St. Thomas More - 3rd Grade

Pencils!

2012-02-23T09:27:00.004-08:00

Seeking pencil donations!!

Look familiar?

We have 33 students in our class.

By the way, yesterday was Ash Wednesday! It is now officially Lent! God bless all of you. We wrote Lenten pledges yesterday.

Lent is Coming!

2012-02-17T11:58:00.002-08:00

This week, we drew bear pictures with our imaginations. We read a book called "How I Spent My Summer Vacation."Ash Wednesday is coming! We will have mass next week on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. in the church.

President's Day is Monday. There is no school that day.

On Valentine's Day, we had a party. We limited our sweets up to four sweets.

We started division. We are now writing division stories!

Look at that! A habitat!

2012-02-10T11:14:00.000-08:00

This week, in the science lab, we made habitats using natural resources. We worked individually. We had fun working in the science lab!

Today, we read the book "Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch."

Happy Valentine's Day!!

We made history at STM!

2012-02-02T13:20:00.000-08:00

Last week, we had another opportunity to visit the science lab. It went well. We made our own habitats.

Last week, some STM students made history by participating in the first (ever) Cross Country team! When we walked down to practice at Lake Merced, we saw a "BINGO TONITE" sign. It was spelled "tonite" instead of "tonight." We all laughed and said, "They spelled it wrong!"
When we got down to the lake and did some drills. Some of us ran 3 1/2 laps in five minutes, some ran four.

We have had timed multiplication tests for a few weeks now. If you get 39 or less, you get a "Needs Practice at Home" stamp. If you get 40 or more correct, you get a star stamp. There are 60 problems in all. Each test is two minutes long.

Preparing for Catholic Schools Week!

2012-01-27T13:39:00.000-08:00

This week we made comics about conflict and forgiveness.

We also made bird cards that have facts about the birds that live in urban areas.

We talked about what a president needs to have to be elected.
Monday through Friday people will be observing classrooms. We will also have the Scholastic Book Fair on January 30-February 5. All are welcome to come visit us during classes:
Dance: Tuesday, in the gym at 11:45 am-12:15 pm.

Physical Education (P.E.): Wednesday, in the gym or yard at 1:00-1:30 pm.

Music: Thursday, in Carroll Hall at 11:45 am-12:15 pm.

Moving along...

2012-01-20T13:51:00.000-08:00

Our science lesson on Thursday included our first trip upstairs to the science lab! Mrs. White allowed us the opportunity to have the same science lab time as older students. Everything was new and different, but we're excited to have another chance to work in the upstairs science lab next week!

We wrote alternative endings for a story called "Make Way For Ducklings". We illustrated them and presented them in front of the class. Some included ducklings flying into space, turning into Angry Birds, and eating the moon (made of cheese).

CYO Girls basketball & Co-ed baseball sign-ups online this weekend! Also, it's not too late to sign up for cross country! Practice begins soon...hope to see as many of you out there as possible! Go broncos!

We can't believe it's 2012!

2012-01-13T13:05:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, we worked in groups and made signs for cardinal (North, East, South, and West) and intermediate (Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest) directions in our classroom.

We are learning about natural resources in science. Some natural resources are trees, iron ore, clay, and limestone. Nails are made from iron ore, lumber is from trees, and cement is from clay and limestone.

Today we watched clips from "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey". There was Chance, Shadow, and Sassy. This video was chosen so that we could learn about why animals need shelter to survive, as well as notice the difference between fantasy and reality. We are learning about both of these topics in the story "Make Way for Ducklings" in literature. We have even written fantasy and reality sentences to help us understand such difference.

MOCFA

2012-01-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

You name it, you make it! Last week on Friday, MOCFA (Museum of Crafts and Folk Art) visited us and the second grade. You can visit the MOCFA site here. We made old books from India.
Second Saturdays at MOCFA 2-4 p.m.
Fiat Luxe Randy Colosky New Works

January 11 & February 11
$5 for admission and all materials.
5 years and older, please.

MOCFA's Address: 51 Yerba Buena Lane, San Francisco, CA, 94103
(415)227-4888

On Friday, Mr. Chiou visited us from the Marine Corps. He talked to the fourth graders and us. We were able to ask him questions and learn about his experiences as an officer. We will write letters to him before the year is over. He will receive his next location assignment in a few months, so we hope he can visit STM again next year.

Tongue Tied!

2011-12-13T14:09:00.000-08:00

There are three tongue twisters:

- Apes get A's in Algebra.
- Blue Bottle Bakery bakes banana bread.
- Computers can count crazy cats.

Something Creative...in Quotation Marks!

2011-12-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

This is a story about a dragon and his ability. Recently, we have learned about how to identify titles in writing, using quotation marks and underlining. Because of this, we have decided to include a story some students have written together. Its title is in quotation marks.

