Happy Veterans' Day

Today was a great day! We had some ROTC students from the high school visit us today and discuss the American flag and how we fold/care for it. The class had many questions and were very interested! We also had some guest speakers during our assembly this afternoon that shared some of their military experiences with us. One of the most important things we learned today was to HONOR our vets by THANKING them for their service...so THANK A VET TODAY!! Be sure to ask your child what it means to say "OOOH, RAH!!"
Here's a pic of our class during the assembly today:

 

 

 

In other news, tonight's homework is over the Associative Property of Multiplication. This is a little challenging, so your child may need some extra help. The Associative Property is the "grouping" property. This means no matter how you group the factors in an equation with more than 2 factors, the product is the same. *Important reminder is to always solve what is in parentheses first! So....

if the problem is (2 x 3) x 4, you would multiply 2 x 3 first. The product of 2 x 3 is 6, so you then multiply that 6 x 4 for a product of 24. You could group it differently and still get the same product. Example: 2 x (3 x 4). 4 x 3 = 12, and 12 x 2 = 24. Hopefully this will help if you get stuck tonight!

Other homework tonight is Reading Log and study for DR 12 Quiz on Thursday. There is no Language Arts test this week, but your child should have brought last week's test home yesterday.

Remember to turn in the RSVP if you are planning to join us for Thanksgiving Lunch next Thursday, November 20th. I also sent home a form yesterday about what to do in the event of early dismissal. If you didn't return this today, please send in as soon as possible (just in case!).

Finally, if you are able to send in any treats for our Treasure Box, that would be so helpful!! Everyone has been so good that our supply is running low!

Thanks so much for all you do!

Marvelous Monday

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a restful and wonderful Fall Break! Many of us were tired today as we returned to our regular routine.
Some important things I want you to know:
1. I am submitting the Scholastic Book Order for October tomorrow. If our order totals $100, each student in our class will get a FREE book. We currently have $70 in orders, so if you want to order something, now's a good time! However, there is also the upcoming Book Fair at SGE...and information came home about that today.
2. We will be celebrating Grandparents' Week next week. Our class will receive guests for lunch on Monday, October 20th. A paper came home about this today also. The cafeteria asks that you RSVP if you (or someone else) will be joining our class that day. Our lunch time is 12:10-12:35.
3. Thanks so much to all who contributed to the Sweet Blessings Cake Mix Drive!!! Our class won! The most asked question today was "When is our cupcake party?" The truth is, I don't know and will have to wait until they tell me. However, I think many children will truly be blessed by those donations!
4. Report cards for the first grading period will be coming home THIS Thursday, October 16th. Your child's MAP report for the fall will come home with the report card. The MAP report is yours to keep. If you have any questions regarding the report or the report card, I will be glad to meet and discuss them with you. I do ask that you sign and return the report card after going over it with your child.
5. Thursday is also Kentucky Kids' Day! There will be no scheduled specials classes that day. This means no Music, PE, or Library. We will have some guest speakers joining us that day instead.
6. No school (for students) on Friday! Enjoy the day off with your kids (unless you're a teacher and have to work LOL).
7. On Friday, October 31st, SGE will be having "Dress As Your Favorite Book Character" Day. In order to dress the part of your character, you must have the book with you when you come that day. To go along with this, third graders are going to be required to do a book report and present it (as their character) on the 31st. More info will come home this week about the report and presentation, but students will want to begin choosing and reading a chapter book (or appropriate leveled book approved by the teacher).

More to come later!

Sweet Blessings and Language Arts

 

Sweet Blessings:

We are losing badly! If you have a box of yellow cake mix that you'd be willing to send in, we'd really appreciate it! This "Sweet Blessings" contest ends tomorrow!

 

Below are the tallies as of today:

Napier – 25

Gomez – 45 – currently winning

Duncan - 1

Bonner-  23

Celestino – 3

Fryman – 24

Fredericks-  5

Carpenter - 39 – 2^nd place

Holbrook – 0

Price – 9

Portwood – 2

Bays – 30 – 3^rd place

Walker – 3

 

Language Arts:

There is a Language Arts test tomorrow  over the story "Penguin Chick." This will include the vocabulary, story comprehension, main idea, and words with V/CV and VC/V syllable patterns. I sent home a list of these words today to review sorted by vowel sounds in the first syllable. Only a few of those words will randomly be tested for correct spelling. Common and Proper Nouns are the grammar skill that will be assessed also.

 

The only other homework for tonight is to do the Reading Log. Don't forget that tonight is Giovanni's Night!! Consider picking up a pizza and helping our school earn money.

 

Just one more day....then enjoy your Fall Break!!

 

The week ahead...

