We are excited to be back in the swing of things!  Hopefully, everyone had a great break with family and friends.  I feel refreshed and ready for the next half of the year.
Our homework will be changing starting this week.  In order to start preparing for the OAA in April, we will start reviewing skills that we have learned.  On Mondays, we still have Number of the week, which is still due on Friday.  We also will have an OAA-formated story from past tests to complete.  Parents are encouraged to work on these skills with your kiddos. Tuesdays, we will practice language skills with worksheets about a robot called Mosh...this has been a favorite of my classes!  They will also practice attacking word problems using different strategies.  On Wednesdays,  we will tackle OAA frequently tested skills, and practice a math skill from out practice book.  On Thursdays, they will continue to practice those multiplication facts, and they can have a free reading evening!  Over the weekend, I send home a short Read-Aloud worksheet that has comprehension tips for you to discuss.  This looks like a lot of work, but hopefully it is reviewing skills we have mastered.  This should only take 30-40 minutes each evening.  If it gets to be frustrating, please let me know and we can discuss the best way for your child to review.
Next week is quarterly testing week.  Our class will be busy reviewing what we learned right before break, and will be taking the test online again. 
Thank you for getting you children to school on time every day!  Hopefully the flu and runny noses are behind us(she said wistfully)and we can regain the Attendance Trophy that has eluded Room 17 lately!
As always, thank you for being a partner in your child's education.  Involved parents make such a difference!  Thank you, thank you.

Just a quick post this week.  Please know that the faculty at Worthington Elementary  are committed to keeping our children safe. 
We have a high school orchestra concert tomorrow morning.  The symphonic choir will sing through the halls on Wednesday.  Thursday brings the class breakfast and the Jaycee's Secret Santa and sing-a-long.  I was able to get everything on our child's list- a bike, skateboard, rip sticks, and clothes.  Many, many thanks for your generosity!
Thanks, also, to Johanna's momma and grandmomma.  They brought in stollen and gingerbread cookies for us to sample after we studied the traditions of Germany!  
We won't have a spelling test this week, nor a number of the week.  Please continue to practice those pesky times tables!  We have introduced 2, 5, 3, and will start 4 when we get back.

I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Enjoy those babies...I will surely miss them these next two weeks!

Just a reminder to talk about the Seven Habits...

	Habit 1 — Be Proactive You're in Charge I am a responsible person. I take initiative. I choose my actions, attitudes, and moods. I do not blame others for my wrong actions. I do the right thing without being asked, even when no one is looking.
	Habit 2 — Begin with the End in Mind Have a Plan I plan ahead and set goals. I do things that have meaning and make a difference. I am an important part of my classroom and contribute to my school’s mission and vision. I look for ways to be a good citizen.
	Habit 3 — Put First Things First Work First, Then Play I spend my time on things that are most important. This means I say no to things I know I should not do. I set priorities, make a schedule, and follow my plan. I am disciplined and organized.
	Habit 4 — Think Win-Win Everyone Can Win I balance courage for getting what I want with consideration for what others want. I make deposits in others’ Emotional Bank Accounts. When conflicts arise, I look for third alternatives.
	Habit 5 — Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood Listen Before You Talk I listen to other people’s ideas and feelings. I try to see things from their viewpoints. I listen to others without interrupting. I am confident in voicing my ideas. I look people in the eyes when talking.
	Habit 6 — Synergize Together Is Better I value other people’s strengths and learn from them. I get along well with others, even people who are different than me. I work well in groups. I seek out other people’s ideas to solve problems because I know that by teaming with others we can create better solutions than anyone of us can alone. I am humble.
	Habit 7 — Sharpen The Saw Balance Feels Best I take care of my body by eating right, exercising and getting sleep. I spend time with family and friends. I learn in lots of ways and lots of places, not just at school. I find meaningful ways to help others.

It's hard to believe that we only have 9 more days until Christmas break!  SO glad that I got that nasty flu out of the way...we keep washing those hands and sanitize our desks often.  Our class seems to have been spared...fingers crossed.
This week we will be reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson.  It is a favorite of mine that I love to share with the kids each year.  It brings a beautiful message about acceptance and the meaning of giving.
 We also will be "traveling" around the world studying the traditions of many different countries.  We get to board our Polar Express and explore how different cultures celebrate this time of year.  Make sure you check out our passports and luggage tags!
Please keep sending in donations for our Secret Santa!  I'd like to get our child's shopping completed this weekend, and it would be nice to get most of the things on the list.  So far, I think we are at $60.  The kids have been so kind and generous...anytime they find change on the playground, it goes into the  jar!!
Kelley, Lukas' mom, is planning our Christmas breakfast that will be Thursday, December 20th at 9:00.  If you didn't sign up to donate to this party and would like to contribute, please get in contact with her or send a note to go home with Lukas. 
We've got lots of fun(educational in disguise!)activities in the next two weeks...we'll be keeping busy and getting things done! 

Thanks for being a partner in your child's education! 

