Christmas Programs this Week!

Due to the overcrowding at the Christmas Program, the Ellis students will be performing at three different times during the week.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009: 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM
Wednesday, December 16, 2009: 9:30 AM

We have been practicing as a third grade team, and the students sound wonderful. Come and enjoy the performance.

Housekeeping:

• Christmas Programs
• Room #1 Christmas Party: Thursday, December 17, 2009
• PLC Day: Monday, December 14, 2009
• Christmas Break (starts this Saturday) Students will be back in school Monday, January 4, 2010
• End of next 6 -week grading period: Friday, January 8, 2010
• HAVE A WONDEFUL HOLIDAY!!

Language Arts:

This week our Incredible Story is a Italian Folktale, written and illustrated by Tomie de Paola.

The story is called: The Incredible Giant of Barletta

The students will be learning about endings -est and -er, verbs (action words) and exact verbs. They did a wonderful job last week on their writing pieces. Thank you so much for working so hard in class.

Spelling List concentrates on the vowel + r sound:

girl clear her turn dark work smart word

hurt serve north third hard tornado morning scurried

Math:

Wow! We are moving right along. The students will interpret data this week to fill in graphs and tables. They will also read for information in order to solve 2-step problems.

Sience:

Our class will wrap up the Unit on energy, light, matter, and motion. This week we will review important concepts, do a Sciene Experiment with liquids and have a quiz on the Promethean Board.

LAST QUESTIONS OF THE YEAR 2009:

What language is spoken the most on our planet? About How many people speak it? What continent is this country on?

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Parents! The weather is getting very cold, especially in the mornings. Please send your children to school with adequate layers in order to keep them warm (gloves, coats, hats, scarfs and boots if necessary). Following is a list of upcoming events for the month of December.

Monday, December 7-11: Penny Wars at Ellis School
Monday, December 14th: PLC Early Release
Christmas Program: Tuesday, December 15th at 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM
Christmas Program: Wednesday, December 16th at 9:30 AM
December 19th -January 3rd: Christmas Break! See you back to school on January 4th, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010: End of the third six-week grading period--AR Goal deadline

LANGUAGE ARTS:
This week is a reading-writing workshop. The students will be making up a story--it can be true of make-believe (fantasy). They will come up with their own characters and be responsible for a beginning, middle, and ending. Their story will have a plot, it will have proper paragraphing, and the students will use spicy adjectives to create a more detailed story. Writing is tough for all of the class when we do it at the same time, but we know our students will do a marvelous job.

Spelling List: Frequently Misspelled Words:
and
said
goes
going
some
something
you
your
friend
school
where
myself
tonight
lying
field
enough

MATH:
Rounding has gone very well for our students this past week. We will conclude our rounding exercises today and move onto reading and completing tables with information, story problems with extra information, story problems with not enough information, and 2-step word problems. Please look for homework to come home this week.

Science:
The students will continue to study the properties of matter and how it can change or remain the same. We will also discuss the concept of gravity and how motion can affect matter.

Question of the Week: If there are 24 hours in one day, how many hours are there in 5 days?

Hope you had a great Holiday!

Welcome back to school! We have three busy weeks before the next Holiday Break. Following is a schedule of the upcoming events:

• AR deadline: January 8, 2010. Please read over the Holidays


• Awards Assembly: Thursday, December 3, 2010 at 9:00 am


• Canned Food Drive November 30th thru December 4th


• Penny War: December 7th thru December 11th


• Monday, December 14, 2009: PLC Early Release Day

The third grade classes are starting a new Theme this week. It is called Incredible Stories. This is one of the students' favorite themes. Our first story is Dogzilla by Dav Pilkey. The spelling list concentrates on the vowel sound in clown and lawn. Following is the list:

clown lawn talk sound cloth would also mouth crown soft count law town small bounce officer

*Skills the students will be working on: Using context to find the correct definition of a word.

Possisive nouns, Apostrophes

Math:

We concluded our brief section on similar and congruent shapes and naming polygons. It only took us one week. The next unit (Unit 5) will cover rounding, multi-step problems, graphs, tables, pictographs and money. We should complete this unit after the Christmas Holidays. Please be on the lookout for homework once to twice a week. It is due the following day for full credit.

Science:

For the next several weeks we will continue working on energy, motion, mass, properties of matter and light. We have done a few experiments in class that would be appropriate to do at home.

Question of the week: According to our classroom experiment, what conducts heat better--wood, metal, or plastic?

Good Morning Third Graders!

Dates to Remember:
Monday, November 23, 2009: PLC day. One hour early release
Wednesday, November 25, 2009: Two Hour early release (Thanksgiving Holiday)
Thursday, Friday, November 26-27: No School Thanksgiving break
Friday, January 8, 2010: End of the Third 6-week grading period

Language Arts:
This is our last week on Theme Two. Our class will be studying "Trickster Tales"--focus on Genre. There are three trickster tales we will focus on:

• Hungry Spider
• Rabbit Races with Turtle
• Aunt Fox and the Fried Fish

Spelling words for the week concentrate with the vowel sound found in "join" and "boy"

join foil

joy voice

boil coil

noise broil

spoil coin

choice boy

soil enjoy

point rejoice

**The test will be given this Wednesday due to the short week.

Math:

Hurray! We finished the unit on addition and subtraction word problems. Next we are off to symmetry. Please don't forget--Math Homework is always due the next day for full credit.

