Elves At Work Wednesday!

The children complete their Math test today and completed the mulitplication timed quiz on 0's -4's. I am going to give them a practice quiz on 0's-5's tomorrow. I am sure they will want to practice their multiplication tables tonight for homework. They also have a Wordly Wise quiz on Lesson 5 tomorrow as well.

We will definitely have some holiday fun tomorrow. The children will have lunch as they normally do either by packing or buying their lunch. However, they will be treated to a dessert and a game after lunch. Then we will come into the classroom and make a holiday craft. I am sure they will have great fun!

I would love it if the children would concentrate on learning all the multiplication tables 0's-9"s by the time they return in the new year. I will not be sending home any reading requirements, but what ever reading they can do independently will be beneficial!

Again, I hope everyone will have a happy and joyful holiday!

Tinsel Tuesday!

I wanted to take this time to wish you and your family a very happy and merry holiday. I hope that all your h0pes and dreams for the new year find their way into your home and hearts. I would also like to thank you for all of your support and kind wishes that have come my way thus far this year. I sincerely appreciate everything that you have done for me and for your child. I am hopeful that our time together after the holidays will be just as rewarding.

At the close of this blog, I have retyped a special email that was sent to me many years ago. Upon reading it again, I realized that I too have much to be thankful for this holiday season. My golden box is filled with all of my precious children and you , the parents, and the friends that I have made since I arrived at Shorecrest. My wish for you and your family is that your heart be filled with wonderful holiday memories. May your travels be safe and hearts be full of joy!
Warmest Wishes,
Renee

"The Box"
Some years ago a man punished his 5 year old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became quite upset when the child used the gold paper to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.
The next morning the little firl brought the gift to her father and said, "this is for you Ddaddy." The father was embarrassed by his earlier overreactions, but flared again when he found the box empty.
He spoke to her in a harsh manner, "Don't you know, young lady when you give someone a present there's supposed to be something inside the package?"
The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, "But Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was full."
The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his little girl, and asked her to forgive him for his stupid and unnecessary anger.
An accident took the life of the child a short time later and it is said that the father kept the golden box by his bed for all the years of his life. And when ever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box and take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.
In a real sense, each of us as human beings have been given a golden box filled with unconditional love and friendship from our children, family , and friends. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.

Merry Monday!

This has been a great day so far, considering it's the last week before the holiday. Please make sure that everyone gets a good night's sleep this week as we will attempt to keep to the academic schedule all the way to Friday. I did want to share a few items with you.

I will not be giving a spelling list or test this week. The children have earned a break. However, today the children are coming home with a practice multiplication timed test today. They are to study this quiz in preparation of another one that will count on Wednesday. The problems may not be in the same order, so remind them not to learn the answers in this order. We will complete Unit 4 in math this week and they will have a test on Friday. The children will come home on Thursday with a practice test that they will be able to study prior to the test.

We have completed our unit of study on Floridian Native Americans and the children are working on their murals today and tomorrow.

The children will have a Wordly Wise quiz on Thursday on Lesson 5 words. They will be bringing their workbook home tonight and tomorrow night for questions and answers and they should review the definitions as well.

This week in computer lab, the children will be learning all about Personification.

The third grade "party" is on Thursday from noon to one o'clock. The children should bring their lunch or plan to purchase lunch as they usually do, which ever they prefer. However, the moms are providing a dessert. The children will play a game and create a craft. I know the children will have a fun time. Thank you to all the moms that have coordinated this event!

Tip Toe Through Tuesday!

You will want to ask your child about our trip to the Science Lab today. The children were put into small groups with just a ruler, a roll of tape, string, a clothes pin, and paper towel roll. They had to get the roll of tape from the floor to the top of the desk by creating a simple machine. There were 5 variations of the simple machines created. Each group had to present their invention by explaining the design in sequential order. Then we recorded our work in our Science Journals, complete with an illustration.

Tonight for homework is as follows:
Writing Activity- Correcting Sentence Fragments.....The children are to rewrite the two paragraphs with combining sentences that can be combined to make sentences that "flow" instead and being so chopped up. I told the children to go in sequential order and to keep the meaning. You may also want to remind them that this is supposed to be two paragraphs though you see no indenting on the actual paper.
MATH- Workbook page91.. also study 0's - 4's multiplication tables.... There will be a quiz on Thursday.
Wordly Wise- Lesson 5... page 37, read over the definitions once and then complete pages 41 and 42.
Review the Verb Form Test Guideline... we worked on verb tenses today with the use of helping verbs have and has .... There will be a test on Friday using the exact same verbs. I have asked the children to take 7 words each night and practice those verbs at least 3 times.
Don't forget to turn in Reading Logs.

Dinner challenge: Ask your child if they know what a league is. League is one of their wordly wise words this week. However, there is an "old fashioned" definition that we talked about today. See if they remember.

