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Week of 5/12/08

We are nearing the end of the school year!  Can you believe it? 

Happy Mother's Day to all the great greyhound moms.  I hope you will enjoy your child's gift.  They worked very hard on it and it shows! Enjoy your day as you work very hard!

Now that we have celebrated Mother's Day, let's not forget Father's Day.  The children need to bring in a picture of their father.  It may be a picture of them with the children or child.  The picture needs to be a regular 4 x 6.  It could also be a picture of their grandfather, uncle, or any other significant male figure in their life! We would like to have those by May 16th.

Reading:  This will be our last week of homework for both spelling and math.  We will read our last story called:  If You Had A Million.  Here are the spelling words for this week:

1. fixable

2. little

3. choices

4. amount

5. receive

6. value

7. earn

8. table

9. middle

10. normal

11. bubble

12. able

13. final

14. castle

15. purple

16. total

17. handle

18. add

19. baffle

20. incredible

Math:  We will have a math review packet for homework this week.

IMPORTANT DATES:

5/13/08-Michael White...visiting illustrator

5/14/08--Hawk Lady...children will learn about birds!

5/13/08-- I will be sending home invitations to the students in my class that will be receiving academic, citizenship, and perfect attendance awards.  We ask those parents of these students receiving awards to come at the designated time and bring your camera!

5/16/08--We will be sending home the schedule for the last week of school.  All of third grade is planning lots of fun activities for the children!!  Look for that to come home on Friday!

A few reminders:

Nothing goes home on the last day of school, but your child!  I will be sending home all of their personal stuff on May 19th or sooner.

Lost and Found is near the cafeteria.  All items not claimed will be donated to a charity over the summer.

Report cards will be sent home after school is out.

All library books need to be returned or PAID for before report cards can be released.

Any money left in your child's lunch account will roll over to the next school year.

Cobb County will offer summer reading programs for all grade levels.

More reminders to come on May 16th!

is near!!!

Week of 5/5/08

We have only 3 weeks left of school, but school is not over yet.  We have many things to cover within the next few weeks.  We are taking many end of year tests in all subject areas. 

Our Field Day is scheduled for 5/7/08.  Lunch will be a sack lunch in our room.  We might eat outside if the weather is nice.  Please make sure your child wears their Greyhound T-shirt.  Please send a water bottle with lots of ice in it and your child's name on it.  Also, if your child needs sunscreen, please apply before they come to school.  The carnival starts at 9:40-11:00.  The relay races are from 1:00- 2:00 p.m.

We took an end of year math test last Friday and we did very well.  When we started the school year, the same test was given.  Our class scored an average grade of 58%.  We just took the same test and scored as a class average 87%!  That is amazing!  We have learned so much in math this year and we will continue to do so. I suggest that each and every one of you work this summer with your child so that the skills are fresh for the start of 4th grade.  Practice makes perfect!

We will have a math packet this week for homework that works on the skill of problem solving with graphs and charts.  It will be due on Friday.

We will continue with our stories.  This week we will read Journey Through the Solar System.    Our spelling pattern is words that end in /er/.  Here are the spelling words for this week:

1. solar

2. summer

3. weather

4. answer

5. Jupiter

6. surface

7. water

8. ever

9. number

10. universe

11. orbits

12. molten

13. depths

14. author

15. never

16. together

17. mirror

18. also

19. back

20. called

We will learn about irregular verbs and fact and opinion.

Science:  We have started to learn about the natural resources on the earth and how to conserve and protect them.  We have watch many videos about recycling, reusing, reducing the amount of trash on the earth.  We will continue to learn more about conserving our resources.  We will also learn about magnets.  Look for a study guide to go home sometime this week.

Social Studies:  We have finished up our unit on Economics and the children did very well!

Health:  We are all finished with our health units.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

5/5/08--PTA BOARD BRUNCH

5/7/08-- FIELD DAY

5/11/08--MOTHER'S DAY! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE GREAT MOMS IN OUR CLASS!!  THE CHILDREN WILL BE GOING HOME WITH SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR THEIR MOM.

