Marvelous Monday!

The children did a great job today at the Lower School Town Meeting. They were very insightful with their words about Peace. Tomorrow there will be a small ceremony to celebrate International Peace Day. We now have our Peace letters in the third grade hallway to remind us of what Peace means to us and how we can possibly help achieve those ideas.

Math tests will be coming home this week. I must share that the class as a whole really did understand the concepts. I also want you to know that I reviewed each section and read and explained the directions and even cautioned them to where they might make the careless mistakes if they weren't reading carefully. When you receive your child's test, you may want to review mistakes that were made either by carelessness, inattention to directions, or errors in computation. I will have done so prior to you receiving it in the weekly papers. It is most unfortunate when errors are made due to lack of proofreading and attention to detail. This class as a whole loves math and are quite capable.

This week the spelling words are examples of Diphthong Syllables. They are a little more difficult than they are used to . Tonight they have to rewrite the words in abc order on the paper that I gave them today in class. The dictation will be to write the rules of Diphthong Syllables which they have in their spelling notebook.

We will be working on the reading skill of main idea and supporting details again this week using the story of Satchel Paige. We will also work on activities that require sequencing of events to help with organizing the details of a story.

We have finished the first draft of our first third grade Personal Narratives. This week we will work on editing and revising our lead sentences and making our details become more alive by using our senses. We have also begun an additional essay on Friendship. That is our character trait for this month. The essay will be coming home tonight for you to read and to help proofread only the spelling errors. The first paragraph should discuss the top three qualities that one would like to have in a friend and why. The second paragraph should reveal at least three things that they like to do with a friend in detail. The intent was that each paragraph should be at least eight sentences long.

I hope to complete the study on Florida this week. We will touch on the two Famous Henry's. Thanks to them tourism and the railroad system flourished.

We are beginning our second Unit in Math. Tonight the children are bringing home a Parent Letter that I would like you to read to see the skills that we will cover. Today with started with Fact Families. Tomorrow we will begin to work on Fact extensions to help us add and subtract larger numbers.

We will begin to create our own personal poem booklets. Each child will design their own cover and then in their spare reading time will go through the poem books that I have in the writing section of the room. As they find a poem that is their favorite, I will make a copy of it for them to add to their own booklet. From time to time I may ask them to find a poem with a certain style. But for the most part, it's a way for them to familiar with poetry on their own time and discover their own style.

This week we go to Computer Lab on Wednesday and Thursday. I will keep you posted of those skills and projects. You may also want to check out Mrs. Baralt's blog as well.

Mighty Monday!

I hope everyone had a relaxing and fun weekend. There is a lot to share with you about what to expect this week.
First, I am sending home a letter about the Spelling City website. You can now access the weekly spelling list through both the blog and the website. Just follow the directions on the letter that I sent home today. The children also have a Spelling Contract of homework for the week. We discussed this in class. I told them that if they have the extra time and it is NOT a burden, then they can get ahead. This week they will be asked to rewrite the rules for Open Syllable words as a part of dictation. These rules are in their notebook. I will remind them to bring the notebook home and you may want to suggest to write these rules in their agenda. That way they have the rules to review the entire week without having to bring home the notebook each day. I have posted the spelling list for the week on the side of the blog for your convenience.

I have also sent home a Family Tree exercise that is not due until Wednesday. The roots to the tree are the names of your family. I told the children that they could add more family names on the leaves or limbs, but they are to think and write words and phrases about your family's traditions and culture. This would include foods, where your ancestors are from and then just special events that are unique to your family. We have been discussing heritage and different cultures in class. Many of the children did interview you and possibly their grandparent already. So this activity should be a little easier as they can use that information as well.

We are continuing to share our Geography Projects this week. I will be sending home an Assessment Rubric so the children can see how they followed directions. But I will keep the projects for a while in the classroom for others to see.

We will concluding our review of Unit 1 in Math. We will have a review test on Wednesday and the "real" test on Thursday. They are also coming home with a challenge activity. They have until Friday to have the elephants marching around the pyramid as the picture shows on the sheet. They are to continue folding the triangle on the black lines until the correct picture is complete.

The children will do more in-depth reading about Florida this week. It is my goal to complete the Florida book by Friday. I have some comprehension questions that are using during morning work to help guide their reading in searching for details.

Some of the children are coming home with what I call "baggy books". There are instructions inside the bag. But, the children are to read this story orally to you , not necessarily all in one night, but they are to read with expression and pay attention to each word. Then I would like them to reread the story independently(perhaps during their nightly reading) and then write a 5 sentence paragraph on loose leaf paper explaining the main idea and using 3 supporting details. This is the major reading skill that we are working on at this time. I am giving each child 3 days to complete this assignment. If your child does not have one in their bookbag today, they will eventually have one. Be on the lookout!

Don't forget to turn in their nightly reading logs. I have already had a few turned in! Way to go!!

Tomorrow is picture day! I told the children that if you wanted them to wear a part of the uniform that they are not used to wearing, that they could bring a change of shirt if they would fell more comfortable after the picture is taken. For instance, if you want you son to wear the white button down shirt, they could bring the polo shirt to change in. I asked them to make sure that they come to school neatly dressed with combed hair. I am not quite sure when our turn will be, but I will not take them out to play before the pictures. And, I know that they will do everything they can to get the pictures in before lunch.

Our special moment stories are in full bloom this week. We will be working on these stories for at least a week and then we will move on to another personal narrative. You may want to ask your child their first topic of choice.

We are really working on Active Listening. The children do need to pay attention and follow directions once they are given. You may want to consider giving 2 and 3 directions at a time and not repeating so that they can begin to become accustomed to keeping track of what they have to remember. I find that they are easily distracted by themselves. I did not realize that all the things in their desks were so appealing and interesting! Smiles!

Thank you for all of your support and help. This week I will add some new responsibilities which means that they may have more to keep up with at home and at school.

Terrific Tuesday!

I hope that everyone had a fun and relaxing holiday weekend. The day weekends are the best!! We are off to a great week. Tonight, the children are coming home with a new spelling list with a pattern of Closed Syllables. We are beginning a new format for reviewing spelling words that I think the children are going to really enjoy. I demonstrated in class in hopes that they don't have any problems at home. But, they are to go to the website: www.spellingcity.com. They are to enter all the spelling words by typing them correctly into the individual boxes. Once they have done this, they can go to Test Me, Teach Me and Play a Game. I would expect them to use Teach Me for words that they find more difficult first before they go to the game section. I explained to them in class today that they are allowed to go to Hang Mouse, Word Search, or Word Scramble. The expectation is that they should only do one game each night this week. Some of the activities can be printed and they can do that as well as proof that they completed the activity. This is a fun and quite educational website and I plan on using this in the classroom as well for the children that complete their work or are waiting patiently for my help in another subject area.

We will continue our work on sentence structure, kinds of sentences and nouns. In Writing Workshop, we completed making our three step outlines for at least 5 special moments. After choosing one of these ideas, we are currently working on the timeline of events that will help to build this story called a Personal Narrative. We will use this timeline to write paragraphs which will include a setting. This strategy in narrative writing will hopefully be helpful to the children to better understand what makes a good sequential narrative. We will work on this idea for at least another week and then publish it. We will attempt a second narrative and then the children will be expected to continue this process independently during writer's workshop without as much instruction from myself.

We will complete the first unit in Math. It is my goal to have the children ready to take the test by next Wednesday. As a result, you may see a little more math homework come home to make sure they receive enough review However, if your child demonstrates proficiency, then they may not have that particular homework assignment. It is my goal to have the children see the value in paying close attention in class and working to the best of their ability. No point, in practicing something they have already proven they can do in class.

We have begun our new class novel entitled, Muggie Maggie. We only began the first chapter today. But I think the children read enough to know that it's about a third grade girl that doesn't want to learn to write cursive. I have asked the children as they are reading this book to think of ways that they are like the main character and the how they would feel if they were "in her shoes".

There will be a Wordly Wise Quiz on Thursday. I felt like there has been too much down time since we last reviewed, so I will review again tomorrow and then give the quiz on Thursday to be fair.

We will complete our Science experiment tomorrow with the actual launching of the paper airplanes and comparing the flight distances between the computer paper and construction paper airplanes. We will also complete another experiment by comparing three different style and size balls by measuring the distance they bounce off of carpet and hard surface. Both of these experiments will allow the children to use their knowledge of the Scientific Method.

I am really looking forward to seeing the Geography Projects coming in tomorrow. Each child will have a chance to share their project and present their favorite geographical feature. When we share projects, I call it Museum time. So tomorrow will be our first Geography Museum. Thank you for your help and support with this project.

Tonight was also the first night since school began that they have brought home their math workbook. PLEASE make sure that your child returns to school with it tomorrow or they will be very lost and unable to participate in tomorrow's lesson.

The pillar of character this month is Friendship and how we can all be friends.. even if we have a difference of opinion. We will also celebrate International Peace Day on September 21. After reading a couple of books and exploring a couple of websites, I am going to have the children create a page on what peace means to them with an illustration. I know that they did something similar in second grade with voice threads, but I am going to encourage to choose an idea that they have not considered before. We will create a class booklet and it will be available to you during our first Writer's Workshop Celebration in a few weeks.

