9.24.12

Hi all and Happy Monday!  Boy, has time been FLYING by or what?!?  I am so sorry about my neglectful posting last week!  No explanation excuses me not keeping you informed, but I am the busiest I've ever been in my life!  However, like I said, no excuses will work and it is my goal to post every single day for the rest of the year so you can feel as if you are a part of our day and "in the know" with the times of the terrific Thomas tots!

MATH:
We began our new unit on SUBTRACTION!  To do this, we looked at fact families and how subtraction relates to addition.
HOMEWORK: complete "Relate Addition to Subtraction" sheet.

SCIENCE:
Yes, you read that correctly, we FINALLY began SCIENCE today!!!  Students learned about the charactestics of living organisms and how to classify things as living, nonliving, or once living.
HOMEWORK: Complete a Scavenger Hunt around your house by creating a 3-part t-chart and listing objects as living, nonliving, or once living.

READING:

COMPLETE READING LOGS!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

PICTURE DAY IS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26TH!

Have a marvelous Monday!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

9.18.12

Hello all and Happy Tuesday to you!  I hope I find you well and wonderful!  Sorry about not posting yesterday or Friday...I do not know what I've done with my brain!

MATH:
We are working on addtion with and without regrouping.  To do this, we are using place-value charts, base-ten pieces and are reviewing the processes found within the concept.
HOMEWORK: complete "Addition With Regrouping in Hundreds" sheet if not completed in class.

READING:
Students are studying fables, myths, fairytales, and folktales with Mr. Featherston.
HOMEWORK: complete Myths sheet and fill out necessary info in writing notebook.

COMPLETE READING LOGS EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT.

AND...

GET PLANNERS SIGNED!!!

Have a great night!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Guest Blogger: Willow

Monday 9.10.12
today we had a great day but there was alot of talking but we had alot of fun today and we changed are
jobs today to almost every one was good today but it was still was the best day it was verey interesting today!!!!!

Tuesday 9.11.12
we had a great day today and had lots of fun and we did very well in music today we got to play inturments today and we did well with that! We did owlsome today!!! :-)

Friday 9.14.12
i want to give a shout out to jessica its her birthday sunday!!! i give jeremy is my best frend. but anyway  everybodey was good today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guest Blogger - Logan: "My weather forecast for this weekend..."

In HOMEWORKOPOLY, Miss Logan landed on the space, "Weather-Way" which means she gets to predict our upcoming weather and display it here on our "OWLstanding" blog!

Thus, here is lovely Logan's weather forecast for this weekend...

I think it will be sunny to partly cloudy, a little chilly and possibly cold at night/

The actual weather is expected to be:



Thanks, Logan!  You're a MAGNIFICENT Meteorologist!!!

9.13.12

Hello all!  I hope I find you well on this thrilling Thursday!  Tomorrow is FRiiiiiiiiDAY....YAAAAAY! 
While Thursday is typically a day of rejoicing (it IS almost Friday afterall), we did not have much to rejoice over today...we had 15 (yes...15!!!) students not complete all, or some of their homework assignments.  Yikes.  No bueno.  We had a very in-depth and LARGE discussion over responsibility as 3rd graders and being accountable for ourselves and our work.  As 3rd graders WE MUST be accountable for ourselves and for our work!  No exceptions and NO excuses!  Thus, the 9 students who did their homework and all parts of it, got Lunch Bunch, extra recess, and will receive homemade cookies from me tomorrow as an additional treat.  Doing the right thing sure is rewarding!

MATH:
We continued to work on patterns as our Learning Target was: I can dientify and use equations and strategies for adding and subtracting within 1000.  We also looked at different patterns in addition through input/ output and functions.  "Functions" is a fancy word for RULE or PATTERN :)  Check out THIS cool input/ output machine so you can practice and have fun with them at home!
HOMEWORK: 1) input/ output worksheet
2) Create 6 input/ output tables of your own.  BE NICE, NEAT, & CREATIVE!

READING:
Students read through story, "My Rows and Piles of Coins" and reiterated the skills of the week with Mr. Featherston.
HOMEWORK: Study for spelling test, reading test, and grammar test!

DO NOT FORGET TO DO YOUR READING LOGS!!!

Have a tremendous evening...tomorrow is a new day!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

P.S., This weekend, my alma mater (Western Kentucky University) plays the UK Wildcats at Commonwealth and I am so pumped to be able to go!!!  While I do LOVE to see my Hilltoppers pull out a win, I still just cannot have them win against my C-A-T-S.  I love my college, but I have lived in Lexington my ENTIRE life and well, that trumps 4 years of college!  GO CATS!  Who are you cheering for?!?

9.12.12

Hello all!

 

MATH:
Today, our Learning Target was, "I can identify and demonstrate the patterns of addition".  We've been practicing the properties of addition, but now we're looking at patterns found within the concept that can help us to complete other facts.  Thus, we started with a basic fact today like 3 + 5 = 8.  We then strrreeetttchhed that fact out into 30 + 50 = 80; 300 + 500 = 800; 3,000 + 5,000 = 8,000 and so on!  We learned to solve our basic problem and use it in a pattern of solving the others.  We even created our very own "Number Stretchers" to illustrate how zeros can make a number grow, but our basic fact is still in tact and makes it easier for us to add mentally.
HOMEWORK: complete "Addition Patterns" sheet (front AND back!)

