Christmas break will be here soon and we much to accomplish!  The following is an update on each subject:

Unit Study- For Social Studies we are learning about how Christmas is celebrated around the world. If any of you are knowledgable about how another culture celebrates Christmas (and you're willing to come in to present to our class) please let me know. I would love to have parent participation if possible. I can accommodate any time that will work for you. Also, on the Friday that school gets out for the break (Dec.19th), we will be having a pajama party. For the p.j. party, the students are allowed to bring one item such as a stuffed animal or blanket. During the afternoon, I would like to have  "Christmas Around the World" story time. If any of you would like to share any kind of Christmas story with the students that day, please let me know and we will schedule a time that works for you.

Keyboarding- There was no keyboarding number 8 homework, in case you were worried. Please encourage your child to continue practicing their keyboarding skills over the break.

Math- We took the chapter 4 math test today. Please watch for the results to come home. As always, corrections are accepted. Chapter 5 continues on with multiplication.

Times Tables- Students are struggling a bit with the 12's. If you could keep practicing those, that will really help.

Language Arts/Reading- Daily 5 as usual with an emphasis on writing.

Sing-Around-The-Tree: Everyday next week the students will sing Christmas carols in the gym for half an hour.

Christmas Party Sign-ups:

One dozen cookies- Amy Wittwer
(Any holiday type cookies will work)
One dozen cookies- Angie York
One dozen cookies- Kristen Woffinden
Boxed drinks-
Boxed drinks- Janna Davidson
Boxed drinks- Tori Jenkins
Holiday candies- Natalie Beacham
Holiday Candies- Brynda Thomson

Thank you!!


P.S. If your child received a Lifetouch class picture that you did not purchase, will you send them back. Apparently there was a big mix-up this year. Thank you!

It's amazing how time flies. Next week is our Thanksgiving Holiday. We will be holding school on Monday and Tuesday (Nov 24th & 25th). School will resume on Monday, Dec. 1st.

We will be focusing on the following items for the next few weeks:

Math- We just finished up Chapter 3 on Multiplication. If you have not received your child's test, it will be coming in the next day. If you would like to have your child make corrections and send them back, I will add the points on the progress report. Chapter 4 continues to focus on multiplication strategies. You will be seeing some homework come home that will have your child work on the "Distributive Property". This strategy is difficult for some students and will probably cause some frustration. Do what you can, and then just have your child complete it the traditional way if necessary. 

Times Tables- We are finishing up pass-offs on 5's, 10's & 11's. We will work on 9's and 12's next. Have your child show you the "9's" trick if they haven't already. 

Language/Reading- Daily 5 continues with an emphasis on writing. Continue reading at home, it makes such a difference. I would also suggest asking your child some comprehension questions during their reading, or at the conclusion of their reading time.

Keyboarding- Yay! Our Chromebooks arrived and we are off and running! Keyboarding homework will be coming home on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays. I will be sending lesson 5 today. The homework assignments end on 20, so hang in there! Please watch that your student is using correct home row position. If you have a questions, let me know. 

Unit Study- We have just completed our hands-on portion of our Simple Machines unit. Next we will work on an informational writing assignment that will express the learning from this unit. The "Step-Up-To-Writing" program will be used to help students organize their thoughts. I also like to use some "Four-Square" strategies to supplement.

Art/Music- Continue as usual- The students have been working on Michelangelo style drawings which require the students to paint upside down, reminiscent of the work he completed on the Sistene Chapel. It has been a marvelous learning experience for the students. 

Next Tuesday we will have our Thanksgiving Celebration the last hour of the day. The following is a list of people who have signed up for contributions:

Apple slices:

Chips: Amy Wittwer
Chips: Kim Holyoak

Cheetos: Angie York

3 cans of olives: Vicky Heiner

Cheese cubes:

One Jar of Pickles: Brynda Thomson

One Jar of Pickles:

Boxed Apple Juice: Tori Jenkins

Boxed Apple Juice: Lacey McGarvey

Boxed Apple Juice:

Plates:

Thank you for making our parties so fun!

Welcome back from a wonderful fall break! Today begins our 2 day celebration of Red Ribbon Week. The students will be involved with activities that remind and teach them to be drug free. Today, we will have an assembly that includes the CCPD and the drug enforcement dogs. Tomorrow (Friday) is crazy hair day/ school T-shirt day.
The academics will continue as outlined in our previous post. We will have our #8 spelling test tomorrow.

