Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Parents,

First, I would like to wish you all a happy and safe Thanksgiving break. I hope you have the chance to unwind and spend some quality time with family and friends. Personally, I'm looking forward to getting caught up on some sleep and some work, like posting the GT Expo pictures.

The students have been reminded that I expect them to keep up with their reading logs over the break. There is no other homework. However, the people at Think Through Math are offering a bonus of 1,000 points to students who log in and do some math over the break. It would be good if everyone could find 30 minutes or so to do some TTM over the break. The class is very close to meeting the 500,000 point goal we set at the beginning of the year.

Happy Thanksgiving! I look forward to seeing everyone back on December 2!

Up coming!

Tomorrow night is Sinclair Math Night. This will be an opportunity for parents to learn about the math curriculum at each grade level and to learn how you can help your child to be successful. The event begins at 5:30 and will be followed by the PTA meeting.

Tomorrow is our Thanksgiving lunch and the children will be going to lunch at a slightly different time, noon, rather than 12:10. That said, things frequently get backed up so please be patient.

There will be no homework next week with the exception of the reading log. I expect all students to return from the holiday ready to take some AR tests.

LAST CALL for Box Tops! I must have them by Friday. Thank you to all of you who have been sending them in.

Homework schedule correction

There is a mistake on the homework schedule. It incorrectly shows that there is a spelling worksheet this week. There is not as this is a review unit. I have updated the schedule in the links. Please let me know if you need a new printed copy.

GT Expo This Friday

This Friday, November 8, from 1:30 to 2:30, Sinclair will host the first GT Expo of the year. Please try to stop by to check out the great work that your child and the children in the other classes have been doing. I hope you can make it.

Let the 2nd Nine Weeks Begin

This week begins the 2nd grading period of the year. On Monday the students will receive the new homework schedule and the new spelling and vocabulary word lists. These will also be posted on the website. This is a short grading period with several special events cutting into our instructional time. Please do all that you can to make sure that your child is at school every day.

If you have looked at the homework schedule, you will have noticed that in the reading log column it states my expectation that each student earns at least 2 AR points each week. In class we read at least one AR book every week, usually more. Furthermore, they go to the library each week and are expected to check out AR books there also. I have discovered from conversations with some you that I have not been clear enough about the AR program and how it works. So let me explain.

Accelerated Reader (AR), is simply a large bank of quizzes that the students have access to at school. These are not special books that they can find only at school. An AR book is simply a book for which there is a quiz in the AR program. (Many of the book tests also have a separate vocabulary test.) I am adding a link in the sidebar to the site AR Bookfinder. The students are familiar with this site. It is a database of all AR quizzes and includes information like the book's reading level and point value. The site allows you to search by title and author as well as by subject if your child is interested in something in particular.

Back to the AR expectations, whatever students are reading at home, it is probably an AR book and they should plan to bring the book to school so that they may test on it. By way of an incentive, we are participating in the Book It! program through which students can earn a free personal size pizza at Pizza Hut if they make the monthly reading goal. October's goal is 10 points. Many students have already met the goal or are very close. Several however have not been quizzing on what they are reading and have a ways to go. Please ask your child how they are doing in AR a few times each week. If you have any questions I have not answered about the program, please let me know.

AR tests can only be taken at school, but two of the programs we use that can be used at home are IStation and Think Through Math. I know many of you have your children using these at home already. If not, please let me know and I will send you the information you need to get started.

Update Oct. 23

Parents,
There will be no graded work sent home this week as I try to wrap up the grading period. Work will go home next Wednesday as usual.

I need a volunteer chaperone for the field trip on the 29th. Let me know if you are interested.

The permission slips went home with the students today. We will be eating at school, but at an earlier time. No special lunch arrangements need to be made.

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to open house last week. It was great to see you.

Mid October Reminders and News

Just a few tidbits and reminders for the next few weeks.

First, Open House is this week on Thursday. The open house portion is from 5-6, with a PTA meeting from 6-7 which I hope you will be able to stay for.

