Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, we can definitely kick off the Thanksgiving holiday with being thankful for a mini vacation! We will not have school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week. When we come back, we will have 3 weeks before we leave for Winter Break; it's so hard to believe that 2008 is almost over!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

Thank You Veterans!

We have a short week this week, since we have Tuesday off for Veteran's Day. It is important for us to remember why we observe Veteran's Day- to celebrate and reflect on the bravery and sacrifice of U.S. service men and women. To learn about the history of Veteran's Day, check out this website: http://www.military.com/veterans-day/history-of-veterans-day.htm. Thank you Veterans and current military men and women for your sacrifice and service!!

In phonics, we are focusing on words with consonant clusters (-tch, spr-, str-, thr-) and contractions. Our vocabulary words come from our reading selection for this week- The Talking Cloth. In reading, we are honing our summarizing skills and noticing details in stories. In writing, we are finishing up our fictional narratives and looking forward to beginning report writing- yay!

Hello 2nd Quarter!

Wow! Can you believe that our first nine weeks of third grade is over? I know I sure am amazed! The start of the second quarter is bringing about some changes; gone are the days of second grade silliness, it's time to get down to business! We still have plenty of fun with learning, but we are working very hard on making sure that we are focused and on task with our activities.

Please remember, homework is NOT an option. Throughout the last nine weeks, many students did not turn in their homework regularly. Homework is an important and useful tool to help practice and review what we work on in class. Remember to turn in your homework when it is due!

Check back soon to see our class "quilts" we are constructing to go with our weekly reading selection- The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco!

Week of October 20

This week is a short week for the students- they have NO SCHOOL on Friday. There are no spelling words this week, so make sure to focus on getting your books read!

Let's have a great week and have a wonderful long weekend!

October 13-October 17

This is going to be one exciting week! Friday, the 17th, marks the end of the first nine weeks- can you believe it? Also, this week is very exciting for me because I will get to find out if Baby Batycki is a boy or a girl. I don't know who is more excited about that- me or the students!

Please continue your nightly reading; we are expected to have 8 chapter books completed by this Friday! Also, remember to complete your homework each night!

Let's have a great week!

Week of October 6

Wow! I am so sorry that I didn't update the blog last week. Fortunately, our spelling words and homework have all been updated for this week!

Remember to keep working hard and reading! The end of the first quarter is coming up quick!

September 22-26

Another week has begun! This week we are working on the reading strategies of predicting/ inferring and monitor/ clarify in Readers Workshop. In Writers Workshop, we are working on how to improve our writing. We began the week with a discussion about dialogue- what it is, how it can help our writing, and why it is important. There were a lot of busy writers during during our work period!

Please remember to check the panel on the right side of the screen for this week's spelling words and homework. Let's have a great week!

September 15-19

We have progress reports going home this week, so with that in mind, let's review the things we need to be working on with our reading and writing:
*Everyone should have at least 4 chapter books completed and logged on their Reading Log.
*Read every night for at least 25 minutes!
*Because we are trying to conserve paper in our class, a weekly homework sheet will no longer be printed and sent home. Instead, students will write the spelling list and nightly homework in their planners. The weekly spelling words will also be posted here on our blog. Also, please use one piece of paper for your homework throughout the week and turn it in on Thursday to be checked. (That way, you can save paper at home too!)
*Parents: Please check and sign your student's planner each night. If your student has displayed inappropriate behavior or if there is an important bit of information, we will put that in their planner.

I cannot believe that we are already halfway through the first nine weeks! Time flies by when you're having a good time!

Another new week!

As we begin another week, I wanted to take a moment to tell everyone what we will be doing this week in Readers and Writers Workshops.
Readers Workshop
We're going to be working on independent reading, shared reading, and partner reading. Make sure that your "book bags" do not leave the classroom!
Writers Workshop
Writing this week is going to be fun (well, it's always fun)! Late last week, we were introduced to our sourcebooks. Remember to bring it back to school with you EVERY DAY! We will be generating more of our own topics and picking a topic to begin a writing piece.
Phonics Skills Block- Short Vowels (a,e,i,o,u)
After looking over our short vowel activity that we did last week, I see we need a good refresher on short vowels! This week we are going to focus on short vowels, and our spelling words all have short vowels in them! When you come in every morning or afternoon, you will work on a short vowel activity. Sometimes it will be an independent activity, other times it will be a partner activity. Make sure that you are listening for the short vowel sounds!
Other Important Information
~Please join PTA! It will be the best $5 you've ever spent!
~Beauclerc's Book Fair begins this week! Students will be allowed to purchase from the bookfair beginning Thursday. Please remember, do not spend your lunch money at the book fair! Make sure that the money you are taking to the book fair is for the book fair!

