Dates to remember!

May 16 – Salato Trip!!

May 18 – Field Day

May 22 – Election Day

May 24 – Last Day of School!!

SNOW MAN FEATURES!!

The snowman nose

I am a snowman,I am not an ordinary snowman. Instead of a carrot nose I have an ice cream cone.  Snowladys always make fun of my nose.  I always feel that I’m not normal.  One day a little girl came up to me and switched the cone for a carrot.  I was so happy I wanted to hug her.  Now I have all that I ever wanted like a girl, friends and most of all a carrot nose.

I am a snowman.  I get up at night and drink cold chocolate.  One time I forgot to make the chocolate cold so I almost died, but my snow mom brought me back.  I go to school and my teacher teaches me about famous people like SnowBama.  SnowBama is famous because he is president.  This is what I do at night.

If I were a snowman at night I would go kiss a snowlady.  I would jog around the block to impress the girls.  If the lights shine on me I will melt.  The girls will say don’t melt we love you.  I would dance for the girls.  They would love me even more than before.  I would say I love you to girls.  They would say back thank you.  That is what I would do if I were a snowman at night.  Good night ladies.

I’m Sam the snowman.  I am a police snowman.  At night I guard very important people like the bankers.  I keep the town safe at night by not letting anyone rob the bank.  If a robbery does happen I will call back up and taze him so he will melt.  I always stay at Snow Vill, many robberies happen at night there.  I am always hiding behind the Bank of Snow Vill.  Now Snow Vill is very safe.

If I was a snow lady at night this is what I would do.  I see Snow Crump really half of the day because my mom has work.  Snow Crump is my mom’s best friend we play snow chess.  I have to rest at night because days are fun and I don’t want to miss them.  I rest at night because it was a fun day.  That’s what I do at night.

C-A-T-S, CATS, CATS, CATS!  That is right friends CATS testing is just around the corner and we are in testing mode.  The students have had their desks moved to CATS format for the last few weeks. As I am sure the students have told you we are currently switching rooms.  On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday the students go to all three classes in order to have CATS test review and prepare for switches in the fourth grade.

When students head to Mrs. Heimlich’s class they will be focusing on Language Arts.  In Mrs. Marshall’s room the students are focusing on math word problems.  In my classroom the students are working on reviewing math concepts that were covered at the beginning of the year.  Between morning reading switches and afternoon switches the students are focusing on Constructed Response writing.  We have worked on correcting answers and supporting answers with details from the text.  The students have also practiced answering Constructed Response questions.

We have also focused on the 12 Powerful Verbs.  Have your students sing the song to you, they really enjoy it.  Remember keep practicing concepts that your students might have difficulty with at home so that they are getting prepared double time.

Have a great week!

Kara Mattox

Blue Planet Ecosystems/Biomes

The end of March is here. That is right friends we are right around from the end of March and the beginning of April. It is that time when we get into CATS testing mode. I have explained to the students how they need to be on their A game because we are now in review mode for the CATS test. The students got to experience so many great activities in March. We had Read Across America, Fraction Pizzas, and many other great activities.

This week we are reviewing multiplication. We are still working on math mania. This week we are on the 8′s, many students are finished and studying for next week’s nines. The students are reviewing the three different strategies to find the answer to a two digit multiplication problem. Partial products, lattice multiplication, and the algorithm are all ways the students will be able to choose from in order to answer a two digit multiplication problem.

This week we are working in the Read For Real series. This is a series that has non-fiction reading and the students apply different types of strategies to these readings. Our current story is about firemen and their jobs. The students are learning to make connections, inference and look back in the story.

In writing we have been discussing how to answer constructed response questions and preparing for the test. This means that writing scores on midterms will most likely be based on in class participation. Some grades have been taken, but not as many as usual. We have been covering adjectives and adverbs, but we have moved on to pronouns. Remember pronouns take the place of a noun.

Easter is quickly approaching which means Easter party. Be on the look out for an Easter letter being sent home. We will be having a third grade Easter Egg hunt instead of individual classrooms. This will be a fun day before we are off for a week.

After spring break we will begin to switch classes to prepare students for CATS, as well as fourth grade. The students will be switching three days a week for reading, math word problems, and math review. In the mornings the students will be receiving grammar, writing, power verb work, constructed responses, science and social studies.

We appreciate all of your support!
Thanks!
Kara Mattox

Hi to everyone!

This week we are finishing up our fraction unit. Last week the students had the opportunity to work with the district nutritionist create pictures and practice fractions. This week the students are taking all of the concepts that they have learned, and switching rooms to do different fraction activities. At the end of the week the students will be completing the common assessment given to all third grade students in the district.