Also, the fall festival is this coming Friday. A note went home on Wednesday regarding the items that 3rd grade has been asked to donate. The PTA would like us to donate spa type items (lotions, scented candles, bubble bath, fuzzy slippers, etc. such as one might give on Mother's Day) for the silent auction basket. They have also requested dessert items. The basket items can be dropped off anytime, but the dessert items should wait until Thursday or Friday morning.

Our first field trip is the 29th of October. We will be visiting the MFAH in the afternoon. Please be sure that your child has the new Sinclair shirt as that will be the only one they are able to wear and attend the field trip. The office does not have any of the new shirt to lend as they have in years past.

Finally, I have a personal request. Please make sure that your children are eating healthily, washing their hands frequently, and getting a good night's sleep. We've had a rash of illnesses sweeping through the room and that missed time simply cannot be replaced. The missed work can be made up, but the teaching is necessarily hurried so as not to fall behind in the curriculum. Thank you.

UPDATED HOMEWORK SCHEDULE!

I have posted a new homework schedule for the next 3 weeks. I will give the students a new one tomorrow. Their homework journals will have examples showing what is expected.

The change was made to support our work with multiplication. I cannot stress enough, however, the importance of the children continuing to practice their addition and subtraction facts. We will continue to practice those facts in class, but only occasionally as our focus now will be on multiplication and division.

As usual, I forgot to add something

Parents, I am in need of a room parent. If you are interested in taking the lead on organizing class celebrations etc., please let me know.

Thank you.

Time flies...

It is hard to believe, but it's already October. We've been so busy that every time I get ready to post something, I think of another thing to add and the whole thing gets put off for another day.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their understanding after the unfortunate wreck that caused me to miss Parent Orientation. I would still like to hold such an event, but until I get my second vehicle replaced, I am driving all over the city every afternoon. Hopefully that situation will be cleared up this week and perhaps next week I can hold a make up orientation meeting. In the meantime, I am posting the presentation that I had intended to show that night. Let me know if you have any questions.

As for the work we are doing in the classroom, there has been a great deal to cover. In reading we have arrived at our Unit One Review. This week we will revisit the topics and skills covered so far this year. These include theme, summarizing, character, setting, plot, sequence of events, and nonfiction comprehension skills. In math we are working on rounding to estimate solutions and on solving two step word problems with addition and subtraction. In the coming weeks we will begin multiplication and division, but I will update you on that when the time arrives. In science, after covering safety rules and behaviors, we have moved on to the properties and states of matter. In social studies, as I'm sure you heard, we learned the Preamble to the US Constitution through song. Now we are working on making and interpreting maps.

As part of a partnership with our Book Buddies at Piney Point Elementary, we gathered pine needles for them to use as mulch in their butterfly garden. In return, they have sent us milkweed seeds to start. We will be using paper egg cartons for starting the seeds so if you have any of those that you are finished with, we would love to have them. We are hoping to have our own butterfly garden in the habitat near our classroom. We also planted some purple hyacinth beans that I had started along the fence between the cafeteria and the habitat. For Constitution Day we had a guest reader from the Houston Bar Association come read the book "John, Paul, George, and Ben" by Lane Smith. Last week we have a visit from the mobile dairy and the students were introduced to a real dairy cow. They learned about how the milk gets from the farm to their table in all the delicious forms dairy products can take.

Later, I will post a slide show of some of the pictures that I have taken over the last few weeks. Thank you for all the support you give your children at home. Don't forget, Open House is October 17th.

Happy Belated Constitution Day!

The technology took a little longer to work out than expected, but here is our Constitution Day song. It's in the links to the right.

Parent Orientation September 19th!

Tomorrow night you will have the chance to learn about all of the great things we will be doing this year. We will discuss expectations, curriculum, and testing. This will not be an open house, that is scheduled for October 17th. This will be a formal presentation. We will begin about 6:30, and you will have the opportunity to ask questions about what your 3rd grader will be working on this year.

