This is my August post...early...

Hi, everyone! I leave for vacation on Wednesday and when I return, it will already be August 9th...so here is the latest from your third grade classmates...


Nisarg is headed to North Carolina and is very excited!

Megan has been enjoying swim team and is having her room painted this summer. She is headed to Ocean City soon!

Ashwin just went to the Air and Space Museum in Virginia and wrote, "Did you know the ENTERPRISE weighs 150,000 pounds?"

Christine is in China at her Uncle's house and says, "My summer is great!"


So, that's it for the correspondence lately...I'm assuming that means you're all super busy with very fun things...and I'm glad. I miss seeing you all, but am so happy that you're having this special time with your families and friends.


I am starting to get excited about returning to school, are you!? My kids and I bought school supplies this week and started putting together their backpacks! Kate starts kindergarten this year, so she got a new backpack (purple with a butterfly!) Jake will be in Ms. Maenner's class and Connor will be in 7th grade. We are thoroughly enjoying our summer, but I think we all start to look forward to school when August is approaching. But we're most excited about our upcoming vacation! I will post pictures from our vacation upon my return and then it will be time for me to start to communicating with my new students. You are ALWAYS welcome on this blog, but once I get back, I will be sending messages to let the new kids know how excited I am to meet them!


Enjoy your August...can you believe how quickly summer is flying by? Miss you....

It's July!!

Hi, everybody! Hope you're having a wonderful summer!! I have heard from a few of my friends and want to share what they're up to...

Here is a shot of Erica and Megan after their successful performance of "The Jungle Book"...I really wish I could have seen it!

Erica's big news is that she got her braces off!! Megan wrote that she has been swimming in her swim meets and that she made the All Stars for her 25 freestyle. (My kids' swim team swims Megan's team this weekend, so I'll see her poolside!)

I heard from Pratulya...he's having a good summer, too! His family went to Luray Caverns and had a wonderful time! Here is an excerpt from his email:
We saw a TOOOOON of stalactites and stalagmites. It takes over 120 years JUST to grow 1 CUBIC INCH! That's right, 1 CUBIC INCH!

I visited the Luray Caverns when I was MUCH younger and remember being amazed at everything I saw there. Pratulya's email made me want to take my own kids there soon!

Today I heard from Sriniket! He celebrated his ninth birthday recently and took a trip to NY...here is what he had to say: I went to New York and visited Manhattan, walked the streets of Times Square and stood on the top of 86th floor of the Empire State building. I also visited the Statute of Liberty on Liberty Island. We went to Ellis island too.

I'm so glad Sriniket had such a good time...NYC is one of my very favorite places to visit.

I haven't heard from anyone else...I know that no news is always good news...you must be enjoying yourselves...I'm so glad.

I worked this past week writing curriculum for the county. It was fun to get my brain working again! :-) Kate has been in art camp this week and Jake and Connor have been playing with friends a lot. Jake's baseball team went to the state tournament last weekend and made it all the way to the semi-finals...but lost there...that means they are one of the top 4 U8 teams in the state! Connor's U12 team plays this weekend in the state tournament, so we'll see how they do. I keep real busy, but always have time to read an email from YOU...so keep them coming! I'll post again at the beginning of August...and then I'll be turning my focus to the upcoming school year and my new class!

I would be remiss if I didn't ask you all this before closing... ARE YOU READING!?!? ARE YOU WRITING?!?! Read a good book, write a story or keep a journal...don't lose all those wonderful skills you possess.

OK...off my soap box. Relax, enjoy, and I'll blog again soon.
Love,
Mrs. Wills

HI!!

Hello, everyone...it's June 26th and I believe I told the kids that I would post once in June, once in July, and once in August...to let them know how/what I'm doing this summer!

I sent an email to all of the kids who gave me their email account asking for details as to how THEY are spending their summer...here are a few tidbits I received...

Megan...attending a theater camp with Erica! They are performing Jungle Book and she is really enjoying the camp.

Joy...looked for me at the pool (sorry to have missed you!) and is getting ready for the Nationals dance competition she's attending in Myrtle Beach in July!

Nisarg...reading, having fun...but a little bored!

I would love to post about more of you and what you're doing...send pix too...I can put them up to share with everyone!

I am spending a lot of time at the pool and on a baseball field! I have decided to keep a blog about my family...so if you really want to stay in touch... visit
http://wildandwonderfulwills.blogspot.com/! I won't post too often, but I'll be putting different info on there all summer.

