Christmas is in the Air!

I hope your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! It's amazing that we have less than 3 weeks until Christmas break. During these weeks, we have so many fun things to do!!

This week in Reading, we're all studying figurative language, plot, and use of illustrations through the treasured Christmas book, The Polar Express. Next Thursday and Friday, we'll watch the movie to make comparisons with the book and enjoy a warm cup of hot chocolate. YUM!!

We have some exciting special events coming up:

Monday, December 10th - Storybook Christmas
This event includes CHS honor students recreated beloved children's books. Live theater (and some candy treats) are so much fun. Admission is a new book (dollar stores are great places for these).

Friday, December 14th - Treats, Treasures, and Traditions program - 1:45
I hope you will be able to join us for an exciting program we are working to present. We are creating a book where each child will have a 2-page spread including Christmas poems they have written, the recipe for their favorite Christmas food, and their family's Christmas traditions. Our program to you will be a presentation of poems, read by the students, and some other special elements. We'd love to be able to sample the recipes included in the book, so if you're able to make yours for use to taste, we'll have a grand tasting party at the end of our presentation.

Tuesday, December 16th - "The Toys Take Over Christmas" Play @ CHS - 8:30
Admission will only be $1 per student as the school will pay the rest of the ticket price!

Thursday, December 18th - CMS band concert @ the Arena - 10:30

Friday, December 19th - Class Christmas Party
We'll do a breakfast party complete with Christmas Minute-To-Win-It games! Let me know if you can help with the games. We'll do the game portion late-morning.

Treats,

Treasures, & Traditions

Send in your traditions and recipes by

FRIDAY!!

MAP Testing is coming up. See the schedule below to know when your child will do reading and math:
3rd - Lay & Lundy
4th - Bramlett & Bruce
11th - Daniels & Harris
12th - Myers & Hart
15th - Tipton & Faulkner

RED List Unit 3, Week 4	BLUE List Unit 3, Week 4	GREEN List Unit 3, Week 4
Name:	Name:	Name:
checkpoint choice coins coy employ foil joyful loyal noisy soil Bonus: biography inventor yearn acquire convenient	deploy poison destroy moisture annoy enjoyable appointed loyalty noisy viewpoint Bonus: biography inventor yearn acquire convenient	employment moisturizer enjoyment poisonous trapezoid disappointed oyster poisoned annoying rejoicing Bonus: biography inventor yearn acquire convenient

November 17 - 21

Oh my! We are so close to Thanksgiving I can almost smell the turkey!!!

A few important tidbits that were not included on the Faulkner Flash:

• Thursday is CLASS PICTURE DAY! We want everyone to be here so we can remember each special person in our class. If you plan on buying the picture, you need to pay on Thursday (pictures cannot be purchased later). Fliers are coming home today (Monday).
• Midterm reports are coming home Friday in the Data Notebooks. This will let you know how your child is doing in reading and math so far in this grading period. 
• Please send in your recipes and Christmas traditions (email would be the best way) - see letter below the Faulkner Flash.

Dear parents,

We will soon be working on a special Christmas project in class. We will be studying Christmas traditions in different parts of the world. I would like this project to include traditions that we have here. So, if you could please send the following (email, handwritten, or typed) by FRIDAY, December 5^th, it would be much appreciated:

* A recipe for your child’s favorite Christmas treat

* One or two paragraphs explaining special Christmas  traditions that your family shares

Thank you for your help on this part of the project! This will be compiled in a book that will also include poetry that we are writing in class. Each child will have a 2-page spread including the recipe for their favorite Christmas treat, a write-up of their special Christmas traditions, and one or two poetry pieces. Each child will receive their own copy of the book.

In December, we will host a poetry reading for where the kids will read the poems that they have selected for the book. It will be a great experience for them to share their poetic voice in front of an audience, and what better audience than family!! If possible, I would like everyone to be able to sample some of the recipes from the book. I will give you more details when a date and location has been set.

