Math/Science Week of January 6th

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year!!!  I hope all of your holiday break was filled with family, fun, and laughter.  It is good to be back :)  This crazy short week will be a great transition to get back into the school groove.

This week in Math we will be diving into graphing.  On Tuesday and Wednesday, we will mainly be practicing the proper way to read and label Picto, Bar, and Tally Graphs accurately.  Then we will be taking the information given in the graph and use it to answer questions.  On Thursday and Friday, the students will be conducting a survey of their own, and be required to create their own picto and bar graph that corresponds correctly to their data collected in the survey.

 We will start with multiplication this week! Please practice the x 0, x1, and x10.  All students will have to make a 90 or above before they can move on to the next level on their multiplication test.  So practice, practice, practice.  Good ol' flashcards are NOT overrated!

We will be moving on to Natural Resources in Science.  All students will discuss and learn examples of renewable and non renewable resources and where they originate from.  Students should come to discover that most non-renewable resources come from under the earth.  We will merge into conservation and recycling next week.

It should be a fun first week back!

Love,
Ms. S

Holiday Animoto Projects

Our third graders studied and then created ANIMOTO projects on Winter Holidays.  You can click the links below to take a look at their AWESOME work!

Diwali- Skrivanek

Diwali- Ford

St. Basil's Day

Ramadan

Advent

Yalda

Christmas- Skrivanek (coming soon...)

Christmas- Ford 1

Christmas- Ford 2

Kwanzaa- Ford 

Kwanzaa- Skrivanek 1

Kwanzaa- Skrivanek 2

New Year's Eve- Skrivanek

New Year's Eve- Ford

Hanukkah

Epiphany- Skrivanek

Epiphany- Ford

Chinese New Year - Skrivanek

Chinese New Year- Ford

Mrs. Ford's Classroom Update 12/9-12/13

LANGUAGE ARTS
Spelling
We WILL have spelling homework this week.  Please look for new words to come home on Monday.  Students should return their spelling menu homework on Thursday.  Our test will be on Friday. 

Reading
Students will start to learn to infer in reading.  Inferring is something we do ALL the time.  You notice that your friend isn’t as talkative and you ask what’s wrong, you see a picture of people bundled up and you know that the weather is cold, these sorts of thoughts are what we call an inference.

In third grade, we use a helpful equation to infer.  BK+TC=I.  This means that our background knowledge, plus text clues help us make an inference about characters, settings and events in the stories we read.  This week we will focus on making an inference with photographs and poetry.   

Writing
Students will start working in small groups to research a cultural holiday.  They will work with their groups to take notes, and organize a presentation to teach the class about their learning the week before Winter Break.  Please let me and your student know if you will be leaving early that week (12/16-12/20).  We want to make sure that he or she gets the chance to contribute to the group project.

SOCIAL STUDIES
Map Skills
Students are hard at work designing their own city using a grid map.  This week we will practice using a map scale.  Your child will bring home a review sheet on Tuesday to help him or her prepare for the next Social Studies test on Map Skills.  They are welcome to use this review, vocabulary cards and the Social Studies Journal to prepare.  Please make sure that the Social Studies Journal comes back to school every day.  We will continue to add notes about our learning.

Math and Science Week of December 9th

Dear Parents,

Last week in third grade we introduced division.  The kids learned the "Octopus Method" in order to solve simple division problems.  You should have seen your child use this strategy to solve their HW last week.   These problems consist of a larger number to divide and the students are given the number of groups to divide by.  They are looking for  the number IN each group.

This week we are still focusing on division, but learning a new strategy called the "Cookies Method."  These types of problems are worded differently.  Instead of giving the number of groups to divide by, these types of word problems give the number IN each group.  The students then have to figure out the number of groups. 

Later in the week we will tackle Multiplication and Division Fact Families to see the relationship between the two.  For instance, if 4 X 6 = 24, then 6 x 4 = 24, then 24 / 4 = 6, and 24 / 6 = 4.  The key to writing these correctly is to remind the kids that when they are writing the multiplication equations, the smaller numbers go first.  When they are writing the division equation, the larger number is always written first.  Fact families is usually a concept that students catch on to rather quickly.