Hi! I want to thank everyone who attended the Family Fun Night last Friday night! It was a lot of fun, and I think it was a success for our school. Thank you to everyone who donated in any way. A special thanks goes to Mrs. Gibson, Mrs. Ruber, Mrs. Iwankovitsch, Mr. and Mrs. Spore, Ms. Palmerton, and Mr. Gallagher for volunteering to work our class game. The Basketball Shoot was a lot of fun!! Our PTO worked hard to put this together, and I think it was evident.

One of the biggest complaints from students this year is how hungry they are long before lunch time. I realize that it is a long time from 7am breakfast to lunch at 12:10. The hour before lunch is our Language Arts block which includes reading, writing, grammar, and spelling. This instructional time is far too important to be focusing on how many minutes until lunch. "How long until lunch?" IS the most often-asked question during that hour! So, I am going to try something new this week. I am going to allow students to bring a snack to eat at 10:15 each morning. Students who wish to participate in this must bring their own snack, and it must be appropriate. This means no sugary snacks or potato chips. Suggestions would be granola bars, dry cereal, fruit snacks, pretzels, etc. Absolutely candy or cookies. It also has to be something that can be brought in their lunch box or backpack and does not need to be refrigerated. Drinks will not be permitted. Students will be allowed to get a drink from the water fountain after finishing their snack. This will not be a break from learning, so students will be expected to eat the snack while continuing to stay on task and complete work. IF the snack becomes a problem, or interferes with learning in any way, then it will no longer be permitted. Your child will be responsible for his/her own snack and cleaning up his/her own mess. If a child forgets or loses a snack, then they will face the natural consequence of not having one. Extra snacks will not be provided. So, if your child is hungry and would like to have a snack in the mornings before lunch time, then feel free to send one in this week! I hope this will help us to be able to focus on learning instead of being hungry. :)

Don't forget that Friday is Picture Day! A picture order form went home last week in yellow folders. If your child did not get one, please let me know and I will send home another one. These will be the pictures for the yearbook, and they must be ordered in advance.

Thank you to everyone who helped their child correct his/her Chapter 1 Math Test and return it this week. I know Math is a bit challenging with our new Math series. Even after having this last year, it does get more difficult each year. The "Go, Math!" series includes a lot of reading and problem solving. We will continue to work on these skills throughout the year. This first test reviewed a lot of addition and subtraction skills from 2nd grade, and these are skills that are continually revisited throughout the year. Subtraction with regrouping continues to be a developing skill for many. Thanks for working with your child at home on these skills.
I will average your child's original score with the corrected score for their grade on this first test. I hope this will be a learning tool for students to see what is expected as the year progresses.

Thanks so much for all you do!

Tuesday

Hi Parents! Tonight's homework is: 

-Reading log

-Study DRs Week 5 (Quiz on Thursday)

There won't be a Reading test this week, but we will have one NEXT Friday. 

We had a heart-to-heart talk about behavior today and the importance of always doing your best! If you could please emphasize this at home, that would be greatly appreciated. 

Finally, if you could work a shift for our class game on Friday night, please let me know ASAP. We still have a couple of spots to fill. If you can't come, the PTO would still appreciate any donation of 2-liter sodas for the ring toss. 

Thanks for all you do!!

Thursday

Hi Parents! I just wanted to send a few reminders. I have been using the Class Dojo Messenger to communicate via text/email instead of the different text system I used last year. However, there have been some Dojo "glitches" and I am afraid some of you aren't getting connected...thus, you aren't getting those messages either. I am sorry for that!
After researching the Dojo issue, it looks like I can generate a temporary password for you to use for your child's student account. If you need me to do this for you, just let me know. I can write it in your child's agenda OR send it home on a piece of paper for you.
Scholastic Book Orders are due tomorrow. You will need to pay by check and make checks out to Scholastic. Thanks for so many of you who already sent in your order!
Don't forget the Title One Compact that came home this week. Please go over this with your child at home, then sign and return to us. This is part of a program that helps generate funds for our school, so please turn that in if you haven't already!
Tonight's homework:
Reading Log & Study for Quiz over "What About Me?" tomorrow.

Have a great night!

A full week ahead...

We had a great first week (or three days) of school! We spent a lot of time this week getting to know our new classmates and learning rules/procedures for our school and classroom. This next week, "real" work will begin!
Beginning today, all third graders will begin Reading Logs. This will look like a calendar for you to sign each night. (I know, more homework for you--signing TWO things! Sorry!) Reading Logs are to be completed every night Monday through Thursday. We ask that students read for 20 minutes each night. They can read anything of their choosing! We just want them to READ! You will be asked to sign this each night as a confirmation that your child completed this assignment. I will take a grade on this at the end of each month. This should be at least one "easy" grade for Reading class! However, this will be a training in responsibility, too. Students will need to keep up with this paper every single day for the entire month. I am going to give students a page protector to put in their binders as a safe place to keep this. Hopefully this will help them to be organized and prepared.
Also coming up this week, we will begin Daily Reviews (aka DRs). Each day (Monday through Wednesday) students will complete a page of REVIEW questions from all content areas. It will consist of 10 questions total. After students complete this independently, we will go over the answers in class and students are expected to correct these as we go over them. Then students can bring home the correct answers to study! Ten of these questions will be chosen for a quiz each Thursday. We ask that you study/review them just a few minutes each night. A grade will be taken on the quiz each week.

