Norris News

10/18/12 – 10/24/12

Characters in Literature PartyThe party date is fast approaching and we don’t have the supplies or needed volunteers. Please review the master list below and commit to helping in some way. 

Dear Parents,

It looks as though our Characters in Literature celebration will be held on October 31st. First, your child will need to dress as one of the many characters in the Wizard of Oz. Please allow your child to participate by dressing up in costume. No matter what your child says at home, he or she will feel left out if he/she does not participate. This day is in no way a holiday celebration. It does coincide with a holiday, but we are focusing on how to recognize and write great characters and to recognize and incorporate all the necessary components of a well written story. This is a cumulative activity that concludes a month long study of these essential components.

Your child can choose from the following characters: Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Farmers, Aunt Em, Wizard of Oz, Munchkins, Toto, Flying Monkey, Talking Tree, Emerald City Citizens, Wicked Witch of East or West, Glenda the Good Witch, and so on. Thankfully, these costumes can be made easily at home and are some of the least expensive and easily found costumes on the internet. Any character in the book is acceptable as long as the costume is appropriate for school. Absolutely no blood or violence is allowed.

Secondly, I will need parent volunteers and supplies for the following centers. Please highlight this donation section below, click file, click print, click selection, and click print. This will allow you to print only this section. Then, complete the form and return it to me as soon as possible. Feel free to also e-mail me with how you can help in lieu of printing the form. I will note your donation or return the form to you asking you to pick some other way to help if someone else has already chosen your item/service. I will need all supplies, in class, by Tuesday, October 30th.

Master List Update –

1. Pumpkin Decorating

*Parent volunteer to run this center. (10:45 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.) ______

Parent to donate 5 small pumpkins _Carmella’s mom______

Parent to donate 5 small pumpkins______

Parent to donate 5 small pumpkins______

Parent to donate 5 small pumpkins______

Parent to donate 5 small pumpkins______

Parent to donate 5 small pumpkins______

Parent to donate 2 small pumpkins______

Supplies provided by Mrs. Norris

2. Bobbing for Apples

*Parent volunteer to run this center. (10:45 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.)

______

Parent to donate two bags of Apples (32 and up apples)_Carmella’s mom__

26 small clean towels and tub provided by___ Mrs. Norris______

3. Harvest/Seasonal Cookie Decorating

*Parent Volunteer to run this center. (10:45 a.m. – 12:20 p.m._____Karlee’s mom!______

Parent to donate 4 cans of white frosting_Carmella’s mom______

Parent to donate food coloring: (yellow, orange, black, red, green, brown….) ______

Parent to donate 64+ cookies to decorate__Karlee’s mom!______Parent to volunteer other seasonal candy toppings_Ethan’s mom______

Reynolds’s Wrap, plastic bowls, and plastic knives provided by Mrs.
Norris.

4. Rope a Doughnut

*Parent to run this center (10:45 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.)__Emily’s Mom____

Parent to donate 32 - 42 kid-appreciated doughnuts with a 24 inch string already tied around each doughnut. This is the class favorite! ______

5. Holiday Crafts and other activitiesprovided by Mrs. Norris

6. Parent volunteers are encouraged to dress up but it’s not required. Come on! Have some fun! 

Operation Christmas Child

How many of your children came home talking about Operation Christmas Child and the Shoe Box gift? I’ll tell you, the presentation was powerful and very tastefully done. A young boy from Africa managed to tell the students about his life without actually telling them how horrific it has been. When he was 9 years old, and living in an orphanage he received his very first gift, and Operation Christmas Child shoe box. He never knew his father, his mother died when he was a small infant, and his grandmother was killed in the 1982 genocide. He was simply inspiring. The depth of his gratitude and his positive and hopeful attitude despite his circumstances really had an impact on us all. The students really connected with him and want to help.

My family has been making and sending shoe boxes for 10 years but your children desperately want to do it as a class. They bowled me right over and I agreed to set aside some class time so we could work together to make a positive change in the world.