This event is being held in conjunction with the monthly PTA meeting. Pre-K through 2nd grade classes will meet from 5-6 PM. From 6 to 6:30 there will be a PTA meeting. Third through fifth grade classes will meet from 6:30 to 7:30.

I am hoping to see everyone at this important event.

Reminders

Parents! Don't forget to sign your child's conduct form, which went home yesterday. Today is Wednesday Folder day. There will be graded work inside and a form attached that needs to be signed and returned. You may keep the work. Thank you so much for all of your help.

Awesome First Week

Thank you to all the students and parents who made it a great first week back at school. The students got right down to business, quickly learning the routines and expectations of the classroom, and began learning. They started using 2 math programs this week, Fast Math and Think Through Math, and they also took their first weekly reading test on Pearson Successnet. Next week we will begin using iStation and Edmodo. I have posted a Power Point presentation filled with photos from our week. (link on the right) Don't forget, parents and students, this site has links to the homework schedule, the spelling and vocabulary lists, the reading log, and a list of the objectives we will be covering this first 9 weeks.

On Tuesday, the students will bring home their first weekly conduct report. This will need to be signed and returned as I use the same form for 8 weeks. On Wednesday, graded work will be sent home with a form that will need to be signed acknowledging that you have received the graded work. Please ask your child for these items on the appropriate days. Thank you.

I encourage you to follow this blog by email and to follow me on Twitter in case information needs to be gotten out on short notice.

Thank you again for a great week!

Thank you for a great first day!

We had a fairly smooth and productive first day of school. Everyone did a great job of following directions and living up to expectations. I will be taking pictures of what we do this week and will post a slide show on Friday or Saturday. The students practiced passing papers and lining up with maximum efficiency. I began training them on using Think Through Math. Ask your child to retell the story "Lizzy's Lion" which was today's read aloud. I am looking forward to getting even more done tomorrow. Below are just a couple of notes.

The homework is probably a bit different than the children are used to, so this week my focus will be on helping them get on track with that. I will not be giving conduct marks related to homework until I am sure that they all know what is expected.

This year, we would like all students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade to have an agenda. The agenda will provide a place for students to record assignments and reminders. It will also be a place for parents and teachers to communicate. The PTA is selling the school selected agenda for $5. There should be a note about it Tuesday or Wednesday detailing the procedure for purchasing. (If you ordered a supply pack from the PTA, your child already has the agenda.) Our goal is for every child to have this by next week so they can begin writing in on Tuesday.

Thank you, and as always, if you have any questions, please let me know.

Welcome to 3rd Grade

My name is Brad Quentin and this will be my 3rd year at Sinclair and my 13th year of teaching in HISD. All of those years have been spent teaching elementary.When I am not teaching, I enjoy reading, music, and travel. Sadly, this past summer did not include much travel, but you can read about some of my other trips here: http://luckybearfamily.blogspot.com/

My philosophy of education is that every child has the ability to be successful so long as they are supported, nurtured, and encouraged in an academically rigorous, safe, and respectful environment.. I fully expect that each student will, from time to time, fall short of their best academically and behaviorally this year. I am comfortable with these failures provided that the students meet them with perseverance and increased resolve to improve. One of my major goals for students is for them to learn that failure is not a permanent condition, but that it is a learning opportunity.

I am looking forward to working with you and your children this year. Third grade represents a large step up in terms of expectations. I have found that parents and students alike are often surprised by how much more is demanded in third grade. These increased demands can be a challenge, but by working together and keeping each other informed, we will ensure that each of your children are successful.

This page will be the primary place to get information about what is going on in class. I will post updates at least a couple times a month. On the right hand side of this page you will find links to the homework schedule and other important documents like the class newsletters and the reading log. There are also links to Sinclair and HISD's websites as well as the math and reading books and some of the other programs we will be using this year like Think Through Math and Edmodo.

If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Email is best (I will see it almost immediately), but you can call the office also. I will get back to you within 24 hours.

We are going to have a great year!