Friday, June 2, 2017
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Hour of Code
This week, all third graders are doing Hour of Code! Students can continue coding at home at: www.code.org. Ask your child what he/she did!
Newsletter 12/2/16
December 2, 2016
Dear Families,
It was a wonderful week in third grade. Ari Schmidt’s grandfather, Dr. Thomas Sargent, visited on Monday. Dr. Sargent is a professor at NYU and he won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2011. Dr. Sargent engaged our students in an exciting conversation about basic economics. It was a truly amazing experience and we were honored to have him visit!
Also, our team said goodbye to Ms. Emily, Ms. Wright’s student intern from UVM.
Math:
We finished Unit 2, Introduction to Multiplication, this week. Next week, we will start unit 3, Multi-Digit Addition and Subtraction. In December Number Corner, we will be looking at Unit Fraction Squares. Students will explore fractions with this month’s Calendar Grid pattern, which features halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, eighths, and twelfths. Each day another amount is added to a square until the square is complete. Students should keep practicing their basic addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts at home!
Reading: Literature groups are going smoothly. We continue to learn about visualizing as we read and summarizing non-fiction text. Next week we will learn why it is important to ask questions and look for the answers as we read. Students are now able to use a reading program called Raz Kids at school and at home. They love it!
Here is the web page: www.kidsa-z.com/main/Login
Teacher username: HCSWright
Find your name and click on it.
Student password: grade3
Please remember to pass in the reading graph every Friday. Thank you!
Writing: I am reading aloud from the book titled Pocahontas and students are writing summaries of each chapter. Next week we will be looking at the different features of non-fiction text and learning how to take notes using these features. This is in preparation for our next unit on writing to inform.
Social Science: Mrs. Wallis’ class learned about beliefs of the Iroquois tribe. Ask your child to explain the good and evil spirits, the afterlife, and the False Face Society. They also learned about the Iroquois Tree of Peace. Ask them what the different parts of the tree mean! They drew pictures of trees from the Eastern Woodlands and added them to our mural. It looks great!
Science
This week, Ms. Wright’s class started looking at global climates. We are looking at why some places are always hot and why some places are always cold. We will continue our investigation next week!
Have a great weekend!
Joyce & Kerri
Newsletter 11/18/16
November 18, 2016
Dear Families,
It was a wonderful week in third grade! We watched the school play, Into the Woods on Wednesday. Many of our students have older sibling or friends who participated in the play. The play was amazing and the kids loved it!
Math:
This week, we learned some strategies to help us multiply. Students love multiplying by 10 because it is a friendly number. They can use their ten facts to help them with their five facts. In order to solve five facts, they just need to take half of the tens fact. Students are are also using doubling strategies to help figure out their ✕2 (double), ✕4 (double-double), ✕8 (double-double-double) facts. You can practice these strategies at home!
Reading:
Students performed their Reader’s Theater plays for their classmates. They all did an amazing job using all the fluency skills they learned. They also worked on reading informational text and answering questions about the articles. They watched 2 short videos about the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving and then answered questions about them.
Literature groups will begin Monday after vacation.
Writing:
Students were very engaged in creative writing this week. This was a time to catch up on any writing assignments that were incomplete also. After vacation they will begin writing informational pieces.
Social Science:
Mrs. Wallis’ class finished the table of Native American tribes and are learning about the Eastern Woodland region. They love the fact that Lake Iroquois is named after the Native American tribe! Please ask them about what else they have learned.
Science
Ms. Wright’s class learned about cloud types this week. They learned about two fair weather clouds, cumulus and stratus. In addition, we looked at two bad weather clouds, cumulonimbus and stratonimbus. Over break, students can check the sky to make predictions about the weather!
We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends!
Joyce & Kerri
Newsletter 11/11/16
November 11, 2016
Dear Families,
As the temperature continues to drop, we would like to ask that students dress warmly for recess every day. They should bring a hat, mittens and a warm coat to school please. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Another reminder that toys and candy are not allowed in school. Please
discourage your child from bringing these items to school. Thank you.
Math:
Students continue to work on their multiplication skills. This week, we used many different methods to solve problems. In particular, students are learning to use ratio tables to show doubles and other related numbers. Students should continue studying their addition and subtraction facts at home. One website where students can do this is: www.sheppardsoftware.com. This site features fun educational games for all subject areas.
Reading:
We have finished practicing fluency skills using scripts from Reader’s Theater. Students will be presenting their plays to their classmates on Monday. Then we will begin literature groups where I will meet with small groups to teach reading comprehension skills. The first skill we will be working on is visualizing as you read.
