Moore's Updates

Summer Fun!!

WONDERFUL SUMMER!!

   I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!!!

While relaxing, remember to READ, READ, READ!!  Don't forget to practice those addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts!!

I look forward to meeting my new class very soon.  Until then ENJOY!!!!!!

   I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!!!

While relaxing, remember to READ, READ, READ!!  Don't forget to practice those addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts!!

I look forward to meeting my new class very soon.  Until then ENJOY!!!!!!

THIRD GRADE YEARBOOK SIGNING DAY

II just found out today when I got home that tomorrow is YEARBOOK SIGNING DAY for third grade.  The teachers will allow them to go around to other third grade classes and to the Principal's office to get their yearbook signed.  The students can bring their yearbooks or their class shirt to have that signed.

I apologize for the late notice but I just found out. Thanks!! 

A Few Reminders

We are having ice cream sundaes tomorrow, Friday, with our Book Buddies, Mrs. Gabriel's Class.  I sent volunteer items home with the students.  8:30 and ice cream should be very interesting.

Memory Afternoon:

We are having "Memory afternoon from 12-2 tomorrow.  I will give out yearbooks to those who bought them.  They have 25 extra yearbooks that will be on sale at the school store if you did not purchase one.  You may send money with your child.  I will give them time to sign each others book.  I also told them that they could wear their shirts again tomorrow and let their classmates sign it.  Sorry moms but we were supposed to do that today.

We are also completing an art activity to leave for the upcoming 3rd graders and a letter as well.  Posters will be made for Mrs. Wilson's surprise party on Monday.  Tomorrow will be a very busy day.

Monday 8:15-9:00 3rd grade Writer's Tea

Come and enjoy reading all the writing your child has done this year.

If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail or ask.

With Much Appreciation

Dear Parents,

    I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you all.  I wish you could have seen the children's face when they came in with their gifts for me.  They were so proud.  I was very overwhelmed and appreciative.  The book that the students made was adorable and I could tell it was very thoughtful and well written. I will keep it forever. The flower day was beautiful.  I have not been able to plant flowers at my house due to some upcoming painting.  I am a nature lover to the ridiculous level ;therefore, I enjoyed the flowers and I thank you.  If I ever need a chocolate fix, it is not a problem.  I was a terrible role-model as I had chocolate for breakfast one morning.  I thought about having chocolate again for and lunch and decided that was too much!!  I will enjoy the Blockbuster movies as well as the Outback gift certificate.  What a treat for me!!

    As many of you know, this was my first year in third grade as a regular education teacher.  This year has been more than I could have ever hoped for.  The children have made tremendous gains and have been a pleasure to teach.  You guys have been more than great.  You listen, support, encourage and congratulate all we do.  I appreciate your participation, gifts and your time.  At times, I find it difficult to express such thoughts but I needed you all to know how deeply you have touched me this year and confirmed my desire to step in this arena of regular education.  I want to always keep in touch with each and every one of you because I want to celebrate life's joys and "the journey" with you and your family.  Thanks for all you have done for me.

Math: We had our test on fractions and the students all did a wonderful job.  Multiplying multi-digit numbers will be the focus of the next 2 weeks.  We will learn a very effective method called "partial products".  It really enables the students to understand what multiplying large numbers really is.  We will also do our M & M activity: we will write fractions and make a graph of the different colors.  It will be a fun and hands on activity that the children will remember.

Science:  Students will learn about conservation of our resources for the rest of the year.  We will learn what we can do to be kinder to our Earth.

Social Studies: We are learning to compare and contrast different cultures in the world.  We have our Promethean board back in our room.  I have found "Brain Pop" which is educational movies that discuss and teach children while still being able to actively engage in the activity.  We will be on line with a live classroom and be able to ask them questions about what they do in school and their customs.  Technology is OTC ("Off The Chain")!  The students are so engaged when using technology.  The students have been using the Activote system, which is an assessment where they actively participate in questions by pushing buttons from their desks.  The students love this activity.

Reading/Language arts:  We are finishing up our literature circles and continuing to write narrative stories.  Letter writing are also being reviewed as we write to the second graders and guest speakers from Career Day.

This Week's Activities:

Monday : 5-12-08

Mrs. Britton will complete the last guidance lesson for our class from 8:00-8:30

8:30-9:30  Under The Sea dress rehearsal  I can still remember when my own 13 and 16 year old were in this delightful play.  It will be a treat I am sure.

