Paragraph Writing

We recently began our unit on Informational Writing. To help us with this process, we visited Mrs. Massey in the Media Center. She did a lesson to teach us about writing a paragraph correctly. She taught us to visualize our information as a hamburger. The bun is the topic sentence. The beef patty, lettuce, and tomatoes are our major details. While the mayo, mustard, and ketchup serve as our minor details. The bottom bun is our concluding sentence which is a restatement of the topic sentence. Mrs. Massey used the topic of snakes. Students wrote wonderful paragraphs about snakes using her graphic organizer. Be sure to check out our pictures and the video below!

Author's Tea

Event: Author's Tea

When: Friday, November 6, 2009

Where: Gilbert Elementary Room 198

Time: 9:00 - 10:00

Please join us on Friday for our author's tea. Enjoy a refreshing cup of tea or cider as you listen to the wonderful pieces of writing your children have written. See you there!

Math Workshop

This week in Math Workshop, we continued work on multiplication. We completed a task called the Magic Money Machine. In this task, students were asked to figure out how much money Lucky Luke would receive from the "Magic Money Machine". The machine had three buttons: a red button that doubled your money, a blue button that tripled your money, and a yellow button that multiplied your money by 10. Students also had to compute the total amount of money Lucky Luke received from the machine. They did an awesome job with this task! Check out some photos of our class hard at work.

Happy Halloween!

Fall Photos

Study Island!

Hopefully, your child has told you a little about a new program we are using. The program is called Study Island. It is a wonderful program which allows students to practice skills taught as part of the Georgia Performance Standards. Study Island encompasses Math, Reading, English, Science, and Social Studies.

While at school, students are required to review the mini lessons and complete a test with at least 10 questions before playing the Game Mode. Students may play in game mode from home. In order to play the game, students must answer questions correctly.

Study Island may be accessed with a computer and an Internet connection. Your child's log in information follows the pattern below. Students should remember the password. If not please call or email me at school for assistance.

Log In
first.last@WCSD

www.studyisland.com

You may also click on the banner above to reach the site.

Halloween Snack

I would like for our classroom to have a special snack for Halloween this Friday, October 30th. We are unable to have a party, but a snack is acceptable. If you could please donate one of the following items: chips, juice boxes, individually wrapped candy, cookies or a cookie cake, and small party favors. All donations are greatly appreciated. You can start sending in snacks with your child at any time. We have 15 students in our class. Thank you for your continued support!

Pep Rally!

On Wednesday, October 21, third graders were awarded for their accomplishments for the first nine weeks grading period. Ribbons were awarded for Honor Roll, Star Honor Roll, Perfect Attendance, and meeting AR goals! Congratulations to everyone for a great first nine weeks!

Wk 10 October 14-16

Welcome back, everyone!

Due to our fall break, we will not have assigned spelling words or a fluency passage for this week. I do expect students to read their AR books each night. Chapter books need to be finished by Friday. Some of us have had our books for a while and need to get them back to the media center.

We'll return to our regular homework schedule next week!

See you in the morning,

Mrs. Richardson :o)

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to school!

I hope you all had a wonderful fall break! My son Alex is home from college this week. It's been great having him home. I hope you got to spend some quality time with family members too!

I wanted to thank everyone for coming out to Family Fun Night! We had a blast! Our class sponsored the Cake/Plant walk with Mrs. Scott, Mrs. Epperson, and Miss Higdon. What fun! It was much more like a "dance" than a walk. We had over 300 players (of course some of those were repeat visitors)! Thanks for your support!

Hopefully, you made it to the Kiss the Pig event. It was quite a surprise to see three folks kiss the pig! We were able to raise over $600 for our school through this contest! In case you missed it, here are a few photos!

Wk 7 Homework Highlights

Wk 7 September 21-25

Due to the weather-related school closings, there will be no assigned spelling words this week. I don't feel two days is enough time to work with and learn the spelling patterns. You'll also notice the absence of "read your AR book". The book fair is making it difficult for us to get back to the library to check out new books.

