Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to all of you!
Enjoy your Winter Break and we'll see you in 2011!

Ms. Wetzel and Ms. Whalen

Roman Holiday Tomorrow!!!!

Please have your child bring in their Roman Holiday outfits tomorrow!!!

Ancient Rome study guide!!!

Test Friday December 17th Ancient Rome Study Guide

Ancient Romans worshipped many gods and goddesses

Pompeii was buried when Mt. Vesuvius erupted

Patricians- were members of powerful and wealthy families

Plebeians- ordinary working Romans

The city center was called the forum.

A dictator for life during the last days of the Roman Republic was Julius Caesar

Roman Senators killed Julius Caesar

Octavian’s name was changed to Augustus after he took power

Roman Empire surrounded the Mediterranean Sea

At the Coliseum Romans watched fights between gladiators and wild beasts

At Circus Maximus Romans watched chariot races.

Legendary twin brothers who founded Rome- Romulus and Remus

Romans persecuted Christians because Christians refused to worship Roman gods

First Christian Roman Emperor-Constantine

Rome defeated Carthage in all 3 Punic Wars

What were at least 3 reasons for the fall of Rome?

Greedy, selfish emperors;
provinces unprotected from attack;
corrupt generals;
murder of senators and powerful Romans;
civil wars that destroyed towns and farms and disrupted trade;
lack of food and people without jobs and homes;
army made up of foreigners and soldiers were poorly treated;
Barbarians attacked and drove Romans out.

something new...

Let's try and post the study guides from science and social studies upcoming tests here. If you know of a better way to attach a word document to a blog, please let me know!
thanks
Ms. Whalen

Light and Eye Unit final on Friday, December 10th.
Know these definitions:
- Spectrum: colored light that makes up white light
- Lens: a transparent object that refracts and focuses light when it passes through it.
- Prism: a transparent object that is used to separate white light into the spectrum of colors.
- Refract: to bend
- Reflect: to bounce back
- Transparent: You can see clearly through it and light can pass through it. (A window, eye glass lens, glass, water.)
- Translucent: You can not see clearly through it, you can see shadows of objects. Light can pass through it. (Most colored glass or glass with a design, fluorescent light covers, some shades, gauzy curtains).
- Opaque: You can not see through it. No light can pass through it. (Person, car, tree, wall, desk, chair.)
- Plane mirror: a flat mirror
- Convex: curved outward- Larger view, used in stores to see around corners. Used in microscopes.
- Concave: curved inward- smaller view, objects appear upside down. Used in telescopes.

Know this information:
If you can see things clearly when they are near, but have some difficulty seeing things that are far away, you are nearsighted.
If you can see things clearly when they are far away, but have some difficulty seeing things that are near, you are farsighted.
- Light travels in a straight line.
- Light travels in waves
-When light hits an object it bounces off the object to show an image or reflection.
- Dark objects absorb more light than light colored objects. This is why dark clothing is hotter in the summer. It is collecting more energy from the light.
-The best object to reflect something would be a plane mirror. It creates an exact reflection, only backwards.
-Light is bending and slowed down when it is refracted.
-A transparent object, water or a lens is used to refract light.
-When light is blocked by an opaque object, a shadow of the object is formed.
-White light is made up of a spectrum of colors (all the colors of the rainbow).
- A prism or a drop of water can be used to break up white light into a spectrum.
- ROY G BIV- Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet

Thank you!

For the influx of snack that we recieved. I think we will be set until January. =)

We need snacks!

Both classroom are out of class snacks! If you are a family that was told to wait on snacks, NOW is your time to donate. We are so grateful to have a classroom snack to offer just in case families forget to pack one for their students. I know I have days that I rush out and my own kids have to rely on class snacks!

Roman Holiday!

Don't forget the parent meeting tomorrow!!! Come join us directly after school. We need your help so that our Roman Holiday celebration goes smoothly!!!!

Computer time

I received this email today from Love and Logic. I know that with a middle school son myself, that this was information I could definitely use. Could you use it as well?
Ms Whalen

Are You Sick and Tired of Having to Compete with Your Child's Electronic Devices?

I know a mother and father who eat a lot of cold food - all thanks to certain electronics corporations and their teen's single-minded obsession with the darn things.

Yes! Nearly every night, these parents beg him to turn off the computer, turn off (or pause) the television, put down the video game controller, or unplug from the music. Their pleas fall on deaf (or earbud-filled) ears.

