The Week of September 25th through 29th, 2017

Spelling:
     List #3- short and long i

pilot     write     inch     reply     lines     bigger     brick     river     given

silent     fine     whisper     rhyme     iron     height     grade     safety     they

Challenge Words:  multiply      divide

*Spelling Test #2 on Friday October 6th, 2017


Reading:

• We are enjoying our class novel, Charlotte's Web by E.B. White and building or dodecahedron comprehension shape.  
• Our storybook focus story will be Pinduli by Janell Cannon.  We will use this story to focus on vocabulary words, comprehension, describing characters, and adjectives.  

Language Arts:

We will be working on grammar Rule 4 which talks about nouns naming a person, place, or thing.  Some nouns name specific people, places, or things.

• We will also use our Daily Language page to work on correcting sentence errors.  
• We will do some Shurley English jingles and work on the first few lessons dealing with parts of speech.

Math: 

•  Math4Today Week 3:  weekly lessons, there are ten boxes covering 6-7 different math skills such as adding two and three digit numbers, subtracting numbers, naming shapes, story problems, using data graphs and beginning multiplication.  There will be an assessment each week but this first one will be done together as a class.
• We have two lessons in our Green Math books.  There will be homework on Monday evening for lesson 9 and Wednesday evening for lesson 10.

Snack:  We don't eat lunch until 1:00 pm so I am encouraging everyone to bring a snack for our morning snack break at 10:30 am

HOMEWORK:

• Students will have math homework on Monday and Wednesday evening.  It is a review of the lessons we will have worked on during those days.  It is important for long term learning to complete the homework after learning new information. We go over the Problem Set page together as a class and they are supposed to bring that home with them to help them remember how to do the problems as well as help parents see how we worked on the problems so that parents can support their child with their math homework.  I give 5 points for each homework and they do add up quickly in the grade book so it is important for practice and for grades to complete and return homework.  I do not grade for correct vs incorrect answers.  We go over the homework in class together the next day to check for understanding and work on any problem areas.
• This week our homework will cover Lesson 9:  Finding related multiplication facts by adding and subtracting equal groups in array models. This lesson is an introduction into the Distributive Property of Multiplication.  For example:
• Lesson 10 will be about modeling the distributive property with arrays to decompose units as a strategy to multiply.  Continuing our introduction to the distributive property of multiplication.  




• Reading Calendars:  September Reading Calendars were sent home at the beginning of the month. They will be due October 2nd and are worth 100 points in the grade book for reading 400+ minutes for the month. If for any reason the calendar gets lost, I can accept a note or email from parents with the number of reading minutes for their child.  I do encourage that the paper itself be turned in at the end of each month to support growing responsibility and accountability for the students whenever possible.  
• IXL homework will be marked with a yellow star and are homework for the nights we do not have paper math homework.  This week students need to complete the 4 starred areas in third grade math onTuesday and  Thursday.  The link to IXL is on the right side of this blog page and the starred assignments are:
• IXL, In Third Grade Math, 
• Under Subtraction:
• D.1 Subtract numbers up to three digits.
• Under Estimation and Rounding:
• P.1  Rounding to nearest 10 or 100 only.
• Under Multiplication Skill Builders:
• F.3  Multiply by 2.
• F.4  Multiply by 3.
• *Students who do their IXL homework will be given 5 points extra credit for completing the starred assignments.   

Grades:  If you would like to look at your child's grades please use the Vision Charter link on the right side of this page and go to Portal.  If you do not have a username and password please call Amy Bowers at 208-455-9220 or email her at amybowers@visioncsd.org so that she can get that information to you.  This is the only place grades are posted.  Please let me know if you have any questions or any problems using Infinite Campus.

Dates to Remember:

• Monday, September 25th:  Progress reports will be sent home with your child.  If you have questions please let me know.  Retakes are still on going. We are half way through the first quarter already!
• Monday, October 2nd:  September Reading Calendar due.
• Thursday, October 5th:  Picture Retakes.  Photo packets should be arriving very soon.  If you would like to get your child's picture retaken, the original photo packet will need to be returned on or before October 5th to the teacher.  If you decided to order pictures after seeing the proof, there is a link on the photo page to order.
• Fall Break is October 9th through 13th,2017.
• Tuesday, October 31st:  School-wide Novel:  Journey to the Center of the Earth dress up day!  Dress as a character from the book.  
• November 2nd and 3rd:  Parent Teacher Conferences from 3:30-7:00 pm.  Scheduled with the teacher.

