Happy Summer!

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful summer so far. I sure am trying to do so. I leave for my trip to Alaska in a little over a week so I'm excited about that. Please email me throughout the summer and let me know what everyone is up to. I am at the library almost every Tuesday working with some Ford kids so I may see some of you around there. Enjoy your summer!

ASP Update

This information was sent via email to all of the teachers this weekend. Please read and be advised.

Students will not be allow to stay in ASP the last two weeks of school unless they are prepaid. This Cobb County policy will be enforced during these last weeks. If they are not prepaid they will be asked to call home for the money or another way to go home.

Two Weeks Left!

It is hard to believe, but the end of the school year is fast approaching. I first want to thank you all for sharing your children with me this school year. The scrapbook that they made means the world to me. And the surprise $$ at the end will be put to some good pampering use at the spa soon. I cannot thank you enough.

Here's the scoop for this week:

Sitton Words: tree, course, front, American, & space
Challenge Words: poetry, experience, memory, analogy, & favorite
**This is the last list of spelling words for the year**

Monday - 9-10 Book Buddy Beach Blankets & Books; All media center books due.

Tuesday - 2nd & 3rd Grade Field-day 8:50-1:30; MATH BUSTERS DINNER at Golden Corral 6pm. Parents are welcome to stay and eat with us. Everyone is on their own for dinner. If you are dropping off your child be back by 7pm to pick them up.

Wednesday - Regular Day

Thursday - Art Awareness with Mrs. Ross

Friday - Hawaiian Day

Sunday - Open House at Pickett's Mill Elementary 3-5 p.m. Stop by to tour the school and meet the staff.

Fabulous Friday

Hello again! Testing is finally over and they have been turned in to the state. Yeah! You will know results as soon as I do.

Here's the scoop for next week:
Sitton Words: ground, cold, really, table, & remember
Challenge Words: habitat, organism, insectivores, mammal, & adapt

Math: Multiplication & Division
Science: Animal Habitats & Energy
Reading: Fairy Tale Plays
English: Antonyms

Monday - Regular Day
Ford Talent Show at Durham
Tuesday - 9am Volunteer Tea in Media Center
9:15 Leave for CATO Environmental Fieldstudy
Wednesday - Regular Day
Evening in the Garden 5:30 pm
Thursday - 1:15-2 Multiplication Ice Cream Sundae Celebration outside (all are welcome) See invitation sent home this week for more information.

**ALL media center books are due on Monday, May 12th**
**MATH BUSTERS dinner is Tuesday, May 13th 6pm at Golden Corral**
**3rd grade Field Day is Tuesday, May 13th **

Have a fabulous weekend!!!!

Thrilling Thursday

OK, the parents in our room are AMAZING!!! Mrs. Kelly and I cannot say thank you enough for your wonderful acts of kindness this week. Wednesday we were surprised with both lunch and dinner. Then we found out that lunch is being delivered every day during testing with dinner coming again on Monday evening. I want to thank Mrs. Toper for organizing this special treat for us. Like I said, you are all amazing!

So far so good with testing! The kids have all been to school on time every day. We have had some wonderful snacks and surprises each day to help celebrate each section being over. I am very pleased to watch the kids take the test and finish telling me that I was right, "It is all review Miss McArthur". That makes my heart swell with pride. We have successfully created a stress free environment and that was my goal. These five days should be the easiest days of the year for them. Make sure they get to relax and enjoy the weekend, but don't forget we do test on Monday and Tuesday mornings.

Mrs. Toper sent home a classroom calendar today with upcoming dates for our classroom. I will also list the major ones here for your benefit. Again, thanks for the surprises this week for the kids and teachers. Hugs to all!

Dates to Remember:
April 23-29 CRCT Testing
May 1st - Mrs. Toner (5th grade teacher) retirement party in media center 3-4:30
May 5th - Ford Talent Show
May 6th - Volunteer Tea
May 6th - Environmental Fieldstudy trip to CATO Center "Nature's Neighborhoods"
May 7th - Evening in the Garden
May 8th - Multiplication Ice Cream Sundae Celebration 1:15-2
May 12th - All student books due to the media center. Prize for classes who have them all turned in on this day. WE CAN DO IT!!!
May 13th - 3rd grade field day
May 13th - MATH BUSTERS dinner - only for those who pass Math Buster challenge 6pm at Golden Corral on Barrett Pkwy.
May 16th - Hawaiian Day
May 23rd - Last day of school

**For those of you going to Pickett's Mill ~ There will be an Open House for you to tour the school before the end of this school year. It was voted this week at the charter PTA meeting that we are the "Pickett's Mill Pirates" and our school colors are red and black.**

Terrific Tuesday

Hello to all! Here is the long awaited testing schedule:
* Wednesday - Reading
Snacks/Treats: John, Taylor, Andrew, Teo
* Thursday - English/Language Arts
Snacks/Treats: Griffin, Shaydimon, Annie, Katelyn
* Friday - Math
Snacks/Treats: Ben, Bryce, Natasha, Micah
* Monday - Science
Snacks/Treats: Samantha, Lauren, Jordan, Chandler
* Tuesday - Social Studies
Snacks/Treats: Steven, Megan, Alex, Justin

Remember there will be no homework whatsoever during the testing time period.

