Mrs. McKelvey's Third Grade Class - mrsmckelvey

Here's a link with more information about standardized testing. Curie will be testing the end of April.  http://www.starsamplequestions.org/

Be sure to check out the recent post on our Class Blog about our new adventure in blogging. This spring we are participating in Edublog's Spring 2012 Student Blogging Challenge.

In February we'll focus on the genre Biorgraphies. These are books about famous people. In class students will study one subject and write a biographical sketch about the person. Students will also complete a biography project on the same subject at home.

Today students brought home the directions for this month's biography project. (I've also added the document to the Files section of this website.) Students need to choose a subject and project this week and let me know who and what they are doing.

Here's a few resources to get going with.

Power Point Resource
One of the options for a project is a Power Point presentation. Here's a link to a great Power Point tutorial. http://www.actden.com/pp/

Biography Writer's Workshop
Here's a link to the writer's workshop we'll be using this month. There are many biographies on this site that are written by other students:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/biograph/index.htm

I'll post more resources as I come up with them. Check the class Diigo link too for resources.

Here's a link Face Your Manga where you can create your own avatar as an online identify. You can then post it to your accounts on VoiceThread and Glogster.

Today I introduced students to Glogster, an online tool for creating posters. We will use this tool to create our end of unit posters about Our Geography. Students need to be familiar with this tool so they should spend some time at home learning how to use it.  It's a fun way to share what we've learned.  http://edu.glogster.com.

Welcome back and Happy New Year. The January book log will be sent home today. This month's genre is Folktales. We will be reading all kinds of tales in class such as trickster tales and fables. If you haven't already turned in the December log, please send it in as soon as possible.

A "huge" thank you to everyone that donated time and supplies to our holiday party. I really appreciate your support.

Also, thanks for the special gifts. You are all so thoughtful and I will enjoy each and every gift. (There should be a personal thank you in your child's folder too.)

Happy Holiday!
Mrs. Mckelvey

Our Holiday Party with crafts and games is this Friday.  See Volunteer sign up sheet on this site.  Thanks. 

Parent/Teacher Conferences are next week (Monday-Friday). ALL DAYS ARE MINIMUM DAYS and school is out at 12:15 pm!

I just sent out reminders via email. If you did not receive one, please let me know. Each conference is 20 minutes or less. (Please be prompt as the conferences are booked back to back.) If you have any concerns or questions please make a note of them ahead of time so that we can make the best use our time together. I will review your child's progress over the first 8 weeks of school.

Thanks and I look forward to meeting with you.

Halloween is just over a week away. I've posted sign up sheets on the Volunteer page of this site. We will eat a pot luck pizza lunch and then play games after. Please sign up if you can help out. Thanks.

Our field trip has been postponed so that we can attend an exciting assembly. The assembly kicks off Red Ribbon Week here at school and we just can't miss it! I'll post more information about the new field trip date today or tomorrow.

We are going on a field trip to Ruben H. Fleet Science Museum in Balboa Park on Thursday November 10th. 

We will see an IMAX movie called "Hubble" (about the Hubble telescope) in lieu of the workshop. (The workshop was sold out through December, so I couldn't reschedule that.)

We will also tour the museum.

If you are able to drive, please check this class website for the sign ups.
Remember, you must have a valid CA driver’s license, insurance, and approved volunteer paperwork with the school to chaperone.

I still need quite a few emergency kits from students. This kit should include a bottle of water, and 2 or 3 non-perishable food items. These kits are stored in the classroom and used in the case of an emergency, such as a lock down. If you have additional items, such as water or granola bars, and can donate them to the class too, I'd very much appreciate it.

Next week is our annual Back to School Night. Classrooms will be open from 6:00-7:00pm. I will do a short presentation (15 minutes) from 6:00-6:15pm. I will briefly discuss the third grade curriculum, introduce you to the i21 technology in our classroom, and answer any questions you may have. After that feel free to look around our classroom. Hope to see you all there!

Tomorrow I will introduce the students to their netbook computers. Our class has access to several valuable online resources that we will use both in class and at home. Tomorrow I will send home your child's account information for two of the sites we'll be using this year.

Raz-kids is an online reading program where students can read books and take comprehension quizzes. Students can also record themselves reading a book. The other website is part of our math curriculum. Pearson Successnet includes an online version of our textbook, games, a math glossary, virtual math tools, links to lesson assignments, and much more. You can also view your child's progress on math tests and quizzes.

Please keep the account information in a safe place for easy reference.

The sign-up sheet for classroom volunteers for 2011-12 has been posted on this site. Classroom volunteers are an important part of our classroom and very much appreciated. I typically need help with small groups, such as monitoring a book club discussion or math group, one on one tutoring, grading, and sometimes classroom tasks like photocopying. Volunteers usually come in once a week at the same time. I usually start volunteers the end of September when I know what our class schedule is. I will contact you towards the middle of September with more information. 

Also, please let me know if you have a special talent or interesting occupation that you'd like to share with the class.

Thanks for your help!

Our class blog

Check out cool game and resources for our science units.