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Mrs. Steinbeck’s Weekly Review

I can’t believe how quickly the school year is going by. We’ve reached the end of September and our upcoming mini-fall break. As usual, we had a full week in Ms. Hahn’s classroom.

Specials/Recess

Mr. Flinn has continued the soccer unit with the kids. They have been working on a lot of fun drills to practice skills like punting, overhead throws, passing, and shooting. We have PE first thing three days a week, so it can be a bit cooler and wetter that time of the day. The kids do a great job being ready for PE.

Art class has seen a shift from the art of Wayne Thiebaud to the art of Piet Mondrian. Third graders have created wonderful pieces of art that are inspired by these artists.

I’m always impressed with what kids come up with to do at recess. Right now much of the class have been organizing a couple of different clubs. One is a drawing club where they sit and draw pictures together. The other is called The Berry Berry Cherry Club (I think that’s what it is called). The BBCC brings out little treasures that they have and do a kind of show and tell type of thing. It’s all just so cute!

Math/Writing/Reading

The kids took a unit test in math on addition and subtraction. They also took a pretest for the next unit. We also spent a good amount of time understanding basic multiplication. Ask them how to say 5+5+5+5=20 as a multiplication problem.

In writing they are learning to add more details, dialogue, senses, and bit by bit explanations to their work. Some kids are having a great time and some are struggling a bit. It can be intimidating for a kid to have a blank piece of paper in front of them. We’ve been working one-on-one with them to help them out.

Reading groups meet most days to help with reading comprehension. When they are not in group, one of the things they can now do during reading is a website called Epic. They seem to be enjoying reading and listening to books on the computer.

Environmental Education

This week third graders have been exploring the wetland and learning about the animals, plants, and birds that live there. Drawings have been created and added to the murals in the hall. It’s amazing to see all the hard work that all 4 classrooms have put into the effort. Stop by if you get a chance.

A common thing to see near a wetland are cattails. So we went out and harvested a few so that the kids could get a closer look. Ask your student about what the insides of a cattail leaf and stem look like.

Next week we will be having 3 days of Earth Keepers. Monday and Tuesday will take place off campus. We will be around the school on Wednesday, but spending a lot of the day outside. Please make sure to check the weather each day. We will be outside rain or shine. Be aware that the areas we will be in are full of burrs, so jeans are a better choice than leggings or sweatpants. Don’t send your child in fleece or they will come home covered in burrs. Trust us, we have experience on this! Sunscreen and insect repellent are also suggested. Naturally, because we are going to be off campus there will be no microwaves so please send non-heat-up lunches and snacks. Earth Keepers is a great experience and with just a little bit of preparation your students will have a great time. It’s one of my favorite field trips.

If your kid comes up to me and knows where my oldest son goes to college (University of Minnesota, they can say Minnesota, or even the gophers), I’ll give them a Hawk’s Ticket!

Can’t wait to share photos and stories from next week! Have a great one.

~ Mrs. Steinbeck