CHARACTER TRAIT:  Christ’s Birth

Reference:  Isaiah 9:6

Bible Verse:  For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

SPELLING WORDS:  LESSON 16 

Pattern Words-Words with the /ou/ sound

1.  count

2.  louder

3.  cloudy

4.  frown

5.  towels

6.  power

7.  drown

8.  crowd

9.  pounds

10.  browse

11.  sounded

12.  however

13.  outdoors

14.  surround

15.  household

16.  downtown

17.  playground

18.  outstanding

High-Frequency Words

19.  different

20.  probably

Challenge Words

* ornament

* Bethlehem

PARENT CORNER

IN APPRECIATION

Thank you dear, dear parents for the beautiful Thanksgiving celebration and party last Tuesday. We appreciated your heart of giving for the children to share in such a memorable time together.   The third graders had a wonderful experience creating pine cone turkey centerpieces and Oreo Cookie Candy Corn eatable turkeys.  They all turned out looking very unique!!  We enjoyed a joyful day of praise, worship, and were blessed by Jeanette Rylander’s message in chapel  centered around thankfulness.  We also were blessed with Shirley’s family, her dad, Jacob, Baby Brother, and Jeanette’s grandparents, who participated in a Thanksgiving skit during chapel.  Great acting!! And third graders, you did a fantastic job on the reader’s theater play “Give Thanks for the Pilgrims!!!”

END OF SECOND QUARTER
Our second quarter ends on December 13th.  Please check your child’s grades on Powerschool and send in any late work, missing assignments, re-do’s or test re-takes by this Friday, December 6th.  Also, be sure to complete your weekly Reading Counts book and take a quiz this week.  The deadline is Friday, December 6.

 PICK UP AND DROP OFF DURING RAINY DAYS

When the rain is falling, we will do our best to keep your children warm, dry and safe.  Students in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade will be supervised indoors on the south end of Building 5 downstairs.  Students in grades 4-6 will be supervised on the north end of Building 5 downstairs.

You will need to park and come to the designated areas to safely walk your children to the car.  I realize this is an inconvenience, however it is necessary to maintain the safety of our students.

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENTS

During the next two weeks we will be completing our benchmark assessments in writing with personal narrative event/experiences, math, and reading inventories.

TOGETHER WE CAN

This our last week to bring in our contributions for the food drive. It will be benefiting the Pinedale community. Please bring your items to our classroom and we will have a big red bucket to put them in. It is a great opportunity for our children to share with those in need!!  We are having a contest between the classes as well, so let’s work hard for those in need first and maybe even a prize for us at the end of the week.
 SECRET ANGEL
 
It has become a tradition to  read together the story called  “The Last Straw” in our classroom.   The story is about doing acts of kindness and sharing special secret surprises with those we love.  After our class has read the story, we will then draw names.  Boys will draw boy names.  Girls will draw girl names.  
Beginning  Monday, December 9th until Thursday, December 12th, third graders will be a secret angel to a special friend.  Your child can draw a picture, write an encouraging note, bring a small sweet treat, pencil, sticker, eraser or any small token that says “I am thinking about you and praying for you.” The children should try to bring something every day.  
On Thursday, December 12, when we have our Birthday Party for Jesus, students will bring a gift (no more than $5.00), for their secret friend and reveal the person they have been blessing. Above all, keep it a secret.  Do not put the name of the child to whom the present goes, but put your own child’s name on the tag (who the gift is from.)
CLASS CHRISTMAS PARTY
Our third grade class will celebrate Christ’s birthday with a Christmas party on Thursday afternoon, December 12 from 1:30-2:30 PM.   Please contact Patty Steele and Emily Phillips if you would like to help with the party.
ELEMENTARY CHRISTMAS SKATING PARTY

Grades 1-6 grades will be going skating on Friday, December 13 at Cal Skate of Clovis. Travel arrangements will be by CARPOOL.  A form will be coming home with more information.  Please return the form that is being sent home by Friday, December 6th.  Also, some of you asked if you could just meet us at the skating rink at 8:15 AM, rather than come to school in the morning.  This is great, but please make a note of that on your form so I know how many students I will still need to transport. You may also take your child from Cal Skate after our skating session is done at 10:00 AM rather than return to school.  If you are transporting students I will need you to arrive at school at 8:00 AM.  Thank you!

