Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is enjoying this week away from school and having an amazing time celebrating with family and friends. On behalf of Ms. Tahra and myself, we want to thank everyone for all the lovely and generous gifts. Your support and appreciation make us feel truly lucky to be a part of this community.

We will return to school on Monday, January 4, 2016. Here's what to expect:

• We will head to the Armory on Tuesday.
• Family Friday will be our Shelter Museum display and will feature models of shelters we have been studying from around the world.

Our class has been asked to contribute a gift wrapping basket for a school fundraiser. If you would like to donate any items such as gift wrap, ribbons, gift boxes, etc., please send it in with your child. We are also making cards to contribute to this basket and would appreciate any decorative scraps of paper to help with  this craft. Thanks again for all your support!

Have a fantastic week!

Week 16

On Monday, we turned in our Cultural Luncheon recipes so that we could make ingredients cards for everyone to see with our dish. On Tuesday, we worked on division. On Wednesday, we made a copy of a flag to represent part of or ancestors' cultures. On Thursday relearned how to use repeated subtraction and number lines for division. But best of all...on Friday we had food at the Culture Luncheon! YUM!
by Jasey and Jane

We had a marvelous Cultural Luncheon and enjoyed fabulous foods from all the different cultures of our students. I deeply appreciate the work you put into the dishes and the assistance many of you provided before, during and after the luncheon. It is events like this that remind us of what a truly special community PS 154 is.

Here's what to expect for next week:

• We are working on finishing our Shelter models next week. Your child brainstormed with their study group for materials they could use for building a replica of the landscape their shelters are located on. Many of the items are recyclables (like toilet tissue rolls) and the students know they have to ask mom or dad before they can take it to school to use. 
• We are headed to the Armory on Tuesday. Please have your child dress for physical activity on that day.
• Schools will be closed on December 24 to January 3 for the Winter Holiday! We will not have a homework packet but there will be options to read and practice math if you and your child want to. 

Please keep an eye out for a new video of our students singing during music. The song they are performing is quickly becoming a favorite and they sing it beautifully. The video will be posted by Saturday. 

Have a beautiful weekend!

Week 15: Winter Fair

This week we made paper dolls and dressed them in clothes of some different places. On Thursday, we did a project called How to Make a Grinch Grin with our Buddies. We did our word study on Monday. We also built shelters from around the world with the other third graders. We love school!
by Jane and Jasey

Here's our project for the Winter Fair! The kids worked on making traditional costumes that reflect the cultures of different countries around the world. It's a beautiful piece and we hope it helps bring in a great bid to help raise funds for our school!

Here's what to expect for next week:

• Your child will bring home Chapter 5 math test on Monday. Please keep an eye out for that. We have begun some work on Division this week and will continue learning about the concepts and representation of division. Division also relies on multiplication knowledge so please continue to check in and review multiplication facts with your child, especially the 6 and 8 times table. 
• We are having the Third Grade Cultural Luncheon this Friday. Please return the luncheon tear off and recipe sheet on Monday if you have not already done so. Thank you for your contributions to help make this a special occasion. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Weeks 13 and 14

Welcome back!
I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. It was great to see many of you at Family Friday having fun with our math games this morning.

As mentioned this morning, please be aware of the Third Grade's Annual Cultural Luncheon. This event will take place on Friday, December 18th at noon in our MultiMedia room. All families are being asked to contribute a dish that reflect their culture. There will be more details to come next week. Please save this date as you are all invited to attend!

On Thursday, a letter was sent home because there was an incident of head lice with one of our students. If you haven't already, please look for the letter in your child's homework folder and take some time to check your child's hair.

Here's what to expect for next week:

• We begin our Shelters Around the World project on Monday and Wednesday. Your child will work with one of the third grade teachers to build a model of a shelter used in a different part of the world. Some shelters involve paint and oil pastels so please dress your child for messy work.
• The Chapter 5 Math test will be given on Tuesday.
• We have an Armory excursion on Tuesday. Please have your child wear sneakers for running. 

Please take some time to check out our newest video presentations on Africa and North America.  Have an excellent weekend!

Week 12

This week we started doing our nonfiction reading and writing. We just saw our 1st grade buddies and read our letters to them. On Thursday we were taught how to use variables in math. We are learning about culture for social studies. And we love school!                               
by Jane and Jasey

We received our school pictures today and your child has it in the homework folder (it's in the long white envelope). Directions for ordering were delivered after school and will go home on Monday. Please keep an eye out for that.

