Twas the Week Before Thanksgiving

I can not believe that November is half way over and this is really the last week we have in school.    

I can truly say that your kids  worked hard last week and succeeded in completing 16 centers in 5 days.  I know for some of them this was challenging, but they did it!  I have planned this weeks centers to be rigorous and have changed a few things, hoping to keep them moving, thinking, working and motivated.  We talk every day about time management, how the days centers went, and how they are feeling about their work. 

Writing is a huge factor in 3rd grade curriculum and we are working towards creating a two or three paragraph paper that is cohesive.  We tried having the kids log onto Utah Compose to allow you to help edit their pieces, but it had a lot of glitches and some kids lost their essays (which was beyond frustrating).  With this  in mind, we are going to try an alternative method.  Your student has copied and pasted their Utah Compose “History of Candy Corn” article in their Google Account.  They log onto their account at google.com.  Each child’s user name is first name.lastname@qackids.org.  Their password is their usual password with rams behind it.   They log on daily, so they know how to do this.  Please have them read it to you and feel free to ask them questions.  This helps them know where they have holes and where they can improve their information.

Tuesday will be the last day for our collection of school supplies for the Bottle Hollow Teachers and their classrooms.  Thank you for your generosity!

This week is a Parent Teacher Conference week and I will be doing Conferences on Tuesday.  If you are interested in meeting about your student, please e-mail me at sgoldsberry@questac.org and I’ll arrange a time to meet.  I have 3:35, 4:00, and 4:20 open. 

Please remember that Friday is a short day.  Also, Tuesday is our Library day and we have several who forget their books on a regular basis.  The students often tell me it’s their parents fault, but I ALWAYS tell them it’s not their parents job to make sure they have their books.  Please remind them on Monday night to put their books in their backpacks, but then it’s up to them to carry through.

We are still in need of Cool Whip lids.  These are for their parent gifts for Christmas.  We need 26 more lids in order to make our gifts.  As you plan for Thanksgiving, please watch for the opportunity to obtain a lid.  I also had a student bring me a Western Family lid and they have changed their lids!!!! They will totally work.  In order to make sure a lid will work, please compare it to a Cool Whip Brand lid in the freezer section and make sure they are the same type of lid.

HOMEWORK

Writing:  Edit your Candy Corn piece in Google Classroom.  If we could have this done by Tuesday night, we can finish them in school on Wednesday and Thursday.

Math: We have started Multiplication and Division!  This week we will be working on 2′s, 5′s, and 9′s.  We will review 2, 5, and 9’s multiplication, and introduce division.  We will also learn our 3 x’s.  I have heard that Prodigy has had a few glitches.  I have e-mailed them and they are checking into each case.   They did suggest you go into your internet setting and clear your cookies and cache.  When you play PIG, use multiplication any time a 2, 3, or 5 is rolled and go to 200.  Each night of homework is worth 10 points.

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.   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, please have your child comment when they are ready to share the next day.  They only need to do a book talk once a month, but many of them like to do more:

Book Check In

Spelling:  Due to the activities planned for the week concerning Thanksgiving, we will not be having a formal spelling test or be doing sorts.  We will be talking about how our spelling affects our writing and watching for spelling errors when editing.

Watch for fun pictures and videos of our class working with Dot and Dash on Facebook and the blog.  

Your kids are AMAZING and I love that you have shared them with me!