The Week of September 18th through 22nd, 2017

Spelling:
     List #2- short and long e

wrench     hello    yellow     bread     kept     better     sentence     eggshell

medal     metal     remember     reading     peaches     peace     piece

east      west      many

Challenge Words:  special     beanstalk

*Spelling Test #2 on Friday, 22nd, 2017


Reading:

• We will be starting our class novel, Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.  
• Our storybook focus story will be Pinduli by Janell Cannon.  We will use this story to focus on vocabulary words, comprehension, describing characters, and adjectives.  

Language Arts:

We will be working on grammar Rules 3 and 4.  Rule 3 talks about conjunctions: and, or and but are used to join words or groups of words.  Rule 4 talks about nouns naming a person, place, or thing.  Some nouns name specific people, places, or things.

• We will also use our Daily Language page to work on correcting sentence errors.  
• We will do some Shurley English jingles and work on the first few lessons dealing with parts of speech.

Math: 

•  Math4Today weekly lessons, there are ten boxes covering 6-7 different math skills such as adding two and three digit numbers, subtracting numbers, naming shapes, story problems, using data graphs and beginning multiplication.  There will be an assessment each week but this first one will be done together as a class.
• We have two lessons in our Green Math books.  There will be homework on Monday evening for lesson 7 and Wednesday evening for lesson 8.

Snack:  We don't eat lunch until 1:00 pm so I am encouraging everyone to bring a snack for our morning snack break at 10:30 am

HOMEWORK:

• Students will have math homework on Monday and Wednesday evening.  It is a review of the lessons we will have worked on during those days.  It is important for long term learning to complete the homework after learning new information. We go over the Problem Set page together as a class and they are supposed to bring that home with them to help them remember how to do the problems as well as help parents see how we worked on the problems so that parents can support their child with their math homework.  I give 5 points for each homework and they do add up quickly in the grade book so it is important for practice and for grades to complete and return homework.  I do not grade for correct vs incorrect answers.  We go over the homework in class together the next day to check for understanding and work on any problem areas.
• Reading Calendars:  I am sending home the September calendar so students can record their reading minutes for the month.  They will be due October 2nd and are worth 100 points in the grade book for reading 400+ minutes for the month. If for any reason the calendar gets lost, I can accept a note or email from parents with the number of reading minutes for their child.  I do encourage that the paper itself be turned in at the end of each month to support growing responsibility and accountability for the students whenever possible.  
• IXL homework will be marked with a yellow star and are homework for the nights we do not have paper math homework.  This week students need to complete the 4 starred areas in third grade math onTuesday and  Thursday.  The link to IXL is on the right side of this blog page and the starred assignments are:
• IXL, In Third Grade Math, under Addition:
• C.2, Addition input/output tables-up to three digits
• C.3, Add two numbers up to three digits- word problems.
• Under Understanding Multiplication:
• E.5, Identify multiplication expressions for arrays.
• E.6, Write multiplication sentences for arrays.
• *Students who do their IXL homework will be given 5 points extra credit for completing the starred assignments.   

Grades:  If you would like to look at your child's grades please use the Vision Charter link on the right side of this page and go to Portal.  If you do not have a username and password please call Amy Bowers at 208-455-9220 or email her at amybowers@visioncsd.org so that she can get that information to you.  This is the only place grades are posted.  Please let me know if you have any questions or any problems using Infinite Campus.

