December Reading Calendars!

Hello everyone!  I hope your break has been great.

Don't forget that your December Reading Calendars are due on Wednesday, January 2nd.  We'll have our extra reading recess on the first day back.  Students can still earn their free Pizza Hut pan pizza too.

Our Christmas (maybe renamed New Year's) Party will be on Friday, January 4th.  We'll still have the pajama party on the same day too.  The students earned their pajama party on before break for collecting their paws.

Have a Greak Break!

I just got an e-mail from Channel 3000 that school is cancelled for Friday, so Christmas break has officially begun.  I feel bad that I didn't get to see all the students before break, but hopefully they'll all check the blog and see that I am wishing them "Happy Holidays from the Van Overmeer Family!"

We'll now have our party after break.  We'll have a New Year's Party on Friday, January 4th.  That's when we'll do all the gift exchanges.

Have a safe and relaxing break and I'll see you next year!

No School Thursday

As you may have already heard we won't have school tomorrow due to the coming snowstorm.  Hopefully all the kids will get a chance to go outside and play in the snow. 

Have a great snow day and hopefully I will see you on Friday! 

Remember that if we have school on Friday we'll also be doing our pajama party too.

Feeling Better

Just in case my students were wondering, I am feeling better this evening.  I was hit with a pretty nasty cold and looked pretty horrible on Monday.  I wasn't doing better on Tuesday and my wife made me stay home again.  I have had a personal day schedule for a while for this Wednesday and really wanted to make it today, but couldn't do it.

I just wanted to explain a change to the Christmas dinner that I made.  I was supposed to send out permission slips today for students who could do Christmas dinner shopping with me.  Since I was gone today, will be gone tomorrow, and the weather sounds VERY wintery on Thursday I decided it'd be best if we got a gift certificate for the family.  Mrs. Moen was willing to go get a gift certificate for the family to ensure that they will still be able to plan on the meal.  Unfortunately, that also means that students won't be able to go shopping this year.

Thank you for all your generosity in this project too.  I know that there is a lot of requests during this season and appreciate that everyone is able to help with this one.  I really like having the kids work together to help others.

Xmas/Pajama Party

Our Christmas Party is scheduled for this Thursday, December 20th.  The students have also earned their pajama party for receiving so many paws as part of our rewards program.  This has been popular at IGEMS and the timing (along with the party is great).

 - For the PJ party the kids can wear slippers at school (shoes or boots to school though).  They can also wear their sleep clothes that they have.  Comfy sweatpants and t-shirt work just fine too.

 - IF there were a snow day on Thursday we'd have the Christmas Party first thing on Friday morning.   We would also have the PJ party on Friday too.

 - Don't forget that student gifts will be due on our party day too.  You can bring them in early if you'd like.

 - We will do the drawing for who gets to go shopping for a holiday dinner tomorrow (Tuesday).  If you are able to donate that would be great.  We'll draw four names of students who get to go shopping with me on Thursday (weather permitting).

Star of the Week

This week was our first week having a Star of the Week.  The "Star" gets to be the line leader for the week and has a word cloud that describes them with things they like and complements.  We use http://www.wordle.net/ to create the word clouds and all the students think of two adjectives for our star.  It's a fun way to try to build vocabulary.  The "Star" also has their picture and list of favorites on a bulletin board in the hallway.  Each week we randomly pick a new Star of the Week until we are done sometime in April.

Library Books
One other side note, because of the Christmas Concert practice today we didn't have library.  We'll also miss library next week because it lands on Friday, which is a half day.  Ms. Olson has found a time for us to come in and check out books though.  On Tuesday, Dec. 18 we will stop in the library in the morning to get our library books before Christmas break.

Thursday Christmas Concert

There was a letter sent home on Friday about the Christmas Concert and everything is the same as previous years, but I just wanted to send out one more reminder.

  -  The concert starts at 7:00 on Thursday, December 13.
  -  I will be in the room by 6:30.  It's a nice chance for me to bring my wife and children too.  The kids will have a chance to say hi to Alstan and Elsie (although they'll probably be very shy/overwhelmed).
  -  I will try to be a little earlier than 6:30 though.
  -  The gymnasium also opens at 6:30.
  -  The third graders will be located on the West side of the gym, which is where the band and chorus rooms are located.
  - After the concert is over all the students go back to their classroom where parents can come and pick them up.
  -  We practice as a whole school on Wednesday and Thursday in the afternoon.  This means we won't have math and no homework either!
  -  See you on Thursday.

Language Arts

Here is our third grade plan for the next two weeks before break.

-  This week we are finishing up with a of the Stories that Julian Tells.  There are several other stories that go along with the one from the book.

-  On Wednesday of this week we'll take the spelling/grammar test.  These are the spelling words where the students also need to identify where the apostrophe goes.

-  We won't have reading homework this week since we are at the end of the Julian Tells series.

-  On Thursday we'll begin the story of The Talent Show.  We'll continue this story through next week.

-  We'll take the Talent Show spelling pretest on Thursday, December 13.  The post-test will be on Wednesday, December 19.

-  Along with the story The Talent Show, the students will be presenting their talents to the third graders.  We will practice and present our talents in the morning on Thursday, December 20.  This show is just for our classrooms and we won't be inviting parents or other classes like the play.  I will give more details about the talent show later this week when we start it in class.

Weekend Game

Here is a challenge game. All the lights need to be connected to the tree without any loose connections. It will be a challenge even for parents!

Christmas Tree Light Up

Many Little Things

It seems I have several times where I just have several notes, but this is a busy time of year.

Holiday Items
  - Just a reminder that the Christmas concert is on Thursday, December 13.
  - The make-up day if we get snowed out is Tuesday, December 18.
  - We will be doing rehearsals in the afternoon on Dec. 12-13.
  - There are two items to bring in:  A same gender gift of $5 and a donation for a dinner a local family in need.
  - Our Christmas party will be in the afternoon on Thursday, December 20.
  - December 21st is a half day.

