Charity Collection
Many years ago my class began a new tradition of foregoing a grab-bag gift to set a collection for a charity. The grab-bag gifts had the negative impact of some students receiving what they felt were lesser gifts while others were quite happy. We had decided that taking the few dollars that were spent on the grab-bag would be better spent as a donation to a favorite charity. This has become a tradition in my room that we are continuing this year. Last week we had a discussion of what a charity is and developed a list of possible charities. This week we will review our list and vote on one charity to target for our collection. A notice will come home sharing the name of our charity.
Students will quietly drop their donations into a jar. No one is required to donate nor should they donate if it presents a hardship in any way. However, if they find coins, or if your family has loose change that can (without hardship) be given to our jar, we welcome the donation. The goal is to reach about $50 which would be less than $3 per student. If one is in a position to give a few more dollars great; however, there is no pressure. I will be donating too. We will in January, count the money (checks will be noted by me, but no names will be shared to preserve tender feelings) and write a letter to the charity to explain where the money came from.
Muddy Brook does have a policy of not giving gifts to teachers. While I have always appreciated the generous spirt of families, I always feel sad for those who can not give and stand by to watch others give gifts. I would prefer that any gift giving be a donation to our charity and/or a card or letter written by my students. Their hand-made heart felt messages always touch me and it is available to all students. A card does not require a donation to the charity.
Spelling Links
There are two links to spelling websites listed on the links page. The Spelling City site does have me registered as a teacher, so I have loaded the current words we are working on into the site. You can check the Spelling page to note which list we are currently using. I will note it on the Homework Log sheet too. This site also allows students to load in their individual words. We have both some words everyone must learn and a few each week that are individualized for each student. We hope to have the individualized words written onto the Homework Log sheet too. The second site is not specific to our class's words, but a general spelling games and activities site. These sites are new to me but look promising. I'm interested in your feedback.
Reading Links
The links noted from the reading series do indeed come from the Houghton Mifflin company. The reading series is just one piece of our reading work. There are some great stories in the series and we share them as a whole class in a variety of ways. The links provide some interesting opportunities if your child is interested. We are currently in Theme 1 Off to Adventure.
Reader's Workshop
Reader's Workshop includes read alouds, buddy reading, independent reading, and reading groups where students are grouped together to read and share specific books. The reading groups provide opportunities to focus in on a variety of reading skills, which are selected based on the concepts we are currently working on as a class and the needs of the particular group. We spend a great deal of time reading books, mostly chapter books. Third graders need to learn how to sustain their reading over time, and to continue to fully process the text over time, including the next day. We spend a great deal of time sharing our thinking about the text, discussing the connections we make from the text to our personal lives, our world knowledge, and to other books (and movies too).