Happy Holidays

     Our first semester has come and gone, and the crew is now halfway to fourth grade!  Hard to believe!  I hope each and everyone of you have a great Winter Break and come back in 2014 ready to make the final push. A BIG thank you goes out to all of the parents who helped with our party Thursday.  Special thanks to Mrs. R, Mrs. P, Mrs. J, and Mrs. N for all of the help setting up, cooking, and cleaning up.  Thanks also to Mrs. A and Mr. L for coming by to help.

From our whole gang to all of yours, have a wonderful Holiday season!

Trick or Treat

Check out our friends and their amazing Halloween costumes!

Can you figure out which of your friends are pictured?

Iron Patriot

Zombie

Wesley and the gang from The Princess Bride

 

Lily Munster and Werewolf

 

Finding One Half

Since the Internet is down, I haven't been able to share this activity with the class.  

Enjoy:

Click HERE to access the learning activity!

Fun Run

Because of the construction a Oliver Middle, Shayne is without Internet access so I am not able to easily check or respond to email during the day as I have to rely on my phone. Anyway, I thought this might be the easiest way to share some info about next week.

Next Thursday, October 31, our school will participate in the annual Fun Run fundraiser. Donation envelopes went home before break if you plan to collect donations.

Lunch for the students that day will be cheese and pepperoni pizza. If your child cannot or does not eat pizza, you will need to send in a lunch for that day.  Each student will need to bring a drink for their lunch. If you want to send a snack or dessert for your child, please feel free. Also, if you will be here helping with Fun Run, you are invited to come and have some pizza with us!  All of this will be in next week's newsletter, but I thought a heads up might help.

Thanks so much.

Help From Your Pantry?

       I hope you all had a great break!  Tomorrow morning will be here all too soon. 

       I was wondering if you might be able to help the class out this week by donating items you may already have at home. As you read in the e-mail, we will use the story of Stone Soup to introduce a unit on culture and community. I would like to mix up a batch of soup in the class. We will need small quantities of items to mix up the "recipe." I will be making the soup in a large crock pot, so we don't need much of each item--only 1-2 cups of the vegetables. If you are able and willing to send in some items, please respond in the comments section of this post. Thank you so much for being willing to help out with such late notice!
       What we could use:

• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2-3 medium potatoes, skinned and diced
• 1 cup corn kernels
• Favorite seasonings
• Anything else you thing would work!

Please send the items in by Wednesday.  Thank you so much!
     Please know that conference day is coming up soon--November 1.  Look for a note to come home tomorrow about signing up for your time.

We "Mustache" You To Take Us More Seriously

We finally had everyone at school to take our class photo with the mustaches!  Here they are.  The scary thing is that some of the students don't look too bad with them! I also have individual shots of each mustachioed student for you.  Those will be emailed out this weekend.  I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we did wearing the hairy little things!

There's an App for That!

Today in class some students were asking about the educational games learning activities I have on my iPhone.  If you have any cool apps that you would like to share with others, please leave a message about them in the comments section of this post. 

The one I was showing them today is free--the best kind--and it is called Montezuma Puzzle.  It is similar to tangrams.  You have to try and fit specific pieces into a given frame.  It really tests spacial reasoning.  There is a volume two if you master the first. It is one of those addictive apps!

What apps are you using to entertain and educate?  We do have a class iPad, so I'm always looking for good, engaging, and relatively inexpensive apps to use with the class.  Please share!

Oops! Already?!

I can't believe it!  It's week 2 and I neglected to send home your newsletter.  They are right here on the table ready to go home.  I am so sorry for not getting those to you today.  In short, the main reminder is about Open House Thursday evening.  We will meet from 6:00-7:00.  Please note that Oliver is also having an Open House that night, so parking may be tricky.  Also be sure to send in the City Saver envelopes as you sell them (or return the booklet if you choose not to sell). We want to be sure your child gets his/her mustache!  (I'm not sure I've ever said that before!)

Have a great evening, and look for your newsletter tomorrow.  (I promise--I will get this new schedule thing down soon!)  I appreciate your patience.  Keep reading!

It's a New Year; It's a New Grade!

I can't believe we start a brand new school year tomorrow.  I can remember when August 1 was still a part of the summer!  I want to thank all of the students and parents who came by during Meet the Teacher night last night.  It was my pleasure to meet you and get to know you and your child.  (And for my former students who dropped in, it was good seeing you, too!)  For those of you who couldn't make it, I look forward to meeting you very soon!

