Fun Fall Phonics

In phonics this week, we are studying the sounds of "ow." We began our reading lesson with a tree map. Mrs. Johnson wrote the word "slow," and asked what sound the "ow" makes. Then, she did the same with the word, "cow." We talked about the different sounds found in these words. Then, we sang a song about an owl. It was fun! Mrs. Johnson always makes us stand up and do motions to these songs. It helps us wake up on Monday mornings. We had a fun morning! After we sang the song, we had to find "ow" words and tell which vowel sound we heard: 'slow' or 'cow'. We listed those words on our tree map.

After the short lesson, Mrs. Johnson had a fun activity planned for us! We made our own owls out of paper bags. On the feathers, we wrote words that have 'ow' making the same vowel sound as 'owl.' They were so cute! It helped us remember the vowel sound because we were doing a hands-on, fun activity. Mrs. Johnson made sure we understood WHY we were doing this art activity.

Hoot!

Dwinesha did a great job on her owl.

After we finished our owls, Mrs. Johnson made us use them in the song. One line says that the owl flies up high. So, we made our owls fly up high.

Our finished display

Friday's PTA Program

Friday night's PTA program was a huge success!!! Thanks to all the parents and students who came and participated. Mrs. Johnson's class had 11 students participate! WOW! The students who sang with the group are Dwinesha, Jaylin, Arrion, Jendaya, Charles, Joneshia, Selicia, Antasia, Lyric, Sherrina, and Sharnecia. Thanks for your hard work!!!

Ms. Edwards and the students did a tremendous job getting this together. I have attached a few highlights from the evening!

Dwinesha, Jendaya, Charles, Selicia, Jaylin, Joneshia, and Sharnecia are listening to Britton say his line.

Sherrina found her mom in the crowd!

Antasia did an awesome job on her speaking part! Lyric and Sherrina look nervous!

Ms. Strum and the students did a great rendition of "What's A Teacher to Do?" It was so cute!!

Healthy Eating = Healthy Kids

Last Friday, we had a big celebration and ribbon cutting for our new walking track. We celebrated health and wellness, with each grade level taking a health-related theme. The third grade theme was Healthy Eating. So, Mrs. Johnson had a great surprise for us on Friday! Our class turned into "Mrs. Johnson's Fruity Bunch!" She had us all fruit headbands, visors, or necklaces made from fruit. It was so fun! But, the best part was Mrs. Johnson's outfit! She had a big, tall FRUIT HAT and a big fruit necklace. She even had huge pepper earrings!!! It was so funny!!! We laughed and laughed when she showed us.

There were many dignitaries at the ribbon cutting ceremony, including our new superintendent - Dr. Edwards, JPS board members, Wade Overstreet of Blue Cross Blue Shield, and many more! It was a perfect time for us to SHINE!

Mrs. Johnson's Fruity Bunch

The fruity visors Mrs. Johnson had for us...
Arrion, Lyric, Jaylin, Kadajah, and Selicia

Fruity visors - All Vegged Out!
Charles, Jendaya, Sharnecia, and Devin

Sherrina's mom even joined us for the fun!

Having fun before the ceremony

Ja'Von enjoyed hearing Dr. Edwards speak

Mrs. Taylor's class even dressed for the ceremony!
They were the "colors of healthy food" instead of "Colors of the Rainbow!"

Cutting the ribbon!

Enjoying our "cool treat" after the celebration! What a fun day!

We had such a good time at the ribbon cutting! Thank you, Mrs. Land and others, for ALL you did to make our school look so good! We can't wait to get walking on that new track!!

Reading Fair Participants

Congratulations and "Thank you!" to all the students who participated in this year's reading fair! You helped to make it a HUGE success!

