Happy New Year!

I'm sorry to be so late in posting these photos! I had a little surgery last week and have been down for the count. I am feeling better and will return with you on Monday, January 2. I hope that you and your family had a wonderful Christmas season with your family! I wish you the best in 2012! Love to you all!

Yummy Reindeer Trail Mix

On Wednesday, December 14, we made a reindeer trail mix! It was delicious! Mrs. Richardson must admit that she may have gone overboard on the marshmallows! I spent over $5 on them alone! But who knew there were so many flavors? I thought the fruit ones they had when my boys were little were awesome. The only choice we had when I was little was plain. Now there's peppermint, gingerbread flavored (shaped like little Gingerbread men- adorable), French vanilla (shaped like cute little snowmen), and of course plain! Check out our photos!

Making Christmas...

On December 13, third graders at Gilbert were hard at work designing their very own Christmas presents. It's been a tradition for third grade teacher to give their students scarves as presents. They help keep us warm and create memories of time spent with friends. Each class decorates theirs a little differently. Some classes choose only one color and add beads and such. I wanted everyone to have a choice in their colors. So, we had purple, teal, and blue as our choices. We fringed the ends of our scarves with each student making his own a little different. Here's a peek at our creative process!

Congrats!

Pictured: Matt Harris, Principal, Paige Graviet, and Mr. Richardson from ShopRite

Congratulations to our very own, Paige Graviet! Paige sold the most tickets for the Supermarket Sweep! Way to go, Paige! She gets to be Principal for the Day!

Congratulations, Singing Gators!

Congratulations to our Singing Gators!

Third through fifth grade chorus students delighted parents and students at the annual  PTO Chorus Night on Thursday. Their show was adorable! Students were able to judge for themselves on Friday, as the chorus did an encore performance of the show, Elvis Impersonator. Everyone enjoyed their performance!

Congratulations to our very own classmates who performed.

Great job, girls! Way to go, Daylen, Gracie, April, and Paige!

We won!

During the month of November, Mr. Harris created a contest for teachers and students. He challenged us to use available technology to teach others about November's character education focus, responsibility. I wrote a couple of skits as Reader's Theater scripts. Students decided they would like to choose roles and act out the scripts for filming. We had a blast! We used a Flip Camera from the library to record the skits. I put edited and put them together using iMovie on my new laptop. Students came up with Responsibility Dos and Don'ts. We submitted the video with our fingers crossed. Mr. Harris stopped by on Monday, December 5th to inform us that our video was chose as one of the winners! We won a Flip Cam to use in our classroom. We're very excited! We can't wait to find ways to use it in our classroom.

GPS Learning Menu

Here's a look at our current standards!

Social Studies

• SS3H2 The student will discuss the lives of Americans who expanded people’s rights and freedoms in a democracy.
• SS3G2 The student will describe the cultural and geographic systems associated with the historical figures in SS3H2a.
• SS3CG2 The student will discuss the character of different historical figures in SS3H2a.

Math

• M3N4. Students will understand the meaning of division and develop the ability to apply it in problem solving.
• Math Facts for 6 and 7.

Reading

• ELA3R3 The student uses a variety of strategies to gain meaning from grade-level text. The student makes judgments and inferences about setting, characters, and events and supports them with evidence from the text. 
• l. Identifies and infers cause-and-effect relationships and draws conclusions.

 Writing & English

• ELA3W2 The student produces a narrative that: 
• a. Captures a reader’s interest by writing both personal and fantasy/imaginary stories, setting a purpose, and developing a point of view. 
• b. Sustains a focus. 
• c. Includes the appropriate purpose, expectations, and length for the audience and genre. 
• d. Uses sensory details and other literary language to communicate setting, characters, and plot. 
• e. Uses appropriate organizational structures to ensure coherence and strategies
• f. Develops characters through action and dialogue. 
• g. Provides a sense of closure. 
• h. May include pre-writing. 
• i. May include a revised and edited draft. 
• j. May be published.

 Science

• S3L1. Students will investigate the habitats of different organisms and the dependence of organisms on their habitat.