In a nut shell, the organization sends decorated shoe boxes filled with small items to children in desperate need. Here is what we would need:

  1. A standard sized shoe box or plastic container.
  2. A designation for boy or girl ages 2-4, 5-9, or 10-14
  3. Gifts– The gifts need to be new and small. Here are a list of suggestions:

School Supplies – (African children cannot attend school unless they have the necessary supplies) Pens, pencils, sharpeners, crayons, markers, stamps and ink pad sets, writing pads or paper, solar calculators, coloring and picture books…

Toys – small cars, balls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, jump ropes, small Etch-A-Sketch toys that light up or make noise (include extra batteries), Slinkies……

Hygiene Items – toothbrushes, toothpaste, mild bar soap ( in a plastic bag), comb, wash cloth….

Other – t-shirts, socks, ball caps, sunglasses, hair clips, toy jewelry, watches, flash lights (with extra batteries)….

Do Not Send – used or damaged items, war items of any kind, chocolate or food, out-of-date candy, liquids or lotions, medications or vitamins, breakable items like snow globes, glass containers, or aerosol cans.

  1. We would need a 7.00 donation for every shoe box we send.

Additional items needed are tape, and wrapping paper

I will help students write a letter to each recipient and the organization strongly encourages each box to include a picture as well. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to send 32 boxes or more with letters and pictures for each student? 

The boxes need to be dropped off at the nearest collection center between November 12-19th.

I’d like to ask you to consider helping your child be a part of this effort. It’s a real application to the Character Counts and community studies we have this year. If you can send in your shoe boxes or plastic containers, gifts, tape, wrapping paper, student photo, gift items from list and 7.00, I’d like to have an Operation Christmas Child wrap and pack party on November 16th at 10:45 a.m. You may consider coming in to lend a hand and share this experience with your child. 

Here’s an appropriate Dr. Suess quote from the Lorax. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better…it’s not.” 

The Little Mermaid – CYT Production

Yeah, 9 Alta friends have decided to go see the show. There is still room for you. Simply choose a date and let me know what time and how many. I’d love to pay for you to go. 

My son enjoys drama and he participates in many plays throughout the year. The last couple of CYT and Linfield plays have been truly outstanding. The last production had 67 students doing complete tap numbers on stage during the 1920’s! The plays are usually very heart-warming experiences that leavethe audience feeling hopeful and blessed. I honestly don’t know how Little Mermaid will turn out as I have not been volunteering as much this time around but it will most probably be a another very enjoyable show.

As part of the experience, my son has to sell a number of tickets. I have decided to see what the interest level is for this show and offer to buy a few families tickets. The only catch is that you would have to be willing to travel to the theatre out in Fallbrook. It’s a beautiful theatre, lovely drive, but it is about a 30 minute drive from here.

So, talk it over and e-mail me if you and your family are interested. Include how many tickets you would like and at what date and time you would like to attend. Remember, I will buy your tickets!

If for some reason, more families are interested than I can afford to send, I’ll simple have a drawing. 

The Little Mermaid is presented at the Bob Burton Center for the Performing Arts on:

November 10th at 2:30 and 7:00

November 11th at 2:30

November 15th at 7:00

November 17th at 2:30 and 7:00

November 18th at 2:30

Character Counts and Red Ribbon Week –

Our character counts and red ribbon week will be from October 22 – 26th. Here are our activities:

Friday: Wear Shades and Shade Out Drugs

Monday: Red Hot Against Drugs (Wear Red)

Tuesday: Sock it to Drugs (Crazy Sock Day)

Wednesday: Wake Up and Say No to Drugs (Wear Pajamas)

Thursday: Team Up Against Drugs (Jersey Day)

Friday: You’ve Got to Be Crazy to do Drugs ( Crazy Hair Day)

Our yearly carnival will be held on the 26th from 5p.m to 7p.m. Adults are free and students can purchase a wrist band early for $5.00 or for $6.00 at the gate.