1st Session – 8:15-9:55 AM / Classes: Tally, Raymundo, Weimer, Fraser

2nd Session – 10:15-11:30 AM / Classes: Ferguson, Hancox, Vander Kooi, Broersma

All skating fees for third grade students are pre-paid through our class account.   Parents and siblings that skate will need to pay the $6.50 for each skating session at the door.  Non-skating parents who would just like to come and watch kids skate will need to pay an entrance fee of $3.00 at the door.  Parents that wish to be a spectator at one session and skate at the other session need to pay $9.50.

Roller blades may been worn but they must have flush bolts, (no sharp exposed bolts/screws).  If your skates have a heel brake it must be in good condition, no screw showing.  Roller blades will be inspected by Cal Skate employees, if they do not meet the standards you will need to use roller skates.

Please fill out the Skating Transportation form and return no later than Friday, December 6.  Based on the information received, we will plan for the number of carpoolers needed.

BIBLE

We will  study the story of Christ’s birth during the next two weeks beginning with God’s angel, Gabriel, visiting Mary to  share the good news of Jesus.  We will learn about Mary’s visit to see her cousin, Elizabeth and husband, Zacharias.  We will journey to Bethlehem with Joseph and Mary for Christ’s birth, relive the story of  the shepherds and Wise Men, along with the narrow escape to Egypt from King Herod’s plot.  We look forward to learning about the true meaning of the season and God’s greatest gift of all!!

SOCIAL STUDIES
This week we will be finishing Unit 2 American Indians. We will complete Chapter 4:  California Indians Today including A Changing Way of Life, Comparing History Maps,  Preserving the Culture, and Indians and Government.
MATH
During the next few weeks our class will be learning how to estimate and measure in customary and metric units in Chapter 4 Measurement.  You can expect to see work that provides practice in measuring length to the nearest inch, half inch, and centimeter.  A family letter is attached to today’s newsletter with measurement equivalents and vocabulary to keep in mind.
PEACH BLOSSOM FESTIVAL

 Our class will be busy selecting poems to memorize for presentation in an Oral Interpretation Speech Meet which will take place in January.   This is a FCS requirement for all 1st-6th classes.  Each third grade student is required to memorize a NEW poem of at least three or four stanzas (12-16 lines.)  We have a large and varied list of poems to select from in the classroom and library.  Parents are welcome to help children select a poem from home. Please submit the poem to your child’s teacher for approval and provide a copy of the poem by January 10th.

Although this is not due until we come back from Christmas vacation, I strongly suggest you try and choose your poem before January.  Students should begin to memorize their poem at home with parental guidance.  A “Helpful Hints” guide sheet will be provided  for an effective presentation.  Please begin to work individually with your child on these 5 steps over Christmas vacation.  Judging is based on expression, platform presence, voice, and speech.  We will practice at school as well after Christmas vacation.

Parents are invited to the speech meet, as finalists from the 3rd and 4th grade competition will be selected to represent our school at the Peach Blossom Festival of Oral Interpretation.  This is a citywide elementary speech meet held annually at California State University Fresno each spring.  We look forward to sharing our favorite poems with classmates.  Thank you for your cooperation in helping your child to learn his/her poem.

FRESNO CHRISTIAN MUSIC DEPARTMENT PRESENTS:

“A Candlelight Christmas”

Kindergarten through Fourth Grades

Elementary Choir

Junior High Choir

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

5:30 pm

Fresno Christian Gym


 

COMING ATTRACTIONS

DECEMBER

Friday, December 6 -Elementary Drama/ Sir Nose:  The Burger Rat @ 8:00-9:00 AM

Friday, December 6 – Stripes Day

DECEMBER 7 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE BULL

Wednesday, December 11 – Teacher Inservice – School dismissed at 12:00 PM

Wednesday December 11 – Christmas Program – 5:30 PM  – FCS Gym

Thursday, December 12 – Class Christmas Party 1:30 – 2:30 PM

Friday, December 13 – Elementary Christmas Skating Party @ Cal Skate

Friday, December 13 – School dismissed at 12:00 PM

Friday, December 13 – End of Second Quarter

 December 16 – January 3 – Christmas Vacation – Happy Birthday Jesus!

JANUARY

Monday, January 6 –  School Resumes – Happy New Year!!