The Word In Third

Puff Mobiles!

2011-06-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

Today, I incorporated Physics into the classroom! The students were given 4 mints, 3 straws, 2 paper clips, 1 piece of paper, and 50 cm of tape. Without any instructions, they were told to create a car. They could use the materials given to them, and those ONLY. The students then had to race their cars. The only way the cars could move was by blowing on them. The students did a fantastic job on the cars! Enjoy the following pictures.

Joyful Noise - Poems for Two Voices

2011-05-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

Last week, the students worked extremely hard preparing presentations for the class. The students were partnered up and given a poem to memorize and recite from the book "Joyful Noise - Poems for Two Voices" By, Paul Fleischman. The students named this presentation "Bugs and Their Voices". The students created costumes and practice very hard. Please enjoy a brief video of just a few of the poems!

Charlotte's Web Finale

2011-05-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

The student's truly did an incredible job on the Charlotte's Web end of the unit projects! The students had to recreate their favorite scene from the book and then write a summary of what the picture represents. The students also created brochures for the County Fair. They could either make the brochure for the County Fair that was in our story or for a County Fair that they would want to visit. The students used so much creativity and detail while completing this project!

Our Class transforms into Charlotte's Web

2011-04-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not putting up a post in the past couple weeks! We have been super busy diving into Charlotte's Web! The students have been doing a fantastic job reading the book and learning the challenging vocabulary words that go along with it. Enjoy the pictures of our classroom transformation into Zuckerman's Barn.

Charlotte's Web

2011-03-21T17:14:00.000-07:00

Well the PSSAs are over, and I must say that our class truly ROCKED those tests!! We are now back on track with our normal academic schedule, however all of our Vocabulary and comprehension tests are coming from the famous chapter book, Charlotte's Web, by E. B. White.

PSSA week!

2011-03-13T18:23:00.001-07:00

Last Reminder!!!

Students will be taking the PSSA’s beginning TOMORROW, Monday, March 14^th. Please have your children get plenty of sleep and rest this week. A healthy breakfast is also important for them to do and feel their best! The children are truly ready and we believe they will do well!

Personification!

2011-03-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

The students worked so hard on a Personification Project! They needed to take an object or animal and make it seem human! Enjoy the pictures!

Rock the PSSAs!

2011-03-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

This is our final week to prepare for the PSSAs! We get to wear some fun clothes this week to symbolize certain aspects of our test taking strategies!

Wednesday March 9^th – 50/50 Day!

Wear your camouflage or green to eliminate those wrong answers. When we eliminate two choices, we have a 50/50 chance of being correct!

Thursday March 10^th –Darken Your Bubble Day!

Wear your black or any dark color to remind yourself to darken your bubble completely!

Friday March 11^th –Thinking Cap and

Wear your hat to remind yourself to use your “thinking cap!”

Students will be taking the PSSA’s beginning Monday, March 14^th. Please have your children get plenty of sleep and rest particularly during our test days. A healthy breakfast is also important for them to do and feel their best! The children are truly ready and we believe they will do well!

Here are some pictures of our FUN and EXCITING PSSA JEOPARDY Game that we will play this week to prepare!

PSSAs in 2 weeks!

2011-02-27T08:27:00.000-08:00

Can you believe the PSSAs are almost here? We have two weeks until the PSSAs, and I am confident that the students are prepared! I attached picture of the students working extremely hard in their Learning Centers! Our centers were focused on Multiple-Meaning Words, Affixes, Synonyms and Antonyms, Fact and Opinion, Main Idea, Table of Contents, and Main Idea Cards. Please be sure to review the PSSA WORDS TO KNOW that are found on the pink worksheet sent home last week. We will be playing a big JEOPARDY Game with these words!

Important Reminder:
Parent Teacher Conferences are this Friday, so the students do not have school!

Our Valentine's Day Fun!

2011-02-22T13:43:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post some pictures from our Valentine's Day Party! Enjoy!

