Young Consumers Program

Today the students were visited by Mr. Steve from the Young Consumers Program.  He talked with them about the program and about the tasks they would be performing when they visit ShopRite later this year.  Students worked with tangrams and learned how to use 7 shapes (1 parallelogram, 1 square, 5 triangles) to make a square, rectangle, right triangle, parallelogram, and a trapezoid.  These tangram pieces will be in the classroom for them to practice with throughout the year.  If you go to these websites: http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/area/tangram.html or http://www.cogmotion.net/Links.html students can use those same 7 pieces to make different shapes!

Update

This week we completed our first unit on map skills.  We will now be moving onto our first science unit- Simple Machines!  Look out for a project that will be coming home on Monday.  We are completing our first math chapter and we will have our first test on Wednesday.  You will find that the practice test that will be sent home on Tuesday will be one of your best tools to help your child review for the test.  Chapter 2 in math will focus on addition and subtraction skills.  Please review facts with your child at home in preparation for the next chapter.  In shared reading we read a few different poems this week including: Fireflies, The Family of the Sun, Earth's Most Delicate Things, and Hot Enough to See.  We also discussed strategies to help them become better readers.  We talked about rereading when they get confused and to move to a different location if their mind wanders.  In writing, students are working on drafting a descriptive paragraph about their favorite place.  Students are practicing using wording that will "show and not tell".  We changed seats yesterday and we implemented a new incentive in the classroom.  Each day a student will be picked to be Mrs. Sullivan's Superstar Student.  The first winner was Jaqi!  Don't forget that picture day is on Wednesday! 

Chalkbox Drawings

This week students read The Chalkbox Kid.  The students created their own chalkbox drawings.  Here are some of their creations: 

What's been happening...

We have been working hard in third grade!  In social studies we are learning about communities and map skills.  Be on the look out for a quiz next week.  A study guide/ information will be going home on Thursday.  In math we have been working on place value.  The lesson on greater numbers (numbers in the ten and hundred thousands) is typically a tricky one so don't be overly concerned if students had some trouble with it.  We will continue to practice with greater numbers in class.  In writing, we are focusing on using description and good word choice in our writing.  Students will begin working on color poems tomorrow.  In reading we learned about Zebras during our shared reading time.  Did you know that a zebra's stripes are like human fingerprints and that they take dirt or mud baths to get clean? Now we are reading a book about languages and different cultures and how fun it can be to learn phrases in a different language! See you tomorrow night at Back to School Night!

Student update

I really like school so far. It isn't how I expected. I love our math lessons. My favorite part of school is the different series of books. This is the best school ever!!!
-Max R

I moved from California.  My name is Cassandra.  I'm at Alpine School.  This is my first year, so far I like it. My teacher's name is Mrs. Sullivan.  I'm taking the bus. I like school.  New Jersey is isn't as bad as I thought. 
-Cassandra

I'm Dan and I love being a student of Mrs. Sullivan's class and I love being a part of 3rd grade.  Alpine school ROCKS!!!!!!!!!

Im Rachel and Im in Mrs.Sullivan's third class she is the best teacher in the world.  I love her.  She is so nice she really makes learning fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi  this  is Sammy  and  Jordan. This  year  we will  have  fun  and  learn  new  things like  Math  and  Reading.  We  learned  so  much  already. We  love  our  teacher Mrs Sullivan.

The class is great so far. I wish you could be here.  From Cash

First Day

We had a great first day today!  We spent most of today learning the rules of the school and classroom.  During the afternoon we took a tour of the school and were even able to get a math lesson in.   I'm looking forward to another great day tomorrow!

Welcome!

This year I am trying a new way of communicating with you.  Instead of the typical monthly newsletter that I would usually send home, I am going to be blogging about the things that are happening in our classroom.  By using this blog I will be able to keep you more up-to-date as well as allow you to take a peek into our classroom via pictures and blog entries.