I will be making some changes to my blog this week. So hopefully by next Monday, you will notice a new and improved Hensler Herald. Let's hope!

Magnificent Monday!

We are off to another great week. I am going to try and stay on the schedule this week so that the children have a better understanding of how our daily activities are organized. Tomorrow is library and the children will begin checking out books. They can read these books as a part of their nightly reading as homework.

The yearbook staff is collecting photos of the student's summer vacation experiences both in and out of the country. Please send or email your photos to Mr. Napodano in the Upper Division (nap@shorecrest.org) if you have any that you would like to share. They will be collecting photos until September 30th.

Picture Day is coming! Lower Division children will have their photos taken in the Student Activity Center on Tuesday, September 14th. Please make sure they are dressed appropriately when they come to school. The children's picture will be taken prior to recess and lunch on that day.

The children are coming home with their spelling words this week. These spelling words not only have a sound pattern, but they also relate to the stories that we will read in our reading books. Please make sure they take the practice test tonight with you so they can focus on only the words that they may experience some difficulty for the rest of the week.

I sent home a Geography project. I reviewed all the guidelines with you child. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to email me. Please make sure you sign the bottom portion of the letter and send just that portion back as your child will need the rest of the letter to complete the project correctly.

This week will study common an proper nouns, review the Scientific process, continue our study of the Wordly Wise words. These words for this lesson are: cylinder, examine, fatal, feature, grasp, jet, marine, scar, tentacle, and vessel. There will be homework this week so you can use the workbook to possibly call out the definitions or have your child read the definitions to you. There will be a quiz on these words on Friday. Remember.. the format that I showed you is fill in the blank. However, they will be provided with a word bank for spelling purposes.

If your child has not brought in the Handbook slip signed letting me know that he/she understands the rules, please make sure you send that in by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. I would like to get these filed and move on to other duties.

We will continue with number patterns, equivalent names using name-collection boxes, and introduce the language of number chances.. ie. certain, uncertain.. high probability, low probability of things happening. We will conclude the week by using a number grid to find differences in numbers and working on calculator routines.

We will test the Scientific Method this week as well with an experiment that deals with flying objects. The children should have fun and learning about variables and using the Scientific Method.

Wow.. it's Wednesday!

Thank you all very much for coming to Back to School Night. I enjoyed meeting all of you and look forward to a productive and fun third grade year. I appreciate your attentiveness and your kind words at the end of the evening. If you have thought of any additional questions since last night, please don't hesitate to email me. Of course, as always I did forget a few things, but will share them with you as they are appropriate in the curriculum. However, I would like to remind you that we expect the children to come to school dressed according to uniform code. This also means that if their pants have belt loops, they need to wear a belt. When they walk in the front door in the morning, they need to have their shirts tucked in.

I didn't really discuss math last night. The program is similar to what you were used to in second grade. Everyday Math follows the same approach no matter what grade level. However, the topics of study do change. The big skill in third grade are the multiplication and division tables. Though we are not addressing those skills now, they can go ahead and begin practicing with flash cards. This will help tremendously once we do get to that skill. Please make sure you read the Family Letters that come home. Not only does it include important vocabulary associated with that unit, it actually gives you the answers to the Home Links which may be of great help down the road.

The spelling test will be on Friday. Please make sure that they review the words even if they are already an expert in spelling them.

They are bringing home a piece of white tagboard tonight. I have reviewed this with the children, but I wanted to share the details with you as well. This tagboard will go inside the front sleeve of their writing folder. They are decorate it with pictures or cut out pictures from magazines or computer of things, people and places that are special to them. They can first cover the tagboard with other colorful paper including wallpaper if you have some. Then they are to make a collogue of pictures that are unique to them. This will really personalize their writing binder in hopes that they take great pride in what goes inside.

As we get closer to the date, I will remind you of your conference time. Thank you again for coming last night.

Marvelous Monday!

Today was a great day! We were able to accomplish many tasks. One important activity was that we prepared and organized our Writer's Workshop binder. I will go over the process with you tomorrow at Back to School night. But today we began making our list of "Memories that are close to my heart". I asked the children to share with you about the memories that they put on their mind map and told them that in your conversation you may "spark" their memory on a special event that they can then come back to school tomorrow and add to their mind map. I modeled my own mind map which allowed me to share a little bit of myself with the children. We will spend the next couple of weeks generating more complete thoughts about these ideas and then begin writing our personal narratives.

The children received their first spelling list. This weeks words revolve around the Silent E and how powerful this one letter can be. They have written these words in their spelling notebook, but also have the list in their homework folder. That list if to stay at home to review. In the near future, the children will also receive dictation sentences which they will have to study as well. Spelling tests are on Fridays.

I will introduce the first reading book revolves around the idea of Identity Awareness. This particular week's theme under that umbrella is entitled, Homeland. This collection of stories is about people moving away from where they were born caring with their traditions and customs. These stories and poems will hopefully generate some good class discussions on traditions and customs not only within a culture but within each individual family. I will introduce new vocabulary words that will follow them throughout the stories for the first couple of weeks and it is my goal that the children will attempt to use these words in their own writing. Some of the reading skills within the first few stories that we will focus on are character development and author's viewpoint. The language skills include common and proper nouns.

We will begin our first lesson in Wordly Wise. I will talk more indepth about his at Back to School night. But we will spend two weeks per lesson. This program helps to build and increase the child's reading writing vocabulary. Each list contains several activities including a story with comprehension questions.

In Math, we are beginning our first unit on number patterns and sequences. You will receive the Family letter that lists the skills that will be taught in this unit. Please take a few minutes to read over this letter. It may be helpful during homework time.

We are sharing our All About Me bags tomorrow and probably into Wednesday.I can't wait to learn more about your child and what makes them so unique. They are to put three things in the bag that represents them as a person or student. The items must be able to fit in the bag and not sticking out for others to see. We discussed how this may take some creativity. (ie.. instead of a real soccer ball, they may have a key chain that has a soccer ball on it)

I will introduce the Social Studies this week by reading through a great little book about that includes special information about Florida. The children will design their own license plate that will then become the cover to a Florida folder that they will create.

I look forward to seeing all of you at Back to School night. Please make sure that you start your evening at the Janet Root Theater at 7pm. The roooms will be locked until after the brief program and introduction of teachers. There are door prizes as well. When the program there is complete, please hurry down to the room. I have a great deal of information to share with you and I want everyone to have equal opportunity to hear it all.

It is the expectation that each child will read each night for at least 15 minutes. This reading can come in a few forms. They can read outloud to you, independently or you reading to them. I will give you a book log tomorrow night where you are to keep track of the books and the time.

Thank you for sending me such mannerly children. If there are any school supplies that your child still needs, please try to have the supplies and other information in by Friday at the latest.

Welcome to Third Grade!

I am looking forward to seeing all of you on Thursday!

Memorial Day Weekend!

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. I am at the beach myself and though still doing schoolwork, I am relaxing. I hope the third grade pool party was fun and that your weekend plans are continuing the fun. I wanted to share with you that I did post an email for parents. Please make sure that you check your emails at some point. I will be at school on Tuesday and Wednesday. And though I will be in meetings for some of the time, you can find me in the classroom cleaning out the room and trying to get organized for next year. Feel free to contact me if you need me for any reason.

The three books that I recommended the children read are as follow:
Ole Yeller
Trumpet of the Swan
How to Eat Fried Worms

If the children find and read a book that they think I need to have in the classrom, please have them email me or send me a note telling me about the book.

Happy Summer!

Final Blog on the Final Day!

I am sitting here in the classroom looking out at the empty desks and already missing your bright smiles! I know you are at this minute, heading to your third grade pool party to spend some much deserved time with your friends. You have worked very hard this year and you should be proud of yourself. You have learned a lot and were good sports even when it got hard. You "took the licks" and kept working. I love watching you grow and become better readers and writers. I was always in awe of your creativity and artwork both in class and in the art room with Mrs. Rowe. I loved being able to treat you to a movie as a reward for your behavior. But don't forget, the book is always better than the movie! I do hope each of you will read at least three good books this summer. And don't forget the Florida Sunshine State books that you may not have had an opportunity to read in between all the projects I assigned this year. You have become responsible students and I hope that you will show your fourth grade teacher just how capable you are. But also remember, as we have talked about many times, it's your attitude, your kindness with respect, and your sincere interest in others, that are important in life. I will miss your sense of humor and your enthusiasm. You made me want to come to work every day and think of ways to help you learn and create fun topics. I know that not every day was a thrill for you, but you did your part to contribute for the good of all. I do hope you have a wonderful summer. Many of you will be heading off to camps, going on vacations, and hanging out with your friends in your neighborhood. Whatever you do, try to take time to send me a little postcard or letter and let me know how you are. I am going to keep your email addresses, so be on the lookout for a message from me. You ALL are very special and I will miss you! Read lots!
With hugs and smiles,
Mrs. Hensler

Wonderful Wednesday!

