Welcome to the Best School Year Ever

It was great to meet those of you who were able to make it to Meet the Teacher on Friday. I am looking forward to meeting the rest of the class on Monday.

The first few weeks will consist of establishing classroom procedures and routines and getting down to work. We will begin the year in reading with a unit of realistic fiction in which we will learn about the elements of fiction and write summaries. We will also read the novel "Sideways Stories From Wayside School". Math begins with problems solving procedures and place value to 100,000. In science we start with safety and measurement. Maps and geography will be our focus to start the year in social studies.

On Monday, the students will bring home a packet of forms that will need to be read, signed,and returned to school at you earliest convenience.They will also have the homework schedule for the first 9 weeks as well as the spelling lists for the quarter. Please know that the homework schedule is not set in stone. If I feel that it need adjusting to better serve the class, I will change it. In the event that the schedule is altered, I will provide the students with a new one and post the updated copy in the links to the right. The reading log is to be returned, completed, the following Monday, I do not check it daily.

I am excited to work with your children this year. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for a wonderful year!

I cannot say enough how very much I have enjoyed working with your children this year. They are one of the best groups I have ever had, and I will miss them next year.

There are just a couple of final things to pass along:

1. A note went home today from the PTA regarding HISD's budget plan for next year and its potential impact on Sinclair. In short, the school would lose about $145,000 from its budget over the next 2 years. If you are concerned about this, please contact the Board of Education and Superintendent Grier. You can read about the proposal here: HISD Magnet Budget Proposal
2. It probably goes without saying, but please make sure your children read over the summer. A note went home today with information about the summer reading program HISD and Sinclair are sponsoring. They can also use TTM over the summer. If they have forgotten their login information, just email me and I will send it to you. A little bit of reading and math, say, a couple hours a week each, will keep them from losing the skills they have worked so hard to acquire this year.
3. Finally, I encourage you to get out and explore some of the city's wonderful museums and performing arts groups. Many of the museums in the Museum District have free days once a week. Miller Outdoor Theater has a great array of free performances going on all summer. My personal favorite thing to do in summer is to go to Padre Island National Seashore to watch a hatchling sea turtle release. The Kemp's Ridley sea turtle is highly endangered, so when nests are found, the eggs are collected and incubated until the turtles hatch. When they are ready, National Park Service scientists release them on the beach at sunrise. I have found that if you leave Houston at 2am, you can be at the release site by 6:15 or so, even if you stop for donuts. You may prefer to stay overnight in a hotel in Corpus Christi which would leave you with just a 30-40 minute drive to the release. Park admission is waived if you are attending the release. Read all about it here: Padre Island National Seashore sea turtle releases

Baby sea turtles crawl across the beach at Padre Island Nat'l Seashore





Nearly there...

Thank you parents for coming to our awards ceremony today. I am extremely proud of all of your children and the progress they have made this year.

Tomorrow they will empty their desks, so please make sure they have sufficient bag space to take home all of their things.

Don't forget Thursday is the last day for students. We will have our celebration after lunch.

If anyone made a video of our song from this morning that you can send me, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you for coming to GT Expo

Here is a link to the first performance of "The Rainbow Connection" from today. I will post the send take when I get a chance.

Rainbow Connection, Take 1

The End is Near!

The end of the school year is fast approaching. Here are some dates etc.to keep in mind for the next couple of weeks.
1. I am canceling all homework for the week with the exception of the reading log. So there will be no math or spelling, but there will be a reading log, due Monday the 25th.
2. GT Expo will be this Tuesday, the 20th from 1:30 to 2:30.
3. Third grade field day will be the 21st. Students need to come dressed to play outside. That means sneakers and a hat. A water bottle would also be a good idea.
4. Monday the 26th is a school day. This will make up for the second ice day we had back in February.
5. Our awards ceremony will be the 27th at 8:30. Students may wear "Sunday best" clothes or their regular school uniform.
6. On the 28th students will take all of their belongings home. Please make sure your child has a bag sufficient size to take everything away.
7. This Wednesday I will send home a note regarding the last day party.

It has been a great year and I thank you all for the support you've given me and the class.

Stanford and Thank You

Next week the students will take their final round of testing for the school year. That's right, it's time for Stanford testing. Most of the students will be familiar with this test as they have taken it every year that they have been in Houston ISD. The third grade level is a bit different in that less of the test is read to them. Each sub section of the test has a time limit that they will need to be mindful of. If you have any questions about the test, please let me know. Like with STAAR testing, it will be important that the students are here on time and ready to work.

I would like to thank all you for the outpouring of gifts for teacher appreciation week. I am truly overwhelmed by your generosity. Thank you for everything, most particularly for the privilege of working everyday with your wonderful children. I will miss each and every one of them next year. They are a great group of students. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

STAAR Wars and other news

The STAAR test is practically upon us. Next Tuesday, students will take the math portion, and on Wednesday, the reading. It is imperative that students arrive on time. They need to be well rested and have a good breakfast. They will have an uninterrupted block of 4 hours to complete each test, and it is my expectation that they use most of that time. Breaks are allowed, but the clock does not stop. We will be discussing test procedures in class over the next few days. Obviously, I do not want the children to stress, but a passing score on the STAAR tests is a promotion standard, so they must take the test seriously. I expect them to use all of the strategies they have learned this year. They know that they are to show work for every problem, and when they finish they are to go back and check that work to be sure that it is correct. I am seeing an uptick in careless mistakes on the practices we are doing. I know they will all do their best and achieve at the highest level. If you have any questions about the test, please contact me.

You probably heard that we have started gardening over the last week. We did some clean up work in the habitat where we will be working to install a butterfly garden. The class also assembled a raised garden bed and planted some vegetables. Below are some pictures.