Report Cards and Valentine's Day!

2011-02-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

We have some exciting things to look forward to this week! Report cards will be sent out on Friday. Please be sure to review the report card with your child, sign the envelope, and return it to school as soon as possible. Also, our Valentine's Day party is on Monday! Please be sure to make and decorate a Box or Bag with your child. Please send it into school by Friday. Please remember that candy is not permitted to be sent in for the party.

Over the past few weeks, I have taken some great action shots of the students working on some hands on activities. Enjoy!

Cause and Effect activity! The students had to match up the cause with the correct effect!

I wanted to find a fun creative way to practice our pronouns! I call this new game "Spit Ball Grammar" The students use wet cotton balls to hit the pronoun that fits in each sentence correctly!

End of the Grading Period!

2011-01-30T17:17:00.000-08:00

This Friday marks the end of the 2nd nine week grading period! Report cards will be sent home at the end of next week! Everyone has worked so hard to maintain or raise their grade! Slowly, these third graders are becoming more prepared for fourth grade! Keep up the wonderful work you do with your child each night!

PSSA Preparation!

2011-01-24T16:34:00.000-08:00

The PSSAs are about a month and a half away now! I am very confident that the students are more than prepared for these tests! Over the next few weeks, there may be some more tests, more writing assignments, and more Learning Center work! If you have any questions regarding the PSSAs, please feel free to contact me with any questions!

I also wanted to say what a WONDERFUL job each and every student did on writing the pen pal letters for this week! I hope you got to read the first letter that your child received from their pen pal, and hope you got to read what your child wrote back! I am very proud of how responsible and serious these students are treating these letters!

Graphic Aid!

2011-01-17T06:31:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is enjoying their day off! I wanted to post some pictures from last week because the students worked so hard on a graphic aid activity. The students circulated 25 cards around the room, and each card had 4 questions on it. So the students completed a total of 100 difficult questions!! I attached the pictures below!

This week is a four day week, but all of our tests will still be on Friday! Please be sure to study with your child on Thursday night. We are now just about two months away from the PSSAs. I can assure you that each and every student will be more than prepared for these tests. The PSSAs are the week of March 14th. I believe there will be a letter with information on the testing sent home late February-early March. Please feel free to contact me with any questions in the mean time!

WTAE News Clip

2011-01-06T18:15:00.000-08:00

Click on the blue words below to view the clip that was shown on the news! You may see some familiar faces!
WTAE News Clip of Green Valley

WTAE Visit!

2011-01-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

What a memorable day! Stephen Cropper from WTAE and Michelle, a Scientist from the Carnegie Science Center came to visit Green Valley today! All of the students were on their BEST behavior, while they learned a lot about the weather! Once the video clip that was shown on TV is placed on the WTAE website, I will attach it to this blog, so you can view it again! Enjoy the pictures!

Back to the grind!

2011-01-03T16:24:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday break! It is now time to get back to our normal schedule. This week will be a typical academic week, with our tests on Friday.

Special Announcement:
WTAE will be making a SPECIAL visit to Green Valley on Wednesday! Be sure your child wears his or her Star Tshirt!

Christmas Week Fun!

2010-12-29T06:39:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share some pictures of our movie field trip and our Christmas party!

Hope you are having a wonderful break!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEARS!

2010-12-19T17:23:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it is already Christmas week?!?! I'm sure your son or daughter is so unbelievably anxious for Santa to come and to get a little break from school! Everyone has really worked so hard this first half of the school year. I would say that each and very students has been a VERY very good boy or girl! They deserve a wonderful Christmas!

A few reminders:
- Tomorrow is our movie field trip to the Destinta movie theater to see Tangled! This will be a very fun way to start off our Christmas week.
- Tuesday is our Christmas party! It begins at 2:00.
- Wednesday is our Christmas Sing-A-Long!
- Christmas break begins on Thursday!!

I will be posting some pictures of our party and of the sing-a-long over break! Enjoy your time with your child!

