4 Day Week

We had an amazing week last week! The amount and quality of learning that happened in our classroom was astounding. I hope that your child came home proud and happy last week. Happy and Proud is our goal for this week as well.


Reader's Workshop 
      We have begun writing our personal narratives. We will write an initial draft, revise, and edit this week. We will also write our speeches on Monday. These will come home Monday night for the students to memorize. I will also send home a letter tomorrow with all of the "at home responsibilities" laid out for you. It is basically memorizing the speech, and putting together a "costume". Please don't worry too much about the costume. They should be basic, and made out of items you can find at home.

Writer's Workshop
     We are focused on Biography writing this week, but we will also be working on some persuasive writing.

Math
     This week we will continue our work with Area. We ended the week using the Distributive Property to solve larger area questions. Here is an example of the type of work we are doing:
Area=length x width
A= l x w
27x8=(20x8)+(7x8)
A=216 sq un

Can you believe that?!?!?! Your son/daughter can solve that problem! It is incredible!!!

     We will also begin learning about data collection and different types of graphs.

Other Items
    -This week is litterless lunch. Students are being challenged to use reusable items to pack their lunches this week.
    -We will participate in Earth Day activities on Wednesday.
    -Thanks to the PTA we will attend an Erie Canal presentation.

Thanks to Mrs. Cousins for being our Mystery Reader this week!

We Survived...

...testing week #1! Our NY State Math Test will take place on May 2-4th.

Reader's Workshop
   We will complete our biographies on Monday. I asked many students to bring their biography home with them over the weekend. It is important for your child to bring their biography back to school tomorrow. We will also use an organizer to put our findings into an easier to use format. I am hoping to begin writing our first person narratives during the second half of this week.

Math
   This week we will learn how to calculate the area of a figure. Our work will begin with regular shapes. Once we have a solid handle on what area is and how to find it, we will move on to irregular shapes. This work can be complicated, and will take our students a few days of practice before we feel comfortable.

Social Studies
    We will continue our tour of various countries throughout the world. Our work will focus on the similarities and differences between their way of life and ours.

Writer's Workshop
    Our next unit in writing is a persuasive unit. I have found that third graders have exceptional persuasive skills. We will work on using our skills to defend our opinions while writing.

Science
   Monday your child will come home with instructions to access your child's glog. Your child will also be asked to comment on three of their peers' glogs. If computer access is an issue please don't hesitate to contact me. We can make arrangements for your child to do their work during the school day.

Thank you to Mrs. Matvienko for being our Mystery Reader last week!

Testing Week

      This Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday the students will take the NY State ELA test. We will begin testing promptly at 9:30. The ELA is no longer timed, which means students may take as long as they need to complete the test. During this time students are not allowed to have food or drinks on their desk. We usually have snack around 10:15, but we will need to postpone snack on the testing days. Please make sure students eat a large, healthy breakfast before school on those days. If your child is sick or late to school during these days there is a make-up period next week.
    The rest of our week is business as usual!

Reader's Workshop
     The students are loving our biography project. They are reading a "Who Was..." book, and making notes on post-it about their people. It is fun when the students discover connections between historical figures, or personal connections to their people! This week we should finish reading our books, and begin looking at how to organize our notes to best fit our final project.
     The Wax Museum is being help on Friday, April 28th at 2:30. An invitation came home last Friday. Please feel free to invite the whole family!

Math
     We will continue to work on our geometry unit this week. Monday we will be classifying quadrilaterals! We will then move onto combining and separating shapes. Please continue to practice multiplication facts. This week we will do a multiplication quiz for x3 and x4 on Tuesday, and division on Friday. We will also begin working on calculating area of figures.

Science
     The glogs are close to completion! This week you will receive instructions to view and comment on your child's project. Your child will also have an assignment to view and comment on three fellow classmates' glogs. If you do not have access to a computer and the internet please let me know and I will make one available to you after school.

Word Work/Spelling
    Monday we will take a quiz on the last three weeks of vocabulary words. The students will not have a vocabulary story to write this week.
    A portion of the class started a new spelling assignment last Friday. Those students should be working on a writing assignment at home this week. This assignment is due on in school on Thursday.

Social Studies
     We will begin a country study this week. The students will read Time For Kids about various countries, and use the online version of the magazine.

Thank you to our Mystery Reader!

What's New in Third Grade

Important dates for your calendar:

     -Tuesday, March 28th-Thursday, March 30th NY State ELA test

     -Friday, April 28th-Wax Museum from 2:30-3:00 (more info to come)

     -Tuesday, May 2nd-Thursday, May 4th NY State Math test

Reader's Workshop

      We have just begun a Biography unit. We started by reading short biographies. Last week we worked on finding important facts/dates while we read. We also discussed the basic structure of a biography, and we learned about timelines. This week the students will choose a person he/she is interested in learning more about. Your child will read a "Who Was/Is" book about this person. While your child reads he/she will post-it important dates and events in this person's life. We will work together to organize our learning, and write a first person narrative. We will have a Wax Museum on Friday, April 28th from 2:30-3:00 to present our hard work. Please save this date!!!

Writer's Workshop

     Over the last few weeks we have worked on writing short responses to a text, and full essays. This work is in preparation for the ELA test that our students will take on March 28-30 (next week). 

Math

    We just completed our work with fractions. This week we will begin learning about geometry, and perimeter. The students will also begin longer multiplication and division timed test. 

     Last week I sent home a letter with the format for this testing. The students will take a 5 minute, 100 fact, multiplication quiz on Tuesday. This will come home Tuesday night for a parent signature. On Friday, the students will take a 5 minute, 100 fact, division quiz with related facts. This week the students will be quizzed on x2 and x3. Each student will take each quiz only once, and then move on the next week. I will use these quiz grades to help gauge who needs more practice, and I will use the scores for report card grades.

Science

     The students are working on completing a research project for the Solar System. Each student has researched basic facts about the planets, and created research questions for each planet. Then he/she researched his/her favorite planet in more detail. Currently, the students are working on presenting their research with the use of a glog. This is an internet based tool that allows students to design a poster with many different visual elements. On Friday, I sent home instructions for your child to access their glog at home, however, we will be doing all of this work in school. 

     Please be on the lookout for instructions to view and comment on your child's glog. When we have finished our work I will also require your child to view and comment on three of their classmates' glogs. 

Spelling

    On Friday you should have received a letter with information about your child's progress in spelling. I am so incredibly proud of our students' hard work in spelling! 

      If your child has fewer than 5 priority words left to learn he/she will have a new assignment beginning this Friday, March 24th. On Friday, your child will bring home their writer's notebook, and a writing prompt. He/She will write a story which will be due on Thursday (normal spelling quiz day). In school on Thursday (while others take a spelling quiz) your child will edit his/her story with a peer. On Friday (while others make a new spelling list), your child will type his/her story to further check for spelling errors. I am hoping this will enrich your child's writing, spelling, and editing skills. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

    If your child has 5 or more priority words remaining, he/she will continue with the regular spelling program until he/she has mastered all of the third grade words. Then, your child will transition to the new program described above.

Third Grade Memories