Spelling- Week #14

Week 14
1. short
2. thaw
3. sharp
4. thirty
5. fourth
6. fifth
7. rush
8. dash
9. than
10. that
11. thinking
12. push
13. shape
14. thirteen
15. finish
16. thumb
17. sixth
18. shadow
19. shine
20. shovel

Challenge List
1. eighth
2. eleventh
3. fifth
4. finally
5. first
6. fourth
7. initiated
8. ninth
9. originally
10. second
11. seventh
12. sixth
13. tenth
14. third
15. twelfth

Mystery Reader

Our next Mystery Reader was Travis's dad. Travis started to figure it out throughout the day, but knew for sure that it was him when he heard the final clues. We read more of our funny holiday book about Stink and Judy Moody.

Mystery Reader

Our mystery readers this week were Jack's parents. Jack was SHOCKED to see his parents show up to be our class's mystery readers. They shared some books by Robert Munsch, and had us all laughing!

Bucket Fillers

Our next bucket filler was GARRETT! He filled someone's bucket when he opened their book to the right page and showed them where we were. They were out of the room when we began reading, and didn't know where we were.

Way to go Garrett!!

Spelling- Week #13

Week 13
1. army
2. anyone
3. twenty
4. shy
5. candy
6. dry
7. body
8. money
9. buy
10. honey
11. every
12. eye
13. sly
14. turkey
15. chimney

Challenge List
1. article
2. author
3. character
4. experience
5. genre
6. illustration
7. literature
8. misspell
9. opinion
10. organization
11. photograph
12. setting
13. studying
14. thought
15. writer

Thank you, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving

We the people of the United States.....

almost LOST Thanksgiving!?!

Yes. That's right!

Way back when "skirts were long and hats were tall" Americans were forgetting Thanksgiving, and nobody seemed to care!

Thankfully, Sarah Hale appeared. More steadfast than Plymouth Rock, this lady editor knew the holiday needed saving. But would her recipe for rescue ever convince Congress and the presidents?

While reading THANK YOU, SARAH!, we completed a categorize & classify activity. We recorded WHO she was, WHAT she did, HOW she did it, and interesting facts.

Bucket Fillers

Morgan is our current BUCKET FILLER. She helped to clean up a mess from inside recess that wasn't her mess.

Thank you for making our classroom a nicer place!

Spelling- Week #12 (Review Week)

Week 12
1. mostly
2. joke
3. huge
4. stone
5. human
6. flute
7. people
8. steel
9. read
10. greeting
11. beach
12. east
13. smile
14. spend
15. friends
16. float
17. bring
18. sting
19. floors
20. blaze
21. Friday
22. please
23. special
24. fresh
25. anyway
26. hungry
27. family
28. heavy
29. maybe
30. always

Challenge List
1. athletes
2. beverages
3. cantaloupes
4. cherries
5. clothes
6. costumes
7. cranberries
8. cucumbers
9. groceries
10. pumpkins
11. strawberries
12. sweaters
13. uniforms
14. vegetables
15. watermelons

Book Fair

The annual book fair is upon us! The Media Center has been turned into a 5-star event. We previewed the books on Friday, and made our wish lists. The book fair will be open for you to visit during our conference week. Happy book shopping!

Mystery Reader

Our next mystery reader was Mark Evoy. The clue that helped Spencer figure out it was her dad was when she heard the MYSTERY READER was born in Canada but cheers for the Hawkeyes!

He brought his favorite book as a child, Where the Wild Things Are. We talked about why this was considered a fantasy book. Then Mark read another funny book about naughty dogs, this was a book that many could relate to. THANK YOU for coming to read to us!

BRAVO!

What a joy it was to share our music program with you! Mrs. Cronk always amazes me with the dedication she has to coordinating such a magical event. It was indeed a special way to honor veterans, too. Each one of your children contributed to make this concert FANTASTIC!

Photos to come....

To see pictures from the Des Moines Register click here!
***If you click on this and you don't see pics of our kiddos on the first page, do the following.
-Click on the picture that allows you to see the photo gallery.
-When that screen is open, click on MORE GALLERIES in the bottom right corner
-When the next screen comes up, scroll down to COMMUNITIES and look for Waukee Elementary

Bucket Fillers

Our first BUCKET FILLER winner was Devin! He filled Travis's bucket by inviting him to play out at recess.

