NEWSLETTER MRS. TURNER SEPT. 26-30
FIELD TRIP ON FRIDAY- We will be going to the Vulcan Rock Quarry this Friday. One parent can go with us. You will probably have to drive your own car or ride with parents from other third grade classes. I don’t think there will be enough room on the buses. If you would like to be considered, please write a note in your child’s agenda. I will write down all of the names I receive and pick one from the hat. Students will need to wear tennis shoes and a red shirt. Listen to the weather that morning to see if you will need a jacket. Students will also need to bring a sack lunch and a drink if they aren’t buying a sack lunch from the cafeteria. We will be leaving at 9:15 and returning at 1:30.
CLASSROOM HELPERS- Many thanks to the following parents who have stepped up to help us this year:
Room parent-Jen Kastensmidt, Reading parent- Jo Runyon, Earth Parent- Melanie Perkins, and Class photographer-Chrissy Gibson. As far as I know, we still need a parent for HOSPITALITY and a parent for CHIC-FIL-A. If you can help out with either of these, please let me know.
SCIENCE LAB NEEDS- Mrs. Cauffiel needs some pencils with latex-free erasers,
SPOOKTACULAR- Thanks for sending in cans to help with the scarecrow. We will be decorating Snow White’s poisoned apple tomorrow. Please plan to join us this Saturday from 4:00-8:00 for a great time.
REFLECTIONS- The theme this year is “Diversity means…” Reflections is a great program! It encourages children to show their creative sides. All of the students in our class will be completing a LITERATURE piece for the competition at school. A permission form will be coming home this week. I would like to encourage the children to enter other categories as well: visual arts, photography, film production, dance choreography and music composition. All entries are due by October 10th to the front office. Details can be found in the packet that was sent home last week.
BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION- Continue to save and send in those Box Tops. The contest continues through Oct. 21.
ACCELERATED READER- The students are making great progress toward their goal of 9 points for the first nine weeks. Remember to read books that are ON YOUR LEVEL. You don’t want to pick books that are too hard or too easy.
PICTURE RETAKES- Thursday, Sept. 29th
STANDARDIZED TESTING-We will be taking the Cognitive Abilities Test and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills from Wednesday, Oct. 5- Friday, Oct. 14th. A special snack schedule will be coming home for the week of the Iowa Test.
SCIENCE NIGHT- Plan to join us on Tuesday, Oct. 4th from 6:00-8:00 for a great night of hands-on science experiments!
CATO FIELD TRIP- We will be visiting the CATO house on Tuesday, Oct. 4th for our second CATO field trip. The earth parent will be our chaperone for this field trip. If she is unable to go, I will send out an e-mail.
THANK YOU LETTERS TO THE TROOPS- Ford is joining The Bert Show to let our troops know how much they are appreciated. Ford families and students are asked to write letters to our troops. The letters need to be ready to send by Oct. 28th. Here are some Do’s and Don’ts: DO use regular size paper or smaller paper. DO use crayons, pencils, or markers. DO use thank you words not political opinions. Some ideas for writing are: thank you for serving our country, leaving family, away from home, appreciate your hard work and dedication, etc. DON’T use cardboard, glue, tape, staples, or glitter. DO NOT SEND photos, donations, envelopes, or stamps. Thanks for taking the time to read this! Please write the words: THANK YOU SOLDIERS in the agenda if you read all of this. Students will receive a Rachel’s Challenge link for every letter written by the child and his family.
SUBJECT MATTER
SPELLING- Our patterns for this week are: oi, oy, ou, and ow. Please study the words throughout the week. Many of the patterns sound alike, so the words have to be memorized. An assessment will be given on Friday.
ENGLISH/WRITING- We will continue discussing subjects and predicates/ Writing- Our descriptive writings should be finished by the end of this week. We will be typing our color poems in the computer lab. Reflections entries will be worked on at school. Letters to the soldiers will also be worked on at school.
READING- We will be using Time For Kids to discuss nonfiction texts. We will also be discussing elements of a variety of genres. What does fiction vs. nonfiction look like? An assessment over basic elements will be given on Thursday. We get to meet our Book Buddies from Mrs. Edwards’s class this week!!!!
MATH- Time and money, addition and subtraction, and input/ output will be our topics this week. A timed test will be given on Wednesday.
SOCIAL STUDIES-We will continue our discussion of the three branches of government.
HEALTH- We watched a power point today on ways to keep our bodies healthy. Please be aware of the snacks your children are bringing to school each day. We want to encourage healthy choices

