Dear Families,
We are done with MEAP for the year! Time to celebrate for sure! Here is what's been happening over the past week and what is planned for next week.
What's Up!
· Reading: This week we read The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco. We worked on skills such as word families and common nouns. Next week we read Anthony Reynoso where we will continue to focus on comprehension skills such as inferencing and predicting. We will be working on plural and proper nouns and complete sentences in language arts.
· Writing: We worked on writing great beginnings this week and will continue to do so into next week. We also discussed descriptive writing through the poem BIG. Ask them about "I'm talking BIG" It is a fun way to come up with synonyms for different words. We also introduced the thesaurus and how it can help us find better words.
· Spelling: Words from Anthony Reynoso (See attached)
· Vocabulary: from Anthony Reynoso (See attached)
· Math: The focus of this chapter is addition and subtraction and the strategies we use to solve problems. We have focused this week on estimating and mental math strategies. While we want to introduce mental math strategies to our students; please understand that not all students will grasp this concept easily. Therefore we do allow them to use the traditional algorithm when solving addition and subtraction problems. We want our students to understand there are several ways to get to an answer successfully; therefore we will allow them to use the strategy they are most comfortable with using at this point. Exposure in third grade is key. 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: Students are focusing on the concept of photosynthesis! This is a difficult concept so any type of discussion you can have with your child about it would be great!
· Social Studies: Social studies this week focused on economic skills such as savings, goals and plans. So if your child all of a sudden wants to start earning money you now know why! Possibly use this as a way to introduce the idea of saving within your household through chores. Another concept we discussed was incentives. We talked about how incentives are used by parents and teachers as well as in business. Please see the note coming home on Friday about the test day for social studies and other important information. I have it attached above as well.
· Keyboarding: We have begun to keyboard! Students are very excited! We can't wait to put their skills to use in the computer lab. The silly story we are using for keyboarding to learn the placement of the keys goes like this, "Quick Ask Zoe, What Stops Xrays, Even Dogs Can't, Red Fish Vanish, Then Grow Bigger, Yaks Hear Noises, Under Jack's Mattress, I Keep Commas (,), Over Long Periods (.), Peanuts." This story makes absolutely no sense, but it really helps the kids learn where the keys are on the keyboard. In class we use covers for the keys, so students are forced to memorize the location of the letters.
Book Orders
This is just a reminder that book orders for our class are due tomorrow, Sunday, October 24. You can send in the order with a check made out to Scholastic (on Monday), or if you are able please consider ordering online. For every online order we receive 1 free book! The website is www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs. Our class code is GY2HX.
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
We have a new word for our behavior system – PERSEVERANCE. The students once again must keep at least one letter to participate in a fun activity by November 22nd. Please remind your child of your expectations and the Amberly High 5.
Halloween
The parade will start at 9:15 a.m. Information regarding the parade route and appropriate costumes has been sent home in Friday Folders. Students are not to bring any look-alike or toy weapons as part of their costume or dress in a manner depicting or promoting violent themes. If you question the appropriateness of your child's costume, please contact Mary Daoust, prior to sending your child to school in the outfit.
We will be having our Halloween/Fall Party on Friday, October 29th from 2:30 – 3:30. As of right now, the following people have said they would like to volunteer in some way: Cindy Philion, Sarah Beuker, Cia Frey, Lisa Mace, Adrienne Bennett, Mariel Aguiar and Sherri Wagner. If you are no longer able to help, or you would like your name added to the list, please let me know as soon as possible. I will let you know what we will be doing in our classroom. I will plan the activity and you may assist with the students J
This occasion is a special time for you to celebrate with your third grade child and assist in the supervision of other students. Therefore, I am asking that you not bring younger siblings to our party. I appreciate your understanding and support with this.
We will be having a whole third grade party. Each classroom will have a separate activity that the students will do for 15 minutes. Then, the last 15 minutes we will have a whole group snack out in the activity area.
Dates to Remember
· 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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