There is No "I" in "Team"!

Wow! It's so hard to believe that we've been in school for almost a month!  The students are really starting to get into the swing of things and are now becoming pros with our classroom routines and expectations.

My objective for this school year is to help your student have a positive and successful 3rd grade year.   In order to make this happen, it is vital for students, parents, teachers, and administrators to work together as a TEAM.   Without a doubt, as parents, you are your child's most important teacher. As a result, your input and support is so appreciated throughout the year.

Having good and effective parent/ teacher communication is extremely important for getting to know your child and to having a successful school year. The best way to get a hold of me is through email (Dhynek@sd25.org). I try very hard to read my e-mail at least once in the morning and once after school.

Because my number one priority during the school day is working with your child, please understand that I cannot always answer your e-mail during school hours or I may not be present in the classroom that day due to meetings. If you have a message that needs to get to your child before the end of the school day, be sure to direct those requests to the office first (ex.: Johnny needs to go home with Mr. Jones today; Ellie's gym shoes are in the office, etc.). The office staff will then happily direct your message to me before the end of the day.   You can also email me too.   If I do not respond to your email message to give to your child by the end of the school day, please understand that I was not able to relay the message to your child and it needs to go through the office staff.

If ever you would like me to contact you over the phone, please send me an e-mail of the various times that I can get a hold of you both before and after school. I will try my best to be able to call you within 24 hours during school week hours.

Although it's sometimes easy to do, I would greatly appreciate it if parents do not make unexpected "drop-ins" to our classroom during school hours. This rule needs to also be respected before and after school. Many times when parents do this, I may be in the middle of preparing and setting up the classroom for the school day, in the middle of a lesson with students, or on my way to a meeting or school duty. In addition, it it important to me to respect the privacy of your child. As a result, I do not feel comfortable discussing any concerns you may have about them in front of their classmates. If you have a major concern about your child, I am always more willing to schedule a before or after school appointment with you. Please feel free to contact me through e-mail to make an appointment.  All of you parents so far have been doing such a great job respecting this and I thank you for it!

I appreciate your help with open communication about your student. Here's to continuing a great 3rd grade year with you all!

Parent Night is Thursday, September 8th!

I hope that your child has had a terrific first week in third grade! As a reminder, Westgate's Parent Night will be this Thursday, September 8th. During this time, I will be discussing our classroom's curriculum, daily routines, yearly events, and answer any questions you may have.

     Listed below is the evening's agenda. I look forward to seeing you on Thursday!

6:00-6:30 PM

PE, Art, Music Present in Commons

6:30-7:15 PM

Grades 1, 2, ½, and AM Kindergarten information sessions in classrooms

7:15-7:45 PM

Principal Welcome, PTA Greeting, and Introductions of New Staff in Commons

7:45-8:30 PM

Grades 3, 4, 3/4 , 5, and PM Kindergarten information sessions in classrooms

It's hard to say good-bye........

This is the part of the year where it hardest for me..........the time to say good-bye to all of the special bonds and relationships we've formed as a class together.  Look how far we've come and what a fantastic year we've had together as 3rd graders!  How fortunate I am to have such a wonderful class that I will never forget and equipped with such amazing parents so full of endless support to me.  I thank everyone for all of their help and support this year to make all of this happen.   

Because I hate formal good-byes, I will leave you with poem and thank you for entrusting me with the education of your child.  Have such a fun, restful, and safe summer with your family and friends!  :)

                                                                          Fondly,
                                                                          Donna Hynek

End of the Year Poem

Author Unknown

I give you back your child, the same child you confidently entrusted to my care last fall. I give him back pounds heavier, inches taller, months wiser, more responsible, and more mature then he was then.

Although he would have attained his growth in spite of me, it has been my pleasure and privilege to watch his personality unfold day by day and marvel at this splendid miracle of development.

I give him back reluctantly, for having spent nine months together in the narrow confines of a crowded classroom, we have grown close, have become a part of each other, and we shall always retain a little of each other.

Ten years from now if we met on the street, your child and I, a light will shine to our eyes, a smile to our lips, and we shall feel the bond of understanding once more, this bond we feel today.

We have lived, loved, laughed, played, studied, learned, and enriched our lives together this year. I wish it could go on indefinitely, but give him back I must. Take care of him, for he is precious.

Remember that I shall always be interested in your child and his destiny, wherever he goes, whatever he does, whoever he becomes. His joys and sorrows I’ll be happy to share.

Thank You Parents!

Hi Parents,

My sincere gratitude goes out to the classroom Parents, students, and PTA for making Teacher's Appreciation Week so special to me!  The spectacularly decorated school,  fantastic basket full of healthy fruits and food,  class gift cards to Lou Malnati's and Starbucks, the adorable class book full of student and parent notes, the amazing coffee and treats delivered to my door, the deliciously prepared luncheon from parents, and even a massage for all of  the teachers have all have touched me throughout the week.  