Math
  - We are currently doing two-step math problems, and I know these are difficult for many students.  I have been trying to get them to just look at the first part of the story problem to figure out what to do with the first two numbers.  Then continue on with the next part of the problem.  This doesn't work for every problem, but it does for most.
  - I am planning on having our next math test on Tuesday, December 11.
  - We will then move on to a completely new subject:  Measurement.

Tomorrow (Dec. 7)
  - Tomorrow is spirit day so have your child wear their Panthers gear.
  - It is also the last day of the food drive if you have any non-perishables you'd still like to donate.
  - Our class also gets to say the pledge tomorrow over the morning announcements.

Just for Fun
  - In December our desk arrangement is in groups of four or pods.  Each pod gave themselves a winter name.  Here they are:
  -  The Icicles
  -  Mistletoes
  -  The Ornaments
  -  The Snowflakes
  -  Winter Wonderland

We haven't had much wintry weather to go with our names, but I'm sure that will be here soon enough.

Congrats!

Congratulations to the following students for turning in their November Reading Calendars!  Their Pizza Hut coupons have been handed out already.  Here are the students:  Mariah, Emma, Abby, Montanna, Nicole, Jackie, Alyson, Hailey, James, Hailee, Zachary, and Savannah.


December Calendars - The December Reading Calendars have already been sent out.  This is often the most challenging month because it's busy and the calendars are due after a long break.  Their December calendars will be due on Wednesday, January 2 when we return from school.

Another Congratulations to Abby and Nicole for reaching their winter break reading goal.  Each student has their own reading goals throughout the year.  The first goal we set was for winter break.  Those two girls are the first to meet their goals, but many more will be mentioned in the next couple of weeks for sure.  When we return in January each student will set a new goal for how far they want to read by Spring Break.

Christmas Presents from the Christmas Store are coming home tonight.  The students were all able to find something for their parents.

Panther Friday - Students and teachers are invited to wear their Panther clothing on Friday, December 7.  Each Friday we are doing a different theme on Fridays for fun.

Spelling / Grammar Words

This weeks spelling words are not just spelling words, but grammar words too.  We are learning when and where to put apostrophes in words.  Since this is a little more tricky than our normal spelling words we will continue to work on these through next week.  We'll probably take the final test on Wednesday, December 12.  It will depend on well they are doing though.  I sent home an addition sheet besides the pretest that has each word in a sentence too.

Little Grunt and Notes

Little Grunt Play  -  The students did a great job on the play today.  They were very well prepared and read their lines loudly and clearly.  Great job third graders!  I am proud of your work!

Christmas Store  -  Just a reminder that we will be going to the Christmas Store on Tuesday, December 4th.  Students need to bring in $0.25 or $0.50 before then to buy a gift for a parent/guardian.

November Reading Calendars  -  The November reading calendars are due on Monday, December 3rd. Don't forget to bring them in completed and signed.  The December calendars will go home tonight so the students can work on them starting Saturday.

Weekend Game  -  This is a good one, and kind of a classic look that goes back to my childhood.  It's meteor multiplication, and it fits our class for two reasons.  First we having been talking a bit about meteoroids and meteorites in our science unit, and we are still working on multiplication in math.  We have about two more weeks of multiplication before going on to our next unit, which is measurement.

Meteor Multiplication

Monday, December 3rd is a Full Day

Apparently there has been some confusion with the upcoming schedule so I wanted to send a quick note to so everyone knew.  Monday, December 3rd is a full day of school.

Play Tomorrow

Don't forget that the play is tomorrow at 9:30 in Room 100.  We will not be in the classroom tomorrow as we will be watching the other classes present Little Grunt and the Big Egg as well.  Please head straight to Room 100 which is near the cafeteria.

Also, if you haven't been here during the school day very often, the only doors open are the front door with the Iowa-Grant sign above it.  Once you enter the first doors you will need to go through the office doors and sign in at the office.

The students have been practicing hard and I think we are ready to go!

Christmas Store

I made a mistake on the Christmas Store prices.  Students should bring in $0.25 for each parent and not $0.50.  So if your child would like to buy two gifts they will need $0.50 total and not a dollar.  Those of you who already sent in money I will be sending the rest of the money back tonight.  Sorry for the confusion.

Christmas Store

How Much:  $0.25 for 1 or $0.50 for 2
When:  Tuesday, December 4
What:  Students are able to buy up to two gifts for parents/guardians.  Gifts are wrapped by volunteers.

Earth, Moon, and Sun

We have switched from the Pilgrims and Mayflower to the Earth, Moon, and Sun.  We will study this in science through December.  We do several cool experiments including how far away the sun would be from the Earth as a globe.  We'll do another experiment to see how the moon got its large craters too.

Welcome Back

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break!  I have a few notes to start the new week.

• The first day off from school really caught me off guard this year.  I added a link to the blog if you want to check for delays quickly.  It is on the top right hand corner and it links to Channel 3000s website.  You can also sign up for either e-mail or text message alerts by going to the link Channel 3000 School Closing Alerts.
• The Little Grunt play is this week.  Our class will be presenting in Room 100 on Friday, November 30 at 9:30.  The play should last around 20 minutes.  Please come if you are able.
• Since we didn't have school on Wednesday we are moving the fan spirit day to this Friday.  Students can wear their favorite NFL apparel.
• The sparkling cornucopias are coming home today.  They have become a such a third grade tradition.
• We have a date for the Christmas Store as well.  We will be shopping at 9:00 a.m. on December 4th.

Christmas Notes

It always seems so early to send out the holiday letter, but I like to get it out before Black Friday (or is it Black Thursday now).  I am sending the same information below home tonight too.  

Christmas Store

When:  December 3-7 (Date to be Determined)

How Much:  $0.50 or $1.00

What:  Students are able to buy up to two gifts at the store for $0.50 each.  It gives students the opportunity to buy gifts for their parents or guardians on their own.  Volunteers wrap the gifts and prepare them to take home.

Gift Exchange

When:  December 20^th

How Much:  $5

What:  Each child will bring a gift for another student.  If your child is a girl they should bring a gift for a girl and if they are a boy they should buy a gift for a boy.  We will draw numbers randomly to decide who gets each gift.

