End of Year Photos

End of Year Photos

MTS Staff Serves Community

MTS Staff volunteering at the Andre House Homeless Shelter on Saturday, May 31. What a rewarding experience! We completed various tasks from folding and sorting clothing, shoes, and bedding to sorting cosmetics.

Library Books

All library books must be returned on or before Friday. Parents will be required to purchase any/all unreturned books.
As of today our class ONLY has 4 book unreturned.

Week's Reading Selection-5/19/08

Your child is reading “Visitors from Space” by Jeanne Bendick. This nonfiction selection explains why comets have tails, how comets orbit the sun, and much more. You may enjoy discussing the selection and doing these activities with your child. Together you can develop and explore your child’s language skills.
Explore the Solar System
Talk about the solar system with your child. To find more information that you can explore together, look for these
books in your local library:
• The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System by Joanna Cole. Scholastic, 1990.
• Moons and Rings: Companions to the Planets by Jeanne Bendick. Millbrook, 1991.
• Comets and Shooting Stars by Patrick Moore. Copper Beech, 1994.
View the Night Sky
If possible, visit a planetarium with your child or view the sky on a clear night. You might also check out books on astronomy from a library. Have your child draw a picture of what he or she observes, such as the Moon or the Big Dipper. Help him or her label the picture with the date, the place, the time and a brief caption. Your child can later share the night sky picture with classmates.

Week's Reading Selection-5/12/08

Your child is reading “The Armadillo from Amarillo”by Lynne Cherry. This fantasy is about an armadillo named Sasparillo, who wonders how big the world is and where his place is in it. The story teaches children about geography. You may enjoy discussing the story and doing these activities with your child. Together you and your child can enrich his or her language skills.
Let’s Take a Trip
Talk with your child about a trip you have taken or would like to take. Tell him or her what you learned about the place, why you wanted to go there, how you got there, and what happened on your journey. If you have mementos or photographs of your trip, share them with your child. Encourage your child to ask you questions and to share
his or her ideas for a trip.
Reading Together
Your child may enjoy reading with you other awardwinning books written and illustrated by Lynne Cherry. You might be able to find the following books and
several others in your local library:
• A River Ran Wild. Harcourt Brace, 1992.
• The Great Kapok Tree. Harcourt Brace, 1990.
• Flute’s Journey. Harcourt Brace, 1997.

Week's Reading Selection-5/5/08

Your child is reading “Rocking and Rolling” by Phillip Steele.
This nonfiction article tells what lies under the Earth’s surface and how the forces of nature have shaped the Earth’s features. As you and your child talk about these processes and try these activities together, you will be developing and exploring your child’s language skills.
Read All About It
Help your child read and discuss other books about the Earth’s land.
Look for books like these in your local library:
• A Walk Up the Mountain by Caroline Arnold. Silver, 1990.
• Volcanoes by Keith Lye. Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1993.
• Our Earth by Anne Rockwell. Harcourt Brace, 1998.
Being Prepared
Help your child create a poster that lists what family members should do if a natural disaster strikes your area. Your child may want to take the poster to school to exchange ideas with other students after reading “Rocking and Rolling.”

Week's Reading Selection-4/28/08

Your child is reading “Alejandro’s Gift,” a story about a lonely man named Alejandro,who digs a water hole for desert animals that live near his home. The animals stay away because the hole is too near Alejandro’s house,so he digs a second hole that is more sheltered.In the end,he is no longer lonely.You may wish to work with your child to complete these activities as a way to develop your child’s language skills.
Discuss Desert Details
Invite your child to describe what Alejandro’s life was like.Prompt your child with questions such as these: What kind of home did Alejandro live in? Where was it? What kinds of plants were around his house? How did Alejandro get water? You and your child might also enjoy reading other fiction and nonfiction books about the desert.
Retell the Story
Invite your child to retell “Alejandro’s Gift” in his or her own words.
Then ask your child what he or she thinks are the three most important parts of the story. Ask your child to draw three pictures to show the order of these events.Then help your child write a sentence telling about each picture. Suggest that he or she begin each sentence with a word that shows the order in which the events happened, such as first, next, and finally.