And to those of you who may be new readers (my new students in the Fall)...WELCOME!! This is the place where I keep parents up to date about the goings on in the classroom during the schoolyear.

Enjoy your time and your families, and I'll post again in July sometime!

This summer I will...

...get my best times in swimming! Erica

...play! Ashwin

...go to Texas and swim! Stephanie

...go to Niagra Falls and swim! Aravind

...be moving to Virginia! Kirsten

...be in Korea! Grace

...be in China! Christine

...have fun! Megan

...spend time with my grandparents! Sriniket

...start to write journals or diaries about summer vacation! Pratulya

...go to my cousin's house and play basketball! Nisarg

...go to Maine and swim! Chris

...take a big trip! Riley

...have fun! Abby

...go to lots of places! Krishnapriya

...go to Myrtle Beach and dance! Joy

...do a lot of stuff! Gordon



...miss 17 VERY special people! Mrs. Wills

Enjoy your families...enjoy your time away from school...

enjoy life's endless opportunities!

I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for

a wonderful school year...sniff, sniff. ;-(

With much love,

KW

A Fun Summer Reading Challenge

I got this link from a friend of mine who teaches the third grade magnet class at North Frederick ES...it looks like a ton of fun!! If your child loves reading and using the computer, you may want to check it out!

http://www.scholastic.com/summerreading/

Field Day...and an Adorable Crab

Field Day was SO much fun...I created a mosaic so that you can enjoy seeing your kids having a ball! A huge thank you to Mrs. Shrode who spent the whole morning with us, took most of these pictures, and provided popsicles at the end of the event!

We had a busy week, full of lots of special presentations! We saw the fifth graders production of Charlie and the Chocoloate Factory...it was terrific! We attended an outdoor concert of our band, orchestra, and chorus on a very warm morning...thank goodness for the shade of the huge tree by our blacktop!! We were also fortunate to have Carson, from Mix 107.3 visit the third grade this past week. He shared with us the importance of reading and writing in his job...he writes comedic parodies and he shared them with us. We spent the hour with him laughing and learning...it was a wonderful presentation! We came back to the classroom after his visit and wrote letters thanking him for coming. The students wrote long letters...always an indication of how much they learned/enjoyed listening to Carson.

We worked a lot this week on cursive handwriting...most of the kids are comfortable with cursive and are able to work at the same pace as when they are using manuscript, but a few of them are not. Their handwriting tablets came home Friday and they can be used over the summer to practice. The correct formation of each letter is glued into their tablets, so they can use them as a resource as they practice. Also, one of the links on the side bar menu is for Zaner Bloser...this site allows you to print worksheets in cursive...you could create a worksheet that is related to whatever you're doing that week and your child can practice cursive while reflecting on his/her summer fun!



This week we have been holding a SCRABBLE tournament! This is a highlight for me at the end of the year...I love watching the wheels in their brains turn as they strategize how many letters and points they need to use for their next turn in order to come out ahead of all of their opponents. They are using math skills, vocabulary skills, spelling skills, dictionary skills...and having a great time doing it (please, don't tell them it's a learning activity...they think it's like free time! :-))

I am starting to feel very sad as Tuesday approaches...I love spending time with your kids and will miss them very much. I have collected most kids' email addresses and will keep in touch over the summer. I will post one last time this school year on Tuesday or Wednesday...

I hope you all are having a good weekend...and now to the "Adorable Crab" part...I usually post about how my weekends are filled with baseball (and they are), but this weekend was all about my favorite crab from the Little Mermaid...Kate Wills had her dance recital yesterday...she had three numbers in the Little Mermaid portion and then she performed a solo to Hawaiian Rollercoaster...thought I'd share some pix!

Couldn't you just eat her up!??! (yes, I'm biased!!)

Summer Reading Lists

Frederick County Public Schools and the Frederick County Public Library

have compiled a

Summer Reading List

organized by genre.

I have added those links in the menu to the left. There is a list of books recommended for grades 3-5 and a list recommended for grades 6-8. Most of your children are avid readers, so I know I don't have to stress the importance of daily reading to you...however, I have a few kids who avoid reading like the plague...please use these lists to help find books your child will enjoy...it is SO necessary to read often...it not only strengthens your ability to comprehend, it makes for a much better writer, too!

Happy Reading!!