Dec 9-13, 2013 Home Reading Winner

Olivia was our home reading winner from Dec 9-13! Way to go Olivia--240 minutes read!

How many minutes old are you?

Today we were working with HUGE numbers in math. One website we came across was able to tell us EXACTLY how many days, weeks, years, months, minutes, hours, etc old we are!

The kids LOVED it! I showed them my information and they are impatiently waiting to figure theirs out!
http://www.mathcats.com/explore/age/calculator.html

Have fun!

Holiday Week Festivities!

Holiday Spirit Week:

Monday, December 16

Wear holiday red!

 

Tuesday, December 17

  Wear festive green!

 

Wednesday, December 18

                     Wear a holiday hat!

 

Thursday, December 19

Wear your holiday socks!

 

     Friday, December 20

Wear a “unique” holiday sweater or shirt!

 

Top reader for December 2-6---again! Way to go Asho!

455 minutes read by Asho the week of December 2-6! Way to go!

Classroom Christmas WIsh List

In the spirit of holiday giving (and receiving) our classroom compiled a list of 'wants' for our classroom. If you are interested in purchasing something for our classroom for Christmas, please check out our list below:

Supplies & Books:
wooden pencils
bean bag seats
pink erasers
drawing books
"Storm Warning" books

Games:
"Ants in your Pants"
"Fibber"
Puzzles
"Jenga"
Legos
"Monopoly Jr."
"Mad Gab"
marble/stick game---we couldn't figure out the name of it, but you have all of the sticks poking through a cylinder and you pile the marbles on top of one another. Then, one by one, you pull out the sticks--whoever makes the marbles fall is the loser.


Thanks for considering!

November Home Reading Book It Winners

Congrats to our classroom's top readers for November 2013! Each of these students has earned a Free PIZZA from Pizza Hut!

Joslyn
Jetta
Tyler
Macey
Max
Olivia
Payton
Mitchell
Beniot
Tristan
Zaylea
Asho

November 25-29 TOP HOME READER!

Congrats Jetta-our top home reading winner for November 25-29, 2013!  200 minutes read-keep up the good work!

Homelinks vs. Practice Sets

Nearly every night, your child will bring home a home link for math or a practice set.

Home links are yellow and are labeled at the top left with a black box with 2 numbers in it. The first number is the unit, and the second number is the lesson.

Some days, the homelinks are not appropriate based on what we worked on that day, so I might send home a practice set in place of the homelink.

 

The practice sets are white sheets with a long gray bar across the top. The words practice set are in the gray box and the # of the practice set is in a white diamond shape following the words practice set.

 

Homelinks practice the skill of the day and Practice Sets review past lessons.

 

Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Still looking for parents able to come read to our class!

I still have several dates available for parents to come in and read to our classroom.
My preferred times are 8:30-8:45 am or 10:25-10:40 am.
If neither of those times work ,but you want to come in, please let me know a date and time that will work better and I'll see how/if I can fit it into our schedule!

Thanks for considering!

Winter is HERE!

Winter is OFFICIALLY HERE! Please be sure to send all cold weather gear each and every day for your child!

Hat, Gloves, Scarf, Coat, Snowpants, and boots!


Nice clip for your kids to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDmBziwIIbk

December Book Orders!

December is such a busy month, so I have requested that book orders be turned in by THIS THURSDAY, Dec 5, 2013.  If you would like the books to be surprises for your children, be sure you order online and e-mail or send me a note letting me know that you want specific ones held for you to pick up or for me to send home secretly.
The early due date is to confirm that they will be here before we leave for Winter Break!

Thank you for supporting our classroom through your purchases of books and other activities from the Scholastic catalog. To view the books online, go to www.scholastic.com  Class code is: KWYLK for online ordering!

Thanks have a blessed day!

Trimester 1 Social Skills Celebration

Mrs. Laverdure is a Special Education Strategist in our building and she is involved in the morning meetings of all grade 3 classrooms. All 4 classrooms earned the opportunity to be involved in the TRIMESTER 1 Social Skills Celebration. Each class received a plaque to keep in their classrooms as well as the opportunity to hold the traveling trophy--a gumball machine. During our celebration today, the children were able to chew gum and the watched a short clip from "Finding Nemo" showing a group of fish working together!  She explained that as long as we continue to work together moving on the right path, we will succeed! Thanks Mrs. Laverdure for all of your hard work with our classroom!

November Student of the Month

Congratulations Matthew! He was our classroom's STUDENT OF THE MONTH!

Nov 18-22, 2013 Home Reading Winners

Congrats ASHO!  468 minutes last week! A-MA-ZING! Keep up the excellent work!

