A-2 All-Stars

Tag: Writing

  • Welcome to the 2025-26 School Year!

    August 6, 2025

    Dear A-2 Families,

    I am so excited to meet your children tomorrow! I have only seen most of them in their school pictures, but they already feel like mine. :o)

    Third grade is an exciting time, full of firsts and full of learning. Eight and nine year olds are growing rapidly – physically, socially, and cognitively.  In addition, third graders in our district take a step up in many ways. For example, they start using Chromebooks instead of iPads during class, take the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) in the spring, and are beginning to apply their foundational Language Arts and Math skills to ever more challenging academic tasks. In short, third grade is a turning point.

    On the first day of school, my class spends a lot of time learning Reed ROCKS procedures and rules in addition to getting to know their classmates. Setting the foundation for a smoothly running class where students feel safe, valued, and challenged is critical during these first few days.  As such, rather than looking inside backpacks for papers or packets after school, ask your child how their day went. What did they do? Who did they meet? What was their favorite-and least favorite-part of the day and why? Checking in on feelings and thoughts will be my only homework tomorrow.

    If you’re wondering what your child whould bring or wear to school tomorrow:

    School Supplies: Everything we need for the first two days (at least) is ready for your children. They do not need to bring pencils, crayons, and so forth tomorrow.

    What to Wear: We are not a uniform school, so simply following the SJUSD guidelines is sufficient. Note: Hats are.no longer allowed during school hours unless students have a physician’s note or the hat is part of a religious observance. 

    What to Bring: Backpacks are fine, water bottles are suggested. Lunch boxes is students do not get their lunch at school. The first day is a great day to travel light. Nothing much will be going home until next week.

    First Day Agenda: 

    • Students arrive by 9:05 AM and line up in front of our class.
    • We hang up backpacks on hooks outside and head to the carpet for first circle time.
    • From arrival until 11:00 AM: “Getting to know you” activities, making class rules, a read aloud or two, Growth Mindset activity.
    • Recess is 11:00-11:15.
    • After recess, we have a regularly scheduled read aloud  time followed by a (hopefully) fun 3rd grade math activity.
    • We are dismissed at 12:35 for the lunch recess, then eat our lunch from approximately 1:00-1:20. (I will support our class with walking around school and lining up for lunch we get it down, Reed ROCKS style.)
    • After lunch, we will review rules, practice showing what Reed ROCKS looks like, sounds like in as many locations and contexts around school that we can. If we haven’t done so yet, I’ll make sure each student takes their picture with the “First day of Third Grade” sign.
    • At 2:45 we clean up and close out our day with a group reflection.
    • Students will be dismissed from my classroom at 3:01 PM.

    This is a great time to remind you to check Principal Ponzio’s updated Weekly Newsletter for details of drop off and pick up procedures and other important items. In addition, attached here are instructions for parents to support their child in creating or changing a San Jose Unified password. Now that your children are in third grade, they will be logging in to Blended Learning programs on their own using their district email and a password. We will not be using Chromebooks until Monday, though, so please don’t feel this must be done immediately. 

    That’s the scoop for now! Please reach out with any suggestions, comments, or for clarification on any point. I look forward to working with you collaboratively this year and working to create the best possible learning environment for all of our children. Let’s make it a great year!

    Warmly,
    Ms. Susan Seyan
    Educator
    (408) 535-6247 x 37118
    sseyan@sjusd.org
    msseyan.com

  • E-2 Update October 14-18, 2024

    Writing

    3rd grade standards: 
    3.W.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. 
    3.W.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

    This week, students received a copy of the WPA they wrote last week and a couple of mini lessons on revising. Revising lessons will continue though Friday as students revise pieces of their choice, discuss their writing with a partner, and have the opportunity to publish and/or share by reading out loud to the class. 

    Through Unit 1, your children have been practicing the following:
    “Students learn about the use of a writer’s notebook and fill it with several entries and begin to envision what writing will be like this year and what they are capable of in a “can-do way”.
         • Students develop a seed idea and experiment with different ways of telling the same story.
         • Students write with more independence and are encouraged to go through the writing              process multiple times to increase fluency. “

    We begin Unit 2, nonfiction reading and writing, next week.

    Still true: Students may still decorate their notebooks! Please allow them to bring printouts, stickers, or photos to glue onto their notebooks. I will cover the notebooks with clear tape so the pictures stay on. 

    Math

    CCSS Standards:
    3.OA.D Solve problems using the four operations
    3. NBT.A Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic; use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.
    SMP 6: Students will attend to precision when using greater than and less than symbols to record their thinking.

    Finishing Module 3: 
    Topics include: “Place Value up to 10,000 by adding or subtracting 10 or 100 from any three or 4 digit number, using rounding and mental math and main strategies.”

    Students will work on comparing 3 and 4 digit numbers and rounding 3 and 4 digit numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.

    Reading

    CCSS Standards
    3.RF.4 4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
    a. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
    b. Read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings. 
    c. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition.

    We are enjoying differentiated reading time, with students either working with the teacher in Istation or reading self chosen books and recording reading in logs.

    Students work with Reading buddies to retell their stories and begin to interview someone about what they are reading.

    Spelling/Vocabulary

    Reading Standards
    3.RF.3b Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words both in isolation and in text. 
    b. Associate the long and short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels. (Identify which letters represent the five major vowels [Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, and Uu] and know the long and short sound of each vowel. 

    Students took the Elementary Spelling Inventory (ESY) as a baseline to gauge the efficacy of spelling instruction and identify areas of focus for individuals and small groups. We are finishing the Short Oo series this week. 

