Book Fair

1_1256059186515.jpg

Room 14 will be shopping on Tuesday, Sept. 15 from 1:00 - 1:30.

Students and families (including any out-of-town family members who may want to purchase books as gifts) will be allowed to shop online for an assortment of books. Students will have an opportunity to shop in person with their class.

Room 14 will also have a classroom wish list of books to add to our classroom.

Payment Options:

  • Send cash with your child. Place the cash in an envelope with your child’s name on it.

  • Set up an e-Wallet set up for your child to shop with.

  • Families can also choose to shop online.

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

Woodbury Elementary and IUSD is committed to teaching students to maintain a "growth mindset." What is a growth mindset? It means that someone believes they can learn or grow to be good at something or to get better at something through practice, repetition, and hard work. Someone who believes in having a fixed mindset believes that people are only born with as much ability or intelligence as they could possibly have, and that they cannot get better at something. 

In the classroom, we want the children to fail occasionally. Making mistakes is a natural and NECESSARY part of learning. As their teacher, I want my students to know that I make plenty of mistakes all the time-- but that's because we're all human. And it's okay to make mistakes as long as we learn from them! I maintain a growth mindset because I know that with dedicated time and effort, I can learn many new things and grow in many different abilities. The children should be encouraged to feel and believe that they can learn and grow too. They need to believe in a growth mindset. 

Tips for promoting a growth mindset in kids (adapted from Sarah McKay; yourbrainhealth.com):

  1. Help children understand that the brain works like a muscle. It can only grow through hard work, determination, and lots and lots of practice.

  2. Praise the process and not always the outcome. It's effort, hard work, and practice that allow children to achieve their true potential.

  3. Don't always focus on the outcome or results, whether it is good or bad.

  4. Embrace failures and mistakes. Children sometimes learn the most when they fail. Let them know that mistakes are a big part of the learning process. There is nothing like the feeling of struggling through a very difficult problem, only to finally break through and solve it! The harder the problem, the more satisfying it is to find the solution.

  5. Encourage participation and collaborative group learning. Children learn best when they are immersed in a topic and are allowed to discuss and advance with their peers.

  6. Encourage competency-based learning. Get kids excited about subject matter by explaining why it is important and how it will help them in the future. The goal should never be to get the "correct" answer, but to understand the topic at a fundamental, deep level, and to want to learn more.

CA Regions Maps

Students used their knowledge of California’s four main regions, as well as famous landmarks to create their own treasure maps. Maps included labels for landmarks such as Yosemite National Park, Redwood National Park, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Whitney, San Francisco, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, San Diego, Irvine, Los Angeles, Death Valley, Joshua Tree National Park, the Pacific Ocean, etc.

Students also drew in a compass rose with the cardinal and intermediate directions (north, south, east, west, NW, NE, SW, SE), and a treasure hunting trail throughout all of the regions and famous landmarks.

Barista of the Week

Each week, a student is selected to be our Barista of the Week. Baristas have special responsibilities throughout the week, and have opportunities to share their All About Me Google Slides, decorate a mini-poster, bring share items in, and invite (or record) a guest reader for our class! Click through the slides above to view directions when it is your child’s turn to share. New Baristas are selected on Friday afternoons.

Below are pictures of our parent and family guest readers who have visited the classroom!

Third Grade Goals

Students worked on their third grade goal portraits. These goals were shared during parent conferences. Every child thought of a goal to work on in the school setting, home setting, our school values, and a personal goal. 

Math Games

Thanks to parent donations, our class has access to games like Adsumudi — a mental math game, Sumoku— another math game, sets of Jenga blocks, and decks of cards that can be used to figure out equations utilizing addition and subtraction, and for some students— multiplication! In class, we played Addition and Subtraction War using standard decks of cards, which is a game that students could easily play at home if families have cards as well! We also played a multiplication game called Circles and Stars using simple dice. With the Jenga blocks, the kids got to know one another by answer questions corresponding to each block!

Writers Workshop

Students have been working hard on their Writers Workshop lessons. Throughout the school year, students will learn narratives, opinion, and informative styles of writing. We are currently learning the narrative genre, and it is so exciting to see and read the stories they are writing. Students also meet with writing partners to get advice and feedback on their writing so that they may edit and revise their work just like published authors! Thank you to the parents who donated the 4-color click pens! These are our special Writers Workshop pens that are only used during Writers Workshop!

California Regions

As part of our social studies unit, the students learned about the four main California regions- coast, valley, desert, and mountain. Students read through unit lessons, took notes, and are working to create beautiful flip books showcasing the four California regions.

Students should have all notes on the inside completed, then use the directed drawing video to draw each of the covers for the four regions. All pictures should be fully colored and fully outlined. Samples are below.