It's been awhile...

It's been awhile since I've written. I apologize! We've been busy learning in third grade. We've completed our study of Government just in time to elect our very own Student Government. We are almost finished with our adventure through the habitats of Georgia. We are currently learning about Mrs. Richardson's favorite habitat, the ocean! Be sure to check out the Science Page to explore habitats on the Internet. We're still working our way through a unit on Multiplication. To help you guys practice your math facts at home, I've created a Math page on our blog. Just look for the menu on the top right-hand side of the page. You'll be a Math Wizard in no time!

Until next time,

Mrs. Richardson :)

Wk 5 AR Report

AR Report as of Friday, October 7, 2011

Most Words Read - Top Three

Gracie Bennett - 43,536 words

Savannah Smith - 19,672 words

Cody Davis - 18,708 words

Class total for words read 181,727!

Daylen read the most books with 10 tests taken this week!
Paige had the highest average with 92% correct!

Congrats everyone!

Parents, remember you can check your child's AR record at any time by visiting the link below. Log in information was sent home a few weeks ago. Let me know if you need another copy.

 

https://hosted214.renlearn.com/53716/

Students, please remember AR is part of your homework. You should be ready for a test when your arrive to school in the mornings. Third graders are required to read and take tests on at least 4 books per week.

Boo-k! Party

You're invited to Gilbert's 3rd Annual Boo-k Party!

 

Come to school dressed as your favorite BOO-k character and for $5, stay after school for the party! There will be music, snacks, dancing, and a trip to Boogerwood Holler (optional, if you're not too scared!) We are also having a jack-o-lantern contest. To enter, bring the best hand carved pumpkin ever, with a flameless candle and your name on the bottom. We will turn them on for the party and party goers will pick their favorite!

Friday, October 28

2:30 - 4:30

Please follow the school's dress code when designing your character. Keep in mind, you will have to wear your costume all day long. So think, comfortable. You may wear make-up, but nothing too scary. We have little ones who share our school!

 

Wk 4's Spelling Bee Winners

Congrats!

Cody Gribble - 1st Place

Cody Davis - 2nd Place

Savannah Smith - 3rd Place

LHS Homecoming Week

During the week of September 26-30, Gilbert students were invited to join LHS's Homecoming celebration activities. We joined them in dressing up in various theme throughout the week. Here are some photos of our school spirit!

We love our Grandparents!

There's nothing like the love of a grandparent! On September 27th, Gilbert celebrated Grandparents' Day! Grandparents were invited to our classroom where they could be interviewed, help solve puzzles, or read a book with their grand child. Following these activities, students were treated to snacks and photos in the gym. The last event was a trip to the Book Fair! We had a wonderful day with our grandparents!

Reviewing Place Value

Place value review tasks on September 8 were loads of fun! Check it out!

Welcome to Third Grade!

Firstly, I would like to apologize for not keeping my blog up-to-date. It has been very difficult to do so due to the computer and server issues within our county system. Our school's website is still not up and running. You may access school information by visiting the Current Event's blog, click here. 

I will continue to update our class web log until the county's issues are resolved. So check back often! I'm very happy to have your child in my class this year. I'm "ant"icipating an awesome year!

Welcome to the 2011-12 School Year!

We're off to a wonderful start!  Things are coming along nicely as everyone seems to be adjusting to new expectations, classmates, teacher, and procedures. We are working diligently to settle into our routines despite missing school on Tuesday and a delay on Wednesday because of the weather.
On the first day of school, we read Laurie Keller's book, Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners. In this story, Mr. Rabbit gets new neighbors and he's a little concerned about them because he knows nothing of otters. A wise owl suggests he should treat "otters" the way he would want to be treated. Students enjoyed the humorous otters! This was a great start to our discussion about the need for rules to keep all of us safe while at school. After much debate, these are the rules we decided our class needed. We are using the STAR acronym to help us remember our rules.

• Stay on task and organized.
• Talk politely and work quietly.
• Always listen and follow directions.
• Respect everyone and everything.