Dates to Remember:

• Tuesday, September 19th:  Scholastic Book orders due.
• Tuesday, September 19th: Talk Like A Pirate Day-  Kids can dress up as pirates, no swords/weapons, no masks, eye patch on one eye is fine.
• Tuesday, September 19: STEM Night 5-7 p.m. come join the fun and learn about drones!
• Wednesday, September 20th: Final day for Spelling Test Retakes for list #1.
• Friday, September 22nd, Spelling Test on List #2 short and long e.
• Monday, October 2nd:  September Reading Calendar due.
• Thursday, October 5th:  Picture Retakes.  Photo packets should be arriving very soon.  If you would like to get your child's picture retaken, the original photo packet will need to be returned on or before October 5th to the teacher.  If you decided to order pictures after seeing the proof, there is a link on the photo page to order.
• Fall Break is October 9th through 13th,2017.
• November 2nd and 3rd:  Parent Teacher Conferences from 3:30-7:00 pm.  Scheduled with the teacher.
• 
  

The Week of September 11th through 15th, 2017

Spelling:
     List #2- short and long e

wrench     hello    yellow     bread     kept     better     sentence     eggshell

medal     metal     remember     reading     peaches     peace     piece

east      west      many

Challenge Words:  special     beanstalk 

*Spelling Test #2 on Friday, 22nd, 2017

Reading:

• We will be starting our class novel, Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.  
• Our storybook focus story will be Pinduli by Janell Cannon.  We will use this story to focus on vocabulary words, comprehension, describing characters, and adjectives.  

Language Arts:

We will be working on grammar Rules 1, 2 & 3.  Rule 1 focuses on the subject noun and predicate of a sentence and how every sentence must have these two elements.  Rule 2 talks about the different types of sentences and punctuation for them.  Declarative-stating something and ends with a period.  Exclamatory shows strong emotion and ends with an exclamation point.  Interrogative is a sentence that is in the form of a question and ends with a question mark.  Imperative sentence are giving a command or directions and ends with a period.  Rule 3 talks about conjunctions: and, or and but are used to join words or groups of words.    

• We will also use our Daily Language page to work on correcting sentence errors.  
• We will do some Shurley English jingles and work on the first few lessons dealing with parts of speech.

Math: 

• This week we will start our Math4Today weekly lessons, there are ten boxes covering 6-7 different math skills such as adding two and three digit numbers, subtracting numbers, naming shapes, story problems, using data graphs and beginning multiplication.  There will be an assessment each week but this first one will be done together as a class.
• We have two lessons in our Green Math books.  There will be homework on Monday evening for lesson 5 and Wednesday evening for lesson 6.

Snack:  We don't eat lunch until 1:00 pm so I am encouraging everyone to bring a snack for our morning snack break at 10:30 am

HOMEWORK:

• Students will have math homework on Monday and Wednesday evening.  It is a review of the lesson we will have worked on during those days.  It is important for long term learning to complete the homework after learning new information. We go over the Problem Set page together as a class and they are supposed to bring that home with them to help them remember how to do the problems as well as help parents see how we worked on the problems so that parents can support their child with their math homework.  I give 5 points for each homework and they do add up quickly in the grade book so it is important for practice and for grades to complete and return homework.  I do not grade for correct vs incorrect answers.  We go over the homework in class together the next day to check for understanding and work on any problem areas.
• Reading Calendars:  I am sending home the September calendar so students can record their reading minutes for the month.  They will be due October 2nd and are worth 100 points in the grade book for reading 400+ minutes for the month. If for any reason the calendar gets lost, I can accept a note or email from parents with the number of reading minutes for their child.  I do encourage that the paper itself be turned in at the end of each month to support growing responsibility and accountability for the students whenever possible.  
• IXL homework will be marked with a yellow star and are homework for the nights we do not have paper math homework.  This week students need to complete the 4 starred areas in third grade math on Tuesday and  Thursday.  The link to IXL is on the right side of this blog page and the starred assignments are:
• IXL, In Third Grade Math, under Numbers and Comparing:  
• B.1 Place value models up to thousands.
• B.2 Place value names up to thousands.
• E.3 Write multiplication sentences for equal groups.
• E.4 Relate addition and multiplication for equal groups.
• *Students who do their IXL homework will be given 5 points extra credit for completing the starred assignments.   

Grades:  If you would like to look at your child's grades please use the Vision Charter link on the right side of this page and go to Portal.  If you do not have a username and password please call Amy Bowers at 208-455-9220 or email her at amybowers@visioncsd.org so that she can get that information to you.  This is the only place grades are posted.  Please let me know if you have any questions or any problems using Infinite Campus.

