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!!

A Week of Opinions.....

This week is a writing week. We are writing our opinion on something, or how we think or feel about something. When we have an opinion, we have to back it up with specific details and examples of why we feel or think the way we do. This past week we formed an opinion on two types of muffins we sampled in class. We had to observe the differences in the muffins and also tell how they were alike. The we had to taste the muffins and tell which muffin we liked the best. Then we had to give specific examples of why we chose a certain muffin. We did the same thing again with cereal (Trix and Corn Chex). We are practicing writing our opinions as we prepare for writing our in-class Opinion Piece. Mrs. Shore is working on a piece called Heroes. She will be working on the Hero piece next week as the students continue to write their Opinion paper.
For example:
     Every year Mrs. Shore's family and Mrs. Graham's family go on a wonderful week long camping trip. We do all sorts of fun things while we are there. We play games, we sing songs, we explore and swim, but best of all....we go on fabulous, long hikes. Last year, we hiked up to an icy cold glacier lake. It took us all day to get there, and we have some marvelous hikers.
     Two of the hikers are Ryan (Mrs. Graham's youngest son) and Anthony (Mrs. Shore's oldest son). They are true friends. They work together all summer for a farmer. They help him irrigate his pasture and take care of his hay. They love to camp and hike and are excellent hikers.
     I want to tell you why they are such good hikers. First of all, they are in very good shape. Their legs are long and they have a lot of strength. Secondly, they love to hike and explore as they go. When they hike they may get ahead of the rest of the group so they can go and check out other interesting points along the way. Third, these boys are great hikers because they have hiked so much with their Scout Troop and learned to enjoy hiking and the outdoors. We have so much fun trying to keep up with them as we hike to different spots each year.
     As I have already stated, Ryan and Anthony are hiking enthusiasts. Our families anxiously wait for this summer when they can lead us to some undiscovered mountain top we have never visited before. I can't wait to go hiking again!!

Housekeeping:
Monday, October 28th: PLC/Early Release
Monday, October 28th: "Say BOO to Drugs" (Wear Orange and Black for Red Ribbon Drug-Free Week).
Tuesday, October 29th:"Sock it to Drugs" (Wear Crazy Socks)
Wednesday, October 30th: "Team Up Against Drugs" (Wear a sports jersey)
Thursday, October 31st: "Ready to be Drug Free" (Wear Red)
Thursday, October 31st: Halloween Party starts at 12:30 pm. We will have games and healthy snacks!

Language Arts:
As I have previously explained, the students in Jurassic Park room #1 will be engaged in writing an opinion piece next week. Following are the English Language Arts Learning Targets for the next 6 weeks:
I can read accurately and fluently on a third grade level.
I can spell third grade words correctly. (Studied words, and words when I write).
I can capitalize and punctuate correctly when I write.
I can describe the 5 parts of a short story (setting, character, plot, conflict, theme)
I can compare the author's point of view from my own.
I can write a 3-paragraph opinion piece with supporting details.
I can write short opinion pieces (1 well-written paragraph)
I can revise and edit my writing.
I can gather information by taking notes.

Spelling List for this week: Please refer to the list which was sent home.

Math:
This is our last week of subtraction. After this week, we will begin multiplication facts through 10 x 10. We have some great ideas for helping the kids memorize these facts, but first of all, they need to understand what multiplication is. Here are the basic subtraction concepts we have been working on for the past 2 weeks:
Subtract when ungrouping the tens.
Subtract when ungrouping the hundreds.
Subtract across zeros.
Subtract numbers through 999.

Following if a list of the Learning Targets for Math. These targets will be in place for the next 7-9 weeks.
I can correctly solve multiplication problems using the different symbols. 

I can correctly solve division problems using the different symbols. 

I can solve multiplication and division problems using fact families. 

I can use the inverse operation of multiplication to find the missing number. 

I can solve a variety of multiplication and division problems by using the different properties of multiplication. 