This will be our last fast facts of the nine weeks this week.  It will not be recorded into the grade book.  Start getting ready for multiplication fast facts next semester!!  We start with 0's, 1's, and 2's in January.

In Science we have been diving into our unit on Weathering and Erosion.  The kids learned the week before last that there are slow land changes to our Earth due to weathering and agents of weathering such as wind, running water, people, animals, sand, etc... Last week we studied a few Natural Disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and land slides that cause fast changes to the Earth's surface.   This week we will continue studying other Natural Disasters such as earthquakes and volcanoes!  The kids are getting to see some excellent footage of these changes happening to the earth and are really quite interested in this unit.   A study guide will be coming home late in the week, meaning that an assessment is scheduled the week of December 16th before we get out for the holidays.

Love, 
Ms. Skrivanek

Update from Mrs. Ford

It's December!

This is a busy week, so I hope everyone had a very restful holiday.  Our family counted you and your family in our blessings over the Thanksgiving break!  We are so fortunate to be part of such an amazing school.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Spelling
The HCE Spelling Week is on Thursday, December 5.  Information went home in the Tuesday Newsday folders about 3 weeks ago to allow student the opportunity to practice and sign up for early morning workshops.  Students are required to participate in the classroom bee.  I will, as always, stress that this is a learning opportunity.  Not all of us are SUPPER spellers (do you see what I did there)-- but everyone will be allowed the opportunity to see what a spelling bee looks and feels like.
Since we will be focusing on the spelling bee, there will NOT be any individualized spelling lists this week.

Reading
We have been working on reading and producing plays.  Students have learned new vocabulary like: narrator, actor, characters, setting, stage directions and dialogue.  
We will continue to discuss drama or plays but will be focusing on poetry as well.  Please NOTE that your child will be bringing home a poetry worksheet to complete every night this week.  I encourage you to talk to your child about each of the poems.  We will add more vocabulary to our ever expanding repertoire.  
Be ready to discuss the following terms:

• rhythm -  the beat or cadence of poetry Example:  But soft! What light through your window breaks?
• stanza-part of a poem that is made up of lines that are put together in a particular pattern
• imagery- words used to create a picture in the reader's mind
• narrative poem- a poem that tells a story.  some narrative poems are myths.  narrative poems may rhyme, but do not have to.
• line- a row of words in a poem
• rhyme -   two or more words which match in the same last sound  Example: cat/bat  or  flew/grew
• repetition – using a key word several times through a poem  
• free verse – a flowing poem that does NOT have a particular pattern
• alliteration- words in a poem that are placed near each other and start with the same sound

Your child will need to complete the poem practice and 

read for 20 minutes each night this week. 

We will NOT have spelling homework, 

so the time dedicated to homework should balance out.

Writing
We are working hard to finish up our narratives.  
Students have also explored using figurative language to write landform poetry.  
After we consume more poetry, students will be given opportunity to write a variety of poems.
Students will also start working in small groups to research a cultural holiday.  They will work with their groups to take notes, and organize a presentation to teach the class about their learning the week before Winter Break.  Please let me and your student know if you will be leaving early that week.  We want to make sure that he or she gets the chance to contribute to the group project.

SOCIAL STUDIES
Map Skills
Last week we used our knowledge about landforms to jump into our work in map skills.  We looked over a variety of landform maps.  This week we will review map skill vocabulary on Monday.  On Tuesday and Wednesday we will learn how to read and use a grid map.  On Friday, students will start on their grid map project.  They will get to design a city of their very own and put some of our new found map skills to use!

Math and Science Week of December 2nd

Dear Parents,

Welcome back! I hope you have a wonderful five day break with your families!  We are going to hit the ground running until Winter break.  Let the three week countdown begin!

On Monday, we will start out with a multiplication review of the meaning of multiplication, multiplication arrays, and paired tables with multiplication.  The students will review all old concepts and have a quiz to test their mastery of multiplication on Monday.

