Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and restful break.

Six Flags Theme Parks are sponsoring the Read to Succeed Six-Hour Reading Club program.  The registration form and parent letter that provides more details about the program was sent home before break.  If you have any questions please contact Mrs. May.

Also remember to have your student log in his/her minutes for reading. They need to go to Reading Stars on the May Watts website. The students get different awards for reading the amount of minutes they are suppose to read.

There are two dates to keep in mind for the Young Author's Program.  The letter of intent is due on Friday, January 11th.  The student's final manuscripts are due on Wednesday, February 27th.

Box Tops for Education: Thank you for taking the time to clip and submit Box Tops.  A total of 8,987 Box Tops have been collected already this year.  The money we get for the Box Tops goes directly back to the school.  Please continue to save Box Tops and send them with your child to school.

May Watts Science Fair is on February 7th.  Last year was the first year May Watts had a science fair.  It was a successful night, and we are doing it again.  The STEM parents will be coordinating this event.  Start thinking now about a project and watch your emails for updates on getting started.

The Indian Prairie Special Needs PTA is holding a T-Shirt design contest for a "fun" shirt that promotes District 204 Special Olympics.  The theme for the T-Shirt is "Be a Fan".  The athletes, coaches, families, students, staff members, and anyone who is a fan of District 204 Special Olympics will be able to purchase this shirt.  Proceeds from the t-shirt sales will go towards equipment and uniforms for D204 Special Olympics Athletes.  The design winner willl receive a free shirt and a $20 gift card of your choice.  For more information on the rules of the contest, please go to the IPSN website. 


Have a great week!

Happy December!

On Friday we will have a spelling test.  This is the only test this week.

After School Enrichment: Throughout the year, the PTA coordinates after school enrichment (ASE) programs for the students to enjoy.  These are selected to enrich the school curriculum.  These offerings usually include reading, math, science, sports, games, art, music, and foreign language.  Classes typically cost $30 for a six-week class, enough to pay the instructors and cover the cost of supplies.  These classes are designed to be less structured than the traditional classroom setting.  All ASE programs are held at school.  Your child will be reminded to go to the appropriate part of the school )gym, LMC, etc) and you should pick him/her up in front of the school at the end of class.  Classes fill up quickly, so sign up now!  The deadline is Thursday, December 13th.  Classes include: Strike It )paddles, rackets, and bats), hockey, Legos, and Lego robotics.

The third grade team is looking for DVD copies of Jumanji and Zathura.  If you have a copy and wouldn't mind us using it, could you send it in next Monday.

Also remember to have your student log in his/her minutes for reading.  They need to go to Reading Stars on the May Watts website.  The students get different awards for reading the amount of minutes they are suppose to read.

Please read about the holiday parties under the holiday parties tab.

Have a great week!

Happy December!

I hope everyone was able to enjoy this fabulous weekend! 

On Thursday, we will take our social studies test over the government.  The students will need to know about the three branches of government and why we celebrate the 4th of July.  They will also need to know what the Constitution and Declaration of Independence are.  The students should also know why they are important.

On Friday, we will take our spelling test.

This Friday is also walk to school day and spirit day. 

Family Math Night: Math night is this week.  The theme is sports and games from all around the world and each with a unique twist.  Games such as football, cricket, basketball, and lacrosse are being planned to engage kids in a fun exploration of Math.  There will also be a few cool estimation exercises.  Math Night for grades 3-5 is on Monday, December 3rd and for K-2 is on Wednesday, December 5th.

Manna Cards Fundraiser: Want a fundraiser that makes money for the PTA but doesn't cost you anything extra?  That's exactly what Manna Gift Cards are.  Businesses sell their gift cards-you pay only face value of the card.  The PTA earns a percent of the value of the sale as a reward for selling the card.  You get gift cards, and we all benefit from the PTA programs at May Watts.  Gift cards will be delivered December 14th, in time for holiday gift giving.  You can purchase from a variety of businesses such as Target, Walmart, Jewel, Starbucks, etc..  For more information go to the PTA website under Manna Gift Cards.

Art Awareness Volunteers Needed: Art Awareness provides a great opportunity to support the students directly - Special artistic talent nor artistic background is required.  You just need a desire to help and interact with the kids.  To participate in this program, a volunteer would: Sign up and contact the teacher, gather information on the artist, decide on an art project, present to the class, and fill out a comment sheet.  You can sign up at the following website: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/artawareness3/1602998
You can contact the following parents with questions or concerns: Brooke Wedding (brookewedding@hotmail.com) or Veronica Witty (veronica@wittys.com) - Art Awareness Co-Chairs

Upcoming Week

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed the time with your family and friends.