This week's reading response will look different because we've switched to studying nonfiction. Each child has to create a main idea web from the nonfiction reading book they have chosen to read by themselves. Many nonfiction books can be brief. At home, when your child is done reading his or her nonfiction book, it is recommended that they return to reading a fiction book to keep up their reading stamina.

Here's what will happen next week:

• We are visiting the Armory on Tuesday. Please make sure your child is dressed with sneakers. 
• We will visit with our buddies again on Wednesday. 
• Schools will be closed on Thursday and Friday due to Thanksgiving. Due to the shorten week, there will not be a reading response and writing entry due on November 30th. 

Please check out our new video presentations for Antartica and Asia on our video link. They will be up by Saturday. Have an excellent weekend!

Week 11

From now on, we will start with a post from our class blog reporters:

This week our class learned how to use a multiplication table. We are also finishing our writing pieces. We just finished making our salt dough maps on our landforms. We will have family Friday and we will be decorating shopping bags.

                                   By: Jasey and Jane

We've had a lot of activities this Friday. Family Friday was a wonderful time for us to share our talents with the community as our students decorated food delivery bags for God's Love We Deliver.

We are also wrapping up our work with continents in the next week. As some of you have seen, our salt dough maps are complete and students have worked in groups to collect facts on famous landforms on each continent. They have also been working on presenting information and we have some presentations filmed. Please check out our video playlist after Saturday for some presentations. There will be seven films in total posted by the end of this upcoming week.

Here's what's coming up:

• On Monday, we start our work with Nonfiction texts. The focus of this reading unit is to learn how to find the main ideas of texts and determine the importance of what we are reading. We want our children to read books to learn.
• We will also start a new writing unit. Students will write Information Books, where your child will be asked to teach others about a topic that they know a lot about. You will also notice that the Writer's Notebook will contain a new menu for the Wednesday night writing homework. This is to encourage your child to look for writing ideas that will help with our nonfiction writing. 
• In Social Studies, we will begin to exam the concept of Culture. For our purposes, culture will be defined as the rules and habits of a group of people. Culture can include foods, games, art , shelter, history, and geography. Your child will receive an Ancestor Research Sheet and we ask you to help your child to fill it in so that we can learn more about our individual cultures.
• We will have our Chapter 4 Math test on Tuesday. Chapter 5 will also allow us more time to practice and retain the multiplication facts. 
• We are Buddy classes with Ms. Ancona's 1st grade class. We briefly said hello to each other at our Friday assembly and we'll meet up on Wednesday afternoons from now on. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Week 10

Parent Teacher conferences flew by! I appreciated your patience and understanding as we caught up and shared information about the children. In class, the children and I spoke about making goals for the second marking period and keeping up our good progress.

I also want to thank the families who bought books for our classroom library from the book fair and from our Amazon Wishlist. These books are exciting and we look forward to using them in our upcoming Nonfiction and Africa units!

Here's what's happening next week:

• Schools will be closed on Wednesday for Veterans Day. 
• Family Friday will center around a project for God's Love We Deliver. We will decorate food deliver bags for the upcoming holiday seasons.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Week 9

We had some exciting fashions this Friday. There were some very fun outfits worn today and we all enjoyed each others' creativity!

Here's what to expect for next week:

• We will visit the book fair on Monday at 1:50 pm. Please if you would like your child to purchase books, please provide your child with money for purchases. Many items can be purchased for five- 10 dollars. 
• Schools will be closed on Tuesday for Election Day.
• Report cards will be distributed on Wednesday. 
• Parent Teacher Conferences will take place on Thursday. Afternoon conferences will begin at 12:30 and end by 2:30. Evening conferences will begin at 4:30 and end by 7:30. Your appointment time can be found in the comments section of your child's homework folder.
• Students will be dismissed at 11:30 on Thursday. 

Have a happy and safe Halloween weekend!

Week 8: Halloween!

Halloween is coming soon and we have a fun activity to look forward to on Friday. Third graders are participating in a Wacky Wardrobe day. Students are invited to look through their closets and find interesting clothing combinations to wear to school that day. Please look out for the notice that went home with your child today.