Holiday Supper

When:  We’ll go food shopping on December 19^th or 20^th (depending on weather)

How Much:  Your Choice

What:  I know students look forward to giving gifts to teachers, but please donate money to this cause instead of giving me a Christmas gift.  Our class will donate a holiday supper to a family who otherwise may not have one.  As a class, the students will plan the menu and prepare a shopping list.  One or two days before our Christmas break, four students (with parental permission) will go with me to a local grocery store to purchase the groceries with our class donations.  The family will be someone who lives in the Iowa-Grant school district, however, neither the students nor I will know who the family is.  Mrs. Belken will deliver the food to the family without us knowing who the family is.

Party Committee

When:  December 20^th 

Who:  Abby, Montanna, Nicole, Jackie, and Alyson

What:  These committee members will bring drinks and treats or plan games and activities for our Christmas party.  We won't start planning until December though.

News and Notes

IGEMS Food Drive - The annual food drive begins today, Nov. 19, and goes until December 7.  Please bring in any nonperishable food items.  The sixth grade collects the food and all food is distributed within the Iowa-Grant District.

RIF - We will have a RIF (Reading is Fun) day on Tuesday, Nov. 20.  Mrs. Buss is the person who runs the activity.  Each child is able to take home a free book to read!  Many local businesses and groups donate each year to allow this exciting project to continue.

NFL Clothing - On Wednesday, November 21 IGEMS is doing a little spirit day.  Students are invited to wear the clothing of their favorite NFL team.  If they don't have NFL clothing they can also wear their favorite team's colors as well.

Half Day - Finally, don't forget that Wednesday, November 21 is a half day for students!

Weekend Activities

I'm not sure how much time we'll have to explore this website in class, but it is really cool.  It gives lots of information about the first Thanksgiving and the Mayflower, which we are reading right now.  We will definitely finish the book, If You Sailed On the Mayflower in 1620 next week.  If we get time we'll check out the website below.

Thanksgiving and the Mayflower


Also, here are Mrs. Hoppenjan's newsletter for November:
 November Art News

News and Notes

 - Today is Principals Read Your Heart Out Day.  As a class we are going to go down to the library and silent read with Mr. Whitford.  It should be a fun time.

 - A reminder that we will have our play on Friday, November 30 at 9:30 a.m.

 - The last day to order yearbooks is coming up soon.  Orders are due by Wednesday, November 21.  If you would still like to order but lost the order form let me know and I'll get another form for you.

 - This one doesn't give you much time, but if you would like to make an ornament for the State Capital Christmas tree there is more details at the link.  They need to be sent by this Friday though.  State Capital Ornament

 - Finally, as a class we have read over

Awesome!

Military Dogs

Last week we read about Rosie, a Visiting Dog.  Rosie helped others by visiting and we spent some time discussing other dogs who are trained to help humans in different ways.  Today in our RTI group we are going to look at and discuss dogs who have served in the military.  I thought it would fit in very well with the story and Veteran's Day.

Language Arts Schedule

Our schedule gets a little crazy the next few weeks as we have WKCEs, a short week for Thanksgiving and a play.  In math we basically just keep plugging along and try to get as far as we can each day; however, language arts takes a little more planning.

Here is the schedule for the next three weeks of language arts:

November 12-16 - WKCEs and Read Little Grunt and the Big Egg
  - No spelling this week because of testing
  - WKCEs for language arts on Monday-Wednesday
  - We'll read the story the rest of the week
  - The students will also write the paper for their Star of the Week sheet.  It lists lots of their favorites and what they want to do when they grow up

November 19-21 - Unit 2 Test
  - Short week for Thanksgiving
  - No spelling again because of the short week and unit test
  - We'll break the Unit 2 test up into all three days  -  a little each day
  - We will continue with Little Grunt and begin picking out the characters for the play
  - We will also read about Sue, the T-Rex

November 26-30 - Little Grunt Play
  - Spelling pretest and post-test will be this week with the play
  - We'll work on the play for most of the week
  - The students will present the play on Friday, November 30 at 9:30 in Room 100
  - Parents and family members are invited to come and watch.  We will be done by 10:00

Little Grunt and the Big Egg Play

November 30, 2012

9:30 a.m.

Room 100

The Family is Invited!

Article and Game

Article
Our new principal, Tom Whitford, posted this article on his Twitter feed and I found it quite interesting.  It discusses memorization and/or practice of things like cursive and multiplication facts.  As you know, our new math series spends a lot of time working with the students on memorizing their math facts.  We also do cursive when we can squeeze it and do read aloud every day during our milk and snack break.

Here is the article:  Time - Why Kids Should Learn Cursive
Also, you can follow Mr. Whitford on twitter if you happen to tweet:  @twhitford 

Games
The game this week is a style of game they have played in the room before.  It's a comprehension practice for the story we read this week, Rosie, A Visiting Dog's Story.  There is also a link to a National Geographic page that shows some other jobs that dogs have.


Rosie - Rags to Riches
National Graphic - Dogs at Work


Have a great weekend!  Go Panthers!

WKCE Testing

We started our first practice test for the WKCEs today.  The kids did the math section today and will take a practice test for language arts tomorrow.  We look over them together and then send them home.  The math section will be in their folders tonight.

Next week we will start the real tests!  We will do the language arts portion in the morning and math in the afternoon, both of which are our normal times.  Wednesday will be the only day which they take two WKCE tests, otherwise they will just do one section a day.  In third grade they only test on language arts and math.  Because of the testing we will have a limited amount of homework next week.  Also, there will be no spelling words next week.

WKCE Schedule
Monday, November 12 - Language Arts Section 1
Tuesday, November 13 - Language Arts Section 2
Wednesday, November 14 - Language Arts Section 3 and Math Section 1
Thursday, November 15 - Math Section 2
Friday, November 16 - Math Section 3

Voting and the Mayflower

We have begun studying the Pilgrims in Social Studies.  Since we also have the voting for the President today, we are going to combine the two a little bit today.  We'll discuss how the members of Plymouth signed the Mayflower Compact while on the Mayflower.  We will also discuss how the majority ruled in their community and how those rules have lasted the last 400 years!

