Just a Reminder

This Friday, October 2nd, is the last day for the Entertainment Books. This means that either the book or money are due back to the classroom. Thanks again for all of your support in making this fundraiser a big success!

Valley View Voyage

What a beautiful day to be outside and go walking. A huge thank you to our wonderful PTO for organizing a fun event. We had a blast!

Fall is here!

It is so hard to believe that October is almost here! We had a blast today walking for the Valley View Voyage. It was a great day and a wonderful chance for everyone to be active and raise money at the same time. Thank you so much to everyone that donated money for not only the Valley View Voyage, but also for Entertainment books. Your kindness and generosity is amazing!
Reading: The children started their first story in our anthology books. We read and did many activities with the story “Miss Nelson is Missing”. We also have many exciting things coming up. Starting next week we will be starting Literature studies in groups. This is where I group the children and they all select a book at their level. I work with the kids to focus on different reading strategies and at the end of the book the group selects a presentation to tell about their book. We also begin the Accelerated Reading program next week. I require the kids to get an AR book from the library and when they are done reading they get to check their comprehension by taking a short test on the computer. For every test they pass they receive points. At the end of each month, we have an AR store where the children can use their points to buy different items. I always get the question from parents “Should my child be reading these books at home, or at school?”, the answer is both. They should read at LEAST one AR book a week, so taking the book they choose from the library back and forth is often essential in helping them reach that goal.
Writing: I’m sure that your child has probably already shared with you some of the new cursive letters that they have learned. I have tried to stress how important it is to learn the correct way to make each letter. So far all the children are doing a fabulous job! We have started our Writing Workshop. Currently we are selecting someone that is special to us and writing about a specific memory with that person. Before we start we sketch scenes to our story to help us remember details and then we write. The next step that we will be working on is editing and revising. I tell them that their writing isn’t wrong, but everyone can revise to make something better. This can be difficult but will be something that we work on all year.
Math: Unit 1 is coming to an end and the first test is next week. Tuesday night’s homework will be a unit 1 review. The review will be very similar to the test, so if your child struggles with anything, please let me know.
Computer Lab: We started a fun typing program called Type to Learn this week. It helps build beginning typing skills and helps increase typing speed as well.
Science: What an excited, engrossed, engaged group of scientists! We are learning about how things move and how changing a variable can make a difference in the motion of an object.
Spelling: These past few weeks we practiced words ending with –s or –es and also some basic high frequency words. This week we are studying words that have consonant blends.

Dates to Remember:
September
28 Dogs for Dollars @ the Corner Bar.
October
2 Reading celebration in the library with Mrs. Kalee
13 MEAP begins
23 Parent auction at English Hills
Picture retakes
30 Halloween party


Thank you so much to Kristy Stites for volunteering to be our room mom. I know she will be contacting people soon to help with our Halloween party. Please feel free to contact me with any comments questions or concerns.

Dogs for Dollars!

Don't forget to head to the Corner Bar tonight between 5-10. I'll see you there!

Back in the Swing of things!

Congratulations, you just finished your first week of Third Grade! I have truly enjoyed a great week and love getting to know everyone. I thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to work with your child!

Reading: We started our year off with a reminder of how to select a “just right” book. It’s crucial that children not only pick books that interest them, but also books that they can read and comprehend. I like to use the example that I wouldn’t pick up the newspaper just to read the words. I read the paper to find information and the latest news. Next week I will be assessing the children to gain a better understanding of where they are in reading and will relay that information to as soon as I have it.

Writing: The focus this week has been on how to be a good friend. This also assists us in making our social contract. The kids were challenged to think about how they want to be treated by their peers, by myself, and also how they think I would like to be treated.

Technology: Computer lab begins next week and we start with a reading test and will start a fun typing program.

Math: Thus far our math has been all review. We started with a number hunt and discussing what those numbers mean, filling in number grids, searching for information in the student reference book, using calculators, measuring, adding, and subtracting. Homework Tuesday to Thursday will almost always be a homelink. Please let me know if there are any issues with the homework. It can be as simple as a quick note on the homework page.

Spelling: Time to start spelling. Next week Monday your child will have an individualized list of 20 words. The homework every Monday will be to write spelling sentences. We will do spelling activities during the week and end the week with a test on Friday.

Science: We are starting this year off with an exciting unit on forces and motion. I think I have many budding scientists. I’m looking forward to many fun experiments!

Dates to Remember:

September17th: PTO Meeting @ 7 pm
September 18th: Picture Day & Book orders are due.
September 21st: Dogs for Dollars @ Corner Bar.
September 28th: Dogs for Dollars @ Corner Bar.

Calling all room parents. Anyone interested? I’ve had one person express interest, but need another. Contact me by note, e-mail, or phone if you’re interested. Thanks! Please feel free to contact me at any time with questions, comments, or concerns.

What a Great Day!

We had a wonderful first day of school. What wonderful students! Our day was busy and fun filled with several activities. We enjoyed music class and had fun doing a people search with the entire 3rd grade. Due to our extremely busy day, we didn't have time to listen to President Obama's speech. If you would like your child to hear it please feel free to watch it on the following link, http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/ I look forward to the rest of the week!