So, Sandy is definitely going to slow our progress in the classroom this week. Our "WICKED" writing pieces will be postponed.  I have total respect for nature and will accept this slow down but to be honest, she couldn't have come at a worse time.  I've had some amazing professional development lately and I'm more excited than ever to be in the classroom.
     As a parent, I completely understand that teachers' professional development days can be a hassle.  I have to secure childcare for my own children on these days as well.  It is always a scramble as I figure it all out.  Will my regular sitter be able to take the kids?  If so, great, but it is not going to be cheap.  If not, will one of my neighbors be able to take the kids and if all else fails can my husband take the day off or "work" from home? 
     It is all worthwhile when I come home from one of these days energized about what I can now do in the classroom.  Our day on October 5th was this kind of day.  Elementary teachers spent half the day learning about the Daily 5 and CAFE and the other half learning about QAR.  As you know, I already use the Daily 5 and CAFE but our instructor was FANTASTIC and she really did breathe new life into the topic and get me excited to try new things.  She helped me to think about possibilities I hadn't considered.  The QAR workshop was fantastic too.  The presenters helped us to better appreciate the relationship between the text we ask students to read, the questions we ask of our students and the written answers they provide. The session is already helping me to better prepare my students to read text with purpose and communicate their understanding effectively.  
    You may have heard that I wasn't in school on October 22nd.  It is true.  I was at a workshop with Lucy Calkins.  Lucy is a nationally recognized authority in the teaching of reading and writing.  Her workshop focused on preparing teachers to meet the demands of the Common Core.  The Common Core is a set of national standards for all students across the country. As Massachusetts has accepted these standards, all teachers in the Commonwealth will be challenged to help our students meet these rigorous standards.  The good news:  in the end, our students will be better prepared than ever to enter college or begin a career.  This particular workshop, based on her book, Pathways to the Common Core, was amazing.  Trust me when I tell you it has already changed the work I do with your children.  Your children are incredible and it is critical that their teachers do everything possible to move them toward reaching their full potentials. 
     As you probably already know, we have another professional development day coming up on the 6th.  We'll continue to study the way we teach reading and writing at the elementary level.  I know that Dr. Maruszczak has a vision for this district.  It is focused on providing your children with the highest quality education possible.  We are definitely moving in the right direction.  I haven't been this optimistic and energized about my teaching and the possibilities for all students in some time.  I hope this is just the start!

Are you impressed with your child's transition into third grade?  I sure am!

Our theatre classroom is in full swing.  We have lots to be excited about.

• Has your student enjoyed using IXL?  I am thrilled to share that our students have answered over 10,000 math questions in just over one week!  Amazing!  I'm getting great feedback from them.  I love listening in on their conversations about math as they describe what they're working on and discuss goals THEY are setting for themselves.  Impressive stuff!
• Has your child talked about the Daily 5 or CAFE at home?  Well, both are up and running in our classroom.  The Daily 5 is a something of a classroom management structure.  The students work to build stamina so that they can engage in meaningful literacy activities while I'm teaching individual students or small strategy groups.  I'm proud to report that they can work with independence for thirty minutes.
• They love the Daily 5.  The activities are:  Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Work on Writing, and Working with Words.
• In addition, the Broadway CAFE is open for instruction!  During CAFE, I teach mini lessons that focus on reading strategies, writing strategies, words and their meanings, etc.  As the students learn reading strategies, they are posted on the CAFE menu board.  The students' job is to practice these strategies until they become automatic.  Wonder what the CAFE acronym stands for?                C - Comprehension, A - Accuracy, F - Fluency, and E - Expand Vocabulary!
• The students are writing, writing, writing.  Homework will be a bit ramped up next week with the addition of writing homework.  Please support your child in writing a one page narrative (story of an important moment in their life) when he or she has writing homework.  The focus is on capturing the moment and telling the story with detail.  You need not worry about spelling and mechanics at this stage.  Thanks for supporting your child as he or she works to develop his or her writing fluency.   
• We've finished our first math unit focusing on Number Sense.  We are midway through a unit on Data.  The students have enjoyed surveying students throughout our school and designing representations  to convey the meaningful information they've gathered.
• We've finished our unit on New England and Massachusetts geography.  We'll begin our study of the Wampanoags next week.
• Our Broadway stars are rock stars as well.  They are well on their way to gaining proficiency in meeting our science standards connected to the study of rocks and minerals.  At this point, they should be able to describe the differences between Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic rocks and give examples of each. 
• Exciting News:  I just received the script and music for our Rocks and Minerals play.  I hope to have the cast ready to perform prior to the holidays.  I am anticipating great things from this talented cast.  

I hope you've enjoyed the sneak peek into our classroom through the Animoto Video.  I look forward to sharing the students' continued success with you!

All the best,
Marie

     Steal a sneak peek into our classroom theatre.  Visit the "Scenes from the Theatre" page and watch the Animoto.  You'll be able to see our stars in action!

What happened to September?  I just can't believe that the first month of school is over!  Now that your student and family have adjusted to the new routines of third grade, you may have some time to take a look at our website.  If you haven't already done so, check out the following:

Weekly homework also
known as the Rehearsal Schedule

Our Tony Award page...who's efforts were recognized this week?

The "Scenes from the Theatre" page.  This is probably the students' favorite.  They love seeing themselves online and
remembering special moments in our classroom theatre.

"Blogging from Broadway".  I'm not sure I'm the blogging sort but at the very least, you can keep up to date on all the
happenings in our classroom theatre.

The "Private Lessons" page.  I've included links to some really great pages.  Check out the Pearson Learning site. It is a super site for math and reading fluency practice. Also, be sure to check out the IXL site.  The students LOVE it.  We've already spent 24 hours solving math problems on this site!  WOW!