Week of September 30th through October 4th

Happy Fall! I hope you had an enjoyable weekend. It's hard to believe that October is here! Please see below for important information for the week ahead.

• This week is a review week in reading and spelling. Therefore, the students will not have new spelling words--rather, they will have review words on #'s 1-18. The extra spelling words that certain students have will be new words--those words will consist of the science vocabulary words (see below). 

• Please remember that your child should be bringing his/her planner and blue folder home each and every night. The planner should be signed by a parent (or guardian) each and every night. So far, there have only been TWO days where every student has had his/her planner signed. I'm convinced that we can improve this! 

• I thought I'd share with you a website that I have found especially helpful. This website, located within the Washakie County School District site contains the district calendar. The school lunch menu is located on this district calendar. Please click on the following in order to navigate to the website and view upcoming important events for not only East Side, but the middle school and high school as well. 

• In math we have been working on subtraction with borrowing and regrouping. An example is 563-278. Many students are confused as to how to regroup. Please check with your child and see if he/she has difficulty with this. It would be wonderful if you could work with your child on this subtraction at home if he/she is experiencing difficulty--I will continue to do the same at school. Thank you.

• Please see this week's spelling words below. Make sure to check with your child to see if he/she has the extra spelling words that are listed below the regular spelling words. Once again, the first eighteen are words that your child already had this school year--therefore, they should be fairly easy, right? :)
• hospital
• fantastic
• these
• those
• surprise
• decide
• paint
• please
• yesterday
• explain
• cold
• most
• tomorrow
• sailboats
• find
• night
• silent
• frightening

• Extra spelling words: (taken from our science topic of study) Only certain students have these words. 
• producer
• consumer
• decomposer
• herbivore
• carnivore
• omnivore
• prey 
• predator

I hope you have a wonderful week! Feel free to e-mail any questions you may have to smartinez@wsh1.k12.wy.us .

Sincerely,

Mrs. Martinez

Week of September 23rd through 27th

Hello! It's hard to believe that September is nearly over and one month of school has already gone by! I'm happy to report that we are *finally* done with MAP testing. The next MAP testing session will be in the spring. This upcoming week is Homecoming Week at the high school. East Side has always participated in a small way by having each day be a special dress up day. Spirit week this year, however, will be interrupted on Wednesday (the 25th) due to Picture Day at East Side. Please see the important information below for the week ahead.

• Spirit Week will be as follows:
• Monday--Pajama day
• Tuesday--Crazy clothes/hair day
• Wednesday--Picture day!
• Thursday--Dress as your favorite sport, team, or athlete
• Friday--Orange and black day

• The Homecoming Parade will be on Friday, September 27th at 1:30 pm. 

• Students will be told that they can bring headphones or earbuds to school as soon as possible. Due to the fact that I am starting reading groups this coming week, students will have the opportunity to work on an iPod and play educational apps. This will probably be only once a week. However, unless students bring headphones (or earbuds) they will have to play the iPod with the MUTE setting on to avoid disturbing others. 

• As stated above, my students will start reading groups this week. Mrs. Pat Anderson and Mr. Mark Stephens will be pulling a few of my students to give them extra help in reading. In our school this is known as Response to Intervention (or RTI). If your child is one who will be receiving extra help you will be receiving a letter from me indicating just that. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions that you may have. 

• My class will also start serving in the lunchroom this week. This is a new experience for third graders--as this will be the first year they will do it. Even though students may or may not like serving--it's an important skill to learn. It also teaches students necessary life skills and reiterates the fact that we all have to help. If your child is serving on a particular day he/she will receive a free (hot) lunch and will need to leave my classroom around 11:20 to go to the cafeteria to serve. 

• This week's spelling words focus on the long 'i' sound. The different blends that we will be discussing this week include 'ight', 'ild', 'ie', and 'i' by itself. Challenge words will also be given to particular students. Your child should know by now if he/she is receiving the challenge words. 
• slight
• mild
• sight
• pie
• mind
• tie
• pilot
• might
• lie
• tight
• blind
• fight
• die
• midnight
• find
• night
• silent
• frightening
• Challenge Words: (not all students will have these words--ask your child)
• stands
• score
• fans
• league
• slammed
• pronounced
• style 
• polish

Have a great week! 

Mrs. Martinez

Week of September 16th through 20th

Hello! It's hard to believe that nearly one month of school is almost over! Time has flown by! Please see below for important information.

• There is NO SCHOOL on Monday, September 16th. This is a teacher inservice day. 

• On Wednesday, September 18th, our class will complete the last MAP test. This will be covering the subject of math. Our testing time will be from 9:30-10:30. Please encourage your child to do his/her best and always make sure he/she eats a good breakfast. 

• Please see this week's spelling words below. This week we are discussing long 'o' words. The spelling patterns included in this week's words are 'oa', 'old', 'ow', and 'o'. Also, the same students who had the extra words last week will continue to have the extra spelling words this week. 
• load
• open
• told
• yellow
• soak
• shadow
• foam
• follow
• glow
• sold
• window
• coach
• almost
• throat
• cold
• most
• tomorrow
• sailboats

Extra spelling words:

• balancing
• tide
• crew
• disappears
• foggy
• stretch
• excitement
• cling

Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions. Have a great week! 

