Fall Celebration!

This morning we read the picture book "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert.  The children collected leaves and are using their nature smarts and art smarts to create their own leaf pictures.  After creating the pictures, the children are writing their own creative narrative to go with it.  

We will be having our yogurt parfaits and apple cider this afternoon.  Thank you parents for your donations!   We are all looking forward to this delicious and nutritious treat!  :)  Have a safe and Happy Halloween!  :) 

Moskauski Minutes

Today marks the first day of second quarter!  Boy, did first quarter fly by!  I am so proud of the children for their hard work and efforts.  Looking forward to another wonderful quarter to come!  :)

Fall Celebration: Thank you for those of you who signed up for items for our fall celebration. The children are super excited!   If you have not yet signed up and would like to donate an item, please check up our sign up at: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A094DA4AD2A1-fall  Thank you so much for your support!

Field Trip News: Field trip money and permission slips are due tomorrow.  :)  

Spirit Week:  Here are a couple things our school is doing this week for Bully Prevention Month.  

Wednesday, 10/30: Students are encouraged to wear mismatched clothing and crazy hair for Don’t Get Mixed up with Bullies Day. (Let's all dress up like Gooney Bird Greene!!!)

Thursday, 10/31: Students are encouraged to dress up as their hero for Be a Hero Day. (ex. Teacher, police officer, firefighter, parent, president, historical figure,  etc..No scary costumes please.)

Friday, 11/1: Students are encouraged to wear peace related clothing (peace signs or hippy style) for Stand up and speak up against bullying day.

Have a fabulous week!!  :)

Art Collaboration Lesson

Today we worked with Ms. Fahrenthold to explore and create with clay, one of the three types of soil that we learned about this quarter.  Great job students!

Moskauski Minutes

Reading Comprehension Homework:  The children did an awesome job with their first week of the reading comprehension skills log sheet!  For next week's sheet, I changed the skills and am also requiring that the children write the title of the book used for each section.  Some of the skills are labelled with what type of book is needed for the particular section (picture book and non-fiction book).  Please remind your child to respond to each part in specific, detailed and complete sentences.  

Community Service: Community Service is due Friday!  The children are expected to complete at least 30 minutes of service by the end of the quarter.  For each activity, they are required to write the date, time, location and task they completed.  Your child may include photographs and visuals.  They are then to write or type at least a paragraph on the following:
1.  Describe in detail what volunteer task they did.
2.  Their reactions and feelings about their good deed.

Curriculum Notes:  I can't believe next week marks the end of the first quarter!!  This quarter has flown by!  I am so proud of the children for their hard work and efforts.  :)  :)

We will be having two days of Case 21 testing next week.  The children took Case 21 in second grade, so are familiar with the test format.  These tests are used to help guide our instruction, and do not get factored into report card grades.

In math class we will be continuing to practice with multiplication and division strategies.  The children will be wrapping up their Social Studies unit with Mr. Otto.  We will continue to read and analyze fables, myths and folktales.  In word work we will be looking at prefixes and suffixes.  We will be publishing our narratives and also beginning on a new story.  

Field Trip: If you are interested in chaperoning our field trip, please send me in a note or email to let me know by next Friday.  So far we have only one volunteer and are allowed to have three volunteers per class.  We would love to have you!

Upcoming Dates:

• Thursday, October 24th:  Community Helpers Presentation, 2:15- 3:45
• Friday, October 25th: Last day of quarter, community service for first quarter due, if interested in chaperoning trip let me know by this day
• Monday, October 28th:  Teacher Workday, No School
• Wednesday, October 30th: Field Trip money due
• Friday, November 1th: "The True Life Adventures of Gooney Bird Greene" play at Wake Forest High School
• Friday, November 8th:  Early Release at 1:15

Garden Lesson

Today we met with Ms. Liza Coonse, our school's very own garden lady!  She did a fabulous lesson with the class where they learned about parts of a plant through making hands-on observations in the garden.  The children learned what parts of the garden plants we eat, they rooted and picked plants, sprinkled seeds, and explored the smells of plant spices.  The children also have a seed pod, radishes and a marigold flower that are coming home with them today.  Ask your child what his or her favorite part of the lesson was!  :-)

Peace Day and Anti-Bullying Lesson

A big thank you goes out to Ms. Arriaza, Elena's mom, for planning a special lesson for the third grade classes with author Mari Howerton.  Ms. Howerton read and discussed her book 

Down-n-Around the Pond.  The book is about some friends coming together to make some music, and then the children had a chance to make some music of their own!  Through the lesson, we learned the importance of how to treat others with respect and thoughtfulness and also how to celebrate one another's differences.  :)  :)  :)

Moskauski Minutes

New Reading Homework: In addition to the nightly reading log and math homework sheet, the third grade teachers are now adding reading comprehension homework.  This week we will begin having nightly comprehension homework based on the skills we are working on in class.  There is a homework sheet in this week's homework folder that must be filled out each evening.  Please continue to alternate fiction and non-fiction each night.

Community Service: Community Service for first quarter is due in two weeks!  The children are expected to complete at least thirty minutes of service by the end of each quarter.  For each activity, they are required to write the date, time, location and task they completed.  Your child may also include photographs.  They are then to write (at least a paragraph) on the following:
1.  Describe in detail what volunteer task they did
2.  Their reactions and feelings about their good deed

Curriculum Notes: In math next week, we will be starting a new unit on multiplication and division.  At this point in the year, we do not expect the children to start memorizing their facts.  We want the children to understand the idea and concept of what multiplication and division means.  We will start memorizing facts later on in the year. 
In reading we will continue to look at character traits.  We will compare personal point of view to a character's point of view.  We will be focusing on learning about the lesson or moral in a story.  We will be looking at fables, folktales and myths.  In word work, we will be looking at known root words to help determine the meaning of unknown words.  In writing, we will finish revising, editing and publishing our narratives (we didn't get to a lot of writing this past week because of the Cog-At testing).  