5/13/08--MICHAEL WHITE WILL VISIT WITH THE THIRD GRADERS.  HE IS AN ILLUSTRATOR

5/14/08--HAWK TALK.  THE LADY WITH HER BIRDS OF PREY WILL BE HERE VISITING WITH OUR THIRD GRADERS

5/14/08--BIRTHDAY BOOK CLUB @ 7:20 A.M.

WE WILL BE SENDING HOME A SHEET WITH PROCEDURES FOR THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.  WE WILL ALSO BE SENDING HOME THE ACTIVITIES THAT ARE PLANNED FOR THE LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL ON 5/16/08. 

5/23/08--LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Week of 4/28/08

We continue to review multiplication and division facts.

Due to CRCT testing, we will not have homework this week.

Due to CRCT testing, we will not have any homework this week in reading or spelling.

WE WILL HAVE A SOCIAL STUDIES TEST ON ECONOMICS ON TUESAY.  PLEASE STUDY THE PACKET BECAUSE THIS TEST WILL BE SHORT RESPONSES LIKE THE LAST ONE.  WE ARE TRYING TO GET THE CHILDREN READY FOR 4TH GRADE.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE STILL HAVE TESTING NEXT WEEK.  ON MONDAY, THE STUDENTS WILL TAKE THE SCIENCE SECTION.  ON TUESDAY, THE STUDENTS WILL TAKE THE SOCIAL STUDIES PORTION OF THE TEST.

TESTING WILL CONCLUDE ON TUESDAY.  WE WILL BE BACK TO OUR NORMAL SCHEDULE ON WEDNESDAY.

PLEASE BE SURE TO HAVE ALL GREYHOUNDS IN BED EARLY ON SUNDAY NIGHT.  MAKE SURE THEY HAVE A NUTRITIONAL BREAKFAST AND A HEALTHFUL SNACK.

THANKS TO ALL THE WONDERFUL GREYHOUND PARENTS FOR HAVING THEIR CHILD IN SCHOOL ON TIME ALL OF LAST WEEK.  THE GREYHOUNDS LOOKED WELL RESTED AND I BELIEVE THEY DID VERY WELL ON THE TEST.

IMPORTANT DATES:

4/28--4/29--CRCT TESTING

5/2/08--PTA PRESALE FORMS DUE AND ALL LIBRARY BOOKS ARE DUE TO OUR SCHOOL LIBRARY.

5/5/08--PTA BOARD BRUNCH

5/3/08- CAMPUS CLEAN UP DAY

5/7/08--FIELD DAY--MORE DETAILS TO COME

5/11/08--Mother's Day

5/23/08--LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

The third grade teachers will be sending out information about the last week of school.

The children are creating a very special surprise for Mother's Day.  We will need four pictures of the children from baby up to now.  Example:  one baby picture, one picture from about age 1 or 2, one picture from 3, 4, or 5, and one picture of now.  These pictures can be with mom or dad and siblings so long as your third grader is featured in the picture. You may want to scan the pictures so that originals are not damaged.

Note to fathers:  We will create something special for you too later on in May for the children to give to you on Father's Day.

Week of 4/21/08

Due to CRCT testing this week, we will not have homework.  We will continue to master division and work on our division facts.

The Greyhounds have been learning long division and doing quite well with it, too!  I'm so impressed with how well it has caught on.  We also have been learning lattice multiplication.  Have your child explain it.  They can now multiply 3 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers.  We will continue to work this week on multiplication facts and division facts.

We will continue to review some language arts skills on Monday and Tuesday.  We will be visiting some websites that reinforce grammar skills. We will not have any homework in spelling or reading this week.

We continue to discuss Economics.  We are learning about goods and services, opportunity cost, and the law of supply and demand.  We are also learning about such terms as barter, producers and consumers, and production.  We will have our first test on this unit on Tuesday.  It will be short answer responses.  Review the study guide.

CRCT INFORMATION:  We are asking the students to get a good night's sleep this whole week.  Please be sure to have a good healthful breakfast in the morning and bring a healthful snack to school, too.  We are also asking for them to get to school on time. TESTING WILL BEGIN PROMPTLY AT 8:00 A.M.