Newsletter
NEWSLETTER MRS.TURNER SEPT. 19-23
OPEN HOUSE- Many thanks to all of the parents who were able to come to Open House last Thursday. I hope the information was helpful.
BINGO NIGHT- Please join us this Friday for our first Bingo Night! It lasts from 6-8.
SPOOKTACULAR-The PTSA will be sponsoring a fall Spooktacular on Saturday, Oct. 1 from 4:00-8:00. Each class is being asked to make a scarecrow and a pumpkin to sell at the event. We are making a scarecrow out of cans. Please send in cans all this week. Make sure to take off the label, clean out the can, and drill a hole in the end of the can. Mrs. Perkins and Mrs. Kastensmidt will be working on this project. We have some ideas for the pumpkin, too.
STANDARDIZED TESTING- Please mark your calendars for Oct. 5-14. We will be taking the Cognitive Abilities Test and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills during that time. Please don’t make any appointments during the morning hours during that time.
SRI- Students took the SRI reading test in the computer lab on Friday. It is a great tool for determining the child’s reading level. Your child’s information will be coming home today. It will show your child’s level, and it will give suggestions for appropriate books. Please remember, this is only one assessment.
ACCELERATED READER- All students need to earn 9 AR points by the end of the first nine weeks. Please choose books that are appropriate for YOUR reading level. You should not be reading level 1 books if you are able to read on the third grade level. Our goal is to score 80% or higher on each book.
SUBJECT MATTER
SPELLING- This week we will be working on are, ire, ore, ure, air, & ear sounds. An assessment will be given on Friday. Many of the words this week are homophones. Those are words that sound alike but are spelled differently. fare-fair, stare-stair, etc. Please study early in the week. These can be tricky. If you read this, please write the word homophone in the agenda.
ENGLISH- Subjects and predicates will be introduced this week.
WRITING- We will be working on descriptive paragraphs this week. Students need to brainstorm some of their favorite places and be ready to write about them.
READING- Author’s Purpose will be our focus this week. An assessment will be given on Wednesday. Nonfiction Text features will also be discussed. Read every night to try and reach the AR goal of 9 points.
MATH- Addition and subtraction will be practiced and discussed this week. Please review regrouping with your children at home. A timed test will be given on Wednesday.
SOCIAL STUDIES- The three levels and three branches of government will be discussed this week. We will also be reviewing map skills.

NEWSLETTER MRS. TURNER SEPT. 12-16
LA ISLA- Many thanks to all of the families who sent in items for our ISLA celebration last Friday. The students enjoyed tasting the fruits from the island. They also designed very colorful fish like the illustrator.
FUNDRAISER- Students will be bringing home information today about our new fundraiser.
OPEN HOUSE- Please plan to join us for Open House this Thursday at 6:00. The PTSA meeting will be in the cafeteria. Parents will be dismissed to the classrooms after the meeting. Keep your fingers crossed that our Smartboard will be up and working by then!!!
AR- Please continue to encourage your child to read on a nightly basis. All students need to earn at least 9 points by the end of the first nine weeks. Reading logs are due every Monday. Minutes and signatures should be recorded on the log each week. Remember, students should be reading at least 4 out of 7 nights each week for at least 15 minutes…more would be appreciated
MEDIA CENTER- Be prepared to go to the Media Center on Wednesday. Students will be able to return and check out books.
STANDARDIZED TESTING- Please mark your calendars for October 5-14. We will start taking the Cognitive Abilities Test on Wednesday the 5th followed by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills starting on Monday the 10th.
FIELD TRIP- The third graders will be going on a field trip to the Vulcan Rock Quarry on Friday, Sept. 30. This coincides with our study of rocks and minerals. Permission slips will be coming home today. If you read this, please write “Vulcan” in the agenda.
SUBJECT MATTER
SPELLING-Our sort this week involves words with AR, OR, UR, and IR patterns. These words are difficult because many of them sound the same. Make sure to start studying early in the week. An assessment will be given on Friday.
ENGLISH- We will continue discussing the 4 types of sentences, common and proper nouns, and capitalization. An assessment will be given on Friday. Organization of friendly letters will also be discussed.
READING- We are still reading Skinnybones. Hopefully we will be finished by the end of the week. Students will take the AR test when we are finished. We will be using our Social Studies books for nonfiction reading. We will also be reading Georgia Schools Weekly newspapers.
SOCIAL STUDIES- Greece has been our focus for the past two weeks. We are reviewing Monday and Tuesday this week. Students will have an assessment over the Greek influence (Olympics, Government, Architecture, & Location) on the United States on Wednesday. All students have a yellow folder to use for studying.
MATH-We will continue discussing rounding and estimating. An assessment will be given on Tuesday over rounding and estimating. We will begin discussing the properties of addition on Wednesday. A timed test will also be given on Wednesday.

NEWSLETTER MRS. TURNER SEPT. 6-9
CLOTHING FOR THE WEEK- Students should have worn orange today. Tomorrow, students should wear green. On Thursday, they should wear their favorite color. On Friday, all students should wear tropical clothing.
CATO- We had our first CATO field trip today. It was called “Under Your Feet”. Please ask your child what he/she learned today.
OPEN HOUSE- Please mark your calendars for Thursday, Sept. 15th from 6:00-7:30. Open House will start with a meeting in the gym. Parents will be dismissed to the classrooms after the PTSA meeting.
ACCELERATED READER- All students need to earn at least 9 AR points this nine weeks. I have written the number of AR points your child has earned so far in the agenda. We are starting the fourth week of school so make sure your child is reading every night and taking AR tests at school. There are plenty of times throughout the day to take AR tests and to go to the media center. If your child is having trouble with either of these, let me know and I will make sure to suggest a good time to take a test or to go to the media center. I can also help your child with a book choice if that is a problem.
SUBJECT MATTER
SPELLING- Our words this week have the –y, -ay, -ew, and –ow sounds/ An assessment will be given on Friday
ENGLISH-We will continue working on the 4 different kinds of sentences and common and proper nouns
WRITING- Free verse poetry will be our focus this week.
READING- We will be reading a story called “Isla” this week./ A comprehension test will be given on Friday over the story. We will also continue reading Skinnybones/ Read AR chapter book every night
MATH- Rounding and estimating will be our main topic this week/ A 7 minute timed test will be given on Wednesday.
SOCIAL STUDIES- We are discussing how Ancient Greece helped shape the United States.
SCIENCE- Rocks and minerals/ If you read all of this, please write "Ford Rocks" in the agenda:)