With the weather events of this week, I chose to go ahead with assigned spelling. I backed up one list below where your children should have started. I am happy to report that Friday's spelling test was a huge success! Everyone made an A! I hope this happens every Friday!
I have pictures to post of Math Workshop as soon as I find the camera cord to upload them. We explored the properties of addition and reviewed the expectations for Math Workshop.
A couple of reminders:

• Pictures have been rescheduled for October 17. New forms will come home in the days just before that date. :) Save those beautiful smiles!

• Ice Cream is considered a privilege in third grade. Students must be on blue and green all week. Ice cream is "lost" even if the yellow occurs on Friday.

• Please review the STAR rules with your child! I have been reluctant to change colors due to the craziness in our schedule. However beginning on Monday, students will receive no warnings. We've been over procedures and expectations every day we've been in school. Third graders should be more than aware that Mr. Harris expects no noise in the hallways. This is an area of concern for us. We're having difficulties controlling talking throughout our entire day. 

• I'm still missing emergency cards, lunch forms, third grade info sheets, and FYI forms. Please understand that the FYI form must be returned. Students without that form are not allowed to use the computers nor access the Internet. We must have your permission for them to do so. The FYI pamphlet is the legal sized (tall, skinny) booklet. I also need the 3rd grade sign off back so that I may post pictures of our class. I must have your permission to post your child's image on our class site.

• The Walker County email system has been restored. You may contact me via email @ elisarichardson@walkerschools.org. The school phone number is 706-638-2432. I'm available via phone from 6:30 - 7:00 a.m., 12:45 - 1:30 p.m. (my planning time), or from 2:20 - 3:05 p.m. each afternoon. 

• The County's websites are still down. You may access our classroom blog here.

• We will pick up our regular homework schedule this week. Be sure to check STAR binders each night!

Happy Tuesday!

Greetings everyone!

Today I am attending a training session for Common Core GPS. On my way into class, I saw Mrs. Long, our student teacher from last year. I'm happy to announce that Mrs. Long will be teaching at Gilbert this year. She is replacing Mrs. Pope who retired this summer. Mrs. Long will be teaching Science and Social Studies. She is here at AEC for new teacher orientation. I'm sure you will join me in wishing her all the best!

Time for class to start. Until next time...

Mrs. R :)

Open House 2011

Open House 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

You are cordially invited to Gilbert's Open House! Drop in any time between 4 - 6 p.m. to see your new classroom, meet your teacher, and pick up some important information for you and your parents.

If you have already purchased your supplies, you may drop them off at Open House. It would save valuable time as I can get everything put away and ready to go for the first day of school. Not to mention, your book bag will be lots lighter. :)   

I'm very excited about our year together and cannot wait to meet you and your family! I hope you will make plans to attend! I have a special surprise for you!

See your smile in a little while!

Longest Summer Ever?

Greetings All,

I hope your summer is going well! I am enjoying the break from school. However, I find myself ready to go back. This is the longest summer we've had since I started teaching. My mindset says it's time to go back already!

I went to school a few days last week to work in my classroom. School is a strange place during the summer. It's quiet and dark. There's no children, no laughing, no conversations, no questions. There's really not much there without you guys! I look around the room and remember our year together. All the learning and growing that you guys did! You were amazing! I miss you guys!

I want to take a moment to remind you that you truly can accomplish anything you set your mind to! Attitude is a small thing but is capable of making a BIG difference. Just pull out your CAN DO attitude and fourth grade will fly by! Take time each day to smile and learn something new!

Until next time,

Mrs. R. :)

P.S. Don't worry, I'll still get to see you guys at lunch every day!

Supply List 2011-2012

For a copy of this year's school supply list, please click here.

The file is a pdf.

End of Year Video!

Thanks for a wonderful year!

Let's hit the road!

 Let's hit the road!

Third grade is hitting the road!  The week of April 25-29 will be a very busy one for us! We have not one, but three field trips! Please be advised of the following dates and deadlines! Also be sure to sign all three permission forms! 