Yellow folders went home today, and a Parent Invitation Code was in there. Please use this to connect to our class if you haven't already done so.
Tonight's homework:
*Reading Log
*Study DR 1
Be sure to sign your child's agenda each night!
Don't forget that tomorrow is our "Meet & Greet" and PTO Meeting at 6:30! Hope to see you there!

Off to a great start...

Happy Thursday!   We had another great day of learning rules and routines, and getting to know one another more.  Students have NO HOMEWORK tonight, but we do ask that you sign their agendas nightly. (We are practicing writing something in our agendas each afternoon so you'll see it says "get agenda signed"). 

Thanks so much to everyone who has turned in all forms! ALMOST EVERYONE has turned them in so far. If you haven't yet, please do so as soon as possible! Also, there are still a few room fees to be paid so please turn those in as well. 

 

Tonight is our SGES Giovanni’s Spirit Night!  A portion of all their sales comes back to our school.  Please plan to take the family for dinner!  

 

Would you be interested in becoming a copy parent for us? We could put you on a rotating schedule so that it wouldn’t be a weekly commitment.  We prefer Thursdays or Fridays.  It usually doesn’t take more than an hour or two.  Please email to let us know that you are interested, and we will send home a schedule that would help keep track of when it’s your turn. 

Thanks in advance—we REALLY appreciate it!

Welcome Back!!

I enjoyed meeting some new families last night and reuniting with some returning from last year. I am really looking forward to this new school year. There are many changes happening and I am excited to begin this new chapter at SGE.
In case you didn't get to meet our new principal last night, there will be a "Meet and Greet" for Mrs. Bennett on August 12th. This will be coinciding with our PTO meeting for the month, but will give you an opportunity to meet her and join the PTO at the same time! :)
I forgot to mention last night that we are a Title One School. This means that we get federal grant money to support programs like RTI. RTI (Response to Intervention) is a state-wide program that allows us to target students who need additional help with foundational skills in Reading and Math. So, if you see a paper come home (Title One Compact), please fill out and return to help our school continue to receive these funds. (Only have to do one per family).
If you missed Open House last night, not to worry. Your child will bring home a folder with all the info that was covered.
Here's the most important highlights:
1. Our new start time is 7:35 A.M. this year (for elementary schools district-wide). Please be sure your child is here by that time or he/she will be counted tardy.
2. We will be using Class Dojo to track behavior again this year. It is very important that I have your email address to connect you to your child's account. If you have not already given it to me, you can email it to me at betsy.fredericks@scott.kyschools.us OR I will send a parent code home next week that you can connect to yourself.
3. Please bring all supplies to school on the first day of school (unless you brought them last night).
4. Please pay the $20 room fee as soon as possible. I put an envelope in your child's folder last night to make it easier to keep up with. Thanks for all of you who paid last night!
5. Finally, please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any other questions or anything you want to discuss.
I look forward to working with you and your child this year!!!

Awards Day

Tomorrow is our LAST day of school!!!! I can hardly believe it! (However, I AM ready for it! Ha!)
Our Awards Assembly will be at 8:30 tomorrow. Perfect Attendance and 110% Awards will be given for all grades K-4 during this time. I will give awards for Honor Roll in the classroom immediately following awards.
Congratulations to the following for making the Honor Roll for this Fourth Term!

All A's (2nd grade): Savannah Fields, Madison Gibson, Audrianna Guthrie, Tripp Walker
A/B (2nd grade): Katie Beth Hurt, Camden Sanderson, Shelby Spore

All A's (3rd grade): Hayden Hafley, Lindsey Knecht
A/B (3rd grade): Kyara Beatty, Rachel Bright, McKenzie Cottingham, Dylan Fiegenbaum, Roni Hazlett, Skyler James, Savannah Popp, Stanley Walrod

Kindergarten Registration

Tell all your friends!!! Community Kindergarten Registration will be held (tonight and tomorrow) June 3 & 4, 2014 from 3-5:00pm at the Georgetown Kroger.  School boundary guides and kindergarten enrollment forms available for all Scott County Schools.

Lunch Menu for the next two weeks...

