Mission Videos from the week

Well we made it to the end of National Lutheran School's Week and I think that your kiddos learned A LOT about sharing God's Word.  However, my prayer is that they don't stop thinking about it just because it isn't getting talked about every 5 minutes anymore.  Here are the videos that we showed the kids.  They are very sweet and I thought you would enjoy watching them.

Mr. Butterfield

Reese and Camy

Mrs. Ann Schmidt

What is Mission Work?

I will also be making a poster full of quotes that your kiddos said about mission work and what they learned this week.  Look for it in the hallway in the next couple of days.

Math Facts

I found this great article that explains in beautiful words why 3rd grade places so much importance on memorizing multiplication tables.  The article breaks down the process in words that I've always been searching for and can never quite find.  Please take the time to read through it so that you understand what I am starting with your kiddos on Monday.  (I will do a follow up post to show you all our multiplication system.)

Unlocking the "Secret Code" of Multiplication Memorization

Week of Jan. 26th

Hello parents,
I put up the National Lutheran School Week post earlier today which has the schedule for dress up days and overview of events for the week.  This post will tell you more of what we are doing for regular schoolwork this week.

Reading
We are still doing our Magic Treehouse Book Clubs and the kids are doing great.  We will be finishing up the books on Friday.  I will be sending home the packet for their book projects next Monday.  I am planning on having the book projects be due on Wed. 2/11

Spelling
We are not making spelling lists this week due to our busy NLSW schedule.  We will be doing test prep for their standardized tests in the spring instead of the normal projects and tests.  We will pick up with normal spelling again next week.

Science
Today we did 4 different stations about moon phases.  There are 2 things from today that will need to be turned in.
1. Moonphase Flip Book - They should have brought home a paper that looks like this:
(I mistakenly told the kids this would be due this Friday because they got a lot done in class. They can definitely turn it in early, but the official due date is Feb. 9)

I only gave out 8 pieces of black paper to start with, but they are welcome to ask for more when they need it.

(These are example pages of what could be included in the book)

 2. Moon Observations (Moon Homework) - This is on the same sheet as the directions for the moon flip book.  They are 2 separate assignments, but to save paper we put them on the same sheet.  Please read the directions carefully because it will take some planning to map out when you will do your observations.  This is also due on Feb. 9

Math

Since we have a break for spelling this week, please try to block out some time to work on multiplication tables at home.  The kids are still really struggling to remember them once they hit the larger numbers.  This just takes memorization.  

National Lutheran School's Week

Here's the basic run down for National Lutheran School's Week:

January 25-31 is National Lutheran Schools Week.  It is a special time during which, together with nearly 2,300 LCMS schools, we have a public opportunity to proclaim and celebrate God's work among us in Lutheran schools. 

One of our major activities of the week will be several days of an Online Mission Trip to Latvia.  Lutheran Hour Ministries is providing this unique chance for us to learn about the people and culture of Latvia, as well as what our church is doing in that country to bring Jesus to their people.

Throughout the week our children will meet with their chapel family groups for special devotions and other activities.

All of the grade levels will participate in creating 50+ Bible Story booklets for Christian Friends of New Americans.  The children chose their favorite stories and added some of their best-loved things to do around St. Louis.  

The elementary children are invited to participate in special dress days as part of our celebration.  Please help your student(s) make reasonable choices that would conform to a modest dress code.

Monday: Career Day

Tuesday: Team Tuesday

Wednesday: Dress UP for Jesus

Thursday: Class Color Day

          K-Yellow

          1st-Green

          2nd-Red

          3rd-Blue

          4th-Purple

Friday: Pajama Day

Meet our seminarian

I would like to introduce you all to Mr. Nick Teller.  He is a 2nd year seminary student at Concordia Seminary here in St. Louis.  As a part of his course work, he will be teaching our religion classes for the next 3 weeks.  Some of you may have seen him here the last couple days observing.  Please be sure to introduce yourselves and welcome him.  It takes a lot of work to walk into someone else's classroom and teach for 3 weeks, so thank you for your understanding and willingness to let him learn.  I have no doubt that both he and your kiddos will learn a lot from each other.

Week of Jan. 20th

Hi parents,
This short week has thrown me off on my days and I spent all day yesterday trying to remember that it was not Monday.  I'm hoping you had a restful weekend!  Here's what we have going on this week.

Reading Book Club
We are using Magic Treehouse books to start our book clubs this week.  Yesterday we got our packets organized and I laid out the format for the kids.

• Each day they read a chapter with their group in class.  
• Every child is responsible for doing a different reading strategy page and discussing it with their group.  These will be done in class.  If they don't finish it, they will need to take it home and do it as homework that night.  (These will get completion grades throughout the book.  
• At the end of the book, they will fill out a summary page with their group and this will serve as their comprehension grade.  
• They will also choose a project from the Tic-Tac-Toe board to present their book to the class with.  This packet will be sent home next week.  

National Lutheran School's Week

Next week is NLSW and we have lots of fun things planned to do with the kids.  This year our theme is centered around mission work.  Here's a basic schedule for the week. 

Monday: Career Day

Tuesday: Team Tuesday

Wednesday: Dress UP for Jesus

Thursday: Class Color Day 

K-Yellow 1st-Green 2nd-Red 3rd-Blue 4th-Purple

Friday: Pajama Day

Cereal Breakfast Day

We will also be having a cereal box breakfast on Friday morning from 7:30 - 8:15. We are asking that families bring in cereal boxes as donations. We will use these to eat together and Friday and donate the unopened boxes to charity as a way of serving our community. Thanks for all that you do to teach your kiddos about mission work locally and world wide. 

