Language Arts
Reading
In Reading this week we will be working on making connections to our reading.  Good readers make connections to a text as they read.  These connections in the brain help us take ownership of the reading.  The story becomes part of who we are because of how we connect to the text.  The three kinds of connections we will focus on are text-to-self, text-to-text and text-to world.  We were able to start this discussion last week.  We related to Stagestruck as a young boy participated in a school play.  Thanks to our music program at HCE, many kids were able to make great text-to-self connections about playing different parts in a play and the feelings they had on stage in front of an audience.  We also read The Man Who Walked Between the Towers.  Our classes were able to relate the towers in NYC and we discussed how they were a great moment of celebration when they were built and how last week we honored the 11th anniversary of the falling of those great towers. I was impressed with their empathy and sharing. 

Writing
This week we will finish up some discussion on types of nouns (common, proper, singular and plural).  Students will also be introduced to our first writing genre study, personal narrative.  We will spend the next few weeks sharing examples of personal narratives and noticing and naming the parts of a narrative.  This week we will focus on learning the vocabulary for those parts (setting the stage, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution).

Spelling
Students made it through their first week of spelling!  Most kids did a GREAT job.  Please remember that they are responsible for completing 8 points and turning in their homework on Thursday mornings.  Students may complete any assignment on the menu they wish.  If they choose to write their words 3 times this week, they may only use that assignments once this week to get 2 of the 8 points.  You will find their tests and test grades in their spelling spiral.  Those grades will not be recorded in the grade book.  I want students and parents to see how the test is set up and graded before entering it in the grade book   Students receive one point for spelling the word correctly and one point for sorting it correctly.  The test we will take on 9/21/12 will be counted for a grade.

Social Studies
We will focus this week on identifying qualities that make someone a good citizen.  We will then brainstorm together to nominate friends, family and community citizens for a good citizen award.  The nomination and reasoning behind it is the most important part of this assignment!  Students will then create a good citizen poem to describe the person they have chosen to honor.  Check out our hallway in a few weeks to see who our third graders believe to demonstrate good citizen traits!