The children are coming home today with a full envelope of work. We discussed that perhaps they would want to hang on to the Science Journal to use in some capacity next year. You will also find the Reading Theme Assessment Booklet that I explained in my blog yesterday. Somewhere in the stack of loose papers, you will find the list of sight words for the fourth grade reading book that I shared with you at our first parent/teacher conference. I explained to the children that they will want to review at least twice over the summer and then really work on the words that are checked. Those were the words that they had the most trouble pronouncing. This will help them with their sight reading in fourth grade.

Love the projects! You will get to see all of them on display tomorrow either in the hallway or in the Children's Studio across from the clinic. I hope that you will be able to come. If not, your child will come home on Friday with most of the writing for you to read. I will be keeping a few pieces that will go in to the writing folder that will be passed on to the fourth grade teachers.

Tip Our Hats to Tuesday.. Part 2

I wanted to mention that I am sending the Theme 2 Reading Assessment that goes along with our Voices Reading Program. The children did not complete the entire booklet and that was by my design. I was more interested in the Comprehension, Vocabulary and Word Study, and the Proofreading portions. Please do worry if your child did not get a perfect score. I do feel that I have to factor in that it is the end of the year and after ERB's, they were over bubbling in answers. But I am sending this home to give you an example of questions and activities that you can use with your child when reading at home. I like the section on Vocabulary and Word Study because it makes the children assess how to break down a word for meaning. It also has a writing idea in the back. The children do not have to read the book in order to complete a How-To story. In fact they don't have to build a snowman, they can do a How-To on any subject that they would like. But they can use the web and the pages to write down their ideas and compose a story. In conjunction with this reading assessment, I will be sending home the Wordly Wise book which leaves two stories at the end that we did not have time to complete. These can be used as well to review and practice not only oral reading but comprehension by answering the questions that connect to the story.

Tip Our Hats to Tuesday!

It's hard to believe that your child's third grade year is coming to a close. We had a great day today and got several activities completed.
Tonight's responsibilities are as follows:
Math-workbook page 207
Remember Explorer Project
Review division sheet
Spirit Day


I am looking forward to seeing the finished products about the many explorers in history to present day. We will display them in the third grade hallway for all to see. The children will also have a chance to present the project to the class. So tonight they may want to practice what they are going to say. They just can't stand up and read the 10 facts on the sheet. But they will need to share the various elements of the project. We will have these projects on display through Thursday so you can enjoy them as well if you plan to attend our Writer's Celebration.

We will celebrate our writing experiences on Thursday from 2:15 to 2:45. Plan on coming to the classroom at 2:15. The children will be in control of sharing their writing pieces with you. You will see a combination of formal writings (ie. personal narratives and realistic fiction). But you will also get to review their journals where they have responded to literature that we have read throughout the year. The children will also share various "fun" writings and essays that we wrote during the year about various topics that weren't part of the writing portfolio that will be passed on to the fourth grade teachers. We will have an historical acrostic poem to share and show you individaul poem books where they have a collection of several poems that they thought were cute, funny, sad, etc. I will ask that the children don't take anything home that afternoon as I need for a few of the pieces to stay with me. But you can count on the work coming home on Friday for you to keep.

The children will bring home a few things such as notebooks or papers on Thursday and a few on Friday so they aren't so overloaded on Friday. Please take a look in their homework folder before it gets put away for the summer or thrown away. I am sending home a stapled packet of math pages for review over the summer. I also going to send home an extra DLR to use on a rainy day to clean out those cobwebs right before it is time for school to begin.
You may want to hang onto the journal notebook to use over the summer for the children to write summaries. Their reading notebook has a huge list of homophones and other words that they may find helpful when they write. I am also sending home the Writing Binder which we affectionately call "Big B". I have explained to the children that they may want to safely put that away and use next year, at least at home, to keep track of good writing practices when they have assignments at home.

I look forward to another productive day on Wednesday!!!

Last Full Friday of Third Grade!

We had a great day today! Hang in there.. only 4 more full days. We are still working!

The children are coming home with their Art Portfolios. What a treasure! I also sent them home today with two Science experiments that I told them to save for a very hot or rainy day during the summer. Earlier this year, we had attempted to make what we called Oobleck. But the experiment for Phlubber is the same and I think a better recipe. You can add some food coloring along the way if you want to change its color. I also gave them an experiment to make sediment and rocks. Enjoy!

We are working on our final writing piece for realistic fiction. We have brainstormed possible ideas and will put these ideas to sentences on Monday. I may need your help one more time to help proofread the spelling and I will take care of the rest here at school. We are also making some choices about our poems and which will remain in the writing portfolios. We hope to see you on Thursday, May 27 for our Writer's Celebration from 2:15 to 2:45.

Reminders for next week:
Monday- an additional math test on fractions
Tuesday-a review quiz on past tense verbs that they are still not using incorrectly in their writing. I am not giving up hope nor do I want them to go to fourth grade thinking that the past tense of bring is brung. They have a practice sheet in their homework folder.
Wednesday- Explorer tri-fold project is due These will be on display on Thursday when you come for the Writer's Celebration.
Thursday-Class End of the Year party which will coincide with lunch from 12 to 1:00.
Friday-Dismissal at noon.. and yes, I will have things for them to do that will really help me in getting things organized for them for fourth grade.

I told the children that they could bring both their class picture and the yearbook back on Monday for signing. I am going to do it at one time and give them 15 minutes in class, recess and lunch to get to their friends for signing. If you ordered a yearbook or class picture and your child did not come home with one, please call the office. I turned in everything that your child gave me and after that, I lost control.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. The Tampa Museum of History has some new exhibits and some fun activities going on in June that you may enjoy with your children. One is Celebrate Father's Day with the Rays. Check it out!

Working Wednesday!

Another productive day! We need 6 more of these! We are currently completing our Theme 2 Reading Assessment and then I will do some "spot" testing using the Fountas and Pinnella books to assess oral reading and comprehension.

Tomorrow is our Unit 8 math test. The children are to review the practice test that we did together today in class . The children were to ask questions along the way if they were confused and not quite sure of how to solve the problem. So you may see several markings on the paper when they went to make their corrections or notes of how to help them study.

I have collected the Third Grade Reflection writing pieces that they were to proofread last night. I will make some final comments if needed and then they will rewrite their written reflections. These written reflections will be a part of their both their writing portfolio and the portfolio that Mrs. Baralt is keeping for the children to use at the end of fourth grade.

I didn't remind the children again before they left today, but tomorrow is the Talent Show in music class. You will want to discuss with your child if you need or want to come or not. It is totally up to you. But please remind your child of this tonight as they may need to practice one more time prior to music at 12:40. Participation in this event was not mandatory. So don't worry if your child is not doing a presentation.

On Friday, the boys and girls will venture down to fourth grade from 9 to 9:30. They will meet the fourth grade teachers and have a chance to ask any questions that they may have in hopes to lessen the level of anxiety for next year. They will be the "seniors" of the Lower School. Hard to believe I know.... time does have wings!

Terrific Tuesday!

Thank you very much to those of you that came to our clay animation project show today. The children were so excited and thrilled to show off their talents. The children will come home with their own CD of their work. So those of you that were unable to come, will have a front row seat at home. You will be amazed!

Tonight's responsibilities include:
Math- Workbook page 203 unless they finished the work in class
Spelling-study spelling words.. dictation to come tomorrow
Reading-read the introduction pages in the Poetry book and write down 5 detailed facts about that poet.. practice reading the facts aloud at home as they will have to read these facts to the class tomorrow
Writing-proofread the third grade reflections piece that we worked on in class today...we will rewrite these in class tomorrow... if you think that they got unfocused and off topic, please steer them back to the question

We are wrapping up Chapter 8 in math. We will work on the review test tomorrow and then the test will be on Thursday. We have been working on a class ABC book for math. It has been fun finding words that begin with U, V, X,Y, Z. In fact, I had a special group of children being math detectives today. However, if you have any suggestions, please don't hesitate to have your child write the word in their agenda and bring to school to share. Remember, it must relate to math and numbers.

I reviewed the Social Studies "tri-fold" project again with the children on Friday. If there are any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact me via email. The entire third grade will "show off" their talents on that day by putting the projects in the hallway for everyone to see.

The children will have the Idita-read celebration tomorrow. They deserve a great deal of credit for all their hard work and dedication to reading. Though the entire third grade class is receiving a treat, I just wanted you to know that our class read the most of all the classes. As much as I don't encourage competition, it was great to see them "go for it" and show that they wanted to be the best.

After the children share the facts of their poet, we will begin a short unit on poetry and take the time to compare and contrast different styles of poetry. We have done this off and on throughout the year so this activity should be somewhat easy for them. I am going to ask the chilren to compose a poem of their own after they have had a chance to really see what other poets write about. I will keep this product for their writing folder, but will send home a copy for you.