Science:

We started our Science Unit last week. We will learn about the properties and states of matter, motion, and physical and chemical changes.

Have A Great Holiday Weekend and stay safe.
Mrs. Graham and Mrs. Shore

Question of the Week: Give me an example of the three states of matter. You can use normal everyday objects.

NEW READING GOALS START THIS WEEK!

Dates to remember:

• AR Celebration: Friday, November 20, 2009



• Thanksgiving Holiday: Early Release on Wednesday and then a two day break



• Report Cards will be coming home before the break



• Next 6-week grading period ends on January 8, 2010. This includes the Christmas break so make sure you keep on reading!

This week we are concluding Theme 2: Family Traditions.

We will read two stories, Miss Rumphius and Chinese Celebration. The spelling list is quite large and recaps the lists you have had over the last 6 weeks:







speak spread

feel mind

seem might

most lay

both leave

know own

street row

lie wrap

need patch

paint tie

hold wild

float bright

three needle

tomorrow program

kitchen design

Spelling Test Friday, November 20, 2009

MATH

We continue working on addition and subtraction as it is used in word problems. Keep your eye out for homework and keep up the good work.

Social Studies:

We are also approaching the conclusion of our Native American Unit. The students have learned a lot about different Native people who lived long ago and their ways of life.

Question(s) of the Week:

What are the 5 parts of writing a friendly letter?

Where in Idaho do our Pen-Pals live?

Last Week to Reach AR Goal!!

A big thank you to all the parents that helped out with the Field Trip to the ISU Museum and Craft Shop. The students had a great time in both places and we appreciated the help.

This is a picture of a student in our class.The drum she is holding in originally for the country of Ghana, in Africa. We learned about Ghana last week and a special cloth they have their called Adinkra cloth. It was a traditional cloth worn by royalty. Now it is a cloth available to people of all levels of wealth.

This week our story is called Dancing Rainbows. The story tells about a young Native American boy and his family. It tells about the traditions he enjoys as a Native American boy. It tells how important these traditions are to him and his people and the respect he has for the traditions he learns from his ancestors.

The spelling list concentrates on the long i sound spelled in a variety of ways:

wild bright die sight child pie fight lie tight tie might mind find high design delight

MATH

We are cruising in Math. The students just took a test on geometric shapes, lines, and terms. We move into addition and subtraction word problems for the next 2 weeks and then we start angles. A word to the wise. Please don't forget when homework is sent home--it is due the next day. We have had several students forget, and it is having a sad impact on their grades.

Social Studies

Our Study on the Native Peoples will conclude this week with a fun project. The students will begin a weaving project with a color of yarn of their choice. We encourage each student to complete their project in class when they have extra time. If they want to create subsequent weavings, they may take their weaving board home and make more.

Upcoming Events and Notices:

• Homework due the following day for full credit!
• Monday, November 9, PLC Day--1-hour early release.
• Friday, November 13, 2009: End of the 6-week grading period. AR goals will stop today.
• Friday, November 20, 2009: AR Celebration
• Monday, November 16, 2009: Beginning of Third 6-week grading period

Question of the Week: What is the name of the famous groundhog that lives in Pennsylvania?

Happy Halloween You little Cuties!

Dates to Remember:

• Class book sent in on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. If you have not sent in your money, please do before this date.

Remember--Homework is always due the next day for full credit. Please check your child's backpack.

Thursday, November 5, 2009: Class field trip to the ISU Museum and Craft Shop. Cost if $5.00. Money needs to be in this week. The students do not need to take their lunches. We will be back at 11:30 am.

November 13, 2009: Deadline for AR Goal. There are exactly two weeks left. Keep Reading.

Language Arts: This week our reading anthology is the story THE TALKING CLOTH by Rhonda Mitchell. Again, the story tells about family traditions, cultures, and symbols. Some of these stories are more difficult to conceptualize, but the students are doing well with the comprehension.

The spelling list focuses on three cluster consonants.

spring knee throw patch strong wrap three watch street know spread write catch two strength kitchen

Math:

Hurray! What a great job the students did on the end of the Unit Assessment on Addition, Subtraction, and place value. We began a new unit last week which will focus on geometric concepts: perimeter, area, length, width, lines, shapes. This unit is shorter than the first unit. Continue watching for homework. It comes home at least one time each week.

Social Studies:

We started learning about the different Native People who made their living in the desert, forest, and grasslands. This week we will travel to the ISU Museum of Natural History and learn about Native people in our own state of Idaho.

Questions of the week: How do you get a sound out of a percussion instrument?

How do you play a conga drum?

Halloween Week 2009

Are you ready for another great week of learning and thinking? We worked so hard last week on publishing "How to write Instructions", and also publishing our adventure piece for our send away book. Good writing students!!

