Secret Santa

Parents,

Today we drew names for Secret Santa.  I was originally going to do it next week; however, I wanted to give you ample time to get to the store.  Please reiterate the importance of keeping this a secret.  They have to keep this a secret for a whole two weeks!!  

**The price cap is $5.  We are brainstorming ideas today as well, so your child will come home with an idea of what they'd like to get for their person.  

**Please bring the gifts in wrapped, with the label on the bottom of the package.  Do not fill out the "from" section - your kiddos will know which one is theirs.  

**Please have these in class by December 16; you may start bringing them in as soon as next week. 

If your child is absent, I will draw for them and email you the information.

If there are any problems with purchasing a gift, please email me.

Take care!  They are super excited about this - I LOVE this time of year :o)​

Nov. 16-24

Reading: This week we finished the author studies (3rd) or litature studies (4th).  They presented them to eachother.  Something we learned from this project in 3rd grade was using time wisely.  A lot of the groups didn't work on their assisgnment until the last minute, so their work was not as good as what they are capable of doing.

We will have a spelling test on 12/3.

Writing: We worked through the writing process on another narrative piece. They has to write about what they would do if the stores all ran out of turkey and their parents wanted to eat their pet turkey.

Grammar: We learned about types of sentences.

Projects:  We finished our catapult project.  I was so proud of our class.  They built amazing catapults without any adult help.  There was a lot of trial and error, and a few tears, but they did it!! 

Misc.:  We only have 3 weeks until Christmas break.  Be on the lookout for an email about a Christmas activity I want the class to do.  I can't beleive the school year is already almost half way over! 

November 9-12

Reading: This week we reviewed theme and worked on author study (3rd) and litature study (4th).

There was a spelling test on Thursday.  They will receive new words today.

Writing:  We finished our narrative writing this week.  We will start a new one on Monday.


Grammar:  We continued working with coordinating conjunctions.

Projects:  We are finishing up our catapult projects.

Misc.
I sent home a few more scholastic book orders.  If you want to order online our class code is :HKT26
I will be submitting this order on the 24th. It will be our last bookorder before Christmas.

November 2-5

Reading-This week the 3rd graders continued working on their author study.  The 4th graders continued working on their literature study assignment. 

They had a Latin/Greek test on Thursday.  They will receive new words on Monday.

Writing- We continued working on our narratives.  The students are learning how to write a good narrative with a beginning, middle and end.  They are also working on using dialogue in their writing.

Grammar- This week we learned about the different coordinating conjunctions.  They learned the acronym FANBOYS to help them remember the different conjunctions.

Projects- We continued working on our catapults.  Thank you to all the parents who donated items for this projects!  I can't wait to see our finished projects.

Misc.
I am going to extend the book order due date until Nov.24.  This will be our last book order before Christmas.  If you would like to order books for a Christmas present for your child I can hold on to the books for you to pick up so they don't see them.  Also you can order off any grade bookorder not just the ones I send home.

We still need a PE parent on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:30-4:00.  This will allow me time to work with individual students who are either behind or need extra help.  Please let me know if one or both days work for you.

Remember there is no school on Wednesday because of Veterans' Day.

Halloween fun!

October 19-22

Reading: The students learned about mood through illustrations in a story.

They also had a Latin/Greek test.  We will have a spelling test this week 10/29.

Writing: We practiced writing power sentences to get ready for narrative writing.  They did a great job making their sentences into power sentences!

Grammar:  We learned about dialog and how to properly place quotation marks.

Projects:  We are building mini catapults to get ready to build our bigger ones.  The students are very excited about this project and are working very hard!

Misc.  

Thursday will be our Halloween dress up day.  The students can dress up but please no masks or scary costumes.  

We will also be having our Halloween party on Thursday.  There was a sign up genius email sent out to sign up to bring something.

I will be sending home another book order soon.  If you would like to purchase books but you don't want your student to see them because they are going to be a gift, please let me know and I will hide them until you can get them from me.

October 12-15

I can't believe the 1st quarter is over!  We spent a lot of time reviewing and assessing this week.

Reading: This week we didn't have mini lessons because I needed to complete assessments. 
 The students received new Latin/Greek roots on Monday. They are pre, post, un/mis and ful. They will have a test on these on October 22.
We had a spelling test on Thursday.  They will receive new words on Monday.

Writing: The students completed a writing assessment.

Grammar: We reviewed and assessed.

Projects: The students learned about their new projects. They are going to build a catapult to launch a mini pumpkin.  They found out who they were partners with, then researched some different kinds of catapults.  They had to give me a list of supplies they would need.  These were quite funny. They ranged from  nails, pvc pipe and bungee cords to a 10 ft. board and a  skill saw!!  Needless to say no one will get to use a skill saw in class!! The students were told not to go home and tell their parents they had to go buy a bunch of things for their project.  I said if you happen to have something at your house and your parents are okay with you bringing it in, that is fine (except the skill saw (o: ).

Up coming events:
* The book fair will be here next week.  Our class will get to go preview on Tuesday.
* Thursday is monster hair day and family night at the book fair.
* Conferences will be on October 23rd
* Our class Halloween party will be on October 29.  The students can wear their costumes to school that day.