Cursive and Spelling

We will be finishing up our work on lowercase letters today (Monday).  We'll start working on uppercase next, but we can start writing our spelling words in cursive.  Our spelling words are usually all lowercase so we'll get a little extra practice in.

Reading Calendars & Notes

Reading Calendars
Congratulations to the students below for turning in their October Reading Calendars!  Their Pizza Hut coupon will be coming home tonight.

Here are the students:  Mariah, Emma, Colton, Brynn, Abby, Montanna, Nicole, Jackie, Alyson, Hailey, Skyler, James, Hailee, Zachary, and Savannah.


Weekend Games
This week we were working on singular and plural nouns.  Here are a couple of a games where students can practice that.  The second one is much tougher and more difficult than anything we have practice so far.

• Plural Girls - Normal Level
• Plural Girls - Tougher Level

Class Schedule
The class schedule at the right has been updated to go through the end of the year (also posted below).  It seems crazy to already be into November!  I think the report cards are sent home on Wednesday, November 7.

Nov. 2 - End First Quarter - Half Day

Nov. 5 - Girl Scouts

Nov. 6 - Flu Shots

Nov. 12 - Vet's Day Program

Nov. 12-16 - WKCE Testing

Nov. 19 - Girl Scouts

Nov. 21 - Yearbook Deadline ($15)

Nov. 21 - Early Release

Nov. 22-25 - Thanksgiving Break

Dec. 3 - Girl Scouts

Dec. 13 - Christmas Concert

Dec. 17 - Girl Scouts

Dec. 18 - Christmas Concert Make-Up

Dec. 21 - Early Release

Dec. 22-Jan. 1 - Break!

Jan. 2 - Return to School

Have a great weekend!

The Galapagos Islands

We read about the Galapagos Islands this week in language arts.  Below is a cool interactive website where the kids can explore some of the different animals and features of the island.


Explore the Galapagos

Updates

Happy Halloween!

Here are several notes for the week:

• Don't forget that reading calendars are due tomorrow, November 1st.  Some students saved a skip day and turned them in today.  Students will receive a coupon for a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut and an extra 30 minutes recess for turning in their reading calendar this month.
• Yearbook order forms went home yesterday.  The yearbook is $15 this year and the deadline for orders is Wednesday, November 21.  The yearbooks are delivered in the spring.
• A form for flu shots went home yesterday too.  Iowa County is doing flu shots for free at Iowa-Grant on November 6.  Please turn in the form by Friday, November 2.
• Youth wrestling is also organizing.  There is meeting for boys and girls on Thursday, November 1 from 7:00-8:30 in the IGEMS cafeteria.
• Finally, no homework tonight!

Galapagos Islands

This week we are going to read about a photographer who took pictures of the animals of the Galapagos Islands.  We watched the video above as a preview of what the area looks like.  Later this week we'll watch a couple of other videos that give more details about the animals of the Galapagos Islands.

Weekend Game

I've already told the kids, but this has to be one of my favorite games all year. It fits perfectly with our language arts as the kids are writing how-to directions this week. I have them write how to carve a pumpkin because it fits so well with this activity.

It goes through great detail to teach you how to carve a pumpkin. Make sure you have your volume on too, as there are some directions. Look at the directions carefully before you choose a pumpkin to carve.

How to Carve a Pumpkin Like a Pro

Veteran's Day Program

Our Veteran's Day Program is on November 12, 2012 at 10:15 a.m. this year.  Mrs. Wanie, who sets up the program, would like to know if there are more local veteran's who would like to be a part of the program.  If you or someone you know is a veteran and would like to come to the program please let us know.  You can send me an e-mail to me (avanovermeer@igs.k12.wi.us) or directly to Mrs. Wanie (kwanie@igs.k12.wi.us).

On another note, I look forward to seeing everyone at Parent/Teacher Conferences either tonight (Tuesday) or Thursday.

Book Fair Online

If you would like to order your child's books from the book fair online you can do that.  There is no tax and the shipping is free since books will be sent to the school.  Otherwise the book fair will be open on Tuesday and Thursday evening during parent/teacher conferences.

Iowa-Grant Book Fair Online

Questions From The Teacher

Parent teacher conferences are next week (not November like I wrote in the sheet home), and I had a few questions I wanted parents to think about before they come.

These questions aren't homework and you don't need to write them in a paragraph or anything. :)  I am just interested and curious to learn more about what the children and you think.

Blog Questions
  1.  Are you getting on okay and is it working?
  2.  Is it being sent to your e-mail?

Math Questions
  1.  How is homework going?  How long is taking and is there frustration?
  2.  What is your child's attitude toward the new math series?
  3.  What are your early feelings about the new math series?

General Questions
  1.  How is your child feeling about school and the year so far?

Thanks and see you all next week!

Calendar of Events

I have a few things that I added to the calendar that are coming up in the next few weeks.  I also updated the calendar at the right of the page.

1. Next Wednesday we'll have our first math test on multiplication and division.  This test will cover all the numbers we have worked on so far.  Only 6, 7, and 8 have not been studied yet.  Those will actually be the topic of our next unit.  We'll keep working on the problems and a few other things next week.
2. A book fair reminder has been sent home already.  The book fair runs at the same time as parent/teacher conferences.  We will go in and preview the book fair next week.  If you would like to buy books you can do that during conferences or send in money with the child early next week.
3. The WKCE testing window for third graders will be November 12-16.  We won't test on Monday; however we will show them a practice test before hand.  This is the first year that students take the WKCE and third grade only tests on Language Arts and Math.  Last year the test was broken up into three days with one section of language arts and math each day.  The test is not something they can study for, it is more general knowledge.
4. Finally, don't forget we have a day of off school on October 26!

Conjunction Junction

Unfortunately I am home with a sick child today, but I'm sure the students will work hard to keep learning without me.  They have been excellent at other times this year when I have been gone.

We are going to begin learning about conjunctions in language arts.  If there is time today, the students will watch the video below and then tell the teacher what a conjunction is.  Good luck kids!

Spelling, Pictures, and Lost & Found

Happy Monday!  I have a few items to pass along today.