Language Arts:

This week our anthology reading is Grandma's Records by Eric Valasquez. It is a great story about traditions from another country. It involves music, dancing, and many wonderful memories. I hope you will like it.

The Spelling List concentrates on the long /o/ sound spelled in a variety of ways:

coach

blow

float

hold

sew

though

sold

soap

row

own

both

most

cold

snow

tomorrow

program

Skills to learn include: Dictionary Guide Words, and Proper Capitalization

MATH:

We are almost experts at addition and subtraction, please keep working on those skills at home and don't forget, math homework is always due the following day for full credit. We will be concluding this unit of study within the next week and a half.

Social Studies:

I just love learning about the geography of where people live, why they choose a certain place to live, and what kind of jobs are available in these areas. We continue our study on communities and will learn about the first peoples of our nation in the following weeks.

Dates to Remember:

Monday, October 26, 2009: PLC Early Release Day

Friday, October 30, 2009: Book money due for our class book to be published back East.

Friday, October 30, 2009 (1:00 pm): Halloween Haunts class party. Healthy snacks and spooky games.

Thursday, November 5, 2009 (8:40 am): Class Field Trip to ISU Museum and Craft Shop

November 13, 2009: AR reading deadline. You are doing great!! Keep Reading!!

Question of the Week: Why was it so difficult to build train tracks through California, Nevada, and Utah?

100% at Parent Teacher Conferences!!

Hello fellow students!! It has been a week of much sickness at our school and in our community. If you are not feeling good or have a fever--please stay at home so we can keep the germs at bay. We would like all students to use hand sanitizer before and after using the in-class computers. We are also trying to wipe off desks and tables each day to help keep the germs out of the classroom. Be safe, drink lots of liquids, get plenty of rest and and sneeze into your elbow or a Kleenex.

Language Arts:This week is a Writing Workshop. During our last writing workshop, we wrote about family adventures. These are the stories we will publish in our class books. This week our writing workshop focuses on "Writing Instruction". We will have a mini-lesson on writing instructions on Monday. We will brainstorm ideas on Monday and work on a title and an introduction and the first step of our instructions. On Tuesday we will work on the middle steps of our instructions. On Wednesday we will work on the final step of our instruction and a conclusion to our writing. Thursday we will polish the finished product and also put our Family Adventures onto the nice publishing paper. Please watch for a great quilt project on the Blog next week. Mrs. Shore and the students made a lovely construction paper quilt and tied in into our last week reading anthology: "The Keeping Quilt".

This week our spelling words concentrate on words that are frequently misspelled:

now off for almost also can't cannot about always

today until again

*Challenge Words: February January Saturday Wednesday

Math: All of the third graders are learning a new concept. It is called math mountains. You may have heard this concept before, except we use to call it fact families. The numbers we are using are a lot larger than the basic Math Facts, but they are still related. Continue to watch for homework. It comes home at least once a week; also remember to listen to your child read at home and mark their reading log. Thank you for all of your support.

Social Studies:

The students created a Community Compact for their Memory Books. They titled their illustration "How I Can Be a Great Community Member". You may want to ask them what thoughts they came up with. As we conclude our efforts on Communities, we will begin our Native American Unit where we will learn about several different communities and Native American peoples.

Dates and Special Events:

*November 13, 2009: End of the second six weeks and AR deadline.

*Thursday, November 5, 2009: Class Field Trip to the ISU Museum and Craft Shop.

*Friday, October 30, 2009: Class Halloween Party

Question of the Week: In our story "The Keeping Quilt", what is the edge of the quilt called?

Is That The BFG and SOPHIE?

The AR Celebration was a huge sucess! We made dreams, ate toast with butter, veggies with dip, and drank Frobscottle. Every student in our class was able to attend. The AR deadline for the next 6 weeks is November 13th. You all know your goals for the next 6 weeks. Make sure you use your reading time wisely and Read, Read, Read at home!!

Language Arts: For the next 6 weeks our Language Arts Focus is on "Celebrating Traditions". The first story in the theme is "The Keeping Quilt" by Patricia Pollaco. It is a true story about a quilt that is a family treasure.

Following are the spelling words from this story:

Spelling words with long vowel patterns:

paint

clay

feel

leave

neighbor

eight

seem

speak

paid

lay

need

weigh

clean

play

*needle

*crayon

* (indicates challenge words)

Math:

The students will continue to subtract over zeros. It is a tough concept to learn. We may be practicing for a couple of days before we move on to the next concept. Remember to always check if the top number has enough muscle to subtract the bottom number, otherwise we move to the left and pick up some vitamins.

Social Studies:

Some questions we will address this week as we investigate communities are:

Why is is necessary to have laws in a community?

Who helps to make the laws in a community?

Who are some of the leaders in a community?

Some parents have asked for the recipe for BFG Dreams. It is a basic "slime" recipe:

1 cup of water plus 1 TBS of Borax (stir this mixture until all of the Borax has dissolved).