PENS TRIP!!!

2010-12-10T07:24:00.000-08:00

The Pens Trip was a BLAST!!! All the students had fun cheering on our Pittsburgh Penguins as they practiced hard! The pictures should say enough...ENJOY!

The bus ride

Anxiously riding the escalator!!

We had Great seats!

The Consol Energy Center

My wonderful class

Iceburgh!!!

Dancing and cheering

The third grade teachers

Daphne was Green Valley's representative selected to ask Coach Bylsma a question!

Daphne on the big screen!

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS FIELD TRIP!!!!

2010-12-05T07:18:00.000-08:00

What a HUGE week ahead of us!! The third grade students are EXTREMELY lucky to be able to take a field trip to the Consol Energy Center on Thursday to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins practice! We will have so much fun! A couple of reminders: If you want your child to take a camera, ONLY SEND A DISPOSABLE CAMERA. Also, lunches must be packed in a bag. Everything needs to be able to be thrown away...there is no place for lunch boxes to be kept and stored. I will be taking plenty of pictures during the field trip, so look forward to seeing them on Friday!

The rest of the week will be a normal school week. The story we will be reading this week is "Loved Best". It is a great story with a great lesson to learn. All of our tests will still be on Friday, even though our Field Trip is on Thursday.

Light-Up Day

2010-11-26T06:03:00.000-08:00

Light-Up Day was better than ever this year! The students had a wonderful time decorating their own gingerbread houses and making different Christmas crafts to decorate our hallway gingerbread house!

Enjoy the pictures I posted.

Bully Free Day!

2010-11-18T15:29:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is our Bully Free Day. This will be celebrated all over the nation to remind everyone how important it is to stop bullying. Please have your child wear their school colors or purple. The teachers will be wearing purple Anit-Bullying tshirts tomorrow, and each student will receive a purple ribbon to wear around their wrists.

The students have really enjoyed working in Learning Centers over the past two weeks! This is something that will be utilized more frequently as the year continues. The students really impressed me with how well they can work in groups. Here are some pictures of our Learning Centers.

In the "Success Seekers" Center, the students focused on Synonyms and Antonyms.

The "Grammar Guru" center is always geared toward the Grammar concept of the week. In this picture, the students are practicing abbreviations.

The students read leveled readers and answer the "Think Critically" questions at the "Teacher Town" center.

The "Vocabulary Voyager" center is used to master the vocabulary words of the week. The students warm up with a review worksheet and then challenge each other with the vocabulary game board!


"Sidekick Readers" is a center used to read over the story of the week and answer questions that similar to questions that will be seen on the comprehension test.


"Technology Tacklers", also known as the computer center" is always the students favorite center! The students work on interactive website that focus on every concept of the week.

2010-11-14T16:54:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Ariel Hall for being an exceptional student! Ariel is the Star Student for this week!

One More Full Week Before Thanksgiving!

2010-11-14T16:51:00.000-08:00

Can you believe we have one full week until Thanksgiving? This year is truly flying by! Thank you to all families for sitting down to complete the Thanksgiving Acrostic Poems! They truly look wonderful and the students were very proud of their work. There are some pictures of their posters at the bottom of this post!

This week, we will be focusing on Singular and Plural nouns! Even though this can be a touch concept, the students really have fun working on all of the activities! I hope you enjoy reading the story of the week with your child. It is a great story about sharing and helping others...which is perfect to read right before Thanksgiving.

Please remember that our LIGHT UP DAY is next Wednesday! Please send in any decorations that you would like! You can send in decorations for our Christmas tree, or our hallway. Please keep in mind our Gingerbread theme!

The week ahead...

2010-11-07T17:46:00.000-08:00

This week, we will be focusing on Main Idea and Details. This concept can be very difficult for some students, so we will be practicing this a lot. We will also be concentrating on abbreviations, spelling, vocabulary, and comprehension.