Update from Open House

Woohoo! We finished our first full week of school and what a week it was! Thank you to all of the families that attended Open House on Thursday night; it was wonderful to meet so many of our parents.

We do have one correction to make to what was mentioned the other night at Open House- we will not be able to schedule conferences on Wednesdays- mornings or afternoons. We still can do conferences most Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 8-8:25 am and on Monday afternoons. Please remember though, we need to know ahead of time if you would like to schedule a conference. You can email both Ms. Beshany and I, or jot a note in your student's planner.

I am looking forward to a wonderful week!

What we've been doing and important information...

Oh my goodness, I can't believe that it has been over a week since I last posted an update on our blog- I am sorry!! Since our scare with Tropical Storm Fay, we have returned to class and have been working hard!
In Readers Workshop, we have discussed purposes for reading and ways to become better readers. We have also reviewed our 30 book goal (Reading Standard 3- Reading Habits), signed contracts, and started filling our books logs with the wonderful chapter books that we have finished.
In Writers Workshop, we learned how everyone has a story to tell, and no two stories are the same! We brainstormed and wrote about our favorite things. Some wrote about pets, others wrote about sports.

Important Information:

• Open House is tomorrow night (8/28) at 6:30. Both Mrs. Batycki and Ms. Beshany's homerooms will be meeting in Portable 208. We hope to see you there!
• If you have not already returned all the forms in the white Beauclerc folder that went home on the first day of school, please do so immediately.
• Homework in my class for this week only consists of reading for 25 minutes every night. What a great way to work towards meeting our "30 books read" goal! We will have more to our homework beginning next week.
• Please encourage your students to always follow the rules and directions!

Two days down...and some reminders

**Due to impending adverse weather, Duval County Public Schools are closed Wednesday, August 20 and Thursday, August 21. Please be extremely safe and cautious during this time. I can't wait to see everyone when school reopens!**

Well, we have completed our first two days of school! We have been learning and reviewing the Readers and Writers Workshops' format and purposes. Some students have already found books that they just can't put down and have "checked" them out from our classroom library.

News and Reminders:
Please remember that every night, no matter what, students in my classes are expected to complete at least 25 minutes of reading in addition to other homework assignments. This week, we will only be focusing on nightly reading for our Reading and Writing homework. We will add another element to our homework next week.

Another important reminder- we have rules for a reason! If we didn't have rules in the classroom, it would be very hard to learn. Our rules our very simple and easy to follow- please practice them and come to school every morning ready to learn and follow the rules!

Please check out our class wish list a little further down this page. If you can help in any way, we would greatly appreciate it!

Excitement

Tomorrow is the first day of school! I can hardly believe that we a ready to begin a new school year.

I had the chance to meet some of the new third graders on Friday at Orientation, which was so exciting! I felt pretty nervous, but I think my new students were even more nervous. On Saturday, I had some help with putting the finishing touches on the classroom- Mr. Batycki, my Mom, and my three little sisters pitched in and lent a helping hand! We had a fun afternoon and boy, was I happy to have them there!

Classroom Wish List

I know that money is tight these days, but if you feel that you can contribute and donate any of the following items to our class, we would GREATLY appreciate it!!

White Printer Paper
Colored Printer Paper
Construction Paper
Glade PlugIns Scented Oil refills (Hawaiian Breeze OR Clean Linen)
Large Rolling Cooler


As I think of more items, I will post them. Again, this is completely voluntary; please do not feel that you are required to purchase any of these items!

Work in progress!

I am so excited that you are taking the time to visit our class blog! The beginning of another school year is right around the corner. I will be teaching third grade this year and cannot wait!

I am new to the blogging world, so please be sure to check back often, there will be more posts as we approach August 18!