I can use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to solve word problems and then use mental math to decide if my answers are reasonable. 

Social Studies:
Next week the students will read the selection "Aurora means Dawn". We will discuss the 5 parts of a short story. We will take notes to gather information. We will discuss the story as a class. We will answer questions referring to the text. We will use correct punctuation, grammar, spelling, and capitalization when we write.It is a wonderful story about a family who is moving out West to settle land that no person had settled before. This story takes place many years ago during the westward expansion.

Short Opinion piece of the week: (See my example at the top of this BLOG)
Choose your favorite ice cream to write a short (1 well-written paragraph) opinion piece.
These are the things I am looking for:
An interesting introduction about what the topic is about.
Choose your favorite ice cream.
Back up your opinion with well-written detailed sentences. You need a minimum of 4 well written details to back up your opinion.
Concluding Sentence to summarize your paragraph.

**Tommy and Blaykley and all other BLOG readers, if you bring me your well-written paragraph, you can earn 5 tokens!!! GOOD LUCK....

Second Six Weeks....First Kids to Meet their AR Goal.....These Students are SPEEDY!!

Blaykley 

Claire

Easton

Housekeeping:
Monday, October 21st: Early Release/PLC
Wednesday, October 23rd: PE
October 21st-October 25th: Ellis Book Fair in the Library
October 23rd and 24th: Grandparents and Granola
October 24-October 31st: RED RIBBON WEEK...activities will be announced in class.




Wednesday 23rd: "Put a cap on Drugs" (wear a cap)
Thursday 24th: Wear something bright
Friday 25th: Get into the spirit of Red Ribbon Week (Wear Ellis colors)
Monday 28th: Say "Boo" to drugs (Wear Orange and Black)
Tuesday 29th: "Sock it to drugs" (Wear crazy socks)
Wednesday 30th: "Team up against drugs" (Wear a team jersey)




Language Arts:
Grades are up on Infinite Campus. Each 6-week grading period we will always be working on these three "I Can" statements in Language Arts:

• I can spell third grade words correctly.
• I can use proper capitalization and punctuation when I write.
• I can read and understand books on a third grade level.

Other Language Arts Learning Targets for the next 6 weeks include:

I can identify the main idea in text I read and the supporting details.

I can write my opinion on a topic and support it with details.

I can discover if my point of view about a story is different than the authors'.

I can edit my paper with the help of an adult.

I can write a short organized opinion piece.

The story we are studying this week is called "The Keeping Quilt" by Patricia Polacco. This is a true story about Patricia Polacco and her ancestors. Patricia Polacco narrated the story and illustrated it. We will be watching a video of another story written by Patricia Polacco and compare and contrast the two stories. We will write a short opinion piece about the stories starting next week.

The spelling words for this week's list are as follows:

• paint
• clay
• feel
• leave
• neighbor
• eight
• seem
• speak
• paid
• lay
• need
• weigh

MATH:
Place Value: Check

Addition: Check

Rounding to the Nearest 10: Check

Rounding to the Nearest 100: Check

YAY!!!! We are finally starting subtraction and regrouping!! We will spend 2 weeks on subtraction with regrouping and subtraction across zeros. We also started FAST Math on Friday and this will give the students another option as we are at our computer time. Keep working on those addition and subtraction facts because they will really help with multiplication and division!!

Social Studies:

The third graders at Ellis continue to learn about communities and how they started and where they are located. We are relating the communities we study back to our own community of Pocatello and Chubbuck. This week we will learn how rules are made in our community and why it is important to have laws.

We will be thinking about these questions:

• Why did the city of Pocatello start?
• Why are laws in our community important?
• What are some of the laws we have in our community?
• Why is it important for the citizens of Pocatello to follow the laws?

Question of the Week:

Read the following passage about crocodiles and alligators. Identify the Main idea and three supporting details:

    

     Suppose you happened to walk by a crocodile and an alligator at the same time. Did you know the alligator and the crocodile look very much alike? How can you tell an alligator from a crocodile?

