September+16

=__**SEPTEMBER 16**__=

Do you like to write? Consider entering Mrs. P's (Kathy Kinney, AKA Mimi from the Drew Carey Show) writing contest. Please visit the following website for information.
@http://www.contest.mrsp.com/

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//** Parents: Just a reminder that after 3:00, you should pick up elementary students through the cafeteria door entrance. A new state law requires bus and parent pick-ups to be at different entrances. Once the buses start lining up at 3:00, parents should NOT use the front entrance to pick up students. You may park in the pick-up lane in front of the cafeteria door, or in parking stalls on the east side of the building. Please wait in the cafeteria at the end of the day for students. If you wish to visit with a teacher, you are welcome to come down to the classrooms after students are dismissed. **// =====

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//** In the mornings, the front of the elementary is for __student drop off only__. If parents are wanting to come into the building in the morning, please park in stalls along the north or east sides of the building. **// =====

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Each grade level is needing a representative to the Van Meter Elementary Parents' Committee (VMEPC). This person will attend the VMEPC meeting each month (every third Thursday, usually at 7:00 p.m.) to represent your child's grade level. You will help make decisions regarding the elementary fund raisers, money usage, and teacher support. The VMEPC is a great way to be involved and to meet other parents! Please let us know ASAP if you are interested in serving as the rep from either Mrs. Volk's room or Mrs. Skahill's/Miss Stephens' room. Thank you! ====== The next VMEPC meeting is scheduled for October 20th.

// If you did not sign up for fall parent/teacher conferences during Open House, please contact your child's teacher so that a conference can be scheduled. Thank you. //
=== ** Your child has been introduced to the Skills Iowa computer program. This is a computerized program that your child can access at home. S/he can work on a variety of reading, vocabulary, math, or language arts skills. You will find the link on the Van Meter Library and Tech site. S/he has been given a username and password, which should be written on the front pages of their planner. Please feel free to investigate at home. Thanks! ** ===

=== Both homerooms will have a "Homework Club" each quarter. We will keep a chart in our rooms, tracking which students return their homework packets on time each week. Students who consistently return their packets each week will be rewarded at the end of each quarter! ===

=== //We have been informed that the kitchen can no longer store items that need to be frozen or refrigerated. You will need to provide a cooler if your child is bringing treats that require refrigeration. Thank you for your cooperation.// ===

__**LITERACY:**__
Please check out the link below to follow our Roald Dahl 50th birthday celebration activities. @https://sites.google.com/a/vmbulldogs.com/van-meter-technology/author-and-book-news/3rd-grade/follow-that-peach We are introducing the 6-Traits of Writing and will be focusing on the trait of IDEAS. In reading, we will make predictions and connections. We will use context clues, identify main events, question, and infer. Please encourage your child to read at home.

__**MATH:**__
The students have taken their first pretest and are working on addition and subtraction strategies/skills. We students will be adding and subtracting two-, three-, and four-digit numbers using the respective properties. They will also be applying those strategies and skills to solve math problems. This would be a great time to review basic addition and subtraction facts.

__**SCIENCE:**__
We have now said, "Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go to Mexico!" to 19 monarchs! What a sight to see them soar away and to know they are starting a journey of about 2,000 miles! We are still waiting on 6 chrysalises to hatch, and our little "family" will then be off and gone for good! We ended our butterfly unit this week by talking about symmetry in butterflies, in nature, and all around us...and by playing a fun game to teach us about the monarchs' habitat and how changes in the habitat causes changes in the population.

We then began a new unit of study on the human body. We did some counting on our own and with the aid of posters before finally learning the true number of bones in our amazing skeletons!

= __**SOCIAL STUDIES:**__ = ====We are continuing to look for a volunteer to help us turn the paper design into a fabric flag. The flag isn't due until the end of the year when we host our country potluck. If you are interested in helping us with this project, please contact Ann Volk.==== ==== We are reviewing the different features of urban, suburban, and rural communities. We will also be learning about how communities change and how people of many cultures live in the communities. We will identify some of the holidays that Americans celebrate together. During the week of September 12th, we will be participating in activities that help us to become more familiar with our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We will be signing a Third Grade Constitution. ==== ==== Check with your child about Daily Detective. The purpose of this project is to not only help the students learn about the countries of the world, but also to help them research. Each day a new clue will go up on our 'detective board'. The students will be able to write the clue down and bring it home so that you can, if needed, help your child to identify the country. The clues start out very broad and as the week goes on, get more specific. Please ask your child about Daily Detective and each daily clue. ==== Congratulations to Isaac for solving the first Daily Detective.

__**MRS. VOLK:**__
== **PLEA for HELP: My family is adopting a Cockatoo and a Quaker from the Parrot Rescue. (CRAZY, I know) We are looking for old phone books because the cockatoo loves to shred, and apparently my house isn't messy enough. :) Please send any old phone books to school and drop them off in my room. We understand that the silly thing goes through several a week. Thanks for your help!** ==

Spelling note: At the close of each spelling unit the students are given a CLOZE paragraph to test their word and spelling knowledge. I have decided to give the students the words prior to the CLOZE so that they can practice the words that they do not know how to spell. The students are given a choice about which words to write in their planner. They may write all the words or only the words that goof them up. I encourage you to check out their planners and compare it to their CLOZE paragraph to see how they are doing. You may want to tell them to write all the words unless you are confident in your child's ability to spell. Keep in mind that the CLOZE paragraphs may not be a weekly thing as it depends on how many lessons we do in each unit. Once the CLOZE paragraphs are graded and returned, the students are suppose to write the words missed on a sheet of paper. This is to be an on-going list and should be kept in their take home folder. Please ask your child about this list. It can be used to help them study. Thanks

Thank you to everyone who signed up to help with our parties this year. We are still looking for some helpers. Please let me know if you are interested in signing up for any of the following spots: We are REALLY needing one more brave risk-takers to sign up to be the **Person in Charge** of the Halloween party. Thank you to Mrs. Gilliland for volunteering to chair the Christmas party. We are also needing someone to bring in a drink item for the Christmas party, and another person to bring in a non-edible treat for the Valentine's Day party. Please let me know if you are interested in helping with any of those areas!

I sent home a reading calendar. The students are being encouraged to read 400 minutes during the month of September. That would be approximately 14 minutes read a day, 19 minutes read per weekday, 27 minutes read if s/he only read for 15 out of the 30 days, or 50 minutes read if s/he reads only on the weekends. PLEASE encourage your child to read to reach the class goal. This reading time can be done independently, reading with you, or reading to or with a younger sibling. They can read books, comics, magazines, newspapers, or poetry. The goal is to READ! Taking time to visit with your reader about what they have read can be a big help as well. Thank you for your support at home!

** __MRS. SKAHILL/MISS STEPHENS__ **
Just a reminder about spelling...The words you see on the side of your child's planner page are words he/she missed on the cloze test. No words...no mistakes on the test! Please practice the words you see with your child, as they WILL be showing up on future tests! As mentioned previously, we won't be taking a cloze test every week...we work up to tests as we go through the lessons in each unit.

__**Wish List:**__ colored copy paper ziploc sandwich bags ziploc gallon bags Clorox or Lysol wipes (we go through a lot of these!) paper towels refills for Glade plug-in air freshener ink cartridges for classroom printer...#98 (black) and/or #95 (color