Dates to Remember:

• Monday, September 11th:  Student Government sponsored skate night at the Rollerdrome from 6-8 pm.
• Tuesday, September 12: Helping your 2^nd - 3^rd grader learn to read well 6-7 p.m. VCS Gym
  Tuesday, September 19: STEM Night 5-7 p.m. come join the fun and learn about drones!
• Friday, September 22nd, Spelling Test on List #2 short and long e.
• Monday, October 2nd:  September Reading Calendar due.
• Thursday, October 5th:  Picture Retakes.  Photo packets should be arriving very soon.  If you would like to get your child's picture retaken, the original photo packet will need to be returned on or before October 5th to the teacher.  If you decided to order pictures after seeing the proof, there is a link on the photo page to order.
• Fall Break is October 9th through 13th,2017.
• November 2nd and 3rd:  Parent Teacher Conferences from 3:30-7:00 pm.  Scheduled with the teacher.

 Week of September 5th through 8th, 2017

Spelling:
List 1:  short and long a
     mask     track     stamp     stage     grade     they     batch     chance     graph     trade
     raise     eight     safety     wrapped     laugh     ramp     crane     flame
  Challenge words:  magical     station

**Spelling Test for List #1 is on this Friday, September 8th.  Practicing words at home a few times before the test is beneficial.

Reading:

• As we adjust to our pacing we have had to push a few things to this week so we will be finishing up our literature lesson using the book, Picture Day Perfection.  We have some vocabulary to finish up and then take our comprehension quiz.  We worked on writing our summary of the book using the (SWBST) Somebody Wanted But So Then strategy. 
• We have been enjoying our class read aloud, Sideways Stories from Wayside School.  Such a fun book to talk about characters and setting.

Language Arts:

• We will be working on grammar Rules 1 & 2. Rule 1 focuses on the subject noun and predicate of a sentence and how every sentence must have these two elements.  Rule 2 talks about the different types of sentences and punctuation for them.  Declarative-stating something and ends with a period.  Exclamatory shows strong emotion and ends with an exclamation point.  Interrogative is a sentence that is in the form of a question and ends with a question mark.  Imperative sentence are giving a command or directions and ends with a period.  
• We will also use our Daily Language page to work on correcting sentence errors.  
• We will do some Shurley English jingles and work on the first few lessons dealing with parts of speech.

Math: 

• This week we will start our Math4Today weekly lessons, there are ten boxes covering 6-7 different math skills such as adding two and three digit numbers, subtracting numbers, naming shapes, story problems, using data graphs and beginning multiplication.  There will be an assessment each week but this first one will be done together as a class.
• We have two lessons in our Green Math books.  There will be homework on Tuesday evening for lesson 3 and Thursday evening for lesson 4.
• Lesson 3's Objective: Interpret the meaning of factors—the size of the group or the number of groups as well as making number bonds. For example:

                                                                 

• Lesson 4:  Objective: Understand the meaning of the unknown as the size of the group in division. For example:                  

Art:

• We are finishing our paintings in the style of Joan Miro who was a Surrealist and Abstract style artist.  I am very excited to hang them in the hallway!
• We are also focusing on the art element of Line.  We used line as our main focus in our paintings.

Character Focus:  Trustworthiness

• We will read the story, The Sultan and the Seeds and discuss the ways trust was or was not built through the story. 

Snack:  We don't eat lunch until 1:00 pm so I am encouraging everyone to bring a snack for our morning snack break at 10:30 am

HOMEWORK:

• Students will have math homework on Tuesday and Thursday evening.  It is a review of the lesson we will have worked on during those days.  It is important for long term learning to complete the homework after learning new information. We go over the Problem Set page together as a class and they are supposed to bring that home with them to help them remember how to do the problems as well as help parents see how we worked on the problems so that parents can support their child with their math homework.  I give 5 points for each homework and they do add up quickly in the grade book so it is important for practice and for grades to complete and return homework.  I do not grade for correct vs incorrect answers.  We go over the homework in class together the next day to check for understanding and work on any problem areas.
• Reading Calendars:  I am sending home the September calendar so students can record their reading minutes for the month.  They will be due October 2nd and are worth 100 points in the grade book for reading 400+ minutes for the month. If for any reason the calendar gets lost, I can accept a note or email from parents with the number of reading minutes for their child.  I do encourage that the paper itself be turned in at the end of each month to support growing responsibility and accountability for the students whenever possible.  
• IXL homework will be marked with a yellow star and are homework for the nights we do not have paper math homework.  This week students need to complete the 2 starred areas in third grade math on Wednesday.  The link to IXL is on the right side of this blog page and the starred assignments are:
• IXL, In Third Grade Math, under Numbers and Comparing:  
• A.2:  Even or Odd:  Arithmetic Rules.
• A.3. Skip-counting.
• *Students who do their IXL homework will be given 5 points extra credit for completing the starred assignments.   

