I know I have said it before, but I am super excited about this school year.  Thank you for your support this week!  Next week we will be starting some wonderful things in both math and in writing.
    In math we will be starting our Math in Focus program.  Math in Focus is a wonderful program that teaches our students to think flexibly, problem solve, and understand not just the 'how' of math, but the 'why' of math.  They learn the processes for computation, but they also learn why those processes work the way they work.  They learn how to add and subtract with regrouping, but they also learn that we operate on a base ten system which is why you need to regroup by groups of ten.  Math in Focus is often confusing at first glance (especially for adults), which is why our wonderful Math Coach, Mrs. Debbie Lane has offered to host Family Math Nights here at Shorewood.  Math nights will happen once a month.  The first one is going to be on the 19th of September from 6:00pm-7:00pm.  These nights are for parents to come and learn about our new math program, and I am sure they will be interesting and fun. 
    We have a couple of new things starting up in writing next week.  We are going to start working on personal narratives.  I am asking students to bring in an 'artifact' from their summer.  This artifact can be anything (please make sure it is school appropriate and fits in the backpack) that reminds a student of his/her summer break.  We will be using this artifact as inspiration while we brainstorm ideas for a personal narrative. On top of working on personal narratives we will be practicing proper paragraph and sentence structure by writing about our 'Star of the Week'.  With the upcoming election, I have decided that our first Star of the Week will be Barack Obama.  We will learn a few things about our President and write a paragraph about him. (Star of the Week is going to link closely to Social Studies this year.)
 

    I was really impressed by this group of kids today on the first day of school.  We had a wonderful day!  I learned that we have a lot of excited mathematicians, a few passionate readers, some budding scientist, and one eager author.  I learned that this group of students loves to talk to one another and share ideas, and that they are willing to work hard! 
    I am thrilled to start a new day tomorrow and learn more.

    It was so wonderful to meet so many of you over the past couple of days.  I was joyfully overwhelmed by how many of you offered to volunteer for our classroom! I have finally pulled together my volunteer sign-up sheet so please feel free to stop by or email me and let me know what volunteer activities you are interested in doing (one time projects from home, weekly projects from home, art docent, field trips, one time projects at school, or weekly projects at school) along with you name, and the easiest email or phone number to reach you at.  I anticipate a magnificent year this year, and your help will make a huge difference in creating a great third grade experience for our class.
    I was also greatful to everyone who brought their school supplies!  If you didn't get the chance to bring them in already, please feel free to do so at your soonest convinience.  Book boxes (called magazine files on the supply list) and the spiral and composition notebooks are especially important for us to have as soon as possible.
    I am excited for tomorrow morning since it's THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!

      Welcome to Ms. Childs' class!  I am so excited to be starting a new school year with you. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts from Washington State University (Go Cougs!), and a Master's in Teaching from City University of Seattle.  This is my second year teaching 3rd grade here at Shorewood.   I work with Shorewood Elementary's After School Drama Club, and After School Book Club.
     We have a lot to learn and do in 3rd grade, so I hope you are ready for a year of hard work and tons of fun!  I will be using this blog to keep you updated on what is happening in our classroom and around our school.  I will do my best to keep you posted a couple of times a week so that you can support your child's learning experience at home.  I have also added links to some fun learning sites for kids.  These sites are related to our curriculum for third grade and geared toward your child's education (please supervise your child anytime they are online as it is easy to get redirected.) 

~Ms. Childs