"The Dragon's Ability"

Once a dragon taught himself to read. He read everything he could find. When he hiccups he breathes out words that he read. He has long black claws and teeth. He loves sushi and the smell of flowers. He lives in the Imperial Garden in Edo (Tokyo, Japan). He only comes out at dawn. He can travel 10,000 miles per hour. When he travels he reads signs. He can be mean sometimes but he's really friendly. He can compose music or writing. He has many, many, many relatives. One of his relatives knows how to write and draw.

The End

What's New...

2011-12-06T13:07:00.000-08:00

After taking a poll, we have discovered what most third grade students will do during their Christmas break!

Here are the results:

Reading: 0 Writing: 2

Playing: 16 Unsure: 2

Traveling: 4 Studying: 2

Sleeping: 4 Shopping: 1

We think that playing gets the most votes because everyone likes playing in their backyard for fun. We also think reading got the least amount of votes because they like to play games during Christmas break.

Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year!
Ho ho ho!

Oops!

2011-10-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed, conference appointment forms were not sent home in today's Wednesday envelope. My mistake!

Conference appointment forms will be sent home tomorrow. As stated in the newsletter, if you do not receive an appointment form, please check with the office to be sure your accounts are up to date. Thank you for your understanding.

As for our Halloween celebration, the third grade class will have a small class party after the Halloween parade. Parents are allowed to visit our classroom after 2:15pm to join the celebration. Please be sure to follow the guidelines of the school newsletter for Halloween costumes. I can't wait to see everyone dressed up! :)

Quick update

2011-09-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

We've covered a lot of material this week! Verbs have been present in our grammar and spelling curriculum, as well as suffixes. We even read a still story about suffixes that ran away for fear of being tackled! :)

We collected leaves and recorded our observations of them. Next, we will sketch, color, and paint our leaves to show their characteristics as we enter the fall season.

We've reviewed subtraction with regrouping and can now illustrate the regrouping process using base-ten blocks. Instead of simply memorizing the steps and writing them down, we are beginning to understand the concept of place value in subtraction, especially across zeros.

We are excited about soccer and volleyball, and can't wait for boys' basketball and girls' soccer to begin! Remember, sign-ups are online right now!

Lastly, students need a notebook for Spanish. Please send one extra spiral-bound notebook to school so that all Spanish notes can be recorded in one place. Thank you!

31 days until Halloween! :)

Taking a break to be creative

2011-09-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

Testing this week makes us look forward to letting our brains take a break. During snack time, we may even draw cartoons or comics like this one.

We have done stretching exercises, had a discussion about whether it's better to have a dog or a cat as a pet, and even talked about different breakfast foods during our breaks this week.

What do you do to give your brain a break?

Settling In

2011-09-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

Our class is settling into a routine nicely these days. In literature, within the theme of Friendship, we're reading the story of a young Vietnamese girl that comes to the United States without her mother.

Students have already learned 21 new vocabulary words and 84 spelling words!

In math, we are reviewing multiple-digit subtraction and preparing for the ITBS tests that begin next week. Looking for math review games? Check out this website!

We love seeing Mrs. White on Thursdays for our first science lab experiences. Students have learned about observing, recording, and classifying objects. We're currently exploring deserts and habitats, including animals that can adapt to desert heat and drought-resistant plants that can exist without much water.

Please note: There will be no homework and no tests given next week. Students are expected to get plenty of sleep and have a healthy breakfast each morning, as they will experience the Iowa Test of Basic Skills throughout next week.

I look forward to hearing updates about our sports teams on Monday! Go broncos!!

Public Speaking?

2011-09-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt nervous before speaking in front of a large group of people? Feeling nervous is common. In order to feel confident when speaking in front of others, we will tell jokes for ten minutes every Friday morning. We will choose a different joke topic each week.

This week's topic was animals. Here are a few jokes shared this week:

Q: What do you call a pig that knows karate?
A: A pork chop!

Q: Where do you leave your dog while you're shopping?
A: In the barking lot!

Q: Where does a cow go on a Saturday night?
A: To the moooovies!

It will be great to see you all speak in front of the class with confidence, frequent eye contact, and expression. :)

Welcome to third grade!

2011-08-24T15:34:00.001-07:00

Welcome to third grade! I'm delighted to be your teacher this year and to see all of you learn and grow along the way. :)

Please remember to have your parents fill out and return your Universal Medical Information / Emergency Contact form. Fill out both sides of the form in pencil.

Also, please have your parents fill out and return your Disaster form. Fill out all portions of the form in pen to ensure all copies are legible.

Still need to purchase a planner? Planners will be sold (for $10) at Back-To-School Night, tomorrow (8/25) at 6:00pm. Every child is required to use an STM planner this year.

The first day for hot lunch orders will be Monday, August 29th. This will be the first full day schedule, with dismissal at 2:45pm.

I look forward to meeting your parents tomorrow night, and to having a wonderful year with you all!