The Best Time of the Year

To kick off the holiday season, we held a very special tree lighting ceremony in our classroom on Thursday afternoon! We brought in a holiday tree to decorate with lights and student-made ornaments. The high school acapella group "Noteorious" came by to serenade us with holiday carols while the children sipped on hot chocolate and enjoyed the festive atmosphere. We had such a FUN time!!  

Multiplication!

We have started working on multiplication in math!  We are going through all of the individual factors first before we start mixed practice and timed tests.  We are learning the facts in this order, 0, 1, 2, 5, 10, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9.  As of today, we have already done 0, 1, 2, 5, 10, 3, and 4.  The students did take a timed test over 0,1, and 2.  They did great!  As we move on to the more challenging facts (that require more rote memorization), I would HIGHLY suggest practicing every night at home.  Flashcards are a great tool to keep with your child (do them at the table, in the car, before bed).  Here are some websites that are great for your child to just practice facts:

www.factmonster.com         www.multiplication.com                www.aplusmath.com                 www.learninggamesforkids.com             www.coolmath4kids.com        

We will begin taking timed tests for a grade soon.  So PLEASE start practicing today!

Book Exchange

Cursive

We have worked really hard this fall reviewing all of the cursive letters. Beginning in January, our third graders will write in cursive all the time! To help support your child's handwriting at home, please visit these websites:

Handwriting for Kids- Shows an animation for how to form each letter in cursive. You can also print out extra practice sheets for all of the letters.

Penmanship Practice- Printable handouts with tracing and no tracing options. Great to print out for each letter!

Cursive Practice Sheet Generator- This generator lets you create handwriting practice sheets with the text you provide.

Check out some of our amazing third graders working on their cursive...

Looking for Book Recommendations?

Follow the links below to find great books for third graders!

Great Schools Book Recommendations

Recommended Third Grade Reading

Books Your Third Grader Will Love

Recommendations for Third Grade Boys

Classroom Library

Every day, our readers select books for independent reading from the classroom library. The children have learned how important it is to pick a book that is "just right"! The third graders have learned how to follow these guidelines when choosing books...

The third graders have also learned a quick strategy to determine whether a book is too difficult. We call it the "Five Finger Test". Encourage your child to use this strategy when selecting books at home.

Check out our classroom library!

Carnival

We hope you had fun at the Mason Heights Carnival! If you took pictures of your child enjoying any of the Carnival events, please send any favorite pics our way (through email). We would love to add them to our blog!

Investigating Pumpkins

We had a lot of fun investigating pumpkins! We weighed each one, predicted whether they would sink or float, and estimated the seeds. The third graders jumped right in to digging the ooey, gooey seeds out to confirm the final count of seeds in each pumpkin!

Carnival Basket

Our class will be creating an OHIO STATE basket to be raffled off at the Mason Heights Carnival on November 11th. Let's make our basket the best in the school! Please send in any items/donations to school with your child this week. Our room moms will be putting the basket together for us! :)

Mystery Characters

We had an awesome afternoon with our mystery characters!!! I was so impressed with the third graders' costumes and presentation skills! We have a lot of clever and imaginative children in our class. GO THIRD GRADERS, YOU ROCK!!! :)

Pumpkin Pie

Our writer's workshop included a cooking lesson today! To teach the third graders the art of writing a "how to" piece, we made pumpkin pies this afternoon. Each table group worked together to follow a detailed recipe. Then, we baked the pies while the children were at lunch/recess. When the pies cooled off, we topped them with cool whip and enjoyed a delicious afternoon treat! The third graders had a blast and I was very impressed with their culinary skills.

Tomorrow each student will begin working on a writing piece called "How to Make a Pumpkin Pie". Using their firsthand knowledge, the children will write detailed instructions to teach someone else how to make and bake a pumpkin pie. Awesome job today, third graders!!

Project Yellow Ribbon

We had two special visitors today, veteran Keith Maupin and Army Specialist Donny Laurence. They talked with the children about Project Yellow Ribbon. Our class is very excited to write letters and send crafts to the troops overseas!

Red Ribbon Week

This week we will celebrate National Red Ribbon Week. Our focus is "Be a Superhero, Have the Power to Make Good Choices". The purpose of Red Ribbon Week is to make children aware of the importance of making safe and healthy choices. This week, your child will:

MONDAY- wear RED and attend the Red Ribbon Assembly during the school day
TUESDAY- receive red ribbon bracelets
WEDNESDAY- wear favorite team jersey
THURSDAY- receive a sticker
FRIDAY- wear Mason Comets spirit wear

Map Skills

We have been learning all about maps in social studies!  The students know about map keys/legends, how to use a grid map, the compass rose, and cardinal and intermediate directions.  We are finishing up our unit on map skills by creating maps in small groups.  Take a look at our work in progress!