READING:
Students continued their reading and study of the story, "My Rows and Piles of Coins" with Mr. Featherston.
HOMEWORK: complete "Compound Sentences" sheet AND reading logs!

NOTE ABOUT READING LOGS:

THEY MUST BE COMPLETED NIGHTLY!!!

  Not only must students be reading nightly, they have to summarize their reading and GET THEIR LOGS SIGNED BY AN ADULT!  Many students are neglecting to complete this task and it is the one constant assignment throughout this school year!

Have a wonderful night!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas



Guest Blogger: Chloe

On our HOMEWORKOPOLY game, Chloe landed on "Paragraph Place" which means she gets to write a silly story and be featured here on the blog. 
Thus, here's our gal!


There was a piece of gum. Hi! My name is Bubble... mostly, I get called "Gum".  Hey, I'm at school!  Hey, there's a (gym, class, library)... this is fun! Yah yah yah!  Hey, there's a pink tongue coming up to me... yah this is so exiting... yah!  Why is it dark? This is fun! Hey, am I on a waterslide because its wet wee!                                                                  

Chapter 2                 
"Hey  Chicken"
"Hey  Marshmallow!" 
Hey, they talked to me, yah!  Hey, I got green gooey stuff on my head...yah! This is the funnest water gooey slide ever!  Yah, I just said ever... yah!  Hey, I'm gonna climb up!  Hey I'm back to school... yah!
Hey, there's a (gym... class... library).  I'm back... yah!          

--2 months later--

I'm at the last day of school... yah!  I'm going to high school... yah! 

The End yah!                                                                                    

9.11.12

Happy Tuesday all!  I hope you've had a great day!  My oh my...how absolutely BEAUTIFUL is it?!?  Wowza!

Today, I discussed the significance of our date...the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our nation.  Students were very inquisitive and interested into how and why this happened and we talked about how it was and has been a very important date in our country's history.  I read them a book and then we watched a few kid-friendly videos so they could understand the impact on citizens of America as a whole.

MATH:
We took a quiz over the properties of addition and then began practicing with a "take it to your seat center" about a number of the day.  This will reiterate the concept of place-value and encourage the students to continuously think about numbers.
HOMEWORK: none

READING:
Students continued reading the story, "My Rows and Piles of Coins" with Mr. Featherston
HOMEWORK: complete reading log for Tuesday and identify main character using 3 adjectives to describe him/ her

READING GROUPS:
We talked about identifying setting and the clue words that can help us in doing so.  We then talked about describing characters and students got their new chapter books.
HOMEWORK: reading logs :)

Remember to do reading logs each night and have planners signed!
Picture Day is September 26th
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Guest Blogger - Bob: "My time with Adrianne"

Dear Class,
           Adrianne and I  had a wonderful  time, but when I saw Adrianne`s Daddy, this is what she said, ''Hey  Bob, we  are  going  outside.''  We only did because her daddy is a diabetic and his sugar went  low and she  LLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS  me so much and I love her but she  didn`t  want  me  to  get  stepped  on  so  we  had  no  choice  than  to  go  outside  but  we  still  had  a  good  time  and  I would  love  to  go  home  with  my  best  friend  even  when  she  goes  to  college  because  I will  always  love  her  and  she  will  always  love  me  and  we  all  know  that    YES
                                  or
                               
NO  am  I  right?!?  I think  I'm  right!




                                                                                                                     Hoot  Hoot!
 I  STILL  LOVE HER!                                                                                 -Bob 

Guest Blogger - Harvey "My time with Derek"

When I was with Derek, his mom, Derek, and I went to the circus.  It was fun, but it became more fun when his friends came!  Ben, Spencer, and Miss Blue we were there for an hour.  When we got home, we played charades. Derek won the game and then we went to bed.  Then, we woke up, but his mom and dad was still sleeping.  We went downstairs and I watched Derek play Lego Star Wars 3 - he almost let me play the Wii!  Then, we went to Derek's church and we also went to the church's park and played with his friends Morgan, Lily, and Mia.

9.10.12

Manic Monday folks!  Why are Mondays always so tough?!?  Ahhh!

MATH:
We watched THIS video from BrainPopJr to review concepts of addition and then practiced with the properties as we were working on on Thursday and Friday of last week.  Also, see the video about the ASSOCIATIVE property and the video about the COMMUTATIVE property by clicking the capitalized names! We also made human representations of the commutative and associative properties as a means of bringing these concepts to life.  Finally, we did some independent practice on an activity sheet.
HOMEWORK: complete "Add it Up" sheet

READING:
With Mr. Featherston, our students began reading, My Rows and Piles of Coins which is in the genre of realistic fiction.  Students reviewed the vocabulary words for the text and started working on the skills of the week which is identifying character and setting.  They also started looking at creating, understanding, and using compound sentences for Grammar.
HOMEWORK: complete green sheet from class.

