Hello October!

Hello Friends!


  Thank you so much for joining me for a conference this week! I have enjoyed showing you what your child has been up to! If you have not yet scheduled a conference please email me so we can set something up in the next few weeks. :)
  If you are looking for some skill practice, I started building a symbaloo with links for practice for your child. You can always work on Compass Learning (It is linked in the sidebar)

    We will begin our fall case study tomorrow. The students will travel from class to class conducting experiments to help them better understand the adaptations of certain animals. They will test whale blubber, try out various bird beaks, find out about Giraffe Spit and learn about duck feathers! Look for photos in next week's post. We've been studying animal adaptations all week and the students have used a collaborative google doc to point out physical adaptations of polar bears, sharks, and porcupines.

The screen photo is a look at the collaborative google doc they worked on! 

    In reading we are working on comprehension by asking questions and next week we will begin discussing character traits, motives, and evidence. We will have our first book buddies session with Mrs. Wertz Kindergarten class tomorrow!
  In math we are relating X and + as well as division and -, building arrays, learning about key words and problem solving strategies.
     Last Friday we had a chalk talk to brainstorm ways that 3rd grade can help make Community Circle our own. The children had some funny thoughts including, "Making it more like a party, adding Rock and Roll, More Flash Mob dancing, and louder student voices when singing"!

     We also celebrated September birthdays with ice cream sammies....we got rained out for recess so we stayed in!

We started the intervention schedule today. If you haven't read Ms. Lofstrand's email about it, please do so that you know what we are planning with the children!

Here it is:

Dear parents of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders, 

I just wanted to let you know that we will be starting something new in reading and math next week.  Twice a week, we will be running flexible groups for 45-minutes that are geared toward your child's specific needs.  For example, if student A shows an area of growth in math fluency as identified by MAP, twice a week student A would work in a small group possibly in another teachers class on those specific areas of concern.  At the same time, student B might show math fluency as an area of strength and will be in a small group working on enrichment/extension activities.  

It sounds like fruit-basket-turn-over but every child, twice a week, will receive specific support/enrichment based on their goals across their grade level with grade-level and intervention teachers.  This is differentiation at it's finest!  

So, your child might come home next week talking about being in another teacher's class for some math and some reading and learning with some students outside of their regular class - they are telling the truth :)

If you have any questions for me about this, please don't hesitate to email me or call me.  THANKS

Rochelle L. Lofstrand, Principal
Westchester Elementary
758 Scott Blvd. 
Decatur, GA  30030

Have a super weekend!