Thanks again for your help. Please feel free to send in your recipe and traditions early (that would be of great help to me!). We look forward to sharing the finished result with you!!

Thanks,

Mrs. Faulkner

RED List Unit 3, Week 3	BLUE List Unit 3, Week 3	GREEN List Unit 3, Week 3
Name:	Name:	Name:
unfair retold misfile precut unwanted recall misnumber preplan unhappy undone Bonus: Thanksgiving grateful appreciative gratitude	unwilling revisit dislike reunite misfire uneven reworded unsafe preheat misread Bonus: Thanksgiving grateful appreciative gratitude	unselfish unmistaken restrain disrespect reawaken mismatched revisited misleading uncovered premeasure Bonus: Thanksgiving grateful appreciative gratitude

Cereal Box Reading Project

Students are almost finished with the novels they've been reading for their book clubs. As a culminating project (rather than a comprehensive test), students will design a cereal that relates to their book. Students will develop a creative name, cereal shape, prize, and games for the back of the box as well as character and setting information as"ingredients." All the instructions, rubric, and templates are being sent home today, but are also available below.

Directions

Rubric

Side 1

Side 2

Note: Students may type the information for the sides and top instead of handwriting on the templates that have been provided.

In addition to creating the cereal box, students also get to make a commercial to convince people to "buy" their cereal. This commercial can be presented live in class, but many may want to choose to record it as a video and send in the link so we can watch it in class. The advantage to a video is it can be done as many times as necessary until it's just right and you can also include props, other people, and even special effects.

This should be a fun project and a good activity to work on over the LONG weekend! The project is due next Friday, November 7th. Students have been encourage to start working on it over the weekend so they're not rushing to complete it when they return on Wednesday. If you are not able to find a cereal box, please let me know.

Students DO NOT HAVE TO BE FINISHED WITH THE BOOK to begin working on this project.

If you google "cereal box book report," you can see lots of great picture examples. Here are a few:
      
*Notice that the entire box has been covered so that the original cereal is not apparent.

FYI:
1st Block - Due Wednesday

• Frindle book club should have read chapters 10, 11, and 12 AND completed their 4th job.
• Clementine and The Homework Machine book clubs should have read chapters 7 and 8 AND completed their 4th job.

2nd Block - Due Wednesday

• All book clubs should have finished their book AND completed their final job

It's almost Halloween!!

Halloween is in the air! Those that did the pumpkin disguise project were super creative! Look at all these clever ways to disguise a pumpkin!!!

DATA NOTEBOOK (aka Report Card)
Our report cards are in a completely different format this year. The data notebook contains all the testing and class data for your child. Read through my letter at the front and look over all the information. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Also, check out this link to learn more about standards based grading.

EXCITING EVENTS
Friday will be a super exciting day. It's Halloween! To celebrate we will have a super awesome party in the afternoon with yummy things to eat (see what your child signed up to bring on the back of the Faulkner Flash) and Halloween Minute-To-Win-It games. If you signed up at open house to help with parties, I'll be contacting you to see if you can help with this party.

Most of our day will be spent listening to the book character presentations. On the back of the Faulkner Flash, you can see all the requirements. Failure to do the project means a zero and no Halloween party for that student. Have your child practice their presentation in front of you a few times so they can work out the bugs and be comfortable with how they want to present.

See below for the Faulkner Flash, TEAM homework for next week, and spelling lists:

RED List Unit 2, Week 5	BLUE List Unit 2, Week 5	GREEN List Unit 2, Week 5
Name:	Name:	Name:
he’d she’d that’s what’s won’t there’s you’re wasn’t we’re I’ve Bonus: Halloween audible audience audition	haven’t they’ve you’ve it’s we’d we’ll should’ve doesn’t I’ll they’re Bonus: Halloween audible audience audition	mightn’t wouldn’t shouldn’t weren’t they’ve I’d they’ll you’d she’d I’ve Bonus: Halloween audible audience audition

Happy returns from Fall Break!

