Newsletter 8/26 - 8/30

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Here is our plan for this week:

Bell Work: When the students arrive each day, they have a half page of Language Arts and a half page of Math to complete. If the time is wasted, the Bell Work scores on the progress report will reflect it.  If it becomes a chronic problem, I will be notifying you and a plan will be set up.

Math: We are still working on Chapter 1 in our Go Math program. The topic is "Addition & Subtraction".  Rounding and Place Value are topics also included in this chapter. Thank you for your help on the homework.  It will be so beneficial for the students to review the skills we learned in class each evening.
Times Tables:  We will begin times table pass-offs next week.  The students need to be studying their 0's, 1's, 2's and 5's.  Here is the order we will be teaching the times tables: After 5's will be 10's, 11's, 12's, 9's, 3's, 4's, 6's, 7's and end with 8's.  I know that this seems crazy, but there is a method to my madness. Let me know if you would like me to explain the process.

Language Arts/Literacy- "Framing Your Thoughts"- This program focuses on developing solid sentences.  Right now, the focus is on subjects and predicates.  Soon we will move onto predicate enhancers and predicate mobility.  Our Daily 5 system will be introduced this week and will include Read-to-Self, Read-to-Someone, Word Work(Spelling Packets), Writing and Listening. In a few weeks we will begin Mountain Language and mini lessons on the parts of speech.

Spelling: List number one will be sent home today.  Test will be on Friday.

Unit Study-  Our unit studies throughout the year will consist of Social Studies lessons and Science lessons.  Right now, we are learning about heat and light.  The students will be rotating through all the 3rd grade teachers classes during all of our unit studies. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Cursive- We have finished 6 lowercase letters and will continue working through our books. After all of the lowercase are finished, we will start the uppercase.  If the students are having a hard time finishing the work in class, I will be sending it home.

Homework: Please review and sign your child's homework.  I don't have time enough to check all of the homework everyday, so it is very helpful if I know you've already gone over it.  The students will get a small reward periodically when they bring back their folder and signed homework.  Also, it is crucial that the students bring their folders back and forth everyday.  If they have lost their school folder, any folder will work as a substitute.

Art: The students attended art class for the first time last Friday.  Mrs. Petersen has created art lessons that go along with our heat and light unit.  The students will love making shadow puppets and performing plays based on the book Fables!

Music: The students go to music on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  We now have two "Mrs. Leavitts"! Melissa Leavitt's daughter-in-law is teaching half of the music classes during the week, while Melissa is working on the formation of the new childrens' community choir.  They will be receiving the same excellent instruction as usual.

Thank you for your help!  I have a wonderful bunch of students and I look forward to seeing them in class everyday!

August 19th- 23rd

We made it through our first few days of school! The students have transitioned very well and are already working hard.  Here are the items we have worked on so far:
Cursive- We have already finished learning to write cursive letter "i" and "t".
Times tables- Working on 0, 1, & 2.  Flashcards will be coming home this week.  Please spend 10 - 15 minutes a night on the times tables. Next week, I will start passing off each childs' times tables.
Reading- Reading charts are being sent home today in folders.  Please have your child read 25 minutes every school night.  Charts need to be handed in on Sep. 2.
Spelling- I've decided to hold off another week before sending spelling home.  I don't want to overwhelm the students!
Homework will begin next week.  Watch for a homework packet next Monday.

A heartfelt thank you for the donations made to our class.  It makes a big difference!

Here is our schedule of special classes throughout the year:

Tuesdays- 10:30 - Music
Wednesdays- 10:00 - Music
Thursdays - 12:30 - Library
Fridays- 10:00 - P.E. & 1:15- Art

Parents volunteers will begin the first of October.  Most information will be sent as the time draws closer.