Block Kids Program

Last week a packet went home that explained the block kids program. Attached was a permission slip that MUST be in by Friday morning at the latest. Every child in 3-4 grades will participate as long as they have turned in the permission slip. This is happening during our school day in the gym and is free. Please return the permission slips ASAP. This will teach your child a lot of critical thinking skills and allow them to be creative in a very unique way.

The week ahead

Dear parents,
 Please take a minute to read the blog post previous to this one about homework.  It is very important that you read it and know what will be expected of your kiddos.  Here is the link in case you missed it.
Homework post

We are starting a lot of new things this week.  Here's what you can look forward to:

Reading
I will be starting book clubs with your kids next week.  This week I am teaching them how to do it and we are all reading the story Stone Soup in our reading books.  Next week we will be breaking off into small groups and each group will be reading a different Magic Treehouse Book.  A lot of the work for Book Clubs is done in class, but you can expect to see information about their assignments coming home at the end of next week.  I plan to use this Book Club format to run our reading class for the majority of the semester, so they will become very familiar with it.  I love this format because it allows children to choose books of their own interest and ability level.

Science
This Thursday we are starting our Space unit in Science.  This will include a lot of hands on activities in class as well as a few assignments at home.  We will be sending home a calendar similar to the one you received during the Thanksgiving and Weather units. Please keep this calendar in your child's Science Binder at all times.  I will not give out more copies.  

Author Visit
We will be putting your kiddos "Uganda Essays" and some small displays in the hallway to prepare for our Author Visit on Feb. 6th.

National Lutheran School's Week
January 26th - 30th  Watch for more info in your email.  

Terrific Tuesdays
The new session of Terrific Tuesdays starts Jan. 27th.  You should have received a packet in your child's papers and in your email.

Dinner Auction Sign - Up
We still need donations and spots filled for the CCLS dinner auction.  Thank you for prayerfully considering how you can contribute so that we can continue our ministry here at CCLS.
Dinner Auction Sign Up

Have a great week!

Homework

Dear 3rd grade parents,
As you know, 3rd grade has been a year of learning responsibility and independence.  In a class of 25 kiddos the ability levels in these areas have quite a range.  I have been working with my class this year to take steps in turning in their own work, asking questions, thinking critically on their own, fixing their mistakes, etc.  I do all of this to help prepare them for 4th grade where the work load is greater and a lot less hand-holding occurs.

I am taking the kids a step toward this once again as the new semester begins by holding them more accountable for their work.  In the past week a total of 45 assignments have not been turned in on time.  I have been lenient with them getting back into the swing of school and there have not been any new consequences other than having a 0% entered into the gradebook.  Mr. Donze has been writing the missing assignments up on the board to remind the kids to turn them in before they go outside.  Even still I have a large list of work that is still missing.  I will be entering these grades into MyKoob tonight so that you can see them.  If your child has a 1% it is because they chose not to do their work or turn it in.

Here is our 2nd semester homework policy:
1. Homework is due right away in the morning.
2.  I will have a list of items to turn in on the board each morning.
3. After Mr. Donze checks the baskets, he will write up who is missing what assignments.
4. If your child has not turned something in, they have 1 week to turn it in.  After 1 week, they will receive an automatic 50% for the work they turn in.
5. Any late work (except for absent work) will receive 1 letter grade lower than it would have it was on time.
6. If all the kids in our class turn in their assignments for the day, the class will receive a letter on the board.  Once they spell "HOMEWORK" they will receive a class party at the end of a day that week.

This policy will go into affect starting today.  Please encourage your child to turn their work in on time.

Uganda Essay

Today I sent home a packet of instructions for the writing assignment we are doing to get ready for our Author Visit.  The kids have spent the last couple days in class researching how Ugandans live.  We gave them a sheet of questions that they themselves put together to help guide their research.  I do not need this page of questions to be turned in, nor do I need every answer filled in.  It is merely a guide to help them think about similarities and differences between our daily lives and the lives of Ugandans.

Home or School???? 
Both.  We will give them time in class to work, but they will need to work on it at home as well.  The final due date is Mon. 1/12.  I am fine with parents OR teachers proofreading/initialing steps.

New Year's 2015

Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a restful break.  I also hope that we have all gotten the flu/strep/any other sickness out of our systems.  I am looking forward to a great 3rd quarter with your kiddos.  Typically 3rd quarter is where the most growth happens and that is so exciting to watch!  Here's what's on our agenda for the next couple weeks:
Religion
We will be spending the next few weeks working through the Apostle's Creed.  I have posted the due dates for all of the articles of the Creed and a couple of them are a little long.  Please plan accordingly at home.

Math
We will be picking back up with regular math lessons this week.  However, we will also be going back through all of our times tables this quarter.  Look for more info on how this will be set up starting next week.

Language Arts
We are reading a story about the solar system in our reading books this week.  We will also be focusing on fine tuning how we write.

Social Studies
We are learning about the home lives of people in Uganda to prepare for our Author Visit on February 6th.  Well-known author, Julie Stiegemeyer, will be coming to talk about her book, Under the Baobob Tree.  This correlates very well with our sister school, CCLS-U.

Reminders

• Please take a look at the list that I forwarded from Brenna Maserang.  They will need to have any donated items by this Friday.  
• Remember to sign up for our Dinner Auction.  The link is in a previous post.  

Have a great week!

Mrs. Glackin