On Tuesday, we will be introducing division in third grade.  Our study of division will begin basic, as we plan to use cubes and pictures to represent the process of dividing a larger group of things into smaller equal groups.   Students will practice “acting out” the process of division.  Through a mathematical story, The Doorbell Rang, students will divide Grandma’s 12 cookies equally among 12, 6, 4, and 3 friends.   

 

Fast Fact Friday will  be for a grade this week.  This quiz will be a combination of 10 addition facts and 10 subtraction facts.  Students should continue studying facts each night.  The expectation is that all of these facts are memorized by December.   Starting January, students will begin studying multiplication facts.

In Science last week, we dug into dirt and learned about Weather, Erosion, Soil, and decomposing.  We had a fun time on Friday playing "The Rotten Game," and trying to predict how long it takes certain materials to decompose.  This week will start a weather/ natural disaster unit.  We will learn about Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and Landslides this week.  Next week we will study Volcanoes and Earthquakes.  We will watch some really cool "storm chaser" footage that the kids are sure to enjoy.  We will try to link this learning back to last weeks concepts over weathering and erosion, and make the connection that all these things change the surface of our earth. 

I'm expecting it to be a great week!  Thanks for all you do.


Love, 
Ms. S

Math and Science Week of November 25th

Howdy Parents,

November is just flying right on by and here we are already leaving for Thanksgiving!  The two days we will be attending school is always hard to plan for a teacher.  A LOT of students are always out and you don't want to introduce a new concept!    So the Math/Science team has thought up some fun activities/projects for those two days.  

In Math, we will be  reviewing what we have been learning about the last three weeks with multiplication and division.  We will be reading lots of word problems, breaking them down, and figuring out if we need to multiply, divide, add, or even subtract!  The kids love the flip charts that we do together because they get to Activ vote their hypothesis and then we solve the problem.  We will be taking a grade on their problem solving assignment that is broken up over the two days.  Don't worry if you miss, your child will just make it up when they return!

There will be no Homework, Fast Facts, or Problem of the Week in Math this week!!!

In Science,  we will be doing two labs that we haven't had the chance to do.  One will be a Matter Lab in which the students will make a mixture and then choose the appropriate tool to separate it with.  The other Lab will be a Friction Lab in which the kids will use a ramp and a hot wheel car to determine which surface has the least amount of friction.  It gets wild in the classroom, but it's so fun!

I hope everyone has a safe and beautiful Thanksgiving with their family.  I am thankful for this HCE family and my 46 students that keep me on my toes everyday ;-)

Love, 
Ms. S 

Math/Science Week of November 18th

Dear Parents,

In Math last week, we started Multiplication!  The kids are so motivated by this because they finally feel like "big kids."  Last week in Math students practiced representing multiplication using pictures and the traditional multiplication sentence.  We learned that the answer to a multiplication problem is called a “product” and the two numbers we multiply together are called “factors”.  We  started  applying what we learned about multiplication to problems in the real world.  Example:  If there are 5 students in a group and each student holds 3 pencils, how many pencils in all?  Students will have to practice choosing the correct operation to solve a problem now.  Now we will have to choose if it is appropriate to add, subtract, and/or multiply when problem solving. On Thursday, we learned about  multiplication arrays. We learned equal rows of things such as 4 rows with 3 cookies in EACH row ( 4 x 3 = 12).   Please look out for any opportunities at home to point out “arrays” or “groups of” things.  Example:  If your family is making cookies, use multiplication to find out how many cookies are on the pan.  If the football team scored 3 touchdowns, use multiplication to find out how many points in all. 

Using paired tables is a strategy (making a T-Chart)students can use to figure out problem solving problems that contain patterns.  That's what we will talk about at the beginning of this week.  For example, Confetti eggs come in cartons of 8, How many eggs will there be in 3, 6, and 8 cartons.  The students would create a T chart.  On one side would be the # of cartons, and on the other would be the # of eggs.  This is a simple strategy to figure out larger patterns in numbers.  Towards the end of the week we will teach the students a strategy to solve two digit by one digit multiplication problems that they will face in word problems and on the STAAR.  We don't feel at this time they are quite ready to learn the regular algorithm, and therefore won't teach it until May. 