I tell people all the time how blessed I am to be a part of such a special school community.   All of the support that is given make my job so easy and wonderful to come to every day! I certainly have appreciated how all of the sweet gestures, positive emails and personally touching conversations that have been given throughout the year.   None of this job could be completed without any of you.   Just know that you are all incredible!

Certainly, words cannot capture how fortunate I am to have such wonderful parents and students.   I did a few years ago however, come across this poem that summarizes how this job could not be done without all of you parents being a special part of your child's life.   So, I leave you with this poem and thank you for being an intricate part of your child's education.............

Partners (Author unknown)

I dreamed I stood in a studio,

And watched two sculptors there.
The clay they used was a child's mind,
And they fashioned it with care.

One was a teacher; the tools used,
Were books and music and art.
One, a parent with guiding hands,
A gentle and loving heart.

Day after day the teacher toiled,
With a touch both deft and skilled.
The parent labored side by side,
And all the values filled.

And when at last their task was done,
They looked at what they'd wrought.
The beautiful shape of the precious child,
Could neither be sold nor bought.

And each agreed it would have failed,
If one had worked alone.
For behind the parent stood the school,
And behind the teacher, home.

Fondly,
Donna :)

Classroom Snapshot of Events

Welcome back!  I hope that everyone has a fantastic Spring Break with your families full of rest and relaxation!  Here is a snapshot of what has been happening in our class:

Literacy:

Our class just finished a poetry unit that focused on the structural elements of poetry, the importance of sound in poems, sensory details in poems, the big idea hidden inside of a poem, and feelings evoked from reading various poems.  At the end of the unit, students created their own Haiku and shape poems.  During Grammar time, the students have been working with action verbs that involve present-tense, past-tense, and future-tense concepts.  In addition, we've been studying irregular verbs, verbs of being, linking verbs, and verbs using contractions.  

Writing:

The students have just completed Unit 2 in our WEX Program entitled "Response to Literature".  At the beginning of the unit, together we read the book called Charlotte's Web.  Using excerpts from the book, students learned how to find evidence, analyze, and write about  character traits of the main characters in our book.  We also had fun writing about particular moments in time that the characters in the book had to endure and compared them to our own personal lives and situations.  Throughout the lessons, the students continued to concentrate on the concepts of focus, details, and sentence mechanics.

In collaboration with our Solar System Unit, students learned also how to write persuasive   paragraphs.   The students have been learning how to compose a persuasive paragraph using the "OREO Method":

O= Stating an opinion of persuasion

R= Providing reasons in our research to support our opinion

E= Citing specific examples to give support to our reasons

O= Forming a conclusion that reinforces our opinion

Currently, the students are working on writing an informational paragraph that includes a topic sentence, supporting details, elaborations of our details, and a concluding sentence.  We're also learning how to add transition words to make our sentences flow better.  

Math:

Our class just completed Unit 7 that focused on multiplication and division facts, strategies, and concepts.   It is important for your child to continue to practice their multiplication and division facts online at home. Using a pre-test, your student will continue to be placed into a differentiated math workshop group for math lessons and activities.   

Science:

Throughout this past trimester, students explored the Solar System.   Through experimentation and class lessons, the students learned about what causes day and night, the Earth's rotation and revolution, the moon's phases, and constellations.  

Our unit concluded with students being put into research groups to explore a planet and write a persuasive speech for Solar Awards.  Click on this website link to view the planet winners!

2016 Solar Award Winners

All of the 3rd Grade students had a blast walking down the red carpet attending the Solar Awards!   Our guest emcee Mr. Walton came in to reveal the winning planets of our persuasive speeches.  Enjoy the pictures of our winning planets by clicking here on our classroom website link.

You've Heard of the Oscars...........Now Get Ready for the Solars!

All of the third grade classes have been participating in a month long Solar System research project.   At the beginning stages, each student was put into a specific planet group based off of their interest.   Using websites and books, each planet group researched information about their planet and posted their notes into Googledocs.   

Afterwards, each planet group chose two Solar Award Categories that they felt their planet could win. The Solar Award Categories are:

• Strangest Atmosphere

• Wildest Temperature/Weather

• Best Name

• Most Earth-like Planet

• Most Interesting Moons

• Scariest Planet

• Most Beautiful Planet

• Most Unique Planet

Once the categories were chosen, each planet group had to write a persuasive paragraph that proved why their planet should win that specific category award.  All paragraphs will be submitted to an award selection committee.  

Next week, together with the entire third grade, students will be divided into specific selection committees that gathered in the Commons.   (Ex.:  The Strangest Atmosphere Committee).   Each committee is responsible for reading the persuasive paragraphs and narrowing down each category to the top three planets that they feel deserve to win that specific category based off of the evidence that was given to them.   

Back in the classroom, the top three persuasive speeches from the third grade classes for each category will be read aloud.   After the speeches are read, the students will vote online into a program called Survey Monkey for the planet they believe deserves to win.   All of the third grade votes will be tallied. 

For the last part of the project, the students will walk down the red carpet in the Commons for the Solars Award Ceremony on Thursday where the winners will be revealed by our guest emcee, Mr. Walton.