October is Bullying Prevention Month

Monday, October 20th: Hawk Thomas from the Harlem Globetrotters will be here for a special assembly. 9:30-10:00 K-2, 10:15-10:45 3-5.

Friday, October 24th: Last day for posters and poetry contest.  Also, we will be viewing the Douglas Drama Club's video production after the announcements.

The last week in October, we will have a spirit week.  These are the following themes:

Monday, 10/27: Mustache Monday - I mustache you to be bully free (wear a mustache - get creative!)

Tuesday, 10/28: Let's shade out bullies (wear your sunglasses)

Wednesday, 10/29: Teacher workday

Thursday, 10/30: Being bully free is no sweat (wear sweat suit attire)

Friday, 10/31: Hats ON to being bully free (wear any kind of hat)

Calendar Dates and Daily Schedule

• Friday, October 17:  Early Release at 1:15, also Mrs. Sherrill's last day 
• Monday, October 20:  Ms. Thomas's first day!
• Wednesday, October 29:  Workday, No School
• Thursday, October 30:  Science Night! 6-7:30pm
• Friday, November 7:  Early Release at 1:15
• Tuesday, November 11:  Veterans Day, No School
• Wednesday, November 26-28: Thanksgiving Break! No School
• Tuesday, February 24:  UNC Morehead Planetarium Field Trip
• Tuesday, March 10: Carolina Theatre Field Trip (Durham) "Aesop's Fables"

Specials:  9:30-10:15

Math:  10:20- 11:30

Lunch:  11:40- 12:10

Science/SS:  12:15- 1:00

Recess:  1:00-1:30

Literacy:  1:30-3:45

Help in finding Good Fit Books!

Your child's BOG scores will be coming home on Monday.  On them, you will see an estimated Lexile level for your child based on their performance on the test.  Lexile measures text complexity.  This number is useful to you because there are a wide variety of search options available where you can put in your child's Lexile score and see lists of books that are appropriate.  Of course, once you go to the library and check these books out, you'll still want your student to read a page or two outloud to you so that you can assess whether they know all the words and comprehend the text by asking them questions about the pages they read.  You might find they need to go down a little bit in the text difficulty, but the Lexile level is a helpful guide to finding those "Good Fit Books."  Barnes & Noble and Scholastic also have Lexile search engines that can help you! 

Here's a great site to search:

https://lexile.com/fab/

Thanks for helping your child read appropriately leveled books at home! 

Opportunity for Extra Credit in Literacy

October is national bullying prevention month, in which we focus our attention on promoting a bully-free school.  We will be having a "Stand Up, Speak Up" poster and poetry contest this month.  Students can choose to creatively display the theme through a poster or a poem, their choice. Poster paper and information about the contest will be available in the Media Center, next to the Club Hub.  There will be prizes for each grade level.  Please encourage your child to participate!  

I will give extra credit in Literacy for submitted poetry entries! 

Baby Sherrill is due October 24! Mrs. Thomas will be taking over our classroom starting on October 20!

Geometry Help AND Vowel Pattern Videos

Geometry Help

• Quadrilateral Rap
• Definitions
• REALLY GOOD Quadrilateral Classification Video

Vowel Pattern Help

• Digraphs: Two Vowels Go Walking...
• Bossy R Video

Rounding Games to Play at Home for Practice!

Rounding to the Nearest Ten
Bike Racing Game
Math Balloons Game

Rounding to the Nearest Hundred
Mathman Game (like Pac-man)
Number line

Open House Info

Thursday, September 18th is Douglas's Open House! Please plan to attend at 6:00pm for an overview of our curriculum in third grade.  Another session begins at 6:30 which will provide information and answer questions regarding Read to Achieve, the state legislation that affects third graders based on their reading proficiency. 

*Please note that most grade levels offer 2 sessions of the same information.  However, third grade will only have 1 session that addresses third grade curriculum and that session will begin at 6:00.  

There is also a schoolwide PTA meeting that will begin at 5:30pm.  

Scholastic Reading Club

If you'd like to order from the Scholastic Reading Club forms that are periodically sent home in your child's Monday Folders, please order online using our classroom code JBYWP.  

If you'd like to send in a paper copy and a check, please make the check payable to Scholastic Reading Clubs and include your order form.  No cash please.  Thank you!  

Your participation in this earns our classroom bonus points that we can use for electronic books, classroom books, and other great tools to help us learn this year!

Parent Tutorial Videos (we know this is new to you!)

We understand that the directions on your child's homework that ask for "proof drawings" might be new to you.  So, here's a video to help understand how they're learning it in class.  Rather than just going through the steps of crossing out the tens and making ones, the proof drawing helps children see what it means to ungroup.  It's great for visual learners!
Subtraction with Ungrouping

Also, this week your child will be coming home with homework that asks them to make comparison bars.  Here's a video to help with that too!
Comparison Bars

Rounding with a number line, including how to set up the number line and the midpoint to show your work! (This has not been taught YET but it's coming soon!)
Rounding with a Number Line

Hopefully this makes homework a little less stressful for everyone! :)

Quarter 1 Conferences and Standards-Based Grading

Don't quite understand what your child's 1, 2, 3, or 4 means on tests or report cards? Here's a link that might help explain it:  http://www.wcpss.net/parents/guides/elementary-report-cards/index.html

Also, please sign up for a conference by clicking the link below!  
Quarter 1 Conference sign up

Welcome!

