Second Chances

Do you ever have one of THOSE days?  This morning was one of THOSE days for me (even though I thought I had it all together!). We were late for chapel and our class had to walk in by ourselves with everyone looking and smirking at us!  Then, after chapel, we start walking back down the hallway to our class, and we get called back for Christmas play rehearsal!  Thank goodness for second chances!  The fourth graders led chapel today, and their sermon was all about second chances.  Very timely in Mrs. G's case.  Thank God third graders are so forgiving!

Fall Fest Reminder

From Amy Holt

 

 

This is just a reminder that the Fall Fest shirt order and race registration form is due TOMORROW, Wednesday, September 25th.  Please return these to the school by tomorrow.  Students collecting over $50 in pledges receive a free race shirt and one free race entry.  You child does not need to have turned in their $50 in pledges by tomorrow in order to turn in the form.  Pledge packets are due on Friday, October 11.

 

SHIRT ORDERS & RACE REGISTRATIONS

Due by September 25

Students collecting over $50 in pledges receive a free race shirt and one race entry.

You MUST fill out a registration brochure (enclosed in collection envelope) to:

• register for the race and/or
• order the race shirt.  Shirts will be pre-ordered and delivered to students by Thursday, October 10.

If you are not planning to run Fall Fest, but still wish to order a shirt, please draw a line through the race section.

If you wish to run both the 5K and 1-mile fun run, you must register for both races (may be checked on the same form).

 

Math vocabulary

Dear Parents:

Tonight's math homework will require knowledge of certain math vocabulary terms.  This is review for the kids, but most will require some prompts.  So that you can help, I'm defining the terms below.

Commutative Property of Addition:  The property of addition that states that the order in which two numbers are added does not change the sum.  Ex:  12 + 15 = 15 + 12

Associative Property of Addition:  The property which states that the grouping of the addends does not change the sum.  Ex:  (4 + 5) + 2 = 4 + (5 + 2)

Identity Property of Addition:  If you add zero to a number, the sum is the same as the given number.  Ex:  3 + 0 = 3



Reminder:  Since we do not have school Friday, the memory test will be given Thursday, as well as the spelling pre-test.  Reading logs will also be due Thursday.

Scholastic book orders

Dear Parents,

The last day to order Scholastic book orders for this month is September 27.  I am taking orders solely through the Scholastic book order website.  You can find a link to our class on this blog page.  If you miss the deadline, don't worry!  We'll order again next month.

Liam's VIP day

Dear Parents,

On each child's birthday, we will be using our writing time to write that child friendly letters.  These letters will be collected and bound together to make a VIP book.  We are in the early stages of learning the parts of a friendly letter, and using creative adjectives to describe our classmate.  After the children are finished writing their friendly letter, they draw a picture of themselves with the VIP child.  Today, we got to write VIP letters to Liam.  We brainstormed all of Liam's amazing qualities and wrote letters to him telling him how great he is.  Look for your child's special book on their VIP day!

First time with our buddies

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We're the big buddies this year!  Aren't they all so cute!  The kids all took their job as big buddy VERY seriously.  We're going to have a fabulous time with our buddies this year.

Sincerely,

Amanda Gustafson

Math time!

Today, the kids did a wonderful job working collaboratively to figure out the value of coins and bills in real life application problems.

Read to Self

Dear Parents:

You may have noticed the entry titled "Daily 5" in your child's agenda.  Daily 5 is the title for our reading core.  There are 5 parts to this core:  read to self, read to someone, vocabulary/spelling work, writing, and listen to reading.  We have been learning the independent behaviors for these activities, and have been working on building our stamina for each one.  The kids are finally starting to "get it".  I just wanted to share with you some pictures from our Read to Self time.  The positions may be a little unconventional, but notice that all of them are engrossed in reading books that reflect their interests and that are at their levels.  I'm always amazed and excited when we get to this part of the school year and get to watch children start to fall in love with books and reading.

Sincerely,

Amanda Gustafson

I love my job

One of the kids made this for me today.  Wouldn't you love your job too if your clients made you cute pictures like this?  Amazing.

I am still in need of lunch parents on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  If you are able to help, please e-mail me and let me know!

Challenge spelling words and Memory work

The blog has been updated with our new memory verse and the challenge spelling words for this week.  We tried something a little different today.  After we took the spelling pre-test, I had each child circle the words they got wrong on the spelling list in their planner.  I told them these are the words they really need to study this week.  The words they didn't circle, they don't need to spend very much time studying since they already know them!  We will take our test, Wednesday, September 18.  If your child got 100% on the pre-test, I've posted some challenge words for them to study.  Challenge words are like extra-credit.  They don't count against you if you get them all wrong, but they can add to your 100% if you get them right!

Number vocabulary

Dear Parents:
Your child is bringing home math homework tonight with vocabulary that might be new for some of you.  We are looking at numbers and writing them in standard, expanded, and word forms.

Example
8,237

Standard form:  8,237

In expanded form, we take the VALUE of each digit and add them.

8,000 + 200 + 30 + 7

Word form:  Put it in words
Eight thousand, two hundred, thirty seven

When you are finding the PLACE of an underlined digit, for example the 8 in 8,237, the place is the thousands place, but the VALUE is 8,000.