REMINDER:
Thanksgiving Acrostics are due Friday! Please be sure to take some time to complete this as a family.

Last week, the students really enjoyed working on Common and Proper Nouns! Here are a few pictures of the class working on an activity that helped master Common and Proper Nouns!

Star Student of the Week!

2010-11-07T17:35:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Kaedon Hill for being an exceptional student! Austin is the Star Student for this week!

Our week...

2010-11-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much to all of the parents who took time out of their day today and yesterday to come meet with me or call for conferences! I am a firm believer that the more parents and teachers communicate, the better!

Just a reminder, we will be testing Vocabulary, Spelling, Grammar, and Comprehension this Friday, even though we have a four day week. Please be sure to look over those Vocabulary sentences on Thursday night! I hope you enjoy reading "The Babe and I" with your child this week. It is a very touching story to share with your son or daughter.

Luckily, next week will finally be a normal 5 day week!

Lastly, I wanted to add another Bullying Link. This is a great website that you and your child can navigate around on to learn more about bullying and how to prevent it.

http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/kids/default.aspx

HALLOWEEN...WHAT A SPOOOOOOOKY DAY!

2010-11-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

We had such a blast on Friday, when we celebrated Halloween!! Enjoy the pictures that I took throughout the day!

In the above picture, the students LOVED making gross, icky, slimy SNOT!

What a SCARY class!!

MUMMIES!!!

The students got in groups and had to choose one person to mummify! Everyone had a blast!

STAR STUDENT!!!!

2010-10-28T17:33:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Rachel Soltez for being an exceptional student! Rachel is the Star Student for this week!

Anti-Bullying

2010-10-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, bullying has become even more serious and sever than ever, with the help of the technology we have access to these days. Some of your children may go on the internet, use Facebook, Twitter, or even get involved in texting with friends. Bullying through the use of technology is called "cyber-bullying". This more recent form of bullying can happen very quickly and effect the "victim" just as much if not more than other forms of bullying. Here is a wonderful article to read that could give some great tips and advice on how to talk to you child about bullying, including cyber-bullying.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/studentnews/09/30/antibullying.resource/index.html

If you would like more information on anti-bullying, what cyber-bullying is, or what we can do to STOP this from happening, please feel free to ask me for more information.

Halloween Week

2010-10-24T08:36:00.000-07:00

I am so excited that this Friday, we will be having a fun educational day filled with Halloween activities! The Halloween parade will be around 2:00, if you wanted to come see your cute ghost, skeleton, cheerleader, or angel.

This week in class, we will be reading a wonderful story, The Babe and I. This touching story is about a families hard experience through the Great Depression. Since this will techinically be a four day week for testing, due to the Halloween party on Friday, we will have our Spelling test and Vocabulary test on Thursday. I will be extending our story to two weeks long and we will also be focusing on Synonyms and Antonyms.

STAR STUDENT of the WEEK

2010-10-20T18:21:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Austin Tirpak for being an exceptional student! Austin is the Star Student for this week!

This week in class...

2010-10-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

This week is a review week! We will be reviewing all of the Grammar concepts and Spelling words that we have had so far this year. We will still have new Vocabulary words, so be sure to study with you child. Also, please remember the students will not have school on Friday, so the tests will be on THURSDAY!

I hope everyone is getting their Halloween costumes ready for next Friday! With all of the excitement and hype over Halloween, please do not forget to send in those coins (especially pennies)!! In week one, our class was in first place, so please continue to help our class stay in first place!

2010-10-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Alyssa Depaoli for being an exceptional student! Alyssa is the Star Student for this week!

Websites!

2010-10-08T05:41:00.001-07:00

I just added a list of Fun and Helpful Educational Websites on the right side of this blog! Please use these with your child to help master Language Arts and Math concepts! They are really fun! ENJOY!

STAR STUDENT!

2010-10-04T17:18:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to SAMSOM BROWN for being an exceptional student! Samsom is the Star Student for this week!

Subject and Predicate Gurus!