Here's what else is happening next week:

• We are starting a new math unit on Monday. Building on the multiplication concepts we learned in chapter 3, we will start chapter 4 which focuses on Multiplication Facts. The chapter 3 test will be returned to your child next week.
• We will need salt dough from our families on Tuesday. By now, you child should have given you a letter with the request and the recipe to refer to. We aim to build maps of the continents using this engaging material. Please send in your contribution by Tuesday so that we can portion the materials by Thursday.
• Wacky Wardrobe on Friday! We will also have music class and need our recorders.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Week 7

Happy Boo Bash Weekend! This week started with a lovely surprise for me from the class. The flowers and gifts were totally unexpected and the cards I received from the children were sweet. I am so appreciative of the kind sentiments and well wishes! My thanks to you all!

 Here's what to expect for next week:

• Wednesday will be Picture Day! 
• We will have Music on Friday. Please remind your child to bring his/ her recorder to class. 

Have a fun weekend!

Week 6

We took our first math test this week and it will be returned to your child on Tuesday. For families seeking extra practice for the various skills in this unit, please try the IXL Math Games link on the lower right hand side of this blog. Clicking on this link will bring you to a large menu of topics organized in categories. The following categories and topics can be helpful review for this unit: Properties game N.3, Addition games C.1, C.3, and C.16; Subtraction games D.1, D.4 and Estimation and Rounding game P.1.

Please check your child's homework folder this weekend. I have written a brief comment about your child at the bottom of the homework sheet for this week. Please sign it after you have reviewed it. My thanks goes to everyone who had been signing the homework sheets prior to this for checking on your child's homework routine. Weekends are also a good time to empty the folder of old work.

Here's what to expect next week:

• Schools will be closed on Monday for Columbus Day.
• We begin a new math unit on Monday. Understanding Multiplication will focus on what multiplication is and how it appears in concrete situations. It is actually unit 3 in our workbook. Unit 2 will be taught later in the year. 
• Music class will meet every Friday. Please make sure your child has a recorder in class. on this day. We've posted a short video to our playlist of our first music class. Please check it out to the left of this post. 

Have a wonderful three day weekend!

Week 5

Our first full week of school ended with many exciting events. Our All About Me displays were well received and many families learned about each other, with our children bonding over common interests. Thank you all for attending!

Our music class took us all around the world as we practiced the Hello song and sang an African tune. We also received a recorder and a contract from Ms. Gabel, our music teacher. Each child has been asked to practice for five minutes a day to help them become better players. We are learning the B note which requires our left thumb to cover the back hole as our pointer finger covers the first hole in the front. Each child took home their recorder; please write your child's name on it in permanent marker.

Please review your child's homework folder each week for notices and starting next week, the weekly progress comment. Keep an eye out for the Picture Day notice.

Here's what to expect for our fifth week of the school year:

• Our first independent reading response will be collected on Monday. Your child may chose a book they have completed recently and write a summary or a character chart. If your child is in the middle of a particularly thick book, they could choose to make a detailed prediction about the story. 
• In writing, we will begin drafting and planning a personal narrative. A personal narrative is a true story of an event from our own lives. Our class has been collecting ideas by using our powers of observation and memory to recall events that interest us. We will look at planning a story in sequence with emphasis on important moments in the story. Students will craft their stories with elaboration and dialogue.
• We will have our first Math test on Friday. We will wrap up Unit One and review concepts in addition and subtraction for this test throughout the week.

If you are interested in joining our class directory, please send a note with your name and email address so I can forward it to our class parent. 

Have a warm weekend!

Week 4

This upcoming week will be the first full week of school and we have some noteworthy events:

• We will begin our reading log routines on Monday. This year, our students will have a small booklet to keep track of their reading progress. 
• We have begun working on reading responses in class and your child will also begin working on a reading response independently, for homework on Mondays. This assignment will be due the first day of the following school week for review. 
• Third grade will have our Curriculum Conference at 6:00- 6:30 in the cafeteria on Wednesday. Please join us as the Third Grade teachers give an overview of what your third grader will be learning in class this year. 
• Our first Family Friday will start at 8:30 am. Our students have brought in artifacts for their All about Me Bags. These artifacts will tell us about the interest of our children. We invite you to come in and get to know your child's classmates. 
• We will start Music class this Friday. Ms. Gabel will be our instructor this year and we are excited to learn songs through singing and recorder playing this year!