The following students have also already earned their FREE PIZZA HUT PIZZA for NOVEMBER: Asho, Zaylea, Benito, Tristan, Mitchell, Payton, Olivia & Max

December Calendar & Book Orders sent home today

I sent the December Calendar & December book orders home today!  Please make note of the book orders being due next Thursday, December 5th so they will be shipped before the Winter Break over Christmas.  If you plan to order books or items from the book order that you want to be a surprise to your children, please order them online, and then let me know which items you want me to hold for you to pick up...if that makes sense! :)
Please order online by debit/credit card or with a check so I don't have to deal with cash. :)  I sent home November's book order items today as well! Thank you to the parents that ordered!! 

Cute Multiplication Videos!

We are plugging away at MULTIPLICATION as you have probably noticed through our past few homelinks.  Here are a few videos we peeked at today to help us remember some of our multiplication fact problems!


3-4 minute video on the 9s finger trick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPgs9LmV5wc


30 minute video breaking down each of the factors 0-12!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ4qjYOixAg

Ask your child what a factor means...and what a product means.,.see if they can recall from our conversation today!!

Let me know if you come across any other helpful videos for practicing multiplication on YOUTUBE or PINTEREST!

Science-Magnetism

What causes a magnet to stick to an object? Can a magnet force another object to become a 'temporary' magnet?  How many objects can we get to stick together from one magnet?

 

Ask your kids all about magnets! They did so well this unit!

Nov 11-15 Home Reading Winner

Top reading winner for November 11-15--390 minutes! Way to go ASHO!

Tomorrow is....Slam Dunk...Drugs are Junk-Dress like an athlete or your favorite sports team DAY!

Friday-Slam Dunk....Drugs are Junk-Dress like an athlete or favorite sports team

 

Why did the author write that?

Today, our class reviewed an article called, "Tough Talkin'!" Discussing Bullies and Other Problems."

We have been learning about WHY authors write what they do! We've broken it down into 3 areas that are Easy as P-I-E! P=Persuade, I=Inform, E=Entertain

Today, our article informed us about bullying and other problems that they face as students and the final question on our activity asked, "What can schools do about bullying?"  Their answers were so well written--I just had to share a few!

"They can have assemblies about bullying." -Zaylea
"Keep trying until they stop!" -Matthew
"Stand up for themselves until they stop!" -Macey
"Bystanders can actually help stand up to bullying or you can defend yourself." -Benito
"They can stand up to bullies and don't be a bully!" -Alexis
"Keep more eyes out for bullying." - Tristan

Tomorrow is....Backwards, Crazy, Mismatched Clothes and Hair DAY

Red Ribbon Week is full of Dress Up Days!  Make sure your child joins the fun!

 

Wednesday-Doing Drugs is CRAZY-Wear Backwards, Crazy, Mismatched Clothes, and Hair (no hair dye)

Red Ribbon Week Dress Up Days

Red Ribbon Week is full of Dress Up Days!  Make sure your child joins the fun!

Tuesday-WILDCATS Dream about being DRUG FREE-Wear your Pajamas

Wednesday-Doing Drugs is CRAZY-Wear Backwards, Crazy, Mismatched Clothes, and Hair (no hair dye)

Thursday-Do your "JOB" and don't do Drugs-Dress for your future occupation

Friday-Slam Dunk....Drugs are Junk-Dress like an athlete or favorite sports team

 

UN-BE-LIEV-A-BLE Home reading in October--12,988 minutes read!

Way to start off strong with our Book-It program, 3rd graders! Our class read nearly 13,000 MINUTES AT HOME!  Our final tally was 12,988 minutes!!

Wow!  We had 2 students read over 1,000 HOME MINUTES in OCTOBER.
That is absolutely outstanding!

Congratulations to Asho who read 1,304 minutes in October and Olivia who read 1,025 minutes in October.

Let's see if we can beat that in November...there's one less day, but we can do it!

October 28-November 1 Home Reading Minute WInner--Asho! Congrats!

Home Reading Winner for October 28-November 1--2nd time in October! Way to go Asho!!  395 minutes! Who can beat that?? I look forward to seeing your November 4-8 minutes tomorrow morning!

Happy Veteran's Day! + announcements!

Happy Veteran’s Day! I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who is a Veteran or a family member of a Veteran. I know day to day the struggles that it can afford as well as the great pride it can bring. My husband Elliot has served our country for the last 10 years and has toured overseas 3 different times. I am greatly thankful for he and his comrades. I am also thankful for each of you who lives a similar life!  I appreciate you!

 

On a lighter note, tomorrow is LIBRARY CHECK OUT-so please send all books with your children that they have checked out from the library. If they choose to recheck out the books, they can, but the librarian, Mrs. Bonham needs to see them to guarantee that they are not indeed overdue.

 

Tomorrow, Tuesday is also PAJAMA DAY in honor of Red Ribbon Week. 

 

If you haven’t already, or have more available, please send in non-perishable food items for our food drive that goes through this Friday!