• The spelling words this week are very difficult.  The words we are working on have kn, wr, gh, or ph combinations.  I have talked to the students about having a goal of improving by four or five words from the pretest.
• We were supposed to start the pictures of our parents today, but that will actually start on Tuesday.  We are going to do our egg experiment today.  That gives students one more day to turn in photos.  Remember that they need a picture at the following stages:  baby, elementary, high school, and adult.  Thanks to all those who have already turned theirs in.
• Finally, a note from the office. There are already lots of clothes piling up in the lost & found.  Please put initials or names on coat and jacket tags.  There are many nice pieces of clothing left up there all winter.  Our class will stop by today to look for any clothes that are ours.

Schoolhouse Rock

We only have 10-15 minutes of math today before the Green and Gold Experience so we are going to watch a couple more of the Schoolhouse Rock videos for numbers.

Threes


Fours


Nines

Parent/Teacher Conference Schedule

Here is the schedule for the Parent/Teacher Conferences.  If you need to adjust your time to fit your schedule better feel free.  Remember, I have two openings for each half hour so if there is a time open on the schedule just let me know you want to switch.

Tuesday, October 23
4:00  -  Skyler
4:30  -  Hailee and James
5:00  -  Emma
5:30  -  Hailey
6:00  -  Jackie and Colton
6:30  -  Montanna
7:00  -  Mariah and Brynn


Thursday, October 25

4:00  -  Alyson
4:30  -  Abby
5:00  -
5:30  -  Savannah
6:00  -  Owen and Nicole
6:30  -  Zachary
7:00  -

Reminders

• Don't forget to send in the 4 pictures of a parent or adult by Monday, Oct. 15.  We will be working on them right at the beginning of the week.  The three pictures are a baby, elementary, teen, and adult.
• The Green and Gold Experience is tomorrow!  Make sure that your child has socks for the day.
• We had a fire drill today at IGEMS.  It may be a good time to review what the fire proceedures are at your dwelling.
• Finally a parent article about iPads improving learning.  We have 10 iPads that are checked out in IGEMS.  We have been checking them out for use on Thursday and Friday.  The kids get very excited about them.  One student at a time also reads an eBook from my personal iPad.  So far we have been doing activities on the Internet and a few apps.  I hope to continue to find activities that fit our curriculum.  Here's the article:  CNN iPads

Classroom Parties

We will have four classroom parties throughout the year with the first one coming up at the end of this month. I split the kids up for each one in alphabetical order.

For each party we will have the members of the group decide what they want to do for an activity/game. We'll have two students in charge of food and two students in charge of games. I will meet with the group to decide who wants each job and send notes home so parents know.  The students work to develop the game ideas on their own though.

I have left a list of the committees at the lower-right side of the blog as well.  That way you can reference them later in the year.

Halloween Committee
Mariah
Emma
Colton
Brynn

Christmas Committee
Abby
Montanna
Nicole
Jackie
Alyson

Valentine's Day Committee
Hailey
Skyler
James
Jackson

Spring Party
Hailee
Zachary
Owen
Savannah

Life Cycle

We will be starting our first unit in science this week.  This unit focuses on “life cycles,” and we need a little help from you for a project the children will be doing.

Please help your son/daughter find photos of one of their parents from the following stages of life:

q  Infant        (Note:  one picture from each stage)

q  Child

q  Teenager

q  Adult

The pictures will be displayed in the hall with your child’s work on this project—they will be out of reach of little hands and will not be stapled, etc.  Please send them in a sealable bag (ziploc, etc.) with your child’s name clearly on the bag.  Also write your family name (ex. “Moen”) on the back of each photo in case they get mixed up with others while working on the project. Please send pictures that are no larger than 5X7.

Also, if you have digital images that don’t need to be returned that would be great too.  You can print those on your home computer to send with your child or send me an attachment of the four photos via e-mail (avanovermeer@igs.k12.wi.us).  If you send them to me I can print them in color.

Thank you for your help with this.  We need the pictures by next week Monday, October 15^th.  They’ll be sent home a few weeks after that.  You may begin sending them as soon as you’re ready.

No photos of parents will be used on the blog.  :) 

Language Arts

We have our first unit test in language arts next week.  We'll split the test up into smaller pieces so it isn't so overwhelming.  The first part will be on Tuesday and then we'll do a section a due on Wednesday and Thursday.  Because of this we won't have a new set of spelling words next week.

Here is a game for the weekend:  Hangman

News and Notes

• I am sending home the parent/teacher conferences sign up tonight.  Please return that form as soon as you can.   Conferences will be in the classroom this year.  They will be on Oct. 23 and Oct. 25 from 4:00-7:30.  If you can't come at that time just let me know and we can make adjustments.
• If anyone is still going to order Panther Pride items there are only a couple of things left.  Necklaces and eye blacks are the only thing left on the agenda.
• A reminder that if you are taking your child home after the parade to please send a note in the morning.
• Cool Free App:  I know not everyone has an iPad, but there is a cool new program that I found that can be used on the iPad or even regular computers.  It is called Storia by Scholastic.  It's a free e-reader from Scholastic who also does our Reading Counts program.  Of course the books cost money to buy, but I have bought several already for under a dollar.  I am letting students read a book from my iPad one at a time to try it.
• Finally, on days when we have testing like Monday and Wednesday I do not send homework home with the students.  They did their MAPs testing for math today and put forth great effort.  We'll do the same thing when we take the WKCE tests later this fall.

Congratulations...

...to the following students for turning in their September reading calendars!  Mariah, Emma, Colton, Brynn, Abby, Montanna, Nicole, Jackie, Alyson, Hailey, Skyler, James, Hailee, Zach, and Savannah.  Great work!


They will receive their extra thirty minute reading recess today and what a beautiful day to get some extra recess.  Starting with the October calendar students will receive an extra 30 minute recess and get the personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut's Book-It program.

Letter of the Day

We did the lowercase letter y today for cursive.  Since I have a three year old I know my Sesame Street fairly well.  We watched and listened to the video Don't Know Y today while we wrote our cursive.

