Math/Science Week of February 3rd

Parents,

What a crazy week!  With the past two weather days being used up, we are a tad behind schedule.  We did finish our study of fractions of a set, but never got around to accessing it.  On Monday we will review regional fractions and fractions of a set and then have an assessment it.

Remember regional fractions look like this:

Fractions of a set look like this:

Mid week we will start linear fractions by teaching the students how to play several fun fraction games!  The kids will be comparing Linear Fractions to decide if 1/3 is less, more, or equal to 1/2. They will be given a visual tool to help them make these decisions.  We will teach the kids a  fun game called "Fraction Taco," mid week  by which the students will cut and manipulate and make their own linear fractions to really reach those kinesthetic learners.

Multiplication fast facts will not be graded this week, as they were graded last week.  

In Science we are starting the water cycle for the first two days.  Mid week we will be going to the Science Museum for a filed trip.  Thursday and Friday we will begin our study of clouds.  In third grade we will study four types of clouds: Cumulus, Nimbus, Status, and Cirrus.  

It will be a full week of learning with hopefully no more weather interruptions.  

Ms. S

QAR, Civic Leaders, and Expository Essays

LANGUAGE ARTS
Spelling
We WILL have any spelling this week.  Please make sure to help your child learn his or her spelling words and their sort.  

Reading
We will begin learning about QAR.  QAR stands for Question/Answer Relationship.  We will spend the rest of this week and next week reviewing inferences and beginning to analyze questions using QAR (Question Answer Relationship).  

"QAR is useful as a tool for conceptualizing and developing comprehension questions. "QAR creates a way of thinking about the types of questions that are most appropriate for different points in guiding students through a text. Questions asked before reading are usually On My Own QARs. They are designed to access relevant prior knowledge. In creating questions asked during reading it is important to balance text based and inference questions. Search and Locate QARs should dominate and should build to the Author and Me QARs. Finally, after reading questions are primarily Author and Me and On My Own QARs. Please remember that too many Right There QARs may indicate and overemphasis on literal, detail questions. QAR is useful as a student tool in providing a basis for three comprehension strategies: locating information, determining text structures and how they convey information, and determining when an inference would be required. It initially helps children understand that information from both texts and their knowledge base and experiences are important to consider when answering questions. It helps students search for key words and phrases to locate the appropriate information for answering questions. Finally, QARs help students recognize whether or not information is present in the text and, if not, that it is necessary to read “between or beyond the lines” to answer the question." (the reading lady)

Writing
Mrs. Jenny Holter has helped us think about our writing in lots of different ways.  We will spend this week taking one of our expository essays though the writing process to create a polished and published piece.  Students have written about a variety of topics to choose from: the best thing about winter break, I'm their biggest fan, someone special, the best place to be, and our favorite foods!

SOCIAL STUDIES
STORY OF AMERICA
Story of American, Part One is complete.  This week we begin Part Two.  We will be learning about America's Civic Leaders: Benjamin Franklin, Pierre L'Enfant, Benjamin Banneker and Alexander Hamilton.

Math/Science Week of January 27th

Last week in Math, we introduced fractions and spent the week talking about unit and non-unit regional fractions which look like this:

This week we will be spending some time on fractional parts of a set, which look like this:

Looking at this picture you might ask your child, what fraction of these objects are blue?  What fraction are NOT red?  What fraction of these objects are green and yellow?  Fractional parts of a set are just that, something in a set that can be divided into categories or non-categories.  On Friday, the kids will be assessed on their mastery of regional fractions and fractional parts of a set.  Next week we will continue our study of fractions, but move on to linear fractions.

The kids are really enjoying these multiplication fast facts are some are really taking their learning seriously!  They are super motivated to "move up to the next level," and I can tell there is some serious studying going on at home at night!  Thanks for flashing all those cards every night! This week's Fast Fact test will be inputted in the grade book online.  

In Science, We have moved on to weather.  Last week we focused on Weather tools and the students and I made a flip chart together of 9 major tools that meteorologists use to predict the weather.  They are as follows:

1. Weather Balloons
2. Thermometer
3. Barometer
4. Hygrometer
5. Anemometer
6. Wind Vane
7. Rain Gauge
8. Weather Satellites
9. Weather Radars/Maps

This is vocabulary that they will most certainly need to know for a future test.  This week we will be finishing up studying the tools that meteorologists use to predict weather and begin our study of the water cycle.

Thanks for reading,
Ms. S

Math/Science Week of January 20th

Parents,

Another four day week is upon us.  They always seem crazier to me than a normal five day week!  This week in Math we will be starting the wonderful world of FRACTIONS!!!   Fractions seem to cause trouble across all grade levels, so we are going to be starting out very simple to review all those 2nd grade objectives over Fractions that the kids should know, but might be a little rusty on.  This week we will just be focusing on regional models, which are pretty much basic shapes like circles and rectangles being cut into slices.  We will be trying to verbalize 2/8 pieces have been eaten, 3/6 pieces are shaded, or 1/8 pieces are Not shaded, etc....  You will be seeing Fraction Homework coming home very soon.  We will be focusing on Fractions for almost four whole weeks!

Here is the Math Facts schedule again just in case you missed it.  Your child must make a 90 or above to prove mastery in order to move to the next level.  This week's quiz will not be recorded in the grade book.  Fast Fact Friday quizzes are graded over the weekend and graphed every Monday.  The graph is in your child's green binder if they cannot remember their grade.