Way to go Devin!

Mystery Reader

We had another visit by a very special person- Noah's mom! Nikki was our next Mystery Reader. The clue that helped Noah figure it out was that their favorite weekend getaway was a trip to the Mega Mall and IKEA in Minneapolis. She read a really funny book by Robert Munsch called Get Out of Bed! The kids (and myself) had lots of connections to the character in the story who just didn't want to get out of bed!

Thank you for reading to us!

Spelling- Week #11

Week 11
1. lady
2. playful
3. always
4. very
5. empty
6. angry
7. any
8. anyway
9. maybe
10. carry
11. family
12. pretty
13. plenty
14. heavy
15. hungry

Challenge List
*Grocery Store*
1. beverage
2. bread
3. canned
4. cereal
5. condiments
6. dairy
7. fresh
8. frozen
9. fruit
10. grain
11. grocery
12. poultry
13. seafood
14. vegetable
15. yogurt

Creating Mental Pictures

We have just started our new reading response journals. These are intended to support student learning while they are reading independently. We will work on 6 different focuses. The first focus is:

Creating Mental Pictures

Each day that students read independently, they complete a page in their reading log. The directions at the top say,

"When we read a book, we often make a mental picture of what happened in the story. Choose a scene to illustrate and write a picture caption at the bottom."

VOTE

It's ELECTION DAY! It is a very exciting day in our nation's history. What a privilege it is that we, as Americans, have the right to vote. As third graders we are learning the basics of the election process. We have focused the majority of our time in learning about the Democratic and Republican candidates. I read the books Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Man of Hope and My Dad, John McCain. The students created a book of their own about each of the candidates. We focused on three phases of each man's life: growing up, young man, and politician. Our focus was not on what each candidate promises to do in office, but rather each man as a person. We cannot wait to share these books with you at our conference time!

Fall Party!

Here are some shots from our FABULOUS FALL PARTY! We had so much fun doing all the great activities that parents provided for us. It was a day to remember!!

Some activities we enjoyed...
*students completed hilarious Halloween Mad Libs

*we worked as teams to build skeleton puzzles
*we had a relay race with chopsticks and little fuzzy balls
*we ATE, ATE, ATE!!

Here are the results for our "I'd Rather...." game:
*25% of our class would rather have an elephant trunk than a giraffe neck
*40% of our class would rather be a vampire than a werewolf
*75% of our class would rather not be able to READ than not be able to TALK
*We don't like snakes very much, because only 2 people from our class would rather swim in a lake of snakes than sleep in a cave of bats. I COULDN'T AGREE MORE!!
*25% of our class would rather go to a Haunted House than a Cemetary
*Only just over 1/2 of Wetzel's class (55%) chose dog fur over lizard skin

Spelling- Week #10

Week 10
1. trip
2. drove
3. plan
4. kind
5. floors
6. melting
7. blaze
8. spill
9. flowers
10. Friday
11. frozen
12. please
13. broken
14. fresh
15. special

Challenge List
1. appeal
2. blouse
3. costume
4. garment
5. gloves
6. headgear
7. jacket
8. necktie
9. poncho
10.pajamas
11. spacesuit
12. sweater
13. trousers
14. uniform
15. wetsuit

Mystery Reader

We enjoyed our second Mystery Reader last week. Zackery's mom, Lisa came in to read a fun Halloween book to our class. When we read the clue kids always think I'm tall we all knew it was Lisa!

THANK YOU Lisa for visiting our class and sharing a new Halloween book with us!

Dallas County Consersation Opportunities

Many times the Dallas County Conservation Society offers a variety of family events for you to enjoy. Many of them are free or cost very little. Please check the Dallas County Conservation website often to see what things your family might enjoy.

You may click here to connect to their website!

Waukee HOT SPOTS #3

My third hot spot is LIVING HISTORY FARMS. I love to go there each year and learn a little more about history. I also enjoy seeing all of the animals.

I have been going to Living History Farms for many years! Since I grew up in the area, I remember taking a field trip to Living History Farms when I was in fifth grade. That was a LONG time ago!!

Waukee HOT SPOTS #2

My second hot spot is HOWELL'S PUMPKIN PATCH. It is a new family tradition that we go here each year. We had so much fun! Zaida's favorite part was playing in the corn. We also liked swinging on the HUGE tire swings, finding our way through the hay maze, and petting the bunnies. It was a great fall day filled with fall colors, and fun activities!

