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This week's buzz....    Reminder that there is NO SCHOOL Monday and Tuesday this next week.  That's February 18 and 19.  Tuesday is a teacher workday.  Thursday next week, the 21st, is Sope Creek's 30th birthday and we are celebratiing 70's disco style!!  Wear your favorite 70's clothes and come help us celebrate!  Details went home last week. 

Fun Run is March 15.  Details were sent home last week as well.  Don't forget to register!  It'll be a lot of fun and great exercise for all. 

A special "thank you" to Mrs. Weinstein for bringing in Valentine's cupcakes for the class!  They were delicious.  And "thank you" to Deja for bringing in cookies.  We all enjoyed the Valentine's Day festivities! 

We would like to say a special "thank you" as well to our wonderful Foundation for working so hard to get us SMARTBoards here at Sope Creek!!!  We are very thankful to you.  We sincerely LOVE our SMARTBoard and use it in some way almost every day!  We would like to invite you, parents, to stop by and visit us for a few minutes in order to see us in action!  Please just jot a note or email first to make sure that it fits with our schedule.  We know there is a lot to learn, but we are jumping in with both feet.  Thanks again!!

PLEASE have your child go onto the website where they can take practice online CRCT tests.  Students will benefit from doing this as many times as possible.  It will certainly ease some of the test anxiety and prepare them for some of the types of questions which will be asked on the real test in April.

Lastly, please check out our blog and other third grade blogs for new sites.  These are fun and interactive.  There are sites on government as well, so that your child can read more in preparation for our upcoming test on the government unit.

Have a nice weekend.  Attached is this upcoming week's newsletter. Download feb18newsletter.doc   

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!  Thank you for the nice treats!  I LOVE the Valentine's boxes that are coming in.  It is obvious that the children and you have spent a lot of time decorating and making them look great!  If you have not sent in a decorated shoe box for our Valentine's, please do so by tomorrow, if possible.  If you do not have one, I will supply a white bag for your child to place theirs. 

We are SOOOO excited about receiving our new SMARTBoard!!  The kids can hardly contain themselves!  We are experimenting and learning together.  They have had fun playing all sorts of math games and have been demonstrating their morning work assignments on it as well.  Please consider coming in at a scheduled time to see your child in action!  Remember, we are just learning and having trainings, but would love to show you for 10 minutes or so what we can do!  Jot me an email if you are interested!

Attached is this week's newsletter.  Again, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!Download feb11newsletter.doc

Dear Parents,

Art Day on Friday was a spectacular event!  Art and technology integration, along with entertainment made a fun day for all to remember!  A big "thank you!" to our wonderful PTA and Foundation for making all of these things possible. 

Our school was transfomed for the day and into the evening into an art museum, with student and digital artwork adorning the walls for our viewing pleasure!  I hope you had a chance to make it to the Art Show Friday evening to see your child's artwork framed and on display. 

Just a reminder that our 3rd grade "Freedom" Performance is this Thursday evening, Feb. 7 at the school.  Please arrange to have your child in our classroom at 6:30 wearing red, white, and/or blue on top and with blue jeans.

Also, please take note on the newsletter of Early Release this week.  Students will be dismissed at 12:20 on Wednesday. 

Don't forget to register for our annual Sope Creek Super (Fun) Run on Saturday, March 15th!   Blue fliers went home this past week with details.

Last week a notice went home on gold paper regarding Kindergarten and First Grade new student registration.  Please disregard.  New forms on blue paper will be sent in place of those you received.  Sorry for any inconvenience.

Attached is this week's newsletter.  Have a nice week!Download feb4newsletter.doc 

Dear Yellow Jacket Families,

Can you believe the snow we got last week!?  What a fun time!  Your children wrote all about it in their writing journals and shared their experiences with the class!  I, of course, enjoyed hearing all about it!!

Thank you so very much for the books your child donated for our class library!  They are so excited about reading them and so am I!!  Once again, I appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity.