I would like to have our Writing Celebration on May 27 from 2:15 to 2:45. The social studies projects are due on May 26 so they will be on display as well. I will have the children's writing out on their desks. They will have time to show you their work and even read a story or two to you. Then you can just take them home with you from the room. It is the same day as the third grade party which is 12:00 to 1:00. That should give us time to regroup and settle and down and prepare for your visit at 2:15. If you are unable to attend, don't worry, there will be plenty of time for you to see your child's work. I will be sending most of it home. However, there will be a few pieces that will stay with me and go into their writing portfolios for next year. It would be great if you would let me know if you plan on attending that afternoon. Thanks!

Your children continue to work hard and show enthusiasm for what we are doing. I know we are ALL running out of steam, but let's try to keep the momentum going. I am so proud of each of my children.

Running Out of Thursdays!

Tonight responsibilites include:
Spelling Test.. they will write the words in cursive for the test
Reading... complete the activity focusing on flashback from the story that we read today entitled, My Mother's Chair
Splash Day...bring a bathing suit and a towel

We have been finishing up a few writing pieces in our Journal notebook. We have two more pieces to complete before the end of the year. One piece they will be writing is reflections piece about their third grade year. You can help at home by beginning to ask them what has been their most positive memorable moments either socially or academically, or one specific event that took place in third grade that they won't forget.

I would like to schedule a Writing Celebration for my class. My thought is that we would have the Celebration on the last day of school, May 28. It is a noon dismissal and my thought is that those of you that could would come around 11:15 and then you could take your child home at dismissal. I have been saving some items all year that you have not seen. The children always love reading their stories and sharing all that they have done.

We are also going to have a Clay Animation Project showing on May 18 at 8:30 am. We are finishing up this project this week in computer lab. We are thinking that we will have the show in the student studio. More news to come!


I hope that the children are working on their final explorer project. I will review the guideline again tomorrow and make sure that everyone understands.

Marvelous Monday!

Today was a very productive day! We had a visitor, Benjamin, in our class today. The children are always so helpful and considerate when we have special friends come and experience third grade at Shorecrest.

1) Splash Day notices are due
2) Talent show during music class is May 20

Tonight's responsibilities are as follows:
Math- color the pants and socks sheet
Wordly Wise-page 104
Spelling- write each word once in cursive on the sheet
Turn in the name of the explorer for the end of the year project

You will want to ask why Star Boy wanted to become a rock in today's reading assignment. This particular book is filled with metaphors and figurative language that really emphasizes to the children how an author can get a point across in a detailed way without using simple and ordinary words. Love the book!

It's Friday!

The boys and girls completed their clay animation projects this week. We hope to have them edited and ready for public viewing by the end of next week. I will let you know how you can assess them once they are ready for viewing.

I am sending home a Splash Day waiver form. These forms must be signed and returned or your child will not be allowed to participate in the Splash Day events on May 14.

I am planning on having an Author Celebration soon. I have kept several writing pieces that we would love to share with you. I will keep a few of your child's writing examples to share with the fourth grade teacher. That way the teacher in fourth grade will see the progress that has been made and now how to gauge the writing lessons in fourth grade for continued progress.
I will let you know as soon as I am able to carve out some time for our celebration. It may very well be the last week of school.

I also wanted you to know that when it does come time to send home the notebooks and writing binder, referred to as "Big B", you will find a Writing Rubric that the children have used for many of their writing pieces. I have told the children that they should save their writing binder and its contents to help them with writing next year in fourth grade. It would be an easy way for you to organize and help your child with the writing at home.

The children are coming home today with their last project of the year. They will be expected to work on most of it at home, but will be given time in class to do some of the research and the writing. I can also help in supplying some of the supplies such as construction paper. They are allowed to use the computer for any aspect of the project. This is intended to be an enrichment project that is optional. But in truth, I would like each child in my room to attempt this project. Although there are a few guidelines, the majority of the project is totally up to them, including the person they wish to spotlight. I have asked the children to let me know by Monday who their "spotlight" person will be.

You will want to ask about the new class novel, Morning Girl. As a comprehension activity, the children are designing a "scrapbook" of important descriptive words and phrases about the main characters as well as looking for special sentences and phrases that appeal to them, the reader. Today they worked on the main character's portraits. Such artists!

If you would like to conference again before the end of the year, please contact me next week. I would like to have all the conferences completed by the last week of school.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Terrific Tuesday!

Tomorrow is our last day of ERB testing. YEA! I think the children are over having our mornings interrupted with testing!

Tonight's responsibilities include:
Math... Home Link page 183.. They also have an assigned letter of the alphabet. They are to come up with as many words as possible that relate to math that begin with that letter. I told them to come with their list on Friday.
Wordly Wise... our words for Lesson 11 are as follows: diagram, frustrate, frustrating, graduate, prank, primary, risk, risky, stress, urge, vacant, vigorous. Tonight they are answer the first 5 questions on Meeting a Firefighter.
Study spelling words: ankle, battle, bottle, jumble, jungle, kettle, middle, mumble, pebble, sample, settle, simple, single, temple, wriggle
Reading...make a list of their top choices of chapter books that they have read in third grade... they cannot include class novels or picture books.

We are zipping across the oceans studying the many explorers from Europe. You will want to ask them about Magellan's voyage around the world. Ask them if he returned to Europe with his crew. There will be an independent project coming home at the end of the week that will include the details. Some of the project will be completed at home and some of it at school and the children will have input in the goals and design of this project.

I forgot to tell the children.. tomorrow is that famous May 5, Cinco De Mayo. The children are allowed to wear a sombrero or colorful poncho if they have it. We had chatted about this on Monday, but I don't think the children will remember.

Thursday Tidbits!

Another successful day of ERB testing. The children were slowed down today somewhat as the questions frequently changed directions. The questions also called upon the usage of several strategies and skills that the children have been exposed to in Math but took a little longer to get an answer. They were allowed to use scrap paper to help them formulate the answers.

Tomorrow is our Hat Day in celebration of the Kentucky Derby. We have a couple of activities planned as now all the third grade classes are participating. I showed the children the website today. I told them, with your permission, they can could go on the website and think about a horse they would like to follow for the race. We are also going to choose a class horse to cheer for on Saturday at 6:24pm.


We did not take the math test today as I could tell that the children were "over" math by the time they completed the ERB. I thought that I would be fair to them and wait until tomorrow

Tonight's respnsibilities include:
Math Test
Math Workbook page 183 and 184
Create Derby Hat
Finish logging in the minutes for the Idita-Read. Tonight is the last night!
They also have a green letter from Mrs. Baralt in their homework folder that I would like for you to see tonight.

Get another good night's sleep!

Wow.. it's Wednesday!

What a wonderful day to be outside! I for one will really enjoy recess today!

The ERB testing went well again today. This test was called Auditory Comprehension. I read the stories and the questions orally to the children while they bubbled in what they believed to be the answer. It was a lot of reading and listening. But we do a great deal of oral reading and discussing during reading instruction and in social studies, so I feel that the children were well prepared for this subtest.

Tomorrow is the first of two Math subtests. This test will cover many skills from addition to word problems to fractions. They are allowed to use scrap paper, which I call the work space, to help solve the problems.

As you probably already know, Saturday is May 1 and the Kentucky Derby, one of my favorite sporting and social events either on tv or in person. I thought it would be fun on Friday for the children to wear their favorite hat. Now, if they would like to decorate these hats in Derby style, that would be great! There is an ERB test on Friday morning, so we would have to keep it rather low key until after the testing is complete. The children's geography work on Friday will revolve around the Bluegrass state which will also include a fact or two about the Kentucky Derby. And just to put your mind at ease, we will NOT be serving mint juleps! Smiles!

Tonight's responsibilities are as follows:
Study for Math test
Complete the Sandy Koufax activity on facts and opinions. Make sure they explain in detail why they chose the fact that they chose as the most important fact about his life.

Please continue to make sure that the children get a good night's sleep and some breakfast before they come to school. Thank you for your continued support!

It's Tuesday!

The ERB testing went well today. Please encourage your children to take their time and proofread their work when they get to the STOP sign. We will have an hour of testing every day this week.

I did assign a little math homework tonight. We have to keep plugging along to make sure that they have completed all the necessary skills by the end of the year. They have a review test to practice as well.

I had mentioned last week that tomorrow was Spirit Day, but forgot to mention it today. SO... tomorrow is Spirit Day!

Please make sure that everyone has logged in their reading minutes by tonight. Today is the last day to submit your reading miles.

Forgetful on Friday!

I forgot to include in the last blog!!! The first artist that visited us today in the classroom was Vikki Bennet. She is a Fiber artist and the children and I were fascinated. Please get the children to tell you all that she did and what they go to do as well. In fact, she allowed us to produce a piece of artwork from the wool that she brought. She is going to put the finishing touches on it over the weekend and bring it to us next week to hang in our classroom. It will make a great end of the year picture for sure!

Artful Friday!

Today was a special day! Not only did the children provide us with incredible art, but they performed the cutest and most entertaining songs of all time. I do hope that those of you that were able to come, enjoyed the picnic and the time together taking in all the artwork.

