Nice Job on your Dogzilla Sequels!!

This is a picture of a camping moon I took at the campsite where we go camping every year.

Housekeeping for the week:
Monday, January 13, 2014: AR Store by the PTA
Monday, January 13, 2014: PLC Early Release
Thursday, January 15, 2014: Active Recess with Mr. Rodel
Thursday, January 16, 2014: Third Grade IRI
Friday, January 16, 2014: Third Grade auction for room #1
Friday, January 17, 2014: Awards Assembly at 2:15 pm

English Language Arts:
The story this week is The Mysterious Giant of Barletta by Tomie de Paola. These are some of the things we will be working on this week:

• Transition sentences to let the reader know what is coming next.
• PowerPoint presentations including: Title Page, characters, setting, problem, solution, and theme.
• Simple summaries of a short story.

Please study the spelling list you brought home this week. The spelling test will be given on Friday.

Math:

We are coming to the end of our multiplication and division unit. This week we will be working on multiplication and division of 7's and 8's. After the multiplication/division unit is completed we still want to practice multiplication. It is an essential skill which needs to be mastered by the 4th grade. We will be giving weekly timed multiplication quizzes. Our goal is to earn a cookie party at the end of the semester. The goal is to pass off multiplication fact families and earn a cookie and frosting and toppings at the end of the year. We really want the students to learn and earn!!!

Social Studies/Science:

Room #1 will finish up our studies of Earth's Natural Resources and Earth's Atmosphere. We will also begin our review of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We will have learning activities on Dr. King as we learn about him, his life and his accomplishments.

THERE WILL BE NO SWITCH GROUPS FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS DUE TO THE IDAHO READING INDICATOR AND OUR PARAPROFESSIONALS BEING PULLED IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS TO DO OUR END OF THE SEMESTER TESTING THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SCHOOL.

Read the passage below:

Give 3 examples from the story why it is difficult to be a pioneer.

Pioneer Diary Historical Fiction 

 

 It has been a long, hard day. I’m tired of being a pioneer. We walked for 

miles. The wagon was so full that only one could ride in it. My wife is having a 

baby soon. We have a long trip to make. So I tell her she should ride in the wagon. 

On days when the trip is hard, I am sorry we started. But she says, “Keep going. 

We will be glad to get to our new home.” She is very brave. I know she will be a 

good mother. 

 

 Then, just when we got to the place to camp, we got a scare. There was a big 

bear. It came out of the woods. It was hungry. I was afraid. The wagon leader 

threw a loaf of bread near it. The bear turned. Then he shot at it. He missed, but 

it ran away. 

 

 We were glad the danger was over. But the leader said, “No, we have to keep 

moving. Another bear will be behind this one.” 

 

 So we got back on the trail. We were so tired. Mrs. Jackson said to me, “I 

think the leader is not good. My husband would be a better leader. We should 

change leaders.” 

 

 Everyone was tired. But they knew the leader would take us to safety. Then 

we got to the bottom of the hill. There was an open space. There was a river. The 

wagon leader said, “This is it, let’s stop here.” 

 

 We were fine until one of the Jackson children jumped in the river. He 

started to be carried downstream. I rushed in to get him. He was crying when I 

brought him out. But then he smiled and thanked me. 

 

 We were worried about the river, so we told children to stay out of it. “It is 

dangerous,” I said. You can get water in a bucket. But do not go in the water. We 

want you to stay safe. 

 

 Mrs. Jackson came by to talk more. I thought she would come to thank me. 

But, no. She said, “My husband should be leader.” 

 

 My wife said, “That’s just envy. We have a good leader. We are safe. He had 

done this trip five times before. He knows what to do. You should mind your 

children.” My wife is wise. Mrs. Jackson should listen to her. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

It has been a wonderful and relaxing break for the past two weeks. We hope everybody had a great Christmas and New Year. We begin our mid-year push as we zoom on through to the Spring Break in March. Here are some important dates coming up this week:

Monday, January 6th: Early Release/PLC
Thursday
Thursday, January 9th: End of AR Goal deadline.
Friday, January 10th: End of Term, please see student progress reports on-line.
Friday, January 10th: AR Party (Matilda is the theme. Please bring board games!)
Friday, January 17th: Class Auction



English/Language Arts:
The story this week is Raising Dragons. A spelling list will be sent home on Monday, January 6th. Homework will also be sent home on Monday. The spelling test will be on Friday as usual, and the Homework will be due this coming Friday.
Before the Christmas break, the students wrote a fantasy sequel to the story Dogzilla. We are in the process of typing them into a word document. After the stories are completed, the students will make a 5 to 6 slide PowerPoint of their story identifying characters, setting, problem, solution, and theme.