Spelling words this week are:

rocket    pocket    hold    told 

often    grow    throne    so    sew 

most    almost    both    coach    open    also

WORDS OF THE WEEK: character    setting

LITERACY (READING) GROUPS:
Groups reread the story from reading classes.
HOMEWORK: reread story with adult at home for reading logs/ minutes.

PM activities:
We reviewed DAILY 5, had independent reading time, and discussed a new thing for our class entitled "Classroom Nation".

Have a marvelous Monday evening!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

Important dates:

•

Sept. 10: PTO Meeting

•

Sept. 18: statewide HIGH attendance day

•

Sept. 26: Fall Pictures

•

Oct. 8-12: Fall Break

•

Oct. 27: Haunted House at Garth (6-9PM)

•

Nov. 6: Election Day, No School

Guest Blogger: Lilly

We had a great day on Friday, but people still tallked too much!  We can do better!  The whole class was  so happy because it was Friday, but just because it is Friday doesn't mean we get to talk and disrupt the class and goof off!  We owe it to ourselves and our teacher to be the best that we can be, folks! 



P.S., I get to spend the night with my friend!

9.7.12

Happy Friday Gents and Judies!

I'm telling ya, this 4-day work week is no joke...I LOVE it!  ha! 

MATH:
We continued working on the properties of addition (commutative, associative, identity) and completed some independent practice to assess our understanding thus far.  The students are doing well!
HOMEWORK: packet was sent home today!
ALSO, MR. FEATHERSTON'S CLASS ONLY: Complete the Wrong Answer Analysis for each missed problem of your test and correct mistakes.  Parents/ guardians, please sign and return these BY MONDAY!

READING:
Students took their spelling test with Mr. Featherston and they are already graded and ready to come home today.  Please be looking for those in your child's agenda.  The class also finished up their study of using context clues and summarizing using the story, "If you Made a Million..."
HOMEWORK: packet sent home today - AND weekend reading minutes.

Look for newsletters and other graded materials coming home today in your child's agenda!
Have a wonderful weekend!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

9.6.12

It's been a thrilling Thursday, all!  Hope you've had a terrific day too!

MATH:
We began working on the commutative and associative properties of addition.  The commutative property of addition says that changing the order of the addends does not change the sum (Ex: 2 + 6 = 6 + 2).  The associative property says that changing the grouping of the addends does not change the sum [ex: (4 + 3)  + 5 = 5 + (4 + 3)].  We practiced classifying these numerous times, even drawing and labeling t-charts on our desks with whiteboards.
HOMEWORK: complete addition properties sheet.

READING:
Students created a brochure with Mr Featherston about the story we've read, "If you Made a Million..."
HOMEWORK: READING LOGS and finish brochures.

LITERACY GROUPS
MY literacy group has some questions about the story to finish at home.

Hope you have a great night...see you tomorrow!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

9.5.12

Hello all and Happy Wonderful Wednesday to you!  I tell ya, I could MOST definitely get used to this 4-day work week thing...tomorrow is already Thursday!!  Whoooo Hooooo!!!

READING:
Students are reading, "If I made a million..." with Mr. Featherston and are working on the skills of summarizing text and using context clues to aid in our comprehension of the reading.
HOMEWORK: Reading LOGS!!!!!!!

MATH:
We took our assessment over rounding and estimation and many students did so, soooo well!  Special note:

WAY TO GO, JULIA ON YOUR 102% A++!!!!!  YOU ROCK!!!  HOMEWORK: These MUST be signed by an adult and returned back BY TOMORROW (my class) and FRIDAY (Mr. Featherston's class).

ALSO: MY CLASS ONLY --> COMPLETE MATH PACKET ADDITIONAL PRACTICE SENT HOME TODAY!

LITERACY GROUPS:
We are reworking on the concepts and skills of the week from reading.  PLEASE GET READING LOGS SIGNED EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!

Today was one of the roughest days because our behavior was out of control.  Our chart looked like someone broke open a bag of skittles and people were changing colors left and right.  It was obnoxious!  Please look for the color changes in your child's planner and sign next to them to note to me that you saw them and followed up at home.  We take these color changes very seriously and if your student had more than 2 color marks, they walked their ENTIRE recess.  Thank you for being on top of this with your student...I GREATLY appreciate it!  I believe that a good communication between home and school is CRUICIAL to the success of your student.

Have an excellent evening and remember, tomorrow is a brand new day!!!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas

PS, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHLOE!!!  We love you so much and hope you had a fabulous day!

Guest Blogger - Harvey: My Labor Day weekend with Kenneth

Kenneth and I went to Wal*Mart last night.  He watched his favorite TV show and then let me spend the night in his bed.  We watched a basketball game on the play station as his dad was playing it.  We were playing a lot yesterday and I really did sleep in his bed all night.  Kenneth is good at shopping and told me that I am too!  I helped him shop for food and we also stayed the night at his friends house.  We sat at his mom and dad's table and I pretended to eat Kenneth's food and his mom and dad's dinner too. We also played outside and he read me a chapter book... 1 whole chapter as I listened to the words!


Hoot, Hoot!
-Harvey

 (as told to and recorded by: Kenneth Dean Brock)