(Borax can be purchased in the Laundry Detergent section at Smith's Food and Drug)

1/4 cup of white Elmer's glue

1 drop of a food coloring of your choice

Add a little less than 1/4 cup of Borax solution to the white Elmer's glue. I like to put both in a sturdy sandwich bag that zips on the top. Add one drop of food coloring to the mixture. Zip the top of the bag and gently knead the glue and water together. The Borax solution causes a chemical reaction with the glue and turns it into a rubbery substance. Please don't eat! Store in fridge for a longer lasting life. When it gets old and moldy, just make a new batch.

Upcoming Events:

• Class pictures: Thursday, October 15, 2009 (please watch for packets to come home)


• Class Field Trip to the ISU museum and Craft Store. Thursday, November 7, 2009. The bus will leave at 8:40. Cost $5.00, parents are welcome to come with us or meet us there.


• Monday, October 12, 2009: 1-hour early release PLC day


• We will be sending our class book to be published as soon as all of the stories have been rewritten on the publishing paper.


• Next AR deadline: November 13, 2009

Enjoy your weekend!!

Question of the Week: What is the largest and the smallest continent?

New Reading Goals Start this Week!

The next Accelerated Reading Deadline is Friday, November 13, 2009. We have reviewed the reading goals with each of the students. Individual goals have been increased according to the reading level of each student. Each student has agreed upon the goal made for them. We have a reading wall in our classroom. Each week the students can track their progress on the reading wall. Good luck and let the fishy swimming begin. Continue bringing your reading log home each evening so you can track your reading minutes.

Again, this is a short week. Students will attend school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Parent Teacher Conferences will be held Wednesday evening and all day on Thursday. We will still have a spelling test on Wednesday of this week.

Language:
This week in Language, we are concentrating on the Genre of Poetry. The students will be listening to different types of poems; some with rhyming patterns, and some without. The culmination of this genre study will conclude with each student writing and publishing their own poems.

Spelling:(short and long vowel sounds)
stand
rest
plate
clock
white
stuff
spoke
bend
frame
twist
June
mile
when
back
liquid
decide

*Spelling Test this Wednesday!

Math:
Last week we learned and reviewed four subtraction strategies. These strategies are as follows:

• Place Value Drawing
• Expanded form subtraction with "new groups" (regrouping)
• Traditional Method with "new groups"
• Left to Right Subtraction with "new groups"

Please continue watching for math homework to come home. It is due the following day. If the homework is late, 20% of the final grade is deducted daily.

Social Studies:

Our class is studying why and where communities start. The students are also learning what resources are necessary for a community too function.

Upcoming Dates to remember:

Monday, October 5, 2009: Second 6-week grading period begins

Wednesday, October 7, 2009: AR celebration/BFG party

October 8th and 9th: Parent Teacher Conferences

Question of the week?? What is the antonym for "sick"

It's A Short Week!

Following is a schedule for important dates not to forget:

• AR Goal needs to be completed on Wednesday, September 30, 2009. New Goals will begin the following week. We will celebrate our reading goals by having a "Big Friendly Giant" Party complete with the "BFG", Sophie, Dream Making, Snozzcumbers, and Frobscottle.
• Monday, September 28, 2009 is a PLC day. There will be one-hour early release.
• On Tuesday, September 29th, the hearing specialist will be at Ellis to test all children K-3 grade.
• October 1st and 2nd are Professional Inservice Days. No school will be held these days.
• Please confirm your PTC times! Parent Teacher Conferences will begin Wednesday, October 7, 2009.

Language Arts:

This week we will concentrate on all of the skills we have been learning over the past 4 weeks. We will read two stories and compare and contrast them. The stories are: Sybil Ludington's Midnight Ride, and Radio Rescue. Come prepared to wrap up our theme on Adventures.

Even though this is a short week, we will still have a spelling test. The spelling test will be given on Wednesday, September 9, 2009. Following is the list of words:

last cube

mix smile

stick left

lot smell

sock thin

hunt drop

wide shut

grade huge

thick note

send life

class *glance

pond *empty

luck *dusk

drum *slope

save *escape

*=challenge words

Math:

How are those strategies coming in Math? I especially like to draw a picture. It helps me too see the problem. We will continue to revisit addition and subtraction problems and concentrate on place values. Please be on the lookout for homework. Remember, it is always due the following day for full credit.

Physical Education:

The students will be running the half-mile this week. Please have them wear the appropriate shoes and clothes. Our PE day is Wednesday, September 30th.

Social Studies:

We are discussing map skills and the difference between continents, countries, states, and cities. The students made a community last week out of dots. We talked about a make-believe community a group of children made out of boxes and rocks. The make-believe community was called Rox-A-Boxen.

Question of the Week:

What hemispheres do we live in?

Please Finish your Adventure Story for our Published Book!

This week is one of our favorite third grade stories. Each year the students just love it. It is THE LOST AND FOUND by MARK TEAGUE. If the students will listen closely and participate in all of the reading activities, they will do well on the reading test at the conclusion of the week. Get ready for a great lost and found adventure.

