The Boxcar Children

 2012 marks the 70th anniversary of the children's classic, "The Boxcar Children", by Gertrude Chandler Warner.  This book is special to me beacause it is the first chapter book I remember reading as a child.  I was enthralled by the adventures of four young children, living in a boxcar in the middle of the woods. I think it will make a great first novel study for the students.

The story is part of our ongoing work in character analysis.  The novel offers four main characters that are richly developed and detailed.

We read Chapters 1 and 2 today, and will read a chapter a day until we finish the book.  "The Boxcar Children", and its sequel book series are great additions to anyone's home library.

Happy Reading,
Mr. Nix

Scholastic Book Club

On Tuesday I will send home the September Scholastic Book Club catalogs.  Buying books from Scholastic really helps me replenish and add to the classroom library.  I receive bonus points for every dollar spent to go towards free books for the classroom.  I have been able to add over 100 books to the classroom library over the past two years!

Buying is easy, just send in the order form and a check to cover the amount ordered (cash is also accepted, but checks are the easiest form of payment)

!

The newest "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book is available for pre-order from the scholastic catalog as well.  There is a bonus gift sent to every student that pre-orders

Thanks for all of your support and help!

-Mr. Nix 

Spelling Packet, Week of 8/27/12

SPELLING LIST

WEEK OF AUGUST 27, 2012

1. mix

2. milk

3. smell

4. last

5. head

6. friend

7. class

8. left

9. thick

10. send

11. thin

12. stick

13. test

14. dish

15. empty

16. glance

SPELLING PACKET DUE: 8/31/12

SPELLING TEST: 8/31/12

Directions:

1. Write each word 5 times

2. Place words in ABC order

3. Pick 10 words.  Write each in a sentence.

Thanks!!!

Thank you to all the parents that were able to make it Open House on Thursday night.



Have a great weekend!

Habits of Good Readers

Today we discussed the habits good readers possess, and how we identify and apply these traits.  The workshop opened with the reading of "The Story of Ferdinand" by Munro Leaf.  This classic story tells about a young bull who is different from the other bulls, but is happy to be different and unique.  While I read the story, I modeled some strategies of good readers.  When we broke into groups, the students brainstormed about the strategies they saw, and strategies they have learned in the past.

Here is the list the students compiled:
 Good readers...

• Look back in the story to check understanding
• Read carefully
• Re-read challenging passages
• Look at the text features in a book
• Ask questions to themselves as they read
• Predict as they read
• Make connections as they read
• Reflect on what they have read
• Use prior knowledge
• Make extensions by thinking what could happen after a story ends.   

We will work on developing these habits all year.

Happy Reading,
Mr. Nix

OPEN HOUSE REMINDER

Open House for third grade will be Thursday, August 23, 2012 at 6:30 PM

What a Great First Day!!!

We had an awesome first day with both classes today.  Our read-aloud today was the humorous story, "David Goes to School" by David Shannon.  In the story, the character of David shows us how NOT to act at school.  We used this as a springboard to discuss behavior in Readers Workshop. Next, we discussed our focus on creating expectations on how we behave in Readers Workshop.  The students brainstrormed in groups to create positive behavior goals for the class.  What wise, wonderful students!