Newsletter May 6, 2013

Testing seems to going well. Thank you for your support during this process!
Here is the schedule for the next couple of weeks before school gets out:

5/6-  Take home books collected for the year

5/7- Dibels testing- Mrs. Holmes class- 10:45 am

5/17- Battle of the Books

5/20- Reading Celebration- 3rds @ 9:45 am

5/21- Field Day-  *We are in need of a couple of volunteers for this day.  Two for the am and two for the pm.  I don't have the exact times yet, but it usually runs from 9:30- 11:30 for the am and 1:00 - 3:00 for the pm.  If you would be able to help out on this day, let me know.  Thanks!

5/23- Memorial Day Assembly

5/24- Last Day of School

Last day of school- Although I don't have the exact schedule for the last day of school, I will give you the information that I do have right now.  Usually, we have our "Meet the new Teacher" on the last day of school around 9:30 am.  After that we will be cleaning up, signing year-books, watching a video yearbook and having a party.  For our party, I usually like to give the students a chance to spend their last store money on a few raffles.  I have already purchased a couple of items, but if you have something you could send in as a donation, it would be much appreciated.  Items that I have used in the past are: decorative bags, games, stuffed animals, crafts and $5 gift cards.  Please do not feel pressured to do this, it is strictly optional.

Last Day of School Party Sign-ups:

Popcorn- Gina Cutler
Popcorn- Jamie Hunt
Red Vines- Amanda Giles
Red Vines- Rachel Hunt
Boxed Drinks- Laurie Anderson
Boxed Drinks-
Boxed Drinks-
Napkins- Carrie Horton

Thank you for a wonderful year!  I love your children and will miss them so much.  Thank you for your support this year!

Newsletter 4/15 - 4/26

Sending a thank-you to all of our great parent volunteers!  It has been a bonus for the students to have one-on-one help!  Your efforts are very much appreciated!

Testing-  We will begin practice testing this Friday.  On May 2 we will begin our official testing.  I will include the complete testing schedule below.  Please have your students here on the testing days, unless they are sick or you run into an emergency.  It is hard on the students when they have to make-up tests when they return.

Testing Schedule:

Friday, April 19th @ 1:00 pm/ Practice Language Arts 1
Tuesday, April 23rd @10:30 am/ Practice LA2
Monday, April 29th @ 10:30 am/ Practice Math 1
Tuesday, April 30th @ 2:30 pm/ Practice MA2

Official Testing Schedule:

Thursday, May 2nd @ 9:00 am/ LA1
Friday, May 3rd @12:30 pm/ LA2
Monday, May 6th @ 12:30/ MA1
Wednesday, May 8th @ 9:00 am/ MA2

*The third grade program is still planned for Tuesday, April 30th @ 2:00 pm in the school gym.  Families of the students are all invited.

Battle of the Books will be held on Friday May 17th.  Keep up the great work on your reading assignments!

Monday, May 20th will be the Reading Celebration.  The third grades will attend from 9:45-10:25 am.  That is, if we read the 1,000,000 minutes!  1,500,000 minutes will get Mr. Oldroyd to kiss a pig!

If you have any questions, please let me know.
Have a great week!

Newsletter 2/1- 2/12

Hello Parents!
I hope you had a great break!  We are back with a big push to prepare for end-of-levels.  Here is our schedule of studies for the next couple of weeks:

Math- Measurement is the chapter we are studying right now.  The students are learning all about customary and metric measurement.  They will also learn more about area, perimeter and time.  The last chapter for the year will be on Data, Graphs, & Probability.  Please watch for alternative homework that will be sent home to prepare for our testing.  They will be in the form of cumulative reviews.
Thank you for your help with this!
Times Tables-  We still have opportunities to pass off times tables.  If your child is ready, they will need to let me know at school so I can pass them off.  We are also playing times tables games and reviewing the times tables every chance we get.

Language Arts/Reading- Continuation of Mountain Language, grammar lessons and small reading groups.  Daily 5 writing will also continue with our "Seasons" assignment.  The students are going through the writing process with a peer conference, teacher conference and three revisions before being published.  The published work will be typed in the computer lab.  I am so proud of the writing my students are producing!  After the writing assignment is completed, the students will return to the Read-to-Self and Read-to-Someone.  The word work and listening skills are continually being addressed on a daily basis.

