Our Playground!!

Many oppurtunities are in effect to help GAB raise money for our playground!

Pepsi Grant Votes! - We are in an alliance for other schools in order to help us get closer to the top!

http://www.refresheverything.com/

1. Vote online via Pepsi Refresh: (Use the link above) Create a username and  password. Click Vote for this Project. (You can use the same one from before if you want)

http://www.refresheverything.com/forest-pines-elementary-interactive-boards-for-interactive-lessons   Forest Pines Elementary (25K technology)

http://www.refresheverything.com/gabplayground   Grady Brown Elementary  (25 K for a playground) 

http://www.refresheverything.com/pathwaystechnology   Pathways Elementary (50 K for technology)

http://www.refresheverything.com/gravellyoutdoorclassroom  Gravelly Hill Middle School (10K for an outdoor classroom)

http://www.refresheverything.com/stough   Stough Elementary (50K for technology)

2. Vote online using Facebook login: Log out of the Pepsi site, then re-enter the site but this time use the "Login with Facebook" button. Now vote again!

3. Text your vote! TEXT Pepsi’s phone number of 73774 and put in the message line one of the numbers below and hit send.  Once you get a reply do it again with the next number:

105868    (Gravelly Hill Middle School)

105943    (Grady Brown Elementary)

106034    (Forest Pines Elementary)

106249    (Pathways Elementary)

106254    (Stough Elementary)

Raffle Ticket Sales! - be sure to sell both the red and blue ticket and you will be responsible for helping raise $3,500 for our play ground!

Silent Auction Basket Items - Please send in money or items for our "Pamper Yourself" Spa Basket! Items may include, but are not limited to:  

Candles

Manicure set

Nail polish

Foot lotion

Foot scrub

Body lotion

Body wash

Bath Pillow

Eye mask

CD of relaxing music

May News

What We're Learning!

Testing—EOGs are the week of May 16th.  We will be having a “Blitz” (review) week starting May 2nd. Students will be put into smaller groups and will review all the information they have learned this year and have added on to from previous years. 

Social Studies– We have just finished learning about communities and how they have changed over time with Ms. Price!

Math— We are continuing to work on probability, keeping what we have learned this year fresh in our memory, and learning a few new things for next year!

Reading— We will be working on poetry, and also using the “Senteos” more in class!  Ask your student to explain what these are!

Writing— In writing, we are working on taking out unnecessary information, expanding the information we need, and learning to edit our own work.  The students’ reading and writing abilities have shown great progress!

Announcements!!!

Young Citizens

Our next Young Citizens Program will be coming soon!

Pepsi Grant

We have began a new round of voting for the Pepsi Grant of $25,000! Spread the word and VOTE!  See the pink flyer that was sent home on May 2nd.

Sell Raffle Tickets for the PTA Fundraiser!

Auction Basket— Please send in money or items for the Silent Auction PTA Fundraiser!  See Flyer from last week.

Field Trip

Our field trip to Old Salem was Thursday, April 20th.  THANK YOU to everyone for getting in your permission form and money!  THANK YOU to those parents who were able to volunteer to chaperone!  I know it isn’t easy to get off work, and I want you to know I appreciate you very much!

Spring Picture Packets— Please send back the spring picture packets.  If you are not purchasing any, please send the entire packet back.  If you would like to purchase part of the packet, please send in the money and the remainder of the packet.  If you are purchasing the entire packet, send in the form with the money.  I also have 2 more class picture for sale for $10.

EVENT DATES 

· May 2-6—BLITZ EOG review

· May 9-13—EOG review in class

· May 16-19—EOGs

· May 24-26—EOG retakes

April News

What we're learning!

Testing—EOGs are the week of May 16th.  We will be having a “Blitz” (review) week starting May 2nd. Students will be put into smaller groups and will review all the information they have learned this year and have added on to from previous years. 

Social Studies- In social studies for the next three weeks, the students will be with Ms Price and will be learning about communities and how they have changed over time.

Math— We are learning about measurement and three dimensional objects. During calendar time, we are learning about probability, combinations and permutation, also.

Reading— We will continue to work with Mrs. Lewis, as she helps to teach about reading comprehension strategies, including sequencing, inferring, recipes, and more. 

Writing—In writing, we are working on taking out unnecessary information, expanding the information we need, and learning to edit our own work.  The students’ reading and writing abilities have shown great progress!