Jameel
Cam Jansen: The Mystery of the Stolen Diamond

Sherrina
Uncle Jed's Barber Shop

Brindarius
Paul and His Blue Ox

Ja'Von
Charlotte's Web

Jaylin
Spaghetti Eddie

Lyric
Sheila Rae the Brave

Tyrell
Third Grade Detectives

Jendaya
Uncle Jed's Barber Shop

Nareuna
Ham and Pickles First Day of School

Selicia
Big Sister Dora

Arrion

Alric
Ride Like the Wind

Charles
Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock

Dwinesha
Uncle Jed's Barber Shop

Kadajah
Harold and the Purple Crayon

Antasia
Tabby in the Tub

Each grade had first, second, and third place winners. Mrs. Johnson's class had two of those winners! Third grade had a tie for second, but they were both from our class!! Congratulations, Lyric and Jaylin for placing 2nd in this year's reading fair!

Reading Fair

Don't forget!! The Reading Fair is Friday, September 26th. All reading fair boards are due Thursday, September 25th. Mrs. Johnson expects all her students to participate. She will take a reading TEST grade for these projects! Please feel free to work alone or with help. Just be sure to DO YOUR BEST!! Mrs. Johnson will not except anything less! Happy reading!!

Our Compliment Chain

Our compliment chain is growing each day! Whenever we receive a compliment by another teacher or staff member, Mrs. Johnson adds a link to our Compliment Chain. This is a great way to encourage us to remain "the best" all year! When our chain reaches the floor, Mrs. Johnson will give us a popcorn party. We are almost halfway there!


There is a rhyme above the chain to remind us what we're working for.

For all the nice things people say,
We'll add another link today.
And when the floor and chain do meet,
Mrs. Johnson will bring us a treat!

Monday and Wednesday Special Subjects

written by Joneshia and Jendaya; edited by Mrs. Johnson

On Mondays and Wednesdays we have two special subjects. At 12:30, we go to music class with Ms. Edwards. She is the new music teacher here. We absolutely love Ms. Edwards! We do so many fun things, and she leaves notes for Mrs. Johnson after each class. This is great because we are always one of her best classes....which means we get a link on our Compliment Chain!! Mrs. Johnson said that when our Compliment Chain reaches the floor, she will throw us a popcorn party! We are already halfway there!

Monday, in music, we did a few different things. First, we matched music notes to their names and the beats each one holds. Then, we sang a song from our music book called "People." Finally, we learned the Macarena! It was SO much fun! Mrs. Johnson left her cameral with Ms. Edwards so we have a few action shots.

Our class singing "People"

Doing the Macarena!

After music, we go to library! Now, you know how much our class loves to read! In library, Miss Sasser reads to us, we check out books, take AR tests, and read silently. I know we are her best AR class! Miss Sasser also has the famous "Prize Closet."

Miss Sasser reading Tacky, the Penguin

Silent reading

Picking out new AR books

Arrion checks out a book

Special thanks to Miss Sasser and Ms. Edwards for a great Monday!!

60% Day and Parent-Teacher Conference Day

Jackson Public Schools will have a 60% day on Thursday, September 18. The teachers and staff will be involved in professional development that afternoon.

Another reminder....
JPS will hold a mid-term Parent-Teacher Conference Day on Friday, September 19. There will be no school for students. All students received notes today. Please complete the bottom portion of the note, letting your teacher know what time you would like to have your conference. We will do all we can to see that you have your desired time. However, Mrs. Johnson will assign times on a "first come, first serve" basis. So, please return those slips as soon as possible.

It is very important that you attend these conferences. Your teachers have important information about your child's progress this year. It is still early in the year. For this reason, Mrs. Johnson really tries to speak with all parents while there is still ample time to improve achievement and assist where needed. Mrs. Johnson relies heavily on parental input - YOU know your child better than anyone, and are instrumental in their success!!! PLEASE make this Parent-Teacher Conference a priority! We look forward to seeing you!!

Allie's Basketball Dream

This week, in reading, we are reading Allie's Basketball Dream. This is our last story in Unit One! Our skill focus for this week is analyzing characters. We will do several activities on analyzing character. A character is a person or animal in a story. Readers can learn about characters from how an author describes what they say, do, and feel. We have already completed Character Weaves these last couple of weeks. We have them posted in our hallway. So, next time you're around the school, come by and see them! We will practice test strategies by reading "cold reads" and answering questions analyzing the stories. We will also focus on compound words and short "i" and short "u" words. We will take our Selection Test on the story Thursday. So, make sure you read your story!! On Friday, we will take our test on the spelling words (found in the back of our reading book).