I reminded the kids this morning that the next 5 days should be the easiest five days of the school year for them. They are just showing what they know and playing a game of "Are you smarter than a third grader!" Thanks for all of the treats coming in to help keep our brains motivated. Can you believe only 4 1/2 weeks left of this school year? Boy time flies when you are having fun!

Are you smarter than a 3rd grader?

This Wednesday we will start the CRCT testing. I should have a complete schedule after our overview meeting on Monday to share with you all. I do know for sure that the READING section will be on Wednesday. A testing strategies sheet will be sent home Monday to remind you of the important things to do before testing. We want this week to be as stress free as possible. Last week I sent home a note about testing snacks and surprises. Please send in your donation on the day your were assigned. There will be no homework and/or spelling lists for the next two weeks. We will be testing every morning and then doing many "learning experience" activities in the afternoons. The children have reached another goal in the classroom for their behavior so on Thursday we will be celebrating their achievment with popcorn and a movie in the classroom. They will be able to bring a soda to school if they would like to have it at the same time. PLEASE make sure your child gets lots of rest, eats a good breakfast, and gets to school on time every day for the next two weeks. This is extremely important!! Be ready for a great week.

PS~ It was great to see so many of you out having fun at the Spring Fling on Saturday. What a great afternoon of weather for the event!

Spring Break Week

Hello to all! I hope that you are enjoying Spring Break. I know I am. I am half way through my first book, spending lots of time with my niece Cassidy, and getting lots done around my house yet it is only Monday night. I'm being productive and it is scary. HA! I went to a Gladiator's hockey game on Saturday night with Mr. Brown and his family and ran into Alex and his dad. You never know where you will run into your teacher. :-)

I meant to share this info with you on Friday and remembered tonight so I thought I'd get it out now. Enjoy the rest of your week off. We start back Monday running with only one week to go before we play "Are you smarter than a Third Grader". Some people call it the CRCT, but we like our name better.

Sitton Words: run, book, gave, order, & open
Challenge Words: conduction, convection, temperature, thermometer, & insulator

These words will be tested on Thursday, April 17th. The following week there will be no words and/or homework other than reading logs due to testing.

Math: Double digit multiplication and division
English: Review of skills
Reading: Testing strategies
Science: Heat & Energy
Social Studies: Georgia Habitats & Regions

Be sure to check out the new link I added tonight on Georgia Regions. Great review!

Enjoy what is left of Spring Break.

Fabulous Friday!

Well, March has definately flown by in a hurry. The scariest part of that is there are only 7 school weeks left before summer vacation. This is the last week before Spring Break and then only 6 weeks left when we return. Here are the updates for next week:

Sitton Words: living, black, eat, short, & United States
Challenge Words: motion, transfer, thermal, measure, & friction

English: Yearly review for CRCT (parts of speech, types of sentences, grammar, etc.)
Science: Heat & Energy
Math: One digit by two digit multiplication
Reading: Comprehension strategies & Inferencing

We will be going to see the play, "Duck Soup" on Tuesday as part of our yearly Performing Arts program. We will eat lunch early before we leave at 10:45 and then have our snack upon returning to school.

DON'T FORGET~~ PTSA meeting Thursday night. The 5th grade musical will be the program.

Make sure you are spending time each week practicing for the "Are you smarter than a third grader" otherwise known as the CRCT. It will be here before we know it. Testing starts April 23.

Don't forget there is NO SCHOOL April 7-11 for SPRING BREAK! Enjoy the time off! I already have my book picked out and my hammock set up in the backyard.

Reminder: April 19th is the Spring Fling! Please make sure you plan on coming to enjoy all of the fun! It will be a great time for all!

Letter from Mrs. Pepper

March 19, 2008

Dear Parents,

I want to congratulate Mrs. Soto’s Class for being nominated as the Class Act for 11-Alive News. It was very exciting for the students to be on camera and then on 11-Alive News! Way to go Ms. Soto!

