Wow! As I sit and type this, the first half of the school year is officially in the books. These kiddos are no longer newbie 3rd graders. They are halfway through their third grade year and halfway almost 4th graders. Blink and you'll miss it. Third Grade is flying by fast!
We had so many joyous occasions this week from our class party to our holiday sing. We were able to sprinkle in some learning as well. :) Ask your child to tell you how they made their own Christmas lights today! I hope you all enjoy merry times this Winter Break and that everyone is rested and renewed to start the new year strong in January. Help your child find a cozy place to curl up with a good book over Winter Break. Although there will not be an official reading requirement for these next two weeks, reading over the break is strongly encouraged. The best way to become a better reader is to read, read read! Visit a book store or the library and help your child pick out something they'll enjoy. Reading Inventory scores were sent home in purple folders yesterday. The Lexile scores on these reports can help you find books on your child's reading level. Practicing those multiplication facts will play a crucial role this next quarter. We are starting with comparing and finding equivalent fractions in January, and having a good sense of multiplication can really help students to understand these concepts easier. Whether its apps, flashcards, or just calling out facts from the back seat of the car, make a little time for some math over the break. :) Most important, please have a very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a wonderful Winter Break. I look forward to seeing the kiddos back on January 7, 2019!
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It feels like we just returned from Thanksgiving and now we are down to 4 days left in Quarter 2. We studied graphing in math this week and capped it off with a fun STEAM challenge that merged art with data collection. The results were very unique to each group. See your child's data sculptures in SeeSaw. We will revisit multiplication next week and will work on strengthening our multiplication fact fluency.
In Reading, we are learning how to ask questions as we read and use a text to help us find the answers. We took the Reading Inventory on Monday and I will be sending home individual reading reports next week. The students also began their class book reports. The kids are loving sitting in the big rocking chair and getting to share their books. We will wrap these up next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We have so many fun things going on next week. Your child will not want to miss the festive end to our first semester! Here are a few important days to remember... On Wednesday, we will have our Holiday Centers. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered and contributed to make this a fun morning for the kiddos! On Thursday, we will have our auction for Quarter 2. Please help your child think about one thing they would like to bring from home to contribute to the auction. Remember, you do not need to purchase anything for the auction. Students can choose to bring in something gently used items or even yummy goodies or handmade items for the auction. On Friday, we will have our annual Holiday Sing. I have been told that this is such a magical morning and I can't wait to experience it for myself. And what's even more fun than singing holiday songs with all of your friends? Singing in your PJs! Friday will also be a pajama day, so have your child wear some cozy-warm jammies to enjoy the day in. Remember that Thursday and Friday are both early release days. Dismissal will begin at 12:30. We had such a fun time with some hands-on science and math this week. The week started with a fun activity where we modeled how layers of soil help us to date fossils. The kids loved squishing gummy bears between layers of bread and then peeling back the layers days later to reveal the colorful imprint the gummy dinosaurs left in the bread. Then we wrapped up our fossils unit by typing paragraphs about what we leaned. In math, we have been studying multi-step word problems and capped it off with a fun Hour-of-Code Week crossover. See pictures of both of these fun activities on our Remind app.
Coming up this week, we will be studying graphing in math and asking questions as we read. In writing, we will wrap up our expert writing books and in social studies we will study natural and human resources. We will take the Reading Inventory on Monday and our next STEAM Day is coming up on Tuesday. Please remember to send in cardboard boxes for our challenge. Additionally, don't forget to send in board games and books for our Sister School - LaBelle Elementary. Our next Rally day is coming up this week as well on December 13th. Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuits that can be pre-ordered before Rally Day. It's hard to believe that we are already to December! These next three weeks are sure to fly by with all of the upcoming events.
In Math this week, we will continue studying multiplication and division as we solve 2-step word problems with all 4 operations. The students are doing such a great job explaining their thinking. This is a great time to review addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts when you have a few minutes during the week. We have (so far) taken our 0s, 1s, 2s, 10s, and 5s quizzes. We will take our 11s on Friday. In reading, we have been working on using details in text to find the main idea and make inferences. Book reports were assigned on Monday. Remember that your child will need to practice the book that they choose several times in order to be ready for their read-alouds. I am so looking forward to hearing them read to the class! We are digging into fossils in science right now. The students are learning how fossils form and they even created their own cast fossils with Mr. Guinta in the Science Lab on Friday. They were so excited to show me the coyote and fox footprints they used to create their cast. Our next STEAM Day is December 10th. As we plan for this fun day, please begin saving any boxes to send in with your child to be used in this challenge. You can begin sending in empty boxes tomorrow. |
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