The Energy Test was a success!  It was clear to me that most kids took their learning more seriously on this 2nd test and we had outstanding scores!  In Science this week, we will be learning about  weathering (the breaking apart of rock into small pieces) and watching a video called “Weathering and Erosion.”  The students will look at all different pictures and examples of weathering and erosion on a flip chart and discover some of the most amazing landscapes that erosion and weathering create.  In their journal, students will define weathering and erosion (the carrying away of weathered rock)  and list the many agents of weathering: wind, water, temperature, plants, animals, chemicals, man. The student bring in a rock no bigger than a quarter for Science HW this week.

A special thank you for all you parents reading this and keeping up with the daily happenings of the classroom.  It takes a village!

Ms. S

Math/Science Week of November 11th-15th

Parents,

Happy Veterans Day!  Thank you for your service veterans and all you sacrificed.  We hope to see all of you on Monday at 8:30 in the cafeteria for the Veteran's Day program put on by our 3rd and 4th graders.

In Math this week we will be moving on to a new concept.......Multiplication!!!  Students will brainstorm things that come in groups: 2 eyes, 3 wheels on a tricycle, 8 sides on an octagon, etc.  We will discuss that multiplication is actually just equal “groups of” things.  Through a game called “Circles and Stars”, students will represent 5 “groups of” 3 with 5 circles and 3 stars in each circle.  Students will use repeated addition    ( 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 15) to discover the total amount of stars.  We will then connect this to the multiplication sentence of 5 x 3 = 15.  You will see this coming home on Tuesday night for HW.  The latter part of the week I will be introducing  multiplication arrays.  We will learn equal rows of things such as 4 rows with 3 cookies in EACH row ( 4 x 3 = 12).   Please look out for any opportunities at home to point out “arrays” or “groups of” things.  Example:  If your family is making cookies, use multiplication to find out how many cookies are on the pan.  If the football team scored 3 touchdowns, use multiplication to find out how many points in all. 

This week for Fast facts will be for a grade and it will be addition and subtraction. 

We are wrapping up our study on Force, Motion, and Energy.  Your child should have brought home their Science Journal to study, flash cards, and their green study guide that is glued in their Science Journal.  They also should have brought home a flowchart on the four energies Thursday to help them study!  Read pages 15-23 in their SBISD white Science Study guide to assist you.  The test will be on Wednesday and will consist of only multiple choice questions.  Happy studying!  Use these YouTube videos to assist you as well.  It's going to be a great week of learning!  
Ms. S

Update from Mrs. Ford

Language Arts

Reading

This week in reading, we will start to talk about using context clues when we read to help us determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.  Students will learn a variety of "clues" that good writers often include to help readers make meaning of what's in the story.  We will be using non-fiction this week as begin.

In small groups, students will be reading non-fiction and poetry with me.  In these groups we will be working on a variety of reading topics depending on what your child and their group needs.  I have looked over our benchmark data and will be targeting children's needs.  

Writing

We will focus on developing strong leads this week in our work with personal narratives.  

Last week, students completed postcards to friends and family describing an imaginary vacation.  This writing was integrated with our social studies curriculum.  Students included new learning about how landforms, location and climate can change the activities we choose and the way we dress when we are on vacation.

Spelling

Spelling groups will continue this week.  Please look for new words to come home on Monday nights.  Students have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to complete 8 points on their spelling menus.  The DESK fairy showed up after school on Friday and awarded spelling homework coupons to student's with a clean and organized desk.  If your student has earned a coupon, he or she may staple it into the spelling spiral in place of 4 points of homework.