Writing:
This week students were given time to catch up on writing assignments that needed to be completed. Students were able to choose what they wanted to write about (free write) if they finished all their assignments. They enjoyed this creative writing time very much! We have also been working on writing summaries about text we have read.
Social Science:
Mrs. Wallis’ class began a Social Science unit with Ms. Wright on Native Americans this week. They made a list of what they already know about Native Americans, labeled and colored a map of tribes in North America and made a book about the tribes.
Science
This week, Mrs. Wright’s class started Science with Mrs. Wallis. First, students drew pictures of themselves doing Science. During our first scientist meeting, students had the opportunity to share their thinking with classmates. We started our Mystery Science Weather unit on Wednesday. Students learned about cloud formation this week. We will continue learning about clouds next week.
*Stuffed Animal Day: Ms. Wright’s class will be celebrating Be A Star by bringing one small stuffed animal to school on Tuesday, November 15. This was voted on by the students and they are looking forward to it very much!
Have a Wonderful Weekend!
Joyce & Kerri
Newsletter 11/4/16
November 4, 2016
Dear Families,
It was a great week in third grade. Our Halloween parties were a lot of fun! Seeing everyone dressed up was great. Thank you to everyone who was able to donate food, drinks, etc. Your generosity is very much appreciated.
Math:
In math, we used unifix cubes to show 10 groups of different multiples. They looked for patterns while investigating “groups of.” Students used these models to write mathematical equations. In addition, students used arrays to actively discover the relationship between repetitive addition, groups of, and multiplication. At home students can still practice their basic addition and subtraction facts.
Spelling:
Remember to look for your child’s new list on Friday! Students should practice their words during the week for their spelling tests on the following Friday. They can use any of the activities listed on the sheet we provided or they may use spellingcity.com at home.
Reading:
Students are reading scripts from short plays to practice reading fluency skills. They are having so much fun learning how to use different voices and lots of expression as they read aloud. They will perform the plays to their classmates next week.
Writing:
Students will be sharing their narratives with their classmates as they complete their final copy. We are learning how to write summaries for books we have read in class. Then we will learn how to take notes from nonfiction books as we prepare for our next unit on information writing (reports).
Social Science:
Ms. Wright’s class has finished their unit on Native Americans. Next week they will be starting a science unit with Mrs. Wallis.
Science
Mrs. Wallis’ class continued to investigate magnetic force. We used iron filings to “see” the magnetic field of our magnets. Students had time to explore how magnetic force influences iron! After experimenting, students wrote an entry in their Science journals. They are loving Forces and Motion. Next week, students will start Social Science with Mrs. Wright.
Have a Wonderful Weekend!
Joyce & Kerri
Newsletter 10/28/16
October 28, 2016
Dear Families,
It was great to see many of you at parent conferences! If you would like a conference and did not schedule one, please contact your child’s homeroom teacher.
Math:
This week, we continued to investigate the relationship between repetitive addition and multiplication. Students calculated the cost for arrays of stamps. Also, they used a clownfish named Chloe to find the length, height, and widths of other items. We will continue to build proportional reasoning during unit two. Please remember that students should still practice their math facts!
Reading:
As a culmination of our unit on reading fluency, students will be engaging in Reader’s Theater starting next week. This is an opportunity to practice the skills they have learned in class by reading scripts from plays. It’s a lot of fun!
Writing:
Students are finishing their final copies of their true story narratives. The next piece of writing will be informational. They will learn to write a report by integrating it into our science unit on the Rain Forest.
Social Science:
Ms. Wright’s class is finishing their Native American unit by reading aloud their tribe reports to their classmates. This will reinforce the idea that the environment of each tribe impacted their way of life. They watched a Discovery Education video on the Woodland Indians that showed exactly how this worked in the past and how different their lives are today.
Science:
Mrs. Wallis’ class did several experiments this week. Students investigated the relationship between magnets, poles, and forces. They were amazed by the floating magnets on a straw! We ended the week by creating models explaining these forces in our notebooks. Students now know that forces can be pushes or pulls.
(over)
Halloween:
As you know, Halloween is held on a Monday this year. We will be celebrating in our classrooms from 1:00 - 1:45. A room parent or teacher will be contacting you regarding food and drinks to donate for our celebration. Students will be able to wear costumes at the party only. They will have to change again at the end of the day. We ask that students do not wear make-up or anything scary or violent (such as blood, swords, guns, etc.) zParents are welcome to join us for this celebration!
Have a Wonderful Weekend!
Joyce & Kerri
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