Welcome Fadia:  A big warm welcome goes out to our new friend Fadia!  I am so proud of the children for being so welcoming, helpful and encouraging to our new addition to our class family!  :)

New Share Schedule: We are going to begin this week with a new rotational share schedule.  We will begin having only one student share each morning meeting.  The new schedule will be as follows:
Tuesday, October 15th: Sebastian
Wednesday, October 16th: Kaleb
Thursday, October 17th: Abigail
Friday, October 18th: Miller
Monday, October 21st: Cassie
Tuesday, October 22nd: Fadia
Wednesday, October 23rd: Ishmael
Thursday, October 24th: Wit
Friday, October 25th: Jenna
Tuesday, October 29th: Josh
Wednesday, October 30th: Kalil
Thursday, October 31st: Yahir
Monday, November 4th: Manuel
Tuesday, November 5th: Eriel
Wednesday, November 6th: Journee
Thursday, November 7th: Elena
Friday, November 8th: Isabella
Tuesday, November 12th: Ella Wood
Wednesday, November 13th: Ashlyn
Thursday, November 14th: Caroline
Friday, November 15th: Troy
Monday, November 18th: Diana

Upcoming Dates:

• Wednesday, October 16th: Scholastic book orders are due
• Friday, October 18th:  Early Release at 1:15
•  Thursday, October 24th:  Community Helpers Presentation, 2:15- 3:45
• Friday, October 25th: Last day of quarter, community service for first quarter due, if interested in chaperoning trip let me know by this day
• Monday, October 28th:  Teacher Workday, No School
• Wednesday, October 30th: Field Trip money due
• Friday, November 1th: "The True Life Adventures of Gooney Bird Greene" play at Wake Forest High School
• Friday, November 8th:  Early Release at 1:15

Moskauski Minutes

Cog-At Testing: Monday through Wednesday of this week the children will be taking the Cog-At testing.  This is the first round of testing to determine eligibility for the Academically Gifted (AG) program.  There is no way for the children to study or prepare for these tests.  Please make sure your child gets a good night's rest, eats a healthy breakfast and arrives to school on time each day.  These are timed tests.  All other tests we have taken so far this year have not been timed, so this will be the children's first exposure to a timed test.  The children are encouraged to pace themselves and to not get stuck on a problem that they do not know but to skip it and move on to the next problem.  If there is still time left, they can go back to the problems they skipped over. 

Curriculum Notes: Because of Cog-At testing this week, the third grade teachers decided to continue with our literacy objectives from last week into this week.  Our literacy block will be cut short due to testing.  We will spend time this week continuing to look at character traits and feelings.  We will look at character's point of view and making inferences (drawing conclusions) about our reading.  If time allows, we will be publishing our narratives.  Friday we will be meeting with Ms. Caldwell's class for our first book buddies session.  In math this week we will be studying another unit of geometry. We will be learning about angles, triangles and polygons.  The children will begin Social Studies with Mr. Otto this week.  

Scholastic Book Orders: I am sending home October book order catalogs in this week's Monday folders.  The orders will be due by Wednesday, October 16th to ensure arrival before Halloween (in case anyone wanted to give gifts for Halloween).  Be sure to check out the Scholastic website for more titles.  You can also search the site for books for younger and older children, too!  Remember to use our class activation code when placing any online orders.

Field Trip: In this week's Monday folder you will find information and a permission slip about our upcoming field trip on November 1st to The Wake Forest High School Matinee Program.  At the field trip, the children will be seeing a live performance of the play "The True Life Adventures of Gooney Bird Greene".  The third grade will be reading the novel  and then getting to see it acted out live on stage!  Payment is due by Wednesday, October 30th.  If you are interested in chaperoning, please let me know by Friday, October 25th. 

Class Celebration:  We earned 50 class Dragon Dollars and the children decided on their first class celebration.  This Wednesday to celebrate, the children chose extra recess time, getting to wear pajamas to school and to bring a small stuffed animal for their desk.  Please make sure pajamas are appropriate for school and follow our school dress code policy.  We are almost to the end of the quarter school-wide goal of 75 Dragon Dollars.  Way to go students!!

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, October 7th- Wednesday, October 9th:  Cog-AT Tests
• Wednesday, October 9th: Class Dragon Dollar celebration
• Friday, October 18th:  Early Release at 1:15
•  Thursday, October 24th:  Community Helpers Presentation, 2:15- 3:45
• Friday, October 25th: Last day of quarter, community service for first quarter due, if interested in chaperoning trip let me know by this day
• Monday, October 28th:  Teacher Workday, No School
• Wednesday, October 30th: Field Trip money due
• Friday, November 1th: "The True Life Adventures of Gooney Bird Greene" play at Wake Forest High School
• Friday, November 8th:  Early Release at 1:15

Drama Collaboration Video

Today we did a drama collaboration with Rockin' Rouse.  The children learned about the Constitution through a Reader's Theater lesson.  In this video the children are reciting the Preamble. 

Great job students!

Pictures From Our In-School Field Trip

The children had a wonderful time!  A big thank you goes out to Ashlyn's mom, Mrs. Smith for chaperoning our trip.  We enjoyed you sharing this experience with us!  :)  :)  :)

Picture Day is tomorrow.  Please have your child dress his or her best because this picture will be the one in the yearbook.  If you are purchasing pictures, money and orders must be turned in by tomorrow morning.

If you signed up for a conference, I sent home with your child a confirmation letter with your scheduled time.  I look forward to talking with you!  We have had a great start to our year!  :)