Last Day!

Today is the last day to let me know if you wanted to be a volunteer for the Walkathon Friday, August 29. I have to have names turned in by the end of the day today. Thanks so much!

Box Tops Collection Competition

Please continue to clip and send your Box Tops for Education coupons in with your child. We are in the lead for 3rd grade. The class isn't even concerned about the prize. We just enjoy seeing our class in the first place slot on the bulletin board! :) So, ask your family members and friends to collect Box Tops for Brassfield. Thanks for your help!

Field Trip Permission Form

Parents,
Field trip permission forms are in your child's homework folder to be filled out and returned as soon as possible but before Tuesday. We have an in house field trip on Tuesday the 26th. I will need your permission before they can participate. Soon, there will be a form sent home as to the costs for the field trips this school year.
Thank you and have a great day!

Aug 20,2014 Newsletter

Reading:

We finished our novel The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. We have so enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book and writing about them.

During the next few weeks we will continue to learn about base words and the meanings of the most common prefixes and suffixes. Students will be reading fables, folktales and myths and learning to retell the story using the important details. Students will use these details to determine the message or moral of the story.

Language/Writing:

We started a new theme in writing. They are enjoying writing, reading and learning about castles.Students will be focusing on organizing details in their writing to support a main idea in an informative piece. They will practice identifying general or specific information in writing and practice elaborating to describe a critical character in a story.

Math: The students are beginning the unit on multiplication and division. We began today by looking at patterns in numbers. We will then move into understanding that multiplication is repeated addition. Students will learn to use a variety of strategies to solve multiplication problems such as arrays, equal groups and skip counting.  The students will be using the following math vocabulary: factors, products, repeated addition, repeated groups, and equal groups.

The first few multiplication fact sets will be introduced in this order 0,1,2,10,5. You may begin practicing these with your child using flashcards and Math Magician ( link on the Blog). The students will begin bi-weekly fluency quizzes after track out.

Science:

We have been learning about the skeletal system. Students know that the important functions of the skeletal system is to support, protect and provide movement. They have been investigating the different joints in the body and the type of movement they provide. I’m sure they were excited to tell you all about the owl pellet dissection. They enjoyed comparing the bones in the pellet to bones in our own skeleton. We will be going to the Learning Commons to research the muscular system.

Social Studies: The students in Mrs. Masteller’s class are studying the three branches of government, local, state and federal. We will conduct a mock City Council meeting. The students  will argue their opinion for or against a new WaterSlide Park in a community, with partners the students will complete a citizenship webquest.

Important Dates:

Aug. 19-21 CogAT Testing 9:30 each day

Aug. 20 Fall Pictures

Aug. 25 Spirit Night Zaxby’s (2 locations)

Aug. 26 In House Field Trip Science is Fun

Aug. 29 - Walk - A -Thon

Sept. 1- No School/Labor Day

Sept. 3 Case 21 9:30 AM

Sept. 5 - Report cards and track out and early release

Xtra Math and Lexia

Good afternoon! Your students are not assigned a math homework sheet tonight because we will be going over an assessment on quadrilaterals we completed on Friday. (They did a great job on this!) However, I did ask them to practice their math facts on Xtra Math (link to the left on my blog). It is very important that they master addition and subtraction facts before we start multiplication facts. They work on Xtra Math in class as well.

Also, we have three weeks until track out.  Students are encouraged to work on Lexia at home. It is most important for students that have not reached level 12 or 13. 13 is the beginning of third grade skills. Your child knows their level because we keep a chart in the classroom. Also, as they pass levels they are put on our "Lexia Hall of Fame" in the hall along with other rewards. Thank you for your support.

Ident-A-Kid

Reminder: Ident-A-Kid tomorrow. Send money if you are interested.
Pictures on Aug. 20

Aug 6, 2014 Newsletter

Happy Hump Day! Please see students’ Wednesday Folders for Progress Reports for the first quarter and mClass reports.

Reading:

Students will be working on character traits and their motivations. We will be looking at characters in our read aloud, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and learning to describe their feelings and motivations in the story. We will be looking at events from the character’s point of view. How does a character’s actions move the story along or change events in the story? Also, students will be working on looking at root words as clues to understanding the meaning of unknown words.

Language/Writing:

Students are writing a narrative story based on a prompt. We will be looking for good sentence structure, organization of the story (beginning, middle and end), elaborative details and interesting verb choices. In upcoming lessons the students will be focusing on informative writing having a central topic with 3 main ideas with facts/details supporting or relating to this topic. We will also learn to identify and use characters,setting, problems/adventures, and conclusions as part of writing an entertaining narrative story.

Math: The students are reviewing rounding. We will begin geometry this week. The students will be studying shapes and their attributes. It is important that when they answer their journal prompt homework they use the correct vocabulary.  Thanks

Please, Please have your child practice their subtraction facts. They will be taking timed quizzes. I have websites they can use up on my Blog. They need to be fluent in addition and subtraction facts before they can begin multiplication.

Science:

Mrs. Emerson’s class will begin their Science unit on the Human Body. We will be studying the skeletal system and muscular system.

Social Studies:The students are finishing the study of government, local, state and federal. We conducted a mock City Council meeting. They did an excellent job arguing their opinion for or against a new WaterSlide Park.  They are finishing their citizenship webquest.

Important Dates:

Aug. 4-8 - Interim Reports go home this week

Aug. 13 - Ident - A - Kid

Aug. 19-21 CogAT Testing 9:30 each day

Aug. 20 Fall Pictures

Aug. 29 - Walk - A -Thon

If your student would like to participate in the Brassfield Running Club please follow the link below for sign ups.

http://brassfieldesrunners.blogspot.com/2014/08/fall-running-club-starting-on-august.html