On Monday, the students will take their spelling pretest so look for their words to come home in their backpack.  They will take the test on Friday.

On Wednesday, my math class will have a quiz over the following concepts: measuring to the nearest quarter inch, fractions on a number line, and polygons.

On Friday, the students will have a test over the 3 branches of government.  They will also have to tell me what the Constitution and Declaration of Independence are.  They also need to know why we celebrate the 4th of July.

I would also like to thank all the parents who have come in to help and sent in supplies for our classroom. 

Thank you to Mrs. Amer and Mrs. Kozinski for planning our Halloween Party.

Thank you to Mrs. Mack for sending in card stock for our cornucopias.

Thank you to Mrs. Mack, Mr. Barello, Mrs. Hana, Mrs. Chaatwal, Mrs. Hartley, Mrs. Bhatia, and Mrs. Nagarajan for volunteering your time with the measuring Olympics.

Thank you to Mrs. Chaatwal and Mrs. Nagarajan for going with us on our field trip. 

Thank you to Mr. Izzo, Mrs. Mack, Mrs. Hana, Mrs. Purnima, and Mrs. Nadeem for donating Sharpie markers for our cornucopias.

I appreciate all the help and donations for the class.

I hope everyone has a great week.

PTA at a Glance

Check out these reminders about upcoming May Watts events and activities. You can click on the appropriate link to get more information.

PTA Meeting Monday in the LMC from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Diversity - open and honest discussions with teachers, parents and staff

Babysitting - FREE! Key Club high schoolers will be available to watch your children during our meeting

Community - feel a stronger sense of belonging to May Watts for you and your child

Do any of those words catch your attention? Have you been looking for an opportunity to speak directly and honestly with our May Watts teachers? Have you wanted to find an avenue to speak candidly about diversity at May Watts? Please join us on Monday, November 19th from 5PM - 7PM in the LMC.

This is also an opportunity for you to learn more about the Common Core standards in regards to Math.  PTA Meeting/Common Core Math Standards and Practices Presentation (6:00-7:00 PM)- Mr. LeCrone will share a sliderocket (it’s like a fancy powerpoint) presentation about the CCSS with a focus on how learning math is changing. Teachers will provide input as the presentation plays out and then to stay for a Q&A session following his 30 minute presentation. 

Art Awareness Volunteers Needed: Art Awareness provides a great opportunity to support our children’s classrooms directly - Neither special artistic talent nor artistic background is required – you just need a desire to help and interact with the kids! To participate in this program, a volunteer would: Sign up and contact teacher, Gather information on artist, Decide on art project, Present to class, and Fill out comment sheet. More details can be found at: Art Awareness on PTA Website

You can sign up by following this link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/artawareness3/1602998

Please feel free to contact Brooke Wedding (brookewedding@hotmail.com) or Veronica Witty (veronica@wittys.com) – Art Awareness Co-Chairs with any questions or concerns.

Box Tops: A single box top does not stay that way for long. The minute it is donated, it joins another, and another, and another. And eventually, they all add up. So let’s see what yours can do for our school. The classroom that turns in the largest total of Box Tops by Friday, November 30 will win game time with Mrs. Andrews. The kindergarten class that turns in the most Box Tops will enjoy a fun snack and story time with Principal LeCrone! Currently, 1F/Spinola is leading the overall competition with 923 Box Tops and KD is leading the kindergarten only completion with 169.

More Info:Box Tops Information

Monument Presentation:
The students will be giving their presentaion on their national monument or symbol.  The presentations will be on Monday and Tuesday before break.

Spelling:
Their next pretest will be the Monday after Thanksgiving break.  They will have the posttest on that Friday.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Thankgiving break.  Be safe if you are traveling and enjoy your families and friends.

Parent Teacher Conferences:
Monday, November 5 from 4:40-8:00
Tuesday, November 6 from 8:00-3:00
Thursday, November 8 from 4:40-8:00
Please show up at your scheduled time.  All my conferences are back to back and all families are entitled to their full 20 minutes.  I try hard to stick to the schedule.

Book Fair:
November 5th to the 8th - Open until 8:00 on conference nights

Read-In - Thursday, November 8:
Thursday afternoon we will be having a read-in.  Students can bring in a towel or small blanket to lay on, a special snack and a flashlight.  No pillows and stuffed animals.