Transportation Note

If students are traveling to Religion on Wednesday there is a new bus rule.  Students won't be dropped off in Montfort by the bus.  The student will need to get picked up by someone at the backdoor instead.  This is also the case for other activities like gymnastics.

News and Notes

Reading Calendars are due on Monday, October 1!  

We will have our extra reading recess on Monday too so don't forget!  I wanted to leave this on the top of the blog as a reminder for the weekend.

Other Notes:

• On Monday we'll also be taking our MAPs (Measures of Academic Progress) test for language arts.  The kids sometimes get confused because we are studying map skills in social studies, but the MAPs test is just an acronym.  On Oct. 1 we will do the language arts portion and on Oct. 3 we'll do the math portion.  Students usually get done in under an hour and the test is taken on the computer.
• I added a page at the top of the blog called Weekly Classroom Links.  This is a page that will change often but will give students a quick place to access the links we are using for that class period.  We will use the Internet during iPad time and/or computer time.
• The parade next week will actually begin at 2:30 and not 2:00 as it says on the master calendar.  If you are going to take your child home after the parade please send a note in the morning.  It can be kind of a crazy day.  Thanks.
• Finally, I had a plan to send links to interesting articles for parents this year (Don't worry, there won't be any quizzes:)  I have been sending out so many posts that I wasn't sure when I would start sending them out.  For now, I am adding it to the update page.  Here's the first article:  Your Third Grader's Brain

Almost The Weekend Games

Mega Math are games that go along with our new math series, Math Expressions.  I have linked several games below that fit the multiplication and division lessons we have been learning.

Mega Math

Country Critters - 2s and 5s

Country Critters - Grouping

Up, Up, and Array - Mult. up to 5

Up, Up, and Array - Div. up to 5

Up, Up, and Array - Multiples of 10

Also, most of the games I have been linking are Flash games, which won't work on iPads.  If you have an iPad and would like to still try these games you can download the app called Rover.  This is a web browser that will allow you to play flash games.

iPad Link

I am going to try to include iPads into our guided reading time two days a week (hopefully Thurs. and Fri.).  We have 10 iPads for checkout in the IGEMS so it will depend on whether other classes are using them.  Since we don't have enough iPads for each student to use individually we will split them up over two days.  Below is the link to the comprehension game they will work on with the iPad this week.  Some weeks they'll use the Internet and others they will use apps to work on different reading and/or writing skills.

Allie's Basketball Games - Millionaire Comprehension

Happy Half Day

What a beautiful day for the kids to be able to get a half day off.  I hope they are able to get out and enjoy the weather.

I have a few different Schoolhouse Rock Videos to share that go along with what we are learning in math and language arts.  So far we have only watched the multiplication fives video in class.  We will watch Mr. Morton on Thursday.

When we watch Mr. Morton the students will get in groups of 3 or 4.  They will watch the video and then as a group have to determine what the meaning of a subject and predicate is.  That way they are using the video to learn while they are being entertained.







Finally, I know on the video page that some of the Schoolhouse Rock videos aren't working.  I am working on updating those.  The videos above have all been updated and have current links.

Updates

There are several updates and reminders I wanted to share on Monday.

RTI - We began RTI, or Response to Intervention, on Monday.  This is a federal program where we take a thirty minute block to work on areas of need.  Your child may stay with me during this time or go to one of the other third grade teachers.  The groups will switch periodically throughout the year.  Mr. Whitford sent home a letter about RTI last week.

Parent/Teacher Fundraiser - The date to turn in money and order forms for the fund raiser is tomorrow, Tuesday, September 25.  Thanks to all those who were able to help out.

Half Day - Our first early release is coming up this Wednesday, September 26.  The buses leave IGEMS at 12:30.  If your child is going somewhere different please send a note in the morning.  As you may know, the afternoon of the early releases are training times for the teachers.  We will have more training with our new math series this inservice.

New Math Homework - Speaking of new math series, I will be sending home another sheet for multiplication practice tonight.  The kids have had practice with it already and we'll practice it again today.  I have been trying to spend lots of time with the students so they are secure in how to do the new homework, but feel free to write me a note, e-mail, or call if you are confused.

Weekend Multiplication Games

Below are several new games for the weekend.  They are all multiplication games and each of the games below allow the students to pick which number they'd like to work on.  This is perfect as we are learning multiplication one set of numbers at a time.  This can allow the kids to get extra math practice while doing a game.  It would be best to have them work on the 2s, 5s, and 10s (coming up today).  Also, make sure that your child continues to do the count by, mixed-up multiplication, and mixed-up division quizzes.

• Pumpkin Patch
• Car Wash
• Harvest Hootenanny
• Sketch World
• Super Stars
• Math Models
• High Flying

Have a great weekend!

Extra Recess

I was out of the room all day doing the Benchmark Assessments, but had a couple of quick notes I wanted to pass along to the parents and students.

1.  Our sub thought the class behaved so well that she gave them an extra 5 minutes of recess today!  Wow! My memory isn't always perfect, but I don't remember having a class get an extra recess from a sub.  Great work Van Clan!  I am very proud of you!

2.  On another positive note, the students effort on the Benchmark Assessments was great.  Seeing them put forth their best effort was encouraging to see.

So it was a great day for my third grade class and I wanted to share.  Lets do it again tomorrow!

Benchmark Assessment

Tomorrow we will work on the Benchmark Assessments in third grade.  I will have a sub while I administer the test.  Each child comes to read individually with me and will read several books to determine their reading level.  After reading the short book I will ask them several questions to see how well they understand the story.

It is a great opportunity for me to listen to each child read and be able to identify areas I need to help each child.  From there I will use our guided reading to work with small groups of students who have similar needs.  For example, I may take a group of three or four children who need help decoding words one day and another group who needs help with comprehension the next.

Reading Homework Tonight

Tonight's reading selection, Nate the Great, San Francisco Detective is quite long.  On the reading sheets students have the option of how they want to read the book, and tonight may be a good time to take turns reading.  It is good to have students listen to adults read sometimes too, as they can learn about pacing and fluency by listening.

