students are not allowed to “share” snacks.

Birthday Treats: Students may bring a store bought birthday treat if they so choose to. We do have nut allergies. We presently have 27 students in our class.

Going outdoors: If it is above zero degrees we go out. Please send your child prepared! If your child is well enough for school our school policy is that he is well enough to go outside so staying in is not an option.

Morning media check out: Students can check out books every day of the year from 9:15-9:30A.M. What a great privilege!

Bring home books from our classroom: Students are also allowed to borrow my books. That’s why I have them!!! Please don’t forget to return them!

Scholastic book orders: Almost every month I will send home Scholastic book order flyers. These are totally optional but usually include a lot of great deals. They are always due on the 15th of that month!

Lunch money: Try to remember to write your child’s pin number on your check when you send lunch money. If you have to send cash put it in an envelope and label it with your child’s name, homeroom (3EE), and pin #.

Supply list: If your child needs something a note will come home.

Show and Spell: Each week your child will have a day for show and tell. Have them bring a few items that can be shared with our class so we could better get to know them. An example might be a boy bringing a baseball, a picture of his dog, and a rock from his rock collection.

Parties: We will have 3 parties this year and I have a sign up for party volunteers. If you would like to help that would be great! We usually meet in the room a couple of weeks before the party to make our plan!

Field Trip volunteers are done by drawing names… over the years that seems to work best. I would like to apologize in advance if you do not get to go. On our last trip everyone gets to go! We have a lot of great ideas brewing!!

We are partners- 1/3, 1/3, 1/3

I hope we will be friends!

I need to be your partner. Please communicate with me! If I don’t return a call during the day, I will try in the evening. Your child is going to go through some big changes this year and will be learning a lot. Let’s work together to make this a great year!

Call Me! Or Email Me!!

Please call if you have a concern. I am almost always check my voicemail by 7:30. The number is 506-3843. Each night I will leave a detailed description of the day’s activities so that you can discuss the day’s events with your child. I am great at replying to e mail at all hours, Neil.Eerdmans@anoka.k12.mn.us!!

Our Goal is Growth!

P.S. You may hear the terms BBA, Green, URLoved, Highlights, the things you do the most and others… Thanks!!