Meriwether Lewis Elementary School Classroom Notes » Anna Davis

News From Ms. Davis and Ms. Miura, 3rd Grade

Anna Davis — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 04:19:58 +0000

This is the last classroom notes post of the 2009-2010 school year. Thank you all for your ongoing support throughout the school year. Working with your child has been an honor. When I think back to the last nine months, a smile comes to my face. Having the opportunity to share the joy of learning with your child has been a pleasure. At this point of the school year we have become a family, and it is difficult to say goodbye. I wish you and your child all the best in the school year ahead. Have a fantastic summer vacation! We look forward to seeing you this Wednesday evening or Thursday morning to explore our class’s Portland Museum. We will be having ice cream sundaes in Berkeley Park with our buddy class on Monday afternoon. You are more than welcome to join us.

News from Ms. Davis and Ms. Miura, 3rd Grade

Anna Davis — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:42:57 +0000

Wow! It is June, and the last ten days of school are upon us! In our classroom we are still working at full throttle. Children are presenting their spectacular bridges to the class. Thanks for all of your support with this project. We are still studying Portland’s history. Our class has decided that they want to share their learning with you in the form of a Portland Museum. This will take place next Wednesday, June 9th, from 6-7 p.m. and Thursday morning from 8 – 8:30 a.m. Your child will act as a docent to share his/her learning about Portland’s past with you. We look forward to seeing you there. We have just started reading Where The Red Fern Grows as our last read aloud book of the year. It is the story of young boy’s adventures in the Ozark Mountains with coonhounds. The Lewis School Picnic is this Friday.

News from Ms. Davis and Ms. Miura, 3rd Grade

Anna Davis — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:13:36 +0000

Thank you to all of the parents that participated in staff appreciation week last week. The daily special treats were fabulous. We are hoping that we can share in the spirit of appreciation this Friday with our teacher organized Volunteer Breakfast. I am always astounded by how many parent and community volunteers this school has to support so many of its programs. Thank you to all of you who donate your time to our school. It makes a world of difference. This week in class we are having a lot of interesting discussions about Portland’s history between 1840–1860. Ask your child about what houses were like and what they learned about Portland’s first school. Children have built a 3D model of early Portland to help our discussions come to life. We have started working on our end of the year assessments in reading and in math as children finish up their book clubs and math unit. The Portland Bridges are due next Tuesday, June 1st. Thank you for your support with this project. Enjoy the long weekend.

News from Ms. Davis and Ms. Miura, 3rd grade

Anna Davis — Fri, 14 May 2010 22:56:28 +0000

Last Friday’s Magical Creature Party was a blast. Thanks for your support. This week I am rejoining Sheree in the classroom for the remainder of the year. Sheree did a phenomenal job during her solo teaching experience. During the next few weeks we will be focusing on wrapping up book clubs, finishing the perimeter and area math unit, and learning about Portland’s history. Our last homework assignment of the year went home on Monday. Each child is responsible for building a model of the bridge that he/she is studying. If you have any questions about the assignment, please come and speak with us soon so that we can assure success for your child. Thanks for your ongoing support.

Notes from Ms. Miura and Ms. Davis

Anna Davis — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:57:18 +0000

Wow! I can’t believe that 6 weeks have gone by! This will be my last week of my solo teaching. Ms. Davis will be coming back in the classroom next week and we will be team teaching for the rest of the year! Last week in writing we finished our imaginary writing piece. This week we will be starting our Portland Bridges writing piece. For reading we are continuing our focus on reading just right books and working on our Award Winner book clubs. For math, we have started a new unit on geometry. This next week we will be focusing on perimeter. Finally for social studies we are continuing our Portland unit and we will be going to the Pittock Mansion on Wednesday.

News from Ms. Miura and Ms. Davis

Anna Davis — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:43:34 +0000

Happy Cinco De Mayo! It is hard to believe how quickly the year has gone. This week in class children have started working on a new math unit on perimeter, area, and angles. In reading, children are focusing on reading a novel with their book club and are also exploring non-fiction texts. Children are finishing their imaginative writing pieces in addition to writing thank you notes to the tour guides from last week’s field trip. Lewis Art Night is tomorrow evening from 6:30-8:00. We look forward to seeing you there. Next week we are traveling to the Pittock Mansion on Wednesday morning. Have a Happy Mother’s Day. Thank you for your ongoing support.