TESTING SCHEDULE:  WED.--READING

                                  THURS.- LANGUAGE ARTS

                                  FRI.--MATH

                                  MONDAY--SCIENCE

                                  TUESDAY--SOCIAL STUDIES

IMPORTANT DATES THIS WEEK:

4/22- TARGET ON TUESDAY INSTEAD OF MONDAY.

4/25/08---TGIF CHUCK E. CHEESE'S @ 3:00 P.M.

4/23--4/29--CRCT (GET PLENTY OF REST AND GET TO SCHOOL ON TIME

Thanks to all the Greyhounds and their parents for the many wonderful birthday gifts, flowers, and cookie cake!  My birthday was extra special!  I'm humbled by the show of love.  This will be a hard group to say good-bye too soon. I can't believe that soon they will be heading off to 4th grade!! 

Week of 4/14/08

HAPPY SPRING BREAK TO ALL! PLEASE KEEP PRACTICING MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION FACTS OVER THE BREAK!

  We will continue to practice for the CRCT. We will take CRCT practice tests this week to get the children prepared for the real thing!  We did very well last week with our Reading/English Language Arts Practice Tests.  We will read a wonderful story about Jo Louis from our reading book entitled When Jo Louis Won the Title.  Our spelling pattern for the week---compound words.

1. daydream

2. moonlight

3. suitcase

4. outside

5. bedroom

6. football

7. airplane

8. birthday

9. homework

10. playground

11. everything

12. sidewalk

13. American

14. saxophone

15. destination

16. paved

17. braced

18. fireplace

19. headache

20. nowhere

We will also practice for the CRCT in Math.  We will explore multiplication and division.  We will continue to look at distributive properties of multiplication along with associative properties, too.  We will take a closer look at partial product multiplication.  Look for the homework packet on Monday night(4-14).

We will begin a new unit in Social Studies.  We will study economics and take a closer look at the three types of resources.  We will also look at practice tests for social studies that prepare us for the CRCT. 

Our habitat presentations were wonderful! We had some technical difficulties, but we worked through them.  The posters are stunning and some of the students improved from our last presentation.  It shows they really worked hard on them!  This will count as a Science grade for this quarter.

IMPORTANT DATES:

4/7--4/11--SPRING BREAK..NO SCHOOL!

4/16--BIRTHDAY BOOK CLUB @ 7:20 A.M.

                   4/21--NO TARGET

                   4/22--TARGET

                   4/23--4/29---CRCT...WE WILL NOT HAVE HOMEWORK DURING THE WEEK OF CRCT.  WE WOULD LIKE ALL THIRD GRADERS TO GET A GOOD NIGHT SLEEP AND HAVE A HEFTY BREAKFAST BEFORE COMING TO SCHOOL!

Week of 3/31/08

The children did very well with the story and vocabulary from the Lotus Seed.  They are understanding suffixes and prefixes.  We will continue to work on vocabulary skills this week.  We will read part of the story from our textbook called...Amber Brown Is Not A Crayon.  This is the story of Amber Brown and a friend that moves away.  Here are the spelling words for the week. Our spelling skill is words that end with long e sound at the end.

1. already

2. anchovy

3. company

4. easy

5. pinkies

6. allowance

7. any

8. very

9. pretty

10. cookie

11. money

12. movie

13. turkey

14. every

15. party

16. sorry

17. heavy

18. postcards

19. yawn

20. nervous

We are really kicking it into gear with division!!!! We are learning to divide three digit numbers and two digit numbers by one digit.  We are learning many ways to divide.  The key with division is learning your multiplication tables by heart.  I'm so impressed with their ability.  We just have a couple of students that continue to struggle with this only because they have not mastered their multiplication tables. I sent home extra practice sheets for both multiplication and division timed tests.  Please continue to sharpen their skills by practicing at home.  If they don't master this skill, they will struggle next year in fourth grade.

We will take math CRCT practice tests in class and go over skills.  We will learn how to eliminate answers that don't make sense so that we can narrow it down to at least two good choices.

The homework for this week will be problem solving division packet.  I will hand it out on Monday morning.  It will be due back Friday morning.

Also, please be sure to check your child's homework assignments before they turn it in on Friday.