Social Studies

Geography

Click on the link below to check out this cool new rap and song we've been singing to help us remember the different types of landforms.

http://youtu.be/7v7R2bALbgI

We will continue to learn about landforms.  This week we will start thinking of various ways to describe landforms and bodies of water.  We will read the book, I AM THE OCEAN. It will serve as our mentor test as we begin to create LANDFORM POETRY using personification!

Math/Science Week of November 4th

Dear Parents,

In Math this week, we will be approaching some new subject matter.  In 1st grade, your student was required to master time to the hour and half hour, in 2nd grade it was time to the quarter and five minute increments, in 3rd grade it's the whole shebang!  They will be mastering telling time on an analog clock to the minute in 3rd grade.  It has been my experience that that kids have a tough time with time (pun intended!).  When the clock gets into what we called "the danger zone," the majority of students will actually misread the hour of the clock.  So instead of writing 1:55, they would write 2:55, because the hour hand appeared as though it was on the 2.  Please work with our kids anytime you can and make them read an analogue clock for practice.

Towards the end of the week, we will challenge the kids to solve elapsed time  problems.  They will see a clock for example with the time 2:15.  Below the clock will ask, What time will it be in 30 minutes?  The kids will have to figure out the 30 minutes past 2:15 is 2:45!  On Friday, we will expose the kids to some word problems in which they will have to answer elapsed time questions.  This is HARD material parents!  

The fast facts this week will be BOTH addition and subtraction. This week's test will be not be inputted into the grade book.

In Science this week, we will continue with Energy.  We have studied Mechanical and Heat energy in detail.  We will study Light and Sound energy this week.  A study guide and flashcards will be coming home on Wednesday to get your child ready for this energy test!  They will have a week to study. The Energy Test is scheduled for Wednesday, November 13th.

Field Day is this Friday from 10:00-11:30 for 3rd grade.  Parents are welcome to come and spectate :)))

Love, Ms. S

10/28-11/1 Language Arts and Social Studies

LANGUAGE ARTS

Reading

We are still reading non-fiction.  This week we will focus on the facts located in non-fiction texts.  Students will learn to distinguish fact from opinion.  They will also work this week to determine if facts read are important or interesting.  This is a hard concept for third graders.  When most third graders read a fact, if they are interested in the topic, they judge the fact to be important.

Please remember that your child should read nightly for 20 minutes.  They are required to record the title and genre in their third grade planner.

Writing

We will create a narrative criteria chart this week as we start to dissect narratives to find out what makes a narrative interesting and good.  Students will also work with a partner to reproduce a narrative.  Reproduction is like putting puzzle pieces together without looking at the picture.  You have to pay attention to what you know about structure and patterns to make the puzzle (story) make sense. 

Spelling

We had last week OFF from spelling.  This week, your third grader should bring home NEW words on Monday.  8 points for the spelling menu is due on Thursday.  We will test on Friday.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Landforms

We are starting a new unit in Social Studies, Geography.  Our geography unit is made up of two parts, landforms and map skills. We will start the unit with a look at landforms.  This week we will review many landforms that are, hopefully, familiar to our students.  Our BIG idea in social studies is that our daily life is affected by the land surrounding us.  When we plan vacations, what we pack, what we do, and our travel are all determined by the land and water features surrounding our destination.  

Some of our upcoming vocabulary will be:

Geography-the study of Earth’s features

Landform- natural features, or shapes, of the land including mountains, valleys, plains, plateaus, etc.

Climate- the kind of weather a place has over a long period of time

Human Feature- something that people add to the landscape, such as a building

     Adapt- change to fit the environment   

Math/Science Week of October 28th

Dear Parents,

In Math last week we measured many things to the nearest inch using the U.S. customary system.  We were only able to spend one day on Perimeter, so that's what we are getting into a little bit deeper this week.  Students will initially be given the dimensions and will have to calculate the Perimeter by finding the sum of all the sides.  Once there is a complete understanding of that, we will move on to calculating the dimensions of a side when then Perimeter is given. On Wednesday, the students will take a quiz on measurement and finding perimeter. In the latter part of the week, we will be moving on to finding patterns in a list and patterns on a number line.

