Summer Fun

Well, the school year has finally come to a close. The students have worked very hard all year and I am very proud of all they have accomplished. While enjoying your well-deserved summer vacation, here are a few things you can work on to help you stay prepared for third grade.



Reading:

1. Work on the various reading strategies while reading a good book. There is a list of recommended texts on the school website for students entering third grade. Click here for a list of titles and authors your child can read over the summer.

2. Visit the public library to check out some good books. You can also visit any of the major bookstores such as Barnes and Noble, BooksAMillion, or Borders for one of their story hours. They frequently offer story time with an activity that follows and best of all, it is free. The Barnes and Noble at Regency has a lovely children's department that is nearby. If you have time, check it out this summer.

Writing:

1. Keep a diary of fun things you have done during the summer.


2. Start your very own blog. It is easy to do. You can even continue to blog on the blog that we started in class.


3. If your child wants to visit somewhere, make him/her write about it. they can write a brief description of the place as well as write their reasons for wanting to go there.

Math:

1. Continue to work on skip counting the 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's, 6's, 7's, 8's, 9's, 10's, and 25's. This will make multiplication so much easier to master. This will also make addition and subtraction of larger numbers easier to solve as well.

2. Practice telling time to the nearest hour, half-hour, quarter hour and five minute interval. Please click here or here for additional practice.

3. Practice solving elapsed time problems by creating time lines. Here is a problem for example.
Mrs. Robinson went to the beach at 1:30 pm. She returned home at 4:15 pm. How long was she at the beach?

4. Practice solving problems using amounts up to $1.00. They should be able to add a vareity of coins together quickly. Click here for additional practice.

5. Practice making up story problems (word problem) with sums to 100 and differences from 100. Click here for additional practice in solving story problems.

6. Practice looking at data (graphs). Be able to make judgements using the data as evidence of your answer. Click here for additional practice in learning about graphs and data analysis.

For additonal prepartion for 3rd grade, visit the following sites for fun ways to practice 3rd grade skills.

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skills_3rd.htm

http://www.aaamath.com/grade3.html

For additional fun this summer, here are few things I have found in surfing the net.

1. Check out Kids Kampus. It is a free playground that offers children tha chance to play in the water, visit an old fire station, ride a bike, and so much more.

2. Check out some of the other parks and programs that Jacksonville has to offer. Click here for more information.

3. See great kids' movies -- for just $1 -- during AMC Summer MovieCamp!
Shows start at 10:00 a.m. every Wednesday from June 25 - August 6. All admission proceeds* from AMC Summer MovieCamp will benefit Variety - The Children's Charity and the Will Rogers Institute. * Excluding tax. For more information, click here.

4. You can also check out the movies at Cinemark (Tinseltown). You can buy tickets in advance for the 10 weeks for $5.00 total. That is 50 cents a movie! The movies are also scheduled on different days than AMC's movies so you can watch them both. For more information on Tinseltown's movies, click here.

5. Visit MOSH, the Cummer Art Gallery, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sally Corp, Peterbrooke Chocolate Factory, the Jacksonville Zoo, the Timucuan National Preserve and the many beaches and parks we have.

If you know of any other places to visit, please contact me so I may share them with others. Have a great weekend and I look foraward to seeing you at our End of the Year Party!

Mrs. Robinson

Mrs. Robinson has posted a brand new entry in her blog. Proud Panther had a nice time in Mexico last week. If you have a chance, please check out her blog for Proud Panther's latest adventure. Thanks for stopping by and look for some new updates this weekend.

Amish Friendship Bread

     On Friday, Kaylee's grandmother sent in a tasty treat for the class to share. It was a delicious bread called Amish Friendship Bread. Here is the recipe:

Amish Friendship Bread Recipes:

Ingredients:
Amish Friendship Bread Starter (this is the batter that you are initially given by a friend):
1 tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
2 cups Warm Water — (110 degrees)
1 cup Flour
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Milk

Bread:
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 cups Flour
3 Eggs
1 small Vanilla Pudding Mix — Instant
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 cup Milk

Cinnamon Sugar:
1 cup Sugar
2 tablespoons Cinnamon

For Amish Friendship Bread Starter:
Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water in a deep glass container. Stir
in remaining warm water, flour and sugar. Beat until smooth. Cover. A large
glass jar or bowl with a tight fitting lid works best for this. Because your
first batch of starter contains fresh yeast, you can skip the next set of
directions and go directly to the instructions for splitting your start.

Do not refrigerate! Do not stir with a metal spoon! The starter requires 10
days for fermentation.

Day 1- Begin or receive starter
Day 2- Stir with wooden spoon
Day 3- Stir with wooden spoon
Day 4- Stir with wooden spoon
Day 5- Add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk
Day 6- Stir with wooden spoon
Day 7- Stir with wooden spoon
Day 8- Do Nothing
Day 9- Do Nothing
Day 10- Add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk

Put 1 cup of starter in each of three containers. Give 2 away to friends and
keep one. This will begin their Day 1.

For Amish Friendship Bread

You will have about 1 cup of batter left besides the 1 cup you have saved for
yourself. To the remaining batter add vegetable oil, sugar, flour, baking
powder, baking soda, eggs, milk, vanilla pudding mix, cinnamon, and salt. Beat
until well blended. Add one cup raisins, chocolate chips or nuts, if desired.
Grease 2 loaf pans well, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, coating bottom well.
Turn batter into pans, and sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar onto tops of
loaves. Bake at 325 F degrees for one hour.

This was a fabulous treat that the class loved.  I look forward to making it myself!  Have fun!

Time-lapse video of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly

Seurat

Little Talbot Island

     Good evening everyone! I hope everyone is well and resting from our trip today. The class had the privilege of visiting Little Talbot Island State Park.  We had a blast!  First, we heard about the various habitats that can be found at the park.  We discovered there several habitats that are located at the park.  How many can you remember?  Afterwards, the park ranger was kind enough to take us on a short hike through the woods.  Then we had a beautiful picnic lunch followed by a walk on the beach.  We tried to fly kites but the wind was much to strong and the kites ended up in a jumbled mess.  Hey, at least we got to dig in the sand!

     Have a nice evening and look for more updates soon!  For now, here are some pictures you should enjoy.

States of Matter

Check this out!

States of Matter Game

End of the Year Dance

     I just happened to visit the Kids Kampus this weekend with my daughter and discovered that the water park section will be opening this week for those that are interested.  I was told it should be open on Tuesday or Wednesday.  Click on the Kids Kampus link above for the hours of operation.  I taught summer camp several years ago and we took the campers there.  It is a wonderful place and the best thing about it is that it is FREE!

     I also discovered while surfing the COJ page that there are MANY activities going during the next few months that are free.  They have movies in the parks, dance parties, swimming competitions, and so much more.  They have an end of the year dance scheduled at the R.F. Kennedy Community Center on University Blvd from 6:30 -10:00 on Friday, May 16. I had no idea just how much they had until I surfed the net and found out about the events today.  Go to JaxParks for more information.