Before the Christmas break I wanted to give you a heads-up on our plan for January. On January 4th, we will have a student teacher join our class named Mrs. Warren. She will be with us for a couple of months. She will make a great addition to our class!

What we will be working on:

Language Arts/Reading: We have just finished up our CKLA unit on heat and light. We will be starting unit 6 which focuses on the Vikings. Tier 1 reading is in full force and is allowing the students to go through the steps of Read-To/Basic queries, Echo Read/Deep Queries and a Partner Read. This method will be used throughout the remainder of the year and will greatly increase comprehension, fluency and accuracy.

Writing- The students have been on fire with their writing. They have written 2 opinion essays and 1 narrative in the last month. You will be amazed to see their work in their portfolios at the end of the year.

Math- We have reviewed all of our times tables and will now focus on review and recall of all of the facts. Go-Math Chapter 5 is finished and we're now in the middle of Chapter 6 which is working with division. 

Keyboarding- We are almost finished with our keyboarding lessons in class. Practicing and perfecting this skill will be worked on for the duration of the school year.

Science/Social Studies- We continue to cover these areas in our CKLA units. We are also supplementing with art projects with Mrs. Davis and the SUU art students that come each week. Mrs. Warren will also be doing some additional activities during our Space Exploration unit.

A big thank you for all of the gifts and cards during this season. All of our school supplies have been replenished. Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated! Merry Christmas! 

Our schedule is going on as usual at school in all of the subject areas. I just wanted to let you know of events that aren't in our usual schedule.

Keyboarding has started and the students are now learning correct finger placement on the keyboard. All required keyboarding will be done in class. I have homework available if any parents want it sent home for their child, although it's not required.

Times Tables- Breelle's dad has been helping with our times table pass-offs. Please have your child continue to practice their times tables. In class, we're now focusing on 7's & 8's. Thank you for your help with this!

Our Thanksgiving Party will be held on Tuesday, November 22nd at 2:30.
Here is the sign-up list:

Party Committee
Chair: Marcia Evans
Co-Chair: Haley Garrett
Apple slices: Carolyn Corry
Chips: Lacey McGarvey
Chips: Jandee Sullivan
Cheetos: Becky Burrows
3 cans of olives: Lindsay Esplin
Cheese cubes: Kelli Price
One jar of pickles: Danielle DeMille
Apple juice (3 boxes): Becky Burrows
Napkins & Plates: Lindsay Dodds


Thank you for your contributions!!

It's time for an update! Thank you for coming in and meeting with me last week. I thoroughly enjoyed watching your children show you their progress and being the "teacher" for a few minutes. They are all wonderful students with unique strengths and talents.

The following is a list of things that are going on at school throughout the next month:

Reading/LA- We have been working through our first two CKLA units. We are just finishing up Unit 2 on Animal Classification. The CKLA also covers our social studies and science topics. This was the perfect unit to introduce Living/Non-living concepts. In addition to the activities in Unit 2, SUU Art Education students have also been visiting our class every week to include Art/Science lessons on Living/Non-living. The lessons have been well put together and the students have really enjoyed the time spent with them. We will start Unit 3 next week which is another informational unit on Body Systems.
Spelling- If your child misses a spelling test, please give your child the test at home and send it in for me to score. Also, if you feel your child needs to be challenged, please have them work on the additional words on the list that can be found in the family letter sent home at the first of the week.
Keyboarding- I'm sorry that we haven't been able to start keyboarding yet. We will start keyboarding in the next few weeks after SAGE tests finish up. Our class has almost completed all of the beginning of the year assessments. They have been troopers!

Math- We are starting Chapter 3 this week. Since Chapter 3 & 4 focus on multiplication and we've already worked a lot on that subject, we should be able to move along quickly. Times Table pass-offs have started and I'm now ready to have volunteers come in and help on Wednesday mornings at 8:50-9:30 if that's something you're interested in. Just email me and let me know.

Art/Music- Our art, music & P.E. classes continue as usual.

Upcoming schedule:
Oct. 14th- Third Grade Thriller Workers Holiday (End of Term)
Oct. 20th- 3rd Grade Fieldtrip to SUU (Animal Ambassadors)
Oct. 21st- Picture Retakes
Oct. 24th- Harvest Holiday (No School)
Oct. 31st- Halloween Party

Halloween Party Sign-ups:
Party Committee: 
Chair- Lisa Blodgett
Co-Chair- Jandee Sullivan

Contribution for Pizza: (I had so many volunteers to send money, so the amount has been reduced from the sign-up page.)
$15- Becky Burrows
$15- Rachel Bishop
$15- Marcia Evans
$15- Haley Garrett

Boxed Juice: (10 Pack)
Cannon Sullivan
Nicole Huntsman
Carolyn Corry

Napkins & Plates- Danielle DeMille

Thank you for your help!!
                           

This is our first official blog post of the year! I will continue to send updates on the weekly homework and update the blog every few weeks.