Third grade classes at Gilbert have been busy learning about rocks, minerals, fossils, and soils. To culminate our unit, we have planned a field trip to Ruby Falls on Monday, April 25. The cost of the field trip is $7 per student. This price includes transportation and admission. Because our time at Ruby Falls is limited, we will not be able to visit the gift shop. If you attend with your child and check him/her out after lunch, you may visit the gift shop if you choose to do so. We would love to have parents accompany us on this trip. Parents are not allowed to ride the bus so you must provide your own transportation.  If you are interested, please let your child’s teacher know. The price is $12.50 per person.  Payment will need to be made before the deadline to receive admission at this price.

Each year, Walker County sponsors AG Day for third grade students. This year’s event is scheduled for Tuesday, April 26. Students will board a bus around 8 a.m. and travel to the Agri-center located behind the Walker County Civic Center in Rock Springs. They will spend their morning learning about agriculture from area high school students. There is no charge for this event. However, we will need your permission in order for your child to participate. We have no space for chaperones on this one.

On Thursday, April 28, we will visit the Hunter Museum of Art in Chattanooga. This trip is made possible by a generous grant from UNUM and the Art’s Council. We will tour the museum and enjoy a first hand view of art. It should be a fun-filled day on the bluffs beside the Tennessee River. There is no available space for chaperones on this field trip.

Due to scheduling, we are unable to order t-shirts and have them back in time for our trip. So, we will need your help. Each classroom teacher has chosen a color for her class. Having these shirts helps us to easily identify and keep track of our students. Please purchase and send in a solid color t-shirt in your child’s size and class color. You may want to put your child’s initials on the tag inside the t-shirt using a permanent marker (Sharpie). If you don’t have one, we can add the initials at school. We need the shirts by Friday, April 22^nd!  We’ll have them ready for students on Monday. At the end of the day, we’ll change back into what your child wore to school. We will take the colored shirts home and wash them in order to be ready for our next field trip adventure. 

Richardson - Blue

Deadline for Money & Permission forms 
Friday, April 22^nd!

I had an idea for our t-shirts. If everyone provides a plain blue t-shirt, we can make class shirts. We may not get a chance to do them before our trips. However, I'd like to have every child put their painted hand prints on all the shirts and sign them! That way every child will have a "class" memento! One of the other teacher told me that Hanes t-shirts are available at Walmart, Dollar General, and even "Trade Day" down in Trion. I have not had a chance to go by any area stores to check for availability. 

 Also, students were asking about the color of blue. It really doesn't matter. However, since Ms. Eidem's class has black t-shirts, we should probably not do navy blue. I'm including a photo to show the color of the shirt I'll be wearing. It was our class shirt from last year. 

How's Your Week?

 

 

Hopefully, your week is going as well as ours! We've been very busy preparing for the CRCT. I have every confidence in your children. I expect that everyone will meet third grade expectations. They are more than capable of exceeding those expectations if they stay focused and try their best. We've worked so hard this year. Now it's time to "Show What We Know"! We can do it!

Today, we took a practice Reading CRCT exam. I think students found out first hand what they should expect for next week! Firstly, an hour is an EXTREMELY long time to stay focused. We had a few problems with talking and leaving our seats but were able to work them out.  Secondly, one major difference from last year's test: Teachers are not allowed to read ANYTHING for you! Once I've read the instructions, explained the time limits, and we complete one sample question together to make sure students know how and where to bubble, I am not allowed to say anything else. I can't read the questions, help with any of the words, nor answer any questions for students. My job is to ensure everyone is on task and completing his test without cheating. Students must complete all the test questions independently without assistance. 

Homework Reminder

Students only homework this week is to read their AR books. Please keep in mind, students are required to complete three "short" books (worth 0.5 points each) and one chapter book (worth at least 1.0 points) each week. Next year's expectation is that students complete two chapter books each week. So, buckle down boys and girls! Read your 20 minutes each night! Third graders read on average 100-120 words per minute. That means you should read between 2,000 - 2,500 words (about 30 pages in a chapter book or all of a "short" book) each night!