Math:
Multiplication/Division....Multiplication/Division....Multiplication/Division. This has been a long unit of study for the students. These are the multiplication facts we have studied to this point: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10. Keep practicing!!! next we will be learning 6, 7, and 8's. Remember....Multiplication is repeated addition and division is repeated subtraction!!!

Science:
We have done a couple of fun science experiments in class as we have learned about solids, liquids, and gases. Next, we will learn about Earth's resources and why it is important for us to help protect the Earth.

Question of the week:
Write a word problem for 81/9 (81 divided by 9). Don't forget to solve the problem after you write it!!

SNOW BEAUTIFUL SNOW!!

This is my son, Ryan on one of our family ski days!! We love the snow, even when we have to shovel it!! This was a couple of years ago.

Housekeeping:
Monday, December 9, 2013: Early Release/PLC
Tuesday, December 17, 2013: Christmas Program rehearsal
Wednesday, December 18, 2013: Christmas Program performance at 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM
Thursday, December 19, 2013: Christmas Program performance at 9:30 AM
Friday, December 20, 2013: Class Christmas Party at 12:30 PM

English Language Arts:

Our story this week is Dogzilla by Dav Pilkey. Many of our writing activities for the next couple of weeks will be based on this story. It certainly is a winner. The students each year consistently choose this story as one of their favorites. These are some of the activities we have planned with this story over the next few weeks:
*Read Story several times
*Use a story organizer to write a sequel to the story. The story will need characters, setting, problem, solution, and a theme. The students will write their story and then use the keyboard to type it. Then the students will create a PowerPoint presentation with a minimum of 5 slides. The slides will talk about the characters, the setting, the problem, the solution and the theme. We will save the Powerpoint to their "H" drive so they will have it at school. This is a great project for the kids and gives them a lot of new technology experience.

Spelling List:
Please study the words sent home this week in the Friday Folder that go with the story of the week.

Math:
Multiplication, Multiplication, Multiplication!!! We have covered these multiplication factors:
The Ones
The Twos
The Fives
The Nines
The Tens

These are the easier multiplication facts we have been learning. Here are some strategies for multiplication:

• Understanding that multiplication is repeated addition
• Using circles and stars
• Making sets
• Using arrays to figure out the problem
• Using the hand trick for nines
• Memorizing!!    Memorizing does not do any good unless the students understand that multiplication is repeated addition

Science:

Last week we started our new Science Unit. The Unit focuses on Matter, Forces, and Energy. We will continue working on this Unit for several weeks.

Technology:

The Ellis third grade team recently received a full classroom set of laptops to help with the keyboarding requirement. Last week we were able to do a fun Science web quest about solids, liquids and gases. The city key communicators (business men and women from Chubbuck and Pocatello), will be in our classroom on Wednesday to observe how we are utilizing the technology at our school. Our classroom is one of the featured rooms!!

Question of the week:

Draw or illustrate the problem to solve.

Dominic has a bookshelf with four shelves. Each shelf holds 9 books. How many books does Dominic have. Please write a multiplication equation for the problem.

Dominic has 6 friends. He wants to give each friend an equal amount of books from his collection of 36 books. How many books will each friend get? Please write a division equation to show this problem.

Happy Thanksgiving this Week!!

I am thankful for this beautiful spot in Island Park, Idaho where I travel every year to camp, hike, and explore.

For the next two days, we are doing a brief story of my "all time favorite" short story from our reading anthology. The story is Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. I love this story because it could really happen and sometimes people have wonderful ideas in the world which make our world a better place.

Housekeeping:
Monday, November 25, 2013: PLC Early Release
Tuesday, November 26, 2013: Student Council will come in and explain the Ellis Food Drive to all Ellis students.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: HAPPY THANKSGIVING BREAK!! Enjoy your time with your family and friends!!
Monday, December 2, 2013: Ellis Food Drive begins. Each day will have a food theme. Please look at next week's BLOG to know the food theme for each day.

English Language Arts:
The story of the week is Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. It is a really great story, but unfortunately we only get to spend two days on it. As always, we will have a short writing project to go along with our reading.

This week, there is no spelling test and no Homework. Please continue having your child read throughout the Thanksgiving Holiday. The AR Goals have been set and they are a lot more rigorous for this next grading period. You should have found an informational sheet concerning AR testing in your child's Friday Folder. The sheet explains how to sign up to get instant emails each time your child takes an AR test. This way you can monitor your child's progress and their AR goal.

