Dear Families,
I hope this newsletter finds you all well. This has been a hopping week with MEAP testing both Tuesday and Wednesday! There is only one more day of testing left on Tuesday, October 19th. Please make sure your child is at school ready to test that day. Here is what's been happening over the past week and what is planned for next week.
What's Up!
· Reading: Last week we spent most of our reading time working on reading to self, reading to someone and MEAP testing. Three great strategies we have focused on this week are Check for Understanding, Cross Checking, and Tune in to Interesting Words. In Check for Understanding, the students read a page or paragraph – stop and ask themselves “Do I understand what I just read?” Or they summarize what it was just about to someone else. Then continue to read. In Cross Checking, when the students come across a word he/she doesn’t know they use a strategy they know and say “Does that look right” “Does that sound right” and “Does it make sense?” Finally, Tune in to Interesting Words is about being a word detective and finding new, fun, inviting words that interest us and we want to share with others. Next week we will begin Theme 2. The first selection is a wonderful story called The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco.
· Writing: We continued to work on our "If you give a mouse a cookie" type stories. We introduced the Three Step process which helps the students see how I grade based on the FCAs so when they go to edit their own work, they can implement the same strategies. Next week will focus on writing great beginnings and using descriptive words.
· Spelling: Words from The Keeping Quilt (See attached)
· Vocabulary: from The Keeping Quilt (See attached)
· Math: We began chapter 2 this week in math. The focus of this chapter is addition and subtraction and the strategies we use to solve problems. We will continue to focus on money problem solving as well. Please also make this a nightly priority. It is a difficult skill that takes lots of practice. Don’t forget you can view the text book online by going to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com.
· Science: We spent most of our science time this week on the MEAP; however we were able to share our great seed projects. How exciting to see all the well put together seed collections. Way to go!
· Social Studies: Again, we had the MEAP during social studies; however we did finish our “taco” project that taught us all about human, natural, and capital resources. Our study of economics will continue throughout next week.
· Keyboarding: Yes, we are starting keyboarding skills today, Friday! The kids will be quite excited and so are we!
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.
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.
Snack
I know Mrs. Daoust sent home an “approved” list of foods that are allergy-free in the school newsletter; however in third grade we are still sticking with our original snack plan. “We will be having a fruit or vegetable snack everyday in our homerooms around 2:15 pm. If a child brings a snack that does not meet these guidelines, we will ask them to put the snack he/she brought into his/her backpack and we will provide him/her with an alternative snack. Over the past few weeks we have provided apples or fruit snacks for these students. Some other examples of fruit/vegetable snacks are: applesauce, fruit cups, raisins, dried fruit (NO NUTS/PEANUTS), fresh fruits and vegetables, or fruit roll-ups. For students who have a need for protein in the middle of the afternoon, a hard-boiled egg, beef jerky sticks or plain slices of lunch meat are acceptable snacks.”
Dates to Remember
· October 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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