Our language arts homework will usually be sent home every Wednesday.  Once in a while it will get rearranged depending on what we are doing in math, but I like to have the students get some math homework and some language arts.

iPad Activity

Today the students are going to be introduced to using the iPads in class.  We have 10 iPads for checkout in IGEMS.  I'm not sure how often I'll get to check them out, but I'd like to eventually have the students use them independently during our guided reading time.  Today I am going to have them bookmark our blog on the iPad and then click on the links below to see an example of the activities they can do.

These activities do not have to be played on just the iPad either.  They can be played on a laptop or desktop too.

Officer Buckle Vocabulary
Nate The Great - Millionaire Comprehension

Calendar

The calendar has been updated at the right of the blog.  I added a few things we are doing in the classroom and some of the things students are doing outside of school too.

• Benchmark Assessment - We will be doing these on Thursday of this week.  I will be in the school listening to students read, but will have a sub.  I'll have more information on this later in the week.
• Punt, Pass, & Kick - A form is going home tonight if you'd like your child to participate.  It is on Sat., Sept. 22 at 3:00 p.m. at the Iowa-Grant football field.  Below is what you'll need to participate:
• Tennis shoes (no cleats)
• Signed waiver form (sent home tonight)
• Proof of age if child wins division (birth certificate)
• Questions:  Contact Mike Peat at 623-2048
• Parent/Teacher Fundraiser  - Due date to return forms is on Sept. 25 and Green and Gold Experience is Oct. 12.
• Girl Scouts - There are several girls signed up for girl scouts in our room.  In general, they stay after school every other Monday starting tonight.  

Finally, in case you are wondering, I don't put student birthdays on the blog or the blog calendar.  This is to protect the students personal information.  We do recognize them in the classroom though.

Parent/Teacher Fund Raiser

The Parent/Teacher Fund Raiser is coming home tonight.  I believe they are using the same company that they used last year, Cherrydale Farms.  Parent/Teacher Club has done a great deal to help out the school throughout the years so if you and your child can help that is great.

Here are some important dates for the fund raiser:
Tuesday, September 25 - Turn in Your Orders
Friday, October 12 - Green and Gold Experience!!!
Tuesday, October 23 - Delivery Day (at Parent/Teacher Meetings)


Parent/Teacher Club also now has an online clothing shop now.  You can customize your own Panthers gear and until October 31, 2012 they have a $10 coupon for shopping online!
Address:  www.shop.mylocker.net
Locker # dc642
Click Here to Go In:  Panther Shop
$10 Promo or Coupon Code:  F12ML

Weekend Game

The story the students read this week was Pepita Talks Twice.  On Monday they will take a Reading Counts on that story.  As a class we started a Pepita Talks Twice game of Jeopardy, but didn't get close to getting done.  Below is the Jeopardy Game we started.

The game has also been added to our Educational Games link at the top of the page.

Pepita Talks Twice Jeopardy

Home Signature Sheets

Our new math series (Math Expressions) is also going to have some different math homework too.  Tonight I will be sending home a pink homework sheet that is intended to help students work on their multiplication facts.  On the other side is a signature sheet or log to keep track of.  Please keep the signature sheet in your child's take home folder.  This will allow me to see if they are signing and make sure they know what to do in the new series.

We will be spending most of the class period working on this new multiplication practice, so the students should know what to do tonight as well.  The students should do the Count-By 5s and Mixed Up Multiplication 5s tonight for their homework.  If they are able to do either of those with no mistakes you will sign or initial the signature sheet.  If they make a mistake, leave a small mark so the students can look it over.  They will be able to retake the section again the next day.  For each number and section (Count-bys, Mixed Up Multiplication, and Mixed Up Division) the students will need to pass twice.

There is also a family letter that is coming home tonight that will help explain this new home work.  If you have any questions let me know (avanovermeer@igs.k12.wi.us or 943.6313 ext. 1048) and I'll try to help.

Language Arts Homework

Sorry I didn't get this out sooner.  I told the students I'd leave a note on the blog that their parents could check if they needed.

The students have a reading homework assignment for tonight.  They are to read our language arts story, Pepita Talks Twice.  They can read it silently, aloud, in a partnership, or have it read to them.  Please mark how the child reads it and sign the sheet of paper.  There is not another way for me to know if they read.  As you will see, the new math series also has items which involve having parent signatures.

Also, the story that they read at home they can also use as their 15 minutes of reading for their September reading calendar as well.

Have a great evening!

Spelling Begins

We started our spelling this morning with a pretest.  We will do spelling almost every week with a pretest at the beginning of the week and a post test at the end.  The student's correct their own pretest right after taking the test, I double check their work, and we send it home on Monday.  We'll have a bonus word each Friday on the post test, which they won't be able to practice for.  The bonus word will only help and can't hurt them.  Most of the time I try to find words that go along with the letter combinations they are learning, although sometimes it's an unrelated word that I want them to know (like how to spell the teacher's name).


Also, school pictures are in and will be sent home tonight!

More Information and Games

At the beginning of the year there seems to be lots of bits of information to share.  Today I have more bits and pieces of information that are pretty random.

• First, this week I am sending home a paper copy with everyone.  If you don't have Internet I'll continue to print the blog on Friday to send home.  If you have Internet you can either go to the blog address iowagrant33.blogspot.com or sign-up to have new posts sent to your e-mail.
• I am also sending home a letter today explaining some of the things that are done in the classroom and the school for behavior.  I think it's pretty basic, but wanted to make sure it made sense to everyone.
• Students can bring in snacks to eat at our 2:00 milk time.  Please try to find healthy choices or at least healthier choices.  We don't want the students eating junk food at snack break.
• Finally, the weekend game.  I try to post a weekend game each week, but most of the games can already be found on Educational Games page.  I always try to find games that are educational and have no advertisements or at least limited.  Here it is:   Math Lines

Entering IGEMS

When you come into the IGEMS building this year the only doors that are unlocked remain the front doors with the White Iowa-Grant Panthers sign above it.  Unlike previous years though, the second set of doors are lock.  After entering the first set of doors turn right and go through the office doors to gain access to the building.  All guests need to enter through the office and sign in.  This is a safety precaution as well as a way to keep track of who is in the building.