It's not so much that the young man is blatantly defiant. He acknowledges them, at least with a grunt or the universal "just a second." But he's so engrossed in electronics land, that he truly has a hard time ripping his mind away from the device to join the family at the table. Of course, his parents get more and more frustrated as they experience less and less success wooing him from his high-tech goodies. Obviously, this trend is not healthy for the young man or for the evening family meal.

Some parents have discovered a magical Love and Logic enforceable statement to help with this type of electronics abuse:

"We provide _____________for kids who ___________."
"We provide computer time for kids who shut it down the first time they are asked."
"We provide television time for kids who have chores and homework done."
"We provide cell phones for kids who refrain from texting during the sermon at church."
As parents, we do provide these things, don't we? And when is a good time to remind kids of all the things that we provide? In a long-winded lecture when we are frustrated? How about before the item or privilege is abused, or with lots of empathy when it has been removed?

The key to success with this phrase is our willingness to follow-through and the empathy in our voices, and on our faces, when kids lose the use of the device when it is abused.

For more great tips for the teenage years, check out the CD Trouble-free Teens.

Thanks for reading! Our goal is to help as many families as possible. If this is a benefit, forward it to a friend.

Dr. Charles Fay

Math masters at work

TV and Computer Time

I have students that tease me all the time about how they are going to break their record for watching TV or playing Wii. 8 hours straight, they tell me. I groan and say "NO".

So, just to clear my conscience, here is a little article about screen time and kids...

"There's no getting around it: Hours of TV and computer time leads to psychological and academic problems for young people, even if those same kids are physically active for large chunks of the day, says New Scientist. In a study involving 1,013 kids ages 10 and 11, researchers in England found that kids who watched TV or were online for two or more hours a day were 61 percent more likely to have emotional, social, and concentration problems, as measured by a standard psychological test for children. Spending time outdoors only had a modest effect on the psychological impact. So it's not the sedentary nature of TV watching and computer use that's primarily to blame; it's something about the content or experience itself. Parents who limit TV and computer time to less than two hours a day need not worry, says study author Angie Page: "It's only above the two-hour threshold that you start to see the negative psychological effect."
taken from The Week magazine dated October 29th, 2010

Thank you for letting me get that out. =)
Ms. Whalen

Sickness

There are quite a few bugs going around right now so I thought I would post a little reminder about when to keep your child at home.

• if your child has a temperature over 100 degrees
• if your child has thrown up in the last 24 hours
• if your child is complaining of a severe sore throat
• if your "mom sense" is telling you that something is just not right

Please talk to your child about the importance of washing hands and sneezing or coughing into their elbow to keep from spreading germs.

We will make sure that students are using hand sanitizer before eating and wiping down desks at least once a week.

Thank you for your help!

Ms. Whalen and Ms. Wetzel

Parent/Guardian/Teacher conferences

We are looking forward to seeing you tonight or tomorrow morning!

Ms. Whalen and Ms. Wetzel

The Book Fair is HERE!

Yippee!

I love the book fair and our students do too! The excitement has been building and today we finally get to preview what new titles are here.

Your child will be heading in to create their wish lists during classes today and I'm sure you will be hearing all about it. You are welcome to visit the book fair with your child before school, after car line or when you come in for conferences. Your child is also allowed to visit during lunch and/or snack time. Please remember that if you send money with your child it could be lost.

In your Thursday folders last week you should have found a sheet regarding the One for Books program. The program this year features a homeroom class competition! The class that raises the most money for One for Books will win a pizza party with Mr. Gonzales!

Money and One for Books slips will be collect first thing in the morning in each homeroom. Encourage your child to make their One for Books donations in their homeroom class as donations made in the library will go into the general collection fund and not credited to a homeroom teacher.

Thank you in advance for your support of our school library!
Ms. Whalen and Ms. Wetzel

Reminders

Just a note to remind you to please have your student bring in a sheet of poster paper for their project. We are going to be creating our Gallery Night projects on Monday (Wetzel) and Tuesday (Whalen).

We are also celebrating August and September birthdays on Monday (Wetzel) and Tuesday (Whalen). If your child has a birthday to celebrate please contact your homeroom teacher to let them know what you are bringing.