     The alligator has a long, lumpy, bumpy body. So does the crocodile. The alligator has four short legs, sharp teeth, and a long, strong tail. so does the crocodile.

     But alligators and crocodiles are not exact look-alikes. They have different noses, or snouts.

     An alligator has a wide, rounded snout. It looks like the letter U. A crocodile's snout comes to a point. It looks more like the letter V.

     There is another important difference. You can see it when the animals' mouths are closed. alligators just show their top teeth. Crocodiles show both top and bottom teeth.

     Crocodiles are usually longer than alligators. They can also out swim alligators. Most crocodiles weigh more, too. That may be why crocodiles are better fighters.

The First AR Party was a HUGE HIT!!t

We Had Some Special Visitors at the AR Party!!

Housekeeping:

Wednesday, October 9, 2013: New Reading Goals Started

Monday, October 14, 2013: Early Release/PLC

Monday, October 14, 2013: AR Store

Tuesday, October 15, 2013: McDonald's Night

Wednesday, October 16, 2013: Music with Mr. O'Brien

Language Arts:

Last week, we had a great week of POETRY study. The students wrote the following poems:

• Free Verse (I Wish...) Please come and see our bulletin board display in the hallway!!
• Chant Poem (I'm Tired)
• List Poem (Ouch)
• Limerick

This was a really fun week of exploring different ways to write Poems. The students did an amazing job on all of their poems!!

This week in Language Arts we are writing a paragraph relating ourselves to a character in a story we read. The story is called "Radio Rescue". It is a true story about a young boy who uses his Ham Radio to notify rescue workers in a Florida Hurricane. The paragraph will be graded on the following items:

• A Title
• A "Catchy" Beginning
• Indentation
• Sticking to the Topic
• Relating the character in the story to themselves
• Punctuation and Spelling
• Neatness

**A Rubric will be attached

The students will also be reading short informational passages and identifying the main idea and supporting details. 

The following words will be included on the weekly Spelling Test. This is a large list because it is a review of all of the spelling patterns we have studied for the past 6 weeks.

• drum
• huge
• last
• drop
• class
• left
• wide
• mix
• send
• save
• smell
• mix
• note
• thick
• hunt
• thin
• grade
• lot
• cube
• pond
• life
• sock
• luck
• shut
• smile

Math:

We feel the students have a good grasp of addition strategies and adding numbers through 999. We are concentrating on rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and the nearest 100 this week. Next week we will begin subtraction of numbers through 999. At the end of our 9 week Math Unit, the students will work on a Performance Task utilizing addition, subtraction, rounding, and place value.

Social Studies:

The following topics will be discussed in Social Studies this week:

How we get what we need in a community.

A community has history.

Many people, many ways of life.

A community guidance card on how to be a good citizen.

Questions of the Week:

The 5th graders and the Third Graders at Pomroy Elementary have recess together. There are 238 third grade students. There are 322 fifth grade students.

How many students are there altogether?

How many more 5th graders are there than 3rd graders?

Rounding to the nearest 10, how many third graders are there?

Rounding to the nearest 100, how many 5th graders are there?

For an extra token, make an arrow string or number line and show how YOU would add 238 to 322?

Our first two AR Champions!!

Riley was the first girl to her AR Goal!!
Chad was the first boy to his AR Goal!!
Congratulations you two!!

Housekeeping:
Monday, September 30, 2013: Switch Groups begin
Monday, September 30, 2013: Early Release/PLC
Friday, October 4, 2013: No School/Teacher Inservice
Tuesday, October 8, 2013: AR Goal due
Wednesday, October 9, 2013: Picture Day

Language Arts:
The book study of the week is called The Lost and Found by Mark Teague. It is  fun, fantasy adventure story. I think the kids will really like it!! Many of the students are still keyboarding their Personal Narratives on the computer. We have a program up and running called Type to Learn. This will help with their keybo arding skills. Also, if you would like to work on keyboarding skills at home then you can go to Dancemat. It is a program put out on the WEB from the BBC. Just Google it! The students have been writing answers to TEXT DEPENDENT Questions in their reading journals. They will be doing this on the Idaho Core Standards Assessment, so we want to get them really familiar with the process.

