Tracy Champagne

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to another exciting school year! We are off to a great start, and I am delighted to be working with your children this year! They are such a sweet, bright and fun group of boys and girls! Our first couple of weeks have gone well learning about our school and classroom rules and procedures. The students are also becoming more confident about using their new third grade agendas and Jungle binders. We have been busy learning many new skills and concepts, as well as taking some assessments so that Mrs. Champagne can see what we already know. I can't wait to see everyone again for Open House on Tuesday, September 6th. from 6:45 until 7:45 to share more about what's going on in our classroom!

Thanks so much to all for sending in wish list items! These are so appreciated by myself and the class! Please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns that you may have before Open House, or at any other time during the year. My email address is tracy.champagne@cobbk12.org. See you at Open House!

March News!

 
Thank you so much parents and students for all of the fantastic flowers, treats, goodies, and school  supplies sent in during Teacher Appreciation Week!  You all made me feel very special and much appreciated!  

Your child  has had the opportunity to review, practice and extend their learning in the area of reading for the past couple of weeks during our Third Grade "Camp Bullard."  Students switch classes for the first hour of the day to participate in CRCT practice.   We will continue with this until the week before Spring Break! 

The CRCT will be given after our Spring Break from April 12th to April 21st.  Please remember that although the students have had the chance to take the CRCT in both 1st. and 2nd. grade, this is the first time that the students must read the entire test themselves.  The third grade test is not read to them with the exception of the beginning directions.  Students must read the passages and questions themselves, as well as pace themselves during the test. 

CRCT practice and review is available on the Bulllard webpage.   Go to the Bullard Webpage, look under Quick Links, and you will find "CRCT Links."   You can go to the OAS website by entering www.georgiaoas.org and enter in the login and password "grade3" (this is both the login and password.)  This website will give your child practice with questions similar to those on the test they will take. 

I am very proud of  the progress that the students have made and continue to make, and thank you all tremendously for all the support you give to me and your children on a daily basis!

Congratulations to Bella Paulson Lovato!  Bella's science project received 2nd. place at Bullard's Science Fair, and she will be moving on to the TMC Science Fair this week!  Way to go Bella!

Upcoming Events and Reminders

March 24:  Report Cards Go Home!  Please sign and return the signature card.  No need to return the envelope.  Please keep the report card.  Let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

March 25:  Please send in your Economics' Day donations by this date.  Remember each student should also send in a new or gently used third grade book by this date as well.  If you have forgotten what you were asked to donate, just jot me a note and I will let you know.   Thanks!  Our volunteers are ready to start getting all of these supplies organized in time for the big day!

March 25:  Scholastic Book orders for March due!  I will send another one home in April if you are interested in purchasing books for summer reading.

March 28:  Super Specials this day!  Remember to wear sneakers.

March 29:  Picture Day!  Remember to bring your money on this day if you are purchasing either class pictures or individual pictures. 

March 30:  Set up immediately after school for Economics' Day.  Please come and help if you can!

March 31:  ECONOMICS' DAY!   Wear your red class T-shirt on this day!  No backpacks needed... you may bring your lunchbox. 

April 4-April 8:  Spring Break!  Rest, relax, and enjoy yourself!

April 12-April 21:  CRCT testing!  Get a good night's rest, eat a healthy breakfast, be on time, and bring a jacket in case the room is cool!  Of course, bring that smart brain of yours!

Coming Soon!  Book Publishing Celebration!  Date To Be Announced!  I plan on having this in April after CRCT testing is over. 

Welcome Back January Newsletter!

Please read the attached newsletter for information about new topics we are studying, news, and reminders! 

Download January 4, 2011 Newsletter

Market Day Reminders

 
Remember that Third Grade's Market Day is Thursday, December 16th!  Parents are more than welcome to attend and help out.  Third Graders are allowed to hire parents to watch their businesses for them as they shop, so beware you may temporarily be put to work.  Students however, must pay anyone who watches their business a dollar for every half hour worked.  Parents are more than welcome to use their "Jungle money" to shop themselves.

 By this time, your child should already have turned in their Product Proposal Sheet and the Price and Quantity Sheet.  If your child has not done so, please be sure to have them fill this in and return it as soon as possible.  This way I can give your child suggestions about price, quantity, set up, etc. prior to Market Day.