I hope you had a wonderful, relaxing Fall Break!!! These next few months of school will be jam-packed with fun learning and awesome holidays!

Report cards will be sent home on Friday.

See below for TEAM homework and this week's Faulkner Flash:

See below TEAM homework for an enlarged view of the Pumpkin Disguise project and details of the Halloween Book Character Project.

RED List Unit 2, Week 4	BLUE List Unit 2, Week 4	GREEN List Unit 2, Week 4
Name:	Name:	Name:
chick much pitch teacher hatch stretch cheese whales weather them Bonus: interaction activate altitude exalt	sandwich whisker shepherd thunder hatching friendship stopwatch cartwheel phone nowhere Bonus: interaction activate altitude exalt	hodgepodge marshmallow attachment paragraph elephant whispering establish nudge dodgeball crutches Bonus: interaction activate altitude exalt

Special Halloween Project

On Friday, October 31^st, you will have the chance to be someone else for a day!! Pick a character from a book that you have enjoyed and come dressed up as that character for the day. You will also get to do an oral presentation about your book character so the class can learn more about the character and the book!

You will dress up as one of the characters in the book you have selected. This costume does not need to be elaborate. Be creative! Look for things you already have, or can borrow, to make/create your costume. Ideally, you shouldn’t have to buy anything. (Don’t tell your parents you need to go buy some fancy costume!!!!!!!) Please, no masks.

To help with the presentation, you will do a Book in a Bag project. You will use a paper lunch sack (this will be provided) to guide you through your presentation.

FRONT: Draw and color the cover of the book that your character is in. Make sure this is neatly done and colorful!

BACK: Write the headings Characters, Setting, Plot, Problem, and Solution. Under each heading, list or write the appropriate information.

SIDES: One side should have your name and the character you have chosen to dress up as. The other side should have 3-4 sentences explaining why you chose this particular book.

INSIDE: Include 3-4 items (that fit in the bag) to represent important characters or events in your story to help retell the story in sequential order.

You will use your bag and its contents to help guide you through your presentation of the character you have dressed up as and facts about your book.

Please practice your presentation at home. An oral presentation always goes more smoothly if you have practiced what you are going to say in front of a small audience first. I will be looking for the following in your presentation to the class:

µ  Eye contact (We want to see your eyes, not the top of your head!)

µ  Voice projection (We all need to be able to hear what you are saying.)

µ  Voice Expression (Use expression in your voice to keep your audience interested in what you are saying. No robot voices!!)

µ  Knowledge of content (We want to learn about your book and your character! You will use your Book in a Bag to help you remember all the important facts.)

This is a fun project, but it will also count as a grade. You will get points on your bag (including everything that is mentioned above), your presentation, and for dressing up. You have almost a month to prepare, but I do not want you to squander your time and procrastinate! Therefore, you need to return the bottom portion to me by Friday, October 10^th.

The majority of our day at school on Halloween will be these exciting presentations! In the afternoon, we will celebrate all your hard work and the fun holiday with food and a few games. J

Have fun….be creative…and enjoy! I look forward to seeing you transformed on Halloween!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PLEASE RETURN THIS PORTION BY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10^th.

Student’s name: _______________________           Parent Signature: _________________________________

Please fill out the following for your Halloween Project:

Book I have chosen: ___________________________________________________________________

Character I will dress up as: ___________________________

**Parents, if you would like to help out with items for the party, please put a smiley face on the line. ________

Reading this Week

This week in Reading class, we're learning a new batch of Greek roots. I'm so impressed at the connections students are making with the ones we've learned so far! They're using their schema to learn new things!!

Here are the ones for this week (in groups they determined what the roots meant after we discussed the meanings of groups of words that contained the root):

anti = against
phobia = fear of
hydro = water
poly =- many
micro = small


HOMEWORK:
The homework looks a little different this week. Each day has something small to do, but each day, students should be reading the passage. Today, they are to read and label the text features. Below are a list of text features to help out!

