Ms. Beckstead's 3rd Grade Class

***Over the break I changed the program that manages our class blog subscriptions.  I signed everyone up under the new subscription program.  You should have received an email from Feedburner that required you to activate your subscription.  If you have not activated your subscription, please do so.  If you deleted the email, please re-subscribe to our blog.  Just enter your email address on the right side of the blog in the subscribe box and then check your email for the activation link. 

What’s Happening in Our Class this Week!

• Name badges must be worn at all times during the day.  Please make sure that your child has theirs with them. 
• We will be finishing up our Martin Luther King Jr. unit  this week.  
• In math we are working on MULTIPLICATION!!!  Multiplication is a huge part of third grade and it will require extra practice at home to master multiplication.  Students need to be practicing their multiplication facts at home or they will struggle to pass off  all of their facts.  You can invest in some cheap multiplication flash cards found at the dollar store, or you can print these ones off.  Just print them off, write the answer on the back and start quizzing your child.  Multiplication Flash Cards
• This week we will be working on 10, 11, 9, and 3
• Next week we will be working on 9, 3, 4, and 6
• We will have our Multiplication Madness Party on February 14th. 
•  This week for spelling, we will work on words that have the -oi, -oy, -ow, -ou
  
• Overview for our Language Arts this week – Unit 3 Week 5 Overview
  
• Wednesday – Coding Lab @2:00
• Thursday – Library @ 9:00
• Monday – January 15th – No School
• SAVE THE DATES – Upcoming Field Trips
• Thursday, February 15th – Clark Planetarium
• Tuesday, May 8t – Loveland Living Aquarium

HOMEWORK
Reading
 * Please remember to read every night for at least 20 minutes
Math:
  * Prodigy for every night on Monday and Thursday  for 10-15 minutes.  There is a Prodigy link on the right side bar of our blog.  This week students will be working on creating multiplication sentences from pictures and multiplication properties. 

We are hoping to get some help with an issue we are having at the school regarding missing name badges. As stated in our Handbook, “Everyone is required to wear their name badge to attend class (the name badge must be that of the current school year). Please reinforce having name badges as they create a safer environment at the school. To replace a lost name badge, your child will need to pay $5.00 for a new one. A student without a name badge will be referred to the office to call home. Parents/Guardians will be expected to bring their child’s name badge or pay $5.00 for a replacement. Only then will students be allowed to return to class.” Elementary students are to leave their name badges in their classrooms at the end of the day. Jr. High students are encouraged to leave their name badges in their lockers before leaving. To ensure your child receives a full day’s worth of learning in the classroom, please make sure their name badge is left at school and returned the following day if accidentally taken home. Please note, that you have this week as a grace period to either find your child’s lost name badge or replace it for $5.00. Starting Tuesday, January 16 (one week from today), students who do not have name badges will not be attending class until a new one is purchased or their old one is returned. If parents are working when their children call, they are more than welcome to either pay for a badge using a credit card over the phone or to pay online.

***Over the break I changed the program that manages our class blog subscriptions.  I signed everyone up under the new subscription program.  You should have received an email from Feedburner that required you to activate your subscription.  If you have not activated your subscription, please do so.  If you deleted the email, but have not subscribed, please re-subscribe to our blog.  Just enter your email address on the right side of the blog in the subscribe box. 

What’s Happening in Our Class this Week!

• We will be starting a unit on Martin Luther King this week.  We will be reading about his life and his work.
• In math we are working on MULTIPLICATION!!!  Multiplication is a huge part of third grade and it will require extra practice at home to master multiplication.  Students need to be practicing their multiplication facts at home or they will struggle to pass off  all of their facts.  You can invest in some cheap multiplication flash cards found at the dollar store, or you can print these ones off.  Just print them off, write the answer on the back and start quizzing your child.  Multiplication Flash Cards
• This week we will be working on 10, 11, 9, and 3
• Next week we will be working on 4, 6, 7 and 8
• We will have our Multiplication Madness Party on February 14th. 
•  This week for spelling, we will work on words that have the prefixes – mis, -pre, and -dis
• Overview for our Language Arts this week – Unit 3 Week 4 Overview
  
• Wednesday – Coding Lab @2:00
• Thursday – Library @ 9:00
• Monday – January 15th – No School

HOMEWORK
Reading
 * Please remember to read every night for at least 20 minutes
Math:
  * Prodigy for every night on Monday and Thursday  for 10-15 minutes.  There is a Prodigy link on the right side bar of our blog.  This week students will be working on creating multiplication sentences from pictures and multiplication properties. 

I hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday break!!  I know that I did, but now I am ready to get back to work.  I am excited for the new year!!  Please note that I will not be at school on Wednesday, and there is a good chance that I will not be there Thursday.  Ms. GayLynn will be taking over for me on those days. 
This week we will be reviewing classroom procedures, writing personal and school goals for 2018, and start our multiplication book. We will have STEM on Wednesday and library on Thursday (please remember to bring back library books!!).   
Homework
**Read 20 minutes on Wednesday and Thursday
***Prodigy Game – about 15 minutes Wednesday and Thursday
Please remember that Friday is early out at 1:30.

Just a Few Reminders!!
***Coding Lab – Wednesday from 2:00-3:00
***Library – Thursday 9:00 – Please bring your books to change out before Christmas break.
Winter Break – December 18th-January 2nd
-Please send any dog food for our third grade service project by Monday, December 11th.  See the previous post about this activity.
–CLASS CHRISTMAS PARTY!!  We are having a Grinch Party and a White Elephant gift exchange party, on Friday, December 15th.  Please send a wrapped $1 gift to take part in the activity.  Please do not go out and buy something big and expensive.  Wrap something that another student in our class would want for Christmas.  It can be something gently used from your house or something around the price of $1.00.  Let me know if you can’t provide a wrapped gift for the White Elephant gift exchange and I will have something ready for your child.  For the Grinch Party, the students can dress up in the Grinch theme:  Grinch, Cindy Lou, Grinch T-shirts, etc.  It is a Dollar Dress Down Day, so be creative!  We will also be serving green caramel corn during the Grinch Party while the kids are watching How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  It should be a super fun day!!!  See the previous post for the food permission form. 
What’s Happening in Our Class this Week!!
We are still working on our Holidays Around the World unit where we will be comparing and contrasting different holiday traditions, foods, and decorations.  We will then write about these different holidays.  We have starting writing on the differences between Christmas and Hanukah. 
*We have a crazy week coming up, so we will not have any spelling words. 
* In math we are working on MULTIPLICATION!!!  Multiplication is a huge part of third grade and it will require extra practice at home to master multiplication.  You can invest in some cheap multiplication flash cards found at the dollar store, or you can print these ones off.  Just print them off, write the answer on the back and start quizzing your child.  Multiplication Flash Cards

Reading
 * Please remember to read every night for at least 20 minutes
Math:
  * Prodigy for every night on Monday and Thursday  for 10-15 minutes.  There is a Prodigy link on the right side bar of our blog.  This week students will be working on creating multiplication sentences from pictures and multiplication properties. 

• Early out every Friday at 1:30!!

CLASS CHRISTMAS PARTY!!  We are having a Grinch Party and a White Elephant gift exchange party, on Friday, December 15th.  Please send a wrapped $1 gift to take part in the activity.  Please do not go out and buy something big and expensive.  Wrap something that another student in our class would want for Christmas.  It can be something gently used from your house or something around the price of $1.00.  Let me know if you can’t provide a wrapped gift for the White Elephant gift exchange and I will have something ready for your child.  For the Grinch Party, the students can dress up in the Grinch theme:  Grinch, Cindy Lou, Grinch T-shirts, etc.  It is a Dollar Dress Down Day, so be creative!  We will also be serving green caramel corn during the Grinch Party while the kids are watching How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  It should be a super fun day!!!

Well, it’s that time of year to feel the Christmas Spirit!! For our 3rd grade service project, we have decided to partner with the Shepard’s Bowl Soup Kitchen in Ogden. After speaking with Mrs. Alexander (that works at Quest and The Shepard’s Bowl), they have a need for dog food. A large population of the homeless in the area have dogs. They usually feed them the food that they could eat. So, we want to give these dogs the food that their body needs, instead of the “people food” they are given. Therefore, we would love any donation of bagged (big bags are great) or canned dog food to donate to The Shepard’s Bowl Soup Kitchen to give out for Christmas this year. We will be collecting the dog food until Monday, December 11th. We will start putting the dog food into smaller bags as a grade the last week before Christmas. Thanks so much for everything you do!!!