We are off to an amazing start in our classroom! Thank you for all of the parent support already this school year.  It'll be a great year for us! 

A little about me:  This is my eighth year of teaching, and my fifth year at Douglas.  All my teaching years have been in third grade, so of course I think it's the best grade ever!  I love this age group of children.  They're still sweet and want to make their parents and teachers happy, but they're coming into their own personalities and forming their interests and opinions.  It's also a huge jump for academics, which is exciting to be a part of.  I am married to Philip and we have two "babies," Tucker and Mr. Whiskers.  We are expecting our first human baby in late October and we've already named him Reid.  We are extremely excited to become parents! When I'm not pregnant, I love to run and work out.  I also love to read, go out to eat, travel, and be with my family.  

We are going to have a wonderful school year together! 

Summer Computer Games (Reading and Math)

Comprehension Websites

Into the Book: Reading Comprehension in a fun way!

Storyline Online: Wonderful books read aloud by actors and actresses!

Basic Telling Time Games

Time Games (several on this site)

Time Travel Game

More Time Games (several on this site)

Elapsed Time Games

Elapsed Time "MathMan"

Elapsed Time Matching Game

Test Prep Questions for Elapsed Time

Space Game (longer to play)


Scroll down on this blog to find more games, including fraction and multiplication review games, and reading games too!!

Math Games (Multiplication and Fractions)

Multiplication Flashcard Games:  Please help your child improve their multiplication fact fluency!! It is SO important as they move to 4th grade next year!

http://www.factmonster.com/math/flashcards.html

http://www.adaptedmind.com/p.php?tagId=403#

http://www.aplusmath.com/Flashcards/Multiplication.html

Some videos to help you work with your child on Fractions at home!

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Fraction-fraction song

Numerator and denominator song

Fractions on a number line

Khan academy lesson on equivalent fractions

Games to play that will help with fractions:

Fraction overview: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/fractions/fracTut1.htm

Simple fraction matching game: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/fractions/memory_fractions1.htm 

Equivalent fraction matching game http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/fractions/memory_equivalent1.htm 

Compare fraction game: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/fractions/Balloons_fractions1.htm

Equivalent fractions on a number line reference page: http://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/fraction-number-line.html

Summer Reading and Science Games

READING GAMES

Metaphor and Simile Battleship

Rags to Riches Similes and Metaphors

Onomatopoeia Sound Monster Game

Simile and Metaphor Games

SCIENCE GAMES

Whack a Bone

Skeletal System

Researching States in the U.S.

Here are some helpful websites to locate information on your state! 

Take notes that go along with one of your 4 headings.  Those headings are: Geography, Important Cities, Attractions, and Fun Facts.

http://www.factmonster.com/states.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/statesbw/

http://kids.britannica.com/

http://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/US_States

www.netstate.com

www.theus50.com

www.mrnussbaum.com/united-states/fifty_states/

www.50states.com

If you have extra time, check out tourism information:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004586.html

Updated Read to Achieve Information, please read link

Please read the following link to find out more about the changes made to Read to Achieve in Wake County.

 

http://www.wcpss.net/parents/guides/read-to-achieve/index.html 

Read to Achieve: A VERY Brief Summary!

Some of you were unable to attend last week's Read to Achieve meeting to obtain information about how this legislation affects your third grader.  Here is a very brief run down:

Starting next week (1/27), every third grader will complete 3 reading passages on the same standard.  The following week, they will take 3 on a different standard, and so on.  These passages are about a page and a half long and have 5 questions on each.  They will be graded and kept in a portfolio for your child.  Four out of five questions correct is passing.  If they do  not pass all 3 passages for a certain standard, they will have a chance to take another passage.  This will go on throughout the school year.  By the end, we hope to have built a portfolio that shows your child has mastered each of the 12 standards.  This will be very important because if they do not pass the English-Language Arts EOG test at the end of the year, the portfolio will provide the necessary information to show that they are proficient; what they call a "good cause exemption."  All third graders will have a portfolio, regardless of their level of proficiency in the classroom.  

If they do not have a "good cause exemption" based on their portfolio, they will take the Read to Achieve test at the end of the year, after the EOGs.

If they do not have a proficient portfolio and they do not pass the EOG or the Read to Achieve Test, they will have to go to a Summer Reading program and will continue to work on their portfolio.  If they do not attend the Reading program, they will be retained in third grade.  At the end of the Summer Reading Program, they will get another opportunity to take the Read to Achieve test.  

If they demonstrate proficiency either by portfolio or by the test score, then they move on to 4th grade.  If not, they begin the school year in a 3rd/4th Transition Class and will receive interventions next year to support them in literacy.  Midway through their "third/fourth grade" transitional year, they will have another opportunity to take the Read to Achieve test or pass by good cause exemption through their portfolio, which they will be continuing to build.  If they pass, they would be a traditional 4th grader at that point.  If not, they will continue to receive intensive literacy instruction in the transitional classroom.  


For more detailed information about this legislation, please read the following document: https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/Meetings/Attachment.aspx?S=10399&AID=12267&MID=804