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PTO Week at a Glance

Fun Ways to Count Money!

Looking for some fun ways to count money? These are so enjoyable you won't even realize you're doing math!

1.     Money Memory- Make a money concentration game with 20 index cards, magazine pictures and coin stickers or stamps.  Have your child look through magazines and cut out pictures of ten items that he would like to purchase.  Have him glue each picture on an index card.  Draw a price tag on each picture.  On the other ten cards, put coin stickers or stamps that equal the prices of the objects shown on the other cards.  To play, shuffle and spread the cards face down on a playing surface. One player chooses two cards.  If she gets a match, she gets to go again.  If they do not get a match, the cards are returned and the next player picks two cards.

2.     Penny-a-Day- Purchase four disposable plastic cups.  Label each cup with a different coin name (penny, nickel, dime, quarter).  Each day give your child a penny to place in the penny cup.  When he reaches 5¢ in the penny cup, allow him to trade for a nickel and put in the correct cup.  Encourage them to keep trading for larger and larger coins as they save money.

3.     Coin Toss- Place a plastic bowl on the floor several feet away from your child.  Give her 10 play coins.  Instruct her to toss the coins into the bowl.  She then counts the coins that land in the bowl.

3.     How Many Ways? - Each day review counting money by asking your child to show you different combinations of coins that equal the date.  For instance: Today is the 21^st.  Show me how many different ways you can make 21¢ using coins.

4.     Grocery Store- Buy a package of garage sale stickers or use a roll of masking tape to make price tags.  Place them on several grocery items and write a price on each.  Place the priced items on the table and invite your child to go ‘shopping’.  He can use real or play coins to purchase the items. Older children can practice making change.

5.     Egg-celent Shake-up- Recycle your old cardboard egg cartons.  Place a handful of coins in a cardboard egg carton.  Close the lid and have your child shake it up.  When she opens the lid, ask her to count the coins in each section of the carton.

6.     Race to a Dollar- Grab a pair of dice, a bag of coins, a partner and you’re ready to go!  To play, one person rolls the dice.  She takes the same number of coins as the number that they roll.  Play continues until one player reaches a dollar. 

7.   Create a Catalog- Get several pieces of construction paper and have your child create their own catalog by drawing pictures of things that they like.  You can even write descriptions beside the drawings.   Help him accurately price each item.  Using play coins and bills, allow him to ‘purchase’ the item and count out the money needed.

Shurley Notes

Hey everyone! Here's a copy of the notes we worked with in class today. Hope it helps with your homework.

Types of Sentences

Hello Parents! We have been working with different types of sentences in English. Your children have these definitions in their spiral notebooks, but in case you want a reference at home, here is a chart with the same information. Hope this helps!

For some extra fun...

Looking to Practice Rounding?

We worked on rounding today in class and the students did a great job! I am posting lesson sequence and a rhyme that might help your child at home in case they are still working on finishing their assignment or if you would like to continue to practice with them. Here is how it was taught in class:

Step 1: Find your place value and underline the digit. (If it asks to round to the nearest ten, find the "tens" place, if it asks to round to the nearest hundred, find the "hundreds" place, if it asks to round to the nearest thousand, find the "thousands" place.
Step 2: Look at the neighbor directly to the right and determine if it is 4 or less or 5 or more. If the number is less than 4, the underlined digit remains the same. If it is 5 or more, the underlined digit changes by adding 1. Remember our rhyme! 4 or less, digit to the left stays the same, 5 or more, digit the left makes a change.
Step 3: Once you figure out your underlined place value, ALL digits to the right change to "0."

Hope this helps! You can also go to this SITE and play some games that will help rounding to the nearest 10 and 100. 

Thank You!

I was so happy to see such a wonderful turn out at our Parent Night. Thank you to everyone that attended. I hope I was able to answer any questions, but you can always refer to the Parents section to review the classroom procedures. If you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you again. Looking forward to our year together!

Rosary

Hello Families!
We invite you to join us in praying the Rosary every Thursday at 8:45 a.m. The third grade classes visit the Prayer Garden or the Chapel each Thursday to offer prayer intentions for our families and community. Please feel free to join us in prayer either physically or spiritually.

