We love Schoolhouse Supplies!

@pencilpete Schoolhouse Supplies Celebrity Spelling Bee is tonight.  Our class loves Schoolhouse Supplies!  Every year each student at James John School starts the year with a new backpack full of brand new school supplies.  We took some pictures today to show our support!

So What Galaxy Are You From?

In Science we have been creating our Global Address Book.  Last week we learned that the Universe is pretty much the biggest thing that we know of.  Today we learned that Galaxies make up our Universe.  Ask your 3rd Grader the name of the Galaxy they are currently inhabiting.

We used a really great iPad App that shows how we think the Universe works.

Ask your 3rd Grader if they can put these in order from biggest to smallest? (Try not to help them)


Atom
City
Continent
Country
County
Galaxy
Me 
Neighborhood
Planet
Room 12
School
Solar System
Universe

Congratulations To Savy, Our Student of the Week

Way to go Savy!

School Spirit Day

Yesterday was Crazy Hat / Crazy Hair Day here at James John. It was almost a carnival like atmosphere as kids filed in sporting hats and hairstyles that were very "spirited".

 

Congratulations to Our Students of The Month

Congratulations to January's Students of the Month:
Joanne, Lina, Abi and Jacob!

Multiplication Posters

Aaron & O'Maree sure were glad to be done.

This afternoon we (almost) finished up our multiplication posters.  Here are some of the folks that finished.

The kids had to choose equivalent groupings of stuff they loved - or at least what their partner loved.  Naturally, Abi chose Horseshoes (with stars of course).

Abi & Emylee

Auston & Ida chose Voodoo Donuts with Gummie bears.

Lina's group chose Ice Cream

Learning About Veggies, One Mouthful At A Time!

@SauvieCenter 

Today Jennifer from Sauvie Island Center stopped by with a whole bin of produce and a great lesson on plants.    

We learned about which parts of the plant our favorite vegetables come from. We had a great field trip back in September to Sauvie Island Center.  It was great to have a little taste of Sauvie Island come to us today.  Thanks Jennifer!

THANKS GUS!

Abi's little brother Gus showed up today with all of the items that were left on our Classroom Wish list.   Needless to say, we were all pretty blown away!  Thank you Amanda!  

We are so lucky to have so many generous and engaged families in our classroom this year.  We have had several houseplants, great parent volunteers, a boat load of
Starbucks (teacher) coffee and a ton of clorox wipes- all donated this year from our classroom parents.  

So what's the impact?  Our kids feel supported by (and an important part of) a much larger caring community.

3D Shapes I Know

We sang this song yesterday in math and your 3rd Grader wanted to be sure that I posted it.  The end of our Geometry unit touched on 3D Shapes.  We will be exploring 3D shapes again later in the year.

Celebrity Guest Read Alouder: PPS School Board Member, Greg Belisle

Today we were super excited to have Greg Belisle stop by our room for Celebrity Guest Read Aloud!  In addition to being a Portland Public School Board Member, Greg  also works at Impact NW as their Community Schools Program Manager.  We thought it was really great to meet another schoolboard member!   Thank you Mr. Belisle!

We could tell that Mr. Belisle was into our book as much as we were.

Researching Whales

Today we started our whale research.

We checked out every whale book in the James John Library.

We looked up some information on our iPads.

Mr. Crockett helped us find some of the information we were missing. 

Congratulations to Abi!, Our Student of the Week!

Way to go Abi!

"Look Mom, IXL At Math!"

 Today Ms. Rolfe helped us get aquatinted with the IXL Math Program.  Your 3rd Grader loved it and the best part is they can login from any computer. We pasted our username and password into our homework journals that came home today.

Once they're logged in they need to find the 3rd Grade tab.  We are currently working in a Fraction Unit, which they can work on or pick from a variety of other math concepts.  As you can see from the pictures- they're really into it.  If you don't have internet access at home- stop in at our local St. Johns Library or any of the computer labs available through Multnomah County Library.

Keeping James John School a Safe Place

Dear Parents,

I wanted to share part of the conversation we had at staff meeting last Monday regarding safety.  In an order to keep our children safe at James John School 

• All adults in the building need to have an ID badge visible at all times.  
• All staff are committed to having their PPS Badge visible and we are asking that all Parents and visitors check in the office- sign in and pick up a visitor badge.
• I will post more information as it becomes available.

A Whale Of A Good Time!

In Room 12 we have been studying Whales.  We watched documentary on whales (your 3rd Grader probably told you about it) and we've read several books on whales.  Every month we change table groups and we always pick a theme- so it was really no surprise that this month the class picked whales.  Thanks to Mr. Crockett (our brave Student Teacher) for coordinating and corralling all of this . . . enthusiasm.

  . . .what are the next steps?  Table groups will research the distinct characteristics, find out what their whale likes to eat and which oceans they are most likely to be found.

Come Out To Burgerville Tonight!

Local Author Marcia Mayo

Marcia Mayo just finished writing the first chapter of her new children's mystery novel which takes place in St. Johns. She stopped by yesterday and read it to us.  We thought it was great and can't wait to hear the rest!

Happy New Year!

Auston wanted everyone to remember that school starts tomorrow.


Photo credit: Jason Moos