Here are the lunch choices for the next two weeks so you can plan accordingly... :)

Tues – May 27 – Spaghetti with meatballs w/roll, Chicken Fajita or Jammer

 

Wed – May 28 – Bosco Sticks w/marina sauce, or Pizza

 

Thurs – May 29 – BBQ pulled pork or Popcorn Chicken with Roll

 

Fri – May 30 – Chicken Nuggets,  Shrimp Basket w/corn Muffin or Jammer

 

Mon – June 2 – Cheeseburger or Hot Dogs

 

Tues – June 3 – Salisbury Steak, Turkey & Cheese Sandwich

 

Wed – June 4 – Field Day – Chicken Patty Sandwich or Jammer

 

Thur – June 5 – Pizza Quesadilla, Chicken Nuggets or Grilled Cheese

 

Fri – Pork Chops, Nachos, or Jammer

Farm Day Field Trip

We learned a lot about agriculture today during our visit to KY Horse Park's Alltech Arena. Ask your child which part he/she liked best! 

Wednesday

Hi!
Third graders have a DR Quiz tomorrow (Week 23) AND a Math test over Chapter 7! We will begin Fractions after Spring Break.
I asked for donations to do a science experiment this week. We did the first one, using corn starch, today. Ask your child what he/she thought about it! The other one, involving grape soda, I am going to save for the week we return (since I just can't fit it all in this week!). If you'd still like to donate, that would be greatly appreciated.
Tomorrow is our Jump Rope for Heart championship. Congrats to our King Tripp and Queen Katie Beth! Good luck tomorrow! All Jump Rope for Heart money needs to be turned in tomorrow as well.
Thanks!

I'm Back :)

Hi! Please forgive me that it has been so long since my last post. With snow days, technical problems, and general craziness, I have not blogged in awhile! I have sent some texts through Remind 101, so if you aren't subscribed to that, please do so! It's easier to blog from my laptop, but my home computer has been giving me fits for awhile.
There are some things you need to know...
First, Jump Rope for Heart is THIS week! Congrats to our King Tripp and Queen Katie Beth for jumping the longest. If your child has raised any money toward this very worthy cause, it is due this week on Thursday! If you have any questions about this, you can email Mr. Fields at scott.fields@scott.kyschools.us.
Next, we are working on writing "How-To" pieces in class this week. Your child should have brought home a slip last night for you to discuss this project with him/her. We are writing these pieces in class, but students are "presenting" them on Thursday. They will have the opportunity to teach this topic to the class and read their writing as directions to do so. I will be taking a grade on this. The writing will be sent home tomorrow night so your child can practice. Any materials needed from home for this project will need to be sent in on Thursday.
We are going to do two science experiments this week to go with our study of Matter. Thanks to those parents who sent in corn starch!! I am still in need of grape soda if anyone is able to contribute that.
We are working on cursive handwriting during our extended instructional time. The students are very excited about it. Please help them practice this at home.
We enjoyed Career Day last Friday! A special thanks to Mr. Popp for coming, speaking, and sharing so much with our class. We were very lucky that we got to see the truck, hose, and "Jaws of Life!" I'll try to share some pics from the day in a separate post.
A form came home today about our upcoming field trips. We're going on our annual Farm Day Field Trip on April 8th. This year's third graders will remember taking this trip last year. We'll also be visiting the Horse Park on April 15th. We sent one permission slip home today for both of these trips. Please return that tomorrow if possible.
Report cards are coming home on April 11th! We'll only have one grading period left after that. It's hard to believe the end of the year is near--especially since it snowed like a blizzard today!?!?!?! #Kentuckyweather

Third Graders Only- Reading Test tomorrow over "Suki's Kimono" and Math Test on Thursday over Chapter 7! DR Quiz on Thursday, too....Week 23 this week!

In case you weren't aware, next week is Spring Break!!! There will be no school next week. We'll return on April 7th!

Tuesday

Hi! It's been a LONG time since December! Yesterday was our first Monday of school in 2014...and possibly the first full week of school this year! Kentucky's weather can be a little unpredictable!
Here's what you need to know for this week...
*Yellow folders came home yesterday with a newsletter and graded papers.
*Dojo reports did NOT come home this week due to there only being two days of school last week. You can still check your child's behavior online anytime at www.classdojo.com.
*Report Cards come home THIS Friday, January 17th!
*There will be NO SCHOOL on Monday, January 20th, due to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Tonight's homework:
2nd graders- Reading Log
3rd graders- Reading Log & Study DR 15 for Quiz on Thursday
Math- Ms. Fryman's class did P93-94/Mrs. Fredericks' class P91-92

Here's the answers to DRs for yesterday and today...
DR 15 Day 1
Math
1. b
2. c
Language Arts
1. d
2. c
Reading
1. b
2. a
3. d
4. d
Theme
1. b
2. a
3. d
4. a

DR 15 Day 2
Math
1. d
2. c
Language Arts
1. c
2. d
3. b
Reading
1. b
2. c
Theme
1. b
2. a
3. c

Have a great night!