PTO Night

The 2nd and 3rd grade will present their PTO showcase on Thursday 13 December at 5:30.  After light refreshments of hot chocolate and cookies, the students will perform.  They will sing carols for the audience.  We have been rehearsing during our individual days of music special.  Today we came together as a group to begin practice.
A bright red flyer went home regarding this.  At the bottom of the flyer is a section for you to mark either you child will participate or they will not participate.  Please sign and return these as soon as possible so that we can get an accurate count for the showcase.

Science Fair Project

Our class worked very hard on their Science Fair project....and all of that worked paid off.  We won 1st place for 3rd grade and our project went on to the next competition level.  Below are a bevy of pictures taken of the students as they collected data.

The title of our project was Beans, Beans...They are Good for Your Heart.
The students looked at three different types of beans.  They weighed and measured the beans to help determine which type of bean would absorb the most water in varying amounts of time (10 mins, 20 mins, 1 hour, 3 hours, 9 hours, and 27 hours).  At each stage water was drained and the beans were measured.  The students then took the data collected and placed it in a graph. They then completed the board with all of the required components (hypothesis, question, title, data, methods/procedure, pictures).  They did an outstanding job throughout the entire process.  Pictures of the project board will be posted when the board is returned to our class.

Picture collage generated with Smilebox

Book Week~~Pajama Day

The week prior to Thanksgiving break is traditionally Book Week.  This week was no different.  Students spend the vast majority of Pajama Day reading and taking AR tests.  They also have books read to them.

Our Heroes

During the course of the 2nd grading period, we have been studying American Heroes.  For our class media festival project several students decided to write about their hero.  They also included a picture of their hero.  After writing the rough draft, making corrections and then writing the final draft, students scanned their papers in to the computer and uploaded the documents into window movie maker.  Students then completed their project and "published" it. 

Action Verb Media Festival Project

A portion of the class created a media festival presentation that centered on action verbs.  An action verb is something that you can do....run, jump, sit, speak, etc.  The students worked hard on their sentences as well as the drawings that accompanied their sentences. 
Upon completion of their sentences, they scanned them into the computer then added them to windows movie maker creating their project.

Treat NO Tricks Night

Frank Long Elementary School was the sight of safe trick or treating on Tuesday 30 October 2012.  Students and their families were able to dress up in their Halloween costumes then visit the classrooms on the 2nd and 3rd grade hallways.  Students were given treats by teachers, paras and volunteers.  Everyone had a great time!

Children’s Book Week

 Children's book week is right around the corner.    We will celebrate this year with the following dress-up/down days:

Monday:  November 12^th

Holiday

Tuesday:  November 13^th

Crazy Sock Day:  Our students are crazy about books!

Students may wear outrageous socks to show just how crazy they are about reading! 

 Wednesday:  November 14^th

Read’in Lock’in and Pajama Day. Participating students will need to follow

Children’s Book Week dress code for pajama day:   same guidelines as shorts

(must go to fingertips when arms are down); must wear undergarments and

if wearing a nightshirt, student must wear shorts underneath.

Guest Author program in gym:  K-2:  8:00 – 8:45 / 3-5:  9:00 – 9:45

 Thursday:  November 15^th

Sunglass Day:  It’s cool to be a good reader! 

Our readers shine and may wear sunglasses to show how much they love reading!        

       

Friday:  November 16^th

Hat Day:  Hats off to reading!

Each classroom that meets their set point and percentage goals will celebrate with a movie.  Goals will be given out at the beginning of the week.  The cutoff for this goal will be 2:00 PM Thursday.  Students that don’t contribute to the class by not taking any test should not be allowed to participate in the reward.

Candy Corn Estimation

The theme of Halloween was seen through out the day.  During Math review time, students were given a break from the usual flash cards, math games, and online math games.  Instead they reviewed estimation using candy corn.  Students were given a work sheet with three different sized bags.  First they had to estimate how many pieces of candy corn would be needed to fill each bag and write that amount on the estimation line next to the bag.  Next, they were given candy corn and they had to lay the candy corn on the bag.  Then they glued the candy corn in place.  Finally, they counted the candy corn and wrote the correct amount.  Most of the students found it very interesting that they over-estimated the amount of candy corn needed.  As a treat each student was given a handful of candy corn to eat while they worked.