Last week in Math, the kids also to an Addition and Subtraction FF Test in one minute.  This week will be for a grade so study, study, STUDY!!!

In Science this week, we will continue with our new unit of study.  We barely skimmed the surface of energy last week with all that went on with Red Ribbon Week and the two half days.  Students will continue studying the concept of Energy.  We will review Mechanical (Potential and Kinetic) Energy learned in detail last week, and then we will move on to Heat, Sound, and Light Energy.  The students are also becoming familiar with what Force is-a push or a pull, and how energy is transferred from one object to another.  

We are excited about winning the food drive competition, so one of the Houston Rockets players will be coming to see us on Monday afternoon!  Wednesday is also our library/counselor day.

Update from Mrs. Ford

Language Arts

In Reading this week, we will start our study on Non-Fiction.  We will use non-fiction resources focused on BATS for the next few weeks as an added bonus to our study on non-fiction texts. As adults, we take for granted the many features a non-fiction text grants us as we read.  Third graders will be learning to identify and discuss the purpose of various text features over the next few weeks.  We will be creating an anchor chart similar to this one from the blog, Second Grade Style.

http://secondgradestyle.blogspot.com/2011/10/teaching-text-features.html 

Last week was fun, but we have some catch-up to do in writing.  We will begin critiquing narrative pieces this week.  Students will create their own lists of what narratives may have and must have to make them an entertaining and informative piece for a reader.  

We have parent/teacher conferences on Thursday and Friday of this week.  Since Thursday and Friday will be half days, we will NOT have spelling words this week.  Please look for new spelling words to come home on MONDAY, OCTOBER 28.

We took our first social studies test last week.  We will spend time in Social Studies this week focusing on daily topics associated with RED RIBBON WEEK.  HCE commits to being drug-free (alcohol, to

bacco, and drugs) by accepting and signing the pledge card at school and home with a parent

Monday, Oct 21:   Wear RED to celebrate red ribbon week.

Tuesday, Oct 22: Wear your favorite Sports Team Shirt

Wednesday, Oct 23: Wear crazy socks or shoes.  Go crazy against drugs!

Thursday, Oct 24: Join the fight against drugs and Wear CAMO!

Friday, Oct 25: Wear a hat or fun hair accessories to school!  Hats off to healthy living!

Math/Science Week of October 21st

Boy last week seemed crazy!  But most four day weeks do!  Last week with DATA day and a field trip, we got a little behind in our lessons.  Also 3rd grade made a teacher decision to spend some more time on estimating Sums and Differences because our kids needed some addition support and time on it.  SOOOOO, Monday and most likely Tuesday will now be spent on addition and subtraction patterns in a paired table like this:

The rest of the week we will be moving on to measuring in our customary system.  We will begin working in measurement as we use rulers to find the length of objects.  We will focus on inches, feet, yards, and miles.  Students will practice predicting the length of objects around the room, measuring with rulers, and then calculate the difference between the predicted and the actual length.  

We will also work on the concept of Perimeter.  We will talk about the border around our bulletin boards or the fence around the school to introduce the concept of a perimeter.  To find the perimeter, students will measure all sides of an object or shape and then find the sum of these sides.  To challenge your child on perimeter,  give them the total perimeter of an object or shape and encourage them to find all the possible lengths that could equal the given perimeter.  

Our Fast Fact Friday Quiz will be for practice and will now include ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION.  Students should be studying facts every night for at least 5 – 8 minutes.  

In Science this week, we will continue our new unit of study.  Students will begin studying the concept of Energy.  Energy is the ability to move and do work.  We will review four forms of energy: sound, light, heat, and mechanical. We will begin with Mechanical Energy and discover that there are two types of Mechanical Energy: Potential and Kinetic.  We will also learn about pushes and pulls in greater detail.

Remember this week on Thursday and Friday are our parent conferences.  Make sure that you have a time scheduled with your homeroom teacher for next week.  

Love, Ms. S

Update from Mrs. Ford

What a week!

