What Do Authors Do?

This week in reading we will read What Do Authors Do? This is a great story teaching the students the steps of the writing process. There are steps to be taken, and they must be done in a certain order. So, appropriately, our skill for the week is "steps in a process."

Following the steps in a process usually means doing or making something. A process is a number of steps that follow a certain order, from start to finish. When authors write books, they follow certain steps from beginning to end, although all authors do not work in exactly the same way. One may do research in a library; another may not need to do research. One may plan the whole book before writing; another may make up the story while working.

Vocabulary Words:

1. authors - people who write books, poems, stories, or articles
2. difficult - hard to do or understand
3. information - knowledge given or received of some fact or event
4. libraries - collections of books, magazines, films, or recordings
5. museums - buildings or rooms in which a collection of objects is kept and displayed
6. suggestions - things brought to mind

Please make sure your child has read the story and studied the vocabulary words by Thursday. We will take our selection test on the story Thursday morning.

I look forward to a wonderful week!

Charlotte's Web Unit

We finally finished our Charlotte's Web unit. We actually finished it a couple of weeks ago. We have already started a new chapter book. Mrs. Johnson had a copy for all of us, and we read Charlotte's Web together. She did the voices of the animals as she read. Our favorite was the sheep! After we read the book, we all took an AR test. Guess what! It was worth 5 points!! Most of us made a 100 and earned all 5! Yay!

We also did a project on the story elements. We folded manilla paper to look like a reading fair board. Mrs. Johnson had us to draw the setting in the middle of our project. She drew on the board to give us ideas. We loved to watch her draw! We would call out guesses before she finished each character. Mrs. Johnson had way too much fun with that! Ha!

Mrs. Johnson's art

After we drew the setting of the story, we added the other story elements. Our projects included the author, illustrator, characters, plot summary, setting, author's purpose, and genre. We also made spiders. We wrote descriptive paragraphs on the spiders to describe Charlotte. Then, we glued them to white string. We wanted the spiders to look like they were spinning a web. The string had to come out of the back of the spider because the spinnerets are found in the back.

October bulletin board in House B

Mrs. Johnson was very glad to have these finished projects. It was her turn to put up the October bulletin board in our house! She owes us, don't you think!?

Haunting Homonyms

Yesterday, Mrs. Johnson had a fun lesson planned for us. While we worked on our morning work, Mrs. Johnson drew a huge pumpkin on orange chart paper. We wondered what in the world she was doing. Mrs. Johnson is always drawing for us. Some of us make fun of her drawings, but most of the class loves to watch her draw. Anyway, after we went over morning work, Mrs. Johnson began talking about "-Nym Words." She drew a tree map for the "-Nym Words." We listed synoNYMS, antoNYMS, and homoNYMS. After reviewing synonyms and antonyms, Mrs. Johnson began a discussion about homonyms.

Homonyms are two words that sound the same, but have different meanings.

Mrs. Johnson gave us squares of manilla paper with a bridge map on them. We were to come up with a pair of homonyms. We wrote the meaning for each and drew a picture of each. For example: Hare is a rabbit, and hair grows on your head. After everyone finished, we presented our homonym pairs to the class and added it to our homonym circle map (the pumpkin).

Our final display

It is important to know the meanings of the various homonyms so that our sentences will make sense when we are writing. Can you imagine what we would look like if we said, "I have long brown hare!?" Everyone would think we have a long brown rabbit!

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.