Maricopa County Fair

Week of April 7, 2008

AIMS Testing is HERE! We will be testing April 7-April 15

Ways Parents can Help
1. Make sure your child is at school every day unless they’re sick. WE NEED EVERYONE PRESENT DURING TESTING.
2. To prepare for testing day, make sure your child is physically ready. Put them to bed a little early each night during test and serve a healthy breakfast.
3. Practice relaxation techniques, such as counting from one to ten or taking deep breaths, if your child thinks he/she may be nervous on test day.
4. Encourage reading, particularly non-fiction, which often appears on standardized tests. Ask questions to ensure they understand what they are reading: What is the main idea? How was the problem resolved? Ask them to express their own ideas or opinions about what they’ve read.

5. Encourage your children to decipher difficult words their own. Don’t just provide the answer. Also, practice using the dictionary at home to look up words to double check spelling and learn their meanings.
6. Make Math a part of every day, asking what time you should leave the house to get to school by 7:45 if it takes 25 minutes to get here.
7. Take time to review skills nightly. There is NO HOMEWORK during test, but encourage your child to review reading and math skills nightly.

Week of March 31, 2008

We will be making final preparations this week for AIMS Testing. Please take time to review each and every homework assignment with your child. No reading selection for the next three weeks.

Recorder/Violin Field Trip

Thursday, March 27, 2008
The class performed for customers at the local McDonald's restaurant. The students were delighted to have McDonald's for lunch instead of the school's cafeteria lunch.

Week's Reading Selection-3/24/ 08

Your child is reading “If You Made a Million” by David M. Schwartz. This selection introduces children to the relative values of coins and paper money and to the decision-making aspects of earning, spending, and saving money. You may enjoy discussing this selection and doing these activities with your child. Together you can develop and explore your child’s language skills.
More About Money
Ask your child to share what she or he has learned about money from the selection. You may be able to find these other money-related books in your local library:
• Max Malone Makes Million by Charlotte Herman. Henry Holt, 1992.
• The Monster Money Book by Loreen Leedy. Holiday House, 1992.
• The Go-Around Dollar by Barbara Johnston Adams. Simon & Schuster, 1992.
Dollars and Cents
Encourage your child to find out some of the ways you and others made, spent, and saved money as children. Suggest
that your child interview you, other family members and friends of the family. Work with your child to create a booklet titled “Money in the Past.” Encourage your child to share the booklet with family members and friends.

Week's Reading Selection-3/17/ 08

Your child is reading “Cocoa Ice” by Diana Appelbaum. This story, set in the early 1800’s, tells about a trading schooner that enables a community in Maine to trade ice for chocolate with a village on a Caribbean island. You may enjoy discussing the story and doing these activities with your child. Together you can develop and explore your child’s language skills.
Life in the Past
Share with your child what you know about daily life and customs of past eras. You may be able to find these books about past eras in your local library:
• Giants in the Land by Diane Appelbaum, Houghton Mifflin, 1993.
• Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall. Vicking Penquin, 1983.
• House, House by Jane Yolen. Marshall Cavendish, 1998.
Connecting Communities Everywhere
In “Cocoa Ice,” the tropical delicacy chocolate is shipped to Maine far to the north. You and your child can learn about how your community is connected with communities around the word through trade. Help your child find and read labels on clothing, packaged food, and other products to find out the countries they came from. You might have your child write a list of the products and the countries.

Week's Reading Selection-3/10/08

Your child is reading “Boom Town” by Sonia Levitin. In this historical fiction selection, a girl named Amanda helps her family out during the gold rush by making pies and selling them to the miners. Soon a town – a boom town- springs up around her business. You may enjoy discussing the story and doing these activities with your child. Together you can develop and explore your child’s language skills.

More Books from the Past
Discuss with your child the fact that many stories are set in the past.
You may be able to find these stories in your local library:
• Potato: A Tale from the Great Depression by Kate Lied. National
Geographic Society, 1997.
• Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell. Greenwillow, 1997.
• Dust for Dinner by Ann Turner. Harper-Collins, 1997.

