I can't believe we only have 2.5 weeks left in this half of the year.  It's going too fast!!  

We still have lots to cover over the next two weeks and I know your kiddos are up for the challenge! 

Reading: The kids are loving their literature circles.  They are coming to the end of their novels and I love listening to the discussion happening during their Book Club meeting.  We are continuing to work on understanding the text and answering explicit and implicit questions.  We have also been responding to what we are reading with short answers as well as lengthier responses.  They are learning how to respond to reading using the RACE (restate, answer, cite, explain) strategy.  They are really doing great and I am very proud of them!  

ELA:  We are working our way through all of the verbs and are moving on to subject/verb agreement. 

We are going to be ending this nine weeks with an informational writing assignment.  Your child will pick an animal and write about different aspects of the animal.  While all of the writing will be done in the classroom, please allow your child to research at home.  I will be sending some great websites to help them to do their research.  They are very excited about this! 

MATH:  We have wrapped up our unit on perimeter and area with a really cool robot creation.  We are moving on to scaled graphing this coming week and we will wrap it up a review of the nine weeks to check for better understanding. 

The kids have taken our challenge of getting through the "9s" seriously and they are hard at work!  Please continue to work on those math facts at home.  The fourth grade teachers keep begging us to make sure they have mastered them so that they are ready for next year!!  They need to be fluent in addition/subtraction/multiplication/division by the end of the year. We will be taking a fluency checkpoint next week to see how much growth there has been!  

Science:  We are wrapping up our soil/weathering/erosion unit and will have a fun experiment next week.

Social Studies:  We have two historical figures left to study for this unit and we will begin the end of next week.  We will be discussing Frederick Douglass as well as Susan B. Anthony.  

Holiday Party:  Just a reminder that our holiday party is Wednesday, December 21, 1:00-2:00.  We hope you can join us!  Look for more information coming from Patty Payton, our awesome room mom, soon! 

We cannot emphasize to you all the importance of math fact fluency as we begin to turn the corner in third grade.  We are working in the classroom on our math facts, but it is vital that they do the work at home as well.  

We made a deal with the kids today that anyone that gets through "Nines" by next Friday will be able to eat lunch in the classroom. (This is a big deal!)  So please encourage them to work hard towards this goal.  I would really love to have everyone mastering their facts by the time we come back from our Winter Break. 

As always, thank you for your support! 

This coming Wednesday we will have our first multiplication and division fact quiz.  I would love to say that I have seen lots of progress with facts, but I can see that they are still struggling with knowing these facts fluently.  It is vital that they practice these facts at home as there is just not enough time in the day to work on them sufficiently.  After this quiz we will have a better idea of where they each stand and what they need to work on to become more fluent.  

I spoke to them about that even though we don't have homework I can easily tell who is not practicing their math facts by how well they do on these quizzes.  I am sending some links of some websites that they can play a game and practice their facts.  There are also some great apps out there as well.  

http://www.mathplayground.com/ASB_Index.html

http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/mathfact/mathFact.htm

http://www.coolmath-games.com/

http://www.softschools.com/math/games/

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Because of your generosity your kiddos were able to enjoy EXTREME RECESS today!!  It was so much fun!!!!!  Lots of smiles on the playground.  Sorry for the pitiful picture but they were hard to corral! 

You all should have received an invitation for our Thanksgiving Feast.  Our lunch time is Tuesday, November 15th at 11:50-12:35 in the cafeteria.  If you will be getting a lunch with your child please make sure to send back the RSVP on the bottom of the invitation.  We would also like to invite you to come to the classroom after lunch for a special presentation by your child.  

If you need another invitation, please email me michelle.vance@cobbk12.org and we will send one home with your child.  

We look forward to this season of Thanksgiving in the classroom!  

MEDIA CENTER TOMORROW!!!! BRING BOOKS BACK FOR EXCHANGE! 

We survived Halloween and the kids had a great day!  Thank you to Patty Payton, Meredith Clinton, Trisha Sisk and Melissa Johnson for awesome centers!  

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
We won the grade level for the Big Head Campaign!  We made some class goals to help us reach our goal and you all helped us earn THEM ALL!!!!  We will keep you posted but we plan on having a celebration/reward day on the Friday before Thanksgiving Break.  

Since we won as a grade level we have earned our own EXTREME RECESS!! This will be Friday, so be sure to have your kiddo wear clothes that they  can move around in easily! 

READING: 

We have introduced what the education world calls "Literature Circles" but we will call "Book Clubs" to the kids this week.  They have assigned chapters they must read before their next Club meeting.  We did give them permission to bring these books home to read, but they do not have to do that.  If you see this book, please make sure it goes back to school everyday. 

READ TO SUCCEED:

This Friday a form for the Six Flags Read to Succeed program will be coming home.  Please read over it and if your child would like to participate, just follow the directions and send them back in after they have completed it.  I will send out notification as the deadline gets closer.  It is an easy way to earn a free Six Flags ticket!!

THANKSGIVING FEAST:
You have received an invitation to your child's Thanksgiving Feast.  If you will be buying a lunch we need your RSVP by November 9th.  Our time for our Feast is Tuesday, November 15th at 11:50-12:35.  The kids love to have a guest come with them so even if you don't eat come enjoy this special lunch time with them.   This is also a great time for grandparents to come as well. 

BINGO NIGHT:

This Friday is BINGO night!  Support PTSA and our Relay for Life team by coming out for some good old fashioned family fun! 

This Monday, as I'm sure you all are well aware, is Halloween.  For a $2 donation to our Ford Foundation students are allowed to wear their costumes to school. 

Please no masks or anything that would keep them from participating throughout the day.  

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Thank you!! Thank you!!
 
Our class is in the lead!  We have lots of goals we are working towards in our classroom, but if we win for the most collected in 3rd grade we get EXTREME RECESS!!  The Foundation will be providing inflatable jumpies, obstacle courses, etc.  The kids are super pumped.
 
I personally love our Foundation because I see the money at work in this school every day!  Your donations make Ford, well, FORD! 
 
All the money donated stays here AT FORD!!!  We still have time to donate!  You can go online or send it in Monday!  Thank you for all that you do to support us!!!
 
https://secure3.4agoodcause.com/cobb-schools/gift.aspx?id=17&fundid=220
 

Tomorrow is our off campus field trip to CATO. 

Things to remember:

WEAR GRAY CLASS T-SHIRT 

The kids will be outside for part of the field trip.  Please have them dress in clothes that are comfortable and appropriate for being outside.  It will be cool in the morning (58) and warm up in the afternoon (76).  

If your child brings their lunch please remember everything needs to be in a disposable container.  

I tried hard.  I really did.  I wanted to avoid having a blog, but in the end, I wanted to have one place where you all could go to get all the information you need for up to date classroom information.  I will let you know when a new blog is posted.  I will continue to use email and Class Dojo for quick reminders!