Popcorn Skeleton Hands....

The students had the opportunity to create a skeleton hand made from popcorn and candy corn.  We incorporated many different tasks, from following directions to a writing exercise upon completion.  The students made their skeleton hands then they wrote a "how to" paper.  In this paper they described in detail how they created their hand.  The students were told that they needed to write the paper in such a way that if someone walked into our room they could take the paper and follow their directions to make the hand.  The second assignment they had to complete was to write 5 "3rd grade" sentences about their hand.  Not only did the sentences need to be creative, they had to also incorporate adjectives (which we have been studying this week).

Red Ribbon Week

This is Red Ribbon Week.  Monday (10/29) is mismatched sock day.  Tuesday (10/30) is pajama day and finally Wednesday (10/31) is hat day.  We kicked off Red Ribbon Week this today by wearing red, reading and signing an oath to stay drug free and ending the day with a pep rally in the gym.  The cheerleaders and step team from Lewis Fraiser Middle School came and provided entertainment.  FLE's 4th/5th grade chorus also sand a song for Red Ribbon Week.  We were visited by McGruff as well as a working drug dog, courtesy of the Liberty County Sheriff's Department.  It was amazing to see the working dog in action! 

Busy Week Ahead

There is a lot going on at FLE this week.  Mark your calendars for the following:
Monday-Wednesday~~~Red Ribbon Week
Tuesday~~~Treat NO Trick night at FLE
Thursday~~~Reading Night.  Teachers will be reading their favorite stories to students and parents that attend
Friday~~~St. Judes Dance (right after school until 4).

Frederick Douglass

Throughout this nine weeks we will learn note taking skills as well as various ways to put our notes together in a logical and workable manner.  Last week we studied Mary McCleod Bethune.  As we took notes and completed vocabulary/comprehension papers we attached them in manilla folders. 
This week we are focusing on Frederick Douglass.  We will continue to take notes as well as work with the vocabulary daily.  We are changing things up and this week we will create a DODECAHEDRON Reading Project.  A dodecahedron is a 3-D, 12 sided, geometric shape. Students will be provided with a rubric that will provide them with my expectations and what is to be included on each side of the geometric shape.

Social Studies Project

We visited the Media Center two weeks ago for classes taught by Dr. Sands.  She taught us how to use Nettrekker, Galileo, and Destiny.  During the next few weeks we will put our new knowledge to good use.  We have been researching specific American heroes.  Our class is working closely with Mrs. Smith (Computer Lab teacher) to complete the research.  Mrs. Smith will then introduce and give us lessons on how to create a power point presentation.  After we have learned all the ins and outs of power points, we will take all of the information we gathered during our research time and create a ppt. project.  After we have finished we will present out project to the class.
We are very excited to work on this project and are grateful to Dr. Sands and Mrs. Smith for their help and sharing their knowledge.

Red Ribbon Week

This is Red Ribbon Week.  Monday (10/29) is mismatched sock day.  Tuesday (10/30) is pajama day and finally Wednesday (10/31) is hat day.  We kicked off Red Ribbon Week this today by wearing red, reading and signing an oath to stay drug free and ending the day with a pep rally in the gym.  The cheerleaders and step team from Lewis Fraiser Middle School came and provided entertainment.  FLE's 4th/5th grade chorus also sand a song for Red Ribbon Week.  We were visited by McGruff as well as a working drug dog, courtesy of the Liberty County Sheriff's Department.  It was amazing to see the working dog in action!

Action Verbs Media Festival Project

Each year students complete media projects to enter into the FLE media festival.  This year my inclusion students completed a media project for the festival.  Their project focused on action verbs.  They each wrote 2 or 3 complete sentences then added an illustration for each sentence.  They did a great job on their project.  Enjoy!

Our Heroes Media Festival Project

We have been studying American heroes.  Through our discussions we looked at what made a hero and where we can find heroes within our own lives.   For our media festival project the students wrote about their hero.  They also added an illustration if they wished.  The students did a fantastic job!