I also want to clarify any misinformation that you may have received regarding recess. I feel recess is extremely important. Last year as some of you may be aware, I purchased a storage shed for the lower field to house play equipment for outside recess as well as physical education instruction. As a school we have a sign up sheet for outside recess to coordinate outside time so all classes are not out at the same time for safety reasons. All teachers have signed up. Recess has also been addressed at a staff meeting and all teachers have been encouraged to have recess daily. I do understand there may be exceptions due to weather and special scheduling. Along the same lines tag/flag football will not be allowed due to safety concerns: lack of equipment, appropriate training, tag/flag football becoming tackle football, as well as injuries. We do encourage participation in the Cobb or Acworth County’s Department of Recreation football program. RECESS DOES COUNT!

If you have any questions or concerns my door is always open.

Sincerely,
Peggy Pepper
Princi “pal”

Test Prep Help

Check out this great site that I found for practicing math facts in CRCT format. I've added it to the links section of the blog called "Test Prep Math". Yes, I'm a geek up late on the computer playing games to try for your kids. :-) Oh well, I love my job...what can I say?

Your kids are doing an AMAZING job with their "autobiography" writing. We have the laptops in the room tomorrow and Thursday to type them. I hope you all get a chance to come in and check out their biographies and autobiographies when they are posted together in the hall outside. The biographies are up and the autobiographies should be up by next week. I'll let you know when they are.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Fabulous Friday!

Hello to all! I hope that you have all had a great week. We wrapped up our instruction today with activities on the laptop computers. The kids had a fabulous time and almost forgot that they were learning. HA HA! I love it. They have a challenge over the weekend for a special treat on Monday if they go to the Harcourt Math site which is linked on this blog and show you the measurement activities we did today. There has to be a note in their agenda to get a prize though.

Next week:

Sitton Words: face, door, cut, done, & group
Vocabulary: magnet, attract, repel, predict, & pole

English: Creative writing with "Hands" stories
Reading: Content area with Magnets materials
Science: Magnets
Math: Measurement

**We have earned another REWARD for silver spoons in the cafeteria. We will be having a Pop & Read on Tuesday. Children may bring a "soda pop", pillow, blanket, and small stuffed animal to read with around the room.

Report Cards come home on Thursday.

Summer school registration letters will be sent home on Monday for those students who had scores last year or from the IOWA this year that has put them in a "Red Flag" area. If we were totally worried about your child and their passing you would know. This is just a precaution so that we are prepared in the event of this happening.

** FRIDAY FOLDERS are NOT going home today. They will come home on Monday. **

Have a fabulous weekend!! Stay dry. :-)

Marvelous Monday!

Hello all! I don't know about you, but the weather today was a welcome sight for sure. I hope it is a glimpse of what is to come. The kids were so excited to go outside for recess and not freeze. I don't think they were half as excited as Mrs. Kelly and myself though.

Here is the news for this week:

Sitton Words - upon, family, later, turn, & move
Challenge Words - March, autobiography, decimal, lucky, & leprechaun
Math - Measurement (inches and centimeters)
English - Creative writing/synonyms/review of previous skills
Science - Magnets

Wednesday of this week is our Environmental Fieldstudy titled Endangered Species from 9:25 - 10:25 in the classroom.

Friday is the end of the third nine-week grading period. Report cards will come home next Thursday.

Don't forget to check out the PTSA website and calendar of events for upcoming activities at our school. We have Bingo night this week, the Ford Fun Run is coming soon, Spring Fling, etc.)

Have a great week!

Leap Day!

Happy Friday! Ok, this year is flying. We only have 12 weeks left of school. Unbelievable! And to beat all, tomorrow is March 2008. ARGH!

Next Week:

Sitton Words: didn't, car, morning, I'm, & body
Challenge: citizen, debate, election, monument, & court

Famous American Project:
Final drafts are due on Monday. Typed or written neatly. If your child needs a copy to prepare their presentation make sure that they have one. The drafts turned in on Monday will not be returned until later. We have a plan for posting them with another project out in the hall. I hope you all have enjoyed learning about these famous Americans as much as Mrs. Kelly and I have. Our part two of this project is my favorite though. I can't wait to hear and see your reactions to it. But, I'm not going to tell you any more than that. Surprises are always fun!

Math - We are continuing to learn about fractions and decimals

English - Possessive plural nouns

Reading - Inferencing & Main Idea

Social Studies - National Government ends this week with a trivia game rather than a "test" on Friday.

Please bring in your game donations for our Spring Fling Basket ASAP. Mrs. Toper sent a great list of ideas home on Thursday of this past week. A HUGE thanks goes out to her for all of her work as our room mom this year. I love the monthly calendars!