I truly believe we have amazing things in store for us this year.  It is going to take a little while to get back in the swing of things, but we will be a strong classroom family before too long. 

This blog is just an additional means of communication for both parents and students.  You will receive a newsletter each Monday, but updates and other news will be posted here during the week.  You can leave comments any time.  (I ask the students to not use their last name when posting, just to be safe.)  So, until next time, welcome to our class.  It's going to be a great year in 3rd grade!

Field Day Lunch

Please sign up for an item for our lunch on Field Day.  You can post in the comments section what you are able to donate.  I'll send a list home next week of what is still needed.  Thanks!

Hebrew National hotdogs (come in packs of 7)  Need 7-8

Buns (usually come in packs of 8)  Need 6-7

Chips  Need 3-5 or individual packs

Fruit   Need 2-3

Desserts  Need 3-4

Juice boxes/pouches (boxes of 10)   Need 4-6

Ketchup

Mustard

I've got paper plates and napkins.  What have I forgotten?  I would love to borrow an ice cooler from someone if possible!? 

We Survived TCAP!

As I said in today's newsletter, I am very proud of how hard the students worked last week.  They appeared to be very confident, and I am sure they did the best they could.  That is all we can ask.  Well done!

There are many things coming up on our schedule during these last few weeks of school.  (Can you believe it is almost over?!)  Check out our calendar for May--

May 1--DIBELS reading end of year assessment
May 6--Tour of Oliver
May 8--Sounds Reading Club trip to the ballpark
May 10--final payments due for Mammoth Cave
May 14--CRA math end of year assessment
May 17--Field Day
May 22--Mammoth Cave
May 23--4th grade Walk Off
May 24--half day/last day

I'll add to this as I know more.

This is SPRING Break?

I think I've found all of that snow we've been missing.  When I left for church yesterday morning, there was a dusting on the ground.  By 4:00 there was 7 inches.  This morning, we had 13!  At least it is beautiful!  I hope you are all having a great break.  Be safe and I'll see you Monday!

 

My dog, Oliver, loves snow.  Here is the proof!

We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do!

Today wraps up our Read Across America Week.  We had college/school spirit day!  Everyone looked great!  Don't forget reading logs are due in the morning if you want in the drawing for the Kindle.

Wacky Wednesday

So, given today's theme, you can imagine the high quality of instruction students were able to handle.  We tried, but I'm not sure how successfully.  Take a peek below and see if you can understand why the students were so distracted.

 And we even found a couple of long lost relatives! 



Vocabulary Hat Day

In honor of Read Across America Week, our students created vocabulary hats.  Check them out:

Our whole gang!

 



Sudoku and our Week

I meant to share this link last week.  We have been doing some sudoku puzzles in our morning work to help our logic.  There is a great, FREE website that I showed the class.  When you have a chance, check out www.jigsawdoku.com  and give it a try.  It is addictive! 

A few reminders for this week:

1. The book fair is open all week.  Checks will not be accepted--cash, debit, and credit only.
2. Tomorrow is class picture day.  Be sure to send in your check or money if you want to purchase a copy.
3. Wednesday is Wacky Wednesday.  As far as I know, this will be an opt out (of SSA) day.  If that changes I will let you know.  
4. Thursday is college/school spirit day.  Students may wear a college or school shirt over their regular collared shirt.
5. Friday is the last day of the book fair.  They will pack it up at 11:30.

Have a great week.  Don't forget about Daylight Savings this weekend.

It's a Non-Party

If you are interested in sending in items for our Non-Party next Thursday, please use the comments section to help coordinate.  Remember this is not an official party, so participation is voluntary.  I do ask that if you do plan on sending in items, that you please send in enough for all 21 students.  Thank you!

Math Book Online

To access the online version of our math text book:

1. Go to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com
2. Click Register
3. On the first screen, type the class access code in the access code field.
4. Follow the instructions to register.Please DO NOT use your full name as your user name.
   Write your user name somewhere handy exactly as you typed it.
5. At the end of registration process, the SuccessNet login page appears.
6. Log in by typing your user name and password.

Teacher name: Ms. Karraker
Class/Group name: 2012

Class access code: C93BF7C7134DFF3433BD
When you enroll or register, type the access code exactly as shown above.
Use all uppercase letters.