Courage and American Character

As a 3rd grade we study American character through nine different people (Paul Revere, Frederick Douglas, Mary McLeod Bethune, Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR, Lyndon B. Johnson, Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall).  The second nine weeks of the ELA program is focused on informational text.  We will use our Social Studies people to accomplish this objective.  Students will not only read about the different people, their lives and contributions to our society, they will also learn how to take meaningful notes.  Each week will focus on a specific person.  Students will complete activities for each chapter and they will complete a cloze activity for each person.  I have uploaded the books so that they can be reviewed by students at home. 
To access the books, please click on the word Science (under the links heading).  Use the username and password provided.  Once you are on the eduplace site click on the online leveled books (computer icon).  Click on the words whole group.  This will take you to the books we are using. 
We will begin with Mary McLeod Bethune. 
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

1st Marking Period ABC Award Winners

Each nine weeks FLE holds an ABC Awards ceremony.  ABC stands for Academics, Behavior and Change.  Students work hard to earn these awards each marking period.  For the first marking period the ABC awards were earned by Zoriah and Aryanna (for Academics) and Devereaux and Lydia (for Behavior).   Congratulations!  You have set a great example for our class.  Keep up the great work.

Additionally, CONGRATULATIONS to Lydia for making Honor Roll for the 1st marking period.  You rock!~

Timeline Research

The 2nd marking period finds 3rd grade learning how to take notes and conduct research projects.  Students were given the task to create a timeline using the 9 American heroes we study in our Social Studies curriculum.  The students worked in pairs to complete the research portion of the project.  Upon completion of their research, they took the information and created a timeline.

Measurement Assessment

We spent quite a bit of time learning how to measure properly.  As a culminating assessment students had to construct a robot.  The robot had to have a head, body, two legs, and two arms.  Each line segment had to be measured accurately and labeled in both inches and centimeters.

River Test

Students will have a test on the 5 rivers (Hudson River, Ohio River, Mississippi River, Colorado River and Rio Grande River) we study as well as additional notes regarding the 7 continents, 4 rivers and information regarding Georgia.
We spent two Social Studies class periods taking notes for this test.  The notes were written on the back of a map showing where the 5 rivers can be found. 
This test will be on Thursday 18 October.  Please help your child study for this important test.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Read for the Record

Our class and Mrs. Coley's class joined thousands of others on Thursday 4 October 2013 for Read for the Record. 

 Using classroom technology, we read the children's book Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad, by David Soman and Jacky Davis, in support of Jumpstart's mission to work towards the day that every child in America enters school prepared to succeed. Through Read for the Record we helped celebrate literacy as well as support Jumpstart in its efforts to promote early childhood education!

Collaboration

The theme of our nine weeks was friendship.  We learned that friendship comes in many different shapes, sizes and ways....it can even come through animals.  Students actively work together to complete Venn Diagrams which will in turn help them to complete a writing assignment that compares the theme of friendship found within the stories we have read this nine weeks.   Some of the stories we have read are Because of Winn Dixie, Rosie the Visiting Dog, The Stories Julian Tells, Balto, the Dog that Saved Nome and Leah's Pony.

Multiplication Collaboration

Games are not only fun, but they are an integral part of our learning process.  Our class loves playing different Math games during Math review time....there are even times when we play Math games during our lesson time as reinforcement.  In the pictures below, students are completing a Robot competition.  Students used a spinner to come up with two factors that they had to multiply together.  If they answered the problem correctly they were able to draw a  piece of their robot.  Using multiplication strategies they are racing to see who can complete drawing their robot first. 

Parent Portal

If you have not already signed up for Parent Portal, I strongly urge you to do so. Parent Portal is your child's grade book in real time. Through Parent Portal, you have the ability to see how your child is performing on each assignment as well as view their grade averages. Parent Portal is web based so you can access it from anywhere. It is updated as I enter grades for the work that the students have completed.
If you need additional information regarding Parent Portal please contact the school office.

Subjects and Predicates

We have been learning all about subjects and predicates. The pictures below show the students actively putting subjects and predicates together. Prior to putting the subjects and predicates together to form complete sentences, the students colored the subjects red and the predicates blue.