Most kids understood this vocabulary, but if they need reminding, I hope this helps!

Lunch Parents NEEDED

Dear Parents,
In the three weeks that I have known your children, I've already seen them grow so much in terms of internalizing personal responsibility and learning procedures.  They are to the point now that I trust them to behave with a lunch parent, and still follow the same procedures that I expect from them at lunch.

With that being said, I NEED more lunch parents.  Although I love your children, not having a chance to step out of the classroom for even five minutes is starting to wear on me.  Carter's mom has been coming in every Wednesday (Bless you Sheila!) and it is amazing what being able to get out of the classroom does to my heart.  I am able to be a more energetic (and patient) teacher, being able to have that little break.

If you are able to come in and be with the kids from 11:15-12:00 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday, PLEASE let me know. 

Sincerely,
Amanda Gustafson

 

Map testing and new vocabulary words

Dear Parents,

Today, half the class took the MAP test in mathematics.  I say half because half of our computers were on the fritz!  We'll find a time in the school schedule to get the other half tested ASAP.  

On another note, I learn new things every day from your kids.  Since using a bible is new to most of the kids, we've been talking through using the table of contents to find where in the Bible certain books are.  Yesterday, we were looking at our Table of Contents to find our memory verse from 1 John.  After the kids flipped to the right book, I realized that half of them were in "regular" John.  I gave a quick lesson on where 1 John was, but it got me thinking about the differences between 1 John and "regular" John.  I asked Pastor Mark to come visit us today and give us a mini-lesson on the difference between these two books.  He told the kids that "regular" John was a gospel, meaning it tells the story of the life of Jesus Christ.  1 John is an epistle (ask you child if they can remember the definition of this word), meaning, a letter.  We added the word "epistle" to our learning target board today. 

A lovely day to be in third grade

Dear Parents,

It's a lovely day to be in third grade!  We learned our new memory verse today from 1 John 2:1.  We talked about what an ADVOCATE is and how Jesus Christ is our advocate.  Ask your child if they remember what this word means.

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Sincerely,

Amanda Gustafson

class meetings

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Dear Parents,

Today we learned a new aspect of class meetings, respecting different viewpoints.  You should have heard the giggles as we discussed what one group sees as a strength in a favorite animal, another group sees as a weakness.  It gives us a common language when we start to solve problems where two people see the same event differently.

Sincerely,

Amanda Gustafson

Spelling words and memorization

Dear Parents,
On Wednesday of each week, your child will get their new spelling words.  They will be gluing this list inside of their daily planners.  It is also on Wednesday that I ask them to have you sign their planners so you can see their new words.  If their list ever comes unglued, the words can also be found on this blog.  We will take the spelling pre-test every Friday.  If they get 100% on their spelling pre-test, they can then start practicing the challenge words if they would like.  The 100% will count for their spelling test score.  If they do not get a 100% on the pre-test, it gives them a good idea of the words they need to focus on in their study.  We will take the actual spelling test every Wednesday and get our new words for the next week.

The weekly memorization is also available on the blog.  The students will get their new memory verse every Friday with their new reading log.  We will take the written memory test every Friday.  Spelling will not count on the memory test, but writing the exact words will. 

Have a restful weekend!

-Mrs. G

Behavior System

Dear Parents,

We have been adjusting well to our new third grade expectations and learning rules and consequences.  We have a system similar to Mrs. Picker's card system when we choose not to follow our agreed upon class rules.  Each student has a clothespin with their class number written on it.  We all start the day on Green, meaning "Ready to Learn."  If a student chooses not to follow a class rule, they first get a verbal warning, then move their pin to Warning if they choose not to heed the verbal warning.  The warning is a time for the student to reflect upon their behavior and to change it.  If they choose again to break a class rule, they move their pin to "Time Out" and fill out a behavior management plan sheet in a buddy classroom.  If your student goes to time out, they will bring home the behavior management plan to discuss with you and for you to sign and return the next day.  

On the converse, if a student is doing something above and beyond what is expected, they can move their pin to "Rock Star".  If your student gets to purple, I will e-mail you so that you can praise your child for their behavior at home.  If your child stays on green (or even yellow), you will not hear from me, so you can assume they are doing A-OK.  If you have any questions about our behavior system, please ask your child, or feel free to e-mail me.  Thank you in advance for your support in helping your child assume responsibility for their actions in the classroom!

School supplies

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Dear Parents,

If you have not quite filled out your student's back to school supply list, now is the time to do it!  All school supplies are needed ASAP!  Your child will need an ESV bible.  These can be purchased for $5 from Michele in the school office.  They will also need a 1 inch white binder with a clear plastic cover, a package of sheet protectors, 3 boxes of Kleenex, 3 packages of Clorox disinfecting wipes (I'll be asking for more of these later on), and gym shoes.  If you are in need of financial assistance in buying these supplies, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Amanda Gustafson

Classroom Signals

Has your child told you about our Classroom Signals?  These are signals we use every day as part of our classroom management system.  Ask your child to demonstrate them for you and when we use each one!