Homeroom Happenings

Our first three Star Students!! We love seeing the neat items they bring in, learning more about them, and listening to them read their favorite book! We love the Bosley journal, too (pics to come later).

We're wrapping up Spanish class for related arts. The kids have had a blast singing, having conversations, and playing games in Spanish!

A big event today was duct taping Mr. Webb to the wall!!! All students that had perfect attendance for the month of September got a HUGE piece of tape. See the hilarity below!

Before (standing on a chair, beginning to be taped) 

&

After (completely taped and silly stringed to the wall)

Our class got to put the final pieces of tape on! They LOVED it!!!!

The kids are all smiles and Mr. Webb, well, see for yourself.  :)

Mrs. Lay and Mrs. Lundy's classes had the highest percentage of attendance for the month of September, so they got to cover Mr. Webb in silly string! As you can see, they did not hold back! 

All the 3rd graders who got to tape Mr. Webb pose for a fun picture!

See below for next week's Faulkner Flash & spelling lists:

RED List Unit 2, Week 3	BLUE List Unit 2, Week 3	GREEN List Unit 2, Week 3
Name:	Name:	Name:
thread scrubs spree screams street scratch spread throne three throw Bonus: their they’re your you’re	sprouted scraping scraggly stricter thrilled thrifty thrashing sprinted scribe stripe Bonus: their they’re your you’re	sprawling scrawny scrimmage scrambling scrutinize strategy strictly thriftiness threatening thrilled Bonus: their they’re your you’re

Special Halloween Project

On Friday, October 31^st, you will have the chance to be someone else for a day!! Pick a character from a book that you have enjoyed and come dressed up as that character for the day. You will also get to do an oral presentation about your book character so the class can learn more about the character and the book!

You will dress up as one of the characters in the book you have selected. This costume does not need to be elaborate. Be creative! Look for things you already have, or can borrow, to make/create your costume. Ideally, you shouldn’t have to buy anything. (Don’t tell your parents you need to go buy some fancy costume!!!!!!!) Please, no masks.

To help with the presentation, you will do a Book in a Bag project. You will use a paper lunch sack (this will be provided) to guide you through your presentation.

FRONT: Draw and color the cover of the book that your character is in. Make sure this is neatly done and colorful!

BACK: Write the headings Characters, Setting, Plot, Problem, and Solution. Under each heading, list or write the appropriate information.

SIDES: One side should have your name and the character you have chosen to dress up as. The other side should have 3-4 sentences explaining why you chose this particular book.

INSIDE: Include 3-4 items (that fit in the bag) to represent important characters or events in your story to help retell the story in sequential order.

You will use your bag and its contents to help guide you through your presentation of the character you have dressed up as and facts about your book.

Please practice your presentation at home. An oral presentation always goes more smoothly if you have practiced what you are going to say in front of a small audience first. I will be looking for the following in your presentation to the class:

µ  Eye contact (We want to see your eyes, not the top of your head!)

µ  Voice projection (We all need to be able to hear what you are saying.)

µ  Voice Expression (Use expression in your voice to keep your audience interested in what you are saying. No robot voices!!)

µ  Knowledge of content (We want to learn about your book and your character! You will use your Book in a Bag to help you remember all the important facts.)

This is a fun project, but it will also count as a grade. You will get points on your bag (including everything that is mentioned above), your presentation, and for dressing up. You have almost a month to prepare, but I do not want you to squander your time and procrastinate! Therefore, you need to return the bottom portion to me by Friday, October 10^th.

The majority of our day at school on Halloween will be these exciting presentations! In the afternoon, we will celebrate all your hard work and the fun holiday with food and a few games. J

Have fun….be creative…and enjoy! I look forward to seeing you transformed on Halloween!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PLEASE RETURN THIS PORTION BY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10^th.

Student’s name: _______________________           Parent Signature: _________________________________

Please fill out the following for your Halloween Project:

Book I have chosen: ___________________________________________________________________

Character I will dress up as: ___________________________

**Parents, if you would like to help out with items for the party, please put a smiley face on the line. ________