The Spelling words for this week are:

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

Math:

WOW!!! The students are really understanding the place value of numbers and can write them in expanded form or in standard form. This next week we will be practicing addition of number through 1,000. The students are encouraged to use any of the strategies we have taught them:

1) New Groups Above

2) New Groups Below

3) Show All Groups

4) Arrow Strings

5) Number lines

6) Decompose Numbers

Science:

This week we will learn how the moon effects the oceans and their tides. The students were able to learn how the position of the earth effects the seasons. The more direct contact the earth has with the sun's rays, the warmer that part of the earth is. Our seasons are very different than the seasons of California. We made a season poster with seasonal weather statements. The students were also required to draw a leafy tree from Idaho in the different seasons.

Question of the Week:

Watch this video about the moon and then answer this question:

http://www.universetoday.com/103206/what-is-the-distance-to-the-moon/

If a mile is about the same as 17 football fields lined up end to end, how many football fields lined up end to end would it take to reach the moon? According the the video, the average distance from the moon to the earth is about 239,000 miles. Tommy, you will have to use a calculator to figure this out. This post is worth 2 tokens, but you have to present your answer to the class because they want to know. It is a multiplication problem.

CARNIVAL WEEK!

Mrs. Shore hiking with her kids and mine in Zion's National Park...Mrs. Graham is taking the picture!!!

Housekeeping:
Monday, September 23, 2013: PLC early release.
Monday, September 23, 2013: PTA school CARNIVAL
Wednesday, September 24, 2013: PE
Wednesday, October 9, 2013: Picture Day

Language Arts:
This past week, Room #1 worked on a personal family adventure narrative story. On Monday, we told the kids what kind of story we wanted them to write. We wanted it to be an adventure they had with their family. We told them what we would be looking for in their paragraphs:

• A beginning, middle, and end
• Sentences with lots of detail
• More than 1 paragraph
• Stick to their story
• Good punctuation and capital letters
• Characters
• Setting
• A "catchy" beginning

After we gave them their "requirement" sheet, we turned them loose to see what they could do. We had a variety of stories. The first writing was just a practice writing. At the end of the year, we will write another narrative and compare it with the first to see if their is improvement. We hope there will be lots of improvement since we will be writing so much.

    

On Tuesday, we started writing again using a graphic organizer and detail map. We talked about catchy beginnings. We taught how to add detail in their sentences. We taught them about transitions from one paragraph to the next. We taught them how to describe their characters in detail.

On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, we wrote.....wrote.....wrote. This coming Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we are going to type our stories on the computer and save them. This will be an interesting adventure and hopefully this students will catch on quickly because we will be keyboarding a lot this year.

This week's spelling list focuses on short vowel sounds:

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

The story of the week is The Ballad of Mulan by Song Nan Zhang. This story is a folktale, or a story that has been passed down from one generation to the next. Again, we will be answering guided questions from the text and adding them to our reading response journals.

At the end of this week, (September 27, 2013), the students need to be at 63% of their reading goal. Because of the late start, their goals are not big, but still enough to make them stretch. The AR Goal deadline is October 8, 2013.

Math:

After two weeks of fact fluency practice, we have started addition of multi-digit numbers using several strategies. We have taught several strategies to the students in hopes they will find one they like and be able to use it to their advantage. At the beginning of Math instruction, we practice different math strategies in their math response journals. We will continue with adding of multi-digit numbers for the next several weeks.

Science:

This past week we learned about features of the sun. We will learn about seasons this week and how the position of the sun effects how warm or cold, dark or light it is on the earth.

Please be patient on the Grade Book. We just learned how to utilize the new grading system and our waiting for the district to insert the "Learning Targets" into each grade level. Here is a heads up on the learning targets for Language Arts and Math.