I look forward to seeing several of you tomorrow during our Math class. We are working on multiplication word problems with multiplication and division fact families. You may want to "beef" up on your facts as you may be asked to join in with the centers if time allows.

Elves At Work!

I think we all had busy weekends. We were all moving at a slow pace today, but we were productive. I wanted to make sure you were aware of the Shorecrest Parent Association meeting tomorrow at 8:15am in the Janet Root Theatre. I just discovered that I didn't give the children the flier that I received today after lunch. The speaker is Mr. Welborne, the Athletic Director here at Shorecrest. There will be a $1,000 dollar Tuition Give-a-way at the close of the meeting. You are invited and encouraged to attend if you can.

Also, several of you have signed up to come on Wedesday to our Math Open House. The children and I look forward to seeing you if you can come. I will continue with my lesson and my class as per usual as you are strolling in. When we break up into little groups, you may be asked to join in the activities. It is the expectation that the children continue with their math duties. This is not a time to socialize.

Tonight's homework includes:
Math- Workbook-page87.. They also have two Home Link pages to complete as well. We did one from each page together in class so that they would have an example of what to do at home when they are alone. This is a new topic and skill so there may be some questions. I did inform the children that they will have a multiplication quiz on 0's - 4's on Thursday.
Spelling- look over words and dictation.... test on Friday
Class Novel-complete the other side of the Whipping Boy sheet that asks the children to respond to what they believe the character is trying to say through the quotations from the story.

If the children come home and tell you that I said they had to watch television tonight that is partially true. We have read the Cranberry Series in class for each holiday... Fall Festival, Halloween and now Christmas. Tonight on ABC Family Channel(25 Days of Christmas Channel) is producing for the first time the Christmas book complete with narration and singing. I read the first half of the book to the children today and then left them hanging so as not to give the ending away. I did tell them that if they weren't able to watch the show at 7:30, then I would certainly finish the book tomorrow in class. They must have their homework finished and then even after that, it's up to you if you want them to watch this or not.

More to come later on in the week! Thanks for reading!

Thursday Excitement!

I am proud to announce that we have an Elf on the Shelf in residence. His name is Mistletoe. We are SO EXCITED! We have registered Mistletoe and now he can make his visits back and forth to his workshop. We all understand that Mistletoe wants us to keep working hard and make sure we do our best work between now and Winter Break.

Just a reminder that the Christmas Scene activity is due tomorrow. The children are also coming home with 5 dictation sentences to study for tomorrow's spelling test. The words in these sentences review words from prior tests.

We are writing an essay about hopes and dreams. The children wrote a two paragraph essay on their hopes and dreams for the world and for their family. The children took this assignment very seriously and many of their wishes may bring a tear to your eye.

Thank you for your continued support and help with multiplication tables. You should have noticed the multiplication wheels last night for homework. I am trying to give them as many chances to practice these facts as possible.

December News!

Wow! It's hard to believe it's the first day of December. I feel like the shoppers countdown in that it's the Winter Break countdown and we have much to learn. Please make sure that the children are reviewing and learning their multiplication tables. They will have a quiz on 0's- 3's by Friday.

The children will have a Wordly Wise Quiz on Lesson 4 tomorrow. These words include: average, border, cocoon, flutter, moisture, moist, nectar, process, span, suitable, timber. Make sure that all the definitions are studied and especially those words that have more than one definition.

Today I gave the children a language arts project. I have given them until Friday to complete. The project should be completed in two steps. First, the children must look up a few vocabulary words in the dictionary and write the definition from the dictionary, not their own made up definition. Then they must apply that knowledge to the paragraph that is attached to the words to draw an accurate picture using all the details in the paragraph. I have thoroughly reviewed this activity with the class. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to email me.

We worked on skimming and scanning today in class. I wanted the children to understand the difference in reading for meaning and then reading to locate quick information. They may come home today and ask you if you know how to skim or scan.

We have one more Floridian Native American group, Apalachee, to study. The children have begun planning the mural that they are going to create on the covers of their booklet. The mural is to illustrate at least one aspect of each group that they have learned. The cover and the work inside of the folder is their participation grade. I will not give be giving them a test. They have learned a great deal, but it would be unfair and perhaps inappropriate at this stage for me to expect them to reatin all that they have learned over the last threee months. I will have them complete a writing assignment about this unit of study, but they will be allowed to use all their information in their folder while writing. They should be able to produce an informative piece of writing.

We will be learning about metaphors and similes this week so that we are prepared for our class project in computer class this week. I will also begin working on tenses of verbs, present and past with the use of have and has. (For example: begin, began, begun)

We have completed our first Theme in Reading. The last story was a great story to review and master the skill of fact and opinion. You will want to ask your child about the little Native American girl, Janell. Ask them what they think Janell was the most proud of in her culture.

If you have not returned your child's report card, please so so by tomorrow. I would like to get these turned into the office to be filed.

I do hope everyone had a relaxing and joyful Thankgiving holiday! Thank you again for all the parents that planned our wonderful feast!