 

•  Do your best to arrive to school before the tardy bell at 7:45 a.m.! CRCT testing begins promptly at 8:00 a.m.

•  Eat a healthy breakfast! Gilbert's cafeteria serves breakfast each morning from 7:05 - 7:40 a.m.

•  Go to bed early to ensure you are well rested!  Even I go to bed early during CRCT week. I turn in around 8:30. Try to be in the bed by 9 p.m. at the latest.

• Attendance is extremely important! Especially for third graders. We have field trips scheduled for the week following CRCT. If you are late or miss a day during testing week, you will not be allowed to go on the field trips Monday and Tuesday. You will have to remain at school in order to make up your missed testing. I would hate for anyone to not get to go on our trips. So, let's be sure to be at school every day during testing!!!!

AR Congratulations!

Congratulations to the following point club earners!

50 Points

Alexia Arvizu

Zach Sims

Anna Valle

100 Points 

Kai Lucas

125 Points

Levi Pettigrew

Spring Break....

Happy Spring Break!

I hope you guys are enjoying your Spring Break! Now that we're finally over the stomach virus at my house, we certainly are! How are you spending your time? I'm working on projects around the house that I never seem to have time to do. Chaz is spending his time hanging out with friends. Alex is still at school. He had his spring break earlier in March. My husband, Todd, is working as usual this week. 

My niece, Kyli came over today. She played with my iPad. She thinks third graders are pretty lucky to have iPads in their room. After playing Lunch Box, Kid Draw, and ABC tracers, she's hooked! She informed me  that she wants one for her birthday! Can you believe that? She's a character!

I know Camden got to go see the new movie, HOP last Friday. I haven't seen him to ask how it was. I may see him tomorrow. I have an appointment to get my hair done at the shop.

I think Isaiah was going to spend some time with his brother, A.J. at Kennesaw State. 

What are the rest of you doing? Drop me an email and let me know! :)

Also, I added a page to our blog that includes our favorite math games!
Check them out!

Greek Architecture!

This past weekend, my husband and I traveled to Atlanta for the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament. We stayed at a beautiful hotel, Loew's, in midtown. The following photograph was the view outside my hotel room's window. This building is the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The building is very pretty. I'm not sure if you can tell, but those are Corinthian columns outside the building. When I first saw them, I thought they were Ionic columns. But you know me, I had to be sure! So, I asked one of the workers on the inside. She told me they were Corinthian but had the curved lines at the very top like Ionics. So I guess, you could say the columns are both. You decided! Which type of column do you think it is?

 My View from the Lowe's Hotel

A Close-Up of the Eagle Column

 A Close Up of the Top

AR really ADDS UP!

Congratulations to the following point club earners!

50 Point Club

Emmeleigh, Trystan, Victoria, and Camden

Way to go, third graders!

Measuring Penny

In this delightful story, Lisa has a homework assignment to measure something. She decides to measure her dog Penny. How tall is she? How much does she weigh? How fast can she run to her food bowl? Lisa uses standard units like inches and centimeters, and nonstandard units like dog biscuits!

Students in my third grade class got really into this book. We chose partners and created our very own "Penny" to measure. We used non-standard units such as cotton swabs and paper clips. Students then used tape measures to measure their pets to the nearest inches and centimeters. Math is so much FUN!

More 100th Day Photos

Here are a few more left over photographs from our 100th day celebration. Students completed some fun but challenging math activities!

Author's Tea

On Tuesday, March 15, parents were invited to an Author's Tea. Students read books they had written and published through the Student Treasures Program. Students did a wonderful job on the writing project. Their books look awesome! Check us out!

Check it out!

Don't forget to visit the Walker County Messenger's web site! Our class is featured in a short write-up about using the wonderful iPads! Way to go, Kai and Jason!

 

Click on the picture to visit the Messenger's web site!

Happy 100th Day!

Happy 100th Day!

Today is our 100th day of school! Usually celebrated in early January, we are just now arriving to our 100th day due to all the snow days we've experienced. Students will participate in lots of activities centering around the number 100. Stay tuned for photos!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Way to Go!!!!