HEALTH--We did very well on our Chapter 8 test.  Every student got a B or better!!! We made escape plans and learned about fire safety.  We also watched videos on stranger danger and keeping safe at school and home!  This week we will begin Chapter 3.  This chapter is called Keeping My Body Fit.  We will discuss the importance of exercising, taking care of our teeth and gums, resting, and learning about the ear, skin, and washing our hands. A study guide will be sent home on Monday.  Our test will be Thursday.

IMPORTANT DATES:

3/31/08--RECORDERS WILL BE NEEDED THIS WEEK!

4/1/08--PERFORMING ARTS SERIES FIELD TRIP TO COBB CIVIC CENTER @ 11:45.  WEAR YOUR CLASS T-SHIRT!

4/4/08---HABITAT PROJECT DUE!

4/7--4-11--SPRING BREAK!! NO SCHOOL!!

CONTINUE TO PRACTICE CRCT TESTS ONLINE!

4/23--CRCT TESTING WEEK!! PLEASE BE SURE THAT THE GREYHOUNDS GET A GOOD NIGHT SLEEP.

Week of 3/24/08

We will be reading a beautiful Vietnamese story about a grandmother who, as a girl, accidentally sees the last emperor cry on the day of his abdication. She enters the palace gardens and takes a lotus seed as a remembrance of that day and her ruler. We will be learning about point of view, present tense verbs, and vocabulary. We will learn about suffixes /er/, /ly/, and /ful/.

Here are the spelling words for the week:

1. lonely

2. slowly

3. player

4. farmer

5. playful

6. owner

7. really

8. leader

9. careful

10.useful

11. thankful

12. quickly

13. remember

14. plants

15. throne

16. dormant

17. silk

18. arrived

19. part

20. many

We continue to work with multiplication of 2 digit numbers by 1 digit number and multiplication of 3 digit numbers by 1 digit number.  We have learned 5 different methods used to solve these types of problems.  We know how to use partial product multiplication, mental math regrouping, base 10 blocks, estimation, and repeated addition.  We will have a math test on Chapter 22 on Tuesday.  Continue to review multiplication facts with your child.  I will make extra copies of the multiplication fact tests for practice at home.  I will also be sending out a division fact tests for practice at home.  We will take a timed tests this week.  We will begin Chapter 23 this week.  This is the division chapter.  Here is the homework for the week.

Monday- Division with Remainders 23.1 (Reteach workbook)

Tuesday-Model Division Using Base-Ten Blocks with no remainders 23. 2 (Reteach workbook)

Wednesday- Model Division using Base-Ten Blocks with remainders 23.3(Reteach workbook)

Thursday- Divide using 3 digit numbers 23.6 Reteach workbook)

We will have a challenge packet as additional homework.  This will be collected on Friday with all of the reteach homework.

  Please return the report card signature card.  We have a few students who did not return them yet.

 

Please return picture money or unused pictures to me as soon as possible.

 

We continue to practice and learn CRCT testing skills.  We will continue to practice this week.  We are learning skills like eliminating answers that don't make sense and using u.n.r.a.a.v.e.l strategies to look for information. We continue to take practice tests this week in language arts.  Next week, we will take CRCT practice tests in math.

HEALTH:  We started Chapter 8 in Health.  This chapter is all about safety in our school, at home, and safety while playing sports in school and on teams.  We are also learning about fire safety, dangerous poisons, and stranger danger.  We will have a test on TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY OF THIS WEEK.  I WILL LET THE CHILDREN KNOW WHEN.

IMPORTANT DATES:

3/24--RECORDERS FOR MUSIC ARE NEEDED THIS WEEK! BE SURE TO HAVE THEM READY!

3/24--NO TARGET CLASSES

3/26--A.R. PARTY CUT OFF

3/27--TARGET CLASSES

3/28-- A.R. PARTY (PLEASE BRING ANY TOPPING YOU WOULD LIKE ON YOUR ICE CREAM) YOU MUST HAVE 30 POINTS TO ATTEND.  WE  HAVE TWO MORE AR PARTIES LEFT!

4/1--COBB CIVIC CENTER @ 11:45 TO SEE DUCK SOUP.  IF YOU RECEIVED A PERMISSION SLIP FOR THIS, PLEASE RETURN IT.  IF YOU DIDN'T RECEIVE A PERMISSION SLIP, THAT MEANS I ALREADY HAVE IT FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.

