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!

We do spelling  a little differently this year!  Basically here's how it works:  On Wednesdays we get a spelling contract.  Each child can chose up to (and beyond) 4 activities to practice our weekly words.  They are differentiated, so there is something for all abilities.  Four activities, completed neatly and correctly, will earn an A, three activities a B, and so on.  We have practiced choosing wisely, and each child has a quick conference with me to make sure their choices are doable!  Each morning, we have about 15 minutes or so to work on the contract. I reminded them each day to work on it, but soon they won't need the reminder!  Most kiddos like to start on it as soon as they get here in the morning.  We keep the contract in our green homework folders...1. so we know where it is and hopefully won't lose it and 2. if we chose to work on it at home, we can!  I find that this approach gives the kids numerous benefits... accountability, time management skills, empowerment in choice, not having lots of Friday tests, and not all pencil/paper/worksheets!
The contract is due on Tuesday of the following week, so the kids have an entire week to work on it.  We test on Tuesdays...hopefully that is written in our student agenda books each week.  Whew!

Well, I had a BLAST at our Open House!  I really love meeting the kiddos before the first "official" day...gets some of those jitters out. (Mostly mine!)  Thank you, parents and grandparents, for taking a positive step towards what I know will be a great relationship this year.  I'll see everyone tomorrow...third grade ROCKS!