Tuesday is the first day of ERB testing. The first test is Reading Comprehension. I have asked the children to make sure they come with 2 #2 pencils sharpened. Also, please make sure they get a good night's sleep each night next week and eat a healthy breakfast before they come to school. We will begin testing each day shortly after the bell rings. So please make sure that your child is here on time. They will not be allowed to enter the room after testing has begun. They will then have to make up that portion of the test outside of the classroom, thus missing the regular teaching. They are going to do just fine. I have reviewed as much as I can to prepare them not only for the material, but to make sure they are comfortable with the format of the test.

Make sure that everyone does their final log in for the Idita-Read before Monday morning. They will cut it off the last day of the month. We are regaining the lead! Go Team!

I do hope that everyone has a wonderful 3 day weekend! Thank goodness for no hurricanes!!!

Art Tour Thursday!

What a treat today! We took a walking tour of all the artwork on display from Kindergarten to Seniors in high school. As we toured the art work we commented on styles and recorded certain pieces of forms of art that appealed to us. When we arrived at the Student Learning Center, we were in awe of the paintings and sculpture that the Upper Division art students had created. You will want to ask your child which piece of art that they stood in front and why. AMAZING!!!

Tomorrow will prove to be a wonderful day as well. Don't forget to have the kids wear jeans bottoms and a white shirt. We will meet you outside around 10:45 to 11:00. We will sit together as a class for the program, but then will be allowed to sit with you for the picnic. I have also told the children that they are allowed to stroll you around and show you all the artwork if you can't stay, but they must stay with you at all times. The children have also been instructed that this is not recess time. Please try to make it up to the Student Learning Center. The children must be back to the room by 12:45 so that we may continue our day.

Tonight's responsibilities are as follows:
Spelling test with dictation.. to be written in cursive
Review multiplication tables
Complete reading sheet.. this activity is an example of a format that will be used on the ERB's that the children are not familiar with.. based on the paragraph, they have to decide the order of the sentences so that it not only in sequential order but also makes sense.

With all the Celebrate the Arts things going on, I decided to put the Earth Day activity on hold till we get back on Tuesday. I do hope you all have a great three day weekend. Make sure that the children are in bed on Monday night at a time that allows them to get a good night's sleep. I have told them to make sure that they eat something for breakfast.

Wow... it's Wednesday!

We continued our celebration of the arts today by attending a performance of a string quartet. The children were fascinated by the string instruments and how the people began learning how to play the instruments. Tomorrow my class goes on the art tour around the school.One highlight along our journey will be the faculty display of their many talents.

On Friday, the children have been asked to wear jean bottoms. They can be jean shorts, pants, skirts or skorts. They also need to wear a white top. I have told my children just to wear a white Shorecrest shirt then we don't have to worry what is appropriate or not. We practiced our song today outside on the stage. You are going to love it!

Tonight's homework is as follows:
Spelling... write each word twice in cursive on handwriting paper.
Math.. complete the second side of the sheet that they completed last night... this side deals with division with remainders
Reading... make sure they read and log in their minutes for the Idita-Read

We began our review for the ERB's today. We will complete the practice test tomorrow. We only had time to get through half of it today as it takes a while to discuss the format and how they are expected to answer. By doing this, it should make next week easier and hopefully less scary for the children.

I hope to see many of you on Friday at the Art Ceremony and the family picnic. If you are unable to come, let me know and I will make sure that none of my children are eating alone. Thanks! Our afternoon will carry on as usual after the picnic.

Marvelous Monday!

Celebrate the Arts has officially begun! We were treated this morning at town meeting by a song that the high school students are performing in the school's performance of West Side Story. Every day this week, the children will attend an a cultural arts performance of some kind. Tomorrow we all go to the gym to enjoy the African Drummers.

If you have not turned in your flier for the picnic on Friday, please do so by tomorrow. Also, on Friday, the children are being asked to wear a white shirt and dark pants.. jeans are allowed. You will love the third grade performance. I am sad that I am unable to perform with the children. I am on another committee that unfortunately scheduled meetings on most of the days that some of the teachers practiced. But, from what I have heard, it is going to be a real treat for all of us!

Tonight's responsibilities are as follows:
Spelling.... copy each word in cursive.. one word is misspelled and I told the children that they do not write the word that they think is misspelled... they are encouraged to use a dictionary for help on finding that one misspelled word.

Reading Vocabulary Quiz.. I had sent home a practice sheet last week that includes the words: bunted, ceased, clammy, clinched, compensates, conveyed, convictions, earsplitting, comprehended, scouts, discomfort, girders, savory, raggedy, memorable

Social Studies: complete the outline using the book pages 60-65.. we have already begun working on the outline so that the children get a sense of the important information that they should include and hopefully will be able to do this independently when they get home.

Complete the thank you note and picture for our wonderful architectural tour that we took on Friday.

Please make sure that your child logs in any reading minutes for the Idita-read. We have suddenly found ourselves in second place after having a mighty lead for quite some time.
Thank you for all of your support!

Also, please check out the links on our blog to the other resource teachers. Ms. Diaz Leroy has posted some websites relating to the Celebrate the Arts week that I think you and the children might find interesting.

Is it Really Friday?

The children and I had a wonderful tour of downtown St. Petersburg. We learned a great deal about the architecture from Greek Revival and Pebble Dash Stucco to Egg and Dart Dentals. As we strolled along the sidewalks, the children marked their architectural characteristics bingo card. Most everyone found all the pictures that they were given and earned a sweet treat as the prize. You will want to ask your child about all the green benches that used to line the streets of downtown and why they no longer exist.

They are coming home with quite a batch of papers for you to see. However, there is an even bigger batch still waiting to come home. It is my promise and plan to get these in to your hands by next Friday. Though there is no homework for the weekend, please have them review their multiplication tables. They will have the quiz on Monday.

I was pleased to see the ease at which they completed their spelling test today in cursive. I have tried it a little different this year and waited till I thought they had had plenty of isolated practice instead of jumping right in at the beginning of the year as we were practicing. The children did not moan or groan once and I didn't have to wait for tired hands. YEA!!! Way to go class!

We will continue to take spelling tests in cursive and I will begin to include other assignments to be completed in cursive as we go.

Next week is a big and exciting week. It's Cultural Arts Week here at Shorecrest. The children will attend art exhibitions, African Dancers Demonstrations and a String Quartet performance. I look forward to seeing everyone on Friday for the children's performance and the family picnic. Please send in your form if you have not done so already. Thank you!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Wonderful Wednesday!

We are having a great week! We are being quite productive. We only have a few finishing touches to our Native American Essay and by tomorrow by lunch we will be finished. The children will share these essays orally. As we are listening, we should be able to tell the Native American that each child has written based on the facts that each child has thread throughout the story.

The children are bringing home an important letter from the school nurse. Please make sure you look for this letter in the homework folder and read prior to bedtime.

Tonight's responsibilities are as follows:
Study for the Social Studies quiz on Native Americans
Study for Multiplication Quiz.. they will have a 100 problem quiz tomorrow that does count for a sticker on their multiplication chef

On Friday, we will be going on our Architectural Tour in St Petersburg. One third grade class has already experienced this walking tour. The report back was that the children loved it and thought it was a good field trip. We can't wait!!! Please make sure that the children are dressed in appropriately on Friday. If it's going to be warm, shorts and belts are allowed. Also, please make sure your child has a snack.

Please make sure that you turn in your form for Celebrate the Arts week. Even if you are bringing your own lunch, I still need for you to return the form. If you are buying lunch, please send in the money with the form.

Terrific Thursday!

We successfully accomplished the WrAP, the writing portion of the ERB. The children hopefully shared their story with you. This has also been an exciting week with Teacher Appreciation. Thank you to all of you for the beautiful flowers, cards, gifts and yes, my window. The purses on display should go in to production. I love them! The children also published a book of their kind words and visual rendition of their aging teacher. So cute! I have felt very appreciated!!!

Now we are on what I call the Great Race to cover more material before we are in the middle to the next ERB round of testing. We will be getting into division with remainders. So keep reviewing the multiplication facts. We are outlining our Native American Essay. You will want to ask your child to share the many details of their tribe and ask them what their name might be for the essay.

We read a story today about Jackie Robinson, told from the perspective of a little boy and his deaf father. The children began learning a new way to challenge their comprehension. The children were given a chart where they had to list what they thought were the top 5 events that took place in the story. They had to order them sequentially and then rank them according to which event they felt was the most important to the least important and how it affected the story. We then went around the room after individual and group work and listened to every student share what they thought was the most important event with supporting details. They did an excellent job for the first time. We will complete another similar acitivity with a fantasy story tomorrow to see how they can apply what they learned today. You may want to ask your child what they thought was the most important event in the story and why!

Tonight's responsibilities are:
Wordly Wise quiz.. Lesson 10
Social Studies...make a mind map of the Native American Tribe that you want to be a member of and prepare the details for the essay on Friday... there should be at least 10 details on the mind map

The children are also coming home with a Spanish project that is not due until April 14. However, I told the children that once they complete the project, they can bring the sheet in and I will be the keeper till the due date. There is a party at stake!