BOOK FAIR in the media center all week. Stop by and pick up some great summer reading materials.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Cooking Show Pictures

Just thought everyone would like to see some fun pictures we took after our cooking shows. The kids did such a great job with their shows. It was definately an amazing "learning experience".

Famous American Projects

Don't forget Famous American Projects are coming to a close. Sloppy copies were due today. We will edit and make suggestions together Thursday and Friday of this week. Final copies are due on Monday. These are to be typed or neatly written. Make sure your child has a copy of their report to keep so they can use it to practice for their presentation on Wednesday or Thursday. I will be keeping final copies for a hallway display. Presentations are to be from memory, not read from the report. Just give us the "cliff notes".

Presentations for Wednesday:
Jordan, Natasha, Samantha, Ben, Steven, Annie, Griffin, Alex, Andrew, & John

Presentations for Thursday:
Bryce, Micah, Katelyn, Lauren, Shaydimon, Chandler, Teo, Megan, Taylor, & Justin

Presentations will start between 9:15 and 9:30 each day. Presentations should be no longer than 10 minutes each. Remember dressing up as your person adds extra points. Look at your rubrics! Parents are welcome to come if they want. We will not be video taping this project in class. It stressed some of the kids out way too much last time.

I'm really excited and can't wait to see what the kids come up with. :-)

Marvelous Monday

Hello to all! It was great to see so many of you at the dance on Friday night. What fun! Can you believe that we have less than 60 days left in this school year? Scary. This year is just flying. Here are some updates for this week:

Sitton Words: five, himself, usually, money, & seen
Challenge Words: Congress, House, Senate, ballot, & candidate

Famous American Project Dates:
Notecards are due today Monday, February 25th
Rough draft is due Wednesday, February 27th
*Make sure your child has their materials for this project with them every day at school. We occassionally have extra time and are working with the kids on their projects. If they don't have their materials we can't help them.

We have an author, Amy Blackford coming to visit our school on Friday during our specials.

We are working on fractions and decimals in math. Ask your child some questions and see what amazing things they know. There are many great links on this blog where your child can practice these skills at home on the computer.

Have a great week!

For Your Child's Safety

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATLY Ford Elementary will no longer allow football to be played during recess. This is due to the high number of injuries and accidents that have been occuring while playing this sport. Students can enjoy playing kickball, soccer, four-square, basketball, and playing on the playground. We ask for your support in this adminstrative decision to keep our children SAFE!!

Fabulous Friday

Hello all and HAPPY FRIDAY!!!
And to beat that....it's a long weekend. YEAH! Of course, Mrs. Kelly and I have to come to work on Tuesday, but at least we have Monday off. Check out the link below that was shared with the teachers from our county math facilitator. I played a few today during planning and they look great!

http://www.cobbk12.org/sites/literacy/math/math2.htm

I've also added it to the list of links.

Updates for Next Week:
* There will be no new spelling words or spelling folder homework for next week. We are going to review some past skills and work on the tab words from each child's spelling journal. Please make sure that they are studying these with you as they are the high frequency words that are on their spelling tests.
* Next Friday is a Ford Spirit Day. We are all to dress like our favorite character from High School Musical. Friday is also our annual school dance. This year it will be at Durham Middle School from 6:30-8:30.
* Six Flags Reading Minutes sheets are due no later than next Friday morning in order to receive your free tickets to Six Flags.
* Keep working on your Famous American Projects. The next step is completing the 15 note cards. These are due Monday, February 25th.
* There will be a quiz over State and Local Government next Thursday.

Have a FABULOUS FRIDAY!!!!

February Already?

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe that it is already February! I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone for coming in to conferences over the last two weeks. It has been great to share your children's progress this school year. They truly are a special group.

Here are some updates for next week:

Sitton Words: room, sea, against, top, & turned
Challenge Words: government, mayor, taxes, elect, & governor

Special Events:
Tuesday, February 5th - High Touch High Tech Georgiaology in school fieldtrip & PICTURE DAY
Wednesday, February 6th - Cobb County Early Release Day - Donate $1 to Relay for Life and wear your favorite hat
Thursday, February 7th - Curriculum Night and Spagetti Supper
Friday, February 8th - End of 4 1/2 week grading period.

That's the scoop! Have a great weekend.

High School Musical School Dance February 22nd

This year’s school dance theme is High School Musical. It will be held on February 22 at Durham Middle School from 6:30-8:30.

This dance promises to be a huge hit with the students. They will be learning High School Musical Dances in PE. Along with dancing, there will also be High School Musical Karaoke at the dance. This is a great opportunity for the students to socialize and have fun. Don’t forget your cameras! We’ll have life-sized stand-ups of the High School Musical characters for photos and to auction off!