Back in Time
Pretend that you and your child can travel to a time in the past. Decide where you would go and which time period in that place in history most appeals to you. If you can find some pictures of that time period, look at them together. Talk about what
would be different in your lives if you lived back then and what would be the same as today. Make a list of these differences and similarities. Suggest that your child draw a picture of what you both might be dressed like during the trip to the past.

Week's Reading Selection-3/3/08

Your child is reading “Yippee-Yah!” by Gail Gibbons. This nonfiction book tells about life on long cattle drives in the Old West. You may enjoy discussing the book and doing these activities with your child. Together you can enrich his or her language skills.

Reaching to Find Out
Your child may enjoy reading other books written and illustrated by Gail Gibbons. You may be able to find these
and several others in your local library:
• Caves and Caverns. Harcourt Brace, 1996.
• Soaring with the Wind: The Bald Eagle. Morrow Junior Books, 1998.
• Beacons of Light. Morrow Junior Books, 1990.

A Special Family
Talk with your child about how ranchers use a symbol on their gates and cattle to identify the ranch. Explain that when designing a symbol ranchers think of a special feature of their ranch. Talk about some of the things that are special about your family. Decide with your child how to illustrate these traits to make a family symbol. You can draw the family symbol
together and explain it to
other family members.

Week's Reading Selection-2/25/08

Your child is reading “Leah’s Pony” by Elizabeth Friedrich. This Depression-era story tells about Leah, who must make a difficult decision when her family’s farm is devastated by drought and dust storms. You may enjoy discussing the story and doing these activities with your child. Together you can develop and expand your child’s anguage skills.
More Stories About the Past
Talk with your child about some historical facts he or she learned from “Leah’s Pony.” You may be able to find these
historical fiction books in your local library:
• Dust for Dinner by Ann Turner, HarperCollins, 1997.
• Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell. Greenwillow, 1997.
• Going West by Jean Van Leeuwen. Puffin, 1997.
Hard Times
Your child can interview you or other family members about disasters such as floods, droughts, or blizzards. Help him or her record answers to questions such as these: Did your community ever experience a natural disaster? What kind of disaster was it? What do you remember about that time? How did neighbors help one another? How did you and your neighbors help one another? How did you and your neighbors rebuild the community? Your child may wish to share the interview with classmates after he or she finishes reading “Leah’s Pony.”

February Book Report(File Folder)

In celebration of Black History Month, the students will read and research information about an African Americans who has made a major contribution to this country. Historically however, their contributions have not received adequate acknowledgement . By completing this report , students will become familiar with some of the men and women whose endeavors in government, science, the arts, and sports have left a lasting legacy. In sharing the information they acquire, students may develop an awareness of the qualities of character common to those who have made a difference in the world.
The student will create a postage stamp, do a mini-report on the obstacles overcome by the person and how he made a difference, do a timeline, and more. Please plan quality time to read to your child as well as assist where needed with report.

Week's Reading Selection-2/18/08

No Class Reading Selection This week.

POW Recognition: Mark

Principal's Outstanding Work Recognition: Febuary 5, 2008

Week's Reading Selection-2/11/08

Your child is reading a play called “The Crowded House,” based on a Jewish folktale. The play tells the story of an eleven member family who feel extremely crowded in a tiny cottage. The local wise man’s advice just makes the situation worse. But in the end, the family learns the wisdom of being grateful for what they have. You and your child may have fun sharing this repetitive story and doing the activities on this page. Together you can enrich your child’s language skills.
Stage Stars
Find it Fast! While reading this play, your child is learning some important skills that require reading quickly:
• scanning to find specific information and
• skimming to find the overall ideas.
You can demonstrate the importance of these skills by scanning for things such as a number in the phone book.
Ask your child to scan the newspaper for you to find the times at which a movie is showing or the dates of a sale at a local store. Have your child skim a news story and tell you the gist of it.

Stage Reading
Reading to each other is a wonderful way to enjoy a story.
For the play, consider dividing the roles and perhaps using
different voices for each character. You could even add
sound effects.

Week's Reading Selection-2/4/08

Your child is reading “Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China” translated by Ed Young. This folktale, set in China, is a story of three young children who outwit a cunning wolf who claims to be their Po Po,or grandmother. The wolf’s greed for gingko nuts, however, saves the children’s lives. You may enjoy discussing the folktale and doing these activities with your child. Together you can develop and explore your child’s language skills.