Please look through your child's homework folder and sign the bottom of the homework sheet. If your child is missing an assignment, please encourage him/ her to bring it in the next school day. 

Thank you for your support! Have a beautiful weekend!

Week 3

It was great to see so many family members at our first classroom event! We have some beautiful Writer's Notebooks waiting for us to start our writing adventures in. Thank you to all family members  who came and helped out, especially with the tricky contact paper!

We began our written homework this week with two math assignments. On top of this, students are expected to read for at least 20 minutes daily and have been working on selecting Just Right books in class. In the blue homework folder, there is a reference to working on Reader's Notebooks, which I have asked students to cross out for this week and next week. We will begin Reading response on the week of September 28 after we have practiced writing a few types of responses together in class.

Here's what to expect for next week:

• On Monday, we will start Writing Workshop in class. Our first unit is Building a Writer's Life.  In this unit, we will learn the procedures for Writing Workshop and gather ideas for our future writing projects. Students will also learn to take an idea and stretch it out through description and explanation. 
• Schools will be closed on Wednesday (Yom Kippur) and on Thursday (Eid al-Adha). 
• Items for the All About Me project are due in class on Friday. We will spend some time in class preparing our artifacts for display during Family Friday of the following week.  

Have a beautiful weekend!

Week 2

Our first week in school was a busy one, with many supplies to sort; names and routines to learn. Our class has been cooperative and the children enjoyed working on our team building activities. We will continue to get to know each other better as the year progresses. 

Many of you have bought the School Toolkit and do not need to send any supplies in with your child. Those supplies have, for the most part, been distributed to the rightful owners. All children have their notebooks so we can begin our learning next week. Thank you for your support and patience!

Here's what to expect next week: 

• We will begin Reading Workshop with a unit on Building a Reading Life. The purpose of this unit is to create habits that will support your child's reading. We will work on improving stamina to help our readers read longer and with more understanding of /attention to the story and ideas. 
• In Writing Workshop, we will introduce the Writer's Notebook. Students will mine their own experiences and observations to create ideas for future writing projects. A notice for collecting pictures and flat artifacts to decorate a notebook went out earlier this week. Please have the collection ready for Friday, September 18.
• Math began this Friday with an introduction to the vocabulary of Addition and Subtraction. unit one is Addition and Subtraction of Numbers up to 1,000. This unit focuses on pattern and properties that will help your child compute larger numbers. 
• Maps of the continents will be our focus in Social Studies. This exciting unit will include maps building and learning about the seven continents that make up our world. 

In closing, I'd like to thank you all for your support this week. I look forward to building a successful school experience with you and your child!

Welcome to the Third Grade!

September 9th is a momentous day! As we start our third grade adventure together, please remember to come to school at 8:20am or earlier. We will meet at the school yard and after some introductions, our class will go up to the classroom.

Many of you have purchased the school tool box and those supplies are being distributed gradually this week. If you did not purchase a school toolbox, please send in the following items on the first day.

1 each	Composition Notebook, Wide Rule, green cover
1 each	Composition Notebook, Wide Rule, blue cover
2 each	Composition Notebook, Wide Rule, red Cover
2 each *	Composition Notebook, Wide Rule, black Cover
1 each	Poly (plastic) folder, purple, 2 pockets
1 each	Poly (plastic) folder, black, 2 pockets
1 each	Poly (plastic) folder, red, 2 pockets
1 each	Poly (plastic) folder, orange, 2 pockets
1 each	Poly (plastic) folder, yellow, 2 pockets
1 each	Poly (plastic) folder, blue, 2 pockets
1 each	Poly (plastic) folder, green, 2 pockets
2 each	Poly (plastic) folder, blue, 2 pockets with prongs/ fasteners

There was also a fill-in sheet attached to the letter sent to families over the summer. Please have your child bring it to class this week so that we can quickly establish a successful dismissal routine.

This year we will have dismissal in the school yard at 2:40pm.

I look forward to seeing you!

Last Day; Happy Summer!

This will be our last blog report. So we are wrapping up what we did in 3rd grade. Sniffle, Sniffle. We really liked crafts, field trips, events, and most of all Ms. Chiu!! We will really miss this classroom. We really liked our multiplication unit in math. In our reading unit we really liked was fiction/fantasy. Our favorite unit in writing non-fiction. Our favorite unit in social studies is cultures and countries. We have been learning cursive. We learned the lowercase letters and a few uppercase too. Bye-Bye. Hopefully see you next year in the 4th grade!!!