PTSA has designed two special t-shirts for the occasion. The girl’s shirt is a Raglan shirt with red cap sleeves and a white body. The shirt will have “High School Musical- starring Ford Elementary”. The boy’s shirt will be a baseball shirt with ¾ sleeves. The sleeves are red and the body is white. The boys shirt will have “Recess is my best subject.” These are not just plain shirts. Both shirts are very stylish and high in quality. The cost is $10 per shirt. If you are unsure of sizes to order, there will be a run of sizes in the office.

Admission to the dance will be $2 per person. Children ages 4-12 will receive a very special souvenir with admission. They will get a VIP pass with a lanyard for them to wear as their ticket. Ages 13 and up will receive a normal ticket. Children ages 3 and under are free. But if they want a souvenir VIP pass, they must pay the admission fee. You can pre-order your admission tickets to avoid the lines, or purchase them that night at the dance.

Chick-Fil-A Sandwiches will be available for pre-order only. The cost for the sandwiches is $2.50. There will be drinks and snacks also for sale at the dance.

All proceeds from the dance will go to Ford’s PE department. The money will be used to purchase new equipment for our students.

Please remember that all students must be accompanied by an adult. Durham is graciously allowing us to rent their facility and we need to take care of it. Any students causing disruptions will be asked to leave. Thanks in advance for your cooperation!

Forms were emailed out this week or can be printed from the PTSA website. There will be a special basket in the office for students to turn in their money. All checks should be made out to Ford PTSA. The deadline for all pre-orders is February 8. Some extra shirts will be ordered to sell at the dance, but not many. Tickets and shirts will be delivered to the student’s classroom the week of the dance.

Six Flags Reading Program

Now through February 22...
Six Flags, Six Hour Reading Program
The Six Flags, Six Hour Reading Program will begin this week. A data sheet was sent home with your child today. The program will run through February 22, 2008. Each student who reads for a total of six hours and returns the given form signed by a parent or guardian on or before Friday 2/22/08 qualifies for one free ticket to Six Flags Over Georgia. Due to the strict guidelines, no forms will be accepted after that date. I can't wait to see how many people earn the right to go to Six Flags for free!

Jump Rope for Heart

Febraury 1st...
Again this year, the PE Department at Ford is asking Ford families to raise
donations for the community service program "Jump Rope for Heart", which
benefits the American Heart Association. Students will jump rope in the gym
on February 1, 2008 during their regular specials time. Last year we
raised over $24,000 and we would like to improve that goal this year.
A packet of information came home with your child today. The packet included a collection envelope, a permission slip, and a special additional fund-raiser.
Thanks for joining us in the fight against our nation's No. 1 and No. 3
killers - cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

Don't forget: Please send the collection envelope in with your child on
the day of the event (Feb. 1).

The PE Blog also has permission slips, red hearts, etc. that you can print out at home if you need to do so.

Greetings!

Hello to all! Just a few reminders about our school:

* CURRICULUM NIGHT with SPAGETTI DINNER
Thursday, February 7th
5:30-6:30 Spagetti Dinner to support Ford's Relay for Life Team
$5 per person with a $20 max. per family
If you would like to make an addition donation please feel free. Checks made out to The American Cancer Society are a tax donation. :-)
6:30-7:30 Interactive Events in selected classrooms

*OAS Parent Tutorial
This is a tutorial of the computer program to help your child be a success on the CRCT. PLEASE come and support!
When? Wednesday, Jan. 30th with 2 sessions to choose from:
Session 1 - 8:15 - 9:00
Session 2 - 9:00 - 9:45

100th Day of school is next Wednesday, January 23rd.

Next week starts Conference Week. The schedule is finally set. Thanks to all for your understanding working around the chorus trip that I will be on that week. Talk about a fun schedule. HA!

Don't forget that there is NO SCHOOL on Monday.

Please return your child's permission form for the High Touch High Tech in school fieldtrip on February 5th.

Check out what I found tonight while playing on the internet. I came across a website that could be quite valuable at home. Bookadventure.com is an AR(Accelerated Reader) like program that you can use at home with your child. The site offers book quizes and leveled reading lists . Check this site out and let me know what you think. I've also added it to the link section of this blog.

Vulcan Fieldtrip

Here are the pictures that I've been promising. I was trying to put them into a slideshow, but haven't mastered that yet. Here is the group and a few others. We'll try for the rest at a later date. Hugs!

Christmas with my family

Just thought you guys might like to enjoy checking out my family for Christmas. My brother got called into work and didn't get to join us for breakfast with Santa, but here is the rest of us. Merry Christmas everyone!