Don't forget to sign up for the DUALTHALON!!!!!!!

Topsy Turvy Thursday!

We had several loose ends to tie up! We were trying to finish up our Math Exploration centers and complete our writing assignment using a prompt and then make our special Bunny Bags. So cute!!! You will want to ask your child what the writing prompt is and let them share a summary of their story. The children then worked with a writing buddy to help with details, spelling, and punctuation. Each child was given a rubric to help assess their own writing. The children will be coming home tonight with their story and the rubric. I ask that you read it or have them read it to you. Look at the rubric and give your child a score using just the "Support" row to gauge your score. The children have scored themselves already and then have tried to improve that score by making some corrections and changes.

For tonight's homework:
Wordly Wise- page 95.. complete answers to questions 6-10.
Spelling Test with dictation
Review writing sample...
Get a good night's sleep for Field Day... don't forget your color of shirt

Please have your child bring in the "secret" assignment by tomorrow. A mom is coming by tomorrow afternoon to pick all the work.

On Tuesday, April 6, Shorecrest will be celebrating the opening day of baseball for the Rays. On that day, the children are allowed to wear a Ray's shirt with their normal uniform pants or skirts.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend and a Happy Easter. The weather the last couple of days is surely making it easy for that Easter Bunny! Enjoy!

Merry Monday!

We got off to a great start for the week! Yea us! I have several important events and responsibilities to discuss with you in this blog. I apologize upfront for the blog being so long and taking up your time at home to read. However, there is a lot going on that I wanted to share with you.

This Wednesday is Spirit Day! The children are allowed to wear their Shorecrest items keeping in mind the Shorecrest colors of green and gold. Friday is our field day when the children wear a T-shirt the color of their team. If they have forgotten the color of their team, they should let me know tomorrow so they can plan ahead. But tell them to check their agenda first. The festivities of field day will begin promptly at 9 and will be over by 11. The remainder of the day will be a normal working day, let's hope!

Inside your child's homework folder, you will find some forms that you need to read. One of the forms is about our picture day on April 5. The children should bring in their orders as soon as they can to avoid the late fee. I will keep their money for them as they bring it in. Please make sure your child is appropriately dressed on that day complete with belts. There is also a notice about the Duathlon on April 16th. The last form that you should be aware of is a special secret assignment that has a paperclip holding two gray pieces of paper. This is a surprise and so if you have any questions, I am sure you can call a room mom to get further instructions.

On Friday, April 23, the third grade children will be singing as a part of our Celebrate the Arts celebration week. The children have been asked to wear jeans/jeans skirts and a white t-shirt for the performance. They will be allowed to wear that all day or if the children want to change back into their school uniform that day, that is fine by me. Again, if the pants require a belt, then the children need to wear one.

Scholastic Book money is due by Wednesday, March 31.

The Idita-read is still in full swing. So far we are holding on to our lead with over 15 thousand minutes/miles read. Please continue to encourage the tracking of the time read at home. I have also required that each child submit an Idita-read book review. The summary portion at the bottom of the form should be at least 5 or 6 sentences. They don't have to submit it on the computer, but they must turn in the written copy to me by this Friday.

I will be sending home new baggy books beginning tomorrow. You will notice that these baggy books are lengthy and may require a couple of nights to read orally and independently. The main focus of these stories is the perspective of the characters in the story. Even though the activities make look simple, they may not be that simple to answer if the children do not read the story carefully.

This week we will be doing a practice writing to a prompt activity. This is in preparation for the WrAP testing that will take place on April 6 and 7. I will share more information with you as that time approaches.

Tonight the children have the following work.
Spelling- abc order with the new list.. they will receive the dictation tomorrow with the test on Friday
Vocabulary Cloze Activity- these words are the focus words for the reamainder of our stories in our reading book
Math- review the practice test that they worked on over the weekend and study the additional sheet that we reviewed in class today on angles and triangles... I will not give the test tomorrow but on Wednesday.. so two night to prepare! YEA!!

We are moving along in our class novel, George Washington's Socks. You will want to ask your child later on this week if there is any signs of hope that the characters are ever going to make their way out of the American Revolutionary War.

We are working on our last Native American group and our chart is almost completed. The culminating activity will be for the children to choose the group that they either would like to be a part of or enjoyed learning about. Each child will write an essay from that Native American's perspective sharing as many details that they have learned as they can. This writing acitivity may take a few days as I will be very picky in the content as well as the editing stage.

We hope to have a writing celebration soon. They have a couple of personal narratives that we would like to share. But I would like to combine a poem or two to the celebration as well. I will let you know as soon as we have completed this activity and are ready to share.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this very long blog. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me via email.

Marvelous Monday!

The children seemed refreshed as is their teacher. I hope that everyone had a lovely week and enjoyed whatever your days held for you.

I wanted to touch base about a few things that are coming up. March 24 is Purple Day to celebrate Relay for Life. The children are allowed to wear shirts and accessories that are purple. It looks as if our Field Day will be April 2. The children are encouraged to wear the color of their team.

The children will have a homophone quiz on Wednesday. They should study the sheet that I gave them prior to spring break entitled, Breezing Through Homophones. This Thursday is class picture day. Please make sure they are dressed appropriately.

Homework tonight is as follows:
Spelling- abc order
Reading-Balto comprehension questions.... I read the story to them right at the end of the day as a listening exercise. They must answer the questions by restating and giving details that were in the story.
Sign and return the work envelopes
Bring cereal in a ziploc bag if they haven't done so already. I did ask the children to bring in a cereal box if there was one in the cupboard that you could sacrifice.We go to the science lab tomorrow to complete two experiments. You will want to ask your child what we are doing with the cereal, magnets, and apple cider vinegar as well.

We have much to accomplish this week as always. We will begin our big explorer project this week in the computer lab. I will fill you in on the details as they occur. You are going to be SOOOOO impressed.

Twirling Thursday!

I am sure you will hear all about our visitors today. As soon as I have any information about the filming that was done, I will let you know. Our visitors got to see your children making Geo-Panes as a review of angles, faces, sides and vertices. If you see many marshmallows floating around in their bookbags, you'll know why. Not all the children got to construct all the Geo-Panes. But they will be given an opportunity tomorrow during math class.

Don't forget tomorrow is Field Day. The children are to wear items of their team's color. There is a possibility that the events for the day will be canceled. It will be announced at 7:30 tomorrow morning. I will let you know the make up date and they can wear the same clothes on that day. Not to worry if they are out of dress code tomorrow.

If the children didn't bring in a small ziploc bag of cereal today, they need to do so by tomorrow for a science experiment. Don't worry if the cereal is stale. That will add to the suspense of the experiment.

Homework tonight is as follows:

Spelling test and dictation
Wordly Wise Quiz - Lesson 9
Read for the Idita-Read.. we are making great progress!!!

I hope everyone has a relaxing spring break whether it is away or in your own home. We have lots more to accomplish in third grade and I need the children to come back refreshed and ready to take it all on!!!!

Working Wednesday!

We are having another productive week. I know that Spring Break is just around the corner, but if you could just give them a little reminder in the morning to be active listeners, I would greatly appreciate it.

Tomorrow we are having some visitors in our classroom during our Math lesson. We are working on angles, faces, a vertex, and 3-dimensional shapes. I have asked the children to make sure they are in dress code. If their shorts or pants have a belt straps, then they should be wearing a belt. Whether girl or boy, unless a dress is being worn, their shirts must be tucked in at all times. Thank for helping me with this. I do find that a child's appearance can sometimes dictate attitude and behavior.

Tonight's homework is as follows:
Spelling- Study words and dictation for test on Friday
Math- Workbook page 137
Leprechaun Sentence Sheet
Handwriting practice

Please try and have your child log in their Idita-read minutes at home as much as possible. This helps to eliminate the confusion in class. The computers are here for them to use, but today particularly it consumed their thoughts with having to log on their minutes.

We did complete an acrostic poem on George Washington complete with portrait. The children found a tremendous amount of facts about our first president. The objective was to learn not only new facts about him, but to make sure that we were using facts and not writing opinions.

Thank you for your help with the Peppy Pepper experiment. We had many scientists that took it to another level in using other items in the water and with the detergent. It made for quite the class discussion. I will be sending home another experiment tomorrow entitled, Using Our Senses to Detect Changes in Apple Cider Vinegar. They will have over spring break to complete this one. Once you get it going, you just leave it in a sunny windowsill for a few days. That way if you are planning on taking a trip, you won't have to worry about it... other than the smell perhaps.

Whew... Friday!

We have had great difficulty today focusing, listening, and have been quite chatty. I am thinking that a restful weekend will certainly cure this.