 By: Charlie, Lulu, and Gwen

It was great to see so many of you at dismissal and I wish you all a relaxing summer recess! Thank you all for the warm wishes and the generous treats!

Report cards were given out with letters on how to access your child's school account. It will be the way to find out your child's standardized test score this summer so please take the time to set up your account when you get the chance. There is also a letter from me with some friendly suggestions for engaging your child during those leisurely moments in the summer break. These suggestions are also posted on the preceding entry on this blog.

Finally, I want to direct your attention to the video link on the right of this post. We have had a busy week of filming but we managed to get everyone who wanted to make an instruction video on our channel! Please check out our instruction videos. You can click on Playlist at the upper left hand corner to find your child's video or view all 18 from this year :)

Have the happiest summer and see you around!

Summer Learning

            Summer is a time to relax and enjoy the leisure of not having the obligations of school. There are plenty of opportunities to continue the learning that curious minds need. Many families have asked what can be done during the two months gap to help prepare our children for the fourth grade. Here are some suggestions:

    Keep a scrapbook with pictures of your vacation/ adventures this summer. Have your child contribute to the scrapbook by adding a paragraph or two of writing describing these events. This will help your child prepare for writing personal narrative next year and provide many ideas for writing workshop.

   A stay-cation in New York can be a great opportunity to explore local historical sites. The fourth grade curriculum will focus on the early history of our state up to the time of the Revolutionary War. Fourth graders will take trips to the Wyckoff Farmhouse, the Hall of Eastern Woodland Indians at the American Museum of Natural History, the Old Stone House, and the Brooklyn Museum as part of the study. There are other sites such as the Lefferts Historic House, the New York Historical Society, Fraunces Tavern Museum, The South Street Seaport Museum, or the National Museum of the American Indian, etc. that can support the learning your child will do next school year.  

   Apply math learning to real world situations. Have your child help with back to school shopping or making a vacation budget using their calculation skills. Plan a day of activity using time skills. 

   In the Standards Practice Workbook for Go Math, which is the homework book, there is the Getting Ready for Fourth Grade section (page 259- 306). These pages are designed to help prepare your child for the fourth grade. Each lesson starts with a brief explanation of the skill followed by problems for independent practice.

   For those indoor days with the iPad, your child can play with the IXL Math Games link or the Sheppard Math Games link on our blog, which will still be active this summer. These games can provide review of many third grade topics. The multiplication games can help your child develop speed and accuracy with math facts, which will be very handy for working with fourth grade math topics. These websites will allow you to play the games for about ten minutes without a subscription, but that is about all the practice you child will need daily to keep their skills sharp. Practicing multiplication and the inverse, division facts, can be simple as you can quiz your child during waiting times.   In third grade, we’ve learned the facts up to the ten times table; in fourth grade, the facts will go up to the twelve times table.

   Help your child maintain their reading skills by taking trips to the library or bookstores.  Students should read daily to avoid summer lag.

            I hope these suggestions are helpful and easy to implement.  Above all, have a wonderful, relaxing vacation!

June 19

The last week of school is here! It barely seems possible that 40 weeks have passed and it's time to say goodbye. I will miss this group and all the things that made this a great class.  There are fond memories of their cleverness and kindness. Third grade was a transition year as our children became the "big kids" and they handled it well. Awesome job, everyone!

Here's what to expect for next week:

• We will head to Vanderbilt Park on Tuesday at around 10:15. Please have your child wear sunscreen and bring a snack to have at the park. This will be an opportunity to have a celebration of our year together. 
• Friday will be our last day. Report cards will be given out at noon. If your child is not attending that day, the report card will be brought down to the main office. You can pick it up after noon, or provide a stamped, self addressed envelop for the school to mail the report card to you. 

Happy Father's Day weekend to the special caretakers in our lives! Have an excellent weekend!

June 12

Time flies and we are now entering the last two weeks of school. Please help your child unpack their book bags as we begin to send materials and projects home.