Reading has been a little different lately. A few weeks ago we had the awesome opportunity for community members to come and read to our class during Read Across America. The students were very excited about this opportunity. Last week we worked on main idea and supporting details with the Story of the Statue of Liberty. This week the students are working folk tales. Work with your students on morals of story and main idea.

In grammar we are working on adverbs and adjectives. The students are trying to identify adverbs versus adverbs. Remember adverbs describe the verb and adjectives describe the noun.

The students have been working on different ecosystems. We have covered Rain forests and the Tundra. We will be covering the desert soon. The students also had the opportunity to look at different symbols in the United States during our story last week.

Have a great week!
Kara Mattox

REMEMBER:
No school 3/16/12
Report Cards go home 3/19

Students are currently working on fractions. We are really looking forward to having a guest come in and work with fractions with us, as well as doing some fraction switches among our grade level. We are reading the story of the Statue of Liberty. The students are focusing on main idea and supporting details.

Math
-I can order fractions
with like denominators
-I can write an inequality
representing two fraction

Reading
– I can identify main idea and
supporting details

Spelling
– I can create contractions

Science
-I can identify characteristics
of rainforest

Grammar
-I can identify adverbs and
adjectives

SPELLING
1.let’s
2.he’d
3.you’ll
4.can’t
5.I’d
6.you’d
7.haven’t
8.hasn’t
9.she’d
10.they’ll
11.when’s
12.we’d
13.they’d
14.wasn’t
15.didn’t
16.should’ve
17.would’ve
18.could’ve
19.needn’t
20.you’ve

Hello All!

This coming Wednesday is our music program. This year we will be having the program in the High school Auditorium.

These last two weeks the students have focused on identifying fact and opinion in reading. Next week is Read Across America. This celebrates Dr. Seuss’ birthday. To join the celebration, this week we will be reading Dr. Seuss books and doing Dr. Seuss activities. On Friday we hope to read the book about oobleck, make oobleck and watch a Dr. Seuss movie with all of the third grade in the cafeteria.

Writing/Grammar
We are still focusing on verbs. The students have learned about verb tenses, irregular verbs, helping verbs, and state of being verbs. For writing we are still having a daily writing at least once weekly in order to help get the students’ grades, but we are starting to work through how to answer short answer questions to get students prepared for CATS testing. We have unit to complete dealing with short answer questions and then we plan to focus on power verbs during writing time. In grammar I am hoping that we can move on to adverbs and adjectives.

Math
This six weeks is focused entirely on fractions. By the end of the six weeks the students should be able to identify equivalent fractions, compare fractions, understand the numerator and denominator, and represent fractional parts. We have been playing with fractions the last few weeks. We have cut paper to show fractions, played with fraction pieces and made observations, and now we are focusing on fractions represented on a number line.

Science/Social Studies
At the beginning of this week we discussed President’s Day and its importance. We are trying to work through the ecosystems and the different parts. Last week we wrapped up learning about the Tundra, we have just began covering the Rainforest.

Math Mania
I know I have said that I would focus on math facts more during class time, so I have been brainstorming ways to focus on math facts during class that still gives us time to take care of things we need to get done. After speaking with other teachers this is the plan I decided on: We will starting having 2 weekly facts for the entire class. The students will be expected to practice these facts at home as well. Every day the students will take a timed test (once the student gets a 100% during the week they can stop taking the test) on Friday’s students get the final grade earned.

Math Mania Schedule
2/27 – X4 division 4
3/5 – X5 division 5
3/12 – X6 division 6
3/19 – X 7 division 7
3/26 – X 8 division 8
4/2 – X9 division 9
4/16- X 11 division 11
4/23 – X 12 division 12
–> We will review 2s, 3s, and 10s before testing and do mixed problems, including 2 digit and tests with any multiplication fact.

Have a great weekend!
Kara Mattox

Words for
week
1 .sunglasses
2 .football
3 .homework
4 .haircut
5 .popcorn
6 .railroad
7 .snowstorm
8 .earring
9 .scarecrow
10.blueberry
11.butterflies
12.lawnmower
13 .campground
14.sandbox
15 .toothbrush
16.thumbtack
17.earthquake
18.scrapbook
19.courthouse
20.whirlpool

VALENTINE’S DAY

It’s that time again! Our Valentine’s Day party will be Tuesday, February 14th at 2:10. We will be having a cookie decorating party. If your child would be interested in bringing Valentine cards for the party please make sure they bring one for every member of the class. Make sure the students bring in their valentine boxes on Tuesday.

—————————————————————
If you would be interested in sending supplies or treats for our party check the item below, cut the section off and return it to school with your child.

___ plates ___ napkins ___chocolate chip cookies ___sugar cookies ___cookies (type:____________) ___ icing ___ sprinkles ___drinks ___other: _____________

Student :_________________ Parent:_________________