Language Arts/Reading: CKLA Unit One focusing on Classic Tales is now finished and we are moving onto Classification of Animals. We had a wonderful time writing opinion pieces and will continue on with that in Unit Two. We will also be including our science topic of Living & Non-Living with this unit.

Next week we will start spelling. I have listed the words in the right column on this blog and will also include them on next week's homework. Please review the words with your child during the week as they will be tested on Friday.


Math- We will be finishing up Chapter one next week and will have the test next Tuesday. Chapter Two is "Interpreting Data" and will have the students working on different kinds of graphs.  We have also worked on the following times tables: 0's, 1's, 2's, 5's, 9's, 10's, 11's and 12's. I have had a few parents mention that they would like to help with the pass-offs. Starting in two weeks on Wednesday, September 28th, I would like to have parent volunteers come in from 8:50-9:30. If you would like to do this, please email me and let me know.  Also, acquiring a some flashcards for your child to practice would be very helpful. If you need me to print a set at school, let me know.

Art and Music: Students attend one 45 min. art session a week and two half-hour sessions a week.

Cursive/Keyboarding: Students continue to practice their lowercase cursive letters. Next week we will plan to start our Keyboarding unit.

This is our basic plan. Please email me with any questions or concerns that you have.
Thank you!

Here we are, the last post of the year. I'm so sad to think of sending these students on, but they're ready. I will miss them!
This will be the plan from now until the end of the year:

Reading/LA- We have just finished up CKLA Unit 8 and are moving onto Unit 9 which teaches about the age of exploration. Columbus and many other explorers will be studied. We have really enjoyed our unit about Native American Explorers.
I'm sure you've noticed the new spelling lists that are being sent home. These lists are the former third grade spelling words and I've decided to give our students a chance to practice them. This week's list will include 2 of the challenge words from the CKLA spelling list. The test will be on Friday. We'll plan to have a spelling list this week and then 2 weeks after that.

Math- We have just finished up Chapter 11 and have started our last chapter of the book. This unit will discuss plane shapes, lines and angles. We will finish this up soon and start reviewing for the Sage Math Assessment.

Library- This week will be our last week to check out books. Please help your child gather their books to return in the next week or so.

Art/Music/PE- These classes will continue as usual.

Social Studies/Science are included in our CKLA Units. We had a blast exploring our space unit together!

Schedule of Events:

Tuesday, May 3rd- Sage ELA Testing @ 1:00
Thursday, May 5th- Reading Celebration- 3rds @ 9:45
Monday, May 9th- Sage Math Testing @ 9:00
Tuesday, May 10th- 3rd Grade Battle of the Books @ 12:45
Friday, May 13th- Grand Battle of the Books @ 9:00
Thursday, May 26th- Thrill of the Finish (Field Day)- 9:00

Thank you again for the donations for our Raffle. We will plan to have our raffle on Wednesday, May 25th.  Also, we are still in need of volunteers for the Battle of the Books and Field Day. If you are able to help on either of those days, please let me know.

Thank you for everything!

Well, our year is slipping through our fingers. All of the end of year preparations have started. Please take note of our SAGE Testing. We have staggered dates for the 4 different assessments. It is crucial that your child get enough sleep and a good breakfast. Check below for the dates and times.

Sage Testing- Mrs. Holmes

Monday, April 25th @ 9:00 a.m.- ELA/Writing
Tuesday, April 26th @ 1:00 p.m.- ELA/Writing
Tuesday, May 3rd @ 1:00 p.m.- ELA/Reading
Monday, May 9th @ 9:00 a.m- Math

Other important dates:
April 21st- Bard's Birthday Bash- 9:20 a.m.
May 5th- South's Reading Celebration
May 10th- 3rd Grade Battle of the Books- 12:45 p.m.
May 13th- 3rd Grade Grand Battle of the Books with Enoch Elem.- 9:00 a.m.
May 18th- Spring Dibels Testing
May 26th- Field Day

We will be having the students prepare for the Battle of the Books in their teams. Please encourage your children to keep reading their books. I have most of the books in my classroom that the students can borrow. The library will also allow the students to check out Battle books until the first week of May. All other library books can be checked out until the last week of April. Please remind your child to find their books and get them returned in the next month. Thank you for your help with this!

Last week of school raffle: We have received many generous donations from two different moms. We have enough prizes for about 20 of the students. Our goal is to hit 30, one for each student. If you are able to donate, it is much appreciated!

Thank you!!

South's Got Talent!

Introducing......The South Elementary Talent Show! We are looking for some exceptional performers to share their talents with the school!

Auditions will be held after school on March 24th.

Rehearsal will be held during school March 29th. 