Vocabulary Words:

aimed - pointed or directed at a target
basketball - a game in which players try to throw a large round ball through a hoop and a net; the ball used in this game
bounced - caused to spring up and down
gift - a present
playground - an area set aside for children's games
shoot - attempt to send a basketball through a hoop

**Most importantly, we will take our Mid-Terms this week! Please make sure you are present all week, and you pay attention during reviews. You should also complete all homework and ASK questions if you need help.

AR Update

Well...it's Friday again! And you know what that means?? It means "PRIZE CLOSET" time!!! Every Friday, Mrs. Johnson checks our AR points (Like she doesn't check them every day! Yeah right!) during our computer time. Some of us try to hurry and get an AR test or two in before she does the final tally! For every 5 points we earn, we get to visit Miss Sasser's "Prize Closet." It is awesome!! You wouldn't believe all the things in that closet!

As you already know, Mrs. Johnson's class is certainly the best! So, she doesn't expect anything less than that! Well, we gave her the best!!! I think she gets more excited than we do sometimes! Almost our entire class has 5 points (...and the two that don't are VERY close!). PLUS...we had several on 10 points. Joneshia actually made it to 15 points!!!!! I know our reading tests have to be good because we've been doing a tremendous amount of reading! In fact, Mrs. Johnson let us all borrow a copy of Charlotte's Web so we can read it together. It's a great book so far! The best part....it's worth 5 POINTS!!!! Keep checking on us to see where we will be after that monstrous book!

Antasia, J'Darrien, Tyrell and Nareuna earned their 5 points this week!

These girls (and one boy) earned 10 points this week!! My boys better step it up!
Selicia, Devin, Dwinesha, Jaylin, Sharnecia, and Sherrina

Alric also earned 10 points, but missed the picture.

And here she is!! My current "AR Queen" - Joneshia. Joneshia earned 15 points this week!! WOW! Keep up the good work!

Now, don't just think we're the only third grade class reading. Mrs. Taylor's class is "on our trail!" Mrs. Taylor even came to our lunch table today and teased us, saying, "MY class is the best! You better just watch out! We are watching you!" Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Taylor are a little competitive, I think. Ha! Mrs. Jierski's and Mrs. Hicks's classes are starting to step it up too! We better keep our noses in those books!

Accelerated Reading Kickoff!

You got it! Mrs. Johnson's class is by far the best class ever! We have been so busy since school started getting into the swing of things, learning new information, and READING! You wouldn't believe how much Mrs. Johnson asks us to read! But, you know what? It's fun!

Charles reading his AR chapter book, Paws Off, Cheddarface!


Joneshia taking an AR test on the computer

Antasia reading her chapter book

Mrs. Johnson is a huge fan of Accelerated Reading. She keeps up with how many points we have each day or two. She reads books to us, and she expects us to read books on our own. We have baskets of AR books on our tables, and whenever we have free time - we READ! When we finish reading, we create an entry in our AR Logs and take an AR test at the computer. Mrs. Johnson does not care about the points as much as our score. She really likes for us to make 80% or higher. She always reminds us that we will have an AR grade in reading!

Our class just finished a chapter book, Did You Carry the Flag Today, Charley? It was worth 2 points! So, Friday, we all went to the computer lab to take our test on our chapter book. After we finished our test, Mrs. Johnson checked our AR points. Everyone with 5 points went to the prize closet in the library. Our class had the most! We had 14 people with 5 points. We even had a student with 10 points!!!! Can you believe it?! Mrs. Johnson was SO proud of us! Miss Sasser had big stars for us too. We put our names on them and posted them on the wall for all to see! It was so much fun!!

Our AR bulletin board - Look how many frogs are on the 5 point record!!

We have 5 points!!!
Congratulations to Dwinesha, Alric, Arrion, Lyric, Jendaya, Sharnecia, Sherrina, Charles, Jaylin, Devin, Selicia, Brindarius, and Markeith!


Joneshia has a whopping 10 points!!!! You go girl!

**Just to give you an idea of how hard these students worked - Each picture book is usually worth 1/2 a point, and each chapter book is usually worth 1-2 points.