Today I received 11 random hugs for no particular reason......

Today I was voted to be the "if only" President...

Today I witnessed a student randomly (and silently) giving up his reading spot for a classmate who was not feeling well.......

Today I saw the pride in a student's eye who raised her hand for the first time with an unsure answer....

Today I had a student confront me with an eraser that had been kept in her desk, even though she knew it didn't belong to her because she wanted to "respect the class rules."

Today I had four students check the floor of students who were out of the room in an effort to "earn a tally."

Yes, we will learn a bit along the way....However, it is with these small gestures that your children will bloom into the adults that will make a mark on our future......Thank you for sharing your children with me....

Sincerely,

Michele Chadburn

www.mchadburn@msad71.net

Home:  985-0049

cell:  712-8258

What a fun election day at Consolidated!  Our class has discussed and watched many Smartboard presentations and visuals regarding the Branches of Government and in turn, the Election.  When Mrs. Barrett's class read the results of our school election this afternoon, I heard both cheers of joy and moans of sorrow!  In any case, we, as a class, promoted healthy dialogues that focused on respecting other people's point of view.

Many, many thanks to all the wonderful parents who brought in goodies, drinks, and paper products to our celebration on October 31.  I am extremely fortunate to have the support that I do.  

In response to the hard work that my students have shown by earning tallies for their behavior, I have decided to celebrate with a pizza party on Friday, November 21 during our normal lunch time.  As it comes closer, I will send home a reminder to not pack a lunch for your child that day.

On November 13, we will be visiting the Brick Store Museum in the morning.  I would love two chaperones to join us. We will be gone about 1 1/2 hours in the morning, so we will be back by 11:00. If you are interested, please email me and I can give you details. 

I hope your child has discussed the science activity we conducted yesterday afternoon. Regarding our Habitats unit, we talked about how various animals adapt to their habitat, with a special focus on bird bills and beaks.  Let me just tell you that there were marshmallows and gummy worms involved!

We took our first keyboarding skill check in the computer lab today.  This will provide us with a point of reference to monitor progress throughout the year.

Take care and happy voting!

Michele Chadburn

 We have had a very busy start to the week! Yesterday, we finished

Chapter 5 of Sarah, Plain and Tall.  We have lots of interesting conversations after (and during!) every chapter.    In science, we all held different animal pictures and tried to classify them into their individual habitats.  We are wrapping up our Branches of Government unit and will begin discussing the terms "economy" and "barter" and will also be studying Native American history.

In math, the students who stay with me for math have brought home "Unit 2 Checking Progress". Please let me know if you have any questions! Please look for an informal assessment of your child's progress shortly! 

As far as spelling goes, I am a firm believer in the Word Study program I am using.  The reason is that is focuses on phonemic rules and strategies that your child  can use when decoding unfamiliar words.  However, the Word Study program also focuses on sight words. 

We had the pleasure of having the Fire Department show us the proper way to exit a burning building today.  We learned that if the door is hot, we know how to test it by placing the BACK of our hand on the door.  If it is too hot, crawl to the nearest window.

With Halloween approaching, please let me thank all of the parents who have signed up to bring treats to our celebration. It will start at 1:00 and will end when we go to Technology at 1:50 on Friday.  If there are any favorite books, please let me know!  To answer the many questions I have fielded........WE WILL NOT BE WEARING COSTUMES!

I am talking with a potential mentor now.  As soon as this is final, I will let you know about my volunteer schedule.  I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!

Fondly,

Michele 

It's hard to believe October is nearing its end!  Here's an update for Room 15:

In Reading, we have integrated our core literature book, Sarah, Plain and Tall, with a bit of geography and history.  We are charting Sarah's journey from Maine to the Kansas prairie.  We have compared/contrasted the two settings using a Venn diagram.  The children truly enjoy this book so far!  Today, we wrote a classified ad as Papa did in the story advertising for a wife and mother.  Some children chose to share their ads, while others wanted to finish it tomorrow. I was so pleasantly surprised with the writings that were shared today!  Wait until you read them for yourselves!

Students who stay with me for Everyday math finished their Unit 2 Checking Progress today, so they did not have any homework tonight.  We will begin Unit 3 tomorrow.

Looking ahead to Halloween..............  I am planning on a small celebration at 1:00 on Friday, October 31.  I am hoping I can get 2 parent volunteers to bring in a favorite Halloween book to read aloud to the class during this time. I would like to have 2 healthy snack volunteers and 2 sweet treat volunteers for the class.  I would also appreciate a drink volunteer, as well as a paper products volunteer.  Boy, do I sound demanding!

