Egg Cartons

Please send in empty egg cartons (the kind that hold a dozen...the cat can stay home. :-))

for a math activity I would like to do with the students. Thanks!

Nautical Alphabet Name

For homework this week, students will be spelling their names using nautical alphabet flags. Here is a resource to help with this assignment:

Math Workshop

Our first third grade math workshop! We investigated how base ten numbers are comprised in our base ten number system. First, we reviewed concepts such as digits and place value, then used this knowledge to help us represent numbers in three different ways: standard form (using digits only), expanded form (adding together the value of each digit), and word form (how to say/read the number). Today, we worked our way up to 4-digit numbers (thousands), but still have a way to go to become familiar with numbers through hundred thousand, which is the third grade standard (crazy for 8-year-olds, I know! :-)). I introduced the students to their online textbook and its features, so they will be ready to use it at home when they receive their log-in information tomorrow.

First Day

Today we stayed with our homeroom until after lunch, so we could introduce most of our rituals and routines. We had a special visit by our principal, Ms. Stalls, and assistant principal, Ms. Turner, who were VERY impressed with how quickly our students brought supplies. :-) Other events in my homeroom included a health lesson about choosing healthy snacks, making birthday cards to give to classmates throughout the year, and touring the school. Both classes were able to suggest class rewards for our "100 Squares" incentive chart and participated in our first Second Step lesson, an introduction to our first unit, Empathy Training. If forgetting my camera at home was the worst thing to happen to me at school today, then I'd say it was a pretty good first day. :-) What was your favorite part of our first day?

Meet and Greet

It was GREAT meeting all of you who were able to make it to today's "Meet and Greet". I want to extend a special welcome to our new classmates coming from Chets Creek Elementary. We are so glad to have you as a part of our school's family. Thank you to those of you who brought your school supplies, so we can get everything in "ship shape" and are ready to set sail on Monday!

Training Day

Today your teachers were learners! I am very excited to implement some of the things I learned in one of my math trainings about Pearson SuccessNet, an awesome online tool for our Math Investigations and EnVision Math resources. This site not only has our textbook online, but also contains explanations of strategies we use in class and practice activities. I am in the process of setting up accounts for both classes and, while doing this, discovered some students already have accounts and experience with this cool tool from second grade. I hope to start using it in class next week and will send home a letter with user names and passwords (I will also put this information on a label in your student's planner.). Bookmark Pearson SuccessNet on your home computer!

What do General Mills, Campbell's, and Tyson all have in common?

They all support our school! Start clipping and sending in the labels from these products (or bring in your ongoing collection...just make sure you write your homeroom teacher's last name, your grade level, and the number of clips for each type on your bag). What a great, easy way to get grandparents, aunts/uncles, co-workers, neighbors, and friends to support our school.

Back to Work!

I hope you are enjoying the last week of your summer break! I spent most of my summer in Jacksonville. I REALLY enjoyed waking up without an alarm clock, having time to spend with friends, being crafty, reading, and relaxing. I was also able to visit my family in San Diego and Monterey, California. As a runner, I greatly enjoyed the break from the sweltering heat and humidity here and spent LOTS of time outside. Here is a picture of my brother and me (you will hear A LOT of stories about us when we were kids this year : -)) in Monterey:

What did you do this summer?