February News

Report Cards/Grades
Report cards came home last week, and I wanted to open up the afternoons and my planning time (1:30-2:10) if you would like to come and conference about your student's grades and/or behavior.  We will continue with tutoring provided by Mrs. Cain, former GAB teacher. 

February 28th is a snow make-up day.

Illness and Excuse Notes
There has been a lot of sickness going around.  The flu seems to be spreading as well as a few cases of strep that I am aware of.  Please keep your student at home if they present a fever.  Please keep them at home until they have been fever-free for 24 hours.  Also, please send in excuse notes about sickness as soon as possible.

What we're learning!
In math we are working hard on our multiplication facts and working division into the mix as well.  Help your student practice any cahnce you get! Multiplication is a major concept they must know for 3rd grade and on.
For reading, Mrs. Lewis and I are working with the class on conprehending what they are reading and being able to write about what they have read and what their brain is saying as they read.  In writing, we are working on turning our small ideas into large stories.  The students are becoming very good at writing for an extended amount of time (15 minutes), whereas when we began, 6 minutes felt like eternity to them!  In science, we have continued to learn about plants and their growth.  Soon, they will be heading to Mrs. Sexton's room to learn about economics.

Please, feel free to contact me with any concerts you may have. hope.albertson@orange.k12.nc.us or (919)732-6138 ext. 45304

November updates

CogAt... Starting Tuesday, November 16, we will be doing the CogAt, or Cognitive Ability Test.  This test is mainly used for certification for AIG.  The testing will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8:30-10:00am.

T-Shirts... almost all students have turned in money for our grade level t-shirts.  THANK YOU so much to those of you who sent in extra money to purchase the tie-dye materials!

Behavior reports... A behavior report will be coming home tomorrow, along with graded papers we have worked on since the beginning of the second quarter.  Please review these papers, sign, and return.

Math... We will be working on symmetry and congruency, naming and labeling shapes, etc.

Reading... We will continue to work on reading comprehension with thanksgiving stories.  Last week, we had a fun time learning to read with fluency as we practice and performed "Cinderella outgrows the glass slippers."  This was a culminating activity after reading five different Cinderella stories the work before and we worked on comparing and contrasting.

Next Monday and Tuesday, we will be taking part in some Thanksgiving activities to get us ready to celebrate the holidays!

Happy Halloween!

Next Tuesday, October 26th, we are painting and doing some activities with pumpkins!  You should have received a note mentioning this.  If you are able, please send in a small pumpkin (smaller than your student's head).  If you are unable to send one in, please let me know ASAP so that I can get one for them.

That Tuesday is also Ident-A-Kid picture/card day.  If you would like to participate, please send in the money and form that was sent home.  The class with the most participation gets a pizza party!

The Citipass fundraiser has began!  If you are able to sell any books to help raise money, please collect the information asked for on the front of the envelope and money.  If you are unable to sell any, please send back the sample book.  The fundraiser ends Wednesday, November 3.  The class that sells the most books gets a popsicle party!

Next Thursday, October 28th, we are doing Halloween rotations, where we will be going from class-to-class with the other third grades doing Halloween type activities from 9am-12:15pm.  If you can volunteer to help, please let me know!  Also, if you have any fun activity ideas, let me know!

Report card conferences are all next week.  If you have forgotten your appointment time/day, please send me an e-mail or note and I will remind you again.  Reminders will go home on Monday, however.  Please let me know if the time you signed up for no longer works.

Friday, October 29th is a teacher workday.  No school for students that day.

Updates

Good Morning Parents/Guardians!

A few updates on changes in the classroom.
I will now only be sending classwork home every other Monday, instead of every Monday.
There will be 8-10 spelling words instead of 6, and I will only be giving one list a week.  The test will be given on Thursdays, and a high frequency words spelling test will be given on some Fridays.
By the end of this week, we will have covered our concentration on addition and subtraction and will be working on geometry for the remaining two weeks of the first quarter. 
Conferences for report cards will begin soon.  So look for a sign-up sheet to be coming home soon as well.
We have been having themed reading the past few weeks; apples, hats, and now Columbus.  Next is fire safety, and my favorite, Halloween and pumpkins!

As always if you have any concerns or questions, send in a note or e-mail me.