One Quarter Down, Three To Go

What a PERFECT way to end the first quarter of this school year - with a field trip to the IMAX Theater and a Fro-Yo party!  Our class traveled to St. Augustine to watch two 3D IMAX movies: Under the Sea and Born To Be Wild.  After enjoying lunch outside in our sunny Florida weather, we rode back to school.  As the kids ran around at recess, their parents set up games for some fun in our classroom.  We played 3 minute-to-win-it type activities: spider ring toss, vampire teeth marshmallow challenge, and wrap the mummy.  Menchie's made a special delivery of frozen yogurt and toppings for us.  What a great day!

Halloween FUN! on PhotoPeach

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Our behavior in the dining room recently won the 3 Ring Circus Award! Our classroom name is proudly displayed in the center ring for all to see. 

Celebrating our Narrative Writing

Lucy Calkins believes that at the end of a unit, after students have given 100%, it's time for a celebration.  We've drafted, edited, and published our very best piece of writing and just had to share them.  Friday morning we invited our second grade friends to come over and see what we've accomplished.  We shared the narrative checklist first and then wowed them with our work.  They complimented us and we answered their questions.  We also enjoyed some delicious cupcakes and lemonade.

Awesome Student Work

Sharing Narrative Writing

Using our work to explain the checklist. 

Second graders are getting a glimpse into third grade. 

Celebrating is sweet!

Technology and Miss KK

One of our very favorite resources at Chets Creek is visiting Miss KK in the media center. Today she and Mrs. Willett taught us to use an online encyclopedia. We also worked on Achieve 3000 and i-Ready.  

Students work on laptops.

Teacher of the Year

Last week Principal Phillips came to our classroom and announced that I was selected as the Teacher of the Year for 2015-2016.  This is a huge honor at Chets Creek because you are nominated by your peers.  I have great respect for the people I work with and will do my best to represent our school with honesty, integrity, and kindness.  Since Chets Creek is a family affair for me, (I co-teach with my sister, my mom volunteers at the front desk every Thursday, and my dad helps with Blessings in a Backpack on Fridays) Mrs. Phillips had them join her for the announcement.  I'm overjoyed to share this honor with what I believe is The Greatest Class On Earth!

A surprise!

Mrs. Phillips

My mom and dad with me and the kids.

My sister and parents.

My own parking space!

Missy brought me a celebratory coffee!

Building A Reading Life with Lucy Calkins

To grow as a reader we need to look at our reading habits. Although we tracked the books we read last year in second grade, in third grade our Reading Log is much more sophisticated. This year not only do we write the book title and author, but we are keeping track of the level, starting - ending pages, starting - ending times, and minutes read. After a few days we will look for patterns and self-assess ourselves as readers. What genres do we choose? How long does it take us to read a page (or ten)? Do we read fiction books quicker than nonfiction books? Are we reading so fast that we are choosing books that may be too easy for us? Is the opposite true - are we reading books that are so difficult that it is taking us a long, long time and perhaps, interfering with comprehension?

One student's reading log.

Reading with our logs ready to fill out.

Third graders read and enjoy chapter books.

.  Our goal is to read three quarters of a page a minute for at least an hour a day between school and home. We will work to achieve this goal in third grade. We know we can do it because as Lucy says... "You are in charge of your reading life." 

What makes a GREAT classmate?

As the new year starts and new friendships are formed, we asked our students the question... What makes a great classmate? After a short discussion the kids used sticky notes to write what a great classmate is, does, says, and is not. We put our finished chart in the back of the classroom as a daily reminder.