A reminder that the Iditarod begins on Sunday. The children can begin logging in their reading minutes/miles. If they have any difficulty logging in , just have them fill in the reading form that I sent home and Mrs. Baralt and I can help them on Monday. I did put the two important websites on my blog to make it easy for the chidlren to assess these websites. Also, they must type in their name and password just as it was given to them on the sheet. Each child chose a random number today between 2 and 72. Then they matched that number with a musher. They have completed the research on their musher and have a sheet to keep track of the musher's progress at each station. We will also choose a class musher and follow the progress of that person as well. It is very interesting to learn where these people entering the Iditarod live and how they became interested in even raising these dogs and competing in such a daring race. I learned a lot today just by reading over your child's shoulder as they completed their mind map on their own musher. You will want to ask them to tell you a little bit about their musher. Many of the mushers have hobbies that have nothing to do with dog sledding.

Oldie Goldie was a huge success in our room. The children have many books to bring home and have even had a chance to read a couple in school.

Some of the children did not complete the science experiment, Peppy Pepper, last night. This experiment is due no later than Monday. They must bring the sheet in with the details on that sheet that I gave them in class.

Have a wonderful weekend. Seems funny to say while living here, but stay warm!

Windy Wednesday!

This week is moving right along! We are working hard and being quite productive.

Tonight's homework is as follows:
Spelling: Study spelling words and dictation for the test on Friday.
Math: Workbook page 135 and a Counting Triangles Sheet
Wordly Wise: page 85.. complete the first 5 questions to the story, Bully Solutions

We are reading in our new class novel, George Washington's Socks. You will want to ask your child about this historical fiction. Ask them to tell you about the characters and how the children in the story have ended up in the middle of crossing the Delaware River during the Revolutionary War. It is quite the adventure book.

Tomorrow is the last day to collect Oldie Goldie books. If the children could make one last sweep through the bookshelves, that would be great. Then on Friday they can purchase a few 'new' books to bring home to read as well as read in the classroom.

Don't forget.. the Iditarod begins this Sunday. The children will be choosing their own musher and will be responsible for following their musher along the trail. I will give them a little packet of information that they will need to complete during the race. Also on Sunday, they can officially begin the Idita-Read. I have the computers in the classroom ready to go so the children can log in their minutes/miles during the day if they don't get a chance to do so at home. They just need to read!!!!! Mush on!

Magnificent Monday!

Today was great! We returned to our schedule and had some very productive teaching time. We also had time to make it to the library today to check out books. Yea Us!

Our Oldie Goldie Book Fair is this Friday. I have asked the children to search their bedrooms or playrooms one more time for books that they would like to donate.

Tonight for homework is as follows:
Wordly Wise: workbook pages 81 and 82
Math: workbook page 133
Spelling: activity sheet to categorize the words based on the ar sound

The children will receive the dictation for this week tomorrow. They will write the sentences in their spelling notebook and then bring the sheet home to practice. I have suggested that they write each sentence at least twice before the actual test on Friday.

Each child was to complete as least one of the science water experiments that I sent home a couple of weeks ago. Many children have completed the expectation and then gone on to complete the others for extra credit and fun.

Remember... Oldie Goldie on Friday!

Finally but Fabulous Friday!

Thank you all very much for coming today! The children's performance brought tears to my eyes! Bravo!!!!!!!!!

The cake was magnificent!!!! What a memory you helped to create for me and for your child.

I don't have any requests for the weekend other than to relax and have fun!!! Maybe throw in a little reading to get ready for the Idita-Read.

Terrific Thursday!

The children were great today! I am sure they will be in full swing for you tomorrow as well! I sent out an email yesterday asking you to deliver the cake to the third grade hallway in the morning. Have your child enter my classroom from the door on the parking lot side. They are not to enter the third grade hallway. I have reviewed this with them, but they may need a little reminder in the midst of the excitement. Please have the children wear their costume to school in the morning. I did let them leave the hat ,if they had one, in the room. Make sure that they have their regular school clothes either in a separate bag or in their book bag. They must be in uniform after the performance.

We are going to have the children leave the stage at the end of the performance before you all are asked to depart the theater. The children will quickly come back to the Lower School and change into their uniform and will be anxiously awaiting your arrival for the serving of the cake. The children will be served first and then the parents. The plan is for you and your child to take the dessert out to the picnic area to enjoy, so please make sure you bring a jacket. We anticipate that the festivities should begin to wind down around 10am. The children will continue on with their day. We have USA activities planned for them as well as making ice cream in the Science Lab.

Please note: The March 3 parent workshop, Kids Today, has been canceled.

Tonight for homework:
Science: Matter activity sheet on elements and compounds
Practice lines one last time
Get to bed on time to get a good night's sleep
Don't drink milk in the morning... just water

You are going to love it! Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Terrific Tuesday Again!

We successfully made it through the program today without stopping. The children were marvelous! You are going to be in such awe of your child's talent. Please make sure that they review their lines one more time and that they have all their costume pieces with them on Thursday morning, if they don't already have them at school. I hope you all are having fun researching and preparing your "piece of cake".

The children do have some work to complete prior to Thursday.
Wordly Wise: Complete Lesson 8 cloze procedure activity. Sometimes they have to add an ending such as -ed, -ing, or -ly to the vocabulary word in order for it to make sense in the sentence.

Math Activity Sheet on creating angles. They do create very cool optical illusions when they are finished.

You should notice that they have three sheets in their homework folder that deal with the Iditarod. The most important one that they can't loose is the one with their user name and password. This gives them access to enter their reading minutes. They are in training now, but as of March 6, the real race begins. My goal is that all the children in the room will read the 1,112 minutes to travel the 1,112 miles. You will also see a sheet for them to write a book review of one of the books that they read. I have told the children that they must turn in one of those sheets to me and to also remember to enter the information on the computer. I will show them what an ISBN number and review all the components on that sheet on Thursday. If they don't have time to do the computer work at home, they can do so in the classroom while they are working independently. The third sheet is the log sheet that they can keep as they are reading. I will happily provide more if needed.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day for me and I promise that I will do everything I can to stay on time. I have many components of your child's education to share with you. If for any reason we are not able to complete our conversation within the time allowed, please know that we can schedule a follow-up conference. The focus of the conference tomorrow will be to share the report card with you and for me to verbalize the strengths and possible difficulties that your child may be having and suggest way to reinforce these weaknesses. I will share their last writing sample with you and give you a chance to look at their writing portfolio that we have so proudly named 'Big B,' which stands for Binder.

Thank you again for all your help with the costumes, the line review, and the baking!

Merry Monday!

I just received an email that tomorrow will be Spirit Day to celebrate the victory of the basketball team.

We will have the children try on their costumes tomorrow to see how they work on stage in the event that we have to make some last minute changes. Please make sure your child comes to school tomorrow with all the parts to their costume. If you have ordered a costume and it won't come in until Wednesday, but have a hat, please send in the hat at least.

Please make sure that the children get lots of rest this week. We will have only one more long morning of practice and then it's showtime on Thursday and Friday morning.

Tonight the children have some comprehension questions about Stone Fox and they are to complete the final drawing of the Race Map.

I have also sent home a list of the 50 states. I am going to give them a little quiz on Tuesday where they have to list the states in (abc) order according to the song they are singing in the program. I will provide the states so they don't have to worry with the spelling, but they do have to list them in order. The quiz is worth 50 points.

We are working on another round of "baggy books". I would like all the children to return their baggy books by tomorrow if they received them last week. Please make sure they are reading the story orally with you practicing their fluency and accuracy of each word.

By the end of the day, we will have completed our class novel, Stone Fox. We will read the ending chapter that often brings tears. Now that I have a dog, I may cry even more than I usually do. If you discuss the book at home, please help to reinforce that they can not share the story and especially the ending with others in third grade as the other classes have not finished the book.

I am looking forward to seeing you all on Wednesday. I have a great deal to accomplish in each conference. I will try my best to be on time.

BRAVO! BRAVO!

The third grade went to the theater today for the first time to begin the stage practice of our America program. You are going to LOVE it! It was a very tiring but productive practice today. We are very proud of how much they have learned and how much energy and enthusiasm each child is bringing to the stage. Please make sure that your child continues to review his/her lines each night. We will have practice on Monday and Tuesday only with a day of break for parent conferences before we perform for the school on Thursday and then for you on Friday. Please make sure that your child comes with the costume on Monday in a bag with their name on it. That way if any changes or additions need to be made, we have a few days to do so.

We have begun our study of Geometry in Math. The children are bringing home a very important parent letter today sharing some of the terminology that they will be responsible for throughout the unit.

We did not get a chance to begin our drawing of the route of the race in our novel, Stone Fox. I am going to send home a piece of drawing paper and a list of details that needs to be included in the drawing. The children are to work on a rough draft of this race over the weekend and then on Monday we will produce the final drawing.

We will continue our study of the various Native Americans that crossed the United States. Next week we will focus on the Anasazi and the Northwest Coast.

Due to the program practice and production and the shortened week for parent conferences, we will not have spelling words nor will we have our Daily Oral Language activities. But do not fret, we have plenty to learn and accomplish.

I look forward to meeting with each of you next Wednesday. If you see a problem with your time or you may not be able to attend now that the time is approaching, please let me know and we can alternative arrangements.