Wednesday, September 23

• Read 4 Today Days 1 & 2
• Math 4 Today Days 1 & 2
• Read Oceans Booklet

Thursday, September 24

• Read 4 Today Days 3 & 4
• Math 4 Today Days 3 & 4
• Read Oceans Booklet
• Review Oceans study sheet

Kiss the Pig?

Who will be the lucky duck that gets to pucker up?

The Kiss the Pig Contest is back! It was such a big hit at last year's Family Fun Night. We decided to bring it back! A big thank you to Mr. Harris for being such a good sport last year!

This year we decided to do things a little differently in order to get more people involved. The PTO chose 24 teachers/staff members to kick off this year's contest. Students were encourage to "vote" for their favorites by placing change in containers labeled with teacher/staff member photos. Round 1 of the contest began last week. Mr. Hayes and Mr. Harris announced the six finalists on Friday's newscast. Here are the lucky finalists...

Amanda Higdon - 1st Grade Teacher
Jay Lemons - Computer/ Math Lab
Jana Marshall - Guidance Counselor
Tessa Pope - 4th Grade Math Teacher
Shannon Robertson - 5th Grade Writing & Science
Vickie Sholtz - 2nd Grade Teacher

Bring in those coins to cast your vote for the next Kiss the Pig winner!
Watch the Gilbert News on Friday!
The competition will be narrowed to only two contestants!

Walker County Goes Back to School

Back to school, boys and girls! Walker County students will return to class tomorrow. However, we will be on a one-hour delay! See you all tomorrow!

Clip Art by ClipArt Haven

Walker County School Closed

Continuing problems due to inclement weather will cause Walker County Schools to remain closed on Tuesday, September 22, 2009. No students. No staff reporting. All schools will be closed.

Stay home and stay safe everyone!

Wow!

Yikes! I cannot believe the amount of rain our poor town has experienced. Hopefully, you are at home safe and sound!

Please stay tuned to our local stations for important weather information as well as school closings. I have not heard whether or not school will be in session tomorrow. I'll keep my ears open and post as soon as I hear something! I know we're supposed to have Grandparents' Day tomorrow. I hate for us to miss that event but safety comes first!

Stay safe and hopefully dry, boys and girls! I'll see you soon!


Love to you all,
Mrs. Richardson :o)

Grandparents' Day 2009

Grandparents' Day 2009

Gilbert Elementary will hold our annual Grandparents' Day celebration on Tuesday, September 21, 2009. Third grade grandparents are scheduled to arrive at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday. You will sign in and then walk down to our room. At 10 a.m, you will move to the gym for snack, portraits, and our school's book fair.

My students and I invite all our grandparents to visit our classroom. Your grandson or granddaughter will show you around our classroom. You will learn a little more about life in third grade. Students can fill you in on Math, Reader's, and Writer's Workshops as well as show you some of our work. You are welcome to read a book with him or her and allow the student to take an AR test on that book. We hope you are making plans to attend.

The Scholastic Book Fair is an awesome opportunity for your child to add to his or her book collection. You will be sharing the gift of reading and showing your grandchildren just how important reading is to you as well! In today's economy, I know money is tight for everyone. School budgets have all been reduced including our library's book budget. Money raised at our book fair provides much-needed funds for Mrs. Massey to purchase books and materials for all students to use.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Richardson & Class

My Grandparents

Junior & Gussie Pence
(and a 3-yr old me)

Whoops!

Whoops!

I'm so sorry, everyone! With all the items I had to put into binders today, I forgot to put in the Math/ Reading 4 Today sheet! I will rectify the situation in the morning! I will need you guys to do both Day 1 and Day 2 for homework for tomorrow night! I'm so sorry!

Wk 6 September 14-18

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! It was a busy one at our house. We traveled to Knoxville on Saturday to watch Alex perform with the UT Pride of the Southland Band. It was a lot of fun! The band did an awesome job with their show. They played music from Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and E.T. It was very disappointing that our team lost. Hopefully, those of you who watch and cheer for a college team fared well.

