Woohoo!  Ready for another awesome school year to start tomorrow.  Open house night was exciting!  I met many new friends, and saw several "old" friends as well.  I can't wait to start this adventure...bring it on!

Alrighty!  Finally have a minute to update our blog.  This is conference week...if you didn't have a conference scheduled in October, I've sent home a note for parents to fill out.  Please send it back as soon as possible, and I'll get back to you with a time!
We also will be taking  a Terra Nova test next week.  This test is to screen for gifted and talented scores.  No worries...no pressure!!  I'll get them ready to do their best work.
Our pumpkin projects turned out absolutely AWESOME!!  As soon as we get our character writing done, we will be sharing our projects with the class.  They are proudly displayed in our hall, and have gotten so many compliments on them!  Check out our pictures on our Facebook page, Room 17.
Our science/reading focus will be on animal life cycles for the next week or so.  We will be using our reading strategies to learn more and dig deeper!  We will be making a power point slide show, with the help and guidance from Mrs. Lisath.  We are choosing an interesting animal that we want to learn more about...stay tuned!!
Math finds us continuing to explore multiplication and will be moving into division soon!  PLEASE continue to practice those facts...it makes things so much easier when the kiddos are fluent with them!
Thanks for being a partner in your child's education!

We love Tasty Wednesday!!  About once a month we get to develop our culinary skills (and especially our writing/sequencing skills!).  This week, we continue with the fall theme.  Thanks again to the wonderful parents who donate yummy supplies!!
If you see some reading selections coming home with the numbers 1-2-3 on them, ask your kiddos about them!  Our focus is on close reading...digging deeper and fully understanding what we read.  This is a great strategy, especially with non-fiction readings.  We find that when we read an article once, we just break the surface of understanding.  When we read it twice, we get a little deeper, and even discover new information we might have missed.  And when we read it THREE times, we should feel confident enough to explain it or even teach someone else the information!!  I got goosebumps today when one one of my students said "This is the best extended response I have ever written!  That digging really helped!"  Woohoo!
We won't be doing a spelling list this week...we are still working on those vowel and consonant suffixes.  We should be back on track after we get back from our "mini" break...no school this Thursday or Friday.  Sounds like a good time to work on those pumpkin projects!  They are due at the end of the month.
We have also started multiplication Boot Camp.  Check your kiddo's folders with some info about memorizing those facts.  We will be working on other math ideas as well, but we need to practice fluency with facts every night.  Use the flash cards that are in their folders.  They should be bringing these home every evening.  We practice here, but nightly review is extremely important.
Thanks for being a partner in your child's education.

P.S.   We LOVE guided reading!

We had our first Tasty Wednesday this week!  Once a month or so, we gather ingredients to create a tasty but educational treat.  We are practicing following directions, writing directions, sequencing, and writing a review.  I plan on assembling a book for each kiddo at year's end.  Thanks to parents who offered to send in ingredients...I'll let you know when/what we need!!
Picture day is this Thursday...don't forget to send in the form and payment if you chose to order photos this year.
This week is also conference week.  We are participating in student led conferences-we really enjoyed them last year.  The kiddos have ownership of their learning and grades, and they did a fine job of explaining things to their parents.  I plan on letting half of the students participate this week, with the other half getting their turn in November.  If you feel you need to meet before then...by all means let me know!  Text, call, email...whatever works for you!
Our fall OAA test is coming up on October 8th.  If you are not getting Mr. Thornsberry's phone messages, please let me or Erin know...lots of good info.  We are really focusing on being in school that week...on time and ready to shine!  Room 17 also had 3 days in a row of perfect attendance AND perfect homework completion last week...going for a new record this week.
Don't forget to check out Room 17 on facebook...I post lots of pictures there.  I'm trying to find out how to connect this blog to that page...if anyone has mad computer skills and knows how to do this...let me know!!
Our big rocks this week and probably next:

• main idea/details
  
• rounding check it out!
• nouns check it out!
• prefixes/suffixes
• our community
• animal life cycles.  check it out!
• personal narratives

Just a short post this weekend-gotta watch my Steelers.  Don't judge.  Win or lose, when you're from Pittsburgh, it's in your blood!
Ten school days until we take our OAA test!  We've been talking about not getting nervous(we think a tiny bit of nerves is ok!) and trying our very best. It's a great chance to show what they know and also lets me know where to put some focus. Please remind your kiddos to get lots of sleep and to stay focused.  You can go to ODE to see what the tests look like and try a few if you'd like.
We've started to write our fictional narratives...ask your kiddos about the fabulous stories we have been reading to show examples of character, imagery, setting, mood, and dialog.  This is our first big writing project, and it is taking us a bit of time!
As always, thanks for being a partner in your child's education!

Things are starting to settle in for Room 17.  We are getting our procedures down, expectations are understood, missions are set!  This week we will be setting our SMART goals for this 9 weeks.  We set one for reading, one or math, and one personal goal.  We keep them in our leadership notebooks.  This year, we will do student-led conferences.  I'll be sending home info on this when it gets closer to conference time.
In reading, we will focus on character, setting, and plot with several stories and books.  We continue to read Gooney Bird Green and work on our narratives.  We will finish up our unit on place value in math, and start to explore maps skills in social studies.  We have a new science series this year...hopefully we will start our unit on life cycles/animals this week as well.
I plan on sending home math homework this week.  For awhile, on Mondays I will send home a worksheet that reviews basic skills that third graders should know this year.  We start off with only completing part of it(the ones that are circled).  They have all week to complete it!  We check it on Fridays together.   Kiddos should still keep on reading and completing the reading log every night also.
 Students are working together as a team toward a classroom teamwork reward.  Every time we work as a team( all students are here, all students have homework, someone gives us a compliment, we rock an activity, we use the 7 habits like a champ!) I pull a number and color in our teamwork chart.  When we get 10 in a row, we have decided that our reward will be pizza and free computer time!  Can't wait!
Thanks for being a partner in your child's education!

We survived our first two days!  What a great group of kiddos.  We have lots planned for this week...including taking lots of drink breaks.  Please send a water bottle with them this week.  It helps to put a sock on the bottom of the bottle-keeps our desks a little drier.
This week we will be learning our routines. Practice, practice, practice!  Room 17 also will be creating a mission statement for the year.  They will know it off by heart in no time!  The kiddos have filled out their job applications and should be ready to become an important part of keeping our community running smoothly.
We will start our first chapter book, Ramona Quimby, Age 8.

We also will be reading a fabulous story called Gooney Bird Greene and starting some writing projects.

We will also be reviewing a bit in math and jumping right into place value!

As always, if you have any questions, please contact me!  Thanks for being a partner in your child's education!