Here's what to expect for next week:

• Monday is a half day and children will be dismissed at 12 noon. It is also the day of the Fifth grade vs. Staff kickball game. Please have your child come to school with a towel to sit on. Your child should wear sunscreen and/or have a hat as the playground can get very hot. Your child may bring a snack to the game. 

Have an excellent weekend!

June 5

After June 12th, there will not be anymore Friday comments since report  cards will be given out soon. As we enter the final weeks of class, please encourage your child to keep up their best school habits. We would like to end the year well and the class has discussed how we need to keep up our best group behavior so that we don't unintentionally upset anyone. The class has done a great job of respecting each other throughout the year.

Here's what is happening next week:

• We will have a half day on Tuesday. Students will be dismissed at noon. 
• The Third grade Music recital will be happening at  Bishop Ford on Wednesday. Please make sure your child is dressed in a white top and a black (or dark)  bottom. 

May 29

The Friday comments that usually go on the homework sheet were not placed in today due to a hectic day of painting and a last period assembly. They will go home on Monday. 

As we enter the final month of school, please look out for any extra classroom library books. We will begin to pack up our library in two weeks. This weeks green response sheet is the last one and it will be replaced by a yellow book recommendation card. This card is the reading log with a small space for a recommendation. It will be used to help kids make summer reading plans. 

Here's what will happen next week:

• We will have a music rehearsal for the June 10th performance on Tuesday with Mr. Kiah. Please make sure your child has his/ her recorder on that day. 
• The Third Grade will be visited by authors and illustrators Ted and Betsy Lewin on Tuesday. This team has written and illustrated many books about cultures around the world. We have been looking at some of their books to familiarize ourselves with their work. Gorilla Walk is a title that is especially relevant to us since it describes a trip to the African Rainforest. 
• School will be closed in Thursday for students. 

Have an excellent weekend!

May 22

This was an active week with two field trips and a dance workshop highlighting  our learning about Africa. We were able to experience many different forms of art from different countries in Africa and from countries around the world through the diaspora of African peoples. Our students were immersed in the experience and were excellent listeners throughout the process. We want to thank the many chaperones who came on both trips and made them safe learning experiences.

Here's what is happening next week:

• School is closed for Memorial Day on Monday. 
• We will have our final reading response sheet for homework next week, starting June 1. From that point forward, students would only be required to keep track of their reading log and recording their pages and times on it. 
• We will look back at topics we've learned this year in math and think about it's application to the fourth grade. We have already begun to review fractions and will continue to other topics. The homework pages, which have been fairly sequential this year, might look out of place on some nights. 
• We are visiting the garden on Thursday! We will work in the soil so please dress accordingly. 
• We will have the Thunderbird Dancers Assembly on Friday. This Native American dance troupe will give our students a taste of the excitement that awaits them in the fourth grade!

Have a beautiful weekend!

May 15

We had a beautiful Field Day out in the park. The weather was perfect and the time flew by as we spent hours enjoying each others company.

Due to the fact we were out the whole day, students did not get a Friday comment in their folders. It will be placed in on Monday.

Here's what to expect for next week:

• We will have a workshop in school this Tuesday to prepare us for the DanceAfrica trip. Your child should be dressed as if for Dance class, in clothes that allow movement and socks that can be removed. 
• On Wednesday, we will head to the Brooklyn Museum for a workshop to examine African Masks. We will be back before lunch.
• We will also have the Unit Two Math test before we head to the Museum. 
• On Thursday, We will head to BAM for the DanceAfrica performance. 

Have an amazing weekend!

May 8: Happy Mothers Day!

This has been a busy week with lots going on and the following weeks will also be eventful! We hope you've enjoyed our Mothers Day projects. There were some beautiful statements written by your child, who adores you!

Here's what to look out for:

• We began a Math unit on Gathering and Interpreting Data. Students have worked on reading line plots, bar graphs and pictographs. The Mid-chapter Review was taken on Thursday and will be sent home on Monday. 
•  We are heading to the Armory on Tuesday. Please make sure your child is dressed for physical activity. 
• There is an optional Parent Teacher Conference session on Wednesday from the hours of 4:30- 7:30. A notice went home for anyone who wants to schedule and appointment. There is no report card given out for this conference and it is not mandatory for families to attend if they do not wish to. 
• We will have Field Day on Friday if the weather is not rainy. Please make sure your child has applied sunscreen and bug repellent prior to school and provide your child with a small bottle of sunscreen for reapplying. Hats are also a good idea. Students should bring a towel to sit on and food for a picnic lunch. Water bottles are also a good idea. Please do not send your child with valuable items they cannot bear to lose ( i.e. electronics, auto graphed sports equipment, etc.)