     Today, Tuesday, October 15, we met for spelling groups.  Your child should come home with new spelling words.  They will have until FRIDAY this week to complete 8 points of spelling homework. Our spelling test will be Friday.

     We also learned a new review game called HOT SEAT.   Students were able to give and receive clues to review content for our social studies test tomorrow, October 16.

      We've got a lot going on this week---
WEDNESDAY- library check out and lesson, social studies test, and counselor visit
THURSDAY- field trip to the Wortham Center to watch SPLAT THE CAT and Spanish/Computer classes
FRIDAY- spelling tests and reading buddies

Math/Science Week of October 15-19

Parents,

Last week in Math, students continued working on addition and subtraction word problems.  We have been working hard on 3-digit subtraction with a medial zero.  Here are two different scenarios with medial zero:
                           705                                           705
                        - 422                                          -426
                     ---------                                   ---------
In the first problem, the ones place does not need to be regrouped, therefore the zero in the middle of the problem will be a 10 and the 7 will be reduced to a 6.  In the second problem, the ones place does have to be regrouped. Therefore, the zero in the middle will be reduced to a 9 and the 7 will be reduced to a 6.  This is all very confusing to eight and nine-year-olds!!!   This is a really hard concept for 3rd graders and they are having a tough time with it and need LOTS of practice.  Please work with them if you can at home.  It's always good to hear someone else's voice teaching a hard concept. :)

We also worked on subtracting across three zeros such like this:

                                   800                                                   500
                                 -555                                                  -224
                            -----------                                         -----------  

This week in Math we will take what we know about rounding to the nearest ten and hundred, addition, and subtraction and put it all together.  The kids will be required to look at a three digit Math problem, round the numbers, and then solve like this:

Our Fast Fact Friday Quiz will consist of subtraction ONLY and WILL be recorded this week in the grade book.  Get ready for a combo test soon with BOTH addition and subtraction!!!  

In Science, we just concluded our study on Matter and had our first big Science Test last week. In Science this week, we will begin our new unit of study.  Students will begin studying the concept of Energy.  We will review four forms of energy: sound, light, heat, and mechanical.
We will begin with Mechanical Energy and discover that there are two types of Mechanical Energy: Potential and Kinetic.

This week all 3rd grade teachers will be out on Wednesday afternoon meeting with the principals and on Thursday is our first field trip!

Love, 
Ms. S   

an update from Mrs. Ford

Reading
In Reading this week we will be look at genre and theme.  We will review some of the books we have shared aloud to determine what text evidence can help us determine a book's theme.  Students will then read fables in partners and independently to find evidence and determine theme.  We will use this same text evidence strategy to determine the genre of a book.  Students should be able to notice and name features of various genres (Mystery, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Autobiography, Biography, Informational, Traditional and Poetry).  

WRITING
As we continue to work in the genre of personal narrative, we will continue to consume examples (text and student work).  We will also look this week at critiquing personal narratives.  What things make a personal narrative EXCELLENT or not so great.  We will work as a class to create a criteria chart of the things we think EXCELLENT narratives need.

SPELLING

Please remember that they are responsible for completing 8 points and turning in their homework on Thursday mornings.  

SOCIAL STUDIES

In class, we will begin talking about how the United States government is set up.  Be ready... this week we will talk about how we have a local, state and federal government.  Please continue at home talking with your kids about the three branches of government, elections, and leaders at each level of our government.  There is a RED review sheet coming home today.  Our first Social Studies test on Community and Government will be on October 16.

Math/Science Week Of October 7th

Parents,

In Math:
We will continue fine tuning our 3-digit addition and subtraction skills with regrouping.  Students will be introduced to 3 digit subtraction with a medial zero, as well as 3 digit subtraction with two zeros.   This is a hard skill to really master parents!  Our little 3rd graders want to regroup when they don't have to and not regroup when they are supposed to!  Any help on three digit subtraction or extra practice at home is always appreciated.  Students will continue working on addition and subtraction word problems and trying to decipher if they are combining, take away subtraction, comparative subtraction, or missing part subtraction.  

