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Holiday Fun on PhotoPeach

Elf Yourself 2011

Have a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year !!!
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Persuasive Writing

To jump start our study of Persuasive writing, our class brainstormed topics and audiences to write a persuasive letter to. Our class decided on writing a letter to our principal, Mrs. Phillips, to try and persuade her to build a pool at our school.
Do you think we did a good job trying to convince her??

Dear Mrs. Phillips,
Are you feeling stressed out that kids are coming inside from recess and/or P.E. all sweaty and stinky? Well, the class of room 217 thinks we have the solution to this stressful problem...BUILD A POOL! We think we should build a pool at our school because it's good exercise, it's fun and we won't be hot!
First, it's good exercise. Have you ever tried water aerobics? Well, it's a great way to get healthy. Exercising in the water builds strong muscles in your arms and legs.
Second, having a pool at our school would be fun. You could have the time of your life at Family Swim Nights we could hold for parents and students. You would also enjoy watching the swim team we could put together at our school. Wouldn't that be a cool idea? And what about all those little kindergartners that don't know how to swim yet? No problem, the swim team will come to the rescue and teach them. Now don't you agree that having a pool would be so fun?
And the last MOST IMPORTANT reason is we won't be hot and sweaty if we have a pool. Imagine this...you are outside on a hot day playing tag and you feel like you are going to pass out. What would you do? Jump in the pool of course! A pool would be as refreshing as a huge glass of ice cold lemonade!
Now you know all the reasons why a pool would be useful at our school. If you build a pool at our school we promise, not only to read every single night, but we will also give you a great big hug and love you forever!
Love,
The Super Friends of Room 217

Field Trip Fun

Today we took an educational field trip to the IMAX Theater. We watched two shows in 3D. The first show we enjoyed watching was Hubble 3D where we learned all about the Hubble Space Telescope. The second show we watched was Under the Sea where we learned about some of the most mysterious and stunning creatures of the sea. We had a great time!

Readers to Leaders Campaign

Thank you to Mrs. Phillips for getting "Caught in a Web of Reading" as a reward for the students who met their reading goal for the first nine weeks. Two students from each class were chosen to participate and help tape Mrs. Phillips to the wall. Our class is motivated to keep reading so we can see what our next reward will be!!

Animal Projects

To end our Animal Unit of study in science, students choose an animal of their choice to do a project on. Students chose from a menu of options such as a powerpoint presentation about their animal, create a poster about their animal, create a book about their animal, write a report about their animal, or create a brochure about their animal. They worked in class and at home on their projects. We had some great presentations and we are so proud of all their hard work!

Literary Pumpkin

Have you ever had a dog or a pet with Bad Breath? Well, if you have then you should read the book Dog Breath by Dav Pilkey. This book is a funny story about a dog named Hally Tosis who has a very big problem: bad breath! Her breath is so bad, even skunks avoid her! Mr. and Mrs. Tosis plan to give Hally away because of her bad breath. But the Tosis children love their dog so much that they search for a breathtaking miracle cure! This book will leave you breathless! Read the book to find out if the Tosis children are able to save Hally!

Class Auction

Going once, going twice, SOLD to the highest bidder! Have you heard about our exciting auction?? Our auction is held every other Friday. Our students bid on items according to the amount of behavior bucks that they have earned. Items range from candy, toys to Justin Bieber items. The Justin Bieber items were very popular this week and even went for $14.00! Thank you to all the parents who have donated items to be auctioned off. Our auction would not be a HUGE success without your help.

The Chapter Book Challenge

Have you ever heard of the "Chapter Book Challenge"? The Chapter Book Challenge takes place every Friday. The teachers call out 5 numbers and if one of the numbers is your number, you win! But only if you have BOTH your home and school reading log filled out completely! If you win, you get a note card to write a a review and a "book spine". The color of the "book spine" depends on the genre of your book. These "book spines" will border the walls outside our classroom. Our goal is to have all five students with completed book logs each week so that by the end of the year our "book spines" will border the ENTIRE upstairs!! So please make sure you are reading nightly and logging in your books!!