Mrs. Martinez

Week of September 9th through 13th

Greetings! I hope you had a nice weekend! That was quite the storm we had on Saturday night! Here are some important reminders for the week ahead.

• On Tuesday, September 10th the students will be heading over to the high school track in order to complete the mile run. This is a requirement for P.E. Please remind your child to wear appropriate clothing, bring tennis shoes, and also bring a water bottle. The students will be going over to the track at approximately 12:45pm and will return to the school by 1:45pm. Mr. Heyer has welcomed any parent who would like to go and watch their child run!

• On Wednesday, September 11th the students will complete another MAP test. The subject this week is Language Usage. As always, please ensure that your child eats a healthy breakfast and gets plenty of rest. Also, please encourage your child to do his/her best on the test--I had a few students who whipped right through the reading portion last week and as a result they received very low scores. 

• The Scholastic book order that I sent home on September 3rd is due this coming Friday--September 13th. You can also order online if you so choose. If not, please send the order form and the payment with your child to school. You are not obligated to order any books--however, I will always send a book order home at the beginning of each month. 

• Please see this week's spelling words below. This week we are discussing long vowel words with different vowel patterns--for example, the long a can be spelled 'ay' or 'ai' and the long e can be spelled 'ea' and 'ee'. Also, some students received extra spelling words because they did so well on our very first spelling test--this was not the case last week. I could tell that some of the students did not study these extra spelling words--please encourage your child to study the extra spelling words if they are assigned--as these words will count towards their spelling grade. The same students who had the extra words last week will have extra words this week--hopefully they will do better this time! 
• lay
• real
• trail
• sweet
• today
• dream
• seem
• tea
• treat
• afraid
• leave
• bait
• cheer
• speed
• paint
• please
• yesterday
• explain

Extra spelling words (if your child had extra words last week then he/she will have them this week): 

• afford
• customers
• contacted
• raise
• earn
• figure
• block
• spreading

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have regarding this blog post or anything else. Once again, my email is smartinez@wsh1.k12.wy.us . I may not get back to you right away--as there are times I only have the opportunity to check my e-mail in the evening; but I will get back to you! Thank you and have a great week!

Mrs. Martinez
         

Welcome!

Welcome to the webpage! As your child's teacher, I am committed to keeping the lines of communication open! Please use this blog page to read about upcoming events, homework, and other important information! Feel free to send me a comment or e-mail if you have any questions or concerns! Thank you for taking the time to look this webpage up!

e-mail address: smartinez@wsh1.k12.wy.us or smartinez3377@gmail.com

Important Links: Washakie County School District Website
                             Parent Portal (must register via the central office)


Mrs. Martinez

Week of September 3rd through 6th

Hello!
I hope yours was a relaxing and enjoyable Labor Day Weekend. It's back to the grind this week! Below are some important reminders for the week ahead.

• On Thursday, September 5th, our class will be taking part in the districtwide MAP assessment. The subject that the students will be testing in this week is Reading. Our testing time is from 10:30-11:25. Please remember that this testing is required and *must* be made up in the event that a student is absent from school. As always, please ensure that your child gets plenty of rest and a good breakfast--this helps so much!

• Also on Thursday, September 5th, is East Side's annual Ice Cream Social and Open House. This is a great way for your child to show off his/her classroom and also for you to meet your child's teacher(s). This will begin at 6pm and last until 7:30. I hope to see you there! 

• Just a reminder: Student planners and blue folders *should* be coming home each night. On the top line of each subject in the planner is what we worked on in class and on the bottom line of each subject and also highlighted is what your child has for homework [if any]. 

• Scholastic book orders will be coming home on Tuesday, September 3rd. You are under no obligation to purchase any books--however, Scholastic usually offers books at a great price and you don't have to pay for shipping! Also, each book ordered will help to add books to our classroom library. Online ordering is also available--please see my classroom code sticker attached to the book order. 

Your child will have spelling words this week. Please see the list of words below. Some students may have additional challenge words other than what is on his/her contract. Please make sure that your child studies all of his/her words. This week we are discussing long vowel words--specifically, words that end with a silent e.  Please help me to help your child by reminding him/her that even though you cannot hear the silent e at the end of a word--it must be there so that the first vowel says its name. This week's spelling words:

• spoke
• mile
• save
• excuse
• cone
• invite
• cube
• price
• erase
• ripe
• broke
• flame
• life
• rule
• these
• those
• surprise
• decide

Extra challenge words: (not every student will have these)

• trial
• jury
• convinced
• guilty
• pointed
• honest
• murmur
• stand

This blog has been set up to help keep the lines of communication open. If you have any suggestions for how I can improve this blog or questions about it please don't hesitate to contact me! Here's to a wonderful school year!

Best Regards,
Mrs. Martinez