Shurley Parent Booklet

Hello Parents! We are continuing this year with the Shurley Method Program as part of our English Curriculum. We have begun discussing the proper elements necessary to a sentence's structure, as well as synonyms and antonyms. We will soon begin classifying each part of a sentence with the appropriate part of speech. We are also very fortunate this year to have Mrs. Guebara, who is also our librarian, serve as a Shurley Method Specialist and provide an intervention period twice a week for the class. This extra time will enhance their knowledge of the subject. I am also including a link to a Parent Help Booklet for Level 3, so that you may see how the program will work this year and how you can add extra support at home for your child. I hope this helps throughout the year!
SHURLEY PARENT HELP BOOKLET

Synonym and Antonyms

Ways to Practice Spelling

Looking to study spelling words?

Tired of having your child recite their spelling words out loud to make sure they know them?
What students really need to know is how to write, recognize and define their spelling words. 

Here are a few new ways to practice spelling. 

You and your child can:

1. Create a set of flashcards Have your child write their spelling word in pencil on one side an index card. There are some ways to use flashcards other than using them to quiz. They can:

• Trace the word in pen or marker to reinforce knowing the letters and shape the word makes when it’s spelled correctly.
• Read the word, turn the card over, write it again and flip to check for accuracy.

2. Create a second set of flashcards with the definition of the word on it. If possible, use a different color index card then the first set.She can:

• Have you read or show her the definition and tell you the word that goes with it.
• Flip the card over and write the correct spelling word on the back.
• Test herself by writing the words on a separate piece of paper as she looks at the card.

3. Use both sets of flashcards to play spelling Memory.

• Arrange the flashcards in rows, face down on the table.
• Each player takes a turn to pick up a two cards, one of each color. If the word and definition match, the player keeps the cards. If not, they put them back in the same place and it’s the next player’s turn.
• The players will have to remember the position of the cards in order to match them up. When all the cards are gone, the player with the most matches wins.

4. Use alphabet magnets or Scrabble tiles to spell out each word. 
5. Write the word  list on a piece of construction paper. Then cut the words apart into strips. Then, cut those words into letters and have your child reconstruct the list.
6. Write sentences for each word. Make sure your child is using it in context to show that they understand the definition and part of speech of the spelling words.
7. Type her spelling words on the computer. This will help to reinforce how to spell each word and help them recognize what the words will look like in a book or other reading material.
8. Write or type a story using all of the spelling words. The story doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, but it should show that they know how to spell and use each word properly.
9.  Use the Spelling City website.  Parents can register for the free version and input your child’s spelling word list. Your child can then play games and activities or take practice tests on the site.
10. Use Discovery Education’s puzzlemaker tool. You can create word searches using your child’s spelling words.
11.  Alphabetize the word list. This can be done either by writing them in alphabetical order or by using the flashcards.
12.  Sit down with your child, two pencils and a piece of paper. Tell them the spelling word you’ll be practicing and write the first letter of the word. Pass the paper to them so they can add the next letter. You add the letter after that, repeating until the word is spelled.
You can do this with all of the words and up the ante by having them write the next two or three letters before passing the paper back to you. 
13. Create Mad Libs only using the spelling words. You can either buy Mad Libs books for just this purpose or find them online at Wacky Web Tales.
14.  Use old magazines or newspapers to find spelling words and cut them out. It can be an interesting demonstration of how many times words are used in everyday writing.

Jean Day Coupon

Interested in the AfterSchool Program?

Parent Night on Monday!

Monday is our Parent Night! It begins at 6:30 and is broken up in to three, 20 minute sections so that you may visit the classrooms of all your children. The first session is 6:30 - 6:50, the second is 6:50 - 7:10, and the third is from 7:10 - 7:30. I will provide the same presentation at each session. The presentation will highlight what we have accomplished thus far, as well at explain the policies and procedures of the classroom. Hope to see you all there!

PTO Information and Box Tops

I have a container in my room to hold any box tops that you may bring in until September 9th! 

Let's win this Gold Medal!

