Sept. 28-Oct. 2

Hope you are all enjoying the wonderful weather this weekend. Here are the latest updates for the week. Spelling packet for The Keeping Quilt will go home Monday due on Friday. Please check your child's work before it is turned in to be sure that sentences begin with a capital and end with the correct punctuation. Mrs. Sandman has been correcting the homework and has found numerous mistakes throughout the spelling packet. Also, as mentioned at Back to School Night, students should write sentences neatly on binder paper. We agreed that parents would attach binder paper from home.

We began subtraction of 3-4 digit numbers last week. This seems to be an area of weakness for many 3rd graders, so students may need additional support at home. I have parent volunteers coming in for math and will have some students pulled into small groups to receive help and additional instruction. Subtraction will be an area that we will revisit throughout the year.

That's about all for now. Looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks for conferences.

Sept. 21-25

A big thank you to the parents who chaperoned on our trip to the fair. We had a wonderful time looking at the different animals and other exhibits.

This week a new spelling packet will be sent home for The Waterfall. The packet will be due this Friday. In math we will finish addition and move to subtraction of 4 digit numbers. Subtraction, especially borrowing, can be a challenge for many 3rd graders. I encourage you to help at home by giving a few problems a night to solve. I will begin with a quick subtraction fact quiz to see where everyone is at and we'll go from there.

Scholastic Book orders will be due this Friday as well. It's a great opportunity to purchase books at a reasonable price and earn bonus points for the class. Mrs. Koenig has volunteered to take on this job, so feel free to contact her if you have any questions regarding your order.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Sept. 14-18

A reminder that spelling packets for The Ballad of Mulan will be due this Friday the 18th. Students will also be given their spelling test for the words on Friday. Please be sure to write the words down at home before your child turns in the completed packet.

The field trip to the County Fair is also this week on Wednesday. If you are driving, make sure you have your insurance info on file with the office. Due to the economic recession, the fair has only given our class 7 paid tickets this year. Additional tickets and parking are $5.00. Please let us know if this will be a hardship and we will come up with a way to cover the cost. In the past, students are not allowed to buy food at the fair, so be sure to pack a sack lunch and plenty of water.

Look forward to seeing you very soon and thank you again for your help and support!

Sept. 8-11

I hope you are all having a fabulous Labor Day weekend! It's great having an extra day off. On Tuesday the new spelling packet will go home for the Ballad of Mulan. This spelling list will be for the next 2 weeks, due on Friday September 18. With the shortened 4 day week and field trip next week, we need to make it through all of the grammar skills for this story in the Houghton Mifflin anthology. I'm sure the students will be relieved to have a break in homework.

I have received many chaperone forms for the upcoming field trip to the SC County Fair. I may buddy up a few parents if we have too many drivers. The cost of parking is $5.00 per car (it was last year). Please be sure to pack a lunch and plenty of water for the fair. We discourage purchasing food from the vendors as this is an educational field trip. A big thanks to all who can make it that day!

See you soon!

August 31-Sept 4

It was great meeting you all at Back to School Night. I hope all of your questions were answered. Remember, feel free to email us if you have any further questions. Those of you who signed up to volunteer, you can begin this week. The volunteers who will not begin will be those of you who are helping with Lit Circles on Tuesday morning. We'll let you know when to come in a few weeks.

Chapter 1 math tests (Place Value) were corrected over the weekend and will be sent home Monday or Tuesday. Most of the students did pretty well. Half of the class received a score of 90% and above. These tests will be reviewed by the students and then sent home for your review.

If you are interested in chaperoning for the upcoming County Fair field trip, be sure to get the driver paperwork signed in the office. Permission slips will go home soon.

Thanks again for all of your help and support this year. We REALLY appreciate!

August 24-28

Hello again! I tend to update the blog once a week, so please check for up coming events. As you all know, Back to School Night will be this Thursday at 6:15. Please arrive on time so we can begin promptly at 6:15. We will have a packet for you outlining this year in 3rd grade. A volunteer sign up sheet will also be passed around at that time. We'll need help in the classroom for Literature Circles (Tuesday morning), computer lab (Wednesday before lunch), and during math time a couple days a week. It looks like we'll have a student teacher who will be in the classroom twice a week as well. We will also need volunteers to pull out pages from the Math and Language Arts practice books, staple spelling packets for homework, and photo copying. We would like to have a parent in charge of scholastic book orders (usually 4 times during the year). As you can see, there are many opportunities to get involved. We appreciate all the help this year.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

August 17-21

Hello! The first week of school was a great success. Students seemed happy to see their friends and get back into the swing of things. It was great to meet many of you on the first day of school. I'll have a sign up sheet at Back to School Night next week for parent volunteers. I know many of you are eager to get into the classroom, so we'll look forward to your help soon.

This week we'll send home our first spelling packet including words for months of the year and days of the week. Students will need to write sentences and study the words for the spelling test on Friday. Also, we will begin using the Houghton Mifflin math program this week. Chapter 1 includes place value and homework will be sent home Monday through Thursday. The front page of math is computation and the back includes word problems. Students can choose 3 of the 6 word problems to do. Please be sure to check your child's work and make sure it is turned in on time. Also, reading logs will be checked every Friday by Mrs. Sandman.

Thanks for all of your support and donations this past week. They are greatly appreciated. I look forward to a great year ahead!