January 2011 Lunch menu

Monday, Jan. 3: hot dog
Tues., Jan.4: hot baked potato with ham and cheese
Wed., Jan. 5: breaded pork chop
Thurs., Jan. 6: sloppy joes
Fri., Jan 7: chicken noodle soup

Mon., Jan. 10: mandarin orange chicken
Tues., Jan. 11: chicken fiesta wrap
Wed., Jan. 12: roasted turkey in gravy
Thurs., Jan. 13: super nachos
Fri., Jan. 14: peanut butter and jam

Mon., Jan. 17: no school (Martin Luther King's birthday)
Tues., Jan. 18: spaghetti
Wed., Jan. 19: cheese pizza
Thurs., Jan. 20: breaded beef steak
Fri., Jan. 21: corn dogs

Mon., Jan. 24: waffle stix
Tues., Jan. 25: no school
Wed., Jan. 26: breaded chicken
Thurs., Jan. 27: mac and cheese
Fri., Jan. 28: cheeseburger

Mon., Jan. 31: BBQ pork rib-b-q

Math websites

The following websites have great worksheets that you can generate to help your children with their math facts. These websites are also great for helping your child with other math concepts. I hope you will have a chance to look at these sites.


http://www.mathfactcafe.com
http://math-drills.com
http://www.superkids.com
http://www.freemathworksheets.net
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com

December notes

November AR Report
I am sending a letter home with your child tomorrow along with their November AR report. Please ask your child for this letter and go over the report with him/her, sign it, and have your child return it to me.

Holiday Traditions
We will be writing about our favorite holiday traditions/memories. Please have your child think of any favorite recipes along with a memory or story about them and have your child bring the recipes to school as soon as possible.

Christmas Poems
My class will also have the opportunity to choose a Christmas poem each week to recite to me as their fluency homework. If they choose to memorize it, they can earn AR points (the amount will vary depending on the length and difficulty of the poem). I appreciate your support in helping your child practice reading or memorizing it.

December Lunch Menu

The Cache County School District does have a menu that they go by for the month (I provided a link to it in an earlier post). But we don't necessarily know the specific menu items that they serve at Mountainside on a particular day. So I thought it would be helpful for you to know the exact schedule. Here it is:

December Lunch Menu for Mountainside Elementary

Wed. Dec. 1: whole grain breaded pork chop
Thurs. Dec. 2: sloppy joes
Fri. Dec. 3: chicken noodle soup

Mon. Dec. 6: mandarin orange chicken
Tues. Dec. 7: chicken fiesta wrap
Wed. Dec. 8: roasted turkey in gravy
Thurs. Dec. 9: super nachos
Fri. Dec. 10: cheeseburger

Mon. Dec. 13: breaded chicken on a bun
Tues. Dec. 14: spaghetti
Wed. Dec. 15: Pizza Hut cheese pizza
Thurs. Dec. 16: sliced ham
Fri. Dec. 17: corn dog

Mon. Dec. 20: waffle stix
Tues. Dec. 21: ham and cheese melt
Wed. Dec. 22: baked breaded chicken

No school from Dec. 23-Jan. 2.

Tops and Bottoms: Spelling and Vocabulary Words for the week of November 29- December 3

Spelling Words (words with spl, thr, squ, str):
1. splash
2. throw
3. three
4. square
5. throat
6. strike
7. street
8. split
9. splurge
10. thrill
11. strength
12. squeak
13. throne
14. scratch
15. squeeze
Challenge Words
16. squid
17. squander
18. arthritis
19. instrument
20. strategy
Frequently Misspelled Words
21. scared
22. brother

Vocabulary Words:
bottom: the lowest part
cheated: acted dishonestly
clever: having a quick mind
crops: plants grown to be used as food or sold for profit
lazy: not willing to work
partners: people who run a business together and share the gains and losses of it
wealth: a great amount of money or valuable things