 Week 1: x 0, 1, 10

Week 2: x 0, 1, 2, 10
Week 3: x 0, 1, 2, 5, 10
Week 4: x 0, 1, 2, 5, 10, Squares (doubles)
Week 5: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, Squares
Week 6: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, Squares
Week 7: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, Squares
Week 8: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, Squares
Week 9: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, Squares
Week 10: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Squares
Week 11: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, Squares

Week 12: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Squares 

In Science we finished up our Natural Resources unit, and will be moving on to the study of weather and weather tools.  The kids will become familiar with weather balloons, wind vanes, thermometers, barometers, anemometers, hygrometers, rain gauges, and weather satellites.  The kids will become familiar with weather and how exactly meteorologists use the tools mentioned above to make some predictions about what our weather will be like tomorrow.

It's going to be a busy week of learning!
Love,
Ms. S

Math & Science Week of January 13th

Dear Parents,

Our first week back last week went off without a hitch!  The kids were ready to get back into a routine and so was I!!!

In math this week we will be counting money.  In the beginning of the week, the students will be expected to identify coins and their value and make change up to a dollar in a variety of ways.  This should be a review of second grade.  Students also need to use the correct symbols to label amounts. Counting coins is a concept that was introduced in 1st grade, reviewed in 2nd grade, and hopefully mastered in 3rd grade! It can be a difficult concept for students to master so please practice counting at home. Just take out a coin purse, grab a handful of coins and have the kids count!  The best way to master the concept is to practice, practice, practice!  In the later part of the week, we will be counting coins as well as dollars and putting the amounts together.  Students will again be expected to add up the amounts correctly, and place the decimal and dollar symbol in the correct place.

This week's Fast Facts test will be for a grade.  Students are expected to know facts up to 12 but we've broken up the facts so they'll only be learning a little each week. Students will move up to the next level of facts if they score a 90 or better on the Friday fact quiz. If they score below a 90, they'll stay on their current fact level. If your child stays at a level for more than about 3 weeks, I'll probably move them up a level because all students are expected to learn multiplication facts through 12 by the end of the year. Facts are cumulative so they're expected to retain the facts they've learned as they move through the levels. This week we'll have a practice week to give kids a feel for the quiz and will begin with 0, 1 and 10 facts next week. So next week will be Week 1.

Here's the order in which they'll be tested. The new facts for the week are bold and italicized.

Week 1: x 0, 1, 10
Week 2: x 0, 1, 2, 10
Week 3: x 0, 1, 2, 5, 10
Week 4: x 0, 1, 2, 5, 10, Squares (doubles)
Week 5: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, Squares
Week 6: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, Squares
Week 7: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, Squares
Week 8: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, Squares
Week 9: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, Squares
Week 10: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Squares
Week 11: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, Squares
Week 12: x 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Squares

In Science last week we briefly touched on our earths renewable and non-renewable resources.  We discovered that most, if not all, non-renewable resources are found under the earth.  We talked about ways to protect our natural resources, like turning off the water when you are brushing your teeth, or using a cloth rag instead of a paper towel every time because this creates more trash.  Lastly, we talked about the meaning of the arrows in the recycling sign and discussed the three R's....REDUCE, REUSE, AND RECYCLE!  We will have a short quiz at the end of the week on renewable vs. non-renewable resources..

Here is a song for your enjoyment titled, REDUCE, REUSE, RECYLE!!!

Love,

Ms. S

Welcome Back!

It was a wonderful, rest-filled break for my family.  I hope your family enjoyed the break in routine and created many memories!  

We will be back in our school routine starting TUESDAY, JANUARY 7th.  Please make sure that your student starts to get back in his or her school-time nightly routine over the next few days to help our transition.  

Below is what we have coming up in our classroom over the next week.  Second semester of third grade is a big STEP.  We go from strolling to power-walking through our thinking while we read.  

LANGUAGE ARTS
Spelling
We WILL NOT have any spelling this week.  It is a short week and we have a special visitor coming into our classroom to work with us in writing.

Reading
Students will review how to infer in our fiction reading at the beginning of the week.  Inferring is something we do ALL the time.  

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.  Some sentence stems we use to help us organize our thinking are:

I see (or I read) ________________________.  I know ____________________.  So, I can infer_______________________.

We infer all sorts of things when we read and in our daily life like: setting, weather, time of day, time of year, character feelings, purpose, and mood to just name a few.

As the week progresses, we will begin to infer using non-fiction texts.

Writing
Mrs. Jenny Holter will be working in our classroom and with your students over the next few weeks.  She is helping us work through a new genre of writing, expository.  She will be in our classroom twice this week to teach a whole group lesson and then help us with small group instruction(literacy stations).  Jenny is an experienced SBISD teacher and lover of great writing.  I have enjoyed getting to know her and working with her.  I know your student will enjoy learning from her and working with her also.

SOCIAL STUDIES
STORY OF AMERICA
We will begin a new unit of study in Social Studies.  (This is by far my personal favorite!)  Over the next 9 weeks, students will learn about pieces of American history through the lives of famous American's who made or continue to make a lasting contribution to our country.  To help students understand the wide range of time our nation's history covers, we will start the unit this week learning about time lines.  

Vocabulary that you can discuss at home: time line, year, decade, century, past, present, future, and chronological order