Mrs. Claus Needs Our Help!

Christmas is right around the corner! Are you ready? I know that my third graders are. It seems that there is Christmas spirit everywhere in my classroom. I enjoy spending this time of year with children. Their excitement is contagious and so encouraging. It puts me in the spirit of giving. I want my students to remember what a special Christmas season they had in third grade.

Recently, we received an urgent message from Mrs. Claus. She was working on getting Santa's suit ready for the holiday season when she accidently put the suit in the dryer on high heat! Of course his suit shrank and Mrs. Claus felt terrible about it, so she enlisted the help of my class to design a new suit for Santa. We have been hard at work designing the perfect suit. I will post their projects as soon as they're done! They will be worth the wait, I promise!

It seems that Mrs. Claus has received word about all of our hard work and wanted to express her gratitude. We had this waiting for us on Monday when we came to school! Our tree had a pile of presents underneath. Upon further examination, we realized that there was a note attached.

We read the note and it was from Mrs. Claus explaining the presents under the tree.  Click here to read her letter to us. Feel free to spread the holiday cheer! We opened our first present and read the book as a class. We will try to post each day about what our present was!

Happy Learning and Happy Holidays!

Voting is a Right!!

My student teacher this semester has been teaching our kiddos about the election process.  She included explaining about the history of voting, why it's such a special right, and is even going to give kids a chance to run their own campaigns.  Maybe that's why Tuesday was such an exciting day for us in third grade!  Each child had the opportunity to vote for President in a way similar to how adults vote.

First, each student had to present their id/voter registration card to the person manning the polling station.  She checked them in and sent them to the next station.

Students were then assigned to a computer to vote electronically.  The thought and pride students put into the vote was priceless.  They took it so seriously!!

 

 They weren't done yet though!  Each child even got their own "I Voted" sticker!!

 

We Voted!!!

 

I hope that everyone had the chance to get out and cast your vote!  Teaching in a place with a heavy military presence reminded me of how important making our voice heard is.  Men and women fight everyday for that right!

 

Happy Learning!

Happy Fall!

Things have been very busy in third grade the last few weeks, which is why there have been very few posts recently.  Sorry about that.  Since there is so much to catch up, why don't we do a picture recap?  Here we go!

 We're proud to be Americans!  Each year on September 11th, our school celebrates our pride in the U.S.A by going on a Freedom Walk!

 

We spent some time after our costume parade just goofing around today.  I love times like this.  It's so fun to watch them get excited about the little things in life.  Getting to hear their laughter always brings a smile to my face and reminds me of why I love my job so much!

October is Fire Safety Month!  Some firefighters came to school and presented to us about how to be safe.  The most important thing to remember is to have two ways out of a room and have a Family Escape Plan!

 

I work with such an amazing staff!  One of my favorite people, who has quickly become one of my best friends, is such a gifted teacher!  I love hanging out with her!!  We decided to get a little festive for our school costume parade. Thing 1 and Thing 2 were a major hit today!  So much fun!! I highly suggest dressing up with your kiddos...your kids will love you even more for it!

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Sorry for the gaps in time between posts.  I will work to get better at posting.  Happy Learning!

A Busy Week!

Our first full week of third grade has been a very busy one!  We worked on tests to help our teacher know what she should teach us this year.  Some of them were even on the computer!  She also taught us about using the computers to play games to help us with math and reading.

We spent time this week getting to know each other even better.  During morning meeting, students were asked to share their Me Bags.  In these bags, students placed 5 items that described who they are and what they like.  The kids loved getting to hear about each other and making connections.

We also chose our first read aloud for the year.  After voting, we decided to read Hank the Cowdog.  This book is hilarious and the kids LOVE it!!!

 

Hope you enjoyed today's post!  Happy Learning!

We're Having So Much Fun!

Our first full day of third grade was a very busy one.  We spent time getting to know each other, learned about our classroom procedures, and created our class mission.

In our greeting this morning, students tossed a ball of yarn to their friends.  This got us to practice using each other's names.

When we had created our web of friendship, I shared with the class a mini lesson on how we are each very vital to the classroom.  If even one person is mean (I pulled the yarn tight), others in the class can feel it and are hurt also.  In the same way, if one person isn't working hard (I let go of my string), the web or classroom falls apart and isn't as cool anymore.

Today, we also spent time creating our class missions and goals for the year ahead.  I loved the activity that we did today because it got the kids involved and excited about creating it.  I found this on pinterest.  Here's the link: http://mrsrobinsonsclassroomblog.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-09-03T01:35:00-04:00&max-results=7

Students traveled around to the different posters in groups of three.  They wrote down answers on sticky notes and added them to the chart.  I spent the summer decorating clipboards for each of my students.  They loved getting to use them.    Once students were done adding to each poster, we talked about the common trends.  We then created six sentences.   I will be sharing these tomorrow.  We're so proud of our work!

Don't forget to watch for your child's newsletter tomorrow.  These need to be signed and returned on Monday.  Thanks for helping make our first few days together so wonderful!  I am looking forward to the time that I get to spend with each of my students.  Happy Learning and Happy Weekend!

Welcome to a New School Year!

Take a Tour of Room 14

While you're here, why don't you take a tour of Room 14.  I am very excited to get this school year started.  In third grade, we will be working hard, but we'll also have so much fun!  Thanks for stopping by!


I'm so proud of this bulletin board!  A special thanks to my intern for helping me make it look so cute!

 

In my classroom, each of my students has a job.  I find that this gives my students a sense of ownership and pride.

Leader of the Week, or Star of the Week as lots of teachers like to call it, puts the spotlight on one child a week.  This is a time for students to share what makes them special, goals, hobbies, talents, etc.  Parents, be watching for a letter with more specific instructions when it's your child's turn to share.

Birthdays-I always struggle with where to display these.  This year, I added them to the windows in my classroom.  Each month has a cupcake, and candles represent the birthdays celebrated that month.

Objective Board-Each day, I will share with students what our mission is in each of the subject areas.
Seven Habits-Our school has adopted the Seven Habits based on our book study with The Leader in Me.  I sent home information about the Seven Habits in your Open House packet.  Please familiarize yourself with the language.

 I am looking forward to a great school year!  Please leave comments for us about our blog.  Happy Learning :)