Card Subtraction

With the new CCGPS students have more opportunity to explore and reinforce concepts with hands-on activities. Students in third grade must add and subtract fluently to/from 1,000. One such activity reinforces the concept of subtraction using playing cards. Students work in pairs and as they draw a card for the deck, they must keep a running subtraction total. Not only are the students reinforcing their math skills, but more importantly, they are talking to each other and sharing their methods and math vocabulary.

Edible Rocks

We have been studying rocks and minerals for the last several weeks. As a treat, when we finished studying the three different types of rocks, the students were able to make edible rocks. To represent metamorphic rocks students took three cubes of bread. The students took the cubes of bread and they used heat and pressure to make their rocks. For igneous rocks we melted chocolate then let it cool. Sedimentary rocks were made using graham crackers as the base. We then added sediment (swedish fish, sprinkles, icing, cocoa pebbles).
We had a great time being creative....eating the rocks was fun too!

Science Vocabulary

Clay Model of the Earth's Layers

During our study of the earth's layers, the students were given the opportunity to create a model of the earth's layers using different colors of clay. The students began with a ball of yellow. They then added green, red, and blue clay to help distinguish the different layers. After they completed their model, the students then labeled the layers and added the thickness (in kilometers).

Earth's Layers Foldable

Our unit of study in Science has been rocks and minerals. We began our study by learning all about minerals. Then we moved on to the Earth's Layers. After an extensive study of the four layers of the earth we completed a hands on project that incorporated creating a foldable with note taking and fact finding.

Farewell

We were sad to say good-bye to two of our classmates this week. Shay left on Wednesday and Ilianys' last day was Friday. We were so thrilled to have them join us and very sad when they left. We wish them the best at their new schools and we know that they will find great success in the new classes.

Cursive Writing

Each morning the students spend some time working on their cursive writing. They are learning one letter at a time. For some of them this has been a real challenge. Soon they will begin completing their assignments and homework in cursive.

GA Weekly Website

The GA Studies Weekly website has been updated and is now up and running. The link on the right hand side of the blog under the links section is now working. To log on click on the link. The username/logon is your child's first name and the password in turner.
Just a reminder that all logons and passwords are case sensitive.

Links Updated

Greetings,
We are off to a great start! It's been a busy first few days of school. We have gotten to know new friends and reacquainted with old friends. We are learning our new daily routine and are working hard. The students had a lot of fun with a rounding game we played during Math this morning. We have also read the first 4 chapters of Because of Winn-Dixie. The students will have a spelling, reading, math, and social studies test on Friday.
All of the links to the text books and our GA Studies Weekly (Social Studies newspaper) are now working. Sorry for the inconvenience earlier this week as the Math and Science links were down for a couple of days. Since students cannot bring home their Social Studies newspaper, please feel free to access it online through the GA Studies Weekly link. Once you get on the GA Studies Weekly site, please click on Unit 1 (found on the left hand side). All of the usernames/passwords have been provided for you (username first, password second).

Welcome To Our Class

Welcome Back!!
I hope that everyone had a safe, enjoyable, and restful summer.
We will hit the ground running. Our first week will find our class reviewing the rules for both Frank Long and our class. We will being our study in Reading with a novel titled Because of Winn Dixie. In Math we will begin with place value, fluently adding/subtracting to/from 1,000 and rounding. In Science we will begin with the Habitats of Georgia and to round out our day we will use GA Weekly Studies for Social Studies. The Science Text and GA Weekly Studies have links in the right side bar of this blog so that students and parents can review the days lessons and study for tests. I have also included the Math text book as a reference. We will not work strictly out of the Math book, but will use it as a resource.
New this year is daily instruction and practice in cursive writing. Students are not to complete any work in cursive (class work or homework) until all instruction has been completed. I will let the students and you know when they can begin writing in cursive.
Homework will be given Monday through Thursday in Math, Spelling, and Reading/ELA. Spelling/Reading homework will come home on Monday via contracts. Math will be sent home daily. Occasionally students will have Science and Social Studies homework.
I look forward to teaching, learning, and growing with each student. I know that we will have an OUTSTANDING year!!