Grades:  If you would like to look at your child's grades please use the Vision Charter link on the right side of this page and go to Portal.  If you do not have a username and password please call Amy Bowers at 208-455-9220 or email her at amybowers@visioncsd.org so that she can get that information to you.  This is the only place grades are posted.  Please let me know if you have any questions or any problems using Infinite Campus.

Scholastic Book Orders:  I will be sending home book order catalog pages from Scholastic this week.  If you would like to order books online you can use the Scholastic link on the right side of this blog page.  Our class login name is GWNL2.  If you would like to use checks or cash you can send it with your childs' book orders and I will place the order.  Checks are made out to Scholastic not me and one check works for multiple catalog pages.

ORDERS DUE Monday, September 11th. 

 Dates to Remember:

• Friday, September 8th: Spelling test on List #1.
• Monday, September 11th:  Scholastic Book orders due.
• Thursday, October 5th:  Picture Retakes.  Photo packets should be arriving very soon.  If you would like to get your child's picture retaken, the original photo packet will need to be returned on or before October 5th to the teacher.  If you decided to order pictures after seeing the proof, there is a link on the photo page to order.
• Monday, September 11th:  Student Government sponsored skate night at the Rollerdrome from 6-8 pm.
• Tuesday, September 12: Helping your 2^nd - 3^rd grader learn to read well 6-7 p.m. VCS Gym
  Tuesday, September 19: STEM Night 5-7 p.m. come join the fun and learn about drones!
• Monday, October 2nd:  September Reading Calendar due.
• Fall Break is October 9th through 13th,2017.
• November 2nd and 3rd:  Parent Teacher Conferences from 3:30-7:00 pm.  Scheduled with the teacher.

The week of August 28th through 31st, 2017

Spelling:  We are starting with List #1 short and long a.  Here is a list of the words and the students will receive one in class to bring home as well.  The list will go for two weeks and ends with a test on Friday, September 8th.  We will be using Spelling City in the classroom but students can use it from home. The username is just their first name and password is spell3.  The activities on spellingcity.com are just for practice.  

List 1:  short and long a
     mask     track     stamp     stage     grade     they     batch     chance     graph     trade
     raise     eight     safety     wrapped     laugh     ramp     crane     flame   
  Challenge words:  magical     station

Reading:

• We will be doing a variety of reading assessments to find each student's reading level so they will be able to pick books that are in their reading ability as well as books that will be slightly higher to help them increase their reading level.
• We will be using the story, Picture Day Perfection, to look at summarizing and learning to use the Somebody Wanted But So Then as a strategy to use when writing a summary.  We will be using words from the story for vocabulary practice.  We will take a comprehension quiz at the end of the week.
• We will be getting our Language Arts binder set up and adding in a few of our grammar rules. 

Math:

• We will be creating our skip counting ring to help us with skip counting and multiplication. 
• We will start our first few math lessons this week and we will have homework on Monday and Wednesday evening that will be due the following morning.  Students receive 5 points for completing and turning in their homework papers.  These points do add up quickly.  I do not grade them for correct answers but rather for their effort.  We will correct it as a class so that I can check for understanding and we can fix any misunderstanding or struggles with the problems from the math lesson.
• Lesson 1:  Understand equal groups of as multiplication. We will work on seeing the x as a symbol that means equal groups of something. Homework on Monday evening.
• Lesson 2:  Relate multiplication to the array model.  We will look at drawing a uniform set of objects to visually represent equal groups of in multiplication.  Homework for this lesson will be on Wednesday evening.

Art:

     The artist focus for August is Joan Miro(1893 to 1983), he was a painter, sculptor and ceramist from Barcelona, Spain.  