4/4--HABITAT PRESENTATIONS ARE DUE! BE READY TO PRESENT IT TO THE CLASS.

4/7--TO 4/11--SPRING BREAK...NO SCHOOL!

4/16---BIRTHDAY BOOK CLUB!  ALSO THE WEEK OF CRCT!

4/18- SOPE CREEK BRAVES FAMILY NIGHT

4/25--TGIF EVENT

Week of 3/17/08

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

We will begin Chapter 22 in Math which deals with Multiples of 10's and 100's.  We will also work with the distributive property of multiplication.  We will practice CRCT skills this week in class.  It will be a busy week for us with lots to learn.

Here is the homework for the week.  We will also have a problem solving packet that will go home on Monday.  This will be additional homework in math.  Please continue to practice the multiplication tables and division tables as well.

Here is the homework for the week:

Monday---RW113 --22.1/ RW 114 --22.2 (Multiples of 10 and 100 plus estimating products)

Tuesday--RW 115--22.3/ RW 116--22.4 (Arrays and Partial Products using distributive products)

Wednesday--RW 117 22.5/ RW 119 (Record Multiplication and Multiply 3 Digit numbers)

Thursday--RW 120--22.8 (Mental Math)

PLUS, THERE WILL BE A PROBLEM SOLVING PACKET.

We will read Grandfather's Journey.  This is a beautiful story about one man's travel to America and sharing family history.  We will learn vocabulary, helping verbs, spelling, and also learn to summarize the literature.  We will also learn cause and effect. Here are the spelling words for the week:  The spelling pattern is double consonants.

1.  funny

2. village

3. yellow

4. scatter

5. marry

6. cotton

7. better

8. hello

9. follow

10. dinner

11. supper

12. bottom

13. written

14. astonished

15. homesick

16. reminded

17. seacoast

18. childhood

19. correct

20. pattern

IMPORTANT DATES:

3/17--WEAR GREEN FOR ST. PATTY'S DAY!

3/18--VOLUNTEER LUNCHEON.  WE HAVE MANY PARENTS ATTENDING.  IT IS STILL NOT TOO LATE TO RSVP!

3/19--BIRTHDAY BOOKCLUB @ 7:20 A.M. OUR FIELD TRIP TO FERNBANK...WEAR YOUR CLASS T-SHIRT!

SOME STUDENTS HAVE BROUGHT THEIR SHIRTS IN SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT FORGET. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE 100% PARTICIPATION WITH THIS.

3/20--REPORT CARDS WILL GO HOME (PLEASE SIGN THE CARD AND RETURN IT ON MONDAY)

3/24--3/28--YOU SHOULD PRACTICE CRCT TESTS ONLINE.

3/24--PLEASE BRING IN YOUR RECORDER FOR MUSIC!

4/7--4/11--SPRING BREAK!

4/16--BIRTHDAY BOOK CLUB

4/16---CRCT TESTING BEGINS

4/18--SOPE CREEK BRAVES FAMILY NIGHT

4/25--TGIF EVENT

Week of 3/10/08

SOPE CREEK SUPER RUN

5k & fun run

Less than one week until the 23^rd Annual Sope Creek 5K & Fun Run.   
Don’t miss out on this fun filled day!

If you have already registered, thank you for your support!

If you haven’t registered, please join us for a day of races, class basket auctions and fun!  Please see the reverse side of this flyer for a registration form, register on-line at www.active.com or print a form from our website at www.sopecreekfoundation.org.

The grade level with the most registrations and the class in each grade level with the most registrations will receive a special treat! 

Race Info:  Race day is Saturday, March 15^th.  The 5K race starts at 9:00 am, the Fun Run at 10:00 am and the Class Basket Silent Auction takes place from 9:00 am until 12:00 noon.

Don’t miss out on a day of family fun that also benefits our school.

For more information, please call Christy Palladino (770)984-2970

We did very well with our story last week, All Eyes on the Pond.  We really are learning all about animals in our Georgia Habitat.  On Tuesday and Thursday morning, we will be going to the library to research our chosen animal.  We will learn researching skills like using the encyclopedias, using periodicals and magazines, and also properly searching the internet.