Science:
We wrapped up our Native American Unit. The students had a wonderful time at the AR party forming clay pots, weaving, and eating Indian Fry Bread. The clay pots have been taken to ISU to fire in their pottery kiln. They should be ready for distribution shortly before the Christmas break.   Our next unit of instruction will be matter and energy. There are some fun leaning experiments and we will be doing several in class. The science experiments include writing, investigation, and results. As we encourage writing as part of Idaho Core Standards, we try to integrate it into all aspects of our curriculum.

Math:
Multiplication and more Multiplication. We have worked on the meaning of division. This can be a difficult idea to grasp. The students do not have to master division in third grade, but they have to be very familiar with how division is related to multiplication. So far we have covered these multiplication families:
Multiplication by 2
Multiplication by 5
Multiplication by 10

This week we will cover multiplication by 1 and multiplication by 0 and continue to reinforce the concept of division and how it is related to multiplication.

Question of the Week:
Mrs. Shore had a lot of company for Thanksgiving dinner. She had to borrow tables from her neighbors to seat all of her guests. She had to borrow 6 tables. Each table could seat 8 guests. How many guests did Mrs. Shore have at her Thanksgiving dinner?

Write the multiplication equation 3 different ways.
Use the product (answer when you multiply), to create a division problem using the same numbers. Please write the division problem 3 different ways. I have showed you how to do this in class several times.

Mrs. Shore and I wish you a very safe and happy Thanksgiving Holiday!!

Third Six Weeks Start Today!!!

I call this Jurassic Park Rock. It is a rock we pass every way on our way to our summer camping spot. It looks just like a dinosaur head. I take a picture of it every year!!

HOUSEKEEPING:
Monday, November 18, 2013: New AR Goals start today!!
Monday, November 18, 2013: PLC/Early Release
Monday, November 18, 2013: Grades Available
Tuesday, November 19, 2013: Observation by Syringa Elementary Third Grade
Wednesday, November 20, 2013: Culmination of Native American Unit
Thursday, November 21, 2013: Observation by Lewis and Clark Elementary
Thursday, November 21, 2013: Active Recess with Mr. Rodel
Thursday, November 21, 2013: Ellis Family Math Night (6:00 pm)

English Language Arts:
The story of the week is called "Dancing Rainbows". It ties in perfect with our Native American Unit. It is a true story about a Pueblo Indian boy who lives with his grandparents. The little boy loves to dance traditional Pueblo dances. There are many reasons he dances. We will be writing a summary paragraph of the story on Tuesday. The students will need to be able to describe the setting, the main character, the problem, and the solution.

Please study the spelling words sent home in the Friday Folder.

MATH:
Hooray for Multiplication. Thus far, we have taught the students that multiplication is repeated addition. We have given them four strategies in understanding this concept:
1) repeated addition on a number line to represent a multiplication equation
2) repeated addition in number sets to represent multiplication equations
3) repeated addition in an array to represent multiplication equations
4) repeated addition with an illustration to represent multiplication equations

They are familiar with multiplying by 2's because 2 times a number means add that number twice!!

Social Studies:
This is our last week of our Native American study. This week we will learn about the Native Americans from the Northwest. We will have our culminating activity on Wednesday, November 20, 2013. The activities will include:
1) Clay Pots
2) Weaving
3) Native American activity book
4) Fry Bread and video on clay pots and piki bread

Question of the week:
Mrs. Shore gave Ben 18 markers. Ben had three boxes. Mrs. Shore told Ben he had to put an equal number of markers in each box. How would you do this? Could you explain your process to the teacher? Could you show what you did in some type of multiplication or division equation?

Paddle on into November!!

Housekeeping:
Monday, November 11, 2013: Veteran's Day Assembly
Monday, November 11, 2013: Early Release/PLC
Thursday, November 14, 2013:Second Six Weeks ends. AR goal is due.
Friday, November 15, 2013: Record Day....no school
Wednesday, November 20, 2013: Native Culminating Activity: Weaving, clay pots, Fry Bread
Friday, November 22, 2013: AR PARTY (George's Marvelous Medicine Party)

Language Arts:
Please come and look at our HERO paragraphs out in the hallway. We just got them up in time for the Veteran's Day assembly. The students did a great job with their four paragraphs. They are developing into nice little writers!!