News from Ms. Miura and Ms. Davis

Anna Davis — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:40:49 +0000

This week in writing, we are working on finishing our rough draft and starting to edit our imaginative piece. For reading, students are continuing to work on their reading strategies while reading their just right books. At the nonfiction station, students will be continuing to explore nonfiction books and they are given an option of starting a research topic on an animal of their choosing. We are also continuing to work on our Award Winner Book Clubs. At the math station, we are finishing up our unit on fractions. This week Wednesday we will be having a Fraction Carnival, where students are able to explore different carnival like games, that are related to fractions. For spelling, we will be having a spelling test on Tuesday and then we will be starting our new words sort sometime this week. Finally for social studies, we are continuing our Portland unit and we will be going on a downtown walking tour of Portland on Thursday. Students will be looking at what makes Portland unique in comparison to other cities.

Homework from Ms. Miura

Anna Davis — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:26:12 +0000

Homework for 4/19-4/23

Reading log
Math worksheet
Study spelling words

Notes from Ms. Miura and Ms. Davis

Anna Davis — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:24:57 +0000

This week in writing, we are working on our rough draft for our imaginative piece. For our stations, we have a just right reading station where students continue to work on their reading strategies while reading their just right books. At the nonfiction station, students will be reading nonfiction books on RAZ kids and will be exploring nonfiction books in the classroom. Last week we began a new book club focusing on Award Winner Books. At the math station, we are continuing our unit on fractions, focusing on equivalent fractions. This will be the last week of fractions, next week we will start to work on geometry! At the spelling station, we are continuing to sort our words and we will be working on practicing to spell these words correctly. Finally for social studies, we are continuing our Portland unit by going back in history and looking at the Clearing period of Portland.

Homework from Ms. Miura

Anna Davis — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:54:12 +0000

Homework for this week:

Reading log
Math worksheets
Start practicing your spelling words

*Permission forms for two field trips were sent out with the homework packet, please return it asap.

Have a great week.

News from Ms. Miura and Ms. Davis

Anna Davis — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:52:04 +0000

This week in writing, we are continuing to brainstorm on ideas for our imaginative piece. For our stations, we have a just right reading station where students continue to work on their reading strategies while reading their just right books. At the nonfiction station, students will be reading nonfiction books on RAZ kids and be exploring nonfiction books in the classroom. At the math station, we are continuing our unit on fractions. This week will be continuing to work on arranging fractions from least to greatest and working on equivalent fractions. At the spelling station, we will be starting a new word sort and will be working on practicing to spell these words correctly. Lastly in the game station, students will continue to play math and spelling games. Finally for social studies, we are continuing our Portland unit by looking back at the Portland timeline. I hope you have a great week and don’t forget the Lewis Garden Fair is this weekend!

Homework for Ms. Miura, 3rd grade

Anna Davis — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:40:26 +0000

Homework for this Week

Reading:
Reading Log

Math:
Sharing one Brownie Worksheet p. 1, 2
Using the Brownie Page

Spelling:
Practice your spelling words there will be a test on Friday!

News from Ms. Miura and Ms. Davis, 3rd Grade

Anna Davis — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:38:12 +0000

Last week was a great week! We started stations on Wednesday and all the
students did such a wonderful job that I decided to continue it throughout the
week! This week in writing, we are continuing to work on our imaginative
piece. For our stations, we have a just right reading station where students
continue to work on their reading strategies while reading their just right
books. At the nonfiction station, students reading nonfiction books on RAZ
kids. At the math station, we are continuing our unit on fractions. This week
will be focusing on arranging fractions from smallest to biggest. At the
spelling station, we started a new word sort last week and will be working on
practicing to spell these words correctly. Students should continue to
practice their words at home, we will be having a spelling test on Friday.
Lastly, in the game station, students will continue to play math and spelling
games. Finally for social studies, we have begun our Portland unit, we will
continue to uncover the stories from the past by looking at artifacts and we
will start to map out places we have been in Oregon. Last week we also
started to work on a school wide art project with guest artist, Rudolpho Serna.
Our class will be working with him the up coming Friday mornings. I hope you
have a great week and thanks for your continuous support.

Homework from Ms. Miura

Anna Davis — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:26:20 +0000

Homework for the week of March 29, 2010 is as follows:

Reading log
Fraction Interview
Timeline of Your Life

Ms. Miura and Ms. Davis’ Notes, 3rd Grade

Anna Davis — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:25:07 +0000

Welcome back from Spring Break! This is my first week of my solo teaching. I am really excited for the upcoming six weeks! This week we are starting all new projects. In writing, we will be working on an imaginative piece. In reading we will start looking at nonfiction books and working on developing more questioning strategies. Twice a week during reading time, we will be starting stations that focus on spelling, spelling games, reading just books, and nonfiction books. In math, we will begin a new unit on fractions by looking at different ways to cut brownies! Lastly we are starting a Portland unit, by trying to uncover the stories behind artifacts. Thank you for your ongoing support. If you have any questions, feel free to come in!