 Advertising and Slogan Sheets are due this Monday, December 6.  Students should already be planning their posters and creating their Market Day Products in order to have everything ready for the big event. 

Student posters should be neat, colorful, and include their Company Name, Catchy Slogan, and the cost of the item/items they are selling.  Posters are due on Monday, December 13th. 

Our Market Preview Day is Wednesday, December 15th.  Students will set up their poster and at least a small sample of their products on this afternoon.  Other classes will be allowed to walk through our rooms to preview the products being sold so they can plan out where they would like to shop.

In past years the students have come up with some clever ideas for displaying their products!  Below are some of their ideas.

• Bring a piece of fabric to lay across the top of your desk to lay out your products. 
• Display items in baskets, lazy susans, hanging on small boards, or hanging from small Christmas trees (if ornaments.)
• Some students have created business cards to hand out on the day of the preview to promote their product.
• One year, I even had a student wear a decorated apron with her company name written on it, as she sold her cookies. 
• Some students will sell bags already containing a piece of tissue paper for students to use to gift wrap items they have bought for family members or even give out complimentary bags as part of their purchase.  Some students will have a little dish of candy or mints for customers to have as a thank you for buying one of their products. 

Feel free to be as creative as you like and have fun with this!  The students have a blast and learn so much from the whole process.  We will discuss Market Day as we learn more about economics later in the year!  Please let me know if you have any questions or if I can do anything here at school to help you.

 

 

 

Ancient Greece and Our Democracy

Please download the newsletter below to find out what your child is learning about Ancient Greece and our democracy.  The newsletter has background information, important vocabulary, CRCT type questions, websites for your child to visit and more....

Download RootsofDemocracyParentletter

Weekly Update! Check Out What We've Been Learning...

We've learned quite a bit this week, even with our many schedule changes!  Check out what we've been up to!

• Reading:  Focus lessons will be on learning how to respond to both fiction and non-fiction books during student I.D.R. time, or Individual Daily Reading.  We will also be focusing in on learning the basic story elements of fictional texts such as setting, characters, plot, problem and solution. 
• Writing:   Our first written pieces have been all about being descriptive!   We've finished our descriptive color poems, and these can be seen at Back to School Night!  The students had a great job challenging themselves to find words to help describe a color without using the actual color word!  We have begun descriptive paragraphs this week entitled "My Favorite Place."    
• Spelling: The spelling pattern this week is words ending in long vowel sounds.  Please make sure your child is studying nightly even when it does not say specifically to study.  We practice these in class, however many students need the additional at home time for practice.  Spellingcity.com is a wonderful tool for helping your child practice.
• Math:  We will to review place value as we begin moving into addition and subtraction this week.  We have spent a great deal of time practicing our estimation skills by rounding numbers to the nearest thousands, hundreds and tens place.  Rounding is a key skill needed for estimating sums and differences, an important third grade concept.
• Social Studies:  It's All Greek to Me!  Students are learning how Greece is the place where democracy first began!  We've compared and contrasted the First Olympic Games with Today's Olympics as well as taken a look at how the Ancient Greeks have influenced the type of buildings we have today.

Important Dates to Remember:

-- Tuesday, 8/24: Picture Day for Third Grade   

-- Wednesday, 8/25: Early Release Day

-- Saturday, 8/28: Back to School Bash 

-- Monday, 9/6: Labor Day (No School)

-- Monday, 9/20-Friday 9/24:  Fall Break (No School)