We have been very busy learning new skills in math, reading, and writing. We are also learning to work together, play fairly, share with, and care for our classmates. As the saying goes... Together everyone achieves more.

On Friday, we will have our first Gator Fun Day! Last year, we called the event Movie Matinee. Hopefully, you will make plans to attend. For $5, your child can stay after school for a movie, snack, and a drink. You get two extra hours of free time. It's fun for your child and helps our school raise much needed funds.

This Week at a Glance!

Math Workshop
Addition
Subtraction
Money
Word Problems

Writer's Workshop
Personal Narratives

Reader's Workshop
Story Elements
Setting & Plot

English
Subject
Predicate
Nouns

Spelling
Differentiated Lists

Handwriting
Letters F and G

Fluency Passages
Fossils
One Birthday for All
As a Tree Grows
The Road Not Taken

Reminders & Dates to Know

Specials

• Monday - P.E.
• Tuesday - Science Lab
• Wednesday - Art
• Thursday - Computer
• Friday - Science Lab

Be sure to initial behavior and agendas each night. Remember to read your AR books as part of your homework.

Send in Box Tops, Campbell's Soup Labels, Coca-Cola caps (from 20 oz. bottles), Tyson Chicken labels, and Caprisun Juice pouches.

September 18

• Book fair materials arrive (sneak peek)!
• Gator Fun Day
• LHS vs. LFO Football
  

September 21-25

• Scholastic Book Fair @ Gilbert (8:00-3:30)

September 22

• Grandparents' Day @ Gilbert

Clip Art by

Wk 5 September 7-11

Progress Reports

Progress reports were sent home today in your child's binder/ agenda. Please review your child's report. If you have concerns or questions, please contact me via email or phone. We will schedule a conference to discuss your child's performance and what we can do to ensure his or her success.


Students have voiced their concern about our class not using agendas. We decided to put it to a vote today. Students could choose to continue using folders with the homework sheets as we have now or we could begin using our agendas. The vote was 8 in favor of agendas and 6 in favor of keeping folders. One student didn't vote. Therefore, you will begin to see agenda daily. To ensure their durability, I've placed them inside the binders students brought at the beginning of the year. Homework sheets and fluency passages may be found in the front pockets. This will be the last week I do the homework calendar. You child will be responsible for writing down homework assignments each day. I will place graded papers in the rings of the binders. Please remove these graded papers. They are for you to keep at home.

We'll see how the agendas work for us! Wish us luck!

Until next time,

Mrs. Richardson :o)

Wk 4 Newsletter Aug 31 - Sept 4

Welcome!

Greetings everyone! I hope that you had an enjoyable weekend. It’s hard to believe summer is almost over and we’ve been back at school for 17 days!

We have completed our rituals and routines in all three workshops. We will begin regular skills and standards instruction in Reader’s and Writer’s workshops. In Math Workshop, we will continue our exploration of place value, addition, and subtraction of whole numbers.

Important Reminders

• Be sure to initial behavior and homework sheets each night! Remember to read your AR book as part of your homework.

• Send in Box Tops and Campbell’s Soup labels. ☺

• Book order forms were sent home last week. If you would like to order, please return the order form and payment by Wednesday, September 2nd. Every purchase helps our class earn free books.

Dates to Know

September 2 Students will have a substitute teacher, as I must attend a Math Workshop at AEC. Mrs. Ramey will be our substitute teacher. I will return on Thursday.

September 4 LHS Ramblers take on the Trion Bulldogs at Jack King Stadium in LaFayette. Several faculty and staff will be in attendance to support the Ramblers! See you there!

September 7 Labor Day Holiday - You will have an extra day to spend with your family and friends, as we observe the holiday with Monday off from school.