Tho fall OAA scores are in!  Third grade overall did well, with our class having a 90% passage rate.  This week, I plan on having student conferences to discuss each individual score with the kiddos.  If you have any questions AT ALL, please text me or give me a call! 
We are continuing to collect money for the Secret Santa child.  The kiddos can bring in any amount of money through December 14th.  That gives me time to shop!  What a fabulous way for this class to pay it forward!
We have started our multiplication facts last week.  Every week, we learn a new song/trick to help us memorize the facts.  We've learned how multiplication is repeated addition, and also how to show multiplication as arrays.  We really need to know the facts by heart, so that doesn't get in the way of the process.  You will see a practice log coming home this week.  Your child can practice any way that works for them...as long as they are practicing!  Each Friday we will have a 2 minute quiz.  They must achieve an 85% to pass.  If they don't reach 85%, they still must study that set for the next. week.  We will introduce new sets each week, and your child can retest on Wednesdays.
Mr. Saxton visited our class on Thursday!  He spoke and answered their questions, then read Big Al.  We made so many connections with the Seven Habits!  He loved the class so much, he'd like to come back and teach a social studies lesson!  Thanks, Mr. Saxton...you rock!!
Thank you for being a partner in your child's learning!

Thanksgiving week is here!!  Woot!  I have so much to be thankful for...something I try to acknowledge every day, not just this week.  I'm especially thankful for wonderful parents like you...sincerely.  I hope you enjoy your extra time with your children this week.  I can honestly say I will miss them! 

We FINALLY earned our Teamwork reward.  We usually get tons of compliments, but it took awhile to get a complete row of 10 on our hundreds chart.  They literally got 5 compliments in one day.  The kids chose as their reward....free reading time.  Yep.  Don't you love it?!  I threw in some ice cream, too.  ;)  We'll get to enjoy that tomorrow. 

The class and I have been studying the First Thanksgiving and using a really fun site...http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/  We learned a lot comparing our lives to the lives of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag.  The kids were very impressed with the bathroom facilities...or lack thereof..on the ship.  We used lots of visual imagery, especially when we learned about the journey on the ship.  Here's another great site...http://www.plimoth.org/.  Check them out!

We have been studying life cycles of different animals, and on Monday we will become Owl Barfologists.  (They love that term!) We will be dissecting owl pellets( we order them from a great company.  They heat them at high temps to kill germs and any critters in there.)  We will be sorting and graphing anything we find, making inferences on what the owls ate, drawing conclusions on their diet, and oodles more!  Don't forget to ask your Barfologists how they earned their "degree"!! Hee-hee!

Thanks for everything that you do for your kiddos...enjoy your week!

We have a busy few weeks coming up! I hope you are having fabulous conversations with your child about what we are accomplishing in room 17!
This week we will be taking the Terra Nova tests.  The district uses this data to determine gifted elegibility.  No need to loose sleep-we tackle this like we do everything, with 100% best effort!
We will be having our Thanksgiving luncheon this Thursday.  We have an adjusted schedule.  Third grade will eat from 11:50-12:20.  I loosk forward to seeing all of the volunteers and especially getting to eat lunch with the best class at Worthington!  :)
Please keep those food donations rolling in!  For every donation, my students will get a CHAMPs award.
This year we continue with the Jaycee's Secret Santa.  We will be collecting for a nine year old boy named James.  On his list:  a ripstick, bike, skateboard, size 10 shoe, size 32/32 jeans, socks, and large men's shirts.  I have been to get most everything on the list in the past.  I'm sure this year will be no different!  This is such a caring and compassionate class!  Thanks in advance for your generosity. 
As always, thank you for being a great partner in your child's education!

Sorry that I missed last week's post...I was out of town rooting on my hometown team!  We got a little wet, but had a great time sharpening the saw!
We have completed our Pumpkin Character projects!  The kids really out-did themselves.  I'll post some pictures this week. 
Our annual Food Drive starts this week.  Can goods and non-perishable items can be brought in anytime before Thanksgiving break. Let's break some records this year!
Worthington picture retakes will be Wednesday November 7th.
Our fabulous Veterans Day assembly will be Thursday November 8th. It is always a touching tribute to our Veterans.
Our Language arts standards this nine weeks are:

• inference
• context clues
• cause/effect
• sequence
• synonyms
• multiple meaning words
• homophones, metaphors
• using charts
• verbs
• using quotation marks and commas

We work on these in guided reading groups, whole group, intervention, using our reading anthology, leveled readers, and our new reading workshop novels.
In math, we will continue working on rounding and estimating, and then we start multiplication!  We will start times tests each week, so practice will be so important each night.  We also will introduce patterns and relationships, as well as geometry/solids and shapes.
Life cycles, rocks and minerals, and soil will be our focus in science, and we continue to explore communities in social studies.
I'm so proud of each and every student and the way they conducted themselves during our conferences this past nine weeks.  The way they explained themselves and more importantly, their learning, was impressive!  We will be setting new goals(love those big rocks!) and continue to monitor our progress.  As always, if you'd like to see their leadership notebooks, just ask your child to bring it home.  Thanks to all parents that came to share in your child's learning!
We will be talking about the Seven Habits in more detail...although the kiddos really amaze me with their understanding AND application.  What a wonderful atmosphere to work in!