At the Silra Leprosy Home

Birthday time! :)

Feeding the pelicans

At the bird park

Our music informance!

Questions for the Week of May 12-16, 2014

Thank you to those parents who were able to attend their child's art exhibit!  Ms. Thompson and the students were very proud of their work.  Next Tuesday is also Play Day!  We hope to see you there.

Here are the questions for the week:

Questions to ask your child from the week of May 12-16, 2014

In Reading:

What Social Issues have you found in the books you've read?

What did you do with your Innova Buddy this week?

In Word Study/Grammar:

How does the suffix <-ed> have different pronunciations?  What are they?  Give examples.

What happens to the spelling of a base word ending with a vowel when you add <-ed>?

Tell me how to write a word sum.  What do I do?

In Writing:

How is your progress on your independent writing project?  

Can I see what you've done on googledocs?

In Math:

How can you measure area using standard units?

How do you measure the amount of space a figure covers?

In Science:

How are the crayfish and snails doing?

What is similar and different about crayfish and snails?

Battle of the Books

Battle of the Books

Battle of the Books!

Battle of the Books!

We had a great time in the library competing with our book knowledge thanks to our librarians and parent volunteers :)

Happy Mother's Day :)

Happy Mother's Day to all of our amazing Moms!!!

Questions to ask your child from the weeks of April 28 - May 2 and May 5 - 9, 2014:

Questions to ask your child from the weeks of April 28 - May 2 and May 5 - 9, 2014:

In Reading:

What is a "Social Issue?"  What "Social Issues" have you talked about in class?

How was Battle of the Books?  What did you like best about that activity?

In Word Study/Grammar:

What words did you have on your spelling test?

In Writing:

What are you creating for your Independent Writing Project?  Where did you get the idea?

What is a mentor text?  Why are using mentor texts in writing helpful and important?

In Math:

How do you find area?

What "monster" are you creating to find area and perimeter?

In Science:

What do you find the snails eating most?

Which crayfish have died?  Why do you think they died? 

Did you see anything interesting- plants or animals- on your nature walk at SAS?

Fun creating patterns

Questions for the Week of April 21-25, 2014

Great job to all students on MAP this week!

Questions to ask your child from the week of April 21 - April 25, 2014:

In Reading:

What did you think of your Reading MAP test?  What was easy?  What was difficult?

What books have you read in preparation for "Battle of the Books"?

Who is in your Battle of the Books group?

In Word Study/Grammar:

What did you think of your Language MAP test?  What was easy?  What was difficult?

In Math:

How do you find the perimeter of a shape?

In Science:

What types of habitats have you learned about?  Give examples.

What types of animal adaptations have you learned about?  

Can I see your animal adaptation google presentation?

Are you going to try to find snails to bring to the classroom?

How will you take care of your snails?

How are the crayfish?

Questions for the Week of April 14 - April 18, 2014

Happy Good Friday and Easter!

Questions to ask your child from the week of April 14 - April 18, 2014:

In Reading:

What do good readers do when they try to answer a tricky question on a test?

Why do readers look out for tricky answer choices that *could* be the real answer?

What books have you read in preparation for "Battle of the Books"?

In Word Study:

How do you write a word sum?

What do you do to a base word that has a vowel at the end before you add a suffix beginning with a vowel?

In Math:

How can you solve a simpler problem in order to solve a given problem?

What is a generalization?

What generalizations can be made from a group of polygons?

In Science:

What is an adaptation?  

Why do animals have adaptations?

Questions for the Week of April 7-11, 2014

Questions to ask your child from the week of April 7-April 11, 2014:

In Reading:

What have you learned in preparation for MAP in a couple of weeks?

What types of "testing" vocabulary do you know?  (Passage, etc.)

What books will you start reading in preparation for "Battle of the Books"?

In Writing:

What poems may you like to write during your poetry unit?

What types of poems do you like best?

In Math:

What is a polygon?

How can you describe triangles?

How can you describe quadrilaterals? 

What shapes can you combine to make a hexagon?

In Science:

What structures do crayfish have? (Pincers, tail, etc.)

How can you tell if your crayfish is a male or female?

Questions for the Week of March 31- April 4, 2014

Welcome back from Spring Break!  I hope that everyone had a fun and relaxing time last week.  I *loved* Nepal and I hope to travel there again one day to hike in the mountains.  I *love* the mountains!!  I enjoyed seeing everyone at conferences a couple weeks ago, too.  Thank you for coming in and learning more about your child and his/her progress in Grade 3!  It has been a great year with time still remaining! :)

Please note that our class will have a field trip to the Jurong Bird Park on Monday, April 28.  More details will come home in the Friday Folder and I will ask for chaperones soon.  We will need 6 chaperones, so thank you in advance for helping out!