We will read My Great Aunt Arizona as it is a beautiful story about using your imagination to travel to different places!  We will work on the following skills:  vocabulary from our story, summarizing the literature, action verbs, spelling, and compound words. We will also learn the different types of reference materials like dictionaries, globes, almanacs, atlas, and encyclopedias.

Here are the spelling words for the week: The pattern is changing y to i:

1. fried

2. carried

3. married

4. cherries

5. ladies

6. studied

7. dried

8. puppies

9. flies

10. creek

11. buckets

12. carpenter

13. cabin

14. soldiers

15. buried

16. tries

17. cries

18. replies

19. berries

20. activities

We are learning so much about graphing, tally tables, and frequency tables.  Thursday, we surveyed the classroom and learned about different animals that would make great pets.  We made a tally table.  Then we transferred the information onto a frequency tables. On Friday, we made bar graph with all the data that was collected.  It was a lot of fun!  We will continue to do activities with bar graphs this week.

Here is the homework for the week:

Monday--- PS 70--14.1---This will be a handout

Tuesday---PS 71--14.2---This will be a handout

Wednesday-PS 72--14.3--This will be a handout

Thursday--PS 73 14.4 and PS 74 14.5--This will be a handout.

                     
Thank you for responding to the volunteer luncheon.  I have gotten many responses back.  I would like to see all of those great parents that have help us in the classroom or outside the classroom this year.  Our luncheon is schedule for Tuesday, March 18th at 11:40.  Please RSVP by March 12th if you are interested in coming.  Mrs. Wood and I are looking forward to it!

IMPORTANT DATES

3/8--CAMP EXPO AT PERIMETER MALL.  THIS IS A TOTALLY FREE EVENT. COME OUT AND LEARN ABOUT THE DIFFERENT DAY CAMPS AND AWAY CAMPS OFFERED. 12th Annual Atlanta Parent Camp Expo shows, featuring Day and Overnight camps for all ages and interests.

3/12--ALL WEAVING PROJECTS ARE DUE TO MRS. HOPKINS.

3/15--FUN RUN!

3/17- ST. PATRICK'S DAY

3/18--VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION LUNCH

3/19--FERNBANK FIELD TRIP---BRING IN PERMISSION SLIPS, PLEASE! Also, Birthday Book Club!

We are sad that Vincent is moving.  We will all miss him so very much!  Good luck Vincent...you will be missed by all!

Week of 3/3/08

Career Day and Early Release Day will be on Tuesday March 4th.  The children are released at 12:20pm this day.  Sack lunches we be provided and we will eat in the classroom.  We will be visited by a group of speakers that will tell us all about their jobs. We are very excited!

We will learn about data collection and problem solving in Chapter 14 of our math textbook.  We will learn about organizing and displaying data, tally table, frequency table, and survey results. Here is the homework for the week:

Monday: RW 70--Collect Data

Tuesday: RW 71--Data from a survey

Wednesday: RW 72--Problem Solving Skills

Thursday:  RW 73 and RW 74--Bar Graphs and making a bar graph.

Please continue to work on division and multiplication facts.  I can't stress how important it is for your third grader to know these facts by heart.  Fourth grade is just around the corner and this is a must for 4th graders!

We continue to learn about the balance of nature and the animal world around us.  We will read an interesting non-fiction story called--All Eyes on the Pond.  We will be doing another project/presentation for this unit.  We will learn how to research information on the internet and using the encylopedia.  Here are the spelling words for the week.  Our spelling pattern is contractions and possessives.

1. can't

2. crawdad's

3. that's

4. they're

5. what's

6. its

7. it's

8. they've

9. giant's

10. blind

11. echoes

12. spy

13. view

14. peculiar

15. peering

16. don't

17. let's

18. I'll

19. I'd

20.  wouldn't

Science:  The children continue to learn about animals and their habitats.

IMPORTANT DATES:

MARCH 4TH- CAREER DAY FROM 8:30-11:30 A.M.

ALSO EARLY RELEASE DAY @ 12:20 P.M. AND SACK LUNCHES

Mar 15^th- FUN RUN

Mar 18^th-Volunteer Appreciation Lunch