Vocabulary-  We will continue vocabulary for one more week after this one.  At that point, we will study the whole list of words and play games to reinforce the words learned throughout the last several months.

Unit Study-  Mrs. Bradford just finished up a fabulous unit on force, gravity and simple machines.  She is now teaching a unit on the moon.  We will then study health and finish with a social studies geography unit.

Music- We are planning to have a 3rd grade musical program in the gym on April 30th at 2:00 p.m.
The students learn so much in their music class with Mrs. Leavitt and we would love to show off their skills to the parents.  We hope to see you there!

Art- We will be working on a few more art projects before school ends.   One of the favorites we will work on is the perspective drawing.

*Parent Volunteers- We will only have two more weeks for volunteers due to testing.  Thank you so much for your help this year.  It has made such a difference!

Update

Just wanted to congratulate the winners of the science fair, writing contest and yearbook cover submissions.
The science fair winners from our class were 1st place- Reagan Anderson, 2nd place- Ellie Nakken.  All of the entries were awesome and deserve recognition!
The yearbook cover entry winners were Ericka Marchant & Millie Harrison.  Millie's submission will be printed on the yearbook.  Congrats girls!
The Magic of Writing contest winners were McKenna Westwood and Millie Harrison.  So proud of these great writers!
We have our Spring Break coming this week.  There will be no school on Wed., Thurs. & Fri.
Have a wonderful and safe break!

Newsletter 3-11 - 3/26

Hello!  It was so good to meet with you this last week!  This class has been so great!  I would like to recognize our two spelling bee representatives this year.  McKenna Westwood took 1st place in the school competition and Millie Harrison took 2nd place.  These two students deserve a big hand.  They studied so hard and represented our class very well!

Here is an update for the next couple of weeks:

Math- We are in the middle of learning about fractions.  We will probably finish in the middle of next week.  The next unit will be on Measurement (Customary & Metric).  Please be watching for practice worksheets that will be coming home for homework.  These pages will prepare your children for End-of-Levels which will be at the end of April.

Times Tables- If your child has times tables they would like to pass off, encourage them to let me know and I'll make sure to find a time to meet with them.  At this point we are working to get everyone done with all 1-12.

Daily 5- We will be tackling another 4-Square Writing assignment in the next week.  The students have become awesome writers and are actually asking to do another assignment!  Have I mentioned that I love my job?!?!  We will also continue the Read-to-Self, Word Work, Read-to-Someone & Listening.

Keyboarding- We finished all 20 lessons.  No more keyboarding homework, but I would encourage you to look up some keyboarding games or apps for your child to practice on at home.  This skill is now very crucial and should be practiced as much as possible.  Thanks for your help!

Cursive- Still chugging along.  We should have all letters completed in the next few weeks.

Vocabulary-  I'm sorry about the inconsistency with vocabulary over the last couple of weeks.  We will plan to get back on schedule and have our test this Friday along with the spelling test.

Unit Study-  Hallelujah!  We have a new and awesome student teacher named Mrs. Kirsten Bradford.  She will be teaching our next science unit on Force, Motion & Simple Machines.  The students are really looking forward to this fun science time!

Looking ahead to the Easter party which will be held Tuesday, March 26th.  Here are the people that signed up to bring an item for this party:

Little Debbie Snacks:  Jamie Hunt
Little Debbie Snacks:  Jodi Corser
Little Debbie Snacks:
24 candy-filled plastic eggs:  Rachel Hunt
24 candy-filled plastic eggs:  Jennifer Edwards
24 candy-filled plastic eggs:  Sydney Nakken
24 candy-filled plastic eggs:
Boxed drinks:  Michelle Twitchell
Boxed drinks:  Gina Cutler
Boxed drinks:  Sydney Nakken
Napkins and Plates:  Carrie Horton

Thank you again for your generosity!