Waukee HOT SPOTS #1

Just a reminder that your child needs to bring 3 photos of their 3 WAUKEE HOT SPOTS. These can be any places in the Des Moines area. We will be doing a community project with your child's photos.


My first hot spot is the SCIENCE CENTER. We went just last weekend for trick-or-treating. I love seeing Zaida excited and interested in learning new things. In this picture we are building a robot together.

Earthquake Terror

Our next read aloud is by my FAVORITE author, Peg Kehret. She writes exciting adventure tales that keeps you reading.

Here is a look at our first Peg Kehret book of the year.... EARTHQUAKE TERROR!








When Jonathan and his family go camping on Magpie Island, they expect to have a fun, relaxing weekend. But their fun quickly vanishes when Jonathan's mother breaks her ankle and must get to a hospital. Jonathan offers to stay behind with his younger sister, Abby, and their dog, Moose. Then a devastating earthquake hits, destroying their camper, knocking out the only bridge to the mainland, and leaving Jonathan and Abby with no food, water, or shelter. Alone in the woods, can Jonathan manage to keep calm and save Abby and Moose-- and stay alive himself?

Spelling- Week #9

Regular List
1. smile
2. smart
3. best
4. free
5. spend
6. blind
7. float
8. plant
9. slumber
10. sting
11. frowning
12. friends
13. creek
14. glue
15. bring

Challenge List
1. archery
2. athlete
3. athletics
4. badminton
5. baseball
6. basketball
7. gymnastics
8. hockey
9. karate
10. sailing
11. swimming
12. tennis
13. trampoline
14. volleyball
14. windsurfing

Cause & Effect

Our next comprehension strategy is cause & effect. We have been working on a variety of activities to help the students grasp this concept.

We completed this poster together. We took an event fighting and looked at what might cause it and what the effects might be.

We also did a verbal activity where students told a story using cause & effect.

We are using a number of picture books to help readers grasp this concept. Including.... Bad Dog, Marley; The Lorax; and several books by author Robert Munsch.

Spelling- Week #8

Regular List
1. read
2. seen
3. team
4. east
5. seat
6. steel
7. streets
8. people
9. breathe
10. beach
11. easily
12. even
13. elect
14. greeting
15. meaning

Challenge List- Fruits
1. apricot
2. banana
3. blackberry
4. cherry
5. cantaloupe
6. coconut
7. cranberry
8. grapefruit
9. kiwi
10. lemon
11. nectarine
12. peaches
13. pineapple
14. strawberry
15. watermelon

Mystery Reader

We welcomed our first Mystery Reader of the year today. Blake's mom, Lauri, came and read Flat Stanley to our class.

If you have not signed up to be a Mystery Reader yet... don't delay! It's a great opportunity to see you in the classroom.

SCHOOL WALK for Diabetes!

We have successfully walked to help cure diabetes!

Waukee Elementary has earned a great deal of money to help this awesome cause.

School Walk for Diabetes is an educational school fund-raising program that promotes healthy living, school spirit and community involvement.
While raising money for the American Diabetes Association, students learn about diabetes and the importance of making healthy choices including eating nutritional foods and exercising every day. The money raised through School Walk for Diabetes helps to fund diabetes research, education and advocacy in support of the mission of the American Diabetes Association.

If you would like more information about this awesome event, please click here.

Swamp Monster in Third Grade

What's green and slimy and carries a backpack?

A SWAMP MONSTER IN THIRD GRADE!!

Our next read aloud is a fun read that is sure to entertain your children. Here is a peek at what we are reading....



The new kid in third grade is weird! He can't remember where he lives, he gobbles up cheeseburgers like he's never seen them before, and oh, yeah, he has gills!

Jake's not sure why he changed from a swamp monster to a kid. Was it something he ate? But now he's wearing sneakers and dodging bullies in the hallway. Jake wants to be his scaly self again- he just doesn't want to morph into a monster in the middle of class!

Math Exploration

We are in the midst of our measurement unit, and exploring lots of new and different things! Today we did a lesson using straws and twist-ties to create shapes. We compared and contrasted different triangles, looking at different sides, corners, and areas. We also made squares, rhombuses, trapezoids, and rectangles. There are many different features that distinguish each of these shapes!

