Meet Mrs. Ham {Our New KE Spanish Teacher}

We're happy to welcome Samantha Ham to KE as our new Spanish teacher (our teacher from last year, Senora Lundberg is now teaching only at WE and WT).  We've already learned some fun new songs with Senora Ham and are reviewing some of the basic Spanish words we already know.

Social Studies

We began our first social studies classes by brainstorming "What IS social studies?"  Students were able to identify many components of SS, including maps, history, communities, presidents/leaders, people, etc.  We're kicking off the year with a map skills unit.  Students began by using globes to label the continents and oceans on an unlabeled map - which was a little trickier than they thought it would be!

First Day Fun!

We've got our first day of third grade under our belts!  It was a great day and flew by quickly - we can tell this will be a FUN year of learning together.

A few reminders:

• if your child didn't bring a flash drive (on our supply list), please send one asap - we'll be using them on Thursday

• please return the "Getting to Know Your Child" and "Let's Communicate" forms that were sent home at open house

• we have PE on cycle Days 1 and 3 - students need athletic shoes to participate :)

Here's a peek at our first day . . .

Chinese with Mr. O'Brien

Taking beginning of the year assessments

Mrs. H's class had a "snowball fight" (ask your student!) ;)

We teamed up for a scavenger hunt with both third grade sections for which students interviewed one another

We wrapped up the day with an all school assembly during which new students and staff were introduced

Welcome back! {Open House & Ice Cream Social]

It was great to meet our new third grade families at the Open House and Ice Cream Social!  Excitement was in the air as students found their new lockers and desks and unpacked their supplies.

Welcome to a new year!

It's hard to believe that we are beginning a new school year already!  We look forward to a great school year of learning together!

There's a lot that goes on in third grade and we'll do our best to keep you informed - and one of the best places to find information will be this blog.  If you'd like to be notified automatically whenever we post/update the blog, please subscribe to e-mail notifications (see box in the righthand sidebar).  We generally post on Fridays to give you a summary of the week's happenings.  

We often take pictures of the events taking place in our classrooms and try to post them on the blog to give you a "look" at life in third grade.  If you prefer that your child's picture not be posted, please contact his/her homeroom teacher.

Here's to an exciting new year -
Mrs. Bender & Mrs. Hartsock

Thanks for a great year!

This will be our last blog for the year.  Looking forward to seeing all of you at our End of the Year Picnic on Tuesday.  Food should be at the school by 11:00.  The third grade class doesn't eat until 11:45, but you are welcome to come and play some math games and have a recess with your student while you are waiting.

Reading

We shared our book reports about The Legend of Jimmy Spoon, and almost finished reading the sequel.  If you want to know, Jimmy does find Nahanee, but there are a lot of adventures to be found in the book. See if your library has Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express and check them out!

Science

This week we were able to dissect our pods and were able to locate the seeds inside.  If the kids brought their seeds home, remember they need to be kept under constant light and watered daily.  We also finished up our power point presentations which the kids will be able to share with you when you come to our last day picnic.  The final project was to present their plays explaining the Wisconsin Fast Plant Life Cycle.

Remember...

*Picnic forms were due on Friday.  Please email your teacher or return your form by MONDAY!  (We need to know how many are attending our pot luck and if your student is leaving with you that day.)

*Swimming on Tuesday.  We will be walking to the pool in the afternoon.  Remember to sent items marked with your student's name.  If the kids want to come to school in their swimsuit with clothes on top that is fine.  Just remember to send clothes for them to change into after swimming.  (We don't leave until after lunch and they will have time to change at the school before we leave.)  When we return from the pool the kids will have popcorn for a snack.

*Last Day Potluck.  Food should be at school by 11:00 but the third grade does not eat until 11:30.  You are welcome to join your student in a recess while you wait.

*Last Day - Remember you need to check out your student with your classroom teacher on the last day of school.  Report cards will only be given to the parents!

Stations

This week we worked on getting work and projects completed.  The kids worked on getting caught up on their math workbooks, completing their life cycle project for science using the keynote program on the computers and trying to finish their stitching from Mother's Day.