It's Decemeber!

Dear Wonderful Families,

I hope that each of you had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving break. I know that was awhile back. I am sorry I did not post a blog last week.  I hope it doesn't happen often.   We are half way through our second nine weeks of school. Please look for progress reports this week in your child's homework folder.  We went on our first field trip last week to see a play at the PAC. It was great, and the kids had a lot of fun.

Thanks to all of you who sent in your t-shirt forms and money. A big thanks to those of you that sent in extra money for those that were not able to. I was able to get all of the shirts over the break and everyone was able to wear their new shirts during the field trip. We will wear them on all field trip days.

A big thank you to all the parents who have donated snack to our classroom!!!

Reminders:
 I know that the next several weeks will go by fast so want to give you a heads up of some events that will be happening. 

* Once again this year, the PTA will host the  holiday shop during the week of the December 10th. 

* We will also have the Book Fair the week of  December 3rd.   

* During the week of December 10th, students will take Curriculum Based Assessments. They will take assessments in reading, writing, math and science. Each test will be approximately 2 to 3 hours and we will give one subject a day during that week.   I will be talking with them about these District Assessments but wanted to give you a heads up about these tests. If you have any questions about them please feel free to contact me.

* December 18- Field trip to see Austin Toros basketball game. Permission slips are due back by Tuesday Dec 4th. If you want to come as a chaperon  please indicate on the form or email me so that we can order you a ticket as well. Chaperons are $5.00.

Here is a look at what we will be doing this week :

Math : We will continue our unit on multiplication and creating tables

 Reading :We will be studying biographies and autobiographies.

Writing: We will work on revising and editing.

Science : We will continue to look at magnetism and gravity.

Social Studies:We will study famous Americans and their impact on our lives. 

                               HOMEWORK
Reading - 20 minutes each night and 60 minutes on weekend.
               Tuesday : Thump
                Thursday : Point of View

Math : Monday -More Three Coin Challenges
            Wednesday- Growing Older

I hope that all of you have a wonderful week!

November 12-16

Thank you to all parents who came to Explorer Excellence. It was a great turn out. Everyone in class has been working so hard, its great seeing them get rewarded for all their work. I hope I have just as many, or more, make honor roll again!

Reminders: 

Monday November 12 at  2:00PM is the 3rd grade Veteran's Day Performance. This will be in the gym. I hope you all can make it. (I've seen bits and pieces, and it really is great!)

Tuesday November 13 at 6:30PM 3rd grade Veteran's Day Performance for the PTA meeting. 

Wednesday November 14- Reptile Show during school hours. 

Thursday November 15- Thanksgiving Luncheon during lunch

Tuesday November 27- Field Trip to PAC (permission slips coming home 11-12-12)

Tuesday November 27- School Spirit Day- Patriotic Day- Wear RED, WHITE, and BLUE

What we are learning this week:

Reading: Summarizing, Building Background Knowledge, and Inferring using Expository Text
Writing: Drafting an Expository Piece
Science: Force and Motion
Math: 2's, 4's  and 8's Multiplication Facts
Social Studies- Local, State, and Federal Government

Homework: 
Reading: 20 minutes daily
Tuesday: Traveling Seeds
Thursday: It's an Insect

Math: 
Monday: Arrays and Multiplication
Wednesday: Fun Facts

Have a great week!

Lauren Derrington

November 5-9

Is it Fall yet? I still can't figure out what season we are in based on this weather. Someday's its cold, and some are hot! I know this from seeing all the wonderful Temperature projects that were turned in Friday. They look amazing. I learned a lot about different weather from around the globe. 

We also had Crazy Hat day Friday. The kids really enjoyed wearing their crazy or not so crazy hats. 

This week in Learning: 

Reading: We will be finding the Main Idea of different Expository Texts

Writing: Creating an expository writing piece

Science: Different Forms of Energy: Thermal, Light, Sound, Mechanical

Math: Introduction to Multiplication- 10's and 5's

Social Studies: Presidential Election and Local/State Government

Homework: 

Reading: 20 Minutes every day 40 minutes on the weekend. 

Tuesday: Text and Graphic Features

Thursday: Reading Science: Radiometers

Math: 

Monday: Thinking About Nothing

Wednesday: Writing Multiplication Stories

Reminders: 

* Explorer Excellence is on Tuesday November 6th at 8:00AM in the cafeteria. 

* Report Cards will also go home on Tuesday. 

* If you want to order books from Scholastic, please do so by Nov 16. I will   

   submit the final order then. 

Have a great week!

Lauren Derrington