Catch Up and What's Coming Up

Friends and Family,

Last week was so busy that we got a bit behind!  We've been catching up the last few days and I wanted to let you know what's to come.

In language arts we have been synthesizing with fiction.  We've tried a few different ways to record our learning and thinking.  My concrete example for synthesizing is this...
Think about when you make pasta.  You have to boil the water, add the dry noodles and then cook them, but that's not the way we eat our pasta.  We have to strain the noodles to get rid of the water but keep the REALLY  good pasta.  It's the same when we synthesize our reading.  We have to read the whole book, and even let it boil for a while, but synthesizing happens when we strain the information and we are left with the REALLY good stuff.  We've been noticing how your thinking can change as you read a story and how most stories have a theme and/or a moral that you can learn from the story.  We've read some amazing picture books, and I hope your third grader has come home and shared some of them with you.

The kids wrote their first book review this week.  I'll send them home next Tuesday, Feb. 28 in the Newsday folders.  Be on the lookout for a new edition to the blog... third grade book recommendations and reviews!
We've started cursive handwriting.  They've been working on the types of strokes and we will start learning some letters today.

In social studies it is all about MAPS!  We've learned how to read and use a state map, and will look into landform maps the rest of this week.  We will then work with grid maps and eventually compare and contrast maps and globes.  Please take some time to let your child practice real life map skills at home.  This could look a few different ways:

• Let your child be the family guide at the zoo or museum and help navigate you to different areas.
• Print off a map of your neighborhood and let him or her talk to you about what direction (north, south, east, west, northwest, northeast, southwest or southeast) you need to go to get to various destinations.
• Next time you're at the mall, show your child  the mall map and see if he or she can talk about what things would be in which direction.
• Taking a trip to the ranch or Galveston?  Let your child navigate the roads and help see which routes will get you to your destination.

The more reasons your child can see why this skill is so valuable and practice this skill with maps and people that matter, the more learning will sink in!

Thank you for your support at home.
A few upcoming dates to remember:
Monday, February 20- School Holiday
Thursday, February 23- Reading STARR Practice Test
Thursday, February 23- Charles Fay, co-founder of Love and Logic at HCE
Friday, February 24- Go TEXAN Day, wear your western clothes and show off your TEXAN PRIDE
Tuesday and Wednesday, February 28 &29- Book Fair HCE Cafe