 

Happy Monday!

October Student of the Month

Congratulations to Mara! She was our classroom's October Student of the Month! She was recognized on the announcements and she ate breakfast with our principals this morning! 

October 21-25, 2013 Top Home Reader

Congratulations to Asho! She was our top at home reader last week with 720 minutes!

There's still room in the Parent Nurtured Heart Class! Consider attending this free class sponsored by our PTA!

School has started and the holidays are coming.  Are you READY? As parents we want to have great relationships within our family, but there are times when things don’t seem to be working right or we want even more connectedness in our family.  This Fall and Spring the Westside Family PTA will be offering The Nurtured Heart Approach® (NHA) parenting class.  The NHA® is a relational approach designed to help you connect with your child and in a firsthand way help them grow strong on the inside.  This means making choices not because they “get” something, instead because of the belief that they can make wise choices due to their character.  In 5 weeks you will learn to see relationships differently and have the tools and strategies to become even more intentional in your parenting and family time.  Three stands will be taught of learning to say no to getting into negativity, learning to see and speak positive and truthful words, and learning the gift of clarity with expectations and true consequences. This class is based on the book, Transforming the Difficult Child: The Nurtured Heart Approach by Howard Glasser, M.A. and will be taught by Sarah How, Psy.S. NCSP, our School Psychologist and Advanced Trainer in the NHA® along with Carmen Tubbs our special education teacher and Certified Trainer in the NHA®  This class is a series. Plan to attend all sessions. Class is limited to the first 35 people and there is space for 15 children for daycare. Please RSVP by October 29^th, 2013

 

                     Dates:  November 5, 12, 19, 26 & December 3, 2013

                       (Tuesday Evenings)

 

Time:  6:15- 7:30 pm

Location:  Westside Elementary School, 945 7th Ave W, West Fargo, ND 58078

Cost:  FREE!!!  Sponsored by our PTA (includes 1 Transforming the Difficult Child book/family)

    *Daycare and snacks will be provided for you and your family!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------Cut and return to teacher or Westside office ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

r    Yes, I am interested in attending the Nurtured Heart Class. (Fill out information below).

Child’s Name:  _____________________________________Classroom Teacher _______________________

Child’s Name:  _____________________________________Classroom Teacher _______________________

r  I will need child care for #________ children –

name_______________­­____   age_______                                  name_______________­­____   age_______

name_______________­­____   age_______                                  name_______________­­____   age_______

Parent (s) Name:  ____________________________________________________

Phone:________________________________________________ Email_________________________________________________

 

TIMELINE PROJECT-Due Friday, November 1, 2013

3rd Grade Timeline Project
Due Date: Friday, November 1st
Dear Families,
As a part of our third grade Social Studies curriculum we are learning about timelines. The objective of this homework project is for your child to use critical-thinking skills to organize and create a personal timeline of their life on the piece of poster board provided. While we encourage you to assist your child with this project please remember to limit the amount of help you give them as it will be graded and the project must reflect your child’s work. Be unique and creative, but most importantly have fun! Please refer to the attached rubric and timeline sample which can be used as a guideline to assist your child with their project. We look forward to seeing your project on Friday!
What to do:
Students will create a timeline of their life beginning at birth until present day. They need to choose one major event that has happened to them for each year of their life. The timeline should include the number of events as you have been alive. You should construct a timeline with pictures (use drawings if no photos are available) and a complete sentence for each event.
Procedure:
1. Find at least  3  pictures that show important events in your life.
2. Arrange the events in the order in which they happened (i.e. birth, 1st birthday, 1st bike, new pet, moved to a new house, birth of a sibling, etc.)
3. Glue the pictures on the poster board in order. (You may go on the back.)
4. Write the date or year under each picture.
5. Write a complete sentence explain each event under the date.
6. Write your name on the top of the poster
7. Decorate the border of the poster (i.e. draw things you like, use stamps, stickers, etc.)
8. Return the project by Friday, November 1st! You may turn this project in early if you wish.
Reminder: Although all of the items will be returned, please do not send any valuable photos or materials in case they get lost in transit.
 The Third Grade Teachers 
Helpful Guide to Get Started:

***This is just a tool to help you get started. You do not need to fill this out, turn it in, or even follow this. It is just a guide in case you don’t know where to begin. Remember it will depend on how old your child is as to exactly how many events he or she will need to include on his or her timeline.***

I was born on Month____________________, DAY___________, YEAR_______________.
In __________, I was one year old and I ________________________________________.
In __________, I was two years old and I _______________________________________.
In ___________, I was three years old and I _____________________________________.
In ___________, I was four years old and I ______________________________________.
In ___________, I was five years old and I ______________________________________.
In ___________, I was six years old and I ________________________________________.
In ___________, I was seven years old and I ____________________________________.
In ___________, I was eight years old and I _____________________________________.
In ___________, I was nine years old and I ______________________________________.