Native American Pow Wow

Our third grade Native American Pow Wow is scheduled for Tuesday, November 23. It will be an all-day event filled with lots of fun crafts and activities with a taster's table at the end of the day (from 2-3 p.m.). I will need volunteers all day long: 9:15-10:05, 10:10-11:00, 11:15-12:05, 12:55-1:45, and 2:00-3:00. As of today (11/11/10), I have most of my volunteers(4) signed up from 9:15-10:05, only 2 from 10:10-11:00, 1 from 11:15-12:05, 0 from 12:55-1:45, and 2 from 2:00-3:00. If you can volunteer during the times where there are very few or no people signed up, that would be wonderful! I can keep you up to date on where I need volunteers. I appreciate those who are willing to come help! I also have enough people to make play dough, so thank you for helping with that. And thanks to those who have donated paper towel and toilet paper rolls; keep them coming!

Spelling City

Spellingcity.com is a great website where you can play spelling games with our spelling words. To access my account, go to spellingcity.com, click on "find a teacher", type "ensign," and click on my name. It will show our school, Mountainside Elementary. Then you can click on the spelling list that we have for the week. And then you can play various games or do various activities to learn your spelling words for the week.

I Wanna Iguana: Spelling and Vocabulary List for the week of Nov. 8-12

Vocabulary Words
adorable: cute and lovable
compassionate: feeling sympathy
exactly: precisely
iguana: a tropical lizard with a crest on its back
mature: fully grown; adult
mention: to talk briefly about someone or something
trophies: awards

Spelling Words
1. handle
2. trouble
3. simple
4. people
5. middle
6. table
7. little
8. gentle
9. poodle
10. pickle
11. noodle
12. saddle
13. juggle
14. uncle
15. riddle

Challenge Words
16. example
17. throttle
18. obstacle
19. miracle
20. muscle

Frequently Misspelled Words
21.
22.
23.

Math for this week: November 1-5

The concepts we will be learning in math this week include: estimating sums, adding 2-digit numbers, adding 3-digit numbers, and adding 3 or more numbers. If your child is struggling with any of the concepts, I encourage you to go to the Pearson Successnet website (pearsonsuccessnet.com). Your child's username is the first initial of his/her last name and the first initial of his/her first name plus the last four digits of his/her student id. On the site, there are videos explaining the concepts, plus activities and questions that can help him/her learn the concepts. If you have any trouble getting onto the site, please let me know.

Scholastic Book Orders

I will be sending home the November Scholastic book orders on Monday, November 1. The deadline for ordering will be Friday, November 12. I encourage you to order online (the one-time code for ordering online is FWFFF). Or you can send a check made out to Scholastic Book Clubs. If you would like to keep your order a secret, let me know, and I can call you when your order comes in.

Penguin Chick: Vocabulary and Spelling Words for the Week of November 1-5

Here is the list of vocabulary and spelling words for the week of Nov. 1-5. Test will be on Friday, November 5.

Vocabulary Words
cuddles: holds close and tenderly
flippers: broad, flat limbs on a penguin used for swimming and moving along on land
frozen: hardened with cold; turned into ice
hatch: to come from an egg
pecks: strikes something with the beak in a quick, short motion
preen: to smooth or clean with the beak
snuggles: holds closely for warmth, protection, or affection

Spelling Words
1. finish
2. pilot
3. even
4. wagon
5. music
6. silent
7. rapid
8. female
9. lemon
10. pupil
11. focus
12. robot
13. tulip
14. camel
15. salad
challenge words
16. resident
17. spinach
18. climate
19. tradition
20. innocent
frequently misspelled words
21. favorite
22. before
23. pretty

Rows and Piles of Coins: Vocabulary and Spelling Words

Here is the list of vocabulary words and spelling words for the week of October 25. The test will be October 29.