Predicting

Our reading focus last week was predicting or inferring. We used many different activities to help support student learning in this capacity. One of our favorite activities was utilizing the book, Enemy Pie.

Here is an overview of the book:
It was the perfect summer. That is, until Jeremy Ross moved into the house down the street and became Enemy Number One. Luckily, Dad has a surefire way to get rid of enemies-Enemy Pie. But one of the secret ingredients is spending an entire day with the enemy!

In this funny yet endearing story, one little boy learns an effective recipe for turning a best enemy into a best friend. With charming illustrations that bring to life the difficulties and ultimate rewards of making new friends, Enemy Pie serves up a sweet lesson in friendship.

Students made predictions of what was in "enemy pie" during 4 different points in the story. In the beginning, (by looking at the cover) students thought that enemy pie probably had things like worms, dirt, and leaves in it. As the book progresses students start to realize that enemy pie might not be so bad after all. It was a great opportunity to predict, as well as enjoying a lesson in friendship!

Spelling- Week #7

Regular List
1. human
2. joke
3. load
4. music
5. stone
6. huge
7. tune
8. fumes
9. know
10. only
11. used
12. mostly
13. true
14. flute
15. owner

Challenge List- Vegetables
1. asparagus
2. avocado
3. broccoli
4. cabbage
5. cauliflower
6. celery
7. cucumber
8. lettuce
9. mushrooms
10. onion
11. peppers
12. pumpkin
13. spinach
14. squash
15. zucchini

Sequence of Events

The first reading strategy that we focused on was SEQUENCE OF EVENTS. We practiced using the format of first, then, next, last. We shared the book The Lost and Found in our reading text book and worked to put the main ideas in sequential order. We also shared the books: Superdog! Heart of a Hero, The Secret Shortcut, and Salt in His Shoes. I modeled (with student input) the sequence of events in the first poster for Superdog, and students listed ideas on post-it notes for the story The Secret Shortcut. In addition to working as a whole group with these shared books, we also worked in small guided reading groups to support their learning. Our next journey.... making inferences!

Spelling- Week #6

1. sister 16. bottom
2. quite 17. level
3. water 18. tale
4. nine 19. paid
5. mark 20. mail
6. fast 21. baked
7. cage 22. safe
8. give 23. main
9. climb 24. train
10. once 25. blame
11. wagon 26. tried
12. giant 27. drive
13. under 28. size
14. collar 29. pies
15. does 30. island

Spelling- Week #5

alive
grind
pint
drive
diet
size
rise
died
tried
dial
five
pies
inside
cried
island

Free Baseball

We are currently reading Free Baseball by author Sue Corbett. It is a book off the Iowa Children's Choice Awards list. To visit the Iowa Children's Choice Awards website click here.

Here is a summary of the book:

Baseball is in his blood. Felix know a lot of ballplayers but not the one he wants to know the most: his father, a baseball star in Cuba, who risked everything to send Felix to America. His mom won't reveal anything else. When a team with a few Cuban players comes to town, Felix sneaks into the locker room to talk to them. That's when the players mistake him for their new batboy. Determined to uncover the truth about his mysterious father, Felix plays along. Just for a few days, he thinks-long enough to find out about his dad. Life at the ballpark is perfect. And when the team ends a long losing steak, the fun-loving, wisecracking players hail the new batboy as their lucky charm. But Felix is slowly uncovering the painful reality of his family's past. Is he strong enough to face the truth?

Personal Narrative Writing

We are starting our personal narratives, and the kids are doing a marvelous job! We started by listing special people, next we chose one person to write about. Then we chose 3 special moments that we shared with that person. I gave them an example that you will see in the pictures above. Next, we selected which story we felt was the best and started to develop that one by drawing 3 quick sketches and writing captions. Finally, we will use those ideas to create our personal narrative. I can't wait to see what they come up with-- the ideas are BURSTING from the seams!

Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

In a new twist on the Golden Rule, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? explains to children that we all carry an invisible bucket in which we keep our feelings about ourselves. When our buckets are full, we are happy; when they are empty, we are sad. It's important to know that we can fill our own bucket and so can others. We can also dip into it.

To read more about this awesome character building activity you can click here.

Science & Social Studies Overview

Students will have the opportunity to explore new things in new ways!

Student learning will be innovative and hands-on.