Spelling List:

smoke, huge, save, life, wide, mine grade, come, smile, note, cube, love

Please also remind your child that the family adventure was due last week, and we want to get it in as soon as possible so we can get it graded.

Math:

Nice job every student getting your homework page in on Wednesday. We had 100% of all of the students get the homework in. Being responsible is a serious thing and an important quality to learn while you are still young. These grades will help us tremendously in our assessment of your understanding.

This week, we continue to work on place value, addition strategies and subtraction strategies. We will be sending more homework home to complete. Please remember it is due the following day of the assignment.

Science:

We have really enjoyed our unit on space, the movement of the moon, and the influence the moon and the sun have on the earth. We will conclude our unit shortly and move into our first Social Studies unit of study which includes "What makes a Community".

Things to remember:

• Family Adventures are due as soon as possible
• Please continue to watch for Math Homework
• Make sure your student is reading 15-20 minutes each evening and sign their Reading Log
• Parent Teacher Conferences will be held the beginning of October
• Our next PLC day in next Monday (September 28, 2009)

Question of the Week:

What is the difference between a desert and a dessert?

Welcome Back from the Fair!!

Last week we worked on our Personal Narrative stories; An Adventure with my Family. Each student took a copy of their draft home and should work on polishing the piece as a homework assignment. The published work is due on Friday,
September 18, 2009. Thank you for helping your child complete this at home.

Language Arts:
This week in Language Arts our story focus is the Ballad of Mulan. The Chinese Folk Tale concentrates on the courage and boldness of a young heroine who battles in the place of her father. The students will practice making inferences about the literature they are reading, practice reading the selection on the Reading Train, and discuss different possible outcomes towards the end of the story.

Our spelling selection concentrates on the short vowel sounds/o/ and /u/. Following is the spelling list for this week:

• pond
• drop
• luck
• lot
• rub
• does
• drum
• sock
• hunt
• crop
• shut
• run

Math:

The students continue to learn different addition strategies. Some of these are methods they will remember from the second grade, others will be new to them. The third grade teachers will be sending home Math Homework this week. This homework needs to be completed at home and brought back to school the following day. If the students bring the homework in late, percentages will be deducted from their final score. Please bring the homework in the following day. This helps the teachers, the students, and of course the grades.

Science:

The beach buddies in room #1 continue to study familiar objects in space. No, this does not include any unidentified flying objects or Star Wars Space Cruisers. The students will discuss the movement patterns of the moon, different types of eclipses, and seasons.

Dates to Remember:

Monday, September 14, 2009 (1 hour early release for PLC)

Thursday, September 17, 2009 (Constitution Day) Our class is going to learn the Constitution Song from School House Rock

Thank you to all if the Grandparents who attended our Grandparent's Day this past Friday. Our class enjoyed singing songs with you and meeting many new adults. We appreciate your interest in our classroom and school.

Questions of the Week:

What is the largest bird?

What is the smallest bird?

Name a bird that can't fly.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK---MRS. GRAHAM AND MRS. SHORE

We just had a Holiday!

What a busy weekend. There were football games to watch or attend, marathons to run and fair entertainment to listen too. We tried to do them all!

Language Arts:
This week the students will be learning about the writing process. Our class always does a class "Family Adventures" book that we send off back East to be published. The book will have your child's story and picture in it. It is a wonderful family gift and special memory book. We will begin our stories this week. Be looking for a final draft to come home so you may help with polishing and publishing. We will focus on:

• great beginnings
• juicy color words
• complete sentences with proper punctuation
• details
• neatness and organization

Spelling List:

have

haven't found

around

one

than

then

them

before

because

other

mother

cousin

everybody

guess

Math:

Look for some math homework to be coming home periodically. It will be in a folder. This homework will be graded when it is brought back and averaged in with classroom scores. We continue to learn about place value and how it ties in with addition. We love having so much hand's on practice in the classroom. The dry erase markers have come in handy.

Science:

The students continue to learn about space, the sun, our moon and the role each plays and how they effect each other. We have been able to do some fun learning activities and view some wonderful video footage on our class Promethean Board.

Question of the Week??

Give me an example of five different antonyms. GOOD LUCK

Check off Week One!

We had an assembly on Thursday morning and our principal was able to welcome us back to school. We sang our "Ellis Falcon" school song and pledged allegiance to the flag. The third graders were able to attend the assembly with the upper grades to cut back on crowding in the lower grades. It was the quietest assembly we have ever been to. The students used their best manners and remembered the assembly rules we discussed at the beginning of the week.

This week Mrs. Graham will be at school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and come in on Friday to do music. Mrs. Shore will come in on Thursday and Friday. We are looking forward to a great week.

This week in review:

The third grade will start the IRI (Idaho Reading Indicator) on Monday Morning. Our school officiators have worked out a very fabulous system and little instructional time is lost.

Literature:
This week we will focus on the story Cliff Hanger by Jean Craighead George. It is about a boy trying to rescue his dog who is stranded way up on a high mountain ledge. We will be concentrating on the targeted skill Cause and Effect.

