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!