A Note about Math

I understand there has been some concern about a few math grades that were lower than expected. I don’t want you to worry. My policy is that students may correct any math assignment and return it to school for half credit. For example if a student makes a 60 on an assignment, he or she can correct and return the assignment to me. If all the problems were correct, he or she would earn a new grade of 80. This grade would replace the 60 in my grade book. So, if you have papers that need to be corrected, please do so and return them by Tuesday, September 1st.

Contact Information
Email
elisarichardson@walkerschools.org

Phone
706-638-2432
Planning Time 10:40-11:25
After School until 3:00 p.m. each day.

Gilbert Elementary School's PTO is currently holding their annual membership drive. This year they are offering a popcorn party to the classroom in each grade level that has the most returned membership forms! By joining our PTO organization, you are helping both teachers and students! Won't you join today? Forms were sent home this afternoon in folders. The membership drive continues through September 4th.

Thanks for your help!

Clipart by PTO Today

August Birthdays!

Haley Underwood
August 14

Bryce Wallin
August 31

Check out our classroom!

Wk 3 Newsletter August 24-28

Last week was an awesome week! We learned two math games to help us with place value. We worked on mastering the properties of addition.

On Wednesday, we visited Miss Jennifer for our weekly library visit. She taught us about research. What is it and how do we conduct research? Miss Jennifer allowed us to choose an animal. We had to research to find out its habitat, what it eats, and an interesting fact. It was way cool! We learned tons about elephants, giraffes, chameleons, gorillas, lions, and many more. Who knew research could be such fun?

Important Reminders

• Be sure to initial behavior and homework sheets each night! Remember to read your AR book as part of your homework.

• Send in Box Tops and Campbell’s Soup labels. Thank you to everyone who has already done so. We are up to 2460 points.☺

This Week at a Glance:

Here’s a peek at what we will be learning this week!

Math Workshop
Two-digit Addition with Regrouping and estimation

Writer’s Workshop
Habits of Good Writers

Science
Georgia Habitats

Reader’s Workshop
Rituals and Routines Continued

Handwriting
Letters Cc and Dd

Wk 1 Newsletter August 10-14

I hope you had a restful weekend! After spending the first day getting to know each other, we will be going to work this week. Everything at Gilbert is up and running successfully. We will have specials (Art, Computer, Science Lab, and P.E.) and visit the library for our orientation and our first checkout. I will administer the STAR test and the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) to determine your child’s reading levels.

This week we will be starting all of our workshops. We will also begin homework. Please be sure to look at the homework sheet on the back of this newsletter. Although, I do not assign written spelling homework, I do expect your child to review spelling words and practice reading the fluency passage each night. Beginning on Tuesday, you will also have an AR book to read each night. Please initial both the homework sheet and behavior sheet daily. This lets me know your child is completing his/her homework and you are aware if his/her behavior.

This week's specials...

Monday - P.E.
Tuesday - Science Lab
Wednesday - Art
Thursday - Computer
Friday - P.E.

Students are allowed a short morning break and may bring a healthy snack to eat during this time. Snacks are on an individual basis. We do not do class snack. Each person brings his or her own. Students may and are encouraged to bring a water bottle to class. Please make sure the water bottle has a lid to help avoid spills. Also, do not send juice, sodas, or Kool-aid, water only.

If you have not already sent in a 1-inch 3-ring binder and a 5-subject notebook, please do so as soon as possible, as we will need them beginning on Wednesday.

Thank you so very much for the items from our wish list. We are currently well stocked with tissues, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.


Reminders

• Our school is once again collecting Box Tops. Please continue to save and turn in these tops. Our class earns ten points for each one. The winning class receives a special treat/ reward each month. With the ones I saved over the summer and the ones Amber brought, our class already has 600 points! Thanks, Amber!

• Coach Neal is collecting Campbell’s Soup Labels, Caprisun Points, and Tyson Chicken Labels again this year to help our school earn free equipment and supplies for Physical Education.

• We get ice cream on Fridays. If your child wishes to have ice cream, please send in $0.50. Remember a yellow or red color earned at any point during the week results in a loss of this privilege.

