We're Movie Stars!

This week our kids lead the entire school in the pledges on our school-wide announcements, KTUF. They did a fantastic job! I was so proud of them for showing courage and confidence in front of their peers. Way to go Bates' kids!

Jumprope Spelling!

I am always looking for new and exciting ways for the kids to practice our spelling words. Writing them three times each can get old and boring! This week we borrowed long ropes from the PE department and the kids worked in teams to "jump" their words. Each child chose 2 or 3 particularly difficult words and wrote each on a manila sheet of paper in large letters. I taught the kids how to turn the ropes and work cooperatively to help the jumper/speller do their best!

Some kids worked in partners to spell their words. One jump = one letter! keep going until you finish the word!

Research shows that when we add a song or beat to spelling, it helps our brains remember the letters and transfer the spelling of the word into long term memory. Jump rpoing is not only a "heart healthy" skill, but it's a rhythmic way to practice spelling.

The kids are already begging to try this activity again sometime soon! : )

Fun Run

Each year, 10 third grade girls and boys from Coulson Tough participate in the CISD Fun Run. This year several children from our class (and Mrs. Richardson's class) qualified to represent the Titans at the event. Ethan, Kevin, Gabriel, Madison, Sara L, and Adriana represented Coulson Tough so well. I was so proud of our runners!

Way to go Titans!

Election Day at Couslon Tough

The students of Coulson Tough participated in our own school-wide election today! Each student cast their vote in the computer lab after carefully considering the candidates and studying the issues.

In our class, we wrote in our draft books about which presidential candidate we would choose. It was interesting to hear which issues were important to our kids!

We created a bar graph to show the data collected in our own classroom election. It was a close race!

I was so proud of the children and I know they will be responsible voters someday!

A Great Start!

Hello families!

I am so happy to report that our first few weeks in 3rd grade has been a success! Your children are simply wonderful! We have spent time getting to know each other through our class meetings and collaborative activities and we've already launched into our first writing unit. We've read Arthur Writes A Story by Marc Brown and we're learning from the main character how to write an interesting story. We'll spend the next few weeks learning about the writing process and the six traits of effective writing. Next week we will begin our DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) testing. This tool allows me to recognize the strengths and needs of each child and meet their reading level with proper instruction or enrichment. I will be sharing the results of this assessment with you as soon as they are available, so stay tuned!

Thanks again for a great first few weeks of school. Your children are not only remarkable students, but such fun kids!! I look forward to a wonderful year of learning and growing together!