*Reading Volunteers: If you signed up to be a reading volunteer, please come next week. The time will be 8:50 - 9:30 a.m.

*Frustrated and confused by the GoMath program?  South Elementary will be offering parenttrainings beginning in November.  We will focus on the new strategies and vocabulary presented in the GoMath program.  This is not a homework club directed at completing homework, but a training directed at parents who are having a difficult time understanding the new ways of thinking presented in the GoMath program.  We will begin November 6, with 3rd and 4th grade concepts from 5-6 PM, and 5th grade topics from 6-7PM.

Halloween Party: Our Halloween Party will be held on Friday, October 31st. It is scheduled for the last hour of the day. The following is the sign-up list from Back-to-School night.

One dozen glazed donuts: Lacey McGarvey
One dozen glazed donuts: Amy Miller
One dozen glazed donuts: Kate Herbaugh
1/2 gallon sherbet (any flavor): Amy Wittwer
1/2 gallon sherbet (any flavor): Kaycee Turek
1/2 gallon sherbet (any flavor): Kris Slack
One 2-liter Sprite: Tori Jenkins
One 2-liter Sprite: Amy Wittwer
One 2-liter Sprite: Sandi Lunt
One 2-liter Sprite: Kim Holyoak
Cups, Spoons, and Napkins- Brynda Thomson

It's time for an update! We have been extremely busy learning about Iron County with Mrs. Everett and Bridges with me for my unit study.  We were sad to see Mrs. Everett go and wish her the best. She made such a difference in our class!

Here is the focus for the next few weeks:

Math- As you are well aware, we have finished Chapter 1 and are immersed in Chapter 2. Chapter 2 focuses on interpreting data through graphing. We will soon end this Chapter with a test next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Times Tables- Mrs. Cindy Davidson has been helping our students pass off times tables. We are finishing up 5's and concentrating on 10's. It is crucial that our students learn their times tables and have them committed to memory. It will help them immensely throughout the rest of their schooling.

Language Arts/Reading- Our interventions are moving along nicely. If your child is in my intervention group, this is our schedule:
Mondays- Close Reading/ Guided Reading
Tuesdays- Mountain Language
Wednesdays- Dictionary Skills
Thursdays- Dicatation
Fridays- Mountain Math

We are also working on our Daily 5 skills.

Cursive- We have only 2 more lowercase letters before we start the uppercase letters. The students' writing looks great. They are all making progress!

Unit Study- Our next unit of study will be "Simple Machines". The students will be involved in lessons similar to our "Bridges" unit. Using the STEM method has been so beneficial to the class. They have had experience being "Engineers" which has given them hands-on learning that cannot be achieved any other way.

Fall Break:
Fall Break begins next Thursday, Oct. 16th and ends on Oct.22nd. Students come back to school on the 23rd.

Halloween Party: Our Halloween Party will be held on Friday, October 31st. It is scheduled for the last hour of the day. The following is the sign-up list from Back-to-School night.

One dozen glazed donuts: Lacey McGarvey
One dozen glazed donuts: Amy Miller
One dozen glazed donuts: Kate Herbaugh
1/2 gallon sherbet (any flavor): Amy Wittwer
1/2 gallon sherbet (any flavor): Kaycee Turek
1/2 gallon sherbet (any flavor): Kris Slack
One 2-liter Sprite: Tori Jenkins
One 2-liter Sprite: Amy Wittwer
One 2-liter Sprite: Sandi Lunt
One 2-liter Sprite: Kim Holyoak
Cups, Spoons, and Napkins- Brynda Thomson

Thank you for all of your support! I really enjoyed meeting with you all at SEP's!

Newsletter 9/8

We've almost completed a month of 3rd grade. The time sure flies when you're having fun! Mrs. Everett and I are truly enjoying this class.

Here is an outline of our schedule for the next couple of weeks:

Math- Our GoMath lessons are moving right along. Your support at home is much appreciated, especially as this curriculum explores many different methods in completing problems. If you find that your child is struggling with an alternate method taught by the GoMath program, please just have them complete it in the way that makes the most sense to them. The reason all of these methods are explored is to teach to a variety of thinkers, which more actively addresses our need to differentiate in the classroom. Truth be told, this first chapter seems to be the most challenging. Just hang in there!

Times Tables- We are working on passing off our 5's. I will be sending a progress report in the next day or two to let you know where your child is at with pass-offs.