Character Focus:  Trustworthiness- the ability to be relied on as honest or truthful.

Snack:  We don't eat lunch until 1:00 pm so I am encouraging everyone to bring a snack for our morning snack break at 10:30 am. 

Homework:

• Practice writing spelling words from List #1. Test on Friday, Sept. 8th.
• Math homework on Monday, due Tuesday morning.
• Math homework on Wednesday, due Thursday morning.
• We will start reading calendars in September.  We will send a calendar paper home with your child on Thursday, August 31st.  It is for a grade and is worth 100 points.  

Dates to remember:

•  NO SCHOOL on Friday, September 1st, 2017.
• NO SCHOOL on Monday, September 4th, 2017.

Wednesday, August 16th, 2017

2 Days until Meet the Teacher!!!! Please visit us in our new classrooms on Friday, August 18th from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm!  

• Our class is at the very end of the elementary hall, Room 121.  We are straight across from the restrooms, drinking fountain, Music room and new playground!! 
• Please bring your school supplies with you so you can put your things away in your desk!
• Parents, hopefully you received my packet of school papers.  I wanted to give you time to fill them out without the excitement and activity going on at school Friday afternoon.  I will have bins for you to turn them in.   I also included at the bottom of the letter, the items that need to have the child's name written on it.  The rest is community supplies, such as loose leaf paper, dry erase markers, erasers and pencils.  
• First day of school is Tuesday, August 22nd.
• The first day of school is also Picture Day through Lifetouch.  If you would like to prepay for your package you can go to Lifetouch.com and use the Vision Charter School code:  ID117783Y0.  August 22, 2017.
• Please visit our website to find helpful information, supply lists and school calendars.  There is a link on the right side of the screen.

I am so excited to see all of my new third graders!! It is going to be a fantastic year because we will work together to prepare for fourth grade and have fun with each other!!  See you soon!  

The week of May 22nd through May 26th, 2017  LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL

• Everyone finished their Story Bag project and we are all done with work for grades. 
• May Reading Calendars are due Monday, May 22nd.  It was just for two weeks so 200 minutes are required. If you do not have the calendar paper you can send a note or email me.
• If your child has not turned in their April Reading Calendar, please have your child bring that in or email me with their reading minutes so I can update their grade in Reading.  

➤ THIS WEEK:
          ➦Monday is Game Day!  Students can bring in board games, card games and dice games to play with their classmates tomorrow!! May Reading Calendars due.
          ➦Tuesday is Science Fair Day!  Students need to bring in their Science Fair Projects to share with the class.  This is for a science grade.Students may take Science Fair projects home with them that evening.
          ➦Wednesday is Field Day!  From 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Kindergarten through 3rd grade will enjoy Field Day activities outside.  Strongly recommend that students bring hats, sunscreen and a water bottle.  We have one volunteer to go with our class but would love to get at least one more person.  If you would be willing to help our class go through the Field Day activities please let me know. 
          ➦Thursday is the last day of school! We have an early release that day at 1:45 pm. Students will eat lunch that day, picnic style outside. Hot lunch students will get their lunch and bring it outside to eat with the class. Report cards and next year's class supply list will be sent home with students on the last day.  


SCIENCE FAIR/MATH CARNIVAL FRIDAY, MAY 23^rd TH 3:30-6PM

Classrooms will be open from 3:30-5:00 p.m. to view Science Fair projects.  Everything else will be open from 3:30-6 p.m.  FREE: Math Carnival Games! Bounce House!

BINGO!  $1 per game, $20 for unlimited games.  Prizes and gift cards for winners!

Carnival Rides, Chrome Book Raffle Tickets,  and Face Painting - $1 each

Sno Cone Shack will be open from 3:30-6 p.m.

The Class of 2018 will be offering a hot dog/chili dog meal during Science Night for $5/meal.  They will be serving Costco dogs and homemade chili with a small bag of chips and drink choice.

ROCK BAND will be performing near the basketball court from 5-6pm!

Note from your child's teacher:

     I can't believe we are in our last week of school for this year!  It has gone by so fast!  I have truly been blessed with such a wonderful class and have enjoyed their personalities and hearts and am proud of how hard they worked this year!  I hope everyone has a wonderful summer and we will all see each other again in our new building in August!!