After many days, tired feet, and achy finger tips, I am finally done putting the room back together!! I have never had to put a room together so quickly, so this just about threw me off my game. I usually come in a few days over the summer and take my time. Not this time! A HUGE thank you to Mrs. Ayers for helping me yesterday, I could not have done this without her. She knew just when to take over. Apparently, I get a "lost/confused" look on my face and she read it well! LOL Today, I introduced the kiddos to all of the amazing materials we received. We had a few minutes this morning to play around with some of the math and reading items. I actually had time to build my first Lego structure with a few of the students. We had a blast!! So, without further delay, here's the final pictures!
Yesterday, Santa's elves arrived to deliver and begin unpacking our new classroom materials and furniture. I popped into the room, after school, and this is what I saw.
So exciting!! The elves spent a large part of the day off loading the 18 wheeler (sleigh), so they were not able to finish unpacking everything yesterday. Because of this, today I am with the students and then tomorrow I will be in the room unpacking all the "presents". Friday, I will be back in our temporary classroom with the students, due to substitute shortage. On Monday, I will have a substitute, so that I can finish putting our classroom back together. Tuesday, the students will return to our regular classroom (D108). I am sure they are going to be as excited about the new things as I am. I cannot wait to see their faces when they see it all! Stay tuned for updated photos, once the classroom is completely put back together!!
Santa came early for 3rd Grade Teachers this year!! We have been blessed with all new furniture and reading comprehension materials. Santa is sending his elves to help put everything together. The elves won't be here until December 10th, so in the meantime, I am packing up the classroom. The photos below show what our beautiful room looks like right now. On Tuesday, the elves arrive to deliver and put everything together. Wednesday and Thursday, I will be back in the room unwrapping all the fantastic reading presents Santa is leaving me. I will also be putting the room back together so that on Friday, December 13th the kiddos can come back to our room. It's been a huge change for all of us, but the kiddos are doing a great job in our temporary room. I'm so proud of them. Thank you, Santa, for caring about what 3rd graders learn and for giving us the materials to make things even more exciting to learn with.
As we approach the holiday season, our class is participating in two fundraising events. We are collecting canned goods for the Salvation Army and pop tabs from soda cans for the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill. Both of these are wonderful causes to give to. So, if you have any canned goods you could donate, please send in with your child next week. We will be collecting through December 13th. At the same time, please send in any pop tabs you have. We have a collection box in the classroom for your child to put their tabs in. Please ask family and friends to help! The more we collect, the more families will have during the holidays. This is a small way that we can spread the holiday cheer!
We had a fantastic time today on our field trip to Tryon Palace in New Bern. The students were amazed at how people lived back in the 1700's. They were able to relate what they saw to our story from last week called William's House. It was so much fun watching them associate the two events together. I've added pictures from our trip to the Photo Gallery section. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the Palace, so I was only able to get a picture of them walking up into it. This is a fantastic place to visit for a weekend trip. We did not get to do everything there is to do there, so I highly encourage you to drive to New Bern for a day trip to a fantastic experience.
Happy 238th Birthday, United States Marine Corps!! You are the best of the best and I am so honored to be married to a Marine, the aunt of a Marine, and a teacher of Marine Corps dependents. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for our lives in the Marine Corps and the freedom that it has given all of us. We are truly blessed to have such an amazing fighting force protecting our freedoms.
To my Marine Corps parents, I hope that you celebrate this birthday and all of your hard work protecting this amazing country of ours. Take this day to honor all you have done and the sacrifices of those who came before us. I am humbled that you entrust your precious children to me!
This is a reminder that Parent Conferences are tomorrow, November 4th. You should have received your confirmation paper with your chosen time on it. This was sent home with students last week.
Tomorrow's conferences are Student Led, rather than Teacher Led. This means that your child will be guiding you and answering any questions you have about their learning. I will be "popping" into your conference, but only to observe. The Parents Place table contains information that I would normally share with you during a typical parent teacher conference. I know you are going to enjoy this format, as I'm sure your child will.
Sticking with the theme of the month, I've updated the page to reflect that it's Halloween!!!! We are hard at work on our Spooky Stories this month, along with learning the Writing Process. This is a new process for many in our room, but one that will help them become much better writers. I am super excited for their finished product, which should be hot off the press by Halloween!!
Check out the new additions to our first Book Report. Today, I added two videos and a video PowerPoint. We still have more to go!! Hope everyone is having a great weekend.
Wow!!! I am so excited about our first Book Reports for the year. When students came through the door Wednesday, there was so much excitement when they saw each other's work. These projects are truly amazing. Students and families put in so much work putting these together. I have taken a few pictures of some and still have more pictures to take. I've uploaded the pictures I have taken and will add the new ones once I get them all done. Hopefully tomorrow!! Thank you, Mom and Dad, for your support and hard work. They could not have done this without you.
Parents, don't forget that Friday is school pictures! I haven't received a time yet, but hopefully they will be in the morning, before recess! :) I also begin testing students, individually, on the BAS (Benchmark Assessment System). This test gives me a better idea of where your child is in reading. Reading with them, individually, has given me great insight, but the BAS goes a step further. I am testing tomorrow, Thursday & Friday. A substitute will be in the classroom with students while I am out testing.
Wow! What an amazing way to honor September 11th! We spent this week talking about what America means to us and discussed what they knew about September 11, 2001. I was surprised how much this group of 3rd graders knew. After talking about the tragedy, we talked about how America has survived and moved forward. I was so proud having this discussion with my kiddos yesterday. Everyday they are reminded about war and separation when they watch their awesome parents put on that uniform and go off to work. Today, during our moment of silence, there was not a sound to be heard in our room. They stood proudly and then when "God Bless the USA" played they sang so loudly. Brought tears to my eyes. Wow!! Thank you to all the parents who came out and walked with us today. You made this day special for your child.
Just a reminder that if your child misplaces their weekly homework plan, you can find it here on the blog under the Calendars/Homework/Newsletter link above. You can also find the weekly spelling words and any other relevant classroom information under the Classroom Info link above. Also, if you haven't set up email notifications you can do so in the right margin of this page under the Follow Me heading. When I update or add to the blog, you will receive an email with the information. Have a great week!
What a great "first full week" we had this week!! Students continued working on learning policies and procedures, as well as Daily 5 Math and Reading Stations. I am so proud of how hard they worked to follow station expectations and complete their work on time. Below are some pictures of students working in stations. They have got this down, so next week is going to be a breeze!!
