Math and Science Week of April 1st-5th

Dear Parents,

In Math this week, we will be doing a culmination of things!

Monday- Review Perimeter and Area with Metric Measuring and take Metric Quiz

Tuesday- Review Time, Temperature, and Money

Wednesday- Take Objective Quiz 4 on Time, Temperature, Money, Area, and Perimeter

***These Objective Quizzes are all word problems designed to help our kids                      prepare for the STAAR Test in April

Thursday- Review Graphs (Objective 5) with warm-up questions and introduce Probability (Impossible, Unlikely, Likely, Certain to happen)

Friday- Review Graphs (Objective 5) with Warm-Up Questions and Go over Probability with Spinners.

What is the Probability that the spinner will land on a triangle?

Is it likely or unlikely that the spinner will land on a trapezoid?

In Science this week, we will be closing up our unit on the Solar System.  On Monday, we will play Jeopardy on the Activ Board to review all needed to know concepts that will be on the TEST.  The test will be Tuesday for both of my classes.  The kids have really enjoyed making 2-D models, posters, etc...for this unit of study.  I have also learned so much about this fascinating universe and find myself constantly in awe!  This has really been a fun unit.

On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we will begin our new Science unit on living and non-living things.  A living thing is something that is or once was alive and a non-living thing is something that was never alive.

I can't believe it's already April!  Only two months left in 3rd grade!  Can you believe it?

Mrs. S

Math and Science Week of March 25-29th

Dear Parents,

In Math this week, we will be studying measuring again.  Instead of using the United States Customary System with inches, feet, yards, and miles, we will now be measuring in The Metric System.  The students will become familiarized with words like millimeter, centimeter, meter, and kilometer.  We will be measuring things all around the room using The Metric System and trying to apply it to our real world.  It is rather confusing for a third grader to switch back and forth between The Customary System and The Metric System.  Any real world applications that you can use from home would be awesome!  I remember being in Canada two Summers ago thinking, "I know it says 30 more Kilometers until Banff, but what does that mean?"  "How far is 30 Kilometers, and how fast are we really going?!!!"  We will only study the metric system for two days but will follow it up with  a quiz next Monday.  On Wednesday,  I am going to introduce area.  Now that our students know how to find the distance around an object (Perimeter), I am going to teach them how to find the measurement INSIDE an object (Area).  We will measure in square centimeters, to coincide with our study of the metric system earlier this week.

I decided not to grade last week's Fast Facts test since we hadn't done one in two weeks, but this week will be for a grade for sure!  :))))


In Science last we we learned about the relationship between the sun, the moon, and the earth.  The students constructed a small 2-D model in class to show this representation.  This week we will move into the planets and the correct order of the planets.  I will teach them a fun acronym to help them remember the correct order of the planets from the sun.  It is...."My very excellent mother just served us nachos!"  Here are two fun videos we will watch about the planets.

Students will be placed in groups Wednesday and Thursday to work on a planet project together.  Your student will be given a study guide AND flashcards this week to prepare them for the Solar System Science Test next week.  Please help your child study!!!

Love,
Mrs. S

Math and Science March 18-22

Parents,

Welcome back to the grind!  I hope your Spring Break was fun and restful at the same time.   Before we left for the break we had begun the study of 3-D shapes in Math.   We will continue this study discussing the differences between prisms and pyramids this week.  Prism faces are always rectangular or square:

Pyramid faces are always triangular with a point at the top:

The latter part of the week we will be taking a quiz on 2-D and 3-D figures, congruence,  symmetry, as well as patterns on a number line.  This week marks the beginnings of getting prepared for the STAAR exam the kids will take in April.  Each week we will review old skills and the students will take a "mini practice" exam to give them exposure to what might be expected of them on the real STAAR exam. Then, we will go over the questions with the kids and talk about strategies to solve each kind of problem.  This Friday will be our first of many practices.   I will be grading the exams over the weekend and the following Monday we will go over this particular quiz with them.  After being checked by me, and then double checked by your child, they will be sent home for you to go over with your child as well.