11:15-2:15

I will be in a meeting for team planning but a substitute will be in the classroom.  I will be in the building and have planned accordingly.

Tuesday : 5-13-08

A regular day with computer lab, where we will do our favorite activity: MEGA MATH.  These are computer activities that go along with our math texts.  The are very educational and fun.

Wednesday: 5-14-08

We will see Laughing Matters at 10:15  This is a humorous Show with clown-like puppets

Thursday : 5-15-08

Field Day- have the students wear their class t-shirts and bring water bottles.

Friday : 5-15-08

Relay for Life Biscuit Sale

Ice Cream Sundaes with our Book Buddies, Mrs. Gabriel class

12:00-2:00- We will have a memory day by making a memory quilt to hang in the hall.  It will be on display during Sneak a Peek in the fall so that the upcoming third graders will know what to look forward to.  We will also have popsicles outside as we draw our favorite memories in chalk on the sidewalk.  You may want to dress them in old clothes this day. We will also start write our memory journal that each student can keep as a reminder of third grade.

I hope you all had a fantastic Mother's Day and were valued for all you do.  If you have questions please ask as my door is always open to you!

The secret word for this week is "conservation"

Exciting Week

This week is filled with adventure!

Monday starts with Cinco De Mayo with a Promethean activity to compare and contrast our community with communities in Mexico.  We will have a little chips and salsa for snacks.

 

The Big Chill:

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The students will bring in their boxes Monday.  All boxes should have some type of material attached to insulate the box.  We will start by writing our hypothesis and then writing our procedures.We will chart the melting of the ice in each box.  Then we will combine the results into a class graph.    We  will write our own conclusion.  This is actively taking the children through the scientific process. Thanks for supporting this home project. We will conclude our heat unit by actively participating in a heat Promethean lesson.

Math:

Students will be making a Hershey Book to recall all we learned in our fraction lesson.  Chapter 20 will be finished this week with a test on Thursday.  M & M's Candy activity will be the hands-on fraction lesson this week

As you probably know, we finished Marley.  Marley lived a great life.  Yes, he did die at the end but only after a very nice and eventful life.  I cried and the kids cried because we all love Marley so much.  What a great author to move us to tears.

Reading:

Literature Circles and guided reading will continue as well as our language arts project.

Schedule for this week:

May 5th, Monday:

Reading Night at the GM Media Center 6:00-8:00.  A great time to catch up on reading.  Remember reading logs are due every Monday.

May 6th, Tuesday:

Well Star will present a health program at 8:15 AM. 

May 7th, Wednesday

Nurses Day, the class will make a card for our friend "nurse Bonnie".

May 9th, Friday:

Career Day

Volunteer Brunch 8:30-11:0

FREAKY FRIDAY 12:00-1:00

All media center books are due

As always, if you have questions or concerns please ask.  My door is always open to you.  Have a wonderful week.

Secret Words: "Love my mother"

Garage Sale

If you need to schedule a large item pick-up to be donated to the Foundation Garage Sale,

Please call Patti Lavender:  770-552-1162

We are planning to schedule pick-ups for Sunday afternoon, April 27^th, but we may be able to make other arrangements.

Garage Sale

If you need to schedule a large item pick-up to be donated to the Foundation Garage Sale,

Please call Patti Lavender:  770-552-1162

We are planning to schedule pick-ups for Sunday afternoon, April 27^th, but we may be able to make other arrangements.

Wonderful Week

Dear Parents,

Students are not turning in their reading logs in on Mondays.  Every student is required to read 490 pages by May 14th.  The reading log is averaged as a test grade for this 9 week.  Please be diligent in this area as it is important to maintain reading fluency and academic endurance.

Download meridional1.gif  here is a reading log that can be easily downloaded.  Thank you for your help.  Each week they should be reading between 60 and 100 pages.  I have noted in the student's agenda when they have not turned in a reading log.

  Freaky Friday is on Disney Channel this Sunday at 8 :00. We watched the older version in class.  Thank you Mrs. Huie.  If y'all would like to watch this as a family, I think it would be great.  I do know there is a part where the child, when acting like the mother, has alcohol.  I will let you decide if you think it is appropriate.  If you chose to watch, have fun and laugh a lot.

ECONOMICS LESSON: Snakes and Dough Nuts was a true learning experience.  First we acted out a play where your children were very good actors  as they learned about investments, profits and losses. Then we developed "production companies".  Each company produced a product in a limited amount of time with limited natural resources.  They understood how difficult a small business can be.  I will continue variations of this concepts throughout the remainder of the year.  Which is 21 school days. OMG!  CRCT testing went really well.  The students seem to take their time and really try their best.  I am very proud of their efforts.  We will continue testing Monday with the Science portion and Tuesday7 with the  Social Studies portion.

