Dear Families,
Here is what's been happening over the past week and what is planned for next week.
What's Up!
· Reading/Writing: This week we read the story Dogzilla. We focused on fantasy vs realism, interesting word choice, and evaluating the author. Next week we will begin our study of different holidays that occur during this time of the year.
· Spelling:
1. Hanukkah
2. Ramadan
3. Kwanzaa
4. Christmas
5. Las
6. Diwali
7. fast
8. lantern
9. menorah
10. kinara
11. Santa Claus
12. stockings
13. mistletoe
14. festival
Vocabulary: None
· Math: This week we finished our unit of study on addition and subtraction. We will continue to use these skills throughout the year so any practice you can do at home concerning basic addition and subtraction facts will help! Our next unit of study will be telling time. This includes time to the nearest minute, to the quarter hour including how to say quarter till, after and half past, elapsed time and calendar. This can be extremely difficult for some students. Please make sure to go over homework and real life problems with your child each day. Don’t forget you can view the text book online by going to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com.
· Science: This week we continued to explore our animal unit. Students have been studying mammals! Mrs. Salvat has even brought in real animal bones to study! The students will need to know the different characteristics of mammals, what they eat and how they are categorized.
· Social Studies: This week we continued to learn more about the south. We began with learning the difference between weather and climate. Next we began a mini research project on physical features of the south. Each student was able to present his or her part to the class. Please help your child study the location and capitals for the southern states. A great website for students to use to practice is http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm.
· Keyboarding: We continue to work on our keyboarding skills. Ask your student about how they are to remember where the keys are located! This week we worked on typing our letters from social studies to different state’s tourism departments.
Behavior
Our current word is COOPERATION. The students once again must keep at least one letter in order to participate in our fun activity on January 7th. Please remind your child of your expectations and the Amberly High 5.
Winter Party
We will be having our third grade winter party on December 17th at 2:30. We will be rotating through the three classrooms again. One classroom will be having a read in, another will have a craft and the third will have our snack. The students will be in each room for 20 minutes. If you would like to come in and celebrate with your child, or are able to provide supplies, please let me know ASAP.
Notes from the Office
1) Students Exchanging Gifts
As the holidays come upon us, we often have students who want to give a gift to a special friend at school. Gift giving between students should only occur when it is part of a teacher directed and approved holiday gift exchange.
When certain students exchange gifts with friends at school, someone is always disappointed or feels left out because they did not receive a gift and/or did not have a gift to exchange. This disappointment often becomes an issue in the classroom, lunch and/or recess environment. The staff of Amberly request all gifts given to a specific friend(s) are exchanged outside of the school environment.
2) Request to Stay Indoors for Recess
We believe that except on rare occasions, if a child is well enough to be in school they are well enough to go outside and enjoy recess. In addition, an adult must always be present to supervise a child staying in for recess, which takes away from staff lunch times and office staff duties. Therefore, a note from a physician stating the child is to remain indoors for recess is required for a child to be individually supervised during recess time. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation with this matter.
3) Dress for the Weather & Label Student Outerwear!
Winter weather has arrived and students need to dress for it! Children should be wearing winter jackets, snow pants, boots, hats and gloves or mittens to school. Please write student names inside coats, gloves and boots. We have many students with look-alike clothing and a multitude of items that end up in Lost and Found. Labeling clothing will assist us in returning lost outerwear to students.
Note: If the actual temperature (not predicted) at recess time is below zero or –15 degrees wind chill we will have indoor recess. Please have children come to school dressed with the anticipation of spending a thirty-minute recess outside.
Dates to Remember
· December 10th – Chatenequa Express Music Assembly
· December 14th – Birthday Celebrations for December
· December 17th – 3rd Grade
· December 20 – 31 – No School: Winter Recess
· January 3 – School Resumes
· January 5 – Ski Club Begins
· January 10 – After School Enrichment Begins
· January 18 – APT Meeting 7pm in
· January 20 – Donuts for Dads
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you and have a great weekend!
Mrs. Jessica Winstanley
No comments:
Post a Comment