Our Fast Fact Friday Quiz will consist of subtraction problems only and will not be taken for a grade this week.  Students should be studying facts every night for at least 5 – 8 minutes.   Please see the blog page labeled Helpful Websites to find fun and interactive websites that help your children learn their Math Facts.


In Science:
What a busy week we will have in Science next week!  A study guide and study flashcards were sent home last Monday to get your child prepared for the Matter Test  . Their Matter test will be this coming Monday the 7th. Please take a couple minutes to help your child review all concepts encompassing Matter.   We are moving on to reading thermometers in Celsius and Fahrenheit, as well as making mixtures and figuring out the best tools to separate them with.  


Love, Mrs. S

Math/Science Week of Sept 30th-Oct4th

Dear Parents,

We have made it to October where things start to slow down a bit!

In Math: 
We will move in to our study of addition and subtraction with and without re-grouping.  Students will add 2-digit and 3-digit numbers in the beginning of the week as a 2nd grade review, and then we will move on to subtracting two and three digit numbers towards the middle and end of the week.  This is a challenging skill for third graders so any extra practice at home is wonderful.  We will practice the very important skill of recognizing when a problem solving situation requires addition or subtraction.  We will use the table below to help guide our mathematical decision to add or subtract in order to solve a problem successfully.  This week we will be really focusing on Combining, Take Away, and Comparative Subtraction Word Problems.

Combine 2 or more groups of things	Addition
Compare 2 groups of things	Subtraction
Take some things away from a group	Subtraction
Find a missing part of a group	Subtraction

Our Fast Fact Friday Quiz will consist of subtraction problems only and will be graded this Friday the 4th. Please see your student’s Tuesday Newsday folder for the Fast Fact quiz from last Friday the 27th of September.  This can help guide your studies at home each night.  Your child is also keeping up with their Fast Fact grades by graphing their scores on a graph in their  green binder each week.  Ask your child to show it to you!   As we begin working with addition and subtraction of large numbers, correct re-call of math facts will be incredibly important.  Students should be studying facts every night for at least 5 – 8 minutes. 

In Science:

This week we will continue investigating matter by experimenting with the changes of matter.  Students will learn about “physical changes” and “chemical changes”.  We will look closely into changing from a solid to a liquid and vice versa this week. Last Friday we conducted a fun experiment called The Great Ice Cube Race to observe one of these changes and discover what a physical change needs in order to happen.  We will assess the students knowledge of the states of matter through an end of unit exam in the coming week.  Students will receive flash cards and a study guide this Monday, so our Science test on Matter will be the following Monday, October 7th.

Don't forget about Open House this coming Thursday night!  It starts at 5:30.  Tickets for the dinner can be purchased online on the PTA's website until this Monday.  After that, tickets can be purchased in the cafeteria on the night of Open House!  See ya there :)

Ms. S

Update from Mrs. Ford

Language Arts
Reading
In Reading this week we will be diving into the word of character traits and character development.  Good readers notice how a character may change throughout a story.  We will begin the week by brainstorming a list of character traits.  What words can we use to describe how the character is acting and feeling?  Then, we will review some books we have read to see if we can find text evidence to support a character's personality trait.  As the week progresses, students will look for this text support in their DEAR time (independent reading) book. 

Writing
 This week we will introduce 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
Please remember that your child is responsible for completing 8 points and turning in  his or her 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.  

Social Studies
In class, we will learn and discuss the words rights and responsibilities.  Students will also participate in a debate to determine if he or she thinks it would be best to live in FREEDOM TOWN (where anything goes) or LEADER TOWN (where one leader tells everyone how they can live.  It's always a great time to hear kids thoughts and watch them come around to understanding how our country decided on its form of government.  

This week we will discuss LEADERSHIP COUNCIL.  We will discuss qualities needed in a leadership council representative and the duties and responsibilities that go along with this leadership position.  Students will be allowed to nominate candidates.  A rubric will then be filled out and accompanied by the nominations to determine who will represent our classes this year.