We will be collaborating with Miss Miller's and Mrs. Humphrey's class for a pre-election tally.  With only 13 days remaining, we have been (in conjunction with the Learning Results) discussing the Constitution and Branches of Government which, by the way, ties in NICELY with the upcoming election!!!!!

I have changed the seating arrangement in our class after school today!  A change will do us good!!!!   

 As always, I am very grateful to spend my days with your children,

 Michele Chadburn

Hello everyone!

I apologize that it has been a bit since I've updated my blog.  We have been very busy in Room 15.  Here is a brief overview:

Reading:  We finished "Muggie Maggie" by Beverly Cleary.  I have one class computer online for comprehension and/or vocabulary check-ins for our reading choices. The students love this, as they can access how they did immediately and often will self-correct their choices independently. We also finished our first read aloud book, "The BFG", by Roald Dahl.  What a hoot this was!  I think I enjoyed reading it just as much as they enjoyed hearing it.  The class was so disappointed when it was over, but LOVED the ending.  Our second read aloud book is, "The Chocolate Touch".  Ask your child about John Midas and what happens to him when he is given the coin from the candy store owner.  

We have begun our first third grade core literature book, "Sarah, Plain and Tall."  We have discussed the setting and have brainstormed about the way life was back then and what type of comforts we have now that were not available back then. 

Congratulations to those students who have met their first G-O-A-L in our Reading Incentive program.  I emphasized today to the entire class that this is optional and very individual in nature.  Therefore, some students may reach their goal weeks apart, or may choice to read independent  of any incentive.  This is not intended to create stress in any way!!!

Math:  Although we are plugging along in our Everyday Math program, I have stopped for individual informal assessments because I was noticing gaps in some computational areas.  I am a firm believer in slowing the pace down when the class climate dictates this.  I have provided enrichment opportunities that are more open-ended in nature for those who are ready, while at the same time promoting partner work and responsible sharing of ideas for those students who need to hear it from someone other than their teacher (who LOVES to talk by the way!)

Science:  It is my guess that, by now, you have heard about our owl pellet dissection!  It was nothing short of FABULOUS!  Yes, I have it all on videotape, which I was unsuccessful at uploading onto this blog.  I even paged Kathy Pence on the intercom to come see how engaged ALL of the students were.  She was not exactly thrilled at the timing, which was right before lunch!  We will be comparing bone charts to try to figure out where the bones came from.

Social Studies:  We are finishing our unit on the Constitution and the Branches of Government.  We read about "running mates" today and talked about the terms of office and had the students cast an unofficial mini- poster of their preferred candidate for the White House in 2008!

Stay tuned for a letter home asking permission for your child to be involved in a pilot program which I am using in cooperation with Joanne Abrams.  In a nutshell, it promotes a "complaint-free" climate and positive thinking environment.  Please check out AComplaintFreeWorld.org for more info.  Students, after receiving an overview, receive a purple (like a Live Strong) bracelet.  Every time they complain, they move the bracelet from one wrist to another.  The intent, of course, is to create an awareness of the power of positive words.  More details will follow!

I will be sending home a tentative volunteer schedule for interested parents.  I am truly SO lucky to have such supportive parents and I could NOT have asked for a better class!

Oh yes, one more thing....our Kickball Fridays have become a bit like sumo wrestling.  Therefore, it is being transformed into a kinder and gentler "Bonus Friday" time, where a bit more cooperative games will be in the works. 

Take care,

Michele

As all scientists face, the Room 15 scientists were faced with a challenge of the third grade kind. Although low tide was at 10:25, it was seasonally not a dead low tide which meant that it would have been a unique challenge to travel to the island.  Who knew????

As it turned out, I would not have changed a thing.  The children were engaged, questioning, sharing, and most of all having fun.  The innocence and energy that all of them bring is something that I am grateful for everyday.  It allowed us time to stop and explore, without a mad dash to get to the island and miss the hidden treasures along the way.  

We are grateful for the support and commitment from the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust.  What a special opportunity we are lucky enough to have been offered.

Thank you to Amanda, Gwen, Jen, Anita, Roger, Bridget, Julie, and Betsey for joining us today!

Our next field trip will be to the Brick Store Museum on November 13th.  We will leave at 8:30 (wishful thinking!) and return at 10:15.  I would love to have 2 or 3 chaperones for this.  

I look forward to having in-class volunteers in the near future.  I would like the NWEA testing in math and literacy to be completed before we begin this.  STAY TUNED!

Thank you for all you do for your children!  Take care!

