Wild Shots They're My Life Spelling & Vocabulary

Focus Skill- Author's Purpose

Focus Strategy- Text Structure and Format

Spelling-finger, pencil, huge, stage, police, giraffe, peculiar, scaly, force, creature, excite, space, unusual, range, strange, office, fence, price, badge, engine
Vocabulary- delicate, marine, creature, collapsed, curious, survived

You can practice these words and skills at http://www.harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_3.html
Just click on the skill to practice and choose this week's story. Have fun!

Fluency Passage

Please watch for a fluency passage coming home in your child's Star Binder.

The students are to practice this passage nightly. We are tracking the number of words they can read per minute. Our goals is to get each child to significantly increase the number of WPM. Practicing this passage will not only increase WPM but improve your child's fluency and comprehension.

When practicing the passage, please remind your child to not read as fast as they can, but to read smoothly, with expression.

Not every child has received one yet. They are receiving them during their 100 Book Challenge conferencing time. Several different passages will be sent home throughout the year.

100 Book Challenge Update

This week's goal for 100 Book Challenge lines read is 136. I check goals on Monday mornings. The students have all week and all weekend to reach this goal. You will be receiving information in your child's agenda if they are behing goal.

The students have built enough stamina in class to read 30 minutes a night. This is equivalent to two lines. Please do not sign more than two lines per night. If your child has/her nose stuck in a book they love and don't want to put the book down-that's GREAT!! Just write a small note why they earned the extra lines. We would love to make an exception for students who want to read more! Just please let us know.

Just signing as a "requirement" will become evident when students aren't improving comprehension, fluency and moving up color levels in 100 Book Challenge. We monitor closely the number of lines truly spent reading. The more time they spend authentically reading  a just right level book; the better read they will become!

Most importantly we want to foster a life long love of reading! Thanks!

Turtle Bay~ Spelling and Vocabulary Words

Focus Skill- Reread to Clarify

Focus Strategy- Author's Purpose

Spelling-laugh, enough, rough, knocked, dolphin, coral, wrench, whale, wring, wreck, wrinkle, tortoise, written, sea horse, wrap, writer, known, wrong, knot, sphere
Vocabulary- eager, litter, patiently, trained, wise, message

You can practice these words and skills at http://www.harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_3.html
Just click on the skill to practice and choose this week's story. Have fun!

Issue 14~ Please Vote YES!!!

Please Vote Yes on Election Day for the Akron Public Schools operating levy!!

This operating levy is a responsible request by the Akron Public Schools asking the community to support our children's education. Even with the passage of this levy the district will need to make an additional 9.2 million additional cuts for each of the next 3 years.

The passage of this levy will cost approximately $7 per month for the average home and will be used only to pay for necessities that will keep the district getting good results.


Election Day is Tuesday, November 8, 2011. You can pick up voter registration and absentee ballot information in the school office. Absentee ballot is an easy way for busy families to find time to vote.

The non passage of this levy, will directly affect your child's education, teacher and community. Please support Issue 14!

For more information please visit http://www.forakronschools.com/

Health Project~ "Don't Stress Out Poster"

After each Health Unit we complete, the students will be assigned a small project. We recently completed a unity on Self Esteem and Getting Along with Others. The project for this unit is a "Don't Stress Out" Poster. The poster is due next Tuesday, October 26th. The students will bring home the guidelines for the project as well as the paper the poster is to be completed on. The students will find information to help them complete this project in their Health texts. We will also share many ideas and examples in class. Below is one example of a poster that meets all the guidelines for the assignment.

MATH NEWS

Things to Remember
*Keep practicing your math facts every night! You're doing a great job and we can see vast improvements everyday!
*There is ONE STORY PROBLEM to complete every night for homework.  Students must show their work and EXPLAIN in detailed, complete sentences, how they got their answer.  We go over it in class BEFORE they take the problem home, then share student answers and explanations the next day as a whole group.  Proving there is more than one way to solve a problem!
*We have a "Spiral Math Quiz" at the end of every week.  Spiral Math constantly reviews concepts for the state math test.  It builds upon what they learned the previous week, while reviewing the basics.  Study sheets come home the night before the test (which is usually a Thursday).
*Akron Public Schools has purchased a new math curriculum series for grades K-12.  This new series is aggressive in teaching math concepts to our students.  It also features mini videos to watch before each lesson to give students a good visual of what to expect.  You will be receiving info on how to log on and access this new curriculum on the Internet.
Thank you for working hard!  Mrs. Butcher

Well Done Room 204!

The students did a great job on the OAA this past Tuesday. They were all focused and tried their best. The district should receive the test results near the end of November. Each parent will receive a print out with your child's information. The students will get a second chance to take the test in the Spring. You will be amazed at the amount of growth they will show!

Thanks to all the parents who were able to make it to Interim Pick-Up. We know how busy schedules can be. We appreciate you taking time out to meet with us and discuss your child's progress. Feel free to contact us any time you have questions. 

Olympic Games-Spelling & Vocabulary

Focus Skill- Adjust reading rate

Focus Strategy- Non-Fiction Elements

Spelling-least, fast, just, burst, strip, stick, strike, artist, almost, student, strong, start, blast, step, street, events, competition, stroke, teammate, distance

Vocabulary- ceremonies, earned, ancient, stadium, compete, medals, host, record

You can pracitce these words and skills at http://www.harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_3.html
Just click on the skill to practice and choose this week's story. Have fun!