First Day Updates

The first day has started off great!  The students have listened very well as we went through the classroom rules and structure.  There is a lot of information for them to take in on the first day.

Here are a few notes for the beginning of the year:

Math Expressions

• We have a new math series this year called Math Expressions.
• The main focus for the first few months is multiplication and division.
• They teach the two together since they are so closely tied.
• Wednesday and Thursday the students will be taking a pretest for the math series.  This will help me see what areas each student is confident in and where they may need assistance.  The test is not graded.
• Friday we will begin lesson one of the math series.
• Because of the pretest we won't have any homework this week, but will get started with math and language arts homework next week.

Gym and Computers

• We will only have gym on days A, C, and E this year.
• On days D and F we will have computers at the same time as our gym time.  
• Day B will be a time that we will do an activity in the classroom.  It will usually be a chance to put in extra work on an area of need.  Tomorrow it will be a chance to pick out silent reading books from our library.

Reading Calendars

• I will be sending home reading calendars tonight as well.
• The students are responsible for the calendar starting today (Sept. 4) until the end of the year.
• They should read for 15 minutes each night, but get 4 skip days whenever they would like to return them.
• If they return their calendar finished, signed, and on time they receive an extra 30 minute reading recess on Monday, October 1st.
• When Pizza Hut's Book-It starts in October they will also receive the personal pan pizza for returning their reading calendar.

Welcome

Welcome to the Van Clan blog for the 2012-2013 school year. I will update this page often throughout the school year. This website will have things that are happening in class, give upcoming events, include online games, have videos, include student weekly reviews and much more. 

My goal is to make the blog a place where parents and students visit often. The easiest way to keep up with posts is to subscribe to the blog via e-mail. At the right of the page there is a Follow By Email box. Insert your e-mail there and every time I send a new post an e-mail will be sent to you. You may also want to bookmark this on your home computer if you would like your child to access it.

At the top of the blog are links to the home page, educational games, videos, and our schedule.  The games and videos page has links to that we'll use throughout the year.  In previous years I have added the games as we learned them, but I'd like the students to have access to the educational games all year.

At the bottom of the blog is a Scholastic Book Wizard.  This allows students to look up books they are reading at home to find the reading level.  It has been helpful to other students in the past.

Thanks for stopping by the blog and if you have any questions about the classroom or blog feel free to e-mail me at avanovermeer@igs.k12.wi.us.

Have a Great Summer!

I hope everyone has a great, relaxing, and safe summer.  As I've told the students already, don't be a stranger next year.  Please stop in to say hi and tell me how your summer went.  I'll be in a new location (Mrs. Allen's old room), but I'll still be teaching third grade.

The students are probably bringing home several old books.  There were many in front of the library and some from my room that we were being shipped out.  The ones in my room were not reading counts books so students aren't interested in reading them.

Finally, the blog will remain up all summer so students can still access the games and videos.  Many students have asked about my personal blog, and they can check out my little's ones growth at vanovermeer.blogspot.com.

It was great being your third grade teacher!

Signing out,
Mr. Van Overmeer

Report Cards and Dismissal

Lots of stuff is coming home tonight from the students desks and notes from the office.  I just wanted to remind everyone that report cards will also be in that stack.

Also, tomorrow the students dismiss at 12:00 instead of 12:30 like most early release days.

Goal Met!

8,001,323

I had set a goal for the third graders at the beginning of the third trimester.  If they could read 8 million words as a class for the year I would give them an extra recess.  It was close all the way until the end, but this morning we exceeded that goal and the students earned their extra recess.  Great work Van Clan!

The whole school also met their goal of 250,000,000 words read!  What a great reading achievement!

Also, in the report cards tonight is a picture of each child with their word count for the year and a picture of them with approximately the number of words they read.  It would be very time consuming to try to get the exact book list of each child, so we just use books from the library and estimated.  It still gives them an idea of just how much they read this year.

Next Three Days

The last three days of school are here. I wanted to make sure that students dressed right the last couple of days. On both Tuesday and Thursday we'll be doing a lot of running and moving with the field trip and last day activities. Students will want to wear comfortable shoes and clothes they can be active in.

In the past some students have wanted to dress a little nicer for the last day of school. We are suggesting that if they want to wear something nicer they do it on Wednesday, which is when we have our awards ceremony. Of course, they can just wear shorts and t-shirt if they'd like too.

May Reading Calendar

Congratulations to the following students for turning in the last reading calendar of the year! It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day for an extra recess.

Avery, Ryan, Luke, Josh, Jalen, Elly, Lauren, Colin, Olivia, Nic, Lindsaye, Courtney, Brie, Grace, Brynna, and Isaiah Z.

Things to Turn In

Two things for Friday!
- First, students need to bring in things for their hobby fair. Just enough to fill their desk.
- The other is their May Reading Calendar.

Other Things Before the End of the Year
- Registration forms need to be turned in before the year is out.
- Finally, any library books that haven't been returned need to be in.


The last homework of the year went home tonight. Several kids had saved a card to get out of their last homework too.

Notes

- The Hobby Fair is on Friday, June 1. Students will need to bring in something for their hobbies to share. It is a pretty informal sharing time and other students will go around and ask them questions about their hobbies. They will get prepared in class, but just need things to share that fit on their desk.

- The May reading calendar is due on Friday, June 1. We'll have our last extra recess on that Friday too. If students are done early they can turn them in tomorrow to make sure they won't forget.

- Next week I'll also be sending home a summer reading packet. Students are not required to them at all, but I wanted to build something to help students stay motivated reading this summer. I'll have more information on this later.

- Finally, last week I sent out an e-mail saying you could donate books if you would like because the library was getting low. Thanks to all those who brought in books. Also, the same day I sent that post I found out that St. Mary's Catholic School, which is closing, was selling their books for $1 each. We were able to add 50 or 60 books to the library with many great series perfect for third graders like Junie B. Jones, Magic Tree House, Boxcar Children, and Bailey's School Kids.

Schoolhouse Rock - Adverbs

We have one more Schoolhouse Rock video for the year!