Fabulous Friday!

Thank you all very much for coming last night! I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to come and learn about what's "hoppin" in third grade this year. I additionally want to assure you that I have a no tolerance policy for bullying as does Shorecrest. I expect my children to respect each other and play fairly whether in the classroom or on the playground. I will not have my children calling each other names even if they are playing and know that they are kidding with each other. I want my children to feel comfortable and safe in their environment and not fear being made fun of or excluded from activities. If at any time that a situation arises that involves this issue, I will contact you to set up an immediate conference. I have high expectations for my children and citizenship is just as important as any academic achievement.Though I pride myself on having an open and trusting relationship with my children, there may come a time that your child doesn't share a problem until they get home or sometimes while being tucked into bed. Please feel free to contact me if you feel like I should be made aware of a problem.

I have asked the children to keep a running record of how much TV they watch over the weekend even it's 0 minutes. We are learning how to collect and record data with large groups. We have spent out math time today practicing with other information and I thought the children would enjoy using their own data to review on Monday. They can record the total amount of time in their journal. I did not tell them to watch TV, just to record the amount of time if they did. Thanks for your help.

Please ask your child if they need any additional notebooks. I would like them to have all of their supplies ready starting on Monday.

Remember to check my blog daily... have a great weekend!

Wednesday Updates!

I am trying to get the children into our daily schedule though it changes from day to day. As always at the beginning of the year, I misjudge how long it will take the children to accomplish certain tasks. One of my goals is to make sure they have a secured sense of what a Writer's Workshop is and what is expected. I have also given the children time to independently read so that I may observe the kinds of books they gravitate towards. The entire class has completed the word assessments for our reading program, Voices. I will share all this with you on Thursday night. There is a program prior to the classroom visit. I encourage you to attend this program. I understand that the video is outstanding and a great deal of hard work went into its production. Once we have been dismissed form the JRT, please try and get back to the classroom as promptly as you can. I have much to share with you and I also want there to be plenty of time for you to ask questions.

Homework tonight was: Complete the essay about themselves. They were to discuss various things about themselves from favorite foods, movies, books, games, trips, pets, and holidays. They were to also include any other special information that they wished to share about themselves even if it ended up being a little bit of a repeat from the "white bag" activity. They are to ask you for help in proofreading for checking spelling only. They do not have to recopy the page essay. We will work on that in class tomorrow.

Wednesday Updates!

Marvelous Monday!

We had a great day! I am trying to keep to the schedule that I sent home as I want the children to be comfortable with moving from place to place and what they can expect. The homework tonight is as follows:

Math-Workbook page 1 and a Home Link sheet page 7.. you should also read the Family Letter for Unit 1
Map Work- complete Wednesday-Friday including the challenge section

I attached a sticker with my blog address on it in the agenda. I told the children to leave it there so they would always know where to find it, unless they wanted to tape it to their computer at home.

We organized our Writing Binder today. We have already made two journal entries in their composition notebook as well. You may want to ask your child how he/she liked the book, Be A Perfect Person in Three Days! Our next class novel will be Muggie Maggie.

Looking forward to Thursday night!

Happy Friday!

Today was a great day! It was amazing how much I learned about the children in those little white bags. They showed imagination and creativity in sharing with the class something special about themselves. I do have incredibly talented children. We completed our first novel, Be A Perfect Person in Three Days. On the third day, the main character had to do nothing for 24 hours. After an interesting discussion on what it truly meant to do nothing, I encouraged the children to take 15 minutes this weekend and just sit in a chair by themselves and try to do and think about nothing. I told them they may be surprised how hard that is to do and the sounds that they may hear that they wouldn't ordinarily hear. We wrote in our journal about our first week of third grade and we began our first lesson in math on numbers all around us. The children are to explore the house and see if they can find something that has numbers on it that they have never noticed. Next week we will begin our study of Florida by studying landforms and using map skills to navigate the state. There will be a spelling test on Friday. Please make sure they study the words at least 3 times before the test. The children have the schedule in their homework folder. I told them to keep that in the homework folder as I will be giving you one on BTS night on Thursday. I am looking forward to seeing you. Have a great weekend!

Parent/Student Handbook

Please review the Handbook with your child. You may want to discuss certain items such as dress code, conduct and the acceptable use policy for educational technology to ensure complete understanding. Once you and your child have read this handbook, please go to page 3. Both you and your child will need to sign on this page indicating that you agree that you comply with the policies and procedures stated. I would love to have all of these forms collected by Monday if at all possible. Thank you in advance for your help and support with this task.

First Day Cheers!

We got off to a great start today! I shared a lot of information with the children and I know that it will take a few days for it all to sink in. They did to have their snack and go to PE. I did discuss how the snacks need to be nutritious and not dessert. It would help if the snacks could be packed separately from the lunch container so that it is easier and quicker for them to get it out of the locker. The lockers were a big hit! I did have to share that we don't allow them to decorate the lockers. BUT, when I get the schedule printed, I told them they would be allowed to put the schedule up in the locker with a special magnet. We have begun our first class novel, Be A Perfect Person In Just Three Days. We read chapters 1 and 2 together. Tonight for homework, they are to wear a broccoli necklace. If they absolutely refuse to wear the broccoli, it's not the end of the world, but I thought it would be a fun thing to do for homework the first night. You may want to take a look at their agenda/homework notebook to get familiar with the layout.
Thanks again for sending me such sweet children!

Great Orientation!

Thank you all very much for coming today. I enjoyed meeting both you and your child. Tomorrow the children and I will organize our materials and discuss classroom rules. If your child is missing any materials, I will contact you personally via email. They will also attend PE from 11:00 to 11:30, so please make sure they wear tennis shoes. I will escort the children at dismissal to help them feel more confident with the process. It would be wonderful if you could review the Parent/ Student Handbook that I gave to you this morning. It has a page inside that you and your child needs to sign and then return the form to me. I would love to be able to hand all these in to the office by Friday. Many thanks again for coming today. And thank you for sending such wonderful children.
Your child's new friend,
Renee Hensler

Welcome My Friends

Welcome to Third Grade! I am so happy that you are in my classroom. We are going to learn so many new things. Your are going to love our study of Native Americans of Florida. You will be a part of the first group to go to the History Museum in Tampa. We will play lots of math games, learn our multiplication tables and even learn how to write in cursive. I am excited to get to know each of you through your reading and your writing. I hope you have had a fun and relaxing summer. I traveled to visit my family in Virginia and spent some time in the Outer Banks. I also went on a cruise through the Caribbean and was able to read several good books. I look forward to you writing and sharing your summer adventures as well. Be thinking about a special time for you this summer.