First Week Fun!

Wow! What a great first week back to school! This week was a great start back to what is to come this school year. I was so proud of how all my students got right back into the groove of things.

In New England we had a pretty cool summer this summer, except on the first week of school. This week we finally hit 90 degrees and boy was it hot! The kids did great and did not seem to mind the warmer weather. This year we are all starting to see the leaves beginning to change. We won’t complain about warm days because we only have 3 months of this weather.  

During our first week of school we practiced our routines, procedures, and really focused on what 3^rd grade will look like this school year. I did not “loop” per say, however I did move up with the grade. Last year I taught 2^nd and this year I am in 3^rd. It has been great having students already know each other and myself. They are settling right in.

I was searching over the summer some rules that were simple and to a minimum. Together as a class we made a t- chart comparing the teacher’s job and the student’s job in the classroom. From there we created our rules. I found a great source on TPT that had an acronym for the rules. I said they were easy to “LEARN” and we went from there.

        L- Listen and follow directions carefully

        E- Enter and Exit the room prepared

        A- Always do your best

        R- Respect others and yourself

        N- No Excuses!

I have 2 keywords I want to focus on this year in 3^rd grade. Those 2 words are RESPECT and RESPONSIBILITY. These rules I believe cover both of those key words and will be our theme for the year.

One way I will be focusing on RESPONSIBILITY this year is by having the students turn in their work into the “Reflection Bins” that was posted on a previous blog. This week we practiced using the bins and the students took to them quickly. They enjoy underlining there name. I believe the students will better understand each basket throughout the year.

I will also be giving the students an opportunity to earn a homework pass. Each night 3^rd grades in my district are asked to read for 20 minutes nightly. They will keep a log and will turn it in daily. They will also be asked to have 30 minutes (10 minutes per grade level not including reading) of math, science, or social studies nightly. They will turn this in as well. If the entire class turns in their homework they will earn a letter in the word HOMEWORK. Once the word is completely spelled out each student will receive a homework pass that is good for one assignment. They must staple the pass to the assignment they are turning in.

To encourage my students to show respect for themselves and others I will have them fill a jar with marbles. The dollar tree does sale 50 marbles for $1.00. Trust me I looked everywhere and that is the only place I seemed to find them.  They will earn a marble to place in the jar and once the jar is filled to a line we will earn free choice on Go Noodle. If you have not discovered Go Noodle log into the website www.gonoodle.com and look around. It is a great tool. We explored the site in my classroom on Friday and I look forward to using them as brain breaks, in morning meetings, and as a reward.

We had so many fun activities this week and I will be posting lots of pictures and links in the coming week. Thanks for taking time to read my blog and have a great beginning of the school year. 

Love, 

Miss Stetson

Vinyl in the Classroom

9 DAYS UNTIL SCHOOL STARTS! 

The countdown has officially begun. I am now in a mad rush to finish many little's before the school year begins. I need to label folders, clean my piles, make copies, and look over what I will be doing in the near future in my curriculum. Today, I decided to not go to my room and do what I enjoy most, yet rarely make time to do. That is to make something with my Cricut. 

I have owned my machine for 6 years now. When I received it as a gift from my family I thought I would use it more often in my classroom.  Little things like this is calming and almost therapeutic. So, with stress rising to the quickly approaching school year, I need some relaxing moments. 

I made 2 things that will help my students and myself be a little more organized. This took me about an hour to complete. Took me about an hour to clean up the mess I made in my office. Beau the Golden wanted to help. 

The font used for both projects was a free font I found on TPT. The name of the font is Melonheadz. If you enjoyed the font click on this link ---> Melonheadz Font

Box Top Jar

I had a 6 jar display that I have lost 2 of the jars. This happens when the moving truck monster eats random things. I could never find the other two jars and they have been sitting in my "craft room" for two years. Today I decided I needed a fancy BOX TOP jar. Like most schools we collect box tops. I usually throw them in a bag, loose the bag, and have random box tops laying in my desk. This year I am going to encourage and acknowledge in my newsletter anyone donating BOX TOPS. I am hoping this will encourage parents to send them in. I used gold vinyl because it made me think of money. Box Tops = Money. 

The 2nd project I completed was the 10 drawer unit. I made the letters 2 in tall and they seemed to fit just right. I had a few letters that got deformed while cutting because Beau the Golden was curious. I fixed them, but I still do notice the abnormality. 

This here was my pride and joy project for the day. This is a nice compact way to store supplies. The students do not keep scissors or glue in their desk because we do switch classes for reading and I would run out quicker. This is a great way for the community supplies to be stored away and pulled out when needed I am looking forward to seeing this in my classroom tomorrow. 

Thanks so much, 

Miss Stetson

Crack That Code!

With school quickly approaching for me, I decided to take a day away from my classroom and work on some activities for the beginning of school. I am very lucky to be in 3rd grade this year! You see, last year I taught 2nd grade and know many of my students already. 

The one thing I always enjoyed last year was the great sense of humor the 2nd graders had. I know at the end of the year we practiced how to add  & subtract to 1,000. ( CCSS 2.NBT.B.7) So in the beginning of this year I found some jokes via Pinterest and got to work making a "Crack That Code" worksheet. This is a great way in 3rd grade to see who has been practicing over the summer. In 3rd grade we will be working with 3 digit addition and subtraction so this is a great pre-assessment. ( 3.NBT.A.2) Last year we did have fun with these so I know that they will enjoy the jokes in this one. 

Back to School Riddles

I have downloaded this into TPT and would love for your class to enjoy this free activity as well. Please make sure to hit follow my page on TPT and my blog for new activities. 

I hope you enjoy. 

Love,

Miss Stetson