Math:  The students enjoyed the Hershey Bar fraction lesson.  They will be completing a hands-on book to demonstrate their knowledge.  M & M s will be incorporated into our next hands on lesson.  When the student can actually sort and physically group items fractions become concrete to them.  We will continue Chapter 20 Fractions and decimals and should have a test next Friday.

Thank you Mrs. Parker for the boxes. The students will use their knowledge of conductors and insulators to create a box that will keep an ice cube from melting.  Hands off moms and dads this is for them to discover.  If they complete the project according to the rubrics then they will get a good grade. I will attach the rubric next week.  We will give out the science project on Tuesday and it will be due next Monday.  If anybody else discovered any boxes, please bring them in and I can share with other teachers or use them next year.  I am thankful everyday for my classroom and parental support. You guys are awesome! Thanks!

Language arts:  We will continue reading Marley aloud as the students continue their literature circles.  We will also be reading nonfiction texts related to social studies and science.  Our Freaky Friday projects are coming right along.  I hope all moms can attend as this is a very special event to honor YOU!  I wil let you know when the movie about Marley comes out and we can all go together.

STUFF TO REMEMBER:

April 29th: Movie outdoors at Lassiter High School.  7PM, $3.00 Madagascar.

April 26th, Chick Fil A Biscuits orders were due today.

April 30th: Progress Reports go home.  Only the students who have not demonstrated adequate progress will get a progress report.

May 1st: PTA and 1st grade performance 6:30-7:30

May 2nd:Spirit Day Wear GM or Class shirt

May 3rd: GM Foundation Garage Sale 8 AM- 3 PM

May 5th: 6PM Reading Night at GM, come to the media Center to read with your child.

May 7th is SCHOOL NURSE DAY, it would be thoughtful to remember Mrs. Bonnie as she has been very involved in our class this year.  I feel she has done a wonderful job.  I will have the kids make her a card, if you would like to do something extra, I am sure she would appreciate it.

May 9th:  Career Day,

Volunteer Lunch 8:30-11:00

Freaky Friday 12-1

ASP Drama Show: 6:30-8:15

April News

Dear Parents,

I hope you are all back into the swing of things after our spring holidays.  We have some fun activities planned for the next couple of weeks. 

Freaky Friday:  I hope you all got your Freaky Friday invitations that were sent home on Thursday.  The students are working hard on their Mother's Day writing for you.  I thought that it would be very special if you made your child a card.  Since you are switching places, I thought that it is only fitting that you raise your "cool factor".  If you want to, and I hope you do, write your child a letter or make them a card using the following abbreviations for common lingo used by kids these days.  Bring it with you on Freaky Friday and share it with your child.  Common Cool Language:

AWHFY........Are We Having Fun Yet???????

LOL.............Laugh Out Loud

CSL..............Can't Stop Laughing

GBH...........Great Big Hug

FYF....................From Your Friend

BFF...................Best Friends Forever

KEWL..................Cool

OTT...............Over The Top

ONUD...................Oh No You Didn't

AML......................All My Love

P-ZA..................Pizza

I 1DR.......................I Wonder

WRSPOU...................We Are So Proud of You

IWIWU..................I Wish You Were Here

OTC........................Off The Chain

The date for Freaky Friday is May 9th from 12-1.  I hope you all can come so we can honor all the moms.  Remember you are switching places with your child.  They are not to purchase anything but any way that you can represent your child and them you will be great.  This is suppose to be fun!!!

All of the other stuff:

Math:  We are studying fractions and will use Hersey bars to understand equivalent fractions.  Ask your child about the Monday math lesson and what they learned.  We will continue Chapter 20 on Tuesday and pick it up again on April 30th after the CRCT. 

Spelling:  We will be studying Unit 31 this week.  I have noticed a decline in spelling grades since the break.  Please continue to review spelling words each week.  I was shocked when several students could not write their address.  Please have them review this at home as I continue to incorporate spelling into their everyday writing.

Science:  The science grades were wonderful.  I could tell that each student took studying very seriously.  I thank each of you for your support.  The students did a great job.  We Will continue our study of habits through April.

