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We took two tests this morning: math and reading. Since I have so much correcting to do tonight I'll be super brief.
No homework tonight.
The science kits arrived today, so next week we'll do our first science lesson. Look for more details next week.
Enjoy your evening!
I wonder how my little brother liked the game last night? I was happy to see the Cowboys hold on to the victory. Do you know the Cowboys are playing the Seahawks on Monday Night in early December? I'm looking forward to that one!
Today we reviewed what we have covered so far in math in preperation for our first big test tomorrow. You'll notice that your child will get some more practice with tonight's homework page of clocks.
We finished off the morning by reading a story of a Mexican-American family called Born to Rope and by learning about statements and questions in writing.
This afternoon we learned about the geography of our great country. We made a chart listing the different types of landforms in the west, central, and eastern parts of our country.
Enjoy your evening.
Today we tried our hand at figuring out elapsed time. Now don't ask your child to demonstrate this skill yet, it's pretty difficult for third graders. We figured out how long our school day was and how much daylight there was today in Spokane. Every Friday we will do two projects: The length of daylight and the difference between the national high and low temperature (see the links to the left). The students quickly pick up how to find the difference between the temperatures, but it takes most of the year to become adept at calculating the length of daylight.
We finished the morning with some reading and more work on subjects and predicates.
This afternoon we reviewed how landforms and climate affect how and where we live and then read a climate map of the U.S. We ended the day with our spelling pretest. Tonight's homework is to correct the pretest, spell the missed words correctly on the back, and then have it signed by a parent.
Boy, do the Seahawks look great! It will be interesting to see them face a really good team which they will get a chance to do in two weeks when they face the World Champs. Tonight's Monday Night game is a classic matchup between the Cowboys and Redskins. This game use to drive me nuts when I was a little boy because my crazy little brother rooted for the Redskins while I always rooted for my beloved Cowboys. It was not a nice day in the Salzano household. I'm hoping tonight that the 'Boys will take it to my brother and the Redskins. Go Cowboys!
I'm late so I have to make this quick.
Our water color fish are now beautifully displayed in the hallway thanks to Mrs. Rausch and Mrs. Clevenger. Come in and see them if you get the chance.
The Seahawks host the Niners this weekend for their first home game of their championship season. You know I'm taking the Seahawks to start their home stand with a win.
I'm off to play in my first tennis tournament in 20 years! Hopefully my doubles partner and I can win at least one match!
Enjoy your weekend!
You read it correctly. We did some art today. We're in the process of creating some beautiful water color fish. I hope to have them up on the bulletin board outside our room next week. You'll have to stop by and see them.
This morning we practice some more money skills - we figured out the difference between the regular price and sale price of a couple of items and counted coins. We attempted to take an Accelerated Reading test in the computer and then wrote some sentences about bears.
Homework tonight is a page of spelling practice.
Pete is doing better!
I'm writing this blog entry from my home. I was only at school till lunch and then had to go home to help take care of Pete. Pete had a bad incident with a neighbor dog that required two sets of stitches (one under the chin and the other behind his ear). I'm thankful that he's doing much better today, but he's still swollen and moving pretty slow. It's good to be with him.
Your children are safe at school and learning all sorts of stuff. This morning we practiced more money skills. We worked on estimating and finding change after a transaction. We will continue to work on money tomorrow. We took a comprehension test on the story we read yesterday, and then wrote some sentences on manners and found subjects and predicates.
This afternoon Mr. Dauble, a former student of mine (man, am I getting old!), finished the social studies chapter we started yesterday. Your child should be able to tell you a little about climate and how it affects how people live. He ended the afternoon with some phonics practice.
No homework tonight!
Today in math we practiced counting coins, comparing amounts, and writing dollar amounts. After math we read a version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and then spent more time on locating subjects and predicates in sentences.
This afternoon we did more social studies (we're still waiting for our science materials). We talked about how communities are affected by landforms and water. We ended the day with math boxes.
Tonight's homework is a math page. Students are to locate, or draw their own, advertisements; then attach them to the homework page in order from least expensive up to most expensive.
Do you realize that I'm 4-0 on my football picks this year? I told the students I might finish this year not in the classroom, but on the set of ESPN. What do you think? 
Do you know that not a single student could tell me who's playing on Monday Night Football! All of them read quietly today, practiced their spelling words by taking a pretest, used their calculators to find how to change a number like 37 to 87 without pushing clear (added 50), could identify the subject and predicate of a sentence (maybe not all of them on that one), and even learned what the social studies terms "landforms" and "climate" mean, but not one could tell me who was playing on MNF. I will do my best to fix that problem next week. 
Homework tonight is more practice on spelling. See the page in your child's notebook.