Change Drive Continuing through November 1, 2013

The Change Drive is continuing this week, so please continue to send your change in support of the United Way!

Congratulations Book It Pizza Hut October Earners

Congrats to the following students who earned a FREE PERSONAL PAN PIZZA from PIZZA HUT through our Book It Reading Program in October! There's still time to earn for those who are not on the list. The challenge is 400 home minutes read each month. Contact me for your child's current total if you are unsure! Minutes for October are due MONDAY,NOVEMBER 4, 2013! Asho, Matthew, Adam, Benito, Macey, Rylie, Arop, Payton, Olivia, Mitchell, Joslyn, Eastin, Tristan WAY-TO-GO!

Differentiated Spelling Lists

Tonight, your child will come home with one of two spelling lists in their agendas. I gave a pretest today and based on the scores from that assessment, I have created a basic 20 word list and a challenge 20 word list. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Please see the lists below! Spelling List A (oi/oy) October 28, 2013 1. coin 2. coins 3. join 4. joins 5. oil 6. oils 7. boil 8. boils 9. spoil 10. spoils 11. boy 12. boys 13. joy 14. joys 15. toy 16. toys 17. coil 18. coils 19. broil 20. broils Spelling List B (oi/oy) October 28, 2013 1. employ 2. destroy 3. enjoy 4. annoy 5. voyage 6. oyster 7. soybean 8. royal 9. boycott 10. joyful 11. rejoice 12. embroider 13. broiler 14. pointless 15. moisten 16. turquoise 17. poison 18. appoint 19. moist 20. point

Fall Party

October 28, 2013


Hello Parents/Guardians,

It is that time of year for our Fall Party!! The party will be held in the classroom on Thursday, October 31st at 1:45.   We will be having different stations in the room for the students to rotate have a snack and play some math games. I have 3 parent volunteers who will be here to help out during the party. Thanks Jolene(Tyler), Carla(Mitchell) & Heidi(Macey). 
There is plenty to help out with and plenty of fun to be had! We are in need of donations for the food and supplies.  Please send me a message or give me a call letting me know what you can donate and WAIT for my reply before purchasing so we don’t double up. Please bring in your items on or before Thursday, October 31, 2013.
If you have any questions, never hesitate to contact me.  Please return this form to school by Friday so I can send out the donations form.
Thank you!
Mrs. Steinbrink 
Donations needed:
Styrofoam cups for hot chocolate (1 package)
Cheese Sticks (package of 24)
Fruit Cups (package of 24)
Plastic spoons (1 package)
Thanks for your consideration in bringing a snack for our class. Remember—please contact me before purchasing so we don’t double up!

October 14-18 Reading Minute Winner!

Congratulations Olivia on being our top classroom reader for the week of October 14-18, 2013! Olivia read 420 minutes! Way to go!

Reminder-Coin Drive this week Mon-Fri

Reminder--we are holding a coin drive Monday-Friday this week!

Phonics & Spelling Lesson 7

This week's phonics involves many different sounds that connect! -ue, -ew, -ui-, -ow, -aw, -y Here's the list--challenge your children at home to come up with more words that follow the same patterns--have them put them on a sticky note in their agenda and we can challenge them at the end of the week! This set of 16 words should be written in their agendas tonight when they get home from school. If for some reason they aren't, send me an e-mail and I'll be sure to check in the morning! 1. True 2. Clue 3. Chew 4. Stew 5. Suit 6. Fruit 7. Blue 8. Blew 9. New 10. Knew 11. Grow 12. Grew 13. Draw 14. Drew 15. Fly 16. Flew

Vocabulary Study Guide: Poetry

This coming week, we will begin learning more deeply about poetry. I am including our vocabulary words and their meanings for you to review with your children this coming week! BEATS: pulses that are the basic units of rhythm, used in both poetry and music Lines: rows of words printed or written across a page or column Pattern: a combination of features, actions, or events that are repeated in a recognizable arrangement Rhyme: to agree or correspond in sound Rhythm: a series of pulses that repeat in a regular order Stanzas: groups of lines that make up divisions of a poem

Flat Max is cruising to the mountain tops of Colorado!

COIN DRIVE Monday, October 21-Friday, October 25, 2013!

Send your coins--send your bills! Westside Student Council is again starting up the Coin Drive initiative to support a local company in need. In the past, our money has gone to the United Way of Cass & Clay county, but they were still making that decision when our Student Council members last reported to us! We will be collecting money EVERY DAY! So feel free to be as generous as you are able!

Flat Tyler is traveling south! Enjoy the weather!

Flat Adam is off to Colorado too!

Colorado? Flat Jetta? Maybe you will see Flat Max while you are traveling there!

Flat Arop is off to New York! Have fun on the east coast!