This week Reading Folders come home on Monday. We will be explaining the expectations of the reading folders and track individual commitment each day. We would like your child to read a book within their level for a minimum of 20 minutes each day. The parent(s) or guardian(s) will be asked to sign the reading folders each night and send it back with your student each day. This reading assignment will be included in their reading grade. Try for 100%--it is an impressive goal.

Spelling (short vowel sounds)
mix
milk
smell
last
head
friend
class
left
thick
send
thin
stick
test
dish
empty
glance

Math:
Students will focus on place values up to the ten thousands. Students will use drawings and code cards to create numbers and identify ones, tens, hundreds, thousands. Remember, if you don't have one of these groups in the problem--USE A PLACE HOLDER!

Science:
Our class is learning about the moon, the earth's atmosphere, how the moon influences the earth's tidal patterns, and the importance of the sun. We will be doing a few experiments in class this week. Come prepared to learn and participate.

Surf's Up Third Graders!

Welcome back to school third graders! How exciting for you to start your year off as a third grade Beach Buddy. We are anticipating getting reacquainted with you and are hoping to have a fabulous year. We hope you are ready for a great year of learning.

During our first week back, we will focus on our classroom expectations for behavior, classroom procedures, school rules, rewards, and consequences. We want all of our students to take responsibility for their learning and have great attitudes. A good attitude helps improve the atmosphere of the classroom as well your outlook on learning. Keep smiling and stay positive.

Literature:

The students will be listening to a back-to-school story called "The Rule". This story is a great introduction to following rules and introducing the reading strategies we will focus on throughout the year.

Math:

Our district is implementing a new math series this year. It is called Math Expressions.We as teachers will be adjusting to the new program. There is a lot of large group, partnering, and small group activities to help cement the concepts. The students will be working on individual white boards and you will see homework coming home approximately twice a week. The teachers in the District that piloted the program last year had a lot of success. Each student has an individual workbook for daily assignments. We are excited to start this new program.

Science:

For the next 5 weeks, we will be learning about the moon and its relationship to earth. We will cover eclipses, meteors, seasons, tides, and the characteristics of the moon.

Important Dates to Remember:

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT AT ELLIS ELEMENTARY (6:00 PM),

Monday, August 31, 2009 Beginning of the Fall IRI testing window. We will be sending the scores home.

If you are interested in volunteering in the classroom, feel free to come and visit with us. We love volunteers and look forward to meeting the parent(s) of our wonderful students.

What a talented bunch of third graders!

The talent show was great; we had about 16 kids participate. We had dancers, magicians, rock collectors, singers, pianists, and gymnasts. Thank you for participating. We look forward to seeing all the combined talents this coming Thursday in the school cafeteria.

Our first annual "Technology" Night was a big hit. About 15 students came over with their parents. Each student showed their parents a slide show they have been working on over the past six weeks. The slide show was informational, telling the parents about what their third grade student has been doing this year and what he/she enjoys doing.

The final Magic Tree House book we will work on this week is called "Tonight on the Titanic". Did you know one remaining survivor is still alive today from that fatal night almost 100 years ago? She was only 2 months old the time she took the voyage. She was the youngest passenger on board. The students will be learning about the Titanic and her maiden voyage from South Hampton to New York. I know I have much to learn.

We will continue to work on scenery for our "Great Kapok Tree" play which we will present this Friday. We will also be painting our paper mache' puppets and doing a play review for the third grade classes. Hope to see you this Friday for our culminating literature event.

Math has been a large review mostly learning different multiplication strategies. This week we will finish up our Multiplication Math packets. Please continue to work on multiplication facts with your student this summer. It is a very foundational skill they need to master in order to have future mathematical success.

In Science, we will wrap up our life cycle exploration of plants and animals. We have learned so many cycles this year, environmental and living cycles. It has been interesting to see how the circle of life continues when it is not upset. It ties in quite nicely with our study on the Rain Forests of the world.

Upcoming dates to remember:

• Thursday, May 21, 2009--combined third grade talent show (8:45 am in the school cafeteria).
• Friday, May 22, 2009--third grade field trip to the Community Recreation Center. Please bring $2.50 and a lunch for the trip. We will be back around 1:00 pm
• Friday, May 22, 2009--Great Kapok Tree play when we arrive back at the school. Parents are invited to attend
• Monday, May 25, 2009--Memorial Day--No School
• Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 9:30 am--Awards Assembly for K-3 grade
• Wednesday, May 27, 2009--Field and Fun Day (Third Grade starts at 1:00 pm)
• Thursday, May 28, 2009--Last Day of School

Question of the Week:

What causes the loud cracking sound you may hear in the Rain Forest?

A BLOG CLOG

I need to fix a date I gave to all of our followers:

Thursday, May 14, 2009: Room #1 Technology Night from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. Come and see a slide show put on by your child.

Friday, May 15, 2009 (2:00 pm): Room #1 Class Talent Show. Many of our students have signed up. It promises to be an entertaining show.