Nancy Larson Science

Hello families!
This year we are  working with the Nancy Larson Science Program. This is a wonderful, easy to follow program that leads us through everything from our Solar System to plant and animal life cycles. With each unit of study, your child will receive a new booklet that reflects all the lessons and information that we will be discussing. We will use the booklets for note-taking and I will also provide them added experiments and assignments to reinforce what we have learned. At the end of each unit, we will review together in class then take an assessment. I am providing you with a link the website for additional resources for this program. The website is not mandatory or necessary for the mastering of concepts, but rather an added resource to extend comprehension and learning.
The website is www.nancylarsonpublishers.com. You will need to click on "student links" and provide the following information to log on:
Username: stanns
Password: lizard
I will also put this information in our resources section. Thanks for all your support and help thus far! Have a great day!

Trivia: Day 3

Hey Fantastic Third Graders!
Here's your piece of trivia for tomorrow! This one comes from my husband, Mr. Owen! Mr. Owen is a band director for a Middle School in Odessa and his specialty instrument is the trombone!

Trivia: Day 2

The students have learned that I attended St. Ann's School when I was a kid. I started in Pre-K3 and graduated in 8th grade. This is my Pre-School Class Picture. That's me in the 2nd row with the blue bow. Our teacher was Mrs. Dunham.

RenWeb

We have a new program here at St. Ann's called RenWeb. This program allows you to access information pertaining to your child's education. Each day their attendance is recorded and each week their grades for each subject will be updated through this new system so that you may be able to track your child's academic progress. In order to view all this information, you will need to set up an account through ParentsWeb. I have included a link to the site HERE. There is a link to create a new ParentsWeb Account. For this, you will need the District Code, which is: san-tx. Once you have created your account, you will have access to your child's attendance records as well as the GradeBook, which allows you to check your child's academic progress as well as see if there are any assignments that are missing. This will be a wonderful tool to utilize this year! If you have any problems with log-in, please contact the Main School Office so that they may assist you in setup. If there are ever any questions regarding your child's academic information, please don't hesitate to contact me. I am posting the instructions that were sent in Tuesday Folder below. Thank you for all your help and support and I look forward to our great year!

Trivia: Day 1

Sorry everone! This is a little late. I forgot to save the update and noticed it didn't make it on the site before many of you went to bed. I'll give you credit for checking the website earler by asking a question regarding the previous post. For those of check this late tonight or in the morning, here's the day's trivia! 

Remember the "Horse of a Different Color" in the Emerald City? They used Jell-O to give them their color. Jell-O crystals were stuck over all the multiple Emerald City horses playing the Horse-of-a-Different-Color to give them their color. But the scenes were shot quickly, because the horses started to lick them off.

Back to School!

I am so happy to be getting to know each and every one of your children. We've had a great first two days. While we are still taking time to grasp new routines, we have managed to do a few "get-to-know-you" activities, start our first novel in class ("The Witches" by Roald Dahl), and start learning about the Saints recognized in our Catholic Church. 

A few reminders for you and your children:

• Today was our first day to write in planners. Please remember to sign the planner nightly. This allows you to see what we accomplished in school that day and see if your children have any homework. It also promotes responsibility for your child.
• Tuesday folders go home weekly. Please be sure to review them with your child and return them signed, along with any graded work and forms.
• Your children's first homework assignments are to make sure the class contract, homework contract, and parent survey are returned by Friday. Each of these forms are a great help to me in creating a curriculum that meets your child's needs. Thank you for your help with this, and please feel free to include any information that you feel will help me teach your child.

I can't wait to see what your children accomplish this year in 3rd grade. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at school, my email, or through notes in the planner!

Sincerely, 
Mrs. Owen

Updated Schedule

Hello Families!
There is one small adjustment to our daily schedule. On Wednesdays at 2:30, we will visit Mrs. James' class for Reading Buddies. I have made the correction and posted the new schedule in the "Parents" section of the website. We had a wonderful first day. I am looking forward to seeing all of your sweet kiddos tomorrow!

Welcome to 3A!

Hello students and families!
Welcome to Third Grade! I am so excited to get to know you all. We are going to learn some great, new things this year! Please feel free to check this website throughout the year for resources and happenings around the classroom. Thank you for all who came to "Meet the Teacher." I can't wait to see everyone on Monday. Have a great weekend!