News From Ms. Davis and Ms. Miura, 3rd grade

Anna Davis — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:47:52 +0000

This week we are wrapping up lots of projects in preparation for spring break and Ms. Miura’s solo teaching. Starting the Monday after spring break Sheree Miura, our student teacher, will be in charge of the classroom for six weeks. I will be out of the classroom during the first two weeks but will then be able to help out during the remaining four weeks. Sheree is an excellent teacher and I have great confidence her solo teaching experience will be a success. There is no official homework this week or next week. Take the time to play board games and read together over the next couple of weeks. I hope you all have a fabulous spring break!

News From Ms. Davis and Ms. Miura, 3rd grade

Anna Davis — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:48:39 +0000

We were fortunate to start gardening class this week in the afternoons with Ms. Julia. Children built a pea trellis, planted peas, and weeded two of the garden beds. We are discussing why it is important to weed gardens. We are on the brink of finishing our read aloud book No Flying in the House by Betty Brock. Children have been practicing asking questions as I read the book aloud. Most of their questions have been answered throughout the book but a few remain. We’re hoping the answers are revealed in the final chapter. Ask your child to retell the story to you. On Tuesday, we attended a kickoff assembly to launch the residency of mural artist Rodolfo Serna. Rodolfo will be working with the 3-5 students to create a mural that will be revealed on Art Night. His residency will begin in April. Please help your child study multiplication facts this week. Thanks for your ongoing support.

News From Ms. Davis and Ms. Miura, 3rd Grade

Anna Davis — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:23:57 +0000

Children have been full of excitement this week preparing for today’s drama performances. All children did a great job of performing for the school and are anxiously awaiting tonight’s performance. I am always amazed at the talent that shines through in each child as he/she bravely recites his/her lines loudly and with expression before a large audience. Thanks for your support in helping your child memorize his/her lines. Our field trip last week to Reed’s Cooley Art Gallery was fabulous. Not only did children get to view and discuss the work of Terry Winters but they were able to do some print making as well. This week in class children are focusing on writing an expository piece. We have spent time brainstorming to figure out what topics we know a lot about and next will outline our paper breaking it into three paragraphs: introduction, body, and conclusion. In science, children spent time organizing all the data from our fast plant experiment and displayed their thinking on posters and presented them to the class. Ask your child about his/her hypothesis and the conclusion of the experiment.

Homework for Ms. Davis

Anna Davis — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:51:43 +0000

Homework for the week of February 22nd is as follows:

Reading Log
Math – multiplication

News from Ms. Davis and Ms. Miura, 3rd grade

Anna Davis — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:50:56 +0000

I hope that you all received the notice about our drama performance being changed to Wednesday, March 3rd, so that it will not interfere with the PTA meeting on the 4th. This Thursday we are going on a walking field trip to the Cooley Gallery at Reed College. The featured exhibit is Terry Winters: Linking Graphics, Prints 2000-2010. It is the first comprehensive exhibition of American artist Terry Winters’ recent etchings, lithographs, and other unique prints held in the United States. Gregory MacNaughton, the educational outreach coordinator for the gallery, is coming to speak with our class about the exhibit on Wednesday morning. Gregory has an amazing ability to get children to connect and discuss art. In math, children are working on multiplication. In reading, children are focusing on asking and answering questions as they read. In addition, they have signed up for book clubs that will help meet their goals as readers. For example, one of the book clubs focuses on reading different genres. In writing, we are starting to write an informational article. Students will work on organization by learning how to write a paragraph. In art, children are working on learning how to create perspective when drawing 3-D shapes. I hope you have all been enjoying the lovely spring weather.

Homework From Ms. Davis

Anna Davis — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:26:30 +0000

Homework for the week of February 16th is as follows:

Reading Log
Math Game – multiplication

News From Ms. Davis and Ms. Miura, 3rd Grade

Anna Davis — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:25:29 +0000

Last Friday’s Valentine’s Day celebration was delightful. Children passed out cards, found out who was their pixie pal, and read their Valentine’s Day books. We welcomed Brendan Worley into our classroom on Tuesday. All students have done a wonderful job of helping him learn classroom routines. This week children are starting a math unit on multiplication. I sent home some ways that you can support this unit in this week’s homework packet. In addition to the suggestions in the homework packet, children should practice learning multiplication facts using flashcards. In reading, children are finishing up midyear reading assessments and learning about fact and opinion. In art, we are learning how to create perspective in our drawings. As I mentioned in the homework packet, I will be at a reading conference on both Thursday and Friday this week. I hope you’ve been enjoying the sunshine!