Halloween, etc.

Halloween is quickly approaching! Please keep the following items in mind when sending your child to school on Halloween in costume:

-Costumes must be bathroom accessible
-Students must wear non-skid shoes
-No weapons or weapon-like toys may be brought to school
-Face makeup should be minimal and done at home

This is a very exciting time for students and parents! Our Halloween costume parade will begin at 10:45am on Friday, 10/31 and last for one half hour. Our third grade class will have a celebration between 11:15am and 12:30pm. We will have pizza during that time. You are welcome to visit our classroom during this time. Young family members and strollers should stay at home. ☺

On another note, our class is collecting boxtops for education, so if you have any at home, please bring them in! It'll be great to see how much money we can raise as a class!

Fall is here! ...continued

Also, since the September post, I have attended two professional development conferences. At the first conference, I had the opportunity to learn much about the Catholic Television Network and Discovery Streaming video. Both forms of technology can be brought into our classroom to enhance the curriculum presented in text form. At the second conference, I learned much about our new writing program, "Step Up to Writing," including the fundamental skills that students will carry with them from this grade to the next. The program is easy to understand and allows students to quickly assess their writing format and details.



To help incorporate my new knowledge into the classroom, I have purchased a small speaker system that will allow me to play music and podcasts through my iPhone in the classroom. For example, our current reading is about Jackie Robinson and the challenges he faced in trying out for the Major League. I can now find a podcast of Jackie Robinson speaking about his experience and play it for students to hear. I'm eager to try out all of these new, fun ideas!

Fall is here!

A lot has happened since the last post! We had our first class debate, with the hypothetical question: "Should STM have a cafeteria?" With the class divided in half, students enjoyed voting and expressing their ideas with enthusiasm!

We've passed the midway point of the quarter, which means much of the review from second grade has passed and we're moving into new, more difficult curriculum. I encourage all students to stay focused and keep up the great work ethic they've presented thus far.