2010-10-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

We had a blast playing a Subject and Predicate Game! The class showed me they are experts and really enjoyed themselves!

Firefighter Visit!

2010-10-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

Enjoy these pictures of the class getting to know the FDNV.

What a wonderful crew!

I went up in the bucket!

"All the way!" Look how small the class looks from this high!

Subject and Predicate

2010-09-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

This week we are working on a very difficult concept in Grammar. Subject and Predicate seem to give third graders some difficulty, so we will be spending 2 whole weeks on this. I will be sure to have helpful hints at the top of most of the homework worksheets on Subject and Predicate. The students have learned a few ways to label the sentences and also these helpful hints! Please use the following powerpoint in this link to help assist with homework!

Subject and Predicate Powerpoint
(We have not discussed Compound Subject and Predicate yet, but will be getting there in a few weeks!)

Helpful Hints:
Subject (or simple subject) is the noun that the sentence is mainly about.
   SUBJECT = NOUN
Predicate (or simple predicate) is what the subject is or does.
   PREDICATE = VERB

**REMINDER**
School pictures are this Thursday! Be sure your child comes to school with a bright smile!

STAR STUDENT!

2010-09-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Sierra Stritzinger for being an exceptional student! Sierra is the Star Student for this week!

STAR STUDENT!

2010-09-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to TYLER PADEZAN for being an exceptional student! Tyler is the Star Student for this week!

Class Picture

2010-09-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

Blasting off!!

2010-09-19T12:19:00.000-07:00

The students really enjoyed playing "Spell Jump" and vocabulary board games! Enjoy the pictures added below of the class practicing their spelling words! This past week the students were able to see the pace we will be working in class. Like I stated in the last post, TEST DAY will be on Fridays. Since we will not have school this up coming Friday, we will be testing next Tuesday instead.

This week we will receive new vocabulary and spelling words for the week, and will also read out new story, "The Day Eddie Met The Author". We will continue working on the four different types of sentences in grammar. Here are some helpful hints:

Statement - A sentence that tells something and ends with a period.
Command - A sentence that tells someone to do something. Ends with a period or an exclamation point.
Exclamation - A sentence that shows emotion and ends with an exclamation point.
Question - A sentence that asks something and ends with a question mark.

**Reminder**
OPEN HOUSE IS ON THURSDAY NIGHT!

Spell Jump Pictures

Great first week!

2010-09-10T18:46:00.000-07:00

Wow, what an amazing first week of school! All of the students have really shown me they are ready to focus and dive into our Reading series. This upcoming week (Sept. 13-17), we will begin our first story of the year, Ruby the Copy Cat. This is a great story about friendship and how special everyone is in their our unique way.

We will be easing into grammar with a simple review of "what a sentence is" and the different types of sentences (statement, command, exclamation, and question).

Our first vocabulary, spelling, and comprehension tests will be on friday. Please remember to review vocabulary and spelling words nightly!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.

Starting The Year Off Right!

2009-09-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our classroom Blog!

This is a site that will help you and your family see what we will be working on throughout the year. You will also be able to see some pictures of your child interacting in class. Please check back periodically because I will try to put up a new post every week or every other week. This is a fun way to stay in tuned to what your child is learning and also a great way to be reminded when important events are coming up (example: Open House, Conferences, etc.).

The students will have the opportunity to "help" me write a new message almost every Friday! We will have a discussion about our week, and the students will tell me what their favorite activity was or what they learned. Be sure to look for post's from your child, especially if they were the Star Student of the week!

I look forward to working with you and your child! I am confident that this will be a FANTASTIC YEAR!

** REMINDER ** Third Grade Parent Meet and Greet **
Tuesday September 7, 2010 - 6:00-7:00
- The meet and greet will start promptly at 6:00. During this meeting, I will discuss the curriculum, basic classroom and building rules as well as answer any questions. The meet and greet is PARENTS ONLY, so please make other arrangements for you children.