More Tales to Read. Talk about different folktales and fairy tales with which your child is familiar. You may be able to find these tales in the library:
• Fire Race: A Karuk Coyote Tale by Jonathan London. Chronicle, 1993.
• Little Red Cowboy Hat by Susan Lowell. Henry Hold, 1997.
• The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas. Simon & Schuster, 1993.

Your Own Fairy Tale. Discuss a few familiar fairy tales that you and your child have heard or read together. Then select one tale and invite your child to create a new version of it by changing around some of the details. Possible alterations include where or when the story takes place, how the story ends, or which character is good or bad. Encourage your child to write the new version of the familiar tale and present it to family and friends.

Week’s Focus Skill: Compare and Contrast. It is to tell the how things are alike and different.

This Week's Reading Selection-1/28

Your child is reading “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears,” a West African folktale about one mosquito who causes a lot of trouble for all the other forest animals. You may enjoy discussing the story and doing these activities with your child. Together you can develop and explore your child’s language skills.

More Folktales
Talk about some things your child liked about this folktale and the
way it explained how mosquitoes act. You may be able to find these
folktales that explain other events in nature in your local library.
• How the Ostrich Got Its Long Neck by Verna Aardema. Scholastic,
1995.
• Coyote and the Laughing Butterflies by Harriet Peck Taylor.
Simon & Schuster, 1995.

Animal Pictionary
Work with your child to create an animal pictionary. Help your child list the names of all the animal characters in the story in alphabetical order. For each entry, suggest that your child draw a picture of the animal and write a few words to describe it. You may enjoy looking for books at the library or looking on a computer to learn more about some animals.

Martin Luther King,Jr. March-January 21, 2008

Jelani Goode marching along side Governor Janet Napolitano at Monday's MLK March.

Week of January 22

No SPELLING or VOCABULARY WORDS this week, due to short week. Please use the study time to practice multiplication facts and work on Book Report.

CEREAL BOX BOOK REPORT

This month's selection: Caldecott Medal Book
Students will read their self-selected book and create a cereal box book report at home. Students will
decorate a real cereal box with illustrations and information related to the book they read. Student have received instruction sheet for project.

New ALPS Student

Congrats!
Mary

Coyote Places the Stars

Your child is reading “Coyote Places the Stars,” by Harriet Peck Taylor. This story is adapted from several Native American folktales that tell a story about why we see constellations in the sky. You and your child may enjoy sharing the story and these activities. As you do so, you will be helping your child develop language skills.

Listen to a Storyteller
Today, as in past years, storytellers keep traditions alive by telling old stories to new generations. Your family can be a part of this process. With your child, attend a storyteller’s performance in your community. Afterward, work with your child to
retell the storyteller’s best story to others in your family. Encourage your child to write down that story or a story of his or her own.

Traditional Tales
Help your child read and discuss other traditional tales. Look
for books like these in your local library:
• Why the Sky is Far Away by Mary-Joan Gerson. Little, Brown,
1995.
• Anansi and the Talking Melon by Eric A. Kimmel. Holiday
House, 1995.
• Coyote Steals the Blanket by Janet Stevens, Holiday House,
1993.

Papa Tells Chita A Story

 Chita loves to hear Papa's story of adventures during the Spanish-American War.  In this historical fiction selection, a young girl is entertained by the story of her father's brave trek to bring back reinforcements during the Spanish War.  She enjoys his oft-told story so much that she gleefully anticipates all the details.  

Week's Reading Focus Skill:             Summarizing

Summarizing is telling the important ideas in a story in your own words.

CELEBRATE FAMILY

Tell your child a story you remember your family telling you when you were a child.  It can be about something real or made up; it can be brief or detailed. What is important is that is a story you can pass down to your child.  Enjoy your retellings.  Perhaps you can even tape record your stories to share with aunts, uncles, cousins, or grandparents at a family party.

Welcome Back!

I hope you all had a joyous holiday season.  I'm sure you are anxious to share the excitements of the holidays as well as get back to learning 3rd grade skills.