Pumpkins Please!

We are planning a pumpkin inquiry lesson for next Friday, October 28th and we need your help! If each third grader could bring in a pumpkin this week or next, we would really appreciate it.  We are looking for a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. We will be investigating, reading about, and analyzing pumpkins on this fun day. We will then take the seeds out of each pumpkin, so they will not be returned after we use them. It is not required, just requested, so please do not feel obligated to send in a pumpkin! Thank you for all of your support from home.

Wings of Wonder

The Cincinnati Zoo will be presenting WINGS OF WONDER on Wednesday evening in the Mason Heights gym at 7:00 pm. Everyone is invited to attend this free, fun family night!

Make a Difference Week

Make a difference and reach out to Mason Heights families in need. The Mason Heights PTO will be collecting food items during the week of Oct. 17-21.  Items can be sent in your child’s backpack or dropped off at school.  

Needed Items Include: 

100% juice boxes; canned soup; canned/pouched meat (tuna, chicken); canned stews, chili and pasta; applesauce cups; fruit cups; pudding cups; peanut butter and jelly (small plastic jars); Jif to Go packs; canned spaghetti sauce; spaghetti; noodle bowls; vienna sausages; beans and franks; individual cereal servings and regular size cereal boxes; oatmeal packs; cereal bars; granola bars; pop tarts/go tarts; individual boxes of raisins, trail mix and pretzels; fruit chews; snack crackers (cheese or peanut butter); rice krispie treats; individual packages of Goldfish crackers; mac-n-cheese; canned fruit and vegetables; toothbrushes and toothpaste; laundry detergent; full-size shampoo and soap; sample-size personal care products. 

  PLEASE - NO GLASS CONTAINERS!

Book Fair on Tuesday

Our class will visit the Book Fair on Tuesday during our scheduled library time, 1:45-2:15. Your child will have an opportunity to browse, purchase books, and create wish lists. If you'd like to send money in with your child, please put it in an envelope marked with your child's name and "Book Fair".

You are welcome to visit the Scholastic Book Fair FAMILY NIGHTS on Tuesday, Oct. 18th and Wednesday, Oct. 19th from 5:00-7:00 pm!

Pine Hill Park!

 We had SO MUCH FUN meeting our sixth grade pen pals today!

Walking Field Trip Tomorrow!

We can't wait to meet our sixth grade pen pals TOMORROW! Our class will walk to Pine Hills Park, eat lunch, and play a few games together. It will be an exciting, wonderful way to kick off our pen pal exchange for the year! Please remember to pack a brown bag lunch for your child. Kona Ice will be serving some icy treats, so your child will need $3-5 if they would like to purchase a treat. We look forward to a fun day!

Mystery Book Project

 This project is due Thursday, October 27th!

Mystery Unit

This month in Reader's Workshop, the third graders will be reading mysteries! Each student has been placed in a small reading group for more individualized instruction. I will meet with each reading group two to three times a week to focus on the following skills: comprehension, fluency, decoding, and vocabulary. I love being able to work with our readers in small groups. It gives me the opportunity to support, assess, instruct, and challenge each reader on an individual level. The groups will change frequently (after each book), just as the needs/abilities of our readers grow and change. The books that we are working on this month are:

Personal Narratives

The first story that the third graders will create this year is a personal narrative. After studying the characteristics of personal narratives, we dove right into the writing process of brainstorming, drafting, revising, and editing. Along the way, we learned about the importance of a catchy lead, descriptive details, memorable ending, and using dialogue to make the story stronger. The class is so excited to be publishing their first story this week!

Sometimes the most difficult part of the writing process for third graders is coming up with a story idea to write about. The students learned several strategies to help them brainstorm story ideas! One tool that we used a heart map. Each third grader created a heart map full of people, places, and memories that are special. Anytime they aren't sure what to write about, they can look back at their heart map which is full of great ideas!

Mystery Readers

We have many dates still available for mystery readers this year! We would like to invite all of our students' families to visit our classroom as a mystery reader. The children LOVE when parents, siblings, grandparents, and other special family members visit and share stories with the class. It's something that the third graders always remember! Readers visit our classroom on Fridays at 2:30. The reader will share a book (you can bring one or I will select one for you) and then the third graders will ask you a few questions about yourself as a reader. Please see the list of available dates and let me know if you are interested:

Oct. 28

Nov. 4
Dec. 2

Dec. 9

Jan. 6

Jan. 13

Jan. 20
Jan. 27
Feb. 3
Feb. 24
Mar. 2

Thank you to the parents that have already signed up. You are welcome to be a mystery reader more than once if you'd like! :)