Book Club Revolution!

So a few of our boys found several copies of a book in the library today. They decided to each check-out a copy and start their own book club. (Ahh, music to a teacher's ears, right?)

I invited them to use a round of Daily 5 every few days to meet together to talk about their book. They were pretty excited, to say the least. When I let the rest of the class know about the book club the boys had started, the idea spread like wildfire!

Many students used a Daily 5 today to organize a book club of their own. Currently, we have three different book clubs, reading three different books, and several more students thinking about starting one this week.

As a class, we took a few minutes to set up some "ground rules," because while book clubs are fun and a powerful way to improve as a reader and learn from other readers, there are some stumbling blocks that can get in the way sometimes. Here are some of the things we decided on:

• It's a commitment. If you decide to join a book club, you are committing to read the book. Think carefully about your interest-level in the book before making the commitment.
• You don't have to be in a book club.
• It's not just a club. We must be extremely careful that people don't feel excluded, but also recognize that book clubs are normally rather small, 4-6 people usually.
• Set up a schedule.  Make sure the group knows what to read and when.
• Meet once or twice a week to talk about what's happening in the book.

Wow, it's an exciting time to be a third grader. Have your child let me know if he/she wants to be part of a book club, and I'll help to get one set up!

Book-Clubbers... UNITE!

Wear Red on Friday

Students are invited to wear read on Friday to help support Riley Hospital. Here's a message from Jennifer Schwab (CCS Community Liason), with the details:

"Each year, our schools participate in fundraising campaigns that benefit some wonderful charities and we are so proud of all the wonderful work our students, staff and families do to support this giving-back effort. 

On Friday, February 13, we wanted to invite your school to participate in “Wear Red for Riley Day,” and help raise funds, as a district, to benefit Riley Hospital for Children in support of the CHS Dance Marathon. 

Students and staff participating would pay a dollar (or a donation of their choice) to wear Red for the day to support Riley Hospital for Children."

SPELLING: Week of February 9th

This week's patterns:

'eu'
'ch' (tricky sounds: /k/ and /sh/
'ar' (when sounding like /er/)

Here is our list:

1. neutral
2. sleuth
3. maneuver
4. feud

5. school
6. scheme
7. chord
8. chorus
9. orchid

10. chef
11. chaperone

12. pillar
13. cellar
14. burglar
15. regular
16. popular
17. poplar

SPELLING: Week of February 2nd

This week's patterns:

'augh' (usually followed by 't')
'gn' (begins or ends a word)
'ei'

Here is our list:

1. caught
2. taught
3. naughty
4. daughter

5. gnaw
6. sign
7. align
8. assignment
9. gnat

10. either
11. weird
12. protein
13. vein
14. reindeer


Watch Out Words
15. woman
16. women
17. lose
18. loose 
19. where
20. were
 

SPELLING: Week of January 26th

This week's patterns:

'ough' (usually followed by 't')
'wr'
'ui' (in the middle of words)

Here is our list:

1. brought
2. fought
3. thought
4. rough

5. wrong
6. write
7. wrist
8. wreck
9. unwrap
10. wrestle

11. fruit
12. juice
13. bruise
14. cruise
15. suite

Watch Out Words
16. people
17. arrange
18. answer
19. laugh

SPELLING: Week of January 20th

This week's patterns:
ph
-stle
-ey (at the end of multi-syllable words)

Here is our list:

1. phone
2. phrase
3. graph
4. sphinx
5. dolphin
6. typhoon

7. rustle
8. castle
9. whistle
10. hustle
11. nestle

12. hockey
13. chimney
14. kidney
15. Hershey
16. monkey

Watch Out Words
17. beauty
18. friend
19. because
20. minute

"Overdrive" information coming from the CCPL

The following is a note from Miss Teeple, our Media Specialist...

Dear 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th Grade Families,

The Cherry Tree Media Center is pleased to share with you that during the week of January 26^th, the Carmel Clay Public Library (CCPL) will be joining us at Cherry Tree during your child’s media special. They will be sharing information about Overdrive, a simple, method for reading eBooks on computers and tablet devices.  Students will be invited to bring in their personal device, in accordance with our school BYOD policy.  Bringing a device is OPTIONAL, and students without a device will be able to participate using a school computer.  The CCPL has requested that if a student is able to bring his/her library card number, or a parent’s library card number, this will enhance our time with them.  They do not need to bring the actual card.  A post it note, with the library card number, is sufficient.  For more information, or to download a CCPL Library Card application, please visit our Media Center webpage by clicking HERE. 

Please feel free to email me with any questions you may have prior to their visit.

Thank you!
Miss Teeple
bteeple@ccs.k12.in.us