Social Studies: We will be completing a hands on lesson about economics by producing snakes and donuts with Play Dough.  Each production team will discover the aspects of quality control, supply and demand as well as working as team.  I have this planned for Tuesday afternoon.  Ask your child about Snakes and Donuts, It will be hands-on, fun and a demonstration of economics that they will understand.

Literature Circles: The students are reading in groups and discussing their books.  They have really taken ownership of this aspect of their curriculum.  I can see progress in following a story, visualizing, predicting and comprehension.  This is one of my favorite parts of the day.

Oral Reading: We are about half way through with Marley.  It is about a very wild and crazy yellow lab.   The children really like the hilarious antics of this dog.  A movie is being made about Marley.  I am not sure of the rating but when I find out, it would be a treat to go see it together.  When the students are listening to a read aloud they are forming a picture in their head.  We talk about everybody's picture being different, we predict what we think will happen next and laugh really hard at the funny parts.  Reading aloud helps student hear the fluency rate that is expected.  This is an important part of their curriculum.

Guided Reading:  In small groups, we also read information texts related mostly to social studies.  The students learn to understand the format of an informational text verses a fictional story.  This is an important skill as they are reading texts books and research materials.

Language Skills:  We work daily on grammar and parts of speech.  Presently we are working on inferences in test and how to determine the actual meaning from an inference.  Mountain Language completed every Friday and gives us a comprehensive review of grammar skills.

Dates to Remember:

CRCT: April 23rd-29th. Make ups are on April 30th.  Please make sure that your child is rested and has had a good breakfast on these days.  I do not mean to place too much importance on the testing I just don't want your child to feel unsuccessful about their performance.  Thank you for your support in this matter.

Progress Reports: Will come home on April 30th only for those student who are not making adequate progress.

A few more reminders:

Please check your child's head for lice.  As the weather gets warmer this could be an issue again.  Let me know if you have any concerns.

As always my door is open to you, if you have any questions or concerns please ask.

The secret word is : "equivalent"

Welcome Back

Dear Parents,

I hope that you all enjoyed your Spring Break as much as I did.  The children are writing about their adventures and are excited to share their writing with the class.

Next week is CRCT testing.  The testing begins at 8:05 AM.  It is very important that we begin on time because we are the first lunch for third grade and we must stick to the beginning time of 8:05.  Please have your child here before 8:05 so we can complete attendance, lunch count and use the restroom.  Testing is  4/23 - 4/29.  The days are : Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday with Wednesday being a make up day. During testing please try to stick to your daily routine as much as possible.  A calm environment makes for a calm student.  A good breakfast is very important, please make time for this and send in a healthy snack as well. 

Snack from the Lunchroom: Please have your child bring a snack from home.  If you must have them buy a snack they must have a note from a parent stating that you know they are getting a snack and a current date.  I appreciate your cooperation in this matter.  The students are using classtime to go back and forth to purchase snacks.  They may only purchase before school.

Science long-term project- has been postponed until after testing.  I am looking for 22 uniform boxes.  I thought that they would be easy to find.  I was wrong, nobody wants to part with empty boxes.  I would like jewelry boxes.  (The white cardboard kind with a lid on top).  If anybody has connections with a source of empty boxes we could use for a science project please let me know.

Math We are starting Chapter 20, fractions.  The student know fractions of a whole and will adding to their knowledge by learning how fractions, decimals and percent are all related.  We should have a test next Tuesday.  I will keep you posted on our progress.

Reading Logs:  Several students are not completing their reading logs.  this grade is calculated in their reading grade.  Please check your child's agenda to see if I have written you a note about the reading log.  Reading nightly is a routine that every child needs.  They will have reading requirements all through school.  If it in their routine, the subsequent grades will go much smoother.  Thank you for your help in this matter.

SCIENCE TEST ON THURSDAY- April 17th, this is a written assessment.  If they bring in their graphic organizer signed, they will get 10 bonus points on the test.  Please go over their science packet tonight and tomorrow night.  The test is very difficult.

FREAKY FRIDAY- We are rocking very hard on Freaky Friday.  This is a Mother's Day project where the moms come to school dressed as their child and the student comes to school dressed as the mom.  They are completing 4 activities to present to you when you come.  They have watched the movie and are diligently working on the projects.  I hope you can make time to attend this great event.  The date is the Friday before Mother's Day, May 9th from 12-1.  We will be sending home an invitation in the near future but please mark your calendars.

Literature circles are going well and the children are showing improvement in their reading skills.  Guided reading of nonfiction is also being done.  The focus of our guided reading is citizenship and our government.