Field Trip - Friday, November 9:
On Friday, we will be going to Oswego East High School to see the Tall Tale Slue Foot Sue.  Remember there will no hot lunch Friday.  We will be eating in the classroom before we go.  When we get back the students will be hungry, so make sure you send a healthy snack.

Picture Retakes

 

Picture re-takes are being planned for Thursday, November 15, 2012, beginning at 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. If you need to have your child’s photo re-taken, please do the following:

 

1) Call the office to get your child’s name on the re-take list.

 

2) Return the complete original packet of photos on November 15.

 

If your child did not have money with them on the original picture day to purchase photos, forgot to turn in their payment envelope, was absent, or is new to May Watts School, they should also be placed on the re-take list. All students have their photos taken in order to have them appear in our May Watts yearbook and for their academic file regardless of whether you purchase photos or not.

 

If you have any questions, please contact the office at 428-6700.

 

Monument Project:

The third graders have been assigned a national monument or symbol to research with a partner.  It would be a great help if they could get some information from home.  We have some computer lab time, but they may need to do some of it at home.  Ask your student what monument or symbol he or she have been assigned and help them gather information.They are to become an authority on their monument so they can present it to the class.  Below are the questions they need to be able to answer.

1.  How was it constructed?

2.  Why was it constructed(or why was it chosen)?

3.  Why did we construct something to honor this person or symbol?  Why is it important to our country?

4.  What are some interesting facts?

This is their first research project, and they need help going through the information to decide what is important and what's not.  There are a number of websites on the third grade blog.

Time is flying by and I can't believe the first quarter ended last Friday.  Report cards will go home on this Friday, November 2. 

Halloween -
On Wednesday, October 31st May Watts will be having the costume parade and fall room party.  Please click on the page above to read about the details.

Conferences -
Parent - Teacher Conferences are coming up.  Please make sure you return the conference form so I can finalize my schedule.  If there is something in particular you want to discuss about your child's progress, please email me.

Field Trip -
The thirds graders will be going on their first field trip this year.  On Friday, November 9th, we will be going to see a musical production of "Great American Tall Tales."  We will have to eat lunch earlier than usual.  If you have not returned the field trip permission form and money please do so as soon as possible.

PTA Coat Drive
Please join the May Watts PTA, Project S.H.A.R.E. (Students Helping and Respecting Everybody) and District 204 in a coat drive.
Fall is the time of year to clean out our closets.  During the month of October, we are participating in a district wide winter coat collection.  Due to the growing need in our district, we are collecting new and gently-used, warm and clean coats of all sizes from preschool to high school.  The coats will be distributed to families in need within our district in early November.
Please drop off donations at May Watts in the large box located in the lobby.  We will also be teaming up with Walk to School Day on November 2nd.  We will have wagons at the designated corners to collect donated items.
If you have any questions about the coat drive, please contact Karen Altekruse, Project S.H.A.R.E. Chair at (630) 355-2603 or karen@altekruse.com

Diversity Week -
May Watts has set aside the week of November 12th for diversity week.  During this week parents are encouraged to visit classrooms to speak with students about their culture and traditions that are celebrated in their homes.  If you are interested in volunteering to speak to the class please let me know.  Below are the follwoing guidelines.

• Keep the presentation around 10 minutes.
• Make sure the material is age/school appropriate.
• The presentation may include religious reasons for the celebration, but please do not make religion the focus of the presentation.
• No art or craft project.

Current Events
Next week will be the start of Current Events.  Current events is a mock news team the students participate in.  Every other week, your child will have to prepare a news report.  The students will be assigned the role of Anchor Person, Food Critic, Book Critic, Commercial, Movie Critic, or Sports Reporter.  Students will need to prepare a report with at least 5 sentences to present orally to the class.  For a more detailed description of the assignment, check out the Current Events tab at the top of the blog.  Thirteen students (2 news teams) report each week, so your students will report every other week.  The students love giving these reports and pretending they are actual reporters.  The schedule is also posted at the top so you can double check when your student is scheduled.

Reading Stars
October 1st officially started our reading incentive program.  Students can log into Reading Stars and log their minutes.  Third graders are expected to read 360 minutes a month.  If you divide 360 by 30, you get 12 minutes a night.  The stduents are expected to read 20 minutes a night so this should be a piece of cake.  Students may also write a book review and make comments about the book.  The reviews need to be well written with good grammar and punctuation.  These reviews are for recommending books not to write about the how bad it was.  Only positive statements or Mrs. May will not publish it.  The link for Reading Stars is on my blog.

