Hello All,
This week we wrap up the story The Keeping Quilt, and begin a new one, Anthony Reynoso: Born to Rope.  These two stories focus on family traditions, so they're well-timed as we move into November and the holiday season.  In Social Studies, we are kicking off our study of the Ohlone Indians, the Native Americans in our community.  The visit to the Natural History Museum will be the introduction to this unit of study.  We are also beginning a science unit on plant and animal adaptations.  Finally, we will continue with our math unit on multiplication.  It may feel as though we are racing through the math unit, but we will continue to practice multiplication throughout the remainder of the year.  The math unit is designed to give the students an understanding of the concept of multiplication, and a variety of strategies to solve simple multiplication problems.  The Rhymes 'n Times program is to build automaticity with the facts.

On another note, the kids are doing a great job on the weekly homework packets, with the quality of all students' Reading Logs greatly improved.  Please remind your child that they can take AR tests on books they've read at home.  Many in the class have already met their AR goal, but if your child has not achieved it yet,  please remind them to continue taking tests.  The AR program is designed to motivate and monitor kids in getting the reading practice they need.

Halloween festivities are on the agenda for Thursday.  For those of you new to the school, it's tradition to have a "parade" on the intermediate playground at about 8:15.  Parents and younger siblings often come to watch.  Our party is scheduled for later in the day, and a notice was sent out by our room parent Kristin Barrett,  and her able assistant, Amy Danish.  Thank you Amy and Kristin!

Finally, please send in your child's permission slip for the field trip scheduled 11/8. Also attached to the permission slip was a request for a $10.00 donation toward the cost of all the field trips this year.  Thank you, Sandi Kolassa, for preparing the notes and organizing all of this year's trips for the entire Third Grade!

Take care, and have a happy and healthy week,
Carroll Mayer

Hello Room 24 Families,

It was great to meet with you all and have chats about your kids.  They are a nice bunch,  and I think you all could tell that I'm enjoying this year.  Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any new questions as the year progresses.

This week we will wrap up our chapter on subtraction, which concludes this particular unit in math.  There will be a unit test midweek,  and then we will begin several math chapters on the concept of multiplication, and various strategies to learn the multiplication facts from 0-9.  We will also continue drilling on the facts throughout the entire year, and begin Rhymes 'n Times ( a multiplication program utilizing rhymes, pictures, and manipulatives.)

As I hope you all know, the landform projects are due on Tuesday.  The kids will share their landforms with the class, and then we will tour and view the projects in Mrs. Allen's and Miss Grable's classes.  Kids will bring home their projects on Wednesday, as we don't have a lot of space to store them.

Finally, permission slips will be coming home this week for our next field trip, in November, to the Natural History Museum.  Attached to the permission slip is a request for donations to cover the cost of the four field trips we will have this year: Natural History Museum, Aptos History Museum, SC Museum of Art and History, and the Agricultural History Museum.

Take care, and I look forward to seeing you at the Harvest Festival on Friday evening,
Carroll Mayer

Hi All,
I look forward to seeing you this week at conferences.  Please be on time, as I only have 20 minutes for each kid, and many conferences scheduled back to back.  The book fair will be held in the library for the entire week, and many parents enjoy visiting it before or after their conferences. 

This week, the Homework Packets do not contain spelling.  Instead, there is a practice sheet on maps, with kids also assigned to review the landforms on the picture vocabulary cards we made in class.  There will be a geography test on Friday instead of a spelling test.  We will also be having a multiplication "timed" test on 2s, 5s, and 10s.  The kids will be encouraged to work as swiftly as possible, and will write the time they take to complete the test on their paper.  The purpose of timing the kids is not to create anxiety, but to encourage the students to commit these facts to memory.

The days will be fast, but full.  In RTI, we will finish up the story The Ballad of Mulan, and then begin a new story entitled The Waterfall.  The strategy for this story is Predict/Infer.  We will also be teaching kids to identify Cause/Effect. In math, we will continue with more complex subtraction problems. We will finish up our personal narratives about the fair, and will begin another narrative. The first AR goal period ends on Friday.  Most of the class has already achieved their goal, but if your still needs to take some tests, please remind them to be assertive about getting that time.  Usually, the testing time is in the afternoon!

Have a great week,
Carroll Mayer