Week 1, August 26 - Newsletter

The Buzz in Ms. B’s Class

Issue #1: August 26, 2012

Welcome back to school!!  I am so excited to begin this year.  It is going to be a great year in third grade and I can’t wait to get started! 

Reminders:

-       Please sign and return the papers sent home by Friday, August 30^th. 

-       We will be practicing rules, routines, and procedures throughout the week.  Feel free to ask your child what these are.  The more familiar they are, the better.  And you will have a good understanding of the procedures in our classroom and school through your child’s knowledge!

-       Your child will walk to our classroom by himself/herself each day.  If students (3-6) arrive earlier than 7:45, they will go to the gym.  If after 7:45, they will come straight to the classroom. (K-2 children go to the cafeteria for those students with younger siblings)

-       Please practice the spelling pattern each night with your child.

        What is my child learning this week?

Spelling: short a and short i: land, stick, plan, trip, stand, act, thing, last, lift, band, grand, swim, stamp, list, sand

Fry’s Phrases (these help with fluency – practice reading these daily)

-       The first day of school

-       My family

-       Add it up.

Fry’s Phrases are used to practice fluency.  They will not be on the spelling test.  Please read these with your child often to increase fluency.

English/Reading:

-       We are focusing on comprehension skills in both literary (fiction) and informational (nonfiction/expository) texts.  We will be asking questions throughout our reading, inferring meanings of vocabulary words, and how to read with a “fresh perspective” (no background knowledge needed).

-       We will learn the difference between personal schema reading (reading for fun or enjoyment) and evidence-based reading (comprehension purposes; be able to answer questions).  Much of what we read in school is evidence-based reading.  We do not need to tap into background knowledge when reading to “prove.”  We will have plenty of opportunities for personal schema reading as well!

Math:

-       We are reviewing addition.  We will be creating addition word problems and solving one another’s problems.

-       We are also learning our problem solving strategy known as UPSL (understand, plan, solve, look back). 

-       We will be reviewing key words and adding them to our Math Wall.

Social Studies:

-       We are learning why rules and laws are important in our school and community.

-       We will be creating rules that are needed to be good citizens.

Science:

-       We are discussing what a scientist is and what are a scientist’s characteristics.

-       We will review safety procedures.

-       We will set up our science notebooks that we will use throughout the year!

Have a wonderful week!

Ms. Butts

The First Couple of Days

I must say, I always adore my class.  I truly believe my class to be the best (and they are!), every year.  It never fails.  And this year is no different.  My kiddos are AMAZING.  I have laughed out loud on numerous occasions (today, one of my students was upset that his taco shell was lopsided and he just stared at me with wide eyes and poked out his lip so far I could have used it as a stair step.  He did is purposely - he was being funny - and I could not stop laughing!), my students flipped when I did my British accent for the first time (I always love seeing their reactions!  Get ready, parents, it's contagious.  Sorry...), their humor and wit is incredible, and they have caught on so quickly to many of the things we are learning.

With that said, there are some concepts that are kind of tricky - and that's ok!  The concepts are new!  Parents, today I told your children that if they get frustrated with new things we are learning, I want them to forget their frustration and just keep working.  Olympic athletes did not just wake up and go to the Olympics.  They trained and practiced and became masters at their craft.  School is the same way.  It's not necessarily that material gets easier, but your child will get better at that material!  Things that seemed hard will seem easy in the near future.  They are the Olympic hopefuls; they have to train and work hard and they WILL see the results. I promise.

I have had a lot of fun teaching my students 3rd grade concepts.  3rd grade is the best grade to teach, in my opinion (and I have taught a few!).  Students are independent and so sweet :) 3rd grade material is challenging and students feel so accomplished when they master a new concept.  And I love watching their faces light up when they first understand.  It is the best.  I hope you have many opportunities to see your child light up when he/she is explaining a concept to you - it is priceless.

I am looking forward to an utterly fantastic year.  I want to instill a love of learning in your child that will reach far beyond third grade.  I think we're on a good track this year - they all seem so eager and excited. I love it!

Cheers,

Ms. Butts  

P.S.  Check back soon - Superhero pictures will be uploaded (and they're adorable!).

Remind 101

I was recently told of this opt-in text messaging app that allows a teacher to send texts to the parents of his/her students. Naturally, I tried it out immediately with myself as a "parent" - I had to see how it worked. Well, it's great! I will be able to send reminders to you of upcoming events, projects due, etc., with ease! More communication with parents is always welcomed.

You can register for the reminders through text (standard messaging rates apply), email, or both. This is a one-way communication app from the teacher to the parents; replies are not available. If further clarification is needed, an email can be sent to abutts@mesquiteisd.org, and I will respond as quickly as possible.

Please put your child's first and last name rather than your first and last name when you opt in through text. That way I will easily know which children's parents are receiving messages. A child's name can be in the class numerous times, once per phone number.

By Text (remember that standard rates apply):

- Send a text to 225-590-5827 with the message @msbutts3
- You will then be prompted to enter your first and last name. Please enter your child's first and last name.

By Email:

- Send an email to msbutts3@mail.remind101.com

- There is no need to put anything in the subject line or body of the email.
- This will be registered to the name that your email address is registered, which is fine!

Looking forward to a great year with new technology for communication!

Cheers,

Ms. Butts