Thursday, May 21, 2009 (8:45 am): Combined Talent Show for all third grade classes. We will meet in the school gymnasium.

Friday, May 22, 2009 (9:30-1:00 pm) Third Grade Field Trip to the Community Recreation Center. Have your students bring thier swimsuits and $2.50 for the entrance fee.

Friday, May 22, 2009 (2:00 pm) "The Great Kapok Tree" Rain Forest play. This will be held back in our room

Yes! We are Finished!

This week is a busy one with lots of different activities and a new story.
First of all, congratulations on your fine work on the ISAT exams and the IRI assessment. Our final ISAT was in math and our class was 96.2% proficient or advanced.

This week we are beginning a new Magic Tree House Book titled: Night of the New Magicians. We will be doing some fun science "magic" in small groups and learning about the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

The spelling list list this week is words from the story:

whirl
twirl
invent
lightbulb
telephone
evil
germs
medicine
iron
cloak
dark
world
fair
Paris
France
magic

In Math we continue to work on multiplication strategies using our new math series. We will be working with some new math mats with dry erase markers.

Our butterflies all emerged from their chrysalis this past week. Some of them made it and some did not. In Science we will continue to learn about the life cycles of plants and animals.

One of our upcoming projects is a class play about the rain forest. It is called the Great Kapok Tree. Each student has been assigned a part in the play. We are making paper mache animals and will paint them as soon as the animals dry. The students have had a great time so far making their animals. Hope to see you at the play.

Some upcoming dates for your calendar:
Room #1 Technology evening: Thursday, May 14, 2009 5:30pm-6:30pm--come and see the slide show presentations your child has been working on.

Friday, May 15, 2009 2:00 pm: Individual class talent show.

Thursday, May 22, 2009 8:45 am Combined third grade talent show.

Friday, May 22, 2009 End of the year field trip to the Community Recreation Center and Class Play. The play will begin as soon as we come back from field trip.

Question of the week: Name 5 solid figures we have studied in class (hint: a cylinder is one).

One More to Go!

This weeks marks the last testing week for ISAT's as well as our Spring IRI. The spring IRI will be given tommorrow at 10:00 am. We encourage all students to read their best. We have made so many gains since we took it in the Fall. On Tuesday, we will wrap up our ISAT testing with the math portion of the assessment. This will begin as soon as we check in for school. The students will be allowed to take a sharpened pencil and some extra paper down to use when figuring and solving problems. Again, Good Luck and get a good night's sleep and a good breakfast before you come on Monday and Tuesday.

We have completed our reading anthology and will focus on three books from the MAGIC TREE HOUSE series. The first story we will focus on is Afternoon in the Amazon. Each story will take a week to complete and comes with plenty of activities. Mrs. Shore and Mrs. Graham's class do a play at the end of the year about a tree in the rain forest. Each student will create a paper mac he' animal and use it in the play. It is great fun and the students always enjoy participating. We will start creating our animals at the end of this week.

The spelling words for this story concentrate on the /s/ sound in face and city. It is the soft c sound:
face
city
pencil
place
center
dance
race
circle
nice
once
princess
circus
silence
excitement

Each student has been working on a technology presentation about their experience in third grade. We would like to share these presentations on a "Technology Night". We know the end of the year is getting busy, but have planned the sharing for Thursday, May 14, 2009 from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm in the evening. Hope to see you there. The students have been working hard.

In Math we will again concentrate on Multiplication and Division for the next couple of weeks. We are hoping for a great showing on the Math ISAT on Tuesday.

Our caterpillars have woven themselves into a tight chrysalis. We are patiently awaiting the transformation. We have placed the chrysalis pad into a butterfly house so they can have more room when they transform into the Painted Lady Butterfly. After each caterpillar has changed, we release them altogether.

In Science we continue to learn about life cycles of living things.

Housekeeping:
Monday, May 4, 2009: Spring IRI
Tuesday, May 5, 2009: Math ISAT
Thursday, May 14, 2009 (5:30 pm to 7:00 pm) Technology Evening
Friday, May 15, 2009 (2:00 pm) Individual Class Talent Show

Question of the Week:
List the Multiplication/Division Fact Family for 8x3. Remember their are four different facts in the family.

They did it!

Our class did so well with the reading ISAT's. Way to Go! Our proficiency percentage was 96%. We still have a few kids that need to finish up on Monday. Thank you for taking your time and reading slowly as to understand the passages and the questions. We have one more ISAT exam on May 5, 2009. This is our Math ISAT. A really good WEBsite to visit for more ISAT practice is the District Website at www.d25.k12.id.us. You can click on the Parent tab and then go down to Curriculum and Testing. This should give you options on several tests including the ISAT exam. Of course we want our kids to all be proficient in Math. They need to be in between 190-201 on the RIT score practice portions. There are about 12 questions per section. We did several of them in class for reading practice. It gives the students a good idea how the questions will look and be worded. It also gives them excellent practice. We will be going to this Website all week next week. Keep up the good work.

The weather is warming up and encourages a lot of playground time at recess. Remember the school rules and always be safe and make good choices.

