Thank You, Thank You, and Please

Thank you parents for making October such a success!  Between the witches, the Halloween Party, and Volunteering in the Classroom, we couldn’t ask for better parents and help. 

GREAT NEWS!!!!!! Third Grade won the Box Tops for the first quarter! We won 3 large bags of PE Equipment and a Dress Down Day.  We will have our free dress down day on Friday, November 6th.  Your 3rd grader may dress down, for free!!!!!

In thinking about the things we have coming up, I have a couple of things I need to start thinking about and collecting.  Each student will need a Cool Whip lid by the end of November.  The Western Family Whipped Topping lids WILL NOT work.  I have found that grandparents and elderly neighbors are great places to find an extra lid or 2, or 7 sometimes.  I will take as many as we can get.  As you plan for family gatherings, dinners, etc., please include a recipe or two with Cool Whip in it.  I have not found a substitute for the Cool Whip lids, so please help us in this collection process.

Lead for Mechanical Pencils:  The mechanical pencils have really been successful in our classroom.  I can’t believe the time that has been saved by not having to have a ton of people lined up at the pencil sharpener waiting to sharpen pencils.  The problem is, we are in need of .7 and .9 lead refills.  If you are able to donate lead to our class, we would be so appreciative.  Also, as you look at ideas for December gifts, please consider having your student ask for mechanical pencils, lead, colored pencils (ours are starting to get a little short),  and flash cards for multiplication.

Homework:

Math: Prodigygame.com    This is a great way to practice what we have been doing in class and needs to be used 3 times a week, for at least 15 minutes each time.  This is a great review of what we are doing in class as I assign the problems that your child works on.  We have also been playing PIG and if you would like to substitute any night of  Prodigy for Pig, please feel free to.  There are 30 points given each week for Prodigy and/or Pig.  The rules for Pig can be found here: PIG
We will be learning new card games, dice games, and other types of games you will be able to play for homework the next few weeks.  These games will be multiplication games.  Yep, we will be starting multiplication this week!

Reading: 20 minutes at least 5 times a week.  It is imperative that your child is participating in reading practice at home.  Studies have shown that the more words a child read, the better their achievement is in all other areas.  We will be starting book talks where the students talk about what they read the night before.  Not only are they given homework points for reading, but they are also given presentation points for being able to stand up and talk about what they read the night before. Reading is worth 100 points each week. I will be choosing our book talks from the Padlet Entries here:

Book Check In

Sorts are assigned on Monday, so this sort should be the regular sort, allowing you to see what the focus for the week is and should be written after sorting.  Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, you get to choose the sorts.  I have told the students that if they choose the speed sort, to save it for a “busy” night as it does not need to be written.   If you have questions, please don’t be afraid to e-mail me.  Sorts are worth 40 points every week.

When we test on Friday, I choose words with the pattern we have learned throughout the week.  I do not always choose words that were in the sort as we are looking for the use of pattern and their ability to use it in any word with that pattern.

BYU: Sort 8
Utah State: Sort 25
U of U: Sort 36
Weber State: Sort 42

Have a great week! Here’s a peek at just a little of our October:

Click Here to see the Video