Have a great weekend!

Wild And Woolly Wednesday!

The children are doing a great job with the change of our daily schedule due to program practice. Please continue to have your child recite their lines before they go to bed at night.

Tonight for homework is as follows:
Spelling: study dictation sentences for the test on Friday
Wordly Wise: page 76 answer questions 1-5... they do not have to restate, but they do have to
write in complete sentences
Science: How Do Things Shape Up? worksheet...all the facts for the outline can be found in the
reading portion of the activity
Olympics: Bring in a picture from the newspaper or a magazine that has something to do with
the Olympic games
Stone Fox Literature Study: Complete the vocabulary match...we worked on half in class and
they are to complete by using a dictionary if necessary

We are beginning our Idita-Read. You will want your child to fill you in on this contest. I will be sending home all the information that you and your child will need to successfully get credit for all the reading that they do. I have told the children that they can just combing the time that they should already be reading every night and add to that as they have the time.

We are studying Matter in Science. Last night's experiment demonstrated the difference in a physical change and a chemical change. I have a couple more experiments that I am going to send home over the next couple of weeks that reinforce our unit of study. In Science Lab, we will be attempting to make ice cream. Do you think this is a physical or chemical change?

I am looking forward to our parent conferences. At that time I will share the report card with you along with the reading assessments that I will have completed with your child. We will also discuss improvements/ progress and areas that we need to continue to support.

Cupid Has Left the Building

TOMORROW IS SPIRIT DAY!

I hope everyone had a relaxing and fun long weekend. I think both the children and their aging teacher both needed the rest. We are on the America Program countdown. Please make sure that your child reviews their lines every night before they go to bed. We are stressing speaking clearly and making sure that they recite their lines slowly with expression.

The children are also coming home today with a very important envelope. In this envelope you will find the state that they have been assigned that will contribute to the cake of the USA that everyone will get to enjoy the day of the program. I discussed with the children that they should first begin to research to learn a little about their state. The cake and the icing can be any flavor. But how they choose to decorate it should be very specific to the state itself. Their state must include the name of the state and perhaps the capitol with any distinguishing geographic features. The rest is left to research and creativity.

This week there will be no spelling list, but I am going to send home some dictation sentences that review last week's spelling list. They will have a check up on these sentences on Friday.

Tonight they have a reading comprehension sheet and a science experiment. The science experiment is on page 150 in the science book that I reminded them to bring home twice in the last 15 minutes of the day.

Tomorrow is the last day to bring in money to order Scholastic Books.

As a "dinner challenge", I have asked the children to ask you if you have ever in the past or present named a non-living object such as your first car. You will want to ask your child about the story, The Woman Who Named Things and the lesson that she perhaps learned.

Tuesday Update!

The biography's are wonderful. By the end of today, we hope to have all of them read to the class. The covers are very creative and well done. Thank you for all your help with this project.

I wanted to share with you that tonight the children will begin what may be a weekly assignment of writing sentences in their spelling notebook using the spelling words for the week correctly in the sentence. There are a few guidelines for these sentences that I wanted you to know about in case your child needs any help. First, there will 5 to 10 sentences they will have to write. I will explain to the children that they can put more than one spelling word in the sentence, but they still have to have the correct number of sentences. The sentences must not be just a definition of the word, but a sentence that let's me know they know the meaning using adjectives and adverbs for better detail. I am going to set a limit on the number of words that each sentence should meet.For now, that limit is no less than 10 words per sentence. Words such as a, an, and, and the do not count as words. They must also begin each sentence in a different way. The children should proofread their sentences and write them neatly in their notebook.

Reminders:

Valentine's Poem to recite is due onFebruary 11.
Special delivery boxes with Valentines should be brought to school on February 10. Our Valentine's treat along with a Valentine exchange will take place on February 11 from 11:30 to 12:10.

I am sending home a Lucky Book Club order form today. My children are capable of reading more difficult books, but they do love many of the books that are offered and the science kit on rubberbands looked like GREAT fun! They are not obligated to order, but I just wanted to make it available in case the children needed some fun books to have at home. The order form is due on February 17. I will place the order on that day.

You will want to ask your child about our literature study of Stone Fox. The excitement if building to the big race.

Make sure you check out Mrs. Baralt's website through our blog. She has some really good information on the Iditarod.

Finally Friday!

Grandparents and Special Friends Day was a great success. I just love meeting all the special people in my children's lives. The children wrote a special paragraph just for their visitor and were so proud to show off all the work around the room and school. Our special visitors are always amazed at what the children are able to accomplish.

We continued our day as planned. We reviewed for our math test on Monday and talked about the biography that is due as well. I am looking forward to learning on Monday what the children learned.

The math test on Monday will cover decimals, a new skill, and ballpark estimates, an old skill. Please continue to review multiplication tables. They will have a 100 problem test on all the tables on Tuesday.

We have begun our study of the Iditarod in computer lab. We are going to pick a musher and follow this sled once the race begins on March 6 in downtown Anchorage, Alaska. The children began important research on the Iditarod in computer lab today. Those that were absent, are responsible for answering these questions on their own time. Mrs. Baralt has the information for the children to read nicely organized on her website.

Next week is a big week.. what's new.. right? We have biography museum and math test on Monday, Valentine boxes due on Wednesday, poem due on Thursday along with enjoying our special Valentine treat. The children must stay in dress code on Thursday but I did tell them that they could wear some read and pink to add to the festivities of the day.

I will also be beginning some additional reading assessments that I will be sharing with you during our parent/teacher conferences on February 24.

Twirling Thursday!

The title of this blog scarily describes how this week has passed. We have begun practicing for the program on top of the reading week activities on top of normal curriculum work. We have asked the children to know their parts without visual help by tomorrow. Please make sure they are pronouncing the words correctly and accurately.

Tomorrow is a big day as well, but it is a regular day. The children will arrive at school as they normally do and will follow the morning schedule until the grandparents and special friends arrive at the classroom at 10am. Our visitors should not arrive at the classroom prior to that time. There is a program specifically for our visitors in the JRT at 9:00am. We will have a writing piece to share and if time allows, we will perform a reader's theater. Then the children will escort their special visitors around the Lower School campus and return to the classroom by 11am. We will resume our daily schedule at 11am. Many of you have asked if the children can leave at that time. This day is not intended to be an early release day. However, if your child must leave at that time, they are responsible for the work they miss. I know they will miss the math review for the test on Monday as well as be unable to complete the computer project, Scratch, that they are currently working on for credit.

For homework tonight, the children have to study for a spelling test, complete a math review, and complete/proofread their writing piece about their special friends.

I did share with the children all about the Valentine's treat and the special delivery box that they can decorate to bring to school on February 10 along with the prepared Valentine's that will be delivered on February 11 during our Valentine celebration. The box that they decorate should not be any bigger than a shoe box and they should make sure that the opening in the top is big enough for Valentines.

The biography due date is getting closer. The children should be beginning to write their report and at least finish the cover. I can't wait for them to share these orally in class. You may want to encourage your child to read their report out loud at home to make sure they are comfortable reading in front of the class.

Thank you for helping to make sure your child was prepared for our Shorecrest Gets a "Charge" Out of Reading activities this week.

Reading Week.... Tuesday!

The children were quite creative today with not only their character choice, but with the costume that went with it. I loved seeing them come to school this morning and sharing who they were. The Town Meeting was quite festive and the children really loved guessing who all the characters were. Some of the children got to go to the front, particularly all the Fancy Nancy's.

Tonight the children have to complete a few math boxes on different pages. However, if they do not have their workbook with them, we will assume that they completed the work in class.

They do need to complete the Chapter 1 comprehension check up for Stone Fox. You will want to ask your child what the new problem or conflict is in the story that little Willy is now facing.

They need to study their compound spelling words and continue working on the biography.

My little Valentine sweethearts are getting anxious about sending their special deliveries for Valentines. So to avoid having to answer the same questions over and over, I thought I would share what the plan is ahead of time. Since Valentine's Day does not fall on a school day and the children are out on that Friday, we are going to celebrate Valentine's Day on February 11. The children and I will talk tomorrow about decorating a Valentine mailbox and sending Valentines. We will discuss that all children in our classroom should be involved and considered for a special delivery. If there are special deliveries that need to be made in other third grade classes, time will be allowed to do so during the course of that day. If you must attach a sweet treat to the Valentine, please make sure it is wrapped and sealed. The children will receive a yummy treat that day thanks to the room moms, so additional treats are really not necessary. I would like the Valentine sweethearts to bring the special delivery boxes in on February 10 along with the valentines so that cupid can prepare for his special day! The children will pass out their Valentines on the day of our celebration. I know the children will be excited about Valentine's Day and all the little surprises that come with it. I will encourage the children to wear something red, white, or pink along with their school uniform on February 11. Thank you for all your support!

Tomorrow is drop everything and read. I told the children that they could bring a book from home, library book, or read a book that they are working on in class as long as it is a chapter book. It must be a book that will sustain them for at least 25 minutes.