Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Friday, families! We had a great week here in Room 12, and I am so very proud of our students. Today was a long day of Ipad testing, but Ms. Hux led the students through Math and Reading so they would have the most normal day possible. We are thankful for her help! Ipad testing will continue through September 25. Our class discussed the need to work as a team during this time so students can learn and teachers can test. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can return to normal days! :-)

Today Mr. Scott Rigsby came to kick off our "Olweus Anti-Bullying Program." We learned about his story and how he has inspired others to believe in themselves. Students also pledged to include others, not bully, and help people who need it. Oakwood is a great place to be!

Progress Reports and BOG scores went home today! Please review the information with your child so we can help them succeed. Feel free to contact me if you have questions or concerns. :-) As soon as Ipad testing is finished, we will schedule parent-teacher conferences to review all the data in person.

Newspapers: If anyone has old newspapers or circulars at home, we will gladly take them off your hands! We are collecting lots of newspaper for an art project in 2 weeks. Thank you!

Coming Up:

• Monday Sept. 22: Iowa Test of Basic Skills for RIF participants
• Thursday Sept. 25: "MClass" testing window closes
• Friday Sept. 26: No school! (Teacher Work Day)
• Sept. 29-Oct. 3: Visiting artist Sigrid Hice visits our class every day this week!

BEST DAY EVER!

I'd like to take a few minutes to brag on our wonderful class! We have dutifully plugged away for four weeks, practicing procedures, group work, routines and more, and today it all came together. We have discussed how amazing things can happen when everyone tries their best at the same time. Each day we grow into more of a team, and today was the best! We saw attentive listeners and active participation in whole group lessons and great teamwork in centers. These may sound like small victories, but every achievement is worth celebrating. :-) Thank you for your support as we continue to build our classroom family. Our team spirit is directly tied to the success of our learning environment, and every effort counts. Yahoo!

To celebrate Constitution Day (and the national anthem's birthday,) we had lots of patriotic activities! To play our "Freeville" game from Social Studies, click the link below. You will also find the Scholastic News resource. Happy learning!

http://constitutioncenter.org/billofrightsgame/
http://sni.scholastic.com/SN3/09_15_14_SN3

Field Trip Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! For today's Field Trip Tuesday, visit the link below. Remember to log in with your Username and Password! Please raise your hand if you have a question. :-)

http://www.mobymax.com/signin 

Centers, Testing and Tickets- Oh my!

Happy Friday, everyone! We have officially survived our third week of third grade. I am so proud of the growth I see in our students, both individually and as a class. Every day is better than the day before. Our listening skills, ability to follow directions, and behaviors in hallways and bathrooms continues to improve and I thank everyone for the time and energy they are devoting to this. It matters!

Successes this week include;

• Conquering the BOG Test on Tuesday, and having a successful learning day that afternoon.
• Running our first week of literacy centers (See pictures below)
• Earning several "whole class" compliments in the hallway
• Making it to Habit #5 in our "7 Habits of Happy Kids" series
• Sorting landforms and water features based on their characteristics
• ...and so much more! 

Please remember that we continue our MClass Literacy tests ("Ipad" testing) for the next two weeks. It is very important that your child is at school and on time so they do not get behind! Thank you for your support as we knock this out as quickly as we can. :-)

Enjoy our pictures below, and have a very happy weekend! 

The Adventure Continues

Happy Friday, everyone! We have successfully made it through the second week of school, and I am so proud of our third graders. We continue to practice routines and procedures, and grow a little more each day. This week's adventures include:

• Place value to the thousand's place
• Numbers in word form and expanded form
• Introducing our Spelling Center in Literacy
• Different types of land forms 
• Google Maps "World Tour" of famous land forms around the globe
• Continued discussion of our "7 Habits of Happy Kids" by Stephen Covey. We are up to Habit #3!
• Our first spelling test!

In other highlights, we discussed the BOG that students will take Tuesday September 9. (Next week) We used a practice activity to learn what the test will look like and feel like, in hopes that everyone will feel more comfortable on test day. From bubbling answers to using the text to help us, we covered it all! 

Please also remember that our MClass testing window is now open. Students may know this as "iPad testing." :-) It is very important that students are well-rested and in attendance each day so teachers can complete testing by September 25. There are several different literacy assessments to take, and we want everyone to try their very best! 

Have a happy, restful weekend!!