Just a few notes for this week:  Our class is participating in the Six Flags Six Hour Reading Club.  In order to become a member, your child needs to read for fun for a total of six hours.  They can read books, magazines, ocmic books, newspapers, etc.  Parents need to initial the paper that was sent home last week each time your child reads.  Students need to read for at least 360 minutes in order to be eligible.  The form will need to be returned to me by February 26th.  If your child meets these requirements, he or she will qualify for a free ticket to Six Flags!!  Happy reading!

Just a reminder that there are several events coming up in the near future.  Please check the bulletin board next to the Media Center for details regarding these Family Fun events.  As well, our annual Sope Creek Fun Run will be held March 15th this year.  It's Saturday morning from 9am-12pm.  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Christy Palladino at christypalladino@bellsouth.net .

Thank you for attending conferences this week.  I enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to meet with each of you!  You have wonderful children!  Have a wonderful weekend.  Attached is next week's newsletter:  Download jan28newsletter.doc

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Parent/Teacher Conferences next week!  Remember Monday we are all off for the MLK Holiday and school will resume with EARLY RELEASE Tuesday through Friday at 12:20pm.  Please plan to arrive on time for your conference, as we will only have 20 minutes to discuss your child's progress. 

A few other notes:  Your child brought home a letter from the Art Teacher explaining a project on which they will be working.  Please check the form to make sure he or she brings to school the needed supplies.  Mrs. Hopkins will be supplying the weaving looms which will need to be returned at the end of the project.  Children should plan to have their supplies for our next Art class on Friday next week.  She will let them know when the final project is due.

PTA is doing another fundraiser:  an Art Show, on the same day as Art Day.  This is going to be the evening of February 1, from 6-8:30pm.  The children's work will be put on display.  It will be an open house format where families may come, view, and purchase the finished masterpieces!  Wow!  The class with the highest class attendance will receive a Popcicle Party and Free Framed Artwork!  Hope to see you there!

As stated, Art Day will be held February 1.  Flyers were sent home today for the Jenny Holzer art project in which the children will be participating.  They are asking for our children to work on these over the weekend.  They do not need to decorate the flyers.  Children are just being asked to submit phases and statements.

Please return the "truisms" by TUESDAY, January 22nd.  A box will be in the front office for the collection of their ideas.

I did not send home the weekly green progress sheets this week, as I will be meeting individually with you with regard to your child's progress.  Green sheets will resume next week. 

Also, the children complete Daily Oral Language and Dailies (consisting of math problems, analogies, vocabulary and more) each day.  They have been doing this since the beginning of the year.  Almost all of the children, with the exception of maybe an occasional one or two, have more than enough time to complete these during our morning work time.  There are some who are not completing these.  They, however, are asking to do other things during this time.  Some are wanting to take AR tests (which would be okay, when DOL and Dailies are finished).  I am asking for your help to check on this. 

In your child's YELLOW FOLDER next Friday will be the DOL and Dailies from the previous week.  (This is the normal procedure for every week, so you can continue to check to see that your child's is complete.) IF YOU SEE DOL SENTENCES WRITTEN COMPLETELY IN RED INK, THEN THEY HAD NOT COMPLETED IT IN TIME.  WHATEVER THEY GET WRONG OR DO NOT FINISH THEY HAVE TO WRITE IN RED INK AS WE GO OVER IT IN CLASS TOGETHER.  My point is that if you are seeing a lot, or consistent red ink on these sheets then your child is either missing a lot of the problems, OR they are having to write in the answers as we go over them in class.  This should not be the norm.  As stated, they almost ALWAYS have more than enough time to complete before we go over.  Thank you very much for checking your child's papers and for reinforcing this.  If you need further clarification on this, please ask during our conference time and I will explain.

Have a great weekend!  Attached is the this week's newsletter.  Note that Monday's Specials class is noted.  Disregard because of the MLK Holiday.Download jan21newsletter.doc

The children were so excited for our third grade Science Day that they could hardly contain themselves!  THANK YOU, PARENTS, for making this day so great for them!  They enjoyed all of the science-related activities.  Our class enjoyed writing about their day afterwards!