--Tuesday, 9/28 and Wednesday, 9/29: Cogat Testing for Third

--Monday, 10/4-Friday 10/8:  ITBS Testing for Third

• Reading:  Focus lessons will be on learning how to respond to both fiction and non-fiction books during student I.D.R. time, or Individual Daily Reading.  We will also be focusing in on learning the basic story elements of fictional texts such as setting, characters, plot, problem and solution. 
• Writing:   Our first written pieces have been all about being descriptive!   We've finished our descriptive color poems, and these can be seen at Back to School Night!  The students had a great job challenging themselves to find words to help describe a color without using the actual color word!  We have begun descriptive paragraphs this week entitled "My Favorite Place."    
• Spelling: The spelling pattern this week is words ending in long vowel sounds.  Please make sure your child is studying nightly even when it does not say specifically to study.  We practice these in class, however many students need the additional at home time for practice.  Spellingcity.com is a wonderful tool for helping your child practice.
• Math:  We will to review place value as we begin moving into addition and subtraction this week.  We have spent a great deal of time practicing our estimation skills by rounding numbers to the nearest thousands, hundreds and tens place.  Rounding is a key skill needed for estimating sums and differences, an important third grade concept.
• Social Studies:  It's All Greek to Me!  Students are learning how Greece is the place where democracy first began!  We've compared and contrasted the First Olympic Games with Today's Olympics as well as taken a look at how the Ancient Greeks have influenced the type of buildings we have today.

Important Dates to Remember:

What are we learning in Math?

Want to know what your child will be learning about this first nine weeks in Math?  Please download the Parent Letter below to see this quarter's math standards.  It includes a few activities you can do at home to reinforce concepts taught here at school! 

Download Math parent letter 1st nine weeks

First Week Reminders!

Dear parents,

Our first full week of school has already been quite busy!  The students are becoming more familiar with using their binders and new materials in the classroom.  They are a wonderful group of children and are following directions well.  Thank you so much to all who have sent in forms from Sneak-a-Peek!  Please return these as soon as possible if you haven't already!  A BIG THANKS to those who have sent in wish list items! They are greatly appreciated!  To help us get a good routine going, please see the list of information and reminders below:

• Agenda:  Please check your child's agenda nightly for homework and other reminders, then sign in the space at the bottom.  The student's will be showing me someone signed each morning when they get to school.
• Weekly Reading Log:  Your child should be reading nightly and recording their information on their Weekly Reading Log located inside of their binder.  Please keep these in the clear page protector so your child will have this each Monday.  Parents should initial these nightly.  The students are expected to read about 120 minutes or more each week, including the time they spend reading over the weekend.
• Spelling Words:  Please study your child's spelling words nightly!  This week a list of words was stapled inside of their agenda however, next week your child will be writing them into their agenda book themselves.  Please check out the terrific link located to the left for Spelling City.com  I will enter the student's spelling words each week, and the students may use this site to practice their spelling words with a variety of games and activities.  This week students can start with Word Sort 1.  This is just another way that you can practice your words each day.
• Student Work:  Please take out papers in the front pocket of your child's binder each night.  Please just return homework and other information for me in this pocket. 
• Weekly Update:  This Friday, your child's Weekly Update will be sent home letting you know what kind of week they had at school.  Please review and sign next to this week's date.  This update is hot pink in color!  You can't miss it! 
• Parent News Notebook:   This will usually go home on Friday and should be returned each Monday.  Please see the letter on the inside cover of your child's notebook of an explanation of how we use this notebook. 
• Snack:  Remember to bring a healthy snack from home each day.  You may also bring a water bottle to school each day.
• Specialist Calendar:  Check this calendar on the back cover of your child's binder each night to see if they need to wear althletic shoes to school for P.E.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!  I am more than happy to talk with you!

Open House will be August 31st. from 7:30-8:30.  There will be one session only, which is different than in pprevious years.  I look forward to seeing you there!

Welcome to Third Grade!

Dear parents and students,

Welcome to an exciting new school year!  I am looking forward to working with a brand new group of third graders this year!  It was terrific to see all of you at Sneak-a-Peek. Our first two days of school went very well with getting to know you games, learning about the rules, putting together our Jungle binders to keep us organized and sharing our "Brag Bags."  This year promises to be fun, challenging and most importantly educational.  Our Back to School Night will be on August 31st from 7:30-8:30.  Parents will be able to learn more about third grade curriculum, expectations, and classroom procedures.  I look forward to seeing you all there!  I will be updating our blog frequently, so please continue to check back often! 

Heat Study Guide

We will be having a test on Heat Energy on Monday, March 1st.  Below you will find a study guide to help you begin to study.   We will be filling the study guide in during class and students will bring this home on Thursday.  They will also take home their Scienc textbook and Science practice books home as well to reread the information as needed.  Just click on the link below for a preview of the study guide or if you happen to need another copy. 

Download Heat-study-guide