Have a wonderful weekend with the amazing women in your lives!

May 1

It was a big day for the Earth as PS 154 had it's annual Earth Day Parade! We kicked off the celebrations with a Family Friday where our families got to meet our Kindergarten Buddies. Everyone was delighted to meet and there were many compliments about how well our Buddies interact. Third Grade Buddies taught Kindergarten Buddies how to make a rattle with a plate and some beans. Our Kindergarten Buddies were quick to learn. At 2:20, we walked around the school block to raise awareness of how everyone can do their part in keeping our Earth healthy! Great job, everyone!

Here's what to expect next week:

• We have begun our work on reading Poetry. Poetry is a fun unit and kids really enjoy the nonsensical rhymes of many poems. As third graders, we will look deeper into how poems convey meaning through imagery and mood. We are reading more grown up poems with messages that connect to our human experiences. For independent reading, students are continuing with chapter books so that they can keep up their reading stamina and also reading books on Africa to compliment the learning done in our  Social Studies workshop.
• Writing Poetry is also on this month's agenda. As poets, students will develop their writing through description and careful word choices. We'll also try out poetic devices such as similes and personification. 
• The Unit Ten Math test was returned to your child this Friday. Please sign and review it with your child if needed. We began our unit on Interpreting and Representing Data during the Math test prep and will resume it this week as we look at the different ways numbers can be graphed. 
• We will have our annual Mother's Day Plant Sale this Friday. This is a great opportunity to support our fifth graders and surprise the important ladies in our lives with a beautiful plant. Plant prices range from $1- $15. 

Finally, we want to thank the parents who came to our trip to the American Museum of Natural History as chaperones. Without them, we would not have been able to see all the awesome displays of African animals and artifacts. They battled the crowds and kept our children safe throughout this fun learning experience!

Have a beautiful weekend!

April 24: Post Testing

From our reporters, Lulu and Gwen:

      The English Language Arts (ELA) test was the test we took last week (14-16 of April). We all agreed that we didn't have to much trouble. There were multiple choice, short responses, and extended responses. 

    "I think you guys did fine," said Ms. Chiu. 

    "The Multiple choice questions were pretty easy, the responses were harder." said Gwen. 

We started reading The Year Of The Panda on Friday. We finished on Tuesday. There is this cute little Panda named Su Lin, who goes to this rescue place. We also had some Dim sum on Friday. 

     On Tuesday we went to the Armory. These are the 5 stations we had: 1 a relay race, 2 a obstacle course, 3 palm ball, 4 (like usual) track, and 5 yoga. 

     As you all know we had the math test this time its the 22-24th.  " Math is fun!" said Lulu, while Gwen was nodding her head in agreement.

    We started to learn about Africa and its grasslands, deserts and rainforests. We made salt dough maps and learned how to play Mancala.

We are finished with testing this year. Everyone was able to keep on task for the three day process. While the test is a major event this year, we've discussed that this is not the only criteria for success in school and that what we do in our school days also matter.

Here's what will happen next week:

• We will continue our unit on Africa till the end of this year. So far we have looked at the major biomes of this continent and learned about it's climate and wildlife. We've watched parts of documentaries to better visualize life in this far away place.
• We are going to the Vanderbilt Playground on Monday from 10:20-11:30 to celebrate the end of testing this year. We will be back for computers and lunch.  Please send your child with comfortable clothes for playing and a snack to have at the park. 
• We are resuming our regular Go Math lessons and will be wrapping up Unit 10. There will be a unit test on Wednesday on the different types of Measurements (time, length, liquid volume and mass).
• As part of our Africa unit, the third grade will head over to the American Museum of Natural History on Thursday. Chaperones received a letter last week with an itinerary. I want to thank you all in advance for volunteering for this trip!
• Family Friday will be a fun event as we join our Kindergarten Buddies for an Earth Day craft. Some families will visit our Buddies classroom, while some of the Buddies will bring their families to visit our room. The Annual Earth Day parade will happen at 2:20 and families are invited to watch. 

Have a wonderful weekend!