  Penny Wars are coming!!  Penny Wars is a contest between homerooms to raise money for the American Cancer Society.  It is being sponsored by the Sope Creek Relay for Life Team.  Each homeroom class will place a milk jug in the Media Center where each morning between 7:30-7:50, students and adults may come in and deposit money in their class jug.  One point is received for every penny in the container.

                        We can sabotage the daily total of our opponents by putting other coins and paper currency into teh containers of OTHER classes.  Each silver coin or bill reduces the number of points from that container by the amount of the coin.  This is where strategy counts....have fun with it! 

Yearbook sales mentioned earlier end at the end of this month.  Hurry and purchase yours today!

Book Fair pre-order forms home today. 

Welcome Back and Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a very fun and restful holiday break!  As for me, I could not wait to come back and see your children!  Apparently, they could not wait to see each other either!  They have had much to talk about this week as they each caught up with others.

Thank you for continuing to check the blog for weekly updates.  The usual reminders about reading and practicing math facts each night to increase the level of reading comprehension and speed and accuracy of multiplication and division facts.

As stated in the newsletter, conferences are coming up very shortly.  I am looking forward to meeting with each of you with regard to your child's progress.  Report cards will be distributed at that time for the second nine weeks.  Please keep in mind that as the school year progresses, the work continues to be increasingly more difficult.  This means that the students just have to spend more time studying each subject.  Those that do are often rewarded by earning better grades.  I encourage you to check binders and sign each night that you have looked over your child's assignments.  They are given a sticker for each signature they get, as long as it was there when I checked for it that day.  This also helps you to know what he or she is doing in class daily.  Although they will not have homework in each subject, they will have some homework usually every night except for Fridays.  Thank you for your support with this.

Purchasing a yearbook for your family is a great way for you and your child to create great school memories!!  They love to look back from year to year and remember their friends and teachers, along with the unique things experienced that year. 

                        They are on sale now.  The cost is $30.  Please consider purchasing one today.

Please continue to check the dates to remember section in the weekly newsletter, as all kinds of things are in the near future.  Among them is the Book Fair.  Your children will also be singing at a PTA meeting soon.  They are practicing songs daily.  Details to follow....

Have a great weekend.  Attached is this week's newsletter.Download jan14newsletter.doc   

December 21, 2007

NO NEWSLETTER OR GREEN PROGRESS SHEETS THIS WEEK. 

SEE YOU ALL IN JANUARY!!!

                                                

Dear Yellow Jacket Families,

     May all of the warmth and the magic of the season be yours.  Enjoy the holiday and your break.  Be safe in all of your travels everywhere.  I will see you back here on January 8th. 

Just a reminder that conferences will be held in January and we will be scheduling your day and time soon after the return of the break.  We will also be having an in-school field trip upon our return.  Permission slips go home today.  Please sign and try to return this week so that we are ready when we come back.  Also, please have your Yellow Jacket practice his or her multiplication and division facts a little each day if possible.  Many students are not at 90% in 5 minutes or less with the facts, so that's why I recommend practice each day.  As well, continue to encourage independent reading and don't forget to log the minutes! 

Thank you, parents, for all of your help with sending in our project items!  And thank you for assisting with donations or your time for our holiday party, which will be Thursday at 12:30pm.  If you have not had a chance to send in items for the party and would like to help, you may contact Mrs. Jones.  There were several small items needed for the centers that day.  You have been so very generous; please know how thankful your children and I are!!!

Attached is the newsletter for the week of Dec. 17thDownload dec17newsletter.doc 

Correction

Oops, sorry.  In the newsletter I accidentally switched around Helper Parents and Story Parent dates.  Just read Story Parent as Helper Parents, and Helper Parents as Story Parent.  If you have any questions, please contact me and I will clarify.  My apologies!