This week our story of the week is called Grandma's Records. It is another story of a fine family tradition and the relationship a grandma has with her grandson. Please see the Spelling List in the Friday folder for  the words. Also, the weekly Spelling Test will be given on Thursday instead of Friday because of Record Day. Room #1 will also visit the Library briefly on Thursday to check out new books or renew old one. The new AR goals will take begin on Monday, November 18, 2013. It has been a great 6-week period full of opinion writing and comparing and contrasting.

Math:
Multiplication rocks!! Last week we introduced multiplication as repeated addition. We have been working on concepts of adding as groups, using a number line of repeated numbers, drawing a picture of sets, or forming a multiplication array. We will be using these strategies for the next several weeks as we learn multiplication through 10 x 10. Remember, there are three symbols we use to show multiplication. They are the multiplication dot between the two multipliers, the multiplication x between the two multipliers, and the multiplication asterisk (*) between the two multipliers. As we become more familiar with the process of multiplication and get lots of practice, we will then start to introduce division because they are related.

Social Studies:
We just completed our study of Native American people from the past who lived in the:

• Deserts
• Grasslands
• Forests

This week we will go into a deeper study of the Nez Perce Indians, and the Pueblo Indians. We will have a culminating activity on Wednesday, November 20, 2013 where the students will have the opportunity to make clay pots, continue with their weaving projects and sample Indian Fry Bread.

Question of the week:

Blaykley has several sets of crayon boxes. She has been collecting them all summer. Each box of crayons contains 8 different crayons. If she has 9 boxes, how many crayons does she have altogether? Write 3 different multiplication problems using the three different multiplication symbols. Don't forget to include your answer!! This is worth 1 token. For an extra token, draw me a picture to illustrate the story problem.

Have a GREAT WEEK!!

Happy November and Thanks for Visiting the Haunted Garage!

This is a picture of Niagra Falls by New York State. They are lovely falls with huge amounts of water from the Great Lakes pouring over the rim. We were able to go right down to the base of the falls on a touring boat. My picture is a bit fuzzy because of all the mist coming off of the water. Speaking of "bases", the blog post or handed in post of the week has to do with baseball.....Here it goes!!

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

If David Ortiz, from the Boston Red Sox, got up to bat 4 times in 7 World Series games, how many times did he get up to bat? (by the way, that guy is amazing and I don't even like the Red Sox!!) Write a multiplication problem using the information. Then write your own multiplication word problem using the numbers 5 and 6. We haven't started multiplication yet, but it will start in 1 week. Remember....Multiplication is just repeated addition!! The post attempt is worth 2 green tokens!!

Housekeeping:
Monday, November 4, 2013: PLC Early Release
Wednesday, November 6, 2013: PE. Wear some good shoes for active participation.
Thursday, November 7, 2013: Active Recess with Mr. Rodel. Starts at 9:45 at the first recess.
Friday, November 8, 2013: Money due for Class "Adventure" Book
Thursday, November 14, 2013: End of the First Trimester
Thursday, November 14, 2013: AR Reading goal due.
Friday, November 15, 2013: No School. Record Day

Language Arts:
We are SO PROUD of our third grade. They have been writing some amazing opinion pieces about:
Heroes
Muffins
Cereal
2 stories by the same author
Favorite Halloween Monster

This is more opinion writing than we have ever done before. We have a few more left to write. I an honestly say that these kiddos have been doing a wonderful job with their writing and are getting better and better each time we write. 

This week our story is called: The Talking Cloth by Rhonda Mitchell. It is about a wonderful aunt who travels the whole world collecting interesting items. She displays the items in her home. It is a fun week for the kids to bring and share things they collect. I have a huge collection of piano music (but that is SOOO Boring!!) I bring in a sample of my husband's coin collection. The kids really like that.

SPELLING LIST FOR THE WEEK:
PLEASE SEE THE LIST IN THE FRIDAY FOLDER!!!

MATH!!
On Wednesday of next week, our class will participate in a Math Performance Task. This will be somewhat like what they will see on the Common Core Assessment. It will be a word problem with several Math skills we have been learning and practicing. These are the skills which will be addressed:
Rounding to the nearest 10
Rounding to the nearest 100
Addition within 999
Subtraction within 999
Place value recognition.

Then, we will begin the introduction to Multiplication. Common Core Standards require the students to be fluent in multiplication and division facts through 10 x 10. Hooray for Multiplication!!

Social Studies:
Over the past week, the students have been reading and studying why people move to different areas. Some move for job opportunities. Some move because of recreation, population, and resources. Some move to because of weather and family. We will continue to learn and read about different people and why they choose to live in a variety of different communities.

HAVE A GREAT FIRST WEEK OF NOVEMBER!!