Report Cards will be sent home on Tuesday. Keep taking your reading logs home and get them signed by your parents. This counts as your reading grade. New AR goals have been made. The AR deadline is Friday, May 22, 2009. This is the day the librarians would like all books checked back in. If your child has missing books, please locate them and bring them back to our wonderful library.


Language Arts:
Our literature selection for the week is Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary. Did you know this wonderful author did not even like reading until she was in third grade? I find that amazing. She has written dozens of fantastic books for children.

The spelling for this week concentrates on contractions:

• I'm
• he's
• aren't
• couldn't
• won't
• o'clock
• wouldn't
• weren't
• she's
• wasn't
• I'd
• shouldn't
• can't
• isn't
• let's
• who's

Make sure you get that apostrophe in the correct place.

MATH

Another week of reviewing concepts from the beginning of the year and also introducing new concepts. We will be going out to the district Website daily and getting extra practice. Each morning we will work on geometry concepts on our Promethean Board. Pay attention so you can get every little bit of help you need to do well!

SCIENCE

Our third grade class continues to learn about food and nutrition, eating balanced meals, and what happens when we eat the correct way. Our caterpillars are growing and getting fat. They should be attaching themselves to the top of our jar sometime this week. They are amazing little critters.

Congratulations to our Young Author Representative: Mr. Brennan Anderson. He wrote a descriptive piece on Pizza. Nice Job Brennan!

Congratulations to our two students who had the hightest increase in their Math multiplication test scores and percentages. These two students are Taylor Sanchez and Donald Rowberry.

Question of the Week:

This is an opinion question: "What did you like most about being in Third Grade?

ONE ISAT DOWN!!

The Ellis Elementary Third Grade has met and exceeded their proficiency goal on the Language Usage ISAT assessment. Next week all third graders will be taking the Reading portion of the ISAT exam. Remember to have a good breakfast and a good night's sleep. Our class will take the exam on Friday, April 24th at 8:40 in the morning. Take your time and read slowly through all the questions. You can do it!! You have already done so well!!

Our story this week is one of my favorites. The title is Poppa's New Pants, by Angela Shelf Medearis. It has a surprise ending--wait and see what happens in the story, you will love it. Also, on Monday, we begin the last six-week grading period. New AR goals will be made. They will not be as lofty because we have less than 6 weeks to meet the goal. Please continue signing the reading logs every night. The reading log is part of their reading grade. The spelling list for the week concentrates on the spelling words that begin with a and be.

• begin
• again
• around
• before
• away
• about
• alive
• because
• ahead
• between
• behind
• ago
• they
• want
• awhile
• beyond

For the next two weeks in math, we are going to do a comprehensive review on math concepts. Some concepts will be a review, others are math concepts we are in the process of learning. Please continue reviewing basic addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts with your child. These are things that will appear on the Math ISAT assessment. Following is a list of concepts we will be reviewing:

• basic addition, subtraction, and multiplication strategies
• using time and temperature as a measurement
• angles, symmetry, area, and perimeter
• graphing and organizing data
• fractions
• division
• counting money and counting back change

In science, we are starting a health unit and also beginning to watch the life cycle of a painted lady butterfly. We have the caterpillars in a jar and they are hungrily eating their way into a fat, healthy chrysalis.

We have sent out notices for our classroom talent show. We would love everyone to participate. A permission slip was sent home for parents to sign. The individual talent show is scheduled for Friday, May 15th. The combined talent show is scheduled for Thursday, May 21st.

Questions of the week:
What is the difference between an auto-biography and a biography?
What is the difference between fiction and non-fiction?
What is realistic fiction?

HAPPY EASTER!!

Hope you all had a fantastic Easter Weekend.

Ellis Elementary is beginning ISAT testing this week. Mrs. Shore/Mrs. Graham's class will take their first ISAT test this coming Thursday. Make sure your child has a good night's sleep, a healthy, balanced breakfast and remind them to take as much time as they need on the test as possible. We don't want any "happy clickers".

This coming Friday (April 17th) marks the end of the 6-week grading period. It is also the deadline for the AR goal. The entire class has almost reached their individual goals. Way to go!!

This week we start a new reading unit called "Smart Solutions". The first story is about a little girl who speaks both English and Spanish. She is bilingual. The title of the story is Pepita Talks Twice. Following are the spelling words from this story concentrating on the word ending with -er and -le:

• summer
• winter
• little
• Ocotober
• travel
• color
• apple
• able
• November
• ever
• later
• purple
• flower
• people
• thermometer
• mumble

In math we continue to work on multiplication math facts and will begin mulitiplication by tens this week. Keep working on those facts--and keep bringing your reading logs.

Social Studies discussions this week will include the law making process and how laws help our communities build trust and keep us safe.

As the days warm up and the sun continues to shine, we still want to give our students a gentle reminder we come to school to learn, participate, and do well. Please encourage your child to continue following the rules of the school and of the classroom. They are put in place for safety and a positive learning experience. Thank you for all you do!