• If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. You may send a note in your child’s folder, call, or email me.

elisarichardson@walkerschools.org
Phone: 706-638-2432


If for some reason you did not receive a copy of this newsletter, you may click on the title to download a pdf file of it.

First Day!

Mrs. Richardson's 3rd Grade Class

I just wanted to thank everyone for a wonderful first day! We spent the day getting to know each other through an activity called "New Kids on the Block". Hopefully, you will get the chance to stop by and see our end products. They are hanging in the hall.


It was hard for me as a mom as I had to send my oldest child, Alex off to the University of Tennessee at 6 a.m. on Friday. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done... saying bye to my child. Secondly, my youngest started High School. It seems like just yesterday that they were still here at Gilbert with me. I was a bit teary for the first hour or so of school. However, the wonderful smiling faces of my new students quickly cheered me up!

We are in for a wonderful school year! I am excited to be your child's teacher and am working hard to plan for the best year ever!

Meet the Cast & Crew

Meet the Cast & Crew of Mrs. Richardson's 3rd Grade

Welcome to 3rd Grade!

Welcome to third grade! I am very excited to be your teacher this year. We are going to have a wonderful year! I hope you and your parents are planning to attend Open House on August 6. This year's Open House is a little different from our usual drop in event. Third grade is scheduled to meet from 6:30 - 7:00 p.m. During this time, you will have the opportunity to check out our classroom, drop off supplies, and your parents will learn a little more about what to expect from third grade. I can't wait to meet each one of you!

Brianna
Logan
Joshuwa
Farrah
Taylor
Brycen
Ethan
A.J.
Desmond
Heather
William
Royce
Haley
Mrs. Richardson

Another week at Math Institute...

Hope you all are having a wonderful summer!

I heard from a former student today, Haley! She received an early birthday present to use on her upcoming trip to the beach. It's an iPod. She's planning to listen to New Moon by Stephenie Meyer on audio! It's a great book. I hope you enjoy it Haley! Have fun at the beach! See you soon!

Math Institute continues for me this week! Today, we covered order of operations, fractions, and more geometry. I used a new (or at least new to me) kind of compass. It's called a GeoTool, very different from what I used many moons ago. I also learned there's a polygon with seven sides called a heptagon. As a first grade teacher, I only dealt with octagons, pentagons, and hexagons. Pretty cool stuff!

Math Institute Update

The Math Institute continues to be very enlightening. I'm picking up tons of ideas for helping students who struggle with math concepts and computation skills. I have also made quite a few games to practice both addition and multiplication facts. I can't wait to try them out with my new students. A friend of mine sent a poem about math via email this week. It's very cool. I wish everyone felt this way about Math.

Your heart beats fast...

You start to sweat...
You have this fear
That you’ll forget...
You start to pant...
Your headache pounds...
And then you jump
At every sound...
Your stomach is queasy and your skin gets a rash!
You might as well face it: you’re allergic to math!
I’ll tell the cure
Without delay.
First, come to class,
Don’t miss a day.
Go to the lab,
And questions ask,
Take good classnotes,
Then learn the facts.
You must believe in this logical path,
And you might just find that you’re addicted to math!

~Vicki Young

Clipart by Thistle Girl Designs

Math Institute Day 2

Math Institute Day 2

Today, both professors from Dalton State College presented multiple ways to teach addition and subtraction. It was interesting to see the different methods now used to teach these skills. The basic process is the same, but how you combine terms, rearrange, break numbers apart (decomposition), and even the thought processes differ from the way I was taught. I learned two really cool games to play to practice these skills. I can't wait to try them with my new students.

On a side note... I got to eat lunch at Cracker Barrel. It was yummy. I love their chicken and dumplings. I had lunch with Mrs. Pope (4th Grade Gilbert), Miss Eidem (5th Grade Gilbert), and Mr. Keith (4th Grade Rock Springs). Great food, great company!