April 26-30, 2010

A new spelling packet for Ramona Quimby will be due on Friday, April 30. Mammal reports were under way last week in class. All students should have completed the notes to paragraph 3 by last Friday. Tomorrow, we will continue on with paragraph 4, so if your child was absent or did not get the notes done in class, they will have to complete it for homework during the week. A letter was sent home describing the diorama that students should construct at home. These are due on Tuesday, May 11. The dioramas should be turned in on time, so plan accordingly. We are hearing several excuses from students about why their homework is not done or turned in. Most kids turn homework in on time, but there are a few that consistently forget to bring it, or simply tell us they didn't have time to finish. The nightly math should not take more than 30 minutes, tops. Spelling packets are simple and should take maybe 30-45 minutes per week. Reading logs are due every Friday for Mrs. Sandman to check. Lit circles may take some time to complete, but if the reading is spread out through the week, it can be done. As the year is coming to an end, we are stressing the importance of homework and responsibility, because there will be a lot more work in 4th grade. We want your child to be successful.

STAR Testing begins this week as well. Please be sure your child gets a good nights rest and solid breakfast this week and next. We have a field trip on Thursday to the MAH, so STAR testing will resume on Friday. We also have another field trip scheduled for Thursday, May 6th to the Agricultural History Museum in Watsonville. The cost is $4.00 per child. I believe chaperones are free, but will double check. If you would like to drive, please write a note on the field trip form with the number of students that can fit in your car. For the trip this week to the MAH, ALL students need to bring a sack lunch. We won't return back to school until noon, and they will miss the chance for hot lunch. We are not allowed to eat at the museum, so students may need to eat in the car or when they return back to school.

Thanks again for all of your help and support this year.

Wish list: wipes, sharpened pencils

April 19-23, 2010

It was nice to see a lot of smiling faces when students returned this week after an eventful Spring Break. Hope it was restful for parents as well!

Students were asked last week to decide on a mammal they would like to research for the upcoming animal report. A sign up sheet was sent around on Wednesday and most students seemed pretty eager about what they wanted to study. They were taught the attributes of a mammal in science last week, and should have selected an animal with those characteristics. Over the weekend, please help your child find either a book or internet article (at their reading level) to bring in on Monday. I asked that all students read their article and/or begin reading their book so that Monday we could begin this project. It is very important that they come to school prepared. Otherwise, it is hard for them to get started. It was very difficult during Biographies to get to everyone when students did not know the information. A letter will be sent home this week describing the project more in detail. We would like to have this project due by Tuesday, May 11. That should give ample time to present to each other and display during open house.

The spelling packet for Poppa's New Pants will go home Monday, due Friday. Students will continue in their Houghton Mifflin (HM) math books. We wrapped up probability and will work on 2-3 digit multiplication. Students may have additional Excel review pages for homework as well. A reminder that Lit Circles are due every Tuesday. We are still missing many leveled books, so if you find one at home, please send it in.

Looks like we have just enough drivers for our field trip to the MAH on Thursday, April 29. We have another field trip to the Agricultural History Museum on Thursday, April 6. Permission forms have not been sent home yet, hopefully this week we'll get them out.

We'll also begin drawing this Wednesday with the Spectra Arts teacher. She will be with us for the next 5 weeks. I'm sure your child will have some nice pieces to display.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Wish List: wipes and pencils

April 12-16, 2010

Hope everyone is enjoying Spring Break. It couldn't have come at a perfect time! As we return from break, with only 8 weeks of school to go, there's a lot of upcoming events.

This week a spelling packet will go home for Pepita Talks Twice, due on Friday. For math, we will continue with probability and begin reviewing past concepts for the upcoming CST. We only have 2 weeks until the testing window begins, so we have a lot of work to do. If you haven't turned in your parent education level form, please do so this week. We will let students know if we haven't received it yet.

The next big project will be a mammal report due sometime before Open House in May. The 3rd grade team will come up with a time line and directions for this project. A letter will be sent home either this week or next about the project. Students were asked before Spring Break to THINK of a mammal they are interested in. It was made clear that they are not supposed to do a report over break. We will begin shortly in class.

We have 2 upcoming field trips. The first is to the MAH in Santa Cruz on Thursday, April 29 from 8:30-11:30. We still need 1-2 more drivers. Please let us know if you are available. The cost of this field trip is $2.00 per child. Also, we have another trip scheduled for Thursday, May 6 to the Agricultural History Project at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. Permission slips for this field trip will go home later this week.

Thanks again to Mrs. Feldbrugge and Mr. Esche for taking time to video the biographies. They were wonderful!

Have a nice weekend and see you soon!