Showtime: Friday, April 1st

South Elementary Gym

Lower Grade Performances: 10:00 am

Upper Grade Performances: 1:00 pm

Sign-up Forms will be sent home with your child

If you have questions, please email Sue Harris: sue.harris@ironmail.org

It's time I update our blog! We have had some very eventful days and weeks. Last week we had our Drug Prevention Specialist LaMar Macklin speak with the students about the importance of staying drug free. The students love his lessons and are sad to have him go. We have also been working on our Sage Mid-year assessments. Our last one will be tomorrow and will be focused on writing.
We have also found that our 3rd grade students as a whole need to work on reading fluency. We have ramped up our reading instruction and we hope to see them all make leaps and bounds of progress. Any reading out loud at home will help us with this effort.

Here is an update in all of our subject areas:

Math- We have finished Chapter 8 and are starting into Chapter 9. Both chapters are focused on fractions. Thank you for your extra help at home with the Chapter 8 test. We are also still emphasizing times tables and are continually working on pass-offs.

Reading/Language Arts-Our CKLA has introduced some interesting and very fun topics for our students. Right now we are studying the Vikings. Ask your child about the story of Thor, Odin, Sif & Loki. We take every opportunity to address comprehension and present deep thinking questions. Along with these stories the students are studying spelling patterns, vocabulary, conjunctions and sentence structure/order. Previous phonics skills are continually reviewed.

Social Studies & Science- Our CKLA units are rich in the areas of social studies and science. Our last unit focused on light and sound. Supplemental activities are included when appropriate and necessary to address the core curriculum in both subject areas. This unit on the Vikings will turn our focus to social studies as the last unit focused on science.

Art- The students finished pieces that they painted under the table lying on their backs. They were completing them in the "Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel" style. They had a lot of fun learning techniques from this time period as we were discussing the Romans in CKLA.

Music- 3rd grade music curriculum continues to be taught. We don't have our second music teacher anymore, but Mrs. Hunt is covering until a new one is found.

P.E.- Miss Taylor is grateful for the nice weather and is having the students complete their P.E. requirements outside. They are able to practice various skills along with getting some great exercise.

Looking Ahead:
Easter Party- Friday, March 25th. Here is a list of the sign-ups:

30 plastic filled eggs- Hollie Jewkes
30 plastic filled eggs- Becky Burrows
30 plastic filled eggs- Melanie Barker
30 plastic filled eggs- Cassie Nakken
30 plastic filled eggs- Mary Cozzens
1 Box Caprisuns- Jamie Hunt
1 Box Caprisuns- Becky Burrows
1 Box Caprisuns- Jane Clayton

Thank you for all of your help!!

It dawned on me as I was meeting with parents yesterday that our Valentines Party will be held next Friday, February 12th. Students are allowed to pass out Valentines to other students if they bring one for everyone in the class. I am sending home a class list today. Also, below is a list of sign-ups for the party. 

1 dozen heart shaped sugar cookies (Lin's Bakery)- Jennifer Davis

1 dozen heart shaped sugar cookies (Lin's Bakery)- Amy Barrick

1 dozen heart shaped sugar cookies (Lin's Bakery)- Kim Parson

1 container white frosting- Jamie Hunt

1 container pink frosting- Hollie Jewkes

2 gallons milk- Becky Burrows

Napkins, Plates, Cups- Jane Clayton

Those of you that are signed up for sugar cookies- I will call ahead to Lin's and have the cookies ready for Friday morning. They will be listed under my name.

If any of you aren't able to bring the item above, just let me know. We'll get it taken care of.

Thank you again for all of your help!

Also, on February 16th, the 3rd grade is in charge of the Presidents Day Assembly. This will serve as our 3rd grade program for the year. Since we are unable to fit all of the student body and parents into the gym at the same time, we are scheduling a separate parents presentation that day at 10:30 a.m. The program will be about a half hour long.

I would like to express my appreciation to all of my awesome students and parents! We received so many donations for our class party and supplies for our classroom. A special thanks to Melanie Barker and Crystal Stott for organizing our Christmas party. Also, a special thanks to Lance Stott and Julie Leigh for contributing to our Third Grade Sing-Around-the-Tree. Lance played the guitar and Julie told the story, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".

Here is the plan for the next few weeks:

Math- We are finishing up Chapter 6 and will be testing this Wednesday. Chapter 7 will focus on Division Facts and Strategies.

Times Tables- Please continue practicing at home. We are continually working on pass-offs at school.

Keyboarding- Although we have finished our keyboarding lessons, we will continue practicing those skills a couple of times each week.

Language Arts/Reading- We have started Unit 4 which focuses on Ancient Roman Civilizations. This unit will cover numerous Language Arts Core Standards. Just a few of the goals we strive to reach include:
1. Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text
2. Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea
3. Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect
4. Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text
5. Use information gained from illustrations and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text
6. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
7. Decode words with common Latin suffixes.
Again, these are only a few of the standards addressed during this unit.
This also fits in well with our Social Studies Core Standards.

Science- Along with our Roller Coaster activity, we will be learning about Force & Motion for our science lessons.

Library/Music/P.E. continue as usual.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.