Vocabulary Words
arranged: put in order or position
bundles: things tied or wrapped together so that they are easier to carry
dangerously: unsafely
errands: short trips to do something
excitedly: with strong lively feelings
steady: firmly fixed; not swaying
unwrapped: uncovered by removing something placed around an item
wobbled: moved from side to side in an unsteady or shaky way

Spelling Words
Vowel diphthongs: oi and oy; ou and ow

1. proud
2. shower
3. hour
4. amount
5. voyage
6. choice
7. avoid
8. thousand
9. prowl
10. employ
11. bounce
12. poison
13. annoy
14. appoint
15. broil

Challenge Words
16. however
17. mountain
18. coward
19. turmoil
20. chowder

Frequently misspelled words
21. found
22. house

Halloween Poems

For our fluency homework for the next two weeks, your child will memorize one Halloween poem each week (2 poems total) and present it to the class when ready. Please encourage your child to practice each day until they can recite it from memory. Your child should be bringing home the collection of Halloween poems on Monday, October 18.

Supermarket: Vocabulary and Spelling Words

Here is the list of spelling and vocabulary words. Next test will be Friday, October 22.

Vocabulary Words:
laundry: clothes that need washing or are being washed
section: part of something
shelves: flat surfaces attached to a wall for storage
spoiled: became bad, not good to eat
store: a place where things are sold
thousands: tens of hundreds
traded: exchanged one thing for another
variety: a selection of different things

Spelling Words (long vowel digraphs):
1. clean
2. agree
3. teeth
4. dream
5. grain
6. coach
7. display
8. window
9. shadow
10. cheese
11. peach
12. braid
13. Sunday
14. float
15. thrown

Challenge Words:
16. entertain
17. complain
18. bleachers
19. willow
20. wheat

Frequently Misspelled Words
21. Halloween
22. really

No Spelling or Vocabulary Test for Week of October 11-15

Because of our very short week due to the field trip on Monday and UEA on Thursday and Friday, we won't be having a spelling or vocabulary test until Friday, October 22. On Monday (October 11) I will send home the new vocabulary and spelling words and their graded tests from this week. And we also won't be having any Fluency Homework.

But please encourage your child to read (Reading for All Learners books and AR books) and to practice math facts.

SEP Conferences

Our SEP conferences are this Thursday and Friday. Thanks to all those who have signed up. If you haven't signed up yet but would like to, please either email me or call me to find out the open slots that I still have available. If you would like to get a reminder email or have forgotten when you have signed up, please let me know.

Walking Field Trip Through Mendon

We are postponing our field trip until Monday. There is supposed to be a 60-70% chance of rain/thunderstorms today, and we really didn't want our children to be out there during a thunderstorm. The forecast for this weekend through next Tuesday is sunny, with highs in the 60's so it should be a really nice day on Monday.

October 2010 Lunch Menu

Here is the link for the October school lunch menu: http://www.ccsdut.org/lunch_menu.cfm

Pearson Successnet website

Our Reading Street basal reader and Math Envision program is online at https://www.pearsonsuccessnet.com/snpapp/login/login.jsp.

Your child's username is their first and last initials and the last four digits of their student id number. And the password is "cookies". I sent home a parent letter after tech. night that had their username and password. If you need their username, please let me know.

If you go on this site, there will be a myriad of resources, games, etc. to help your child with vocabulary terms, math concepts, etc.

Kumak's Fish: Vocabulary Words and Spelling Words

Here are the vocabulary and spelling words for the week. Our next vocabulary and spelling test will be this Friday, October 8, 2010. Please have your child practice their vocabulary and spelling words before the test.

Vocabulary Words:
gear: equipment needed for some purpose
parka: a jacket with a hood
splendid: very good, excellent
twitch: to move with a quick jerk
willow: a tree with tough slender branches
yanked: pulled or jerked

Spelling Words
1. using
2. getting
3. easiest
4. swimming
5. heavier
6. greatest
7. pleased
8. emptied
9. leaving
10. worried
11. strangest
12. freezing
13. funniest
14. angrier
15. shopped

Challenge words:
16. included
17. occurred
18. supplying
19. scarier
20. happiest

Frequently Misspelled Words
21. started
22. getting
23. swimming

Finding AR Levels and Points of Different Books

Here is information on finding the AR level and points of books you own at home.

Go to http://www.renlearn.com
Go to the blue bar at top and select "store."
On the blue box labeled Quiz store, select "quiz search"
Type in the title of your book, press "go" and information about the AR level and points should appear.