Dear Families,
I hope this newsletter finds you all well. We had two wonderful presentations today. The first was by story teller LaRon Williams. He had the kids completed engaged during his wonderful stories and songs. The second was a presentation on Food Allergies by Sarah and Meghan Beuker. The kids had a lot of great questions and stories to share during the presentation. A special thanks to Sarah and Meghan for putting together such a great PowerPoint and presentation for the kids! I am also attaching the “third grade schedule and update” that went home last week in case your copy never made it home. Here is what's been happening over the past week and what is planned for next week.
What's Up!
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· Writing: This week we worked on editing our cooperation papers. Next week we will be practicing cause and effect by writing stories similar to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff. We also discussed subjects and predicates.
· Spelling: Words from Theme 1 Review (See attached)
· Vocabulary: No vocabulary quiz next week. (See attached)
· Math: We continued our math series with Unit 1. We are now working on problem solving with money. We have been practicing making change by counting up. This is a VERY important skill for the students, so please pull out your spare change over the weekend and practice making change with your child. There will be a test over unit 1 next week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday. Don’t forget you can view the text book online by going to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com. The log in is each child’s first and last name. For example: jessicawinstanley. The password is “amberly”
· Science: We are working on our unit on plants. Students really enjoyed measuring their plants this week and learning about plant parts and plant needs!
· Social Studies: Students have had a great time this week reading The Lorax by the great Dr. Seuss and debating the points of view of the Lorax and the Onceler. The students then typed their opinion papers. I will be posting some of these on the blog. Make sure you check them out at http://mrswinstanley.blogspot.com/.
· MEAP Review: This week we switched gears and began practicing various LA skills in preparation for the MEAP tests in October. We discussed genre and the various types of books. We also learned about the many reference materials in the library (Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Atlases, etc.). Finally we practiced reading short selections and choosing the best answers to those selections.
Conferences
If you were not able to sign up for conferences at open house, please call the office at 323-5900 to set up your fall and spring conference. I look forward to meeting with you and discussing your child’s progress. Please be aware, conferences will be especially important to attend this year because as Mrs. Daoust stated in the family newsletter, “This year, teachers will not be writing “Narrative comments” on student report cards for the 1st quarter and the 3rd quarter. This district decision is due to the fact that parents will be attending face to face conferences with teachers during those two quarters. Informational comments about your students and their first (third) quarter achievements will be included in the parent/teacher conference.” If you are unable to attend conferences during the scheduled time, please contact me at your earliest convenience so we can set up a time that works for all of us.
Book Orders
Thanks to everyone who ordered books. They came in today at the very end of the day. I will have them all ready to send home on Monday with the students. Thanks to all the orders we were able to get the following books for our classroom:
| --Flat Stanley and the Haunted House | ||||||
| --Smart Words Reader: Volcanoes | | | ||||
| --Strega Nona's Harvest | |
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| --Percy Jackson & the Olympians Set |
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| --Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book Five: The Last --Olympian |
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| --Pet Heroes --National Geographic Readers Set | | | ||||
Math Facts and
Please remember to keep practicing those math facts (addition and subtraction) every night. There are many free resources online to print up flash cards and often they are available at many dollar stores. There are also several games websites available which are great independent practice! Below are some website you may want to check out.
· http://www.mathfactcafe.com/
Your child should be reading every night for 5 to 10 minutes each night from a book of their choice. They can read silently to themselves, partner read with a parent/sibling, or read orally. . Here are a few suggestions on ways to talk to your child about what they are reading to show them you value what they are reading.
· “What just happened in your story?” or “Give me a summary of what happened in that chapter.”
· “What do you think is going to happen next in the story?” or “Make a prediction about what is going to happen next.”
· “What is your favorite part of the story so far? Why?”
· “Who are the characters in the story? Which one is your favorite? Why?”
· “How would you change this chapter/book if you were the author?”
Behavior
Overall, I have been very happy with how this class shows respect and responsibility in school. There have, however, been a few instances where the students have not lived up to our Amberly expectations. Please be aware that we are taking care of these situations at school and providing natural consequences. It is always appreciated when parents help us in this regard by stressing to the students how important it is to always do their best at school both academically and behaviorally.
Dates to Remember
· October 13 – Ski Club Meeting 6pm in the cafeteria
· October 12, 13 and 19 – MEAP Testing for third graders
· October 29 – Fall/Halloween Party and Parade
· November 5 – No school for students
· November 16 and 18 – Fall Conferences
· November 24-26 – No School: Thanksgiving Recess
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you and have a great weekend!
Mrs. Jessica Winstanley
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