Almost December! Wow!

I can't believe it is almost December! Wow! Where does the time go? Hopefully you had an enjoyable break for Thanksgiving! I did! It was nice to have a little break after ITBS, but I did miss the students as well. We have a lot to do before the semester ends and the new calendar year begins. As always. . .we are busy . . . .having fun as well.

The students were excited to see that Mrs. Hartberg had returned from her maternity leave! We are all glad that she is back! She will be co-teaching some literacy and writing time with me so the students will be seeing her in the room more and more as the year goes along.

I will be posting pictures from our Character Counts celebration that was held last Tuesday. The new Character Counts mascots are already displayed in the hallway and look great! It was nice to see parents and students working together on something that is stressed in our school, good character. I hope that each of you had an enjoyable time also. Thanks to our parents who brought in snacks! Yumm! Our tummies thank you also! Be looking for the pictures either tomorrow or Wednesday (I can't find my camera cord to download them to the computer. :))

If your child did not return his/her reading calendar for the month of November, he/she may do so tomorrow. I will be sending home reading calendars for the month of December as well as pizza coupons for those that met their goal in November. I was very impressed with how many students read in October so I am hoping I will be amazed with the November calendars also! Keep it up 3B!

Today students in 3B turned in their effort coupons from ITBS towards something in my prize box. They have been waiting for this day. . . . so excited! This was just a little extra for students trying so hard on ITBS. Everyone needs a little pat on the back once and a while right? So, look for your child to bring his/her prize home today.

This week we will be moving into more measurement activities in math, more discussion on the types of communities with a tour of these communities through Goggle Earth, getting more students on Edmodo (which is a way of communicating about reading without opening mouth- also known on online chatting), reviewing nouns and noun types in writing, and working on more fluency and accuracy strategies in reading. We just wrapped up some great discussion and review of the comprehension strategy of "retelling" using shapes as our guide. Maybe ask your 3B student about what shapes we use to remind us how to retell something we have read.

Have a great week! It is suppose to be chilly by the end of the week so encourage your 3B student to dress warm for recess!

Short Week But Lots to Share

I hope you enjoyed your sunshiny weekend! The weather was so nice it was hard to believe it is the middle of November. It doesn't sound like the warm weather is going to stick around though so we had better enjoy it while we can. Please check with your child before he/she leaves for school that they are dressed appropriately to be outside for recess. It's better to have "too much" than "not enough" when it comes to being outside as the weather gets colder. Some students were already complaining about today's chill in the air, so please be sure they come prepared to be outside as the weather gets colder. Thanks!

Last week we had a visitor in 3B. Angela Meiers was here visiting as she is helping our school district look at our literacy and technology needs. She is familiar with our school district as she was involved in our last "literacy visit" a few years ago. I have taken some classes from her as well as maintained some contact via Twitter and the Internet. She's a wonderful person full of so much knowledge. Anyway, she stopped in our classroom last week along with Mrs. Sovereign and Mr. Brown, principal at Ridgeway, to see how literacy/Daily 5 was going in 3B. I was so pleased with the students! They were so well behaved (as usual for the most part) and respectful that I couldn't have been prouder. Students were busy doing a variety of things, book blogging, podcasting, reading to self, listening to reading, etc., that she was so impressed with everything she said she couldn't stop smiling. She had discussions with some of the students about what they were working on and what it means to be a reader. One group was working through "Edmodo" having an online disucssion with me about their reading, which she loved. She shared with them that she personally knows the person who created "Edmodo" and next time she visits, she wants the students to record a short video to him about what they love about the program. They were so excited! Anyway, point being, way to go 3B at continuing to be so well behaved while having fun in learning! I am so proud of you, as always!

You may have recognized a small bookshelf on the side of my blog page. I have discovered yet another great tool for reading called "Shelfari" (actually my 13 year old daughter and friends on Twitter told me about it so I really didn't discover it but you know what I mean). It is a great online site to post books, make recommendations, and comment about books you have read or would like to read. I have mine showing with not only student books but adult books as well that I read in my free time. Only a few show on the blog page with the rest being seen when you log on to "Shelfari". My plan is that I am going to set up a "Shelfari" account for 3B students. They will complete a form that includes a rating, comments, tags, and suggestions about the books they are reading and I will then post them on our class blog page and "Shelfari" class account. I would love for the students to each have their own but they need individual pass words for that so I am going to try a class account instead. I will be introducing this to students this week in hopes to get them pumped up to create our online "Shelfair" book shelf. They can then view this as a resource when trying to select a book to read or share books they loved with others. Look for this to show up sometime on our class blog page while my individual "Shelfari" account will remain on this blog page. Love it!!!

Just a reminder that we are having our first Character Counts celebration this Wednesday from 1:30-2:15. If you can not make it nor have a relative who can attend, please let me know so that I can find some one to work with your child. Remember that you and your 3B child will be creating a new mascot for Character Counts. We will be providing the paper/poster board. Your 3B child will have his or her markers, crayons, and colored pencils. If you would like to use anything else, such as glitter, feathers, etc., you must bring those materials from home. I also sent a letter last week to the parents who volunteered to supply snacks for the celebration. If you are unable to do so and received the letter, please let me know by Tuesday of this week. The students are excited, as am I! It's a great way to end the week and celebrate having good character! Your child is more than welcome to go home with you when your mascot is completed as it is also an hour early out that day. Hope to see you Wednesday!