 

We won the attendance reward for January!
Thanks for doing your part and coming to school each day!

I scream!

You scream!

We all scream for ice cream!

Inclement Weather - Make up Days

Walker County Schools Inclement Weather Makeup Schedule For Students

All schools in the Walker County System have built in additional daily instructional time well above the minimum required by the State Department of Education for students.  Based on the additional time built into the schedules, no makeup days would be required for students at this time.  However, out of an abundance of concern for students preparing for the state exams in the spring, the Walker County School System announces the following changes to the calendar for students.

February 21     Presidents Day Holiday is now a student makeup day.

March 11     Current in-service day is now a student makeup day.

Spring Break will not be utilized for student or staff makeup days.

Hoops for Heart!

February 14-17, 2011

An informational flyer went home today with all students. Coach Neal is leading our school's participation in Hoops for Heart and/or Jump Rope for Heart. Here's the scoop for third graders...

During our lives different diseases of the heart have increased. Many private clubs, civic organizations, and social groups have stressed the need for every person to become more physically fit. Again this year, the American Heart Association is sponsoring "Hoops for Heart" which is a basketball skills activity. The students at Gilbert Elementary School will be participating in the program in P.E. classes during the week of February 14-17. We are asking each person to collect donations for this worthy cause - "To Help Cure Heart Disease". Our school goal is to collect $1,000.

Go visit parents, grandparents, family and friends, and ask them to support you with a contribution. DO NOT COLLECT DOOR-TO-DOOR. Ask your sponsors to make their checks payable to: AMERICAN HEART ASSOC. We will be collecting donations starting today and ending on Friday, February 25th. Please bring your donations to school in an envelope marked with "American Heart Association", student's name, teacher's name, and give them to Coach Neal

Wear RED to P.E. during the week of February 14-17!

Fossils at Gilbert?

Could it be? Have fossils been discovered at Gilbert? As much as I wish it were true, we didn't discover fossils as much as we created fossils.

Over the last week, we've learned lots of interesting facts about fossils. For instance, did you know most fossils are discovered in sedimentary rocks? Animals of long ago died. Their bodies decayed and were covered with dirt, bits of rock, or other sediment. As time passed, layers piled on top of layers, creating pressure and hardening into sedimentary rock. Thus, preserving the animals skeleton or bones. This type is called true form fossils. Of course we also found out that bones are not the only kind of fossil records to be found. The other types of fossils include mold, cast, imprint, and trace fossils. Feel free to ask any member of our class, we are eager to share our discoveries and research.

We decided to "dig a little deeper" into imprint fossils on Tuesday. Imprint fossils are formed from an organism moving in some way, leaving behind a trace or track. These tracks are preserved when the clay/silt dries slowly and is covered by other sediment. Plants can also leave imprint fossils when they are covered by sediment. The leaf tissue degrades, leaving an imprint of where the leaf once was. To create our own imprints, we used Crayola modeling clay and seashells collected from my trip to the beach during fall break. Here's a little peek...

Fossil Games & Websites

Skeleton Jigsaws

You put together the skeleton to various animals.
This site also has great interactive movies to teach you more about fossils.

 

Fossil Hunt

This one is from National Geographic!

Memory Matching Game

Academic Pep Rally

Congratulations to Our Star 

and Honor Roll Students!

Star Honor Roll

Chyanne Avans

Alexis Keown

Kai Lucas

Anna Valle

Victoria Walker

Honor Roll

William Anger

Alexia Arvizu

Isaiah Harris

Spencer Milbourn

Camden Neal

Trystan Smith

Emmeleigh Unruh

Samuel Weed

Amya Williams

Perfect Attendance

Jason Edwards

Lonnie Gilreath

Alexis Keown

Camden Neal

Trystan Smith

Achieved AR Goals

Alexia Arvizu

Alexis Keown

Kai Lucas

Spencer Milbourn

Camden Neal

Trystan Smith

Emmeleigh Unruh

Victoria Walker

Reading Congratulations!

Congratulations to our latest point club earners!