Math Fact Fluency
With the adoption of the Common Core Math Standards learning math facts in third grade have taken on a new importance.  All third graders are expected to know all their addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts by the end of the year.  I have included a number of fact practice sites for your students to visit.  Along with nightly reading, I would like the students to practice their facts for 5-10 minutes per night.

Jackets
With the weather cooling off your students need to bring a coat for recess and P.E.  The school policy is that students need to wear a jacket if it's below 60 degrees.

I am excited to announce that 3P has earned their first whole class reward.  They have been good citizens and have shown great behavior throughout the school.  As a reward they picked pajama day.  So on Wednesday, the students can wear their pajamas to school.

The Reading Stars website is up and running.  Students can enter their reading minutes on this website.  Our reading incentive will start on October 1st.  All the reading that was done before October 1st will not be counted.  A link to this site is on my blog or you can google May Watts Reads to find the site.  The login is the student's id number, which is the same number they use for Destiny Quest.  There is also a label in their assignment notebook with the ID number on it.  The password is 3P.  The students need to read 360 minutes in a month to receive the reward, which is a Pizza Hut certificate.

Family Science Night is Wednesday, October 3rd from 6:30 - 8:30.  The goal of our science night it to increase the student's exposure and opportunities to do hands-on science.  There is a fee of $5/per family.  You may still turn in the form sent out by the PTA if you have it.  Walk-ins will still be accepted on the day of the event.

I will be sending home Scholastic book order forms on Monday.  If you would like to order books please have the form back to school on Friday, October 5.  You can also go on line and order books.  The activation code is HMX2F.  If you send the order form to school, please make sure you make your check out to Scholastic Books not May Watts.  Also I cannot send cash into Scholastic so I do need a check if you don't order on line.

I can't believe another week of school has passed.  With the arrival of fall and cooler weather, please remind your child to dress for the weather.  We go outside for P.E. and recess, so appropriate clothing is necessary.

This past week we have been working on appropriate hallway and classroom behaviors.  I have been rewarding students with paw prints for appropriate behavior.  There has been a change and many of the students are following the hallway and classroom voice levels.  Please speak to your child about respecting others and following the rules for voice levels throughout the building.

We finished our social studies unit over communities on Friday, and we will start science on Monday.  Our first science unit is over the bones and muscles. 

In reading this week, we will continue reading Turtle Bay and working on author's purpose.  The test over the story will be on Wednesday.  The students are allowed to use their book on the test.  We are also incorporating writing with reading by having the students write an informational paper on a sea creature.

The reading stars website where the students record their reading minutes should be up and running by October 1st.  The students should still be reading at home for 20 minutes a night. 

I hope everyone has a great week.

Hello 3P students and families,

I hope everyone had a great weekend with the beautiful weather.  We are off to a fantastic start in 3P, and the students have been working hard.  There have been some breaks in our schedule because of CBM testing, bus presentations, and cool down breaks due to the heat.  Hopefully this week we will have less interruptions in our scedule.

We have been studying communities in social studies and how people within a community help out.  This week Jen Straub, our PTA president, will be giving a presentation to the 3rd graders about our school community and how the PTA helps our May Watts families.

Curriculum Night:

Thursday, September 13th

Session 1: 6:30 - 6:55

All School Presentation: 7:05 - 7:25

Session 2: 7:35 - 8:00

Session 1 and 2 will contain the same information, so you will only need to attend one of them.  For sessions 1 and 2, I will be going over information pertaining to the third grade. The Whole School Presentation will discuss our new Citizenship and Math Common Core Curriculum.

I hope you visit the blog often for information about the third grade.  To find an overview of the weekly curriculum and upcoming events make sure you visit the third grade blog. Here you will find things that pertain to 3P. Thursday is Curriculum Night, and I hope to see everyone there. You will hear more details about the third grade year, sign-up for conferences and hopefully sign some volunteer sheets.

 

Welcome Back to School!

Welcome students and parents to 3P.  We had a great first two days of school even though it was a little hot.  Please make sure you send a water bottle with your students on these hot days.  The students should also bring in a healthy snack to stay energized throughout the day. The students will have an opportunity to eat a snack in the morning and in the afternoon.  Since there are two opportunites for eating snacks, students will be allowed to bring in two snacks or can split one snack between the morning and afternoon.  It is completely up to you.

It is important to check the third grade blog regularly.  The third grade blog will keep you informed of the activities we will be doing across the grade level.  My personal blog will let you know what special things are going on in 3P.  Look here for information about class events, pictures, and links to learning sites.