I'm sure you all know that the Vikings and Eagles are playing tonight. Both teams are 1-0 and riding high. The game is in Philly, and I'm sure Terrell Owens is ready for his national audience with his new Sharpie pen. So, I'll take the Eagles to go to 2-0.
Enjoy the game!
It was good to meet many of you last night, and I hope your visits to this blog will prove worthwhile.
This morning for math we used a number grid to help us find the differences between two numbers. After math we did our final test in spelling, and then finished the morning with our Time for Kids magazine (see the link to the left). Everyone enjoyed the feature article on lions, and we used our highlighter pens to locate "where" words. We even had time to discuss cougar safety tips.
This afternoon we had fun with a drawing lesson (I still need help with crafts!). We ended the day with my V.I.P. presentation and Show-n-Tell. Marcus will be our first student V.I.P. next week.
The Seahawks are at Tampa Bay on Sunday. They'll probably be without the services of Shaun Alexander and Tampa will be hungry for its first win after losing at Washington last week. Be that as it may, I think the Seahawks are the better team, so I'll take them to start their Super Bowl year 2-0!
Enjoy your weekend! Looks like indoor tennis for me this weekend.
Welcome to Open House!
This is our classroom blog. It is here that I try to give you a little recap of the day and let you know the homework assignment and any other important information.
Today we learned about equivalent names in math by using name collection boxes (ask your child what those terms mean). We took a STAR reading test to check the reading grade level of your child, and then finished the morning practicing sentences.
In the afternoon we took a social studies test on communities, practiced our spelling words, and then cleaned up the room for you.
Don't forget book orders are due tomorrow.
No official homework tonight! There's always skills to practice: Spelling words, reading, and math facts to name just a few.
Today in math we made a tally chart and then a graph of the students' first and last names. We also discussed the math words "maximum", "minimum", "range", and "mode".
This afternoon we finished our first chapter in social studies, and we'll take our first test tomorrow. I also heard today that the science kits are going to be even later - not until mid-October. There's going to be a lot social studies in the next few weeks as we wait on our science materials.
Have a good evening, and hopefully I'll see you tomorrow night at Open House!
This morning we learned about our Math Reference books and used them to find the answers for page three of our Math Journals. After math we opened our reading books for the first time and discussed sequence in stories. We read a short selection and located the clue words that helped us with the sequence. After some silent reading, we ended the morning practicing punctuating and writing sentences. By the way, thanks for all your help in filling-up our snack cupboard.
This afternoon we learned about maps. We located map titles, keys, and compass roses. Tomorrow we'll read some more about communities. The afternoon ended with our first spelling pretest of the year. I emphasized that pretests are not graded, but help us to see which words we need to study. Homework tonight is to begin practicing those words by filling in the blanks on the spelling homework page located in your child's notebook.
A blue paper went home tonight explaining the schedule for this Thursday night's Open House. My presentation will be at 6:50. I hope to see a lot of you then.
Tonight's the first Monday Night Football game of the year. The Packers host the NFC champions, the Panthers. It's always hard to pick the winners on the first week, but I'll take the Packers at home tonight, although I'll be secretly rooting for the Panthers. Enjoy the game (and homework).
We did our first math lesson today. We found numbers from our "Number Museum" and placed them into one of four categories: Counting Numbers, Measuring, Codes, and Reference Frames (addresses and dates). The students then did a practice page and demonstrated good understanding of the concept.
You'll notice links to various web sites on the left hand side of our blog . If you click on "Everyday Mathematics" for example, it will take you to our math curriculum's web site where your child can play games to practice skills we're learning in class. There's links for most of our other curriculum as well. I'll be adding links to our new social studies and science curriculums soon. Keep looking!
We ended the morning doing some writing, and then spent the afternoon learning about communities in our new social studies book. See if your child can remember how all communities are alike and how they are different.
I sent home our first book order of the year tonight. I reminded the students that book orders are optional, but if you would like to order a book or two they're due on Friday, September 17. Don't forget our Book Fair is next week, so you may want to hold your order until you've had a good look around.
The first NFL game of the year is tonight: Colts vs. Patriots. Enjoy your evening!
Welcome back to school!
As you can see, this is the same blog from last year restarted for the new school year. I hope this will be a place you visit often to keep informed of our day-to-day happenings. This is also a great place to communicate with me. You'll notice that at the bottom of each entry is a "comments" link. If you click on it, you'll see a pop-up page where you can write me a comment. I hope you will use it, but do remember that your comments are public. If you would like to send a message just for my eyes, then e-mail me at salzanoh@riversidesd.org.
On this first day, we spent some time reading silently, played "Around the World" with addition facts, and even began a social studies lesson on communities. Tomorrow we hope to have our first normal day and jump right into the curriculum.
Please read my note to you (along with the notebook full of other notes and information) and try to get any missing supplies by next week. Our snack cupboard is bare. Please help!
Enjoy your evening!
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