Here are the questions from the week...

Questions to ask your child from the week of March 31-April 4, 2014:

In Reading:

• What have you learned about poetry so far?
• How is poetry similar to music?
• How can poetry "make music" with line breaks and white space?
• What comments did you get from Ms. Carrier about your mystery assessment?

In Writing:

• What did you write about in your Writer's Notebook this week?
• How has your handwriting been lately?

In Math:

• What math vocabulary have you learned this week?
• What do you know about lines, line segments, parallel, and perpendicular lines?
• What have you learned about angles?

In Science:

• What are your crayfish like? 
• How do you take care of the crayfish?
• What structures do crayfish have? (Pincers, tail, etc.)

Have a great weekend!

Congrats, Michael on your seed spit!

Alana's 455 cm seed spit!!

Students in the Middle School teach us how to become more "Green" by using less paper towels!

Anna's bday

Happy Birthday, Anna!

Waiting for Peter Brown

Author and Illustrator Peter Brown Visits SAS!

Ms. Graham's Seed Spit!

The Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest Finalists!

Questions for the Week of March 10-14, 2014

Questions to ask your child from the week of March 10-14, 2014:

In Reading:

-        What did you learn from your Mystery Book Club discussion this week?

-        What makes a good leader for a Book Club discussion?

In Writing:

-        What reflections did you write this week for your portfolio?

In Word Study:

                        -Which types of suffixes (vowel or consonant) could possibly change the spelling of                            the  base?  (Vowel suffix).  Give an example.

-Spell out a word sum (example: spell + ing = spelling) using a variety of base words                and suffixes (example: care – e + ing = caring)

In Math:

-               How can you compare fractions with the same numerator?

-               How can benchmark numbers be used to compare fractions?

-               How can you compare fractions on a number line?

-               How can different fractions name the same number? (Equivalent fractions)

In Social Studies:

-               How many hours did you read for Read to Feed?

-               How much money did you earn from your sponsors?

-               What animals do you want to purchase for a developing country from Heifer International?

We are authors with the Innova Students!

News from Mrs. Steigerwald in Counseling!

Guidance Lesson on Character Strengths from Colleen Steigerwald

New research suggests that academics alone does not predict 'success'.  Seven character strengths are being researched to determine the value to students in classrooms and life.  Third grade students are looking at these seven character strengths (grit, zest, self-control, optimism, gratitude, social intelligence, and curiosity). Students are beginning to develop an understanding of what each strength means and find examples. Students are reflecting on which of these character strengths they have developed and which could be developed further. You may be interested in the Ted Talk by Angela Duckworth What is grit? Ted Talk What is Grit

Enjoy!

Questions from the Week of March 3-7, 2014

Questions to ask your child from the week of March 3-7, 2014:

In Reading:

-        What mystery vocabulary do you know?

-        What was the mystery in Rickshaw to Horror?  How did you figure out the culprit/culprits?

-        What mystery book are you reading right now for your book club?

-        What reading did you share with your Innova buddy?

In Writing:

-        What are you going to share with me from your Read to Feed brochure?

In Word Study:

            -What is a suffix?

-What are some suffixes that you know?

In Math:

-               How can you use patterns in a table to help you solve a problem?

-               How can you compare fractions that have the same denominator?

In Social Studies:

-               When is Read to Feed over?  When is your money due?

-               Can you share your brochure with us when it’s finished?

News from the IS Library- Author Peter Brown coming to SAS in March!

The Primary and Intermediate Divisions are thrilled to welcome author and illustrator Peter Brown to Singapore American School this March. He will be working with all students as the PTA sponsored Author-in-Residence.

Peter’s books have earned him numerous honors. His latest picture book Mr. Tiger Goes Wild is a New York Times bestseller and an Indie Bound bestseller. He received a Caldecott Honor (2013) for Creepy Carrots!.

To order signed copies of Peter Brown's books, please use this order form.

His specific schedule will be posted to the Elementary Library pages soon.

Questions for the Week of February 24-28, 2014

Questions to ask your child from the week of February 24-28, 2014:

In Reading:

-        What is a Venn Diagram?  How did you use it to compare yourself with a child living in another country?

-        How many hours have you read/stickers have you gotten for Read to Feed?

 In Writing:

-        What graph is your group making to show the difference between developed and developing countries?

-        Why is it important to find information in more that one place (from more than one source?)

In Word Study:

            -How can a prefix change the meaning of a base word?  Give an example.

In Math:

-               How can you write a fraction to name part of a whole?  Give an example.

-               How can you write a fraction to name part of a set?  Give an example.

-               How can you find fractions on a number line?

In Social Studies:

-               What did you learn from the movie “Through a Child’s Eyes”?  What surprised you?