Thanks!
Ms. Whalen and Ms. Wetzel

Gallery Night

Highline's 3-5th grades are hosting our first ever Gallery Night on the evening of September 30th. This event gives our students a chance to display their work and our communities to bond with an evening together.

Each grade has a different focus for how their night will look. In the 3rd grade we are focusing on our personal narratives that we have been working on for a month now. Each student will have a space where they can display work about which they are most excited.

We would love to ask, if possible, that your student provide a piece of poster board on which they can create their space. These poster boards will then be hung in the hall so parents and students can wonder and read during our Gallery Night.

The night will be from 5:30 to 7:00 and families are encouraged to bring a picnic dinner for their own families.

Thanks!
Ms. Whalen and Ms. Wetzel

A few things...

Just so you remember... there is a landforms social studies test tomorrow- Tuesday, Sept 14.

There is a quick quiz in science also... what are the 3 functions of the skeleton? (form, protection, and movement)

Thanks

Let's Talk Silly Bandz

As I am sure all of you know, Silly Bandz are the recent hottest thing. We see our students wearing a gazillion of them every day. Here in the 3rd grade we are OK with the students wearing Silly Bandz to school as long as they realize a few things.

• If the student is playing with them or distracted by them during class time, they will be taken away. The student may or may NOT receive them back from the teacher.
• The student understands that a band could be broken, stolen or lost during the school day.
• The teachers are not responsible for any trades that are made.
• We, as the 3rd grade team, can ban Silly Bandz from the classroom as a whole if they ever become a real problem!

Thank you for understanding!

Update...

AHHHHHHH!

Sonic came to my classroom this morning with a really really big check! Math Masters Meet on Mondays was fully funded this morning!!!

YEAH!!!
Ms. Whalen

Math Masters

Hello again!

I just wanted you all to know about this project I am working on. Last spring I started a math club here at Highline called Math Masters. We meet on Mondays during the students lunch time. They grab their lunches and then come and hang out in my class while playing math games.

I heard about a community support program through Sonic Drive In called Limeades for Learning and immediately wanted to apply for my Math Masters. This program funds projects for classroom teachers helping them pay for different things they need within their classroom. The really cool thing is that all we have to do is have our projects voted on in order to receive the support!

(This is where you all come in.)

During the next month you can vote for my project to be funded at the following website. Unfortunately, you do have to go through a few clicks here and there to find mine. You start here...

http://www.limeadesforlearning.com/pages/search

and then click on "Find a project" on the left hand side of the screen.

When you see "add a filter" in the middle box, click on location.

Then click "Colorado".

Click on "+city".

Then on ""+Denver".

My project is listed on that page... It's called "Math Masters Meet Mondays."



Please, if you can spare a minute or two, vote for our club!

often... if possible =)



Thanks!!!

Ms. Whalen

What did you do today?

We start the year in science studying the Scientific Method, the series of steps that a scientist uses when running experiments. The great thing about this unit is all the fun hands on labs that help us practice using those steps!

Monday and Tuesday of this week, we are working on a lab called Bubble, Bubble. The question we are asking is "Which liquid soap will create the largest bubble?" Each student is making their own hypothesis as to what their educated quess is. The competition is between a dish soap, shampoo and laundry detergent. When the lab is complete, we will write up are findings explaining whether or not our hypothesis was correct.

Enjoy your day!

Ms. Whalen

Wow- what a great 1st day!!!

It's so hard to believe that our first day back is already done! It was a fabulous day and marks what we are sure is going to be a wonderful year! It's so exciting!!

Hopefully your student reported back to you about their first day and all the fun we had together building up our third grade team. The real work is about to begin though. Hold on to your hats.

Be on the look out for your first Thursday folder coming home this week. In it you will find a survey to complete with your child. Please let them interview you and enjoy your time spent together.

Thanks!
Ms. Whalen and Ms. Wetzel

Welcome to the 2010- 2011 School Year!

OOOOh, do you smell that? That's the smell of back to school. Bouquets of sharpened pencils... new uniforms... freshly cleaned classrooms... wonderful!

I hope you all are as excited to start the new year as I am. On Tuesday August 17th, the new school year begins. We are planning lots of exciting and fun things to get our year off to a great start! We are going to have the most successful third grade class ever!!!

I look forward to seeing you all at the ice cream social on Thursday, August 12th from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. Come and say "Hi" to us, find out who your homeroom teacher will be and catch up with all your friends from last year.

See you soon!
Ms. Whalen