I have a game where two people stand on a stump and pull/don’t pull a rope trying to get the opponent off balance enough to fall off the stump. It’s very fun for the students but we need adult volunteers to play for 30 minutes increments. Dads, I need you for this one! (Moms, you’d be great too.) Come on out and enjoy the carnival with your child, and offer to play this stump/rope game for a half hour!

Please sign up for one of the following times:

5:30 – 6:00___Mike Volpone__:)______

6:00-6:30______

6:30 – 7:00______

7:00 – 7:30______

7:30 – 8:00______

Homework – There is now a reward and consequence in class for completing or not completing the weekly homework.

AR is up and we’ve already taken over 100 quizzes! Yeah! Please have your child bring in his/her AR IRP books for reference, if possible, while they complete the quiz.

Also, I’m seeing a large variety of very second grade books listed on the reading log. I should see 2 AR Alta Library books read on Monday night but the rest of the week, your child should be reading one longer length AR title. Please see me if your child does not yet have an AR IRP book.

We need to correct the Reading Log reading choices and format in this week’s homework. These are third grade skills and the weekly Reading Log is perfect for authentic practice. This is what your child’s reading log should look like:

Reading Log

10/4/12 – 10/10/12

Thursday: Wizard of Oz (AR IRP)

Friday: Wizard of Oz (AR IRP)

Saturday: Wizard of Oz (AR IRP)

Sunday: Wizard of Oz (AR IRP)

Monday: The Lorax (AR Alta Library Book)

The Butter Battle Book (AR Alta Library Book)

Tuesday: Wizard of Oz (AR IRP)

Wednesday: Wizard of Oz (AR IRP)

Please notice the capital letters and spellings on the days of the week. Also note the book titles are underlined and all the “important words” in the title are capitalized. Finally, notice there are only three books. 2 AR Alta Library books and 1 longer length AR IRP book.

Please help your child make the correct reading selections and follow the correct format for authentic third grade standards practice. 

Field Trips

Murrieta Valley High School to See: The Wind in the Willows on November 8th at 9:30! Yeah! This is a wonderful story. More information to follow.

Duplicate Postings Worth Repeating

  • Look for “Gotta Know It” notes coming home each day in your child’s backpack. They will look like “third grade note taking” written on plain copy paper. These are important concepts that I want your child to share with you. Place them in a safe place in your home and review them with your child when you can. Also, keep all tests. Reward your child when appropriate and support him/her by helping your child understand concepts missed in class. 
  • Start getting your children their AR IRP full length books. A few students have already picked-up 2 or 3 so they are never without an AR IRP book to read. Great idea! Have your child keep the AR IRP book in his/her backpack so it can be read in class when appropriate as well as reading it at home. Your child may even like to have it handy for sibling practices and errands.  If your child can read and pass more than one a month, yeah! Let’s do it! Remember, you are responsible to get your child’s AR IRP books. Go to to check for reading level and to verify it is an AR title.
  • The information on the web site from last year is pretty accurate except for the AR IRP program information. This year I WILL NOT BE REQUIRING A SUMMARY, ART PROJECT, AND ORAL PRESENTATION for each AR IRP book. However, I am not going to pull that information from the site. Any student who would like to complete these elements may present in class for extra credit. I just want to make sure that everyone understands for THIS YEAR, ONLY READING AND PASSING AN AR TEST PER BOOK is all that is required. I hope to bring back the full program next year. 
  • IXL – We have already started NUMBER SENSE. Your child should begin working through that section. Also the following sections were covered in second grade or we’ve already laid the ground work in class:
  • A1-A12 Numbers and Comparing
  • B1 – B9 Place Values
  • C1 – C16 Addition
  • D1 – D9 Subtraction
  • E1 – E15 Multiplication
  • F1 – F13 Multiplication Skill Building