    Social Emotional Learning
    Focus on: What is Bullying?, how to be an Upstander, how be a “free fish”.

    Student leaders in our class have created a Feelings Club for students to privately share and get support for interpersonal issues from a peer; another student leader has prepared a support they will share with the class on Thursday. 

    Specials

    • Earthquake and Fire Drill Combo!
      • Thursday 10/17 at 10:17 AM.
      • Our class is great at this. It will be a piece of cake!
    • Art Vistas!
      • Rescheduled for this Friday afternoon, our class will experience their favorite on site special: Art Vistas! Your children love this, and they love having their families in the classroom. I am so grateful for the class parents who are willing and able to do this for our class this year. Watch for photos of the action!

    Fall Festival:
    We hope to see you at Reed’s Fall Festival on Saturday, October 19th from 1-5 PM! Find more information in the flyer below. 

    Thank you for your attention. As always, please reach out with any suggestions, oversights on my part, or questions at sseyan@sjusd.org, right here at ParentSquare, call (408) 535-6287 x. 37143–or just stop by after school! 

    Warmly,
    Ms. Seyan :o)

  • October 7-11, 2024: This Week’s Plans and Classroom News

    Writing

    CCSS Anchor Standards: 

    1. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
    2. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

    This week, we will take the Narrative Writing Progress Assessment (WPA) on Thursday morning. This will give students an opportunity to show what they have learned and been practicing in Writing Workshop: Writing about personal small moments, including dialogue and description in their writing, writing on the same topic over several sessions, and editing and revising our work. To prepare, students will have mini lessons in paragraphing and using a writing checklist, in addition to having time to revisit and rework writing from our notebooks and folders.

    By the way: Students may still decorate their notebooks! Please allow them to bring printouts, stickers, or photos to glue onto their notebooks. I will cover the notebooks with clear tape so the pictures stay on. 

    Math

    CCSS Standards:

    3.OA.1  Interpret products of whole numbers, e.g., interpret 5 × 7 as the total number of objects in 5 groups of 7 objects each. For example, describe a context in which a total number of objects can be expressed as 5 × 7.

    3. NBT.1 Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic; use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.

    Module 3:
    -Strategies for multiplication facts when one of the factors is 2 or 4, practice with multiplying 5s, 10s, 2s, and 4s in a variety of ways. 
    -Place Value up to 10,000 by adding or subtracting 10 or 100 from any three or 4 digit number, using rounding and mental math and main strategies. 

    Students are encouraged to talk through multiplication rather than seeing the lessons as rules to follow. They may also have difficulty conceptualizing numbers as large as 10,000. We will focus on counting by place value column to support with this.

    Reading

    CCSS Standards

    3.RF.4 4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
    a. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
    b. Read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings. 
    c. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition.

    This week in reading we will stake the October ISIP on Monday and Tuesday.  During reading Workshop, we will have mini lessons in the importance of reading, share our reading plans, share book recommendations, and get new reading buddies.

    If you would like extra reading logs to use with your child at home, let me know!

    Spelling/Vocabulary

    3.RF.3b Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words both in isolation and in text. 
    b. Associate the long and short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels. (Identify which letters represent the five major vowels [Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, and Uu] and know the long and short sound of each vowel. 

    We are continuing with the Short Oo series this week. 

    Social Emotional Learning

    • Reed ROCKS Review and Anti-Hate unit review
      • Each day we will focus on a different letter of the Reed ROCKS matrix: Responsible, Organized, Considerate, Kind, and Safe.
      • We will reteach and practice classroom routines.
      • We will also revisit the Anti-Hate/Anti-Bullying unit with new activities and get more student input on how we can be a safe, supportive classroom for each other!

    Specials

    • Art Vistas!
      • On Friday afternoon, our class will experience their favorite on site special: Art Vistas! Your children love this, and they love having their families in the classroom. I am so grateful for the class parents who are willing and able to do this for our class this year. Watch for photos of the action!!
    • College Week!
      • On Friday morning,  our class will attend talks by guest speakers on various career pathways and education options. Total time spent listening will be approximately. 2-3 hours.
      • If you would like to visit our class to share your experience in school, training, college, or work, please let me know! Your children would love this. ❤

    Thank you for your attention! As always, please reach out with any suggestions, oversights on my part, or questions at sseyan@sjusd.org, right here at ParentSquare, call (408) 535-6287 x. 37143–or just stop by after school! 

    Warmly,
    Ms. Seyan :o)

  • Writing Progress Assessment (WPA) FAQ

    May 17, 2013

    Dear Families,

    This year, all San Jose Unified School District students will be taking their end-of-year writing performance assessment in May as usual. Second Graders will be asked to write a Friendly Letter. This Friendly Letter must include all five parts of a letter- date, greeting, body, closing, and signature, the letter must be formatted correctly, and the content of the letter must address the writing prompt.

    Starting next year, the Friendly Letter will no longer be part of the Second Grade curriculum. Common Core Standards emphasize Narrative, Persuasive, and Expository writing genres. In addition to these three genres, Second Graders will be expected to produce reports as part of a group, to use various sources to report on a topic, and to type their work on a computer.

    The Friendly Letter has not been emphasized in our class this year since we are transitioning to Common Core Standards. We have practiced the Friendly Letter in class. We had two whole-class mini-lessons to learn about the Friendly Letter, and have had worksheets reviewing the concepts both in our homework and in class.

    On Friday we are taking home the Friendly Letter packet we worked on in class. Please check it to see if it is complete and correct. Also, please find out if your child has any questions! I will address them in class before the Writing Performance Assessment on Tuesday, May 21, 2013.

    Thank you!