First Month of School...Done!

    Can you believe we are closing out our first month of school? It always amazes me how fast time flies and how much our students change in just a few weeks. I look forward to meeting with you during October to discuss your child and address your questions about third grade. As always please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have in the meantime.

This week in third grade...

     We will choose a seed idea in Writer's Workshop. Our focus this week will be on using a storyteller's voice. The students will try using different leads and begin to draft their first piece of writing.

     We will begin a new unit in Math. We will work on the properties of addition and subtraction, rounding, estimation and adding and subtracting with greater numbers. We will also try to fit in some practice telling time using an analog clock.
     The students took their first math test on Friday. I graded them this weekend and they will come home on Monday. Overall the scores were good. The mistakes the students made were primarily due to rushing and not reading questions carefully. I am asking students to correct their mistakes, get a parent signature on the test, and return it to school by Friday.

     We will begin our first Science unit on Plant Growth and Development. This week we will investigate the parts of a seed and plant our own seeds. These will grow into plants that we will observe through a complete life cycle. This is a wonderful hands-on unit were students make daily observations and learn about the parts of a plant, photosynthesis, pollination, and the parts of a bee.

    We will practice our comprehension skills in Reader's Workshop. We will read short pieces of fiction and non-fiction and use our comprehension strategies to deepen our understanding of each story. We will also begin to meet in our book groups; beginning with reading short pieces of non-fiction and eventually moving on to series books.

    As you can see we are very busy! We will also learn about our first All Star Student, welcome our second Mystery Reader and meet with our first grade buddies.

Thank you to our first Mystery Reader of the year, Ms. McLaughlin!

4 day week

     Thank you for attending Open House last Thursday. As you look through the materials I shared please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions.
     Your son/daughter brought home their first spelling list on Friday. We will usually have our quiz on Thursday, however, we do not have school this Thursday, so we will take our quiz on Friday of this week. The new list will still come home on Friday. The students made a sentence for each spelling word in school. They should practice writing a good "third grade" sentence. We defined this as a sentence with at least 6 words and only one sentence beginning with "I". The sentence should also reflect an accurate use of the spelling word.
     We also met with our first grade buddies for the first time last Friday. Your children were excellent role models. Mrs. Reed and I were impressed with the way they conducted themselves during our time together. We are hoping to get together again this Friday to finish our introductory activity.
   We will finish our first math unit this week and have a test on Friday. We will also have our 2 minute fact quiz for 14 and 15 addition and subtraction facts. Please look for the students' math notebooks to come home on Wednesday night. I am only asking for a signature to show that you have seen our work.
    In writing we will continue to gather entries in our notebook about our memories. This week we will write about family traditions, special places and treasured items.
    In reading we will work on reading with stamina and recording our thinking while we read. We will focus on identifying which comprehension strategies we are using. We will also write about what we have read this week.
   Have a fantastic week!
   
 

An Exciting Week

    Our class did a fantastic job last week learning the classroom routines and procedures. We are in full swing with our daily schedule and we have begun our new units in all subject areas. On Friday your son/daughter came home with a letter he/she wrote in school. This letter is meant as a communication tool between school and home. As stated in my letter, this is an unedited piece of writing. I think you will be amazed when you see how quickly we turn a few sentences into paragraphs and pages! Please be sure to respond to the letter and tuck it back into your child's backpack. The students will read your response first thing tomorrow morning.
    The students should also come to school tomorrow with their first completed reading log. I ask that each students reads 5 out of 7 nights for at least 20 minutes.

     In Reader's Workshop this week we will continue to build our reading stamina. We will also continue to discuss our thinking as we read. The students have been using post-its to jot down questions and observations as they read. This week we will use those post-its to begin writing small entries about our books.

     In Writer's Workshop we will continue to work on our personal narrative unit. This week we will focus of strategies to help students come up with story ideas. We will be thinking about important people in our lives and places that hold special memories for us. Any discussions at home about these areas would be greatly appreciated!

    In Math we will work on reading number lines, comparing and ordering numbers. We will also begin our math workshop routine this week. I am excited to share more about this with you at Open House.

     In Language Arts we will finish our work with nouns (ask your child to show you how we remember the word proper). We will begin learning about verbs this week. Your child will bring home a spelling list this Friday.

     In Social Studies we will look at the globe and a world map. This week we will learn about the parts of the map and how to read a compass.


    On Thursday night we will have Open House at 6:00 pm in our classroom. I look forward to seeing you!

Please click the following link to sign-up for our October parent conference.
   
Conference Sign Up

First Full Week of School

     This week will certainly be very busy and full of new experiences for your third grader. We will continue to practice our daily routine and begin our first units in all the subject areas. On Monday your child will come home with his/her assignment notepad for the year. I would greatly appreciate if you could sign this each night so that I know you have seen the homework assignment. 

    Your child will also be bringing home a reading calendar for the week. I require the students to read 20 minutes per night for 5 out of 7 nights a week. The student may choose which nights he/she reads. This calendar also requires your initials, but it should be filled out by the student. The calendar does not need to be returned to school until next Monday. 

Reader's Workshop:

     We will be exploring our classroom library and discussing what it means to have reading stamina. The students began choosing independent reading books last week, but we will discuss how to choose a book that is on each student's reading level. 

Writer's Workshop:

     Our first unit in writing is a personal narrative study. We will explore some entries from former third grade students and make writing goals. Then we will dive into where writers get their ideas for personal narratives. The students will also begin collecting their own personal narratives.

     This Friday we will also write our first Friday Letter. We will be writing to a family member each Friday detailing our week and sharing our learning with you. I ask that someone write back to the student in the notebook each week. I will include a letter with many ideas to help you create your response.

Math:

     We will begin working on place value. We will learn different ways to express a number and we will order numbers on a number line. 

Language Arts:

   This week we will focus on the parts of speech, particularly nouns (common and proper) and verbs. I am currently testing the class on the third grade spelling priority words. We will not begin a regular spelling list/quiz until after Open House.

Social Studies:

    We will explore the seven continents, learn about the compass, and study different types of maps. 

    Thank you for sending in your family photos. If you have not had a chance to send one in, please feel free to do so at anytime. We will keep the photos on our wall all year. Finally, thank you very much for your responses to my back to school questionnaire (found with the supply list). If you haven't sent in a response I would still love to hear from you. It is valuable information that helps me get to better know your child these first few days of school. 

Welcome Back

Thank you for coming in this afternoon to drop off supplies. I enjoyed meeting all of you! Tomorrow we will have Art. Please be sure to bring a water bottle and a snack with you.