We are headed into the last week of September. Wow!

Friday morning was one of those times when I look around my room (or look around outside, since that’s where we spent the majority of our day) and think to myself, “WOW, I have the best job in the world!” Your kids continue to remind me daily of the beauty, wonder, and purity that still exists in the midst of this crazy world. Thank you for working hard to raise amazing little human beings. You are my inspiration to do my best to do the same with Baby Deters in a couple of months!

Please read on for a variety of reminders and information, and for upcoming dates. No pictures included this week because my internet connection is not supporting the uploads today, even after restarting a couple of times 🙁 Next week photos will return! 🙂 

Please also check the heading titled “Photos”, and remember that this week is the Walkathon and Spirit Week!

——————————————————————————————–

Five Day Week This Week!

Our first FULL week of 3rd grade…I’m guessing you’ll have some tired kiddos by Friday night! 🙂

——————————————————————————————–

Walkathon and Spirit Week!

Thank you so much to those of you who have worked to help your child raise money for GES! With all of the added restrictions and regulations, the monetary needs that have arisen across the school to be able to provide the best learning in a safe way are significantly higher than normal years.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP in ensuring your child receives a quality education, even in the midst of all this craziness, through fundraising with this Walkathon!

Please remember that we are sadly not allowed to have any visitors or volunteers at this year’s event; thank you for your understanding and support in this.

• Monday, September 21 – Friday, September 25th:  Spirit Week
  • • Monday-PJ Day
    • Tuesday-Silly Socks
    • Wednesday-Crazy Hair
    • Thursday-Hat Day
    • Friday-Maize & Blue
• Thursday, September 24th: Walkathon

——————————————————————————————–

Photos?

Parents, please email me at kdeters@hpseagles.net if you are NOT COMFORTABLE with photos of your child’s face and/or any part of them being posted on the blog, on the school website, or on any form of social media. Thank you so much for your help with this!

——————————————————————————————–

Recorder Orders

Please be sure to get your child’s recorder order form and payment in for music class! As a former elementary music teacher, I can assure you these BEAUTIFUL sounding instruments (  but truly when played correctly, they actually are nice…that just doesn’t happen all that often!) are such an exciting right of passage for these kids. They can’t wait to begin learning and playing!

——————————————————————————————–

Sports Events and Performances

There’s nothing I love more than supporting my students in their interests outside of school! While I know this year has limited extracurricular opportunities for students, I would love to support your child in any activities he or she is a part of! While I cannot guarantee that I make it to an event, I can guarantee that if I don’t know about it there’s no way I’ll be there 😉 

Please email me a schedule of your child’s sports, dance, karate, musical performances, or whatever else they have going on (virtual events included!) and I will try my very hardest to make it to at least one! Email me at kdeters@hpseagles.net . Thank you!

——————————————————————————————–

Reading Logs

Beginning today (Monday, September 14th), a weekly reading log will be sent home for students to keep track of their reading outside of school, and will be turned in the following Monday. PLEASE DO YOUR BEST to encourage your child to read for a minimum of 100 minutes each week!

Please…

• Read with your child
• Have them read to or with a sibling
• Have them read alone
• Have them read in the car
• Have them read while waiting for dinner
• Have them bring a book to a sibling’s sports game or practice
• WHENEVER and WHEREVER you can to get those 100 minutes in!

We do not have traditional homework in 3rd grade because the number one indicator of success in literacy (anything related to reading and writing…which is just about every subject out there!) is tied directly to a child’s time spent reading! 

We work very hard at school to grow as readers and writers in 3rd grade, but the time constraints of our school day just don’t cut it. Please encourage your child to read anything and everything they find interesting — I had a girl last year who read cookbooks and food blogs most nights. That’s great! If they’re excited to be reading something, please ENCOURAGE that!

Thanks so much for your help in this, parents 🙂

——————————————————————————————–

Library

Speaking of reading — trips to our school library will begin this week. A variety of books were not returned to the GES library due to the abrupt school closure last spring, so please do your best to get them returned as soon as you’re able. Thank you so much to those of you who have already brought yours in this fall!

We will have library on Wednesday afternoons this year.

Thanks so much!

——————————————————————————————–

Curriculum

This week begins the first lesson or two in 3rd grade content and curriculum. I can’t wait to partner with you to help your child reach his or her full academic potential this year!

• Reading: We will continue developing our first Reader’s Workshop unit, “Building a Reading Life”.
• Writing: This week we will continue the first unit of our Writer’s Workshop: Crafting True Stories.
• Word Work: Beginning this week, students will be working on spelling patterns based on individual needs indicated by a spelling inventory we took last week.
• Math: We will continue working on multiplication and division, introducing 10’s, 9’s, and 3’s fact families. PLEASE work on flash cards with students at home every night! Thank you for your help in this!
• Social Studies: We will talk about how challenges, mistakes, and taking risks all help our brains to learn, stretch, and grow.

——————————————————————————————–

Upcoming Dates

• Monday, September 21 – Friday, September 25th:  Spirit Week
  • • Monday-PJ Day
    • Tuesday-Silly Socks
    • Wednesday-Crazy Hair
    • Thursday-Hat Day
    • Friday-Maize & Blue
• Thursday, September 24th: Walkathon
• Friday, October 23: Early Release (12:15 pm dismissal)