Even though we are only halfway through the week, we have had many interesting things happen in Room 15.  To begin with, we have received compliments as a class on our hallway behaviors and our DEAR time behavior (Drop Everything and Read).  The students have even surprised me when I walk in the room and find them quiet and working at their desks.  This, of course, warrants more Kickball Tallies.  These are increasing in number week by week!

Beginning in November, we will be "Big Buddies" to Mrs. Cmaylo's kindergarten class.  This will likely involve Readers Theatre as well as book-making.  It is a wonderfully rewarding relationship for both the "big" kids as well as the "little" kids.  This will be on Wednesday afternoons.

It looks like we won't have to do a collaborative sun dance after all for our first field trip on Monday!!!! The weather looks great at this point.  Again, we will be boarding the bus at 8:30 with hopes to leave as close to 8:45 as we can.  Volunteers, please wear mud boots as well.  I will be calling all of our volunteers in the next few days to fill them in on the expectations.  Thanks again to all!

I will not be in school on Friday (October 3) because Mrs. Barrett and I will be presenting to some KES staff a presentation on Early Mathematical Thinking.  Mrs. Boswell will be subbing for me. 

Last but not least, we had a class escapee.......of the hermit crab kind!  Although it was quite traumatic at first, thanks to the diligent effort of some of our third graders, the case was cracked!  This hermit crab decided to scale the wall of our class!

Ms. Chadburn

Our class began discussing the purpose of our field trip to Vaughn's Island this afternoon during our science block. We are very fortunate to have the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust purchase mud boots for those students who do not have them.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE (can you tell I am begging??) let me know asap if your child needs mud boots.  

Here is the tentative (yes, the key word is TENTATIVE!)  schedule for next Monday, October 6th:

We will board the bus at 8:45

We will arrive at Vaughn's Island at 9:10

We will explore Vaughn's island from 9:30 - 11:00 (detailed time frame will be given to volunteers)

We will make our way to the bus and arrive at Consolidated by lunchtime.

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT YOUR CHILD SHOULD DRESS APPROPRIATELY AND HAVE A GOOD BREAKFAST THAT DAY. THERE ARE NO BATHROOMS OR TRASH BINS ON THE ISLAND.  I HAVE STRESSED THIS RULE:  LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS, TAKE ONLY MEMORIES.  

Volunteers:  I will be in touch with each of you to discuss this trip in detail......thanks again!

Ms. Chadburn

Happy Friday!

Our class took great pride in the reading minutes that were tallied.  As it turned out, we read for 1,899 minutes just during our first week of the Reading Incentive program!  We have been receiving compliments on our hallway behaviors from other teachers.  When this happens, we earn more "kickball" tallies.  With today's weather, however, the class earned free time, which ranged anywhere from drawing to playing with "Seaside".......How could you forget our class hermit crab??? 

We discussed as part of our Social Studies unit the criteria for presidential eligibility.  They can tell you that there are 3 main criteria.  The first criteria is that he/she must be at least 35 years old.  Let's see if your child can tell you the other two.........

Great news for our class.......I applied for a grant from the Portside Rotary for a classroom Jeopardy game that is interactive.  I received confirmation that I have been awarded it! I will be purchasing it online in the near future and will be looking forward to enhancing our curriculum with this multisensory approach to learning!

I will also be in touch with those of you who have so kindly volunteered for Vaughn Island.  The specifics will be coming mid-week.

I will soon be drafting a parent volunteer schedule.  I am lucky enough to have many anxious parents and I will be in touch as soon as I fine tune where the need is the greatest.  Your children have been able to access an additional keyboarding slot in the computer lab and it is my hope to build in another block for this as well.

All third graders will participate in the NWEA testing beginning in early October.  This is a new assessment for third grade.  It is done in the computer lab and assesses students' skills in the fall and the spring in the areas of math and reading.  Its purpose is to inform instruction to enhance students' learning.  

Have a wonderful weekend!

Michele 

The new seating allows me to better access the Smartboard which was recently moved to a more central location in the room.

I am so pleased with how nicely your children are settling in to the third grade routine!  

In Reading, we have begun "Muggie Maggie" by Beverly Cleary.  It is a story about a third grade girl who is resisting learning cursive at all costs and when she tries to write Maggie, her writing looks like her name is "Muggie."  From this, I am accessing comprehension and introducing vocabulary words.  Last week's favorite word was : indignant (I hope you already knew this!!!!)

In Math, we are beginning Unit 2.  We will be reviewing place value (still a bit confusing at this point) and multi-digit computation.  I enjoy having math conversations with the students and listening to their reasoning and problem-solving strategies.