Science Themes

• Physics of Sound
• Water
• Structures of Life

Social Studies Themes

• Community
• Government
• Economics
• Geography
  

The Writing Workshop

Each Child Has a Story to Tell...

We will be exploring the art of writing through a variety of genres.

• Friendly Letters
• Poetry
• Fictional Stories
• Informational Paragraphs
• Descriptive Writing
  

A Balanced Literacy Approach

In Waukee, we have adopted a Balanced Literacy model. Balanced Literacy is an approach to teaching reading that includes many different types of instruction. Reading is taught through whole group instruction, small groups, and independent work. Each component of a balanced literacy program works together to help the child understand language as well as how to read text.

Read-Aloud: Whole Group Instruction
Shared Reading: Whole Group Instruction
Guided Reading: Small Group Instruction
Independent Reading: Independent Work

Introduction to Everyday Math

There are a number of features that distinguish the Everyday Mathematics curriculum. These include:

• Real-life Problem Solving
  Everyday Mathematics emphasizes the application of mathematics to real world situations. Numbers, skills and mathematical concepts are not presented in isolation, but are linked to situations and contexts that are relevant to everyday lives. The curriculum also provides numerous suggestions for incorporating mathematics into daily classroom routines and other subject areas.
  
  
• Balanced Instruction
  Each Everyday Mathematics lesson includes time for whole-group instruction as well as small group, partner, or individual activities. These activities balance teacher-directed instruction with opportunities for open-ended, hands-on explorations, long-term projects and on-going practice.
  
  
• Multiple Methods for Basic Skills Practice
  Everyday Mathematics provides numerous methods for basic skills practice and review. These include written and choral fact drills,
  mental math routines, practice with fact triangles (flash cards of fact families), daily sets of review problems called math boxes, homework, timed tests and a wide variety of math games.
  
  
• Emphasis on Communication
  Throughout the Everyday Mathematics curriculum students are encouraged to explain and discuss their mathematical thinking, in their own words. Opportunities to verbalize their thoughts and strategies give children the chance to clarify their thinking and gain insights from others.
  
  
• Enhanced Home/School Partnerships
  For grades 1-3, daily Home Links provide opportunities for family members to participate in the students' mathematical learning. Study Links are provided for most lessons in grades 4-6, and all grades include periodic letters to help keep parents informed about their children's experience with Everyday Mathematics

Teaching Your Child is the Greatest of Opportunities

It is my true desire to help your child grow socially, emotionally, and academically.

Socially- My goal is to see your child actively participate in our classroom community.

Emotionally- My goal is to see your child feel good about their accomplishments and to celebrate them.

Academically- My goal is to see your child reach their absolute potential as a student.

Welcome Back to School!

The school year has begun, and we are off to a BLAZING start! This blog will be one way that you can see what is going on in our classroom. I will be updating it frequently with a variety of things. In the posts below, you can meet my family and get to know me a little bit. I will be sharing all sorts of "cool" things this year! You may share this website with whomever you'd like... the more the merrier! Also, feel free to leave comments, too. Welcome to an AMAZING third grade year!

The Science Center

The Science Center is a great place to learn! We have gone a couple times this summer. Zaida always likes to touch this globe when we walk by. It's cool! We like the way you get to play with lots of different things when you're there. Have you ever been to the Science Center of Iowa? If you want to learn more about it you can click here. You will be sure to learn a lot on your adventure.

Mrs. Wetzel Graduates

I have been working really hard to finish my Masters degree. In July... I graduated! I was really excited to have my family in La Crosse, Wisconsin, with me for the graduation ceremony. There were many teachers from Waukee who also graduated. I now have a M.A. in Education from Viterbo University!

Fireworks on the Fourth

We celebrated the Fourth of July in style! We came out to watch the parade in Waukee. It was fun to see many kids that Mr. Wetzel and I knew. In the evening we went to see fireworks. They were beautiful!

A Trip to the Zoo

Our family took a trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. It is an awesome zoo! We loved looking at all the animals and reading about them. We learned so much. This is a picture of our daughter Zaida. Her favorite part of the zoo was playing with the monkeys. This monkey was being so silly!

If you want to know more about this zoo, you can click here. You can see pictures of the different exhibits they have, read a map, and even watch live video of the penguins from a web cam! We will be learning about animal habitats this year during our shared reading time. I can hardly wait!!