P.S. Some other classes are joining in on the Chapter Book Challenge as well!

Posted by: V.

We've Got the POWER!

Today we had our first publishing party. Students used their POWER strategy- Prewrite, Organize, Write, Edit and Revise to show they have the POWER to publish a Narrative Writing piece demonstrating the elements of Writing Standard 1. Students got to enjoy pop, popcorn and pretzels to celebrate their wonderful writing. We showed their passion for publishing their piece by dancing to the "I've Got the Power" song!" Take a look at their dance moves!

Reading Test Taking Super Star

Last year when I was in 2nd grade, I found out that "learning to take a test" was like learning to read, learning to ride a scooter, learning to play a sport...it takes lots of hard work and practice. Every week we learned a different test taking strategy based on what our class needed help with the most. Our teachers told us not to focus on the grade, but to focus on "doing our best on the test" by using all the cool test taking strategies we were learning. That way, when we finished our test, we would be proud of our hard work. But you know what? When I used the test taking strategies, I got really good grades too. Now I'm in 3rd grade. On the first test, I decided to use the same test taking strategies I learned last year (whisper...because I have the same teachers and I wanted them to be proud of me). I worked really hard on the test. Some of my favorite strategies from last year were: the Hugs and Kisses strategy (X-kiss the answer goodbye if it was wrong, O-hug it and keep it close if I'm not sure), Plug-It-In strategy (plug-it-in, plug it in-Does it make "scents"? when finding a synonym for a word in the story) and Policeman strategy or Stop and think...is what I'm reading making sense?. When I was finished I knew I put forth my very best effort. Guess what? Not only did I make a good grade,but I'm the first student this year to get "Test Taking Strategy Super Star!" What does that mean? I got my hair sprayed with gold glitter,I wore a glitzy cape all day, I got paid five behavior bucks, and my strategy work was put up on the wall. Most kids hate taking tests but I am "empowerd" with test taking strategies so I can show what I know and let the good grades flow!

Posted by: A.

POW

Every Monday, we have our Poem of the Week. Today we kicked off our POW with a poem called If I Could be a Super Hero by Steve Lazarowitz . We learned how to read the poem with expression, emphasizing key words. After reading the poem together, each table chose a representative to read a stanza from the poem. Check out the video to see what powerful poetry readers we are!
Posted by: A and L

Blessing of the Books

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia...
On Fridays our class holds "the blessing of the book" ceremony if a student donates a new (or gently used) book to our class library. These books can't be just any old book, but it has to be special in some way to the person that donated it. The student glues their picture on the inside cover with a written reason why this book was chosen. Reasons might include: it was an "I CAN"T-PUT-IT-DOWN" book, it was a favorite series, it was written or singed by my favorite author, I learned more about sharks than I ever thought I could, it made me laugh until my belly ached, it made me cry a waterfall of tears, etc. These books will be kept in a special place on display but can be "checked out" by one of our librarians for other students to read. When checked out using the "old fashion" library cards, there will be a one week due date. If the student doesn't return the book by the due date, they will have to pay the librarians a behavior buck. Also, our teachers said, "wouldn't it be cool if one day our own children went to school at Chets Creek and when they opened a "Blessing Book," there was a picture of their mom or dad when they were a student in 3rd grade?"

Posted by librarians E and R

First Week of School

We are off to a super year! Our super hero third graders are having a great first week! We enjoyed our bully buster program with the incredible Omega Man! We also enjoyed a special treat from one of our generous parents to welcome our students to third grade. We look forward to many exciting adventures throughout the year.

Welcome to 3rd Grade!

We are so excited about this school year! We look forward to discovering each one of your superhero strengths.
This year our students will be earning behavior dollars as a reward for good behavior. We will be having an auction every other week and students will use this money to bid on items they like. We are in need of some items for our auction. These items can be new or gently used. We thank you in advance for helping us prepare our classroom for a fantastic school year.