We have been discussing the upcoming Presidential election, which is a great introduction to our Branches of Government unit.  If you get a chance, check out scholasticnews.com.  There is an election link where the kids can actually vote for a candidate after they have learned a little about them.  We have been counting down to the Election....41 days now!

In Science, we are continuing our Habitat unit.  I am sure you probably have heard about our new Habitat friend....Seaside the hermit crab.  We talked about why some living things stay in one particular region and talked about wants vs. needs.   We learned, through Brainpop.com, that living things adapt to their habitat.  We will be dissecting owl pellets in the very near future!  Stay tuned........

Our class has over 1,600 reading minutes logged for the first week of the Reading Incentive!  I am so proud of all of my students!  As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns!

Please know that the book orders are not a MUST, but if you are interested, please send in the forms by Monday the 25th.  I hope the Reading Incentive program is a positive rather than a headache!  That is NOT my intention......

We have been learning about Habitats (did your child tell you about the Dirty Jobs smartboard viewing of the Owl Pellet "farmer"?   Also, we are about to "debut" our Constitution play.  I also downloaded a "What Kind of Habitat?"  audio from ITunes that the students loved!!!!!!

How are the planners working out?  I hope it has been a positive experience so far!  Also, I think I may have THE most responsible students (okay...maybe THE most responsive parents!) ...........

 I am SO grateful for your children and your commitment.........

Ms. Chadburn

Hello parents,

 Thanks to all the volunteers (in advance!) for our field trip to Vaughn's Island.  It will be a wonderful and informative trip!  I hope you all received the green "Reading Incentive" sheet.  Please know that it will go home with your child on Monday and should come back on Monday.  I apologize for any confusion in the beginning!

Today, our class finished our "Fractured Fairy Tales" genre. The students absolutely LOVED this!  We illustrated our favorite parts of this book and I was amazed to find such creative students!  I am sure you have heard about the "Stinky Cheese Man", etc.....

 Please know that tomorrow your child will be bringing home a Scholastic Book Club order.  Please don't feel pressure....no worries!

 Your children are such a gift to me..yes, we have a large class, but I have to say...we are a family and truly live by the 3 R's on our wall of "rules".....Respect yourself..Respect others..take Responsibility for your actions!

 Take care,

Michele Chadburn

 Hello parents,

 Just an update on what's happening in our room! First of all, it was great seeing you at the Family Barbeque!  i have introduced our new phonics book and will be introducing literature groups in the near future........Please review the long and short vowel sounds with your child.   I have found that even avid readers at this level struggle with identifying individual phonemes and short/long vowel sounds.  We have reviewed that a vowel can say one of two things:  either its name (long) or its sound (short). 

Please let me know if you have any questions about the Reading Incentive Program that will begin tomorrow, September 15th. 

Thank you to the volunteers for Vaughn's Island on October 6th.  It will have to be a "rain or shine" event, as the low tide dictates when we can go.  Rainboots are a really great thing to bring.  If this is a hardship, please let me know. I am still hoping for 2-3 more parent volunteers if any one can do so...I know it is a crazy time of year......

Parents who are interested in volunteering in the class........stay tuned!  I will be fine tuning the schedule in mid-October.

We have been studying the Constitution and Habitats!  We will be working on cursive strokes this week.  

I have thoroughly enjoyed your children so far!    I can tell that we will grow together both intellectually and socially.  They are a GREAT group and I feel very fortunate to have them.

As always, please know I am available at most times that are convenient with you to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.  

Michele Chadburn

 Hello parents,

 Just an update on what's happening in our room! First of all, it was great seeing you at the Family Barbeque!  i have introduced our new phonics book and will be introducing literature groups in the near future........Please review the long and short vowel sounds with your child.   I have found that even avid readers at this level struggle with identifying individual phonemes and short/long vowel sounds.  We have reviewed that a vowel can say one of two things:  either its name (long) or its sound (short). 

Please let me know if you have any questions about the Reading Incentive Program that will begin tomorrow, September 15th. 

Thank you to the volunteers for Vaughn's Island on October 6th.  It will have to be a "rain or shine" event, as the low tide dictates when we can go.  Rainboots are a really great thing to bring.  If this is a hardship, please let me know. I am still hoping for 2-3 more parent volunteers if any one can do so...I know it is a crazy time of year......

Parents who are interested in volunteering in the class........stay tuned!  I will be fine tuning the schedule in mid-October.

We have been studying the Constitution and Habitats!  We will be working on cursive strokes this week.  

I have thoroughly enjoyed your children so far!    I can tell that we will grow together both intellectually and socially.  They are a GREAT group and I feel very fortunate to have them.

As always, please know I am available at most times that are convenient with you to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.  

Michele Chadburn