Language Arts:

• I can accurately and fluently read on-level ext using my knowledge of phonics, word clues, and decoding skills.
• I can use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words.
• I can write sentences using capitals and correct punctuation.
• I can write a 3-star sentence using nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and conjunctions.
• I can identify the main idea and its supporting details.
• I can write a narrative about a topic and support it with details.
• I can complete a graphic organizer about the characters, setting, plot, problem and solution in my personal adventure story.

Math:

• I can round numbers to the nearest ten.
• I can round numbers to the nearest hundred.
• I can multiply a one digit number by a multiple of ten.
• I can fluently add numbers within 1,000.
• I can fluently subtract numbers within 1,000.
• I can add or subtract using strategies based on place value.
• I can solve problems using the inverse operation for addition or subtraction.

Just for students!!!!

**Write a 3 star sentence about a turtle. Turtle is the noun, you need to come up with a verb, adjective, and adverb.

**This is a short informational text about Spiders. Identify the main idea and give me three supporting details:

Have you ever been frightened by a spider? Sometimes even the little 

ones look a bit creepy crawling around. But what about BIG, HAIRY spiders? 

Now those can be really scary! But even the most frightening looking ones – 

tarantulas – aren’t as harmful as you might think. 

      There are three main kinds of tarantulas: bird spiders, funnel-web 

spiders, and trap-door spiders. The bird spider, which lives in South 

America, is very large. Its body can be as long as three and one half inches. 

When it spreads its legs, it is large enough to cover a dinner plate! It is 

called a bird spider because it lives in trees and eats small birds. The diets 

of some bird spiders include small amphibians and reptiles. 

      The tarantula’s poisonous bite helps it kill insects and other small 

animals for food. The bite of some kinds of tarantulas can make humans 

very sick. Most of these dangerous spiders – like the funnel-web spider – 

live in other parts of the world. Tarantulas that live in the United States 

are far less harmful to humans. If you were bitten by one of these spiders 

it would not be pleasant, but it would only be about as serious as being stung 

by a bee. That’s right – in spite of what you see on TV or in the movies, 

people rarely die from a tarantula bite.  

Personal Narrative Week

Housekeeping:
Monday, September 16, 2013: Early Release/PLC
Monday, September 23, 2013: PTA Carnival
October 9, 2013: Picture Day

Language Arts:
This week we are working on our first large writing assignment. The task is a personal narrative story. We will write the narrative in class. The narrative will consist of three paragraphs. The students will edit the piece and rewrite it for our Personal Narrative class book. Here are some of the items we are looking for:

• colorful descriptive words
• an organized beginning, middle, and end
• a "grab your attention" beginning
• neatness
• proper punctuation and spelling

We understand this is their first attempt at a third grade writing piece. We will really assist them and help them to have a good experience. Writing can sometimes be a difficult task, but the Idaho Common Core Standards requires a lot of writing experiences.

Math:

Over the past 2 weeks we have been reviewing basic fact fluency. We have practiced doubles, doubles plus one, add one more, and make a ten strategy. We have also been working on place value in the ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands. For the next 6 weeks we will work on the following "I Can" learning targets:

• I can round numbers to the nearest ten
• I can round numbers to the nearest hundred
• I can multiply a one digit number by a multiple of ten
• I can fluently add numbers within 1,000
• I can fluently subtract numbers within 1,000
• I can add or subtract using strategies
• I can solve problems using the inverse operation for addition and subtraction.

Science:

The third grade class at Ellis is studying the earth, moon, sun and moon. We are trying to integrate a lot of hands on investigations as we learn about our earth and surroundings. 

Question of the Week:

Mrs. Graham biked 623 miles over the summer. Mrs. VanEvery biked 32 more miles than Mrs. Graham. How many miles did Mrs. VanEvery bike?

Use the T.I.P.S. strategy to solve the problem.

T.hought

I.nformation

P.lan

S.olution