Fast facts are starting back up and I hope you're ready for them.  This week's test will be for a grade!

Before the break we spent an entire week studying characteristics of the Sun.  This week we will spend some time learning about the moon. Then we will be learning the relationship between the sun, the moon, and the earth.  The students will be constructing a small 2-D model in class to show this representation.  We will then move into the planets and the correct order of the planets next week.

Again, Welcome back and feel free to email or call with any questions or concerns!
Mrs. S

March 4-8

Spring Break is just days away and the beautiful weather has my third grade friends all kinds of excited!

HOMEWORK:  There will be no spelling homework or spelling test this week. Students DO have a reading passage due on Friday, nightly reading homework, and a Social Studies Quiz on Thursday.  I sent home a review sheet for the Social Studies quiz last Thursday and I sent home vocabulary review cards today.  I am attaching each of those in case they have been misplaced.

In Reading this week, students will be completing a learning menu.  They have been working hard to synthesize non-fiction and fiction texts.  This week, students will choose to either read two non-fiction or two fiction texts.  They will then complete synthesizing activities off of the menu to share their thinking and comprehension.  The learning menus are completed in class and will be due on FRIDAY.  If your child will be leaving early for Spring Break, please encourage him or her to use class time wisely in order to make sure they complete the menu before leaving.

In Writing this week, students will create a criteria chart for a research paper.  We will examine the parts of a research paper and then create a may have and must have t-chart.  Students will also finish taking notes on planets.  We will use our notes and research paper observations to begin writing our BIG 6 Research papers after Spring Break.

This week in Social Studies, we will review Map Skills and play hot seat.  Each will receive an ORAL LANGAGE grade for his or her ability to provide clues that make sense, provide detail, and show extended thinking on each topic.  Students will be given three chances to provide clues.  Our quiz is on Thursday.

Math and Science Week of March 4th-8th

Dear Parents,

We have made it to the week before Spring Break!!!  I think we all need a little break from so much structure.  This week the kids will not have a Fast Facts or Spelling Test.  We do realize many will be going out of town early, and arrangements will not have to be made now to get this or that test done!  It just makes things so much simpler, eh?

Last week in Math we studied 2-D figures, Polygons, and Non-Polygons.  The kids had fun learning about Polygons and singing the Polygon song!

We will start this week out learning about one and two lines of symmetry.  We will create things with symmetry as well as draw lines of symmetry on certain objects.  The kids will also work in groups and study each letter of the alphabet, drawing and agreeing among their peers how many lines of symmetry each capital letter has.


This week we are also doing 3-D shapes.  We will become more familiar with terms such as base, faces, vertices, and edges.  We are categorizing our 3-D shapes into 3 categories.
This first category is 3-D figures that have curved surfaces like the sphere, cylinder, and cone.
The next category are prisms such as the cube, triangular prism, and rectangular prism.  Prisms are prisms simply because their faces are either rectangular or square.
The last category we are studying is Pyramids like the square pyramid, the rectangular pyramid, and the triangular pyramid.  Pyramids are simply named by whatever their base is.


In Science last week, we finished up our unit on weather.  The students completed a cloud project last week and will be receiving a Science Project grade on it for the 3rd nine weeks.  The kids did really well on our Science exam last week and I thank all of you who took the time to practice studying the flashcards and the study guide over our study of weather.
In Science this week, we will be moving on to studying about Space.  This week we will direct our focus to the Sun.  When the kids return from Spring Break, we will direct more focus onto the moon, the Earth, and other planets.

For those of you that signed your child up at the Auction for the 3rd grade breakfast, please have your child come to school on Friday morning at 7:20 so that they can enjoy pancakes with the Teachers.  We will be decorating with a St. Patrick's Day theme, so put your child in something green so they don't get pinched!  Just Kidding!!!

It should be a wonderful week,
Mrs. S