25 Points

William Anger

Dilyan Glenn

Zach Sims

Anna Valle

Amya Williams

 

75 Points

Levi Pettigrew

Amya, Dilyan, Levi, Zach

William & Anna

2011-2012 Calendar

The Walker County Board of Education has approved our academic calendar for the 2011-12 school year. Students will again have a 169-day school year which will begin on September 1 and end June 1. To view and/or download a copy of the calendar, click here.

As of Tuesday, we have missed eight school days due to snow and ice. We are currently still within the amount of instructional minutes required by the state. Thus at this time, students will not have to make up those days. Spring is still almost two months away and only time will tell if we have more winter weather.

Back to School!

Shake off all that snow!

It's back to school we go!

Walker County students will return to

school on Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Thursday & Friday

Walker County Schools will remain closed Thursday (Jan. 13)

and Friday (Jan. 14) due to the winter weather!

Monday, January 17 - MLK Holiday

School should resume on Tuesday, January 18, 2011.

Stay safe and warm!

Snow Day Wednesday!

Hey Friends!

Walker County Schools will be closed on Wednesday, 

January 12th due to inclement weather.

Stay safe and warm!

I miss you guys!

Snow Day!

 

Walker County Schools on Monday, January 10 and 

Tuesday, January 11 due to impending inclement weather. 

Be careful!

Stay warm!

Have fun!

New Technology

Gilbert Elementary has always been a school know for its use of technology in the classroom. This year, Mr. Hayes and Mr. Harris continue that tradition. The school purchased several new iPads. Students have been using them for research in both the media center and the library. Mr. Lemons chose apps (applications) that would allow students to practice basic skills and supplement our classroom instruction.

I was pleasantly surprised on Monday morning when Mr. Lemons stopped by my classroom with three iPads! He explained that we were beginning to "roll" them out to the classroom so that students would have more access to them and teachers could utilize them as well. I was so excited!

Yesterday, we used the iPads in the classroom for the first time! We practiced our addition facts with an app called Pop Math. It was a blast! Check out our photos!

Welcome Back to School!

I'd like to welcome everyone back to the 2nd semester of school and the beginning of a new year! I've missed seeing your smiling faces! I have so many questions for all of you:

• Didn't you love the White Christmas?
• Did you make a snowman?
• Did you have a snowball fight?
• Did you receive the presents you had wished for?
• What about your time with family? Did you have fun and enjoy your time together?

Hopefully, we will have a little time to talk, write, and share our Christmas break stories. But with the New Year comes a look ahead to all we still have to accomplish! It's back to work for us! CRUNCH TIME!

What's happening this week?

Since it's a short week (only three days), you will not have assigned spelling words or homework!

In Math, we will continue our work on multiplication facts and begin working on division.

This week, you will be publishing your nonfiction writing into a book! You're going to become a PUBLISHED AUTHOR! More information will be sent home tomorrow about this important project! Parents, you must sign the form for your child to receive a book of his/her very own. The first copy is free of charge ~ all we need is your signature. You will also have the opportunity to purchase additional copies of your child's work for grandparents, aunts, uncles, or other family members. I will need the signed form and envelop back by Friday at the latest.

I will finish assessing our reading growth with the administration of the DRA-2 this week. As soon as this last assessment is complete, I will be scheduling mid-year conferences. STAR Testing was completed before we left. I was very pleased with the growth I'm seeing in our reading through the Accelerated Reading Program. I'm sure your child shared that he or she received new "dots" on their folders. The translation would be that his or her reading performance has improved thus your child is ready to move on to more challenging material.

Mr. Lemons, our technology guru and math lab teacher, dropped off a very special delivery! I can't wait to share these new items with you. You're going to love them!

See you bright and early in the morning!

Until next time,

Mrs. R. :)

Happy New Year!

 

Wishing you the best for the new year!

We will open the book. It's pages are blank. 

We are going to put words on them ourselves. 

The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.

~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, 

and let each new year find you a better man.  

~Benjamin Franklin

 Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right. 

~Oprah Winfrey