October 1-4 Top Readers!

Gavin & Tristan were our top readers for our first week of the "BOOK IT-Read your Heart Out" reading program. They each read 150 minutes the first week of our contest! Will we have new top winners tomorrow morning?

Westside Pumpkin Patch Contest

**Students will decorate a pumpkin based on a character in a book. **This is a voluntary contest which will be done at home. **Pumpkins and books will be on display in the library. **Bring pumpkin and book to the library Oct 14-29. **Judging will be on October 30. The requirements of the contest are: *Parent supply a real pumpkin and any materials for decorating. *Pumpkin should be no larger than a basketball. *The pumpkins cannot be carved or punctured. (If it has holes, it will not be judged.) *The pumpkins can be painted and props can be used. *The book used can be a book from home or from the library. *The book and pumpkin will be displayed together in the Library. PRIZES WILL BE GIVEN TO THE TOP 10 MOST CREATIVE PUMPKINS!

Flat Stanley project-We need your help!

If you have an additional name of someone out-of-state that you think might enjoy helping us out with this project, please e-mail the address to me or put it on the back of the red/pink sheet I sent home with your child today! What is Flat Stanley? Our class is involved in a very fun and exciting geography project based on the book “Flat Stanley” which is written by Jeff Brown. In the book, Stanley Lambchop is flattened by a falling bulletin board. One of the advantages to being flat is that his parents can put him in a large envelope and mail him for a visit to his friends in California. Our 3rd grade social studies book focuses on Communities, and it is our goal to learn about different states and communities around our country. In the Flat Stanley project, the students get the opportunity to make their own paper Flat Third Graders and prepare a letter about our community and what makes it special. After their letter is complete the students pick a friend or relative that lives outside of North Dakota to mail it to. We are hoping that who they choose will decide to be a special part of our project by participating. Parent(s), we need your HELP! 1. Please make sure your student has chosen someone who would take the time to send a quick letter back to our class and share pictures of the adventures their Flat Third grader has had in learning about a different community. 2. Worried the person they are sending the project to will have questions? The project will be explained more in depth to the person whom your students choses to send their Flat Third Grader to. It is so exciting for the third graders to receive a letter in the mail and learn about a different community. 3. Please write the address of the person your third grader will be writing to at the bottom of this page and send it back to school by Monday, October 14. Thank you for your help! Name (First & Last): ________________________________ Address: ________________________________ City, State and Zip Code: ________________________________  Mrs. Steinbrink 

Bullying Video

A few of the students in our classroom have been working so hard to put together an anti-bullying presentation after seeing the Climb Theater students perform last week. The video is a bit choppy as Mrs. Albrecht took it on her phone, but it's a great example role-play of bullying.

Bullying Presentation

Last week, we attended a bullying presentation put on by a Theater Production Agency out of MN. The students really enjoyed it and have been incorporating what they have learned into our school lives. One awesome strategy we learned if we are ever bullied is the CALM STEPS! C=Calm Down A=Assert Yourself L=Lift Your Chin M=Mean It Talk over these steps with your children tonight and ask them what they have learned about bullying and how important it is to stop it if they see it happening!

Agenda & Book It Reading Program

Parents: We are starting the BOOK IT READING PROGRAM sponsored by Pizza Hut today-October 1, 2013. The program tracks MONTHLY reading today through March 31, 2014. Students will have the opportunity to earn a FREE PERSONAL PAN PIZZA from PIZZA HUT each month that they meet the qualifications. The goal that we have set is 400 minutes of AT HOME READING each month. Please track your children's minutes with them EVERY DAY in the area on the agenda shown above. Where it says minutes read, please write the minutes. Where it says pages read, PLEASE WRITE YOUR INITIALS. I have let the students know that I will be checking the agenda minute log every MONDAY to track their minutes. In order for minutes to count, the parents must have initialed EACH DAY! I am being very specific on this because I want the students to be responsible for reading each night and having you sign their minutes. Please continue to sign the agenda each night as well to show that you have seen it and to AGREE that your child has completed ALL WORK LISTED. I am also posting a picture of how we will be tracking our minutes monthly. The highest minute reader each month will earn something EXTRA from me! Thank you for your CONTINUED communication and support! I love teaching your children!

PuShInG tHe EnVeLoPe?

This week we are learning all about idioms and how to write them, how to speak them and how to understand them in our reading! The kids are having SOOO much fun! We can't wait to share with you what we are learning about playing with words! I surveyed a few students and they shared their favorite idiom so far! Here are a few of their answers: Mitchell: When Pigs Fly=NEVER Adam: Ants in your Pants= ALL CRAZY Tyler: It's Raining Cats and Dogs = IT'S RAINING HARD. Jayda: It's a Piece of Cake = IT'S EASY. Eastin: Fat Cat = YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF MONEY! Want to learn more about idioms and their meanings/orgins? www.idiomsite.com www.brainpop.com www.wordorgins.org Watch for pictures later this week!