Language Arts/Reading- We have started our Daily 5 Read-to-Self. The students have built their stamina up to 18 minutes (reading silently with no distractions). We are also working on Reading-with-Someone.  Each Monday, the students are paired up by level. They complete 1 minute timings and conclude with comprehension questions. Our first Writing lesson was taught last week. Right now we are working on the brainstorming process and beginning our "Step Up To Writing" program.  Our Word Work section is addressed by our spelling practice each week. Last, the Listening portion of Daily 5 is mainly accomplished by our teacher read-aloud, although listening skills are constantly worked on throughout the day.  

Framing Your Thoughts- The students have been learning and reviewing correct principles of sentence structure. Ask your child about a "bare bones" sentence and what they can do to improve it. They know all about predicate enhancers and predicate mobility.

Cursive- We continue to work on our lower case letter writing. Soon we will tackle upper case letters.

Unit Study- Mrs. Everett is in charge of our unit study for the next couple of weeks. She will be focusing on Social Studies Standards 1, 2 & 3. Standard 1 states: Students will understand how geography influences community location and development.  Standard 2: Describe how various communities have adapted to existing environments and how other communities have modified the environment. Standard 3: Analyze ways cultures use, maintain, and preserve the physical environment.  The 3 standards fit nicely in our Iron County unit and the field trip to Parowan next week. 

Following Mrs. Everett's unit, I will be teaching a unit on Force and Motion.

Music, P.E. & Art classes have started. Our new art teacher is Mrs. Davis. The students seem to love her!

Character Education- Our class has attended some presentations concerning people and their differences. The class has learned that every person in our class has strengths and weaknesses. Some people may need extra help in one area when others do not. Maintaining a supportive and kind nature is crucial to the development of each student. I am so pleased that our students seem to be internalizing this information and making an effort to make each student in our class feel comfortable and appreciated. 

Newsletter 8/18 - 8/29

We made it to our first full week of school! The students are doing so well! I will probably end up composing a newsletter every two weeks and updates on an as-needed basis.

This is what we're doing in each subject area:

Bell work: Each morning the students have half page of editing and a half page of review math questions that we check in class. Today was our first day and it went very well.

Reading/Literacy- The students just completed the Dibels testing this morning. They will soon be benchmarked to find their current reading levels. In the meantime, we are gearing up for Daily 5. Daily 5 consists of reading independently, reading to others, listening, writing and word work. For listening, we are reading "Candy Shop Wars" aloud. If your child has a copy of this book, they may bring it to follow along. Word work will take place with our spelling unit each week. We will start spelling next Monday. Your child will receive list #1, which they should review daily. Daily journal writing is just one of the many ways the students will be engaged in writing. Throughout the next month, the writing lessons will be geared toward the "Framing Your Thoughts" curriculum. After that, we will start our first "big" writing assignment. Cursive writing is also taking place everyday. We have worked on lower case "i", "t" & "u".

Math- Before we jump into our "GoMath" program, we will review place value. The third grade teachers have found that this extra study will help the students immensely in their rounding unit.
We have worked on times tables 0, 1, & 2's. I would like to get these passed off by the end of the week if possible.  Next we will work on 5's, 10's, & 11's.

Social Studies & Science: We will be alternating these two subjects throughout the year. Our first unit will be focused on force and motion. Our science will include all four of the "STEM" areas. (Science, technology, engineering and math). I have almost completed my first session of training in STEM education through Dixie State. I'm confident the students will have fun while learning about each concept.

P.E.- Our P.E. class will be on Mondays @ 12:30 p.m. throughout the year.
Music- Mrs. Savage is our new music teacher. We will sure miss Mrs. Leavitt, but are grateful to have such a good replacement! Our class attends music on Tuesdays @ 10:30 a.m. & Wednesdays @ 10:00 a.m.

Reading Volunteers- We will begin reading volunteers on Tuesday, October 28th & Thursday, October 30th. I will send a reminder as this approaches.

The PTA would like me to remind you about signing up for the alerts that they spoke about on Back-to-School Night. They won't be sending the regular fliers home and instead will send alerts on their new system. Here are the instructions:

3 options to sign up for PTA alerts:

1. APP:  download "Remind101" app and enter code: @southel

2. TEXT:  send a text to (435) 238-4868 with the message: @southel

3.  EMAIL:  send a blank message to southel@mail.remind.com

Have a wonderful week and let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Welcome Back to School!

I'm getting so excited to see my new 3rd Graders! Please watch for letters coming to give you all the information you need to get ready for the school year. See you soon!

If you have any questions before hand, please email me:  marie.holmes@ironmail.org