 I am looking foward to working with your son or daughter, and I intend to make their third grade experience educational, challenging, and FUN.

On Monday, we will be having an Ice Cream Social at May Watts from 6 - 7:30.

 

Newsletter for May 28

Reading: This week in reading, we will continue reading our Time for Kids magazines, and we will also read a book entitled Courage.   The kids will continue writing their own version of Courage showing ways that they have shown courage.

Math: In math we will continue unit 11 which focuses on geometric solids and volume. The first two lessons will focus on geometric solids. Then the students learned about the volume of cylinders, cones, and pyramids.  This week we will work on surface area and create a tetrahedron.

Writing: This week in writing we will be using our social studies to create a newspaper of the important events in American history that they learned this year.

Science: We are finished with science.

Social Studies: This week in social studies we will work on chapter 15 which focuses on the Civil War and will be jigsawed. A jigsaw is where the students take a part of the chapter, learn about the topic, and report back to the class.

Spelling:
We are done with spelling.

READING INCENTIVE PROGRAM:
To earn the prize, the fifth graders will need to read about 400 minutes for this month. This month's reward is a coupon for a free Culver's ice cream cone.

Important Dates:
No School Monday, May 28
Citizenship Celebration Tuesday, May 29
Market Day Pick Up Tuesday, May 29
Last Day of School Friday, June 1

Homework for May 25

Reading - Read 20 minutes

Homework for May 24

Reading - Read 20 minues, Book Report due tomorrow

5P Math - Quiz tomorrow

Homework for May 23

Reading - Read 20 minutes, Book Report due on May 25

5P Math - Quiz on Friday

5B Math - Test tomorrow, Study Guide

Homework for May 22

Reading - Read 20 minutes, Book Report due on May 25

Spelling - Contract & Test tomorrow

5P Math - Quiz on Friday

5B Math - Study Guide due

Social Studies - Worksheet

Homework for May 21

Reading - Read 20 minutes, Book Report due on Friday

Spelling - Contract & Test for Wednesday

5P Math - Journal pages 372 & 373

5B Math- Study Guide, Study Link 9.7

Newsletter for the Week of May 21

Reading: This week in reading, we will continue reading our Time for Kids magazines, and we will also read a book entitled Courage.  After listening to the story the kids will list awesome kinds of courage and everyday kinds of courage.  Then thinking about books they have read, what types of courage have they seen from different characters.  Finally the kids will write their own version of Courage showing ways that they have shown courage.

Book Report: Your book report for May must be a realistic fiction, and the presentation will be on Friday, May 25. The presentation will focus around a T-shirt. When you are finished reading your book, the T-shirt you design should focus around the main character of the book. You should include an illustration and at least 10 descriptive words about your character. You will use your T-shirt to give the class a summary of your book. On a separate piece of paper, you need to tell why each of the descriptive words you stated relates to your character, and you also need to include a summary. If you cannot use a real T-shirt, you can make one out of construction paper.

Math: In math we will start unit 11 which focuses on geometric solids and volume.  The first two lessons will focus on geometric solids.  Then the students will learn about the volume of cylinders, cones, and pyramids.

Writing: This week in writing we will be using our social studies to create a newspaper of the important events in American history that they learned this year.

Science: We are finished with science.

Social Studies: This week in social studies we will finish chapter 14 which focuses on a nation becoming divided. Our next chapter which focuses on the Civil War will be jigsawed. A jigsaw is where the students take a part of the chapter, learn about the topic, and report back to the class.  

Spelling Unit 30:
canyon     tornado     breeze     cafeteria     coyote     tomato     barbecue     mosquito
plaza     pueblo     chili     alligator     rodeo     patio     bonanza     avocado     mesa
burro     enchilada     burrito     yucca     hurricane     chaps     arroyo     matador
abalone     cargo     chocolate     guacamole     iguana     plaza     ranch     saguaro
sombrero     platinum     tenement     monopoly     corporation     sweatshop 
assembly line

READING INCENTIVE PROGRAM:
To earn the prize, the fifth graders will need to read about 400 minutes for this month. This month's reward is a coupon for a free Culver's ice cream cone.

Important Dates:
Spelling Test Wednesday, May 23
5th Grade Farewell Wednesday, May 23
Social Studies Test Thursday, May 24
Book Report due Friday, May 25
Library Books due Friday, May 25
Read in Friday, May 25

Homework for May 18

Reading - Read 20 minutes, Book Report due on May25

Spelling - Contract & Test for Wednesday