Week 11: October 30 - November 3

Reminders:
Third Grade Awards Ceremony will be held on Tuesday, October 31 at 9:05 in the cafeteria.

Lights, Camera, Auction! Come party like a celebrity Saturday, November 4th, at the Weston Houston Memorial City. The fun begins at 7pm. Auction Tickets

Early Voting for SBISD Bond is all this week. Please vote in the school bond election. No tax increase is needed. Bond Information

We have students with allergies so please pack nut-free snacks. Snacks should be dry and healthy to promote student learning and not create a mess. 
Examples:     

• Saltines, graham crackers, pretzels
• Fresh or dried fruit/vegetable sticks or slices
• Cheese cubed or sliced·        
• Applesauce (in the squeezable containers)
• Goldfish/Cheeze-its or Cheese Nips

Reading: As we continue to study story elements, including plot, we are going to begin investigating how to determine the theme(s) of text, including in works of art, and in visual media. We will be discussing the differences between plot and theme, as well as what a theme is and what it is not. (This is a difficult concept for third graders, and is on-going. This understanding is fine-tuned with consistent examples and exposure to a variety of themes with familiar text.) A theme is defined as an observation about life that is inspired by an author's text. It does not, however, consist of a single word or a command. Some examples of themes from well-known text: 
Little Red Riding Hood- Do not trust everyone you meet.
The Three Little Pigs-Hard work and patience pay off in the end.

The Third Grade Language Arts teachers were given the distinct privilege of attending a national conference called Literacy for All, thanks to our amazing PTA, and we had the opportunity to learn from some of the most distinguished educators throughout the world. A message that resonated throughout was the importance of giving our children numerous opportunities to read and write based on their interests throughout the day. Continuing these opportunities at home is crucial to growing lifelong readers and writers. Please make time to enjoy reading and writing together whenever possible! 

Writing: We will begin the week and the diminishing October days completing a piece of fictional writing that focuses on the craft of personification. Personification is the skill of giving human or "person-like" qualities to something that is not human. Third graders will be drafting, revising, and editing a persuasive piece from the point of view of a pumpkin who simply wishes not to be picked. Small guided writing groups will provide opportunities to model effective revising and editing skills.
As the week progresses, we will be working on stories from our lives and how to incorporate a variety of "craft" strategies to enhance the effectiveness. Each strategy will be introduced in the context of effective third grade writing. 

Sample of Craft Strategies

Handwriting: Third graders are developing their cursive skills by practicing daily for 5 to 10 minutes. It is a goal that our students will leave third grade writing and reading cursive fluently.

Spelling: We strongly believe that spelling skills develop by allowing our children to independently attempt words that challenge them. We are continuing to explore the six main syllable types and using syllabication to break apart more complex words using commonly used spelling rules. For example, every syllable contains a vowel. When your child writes at home, avoid spelling words for him/her; instead, allow him/her to attempt the word and look at it. Ask, "Does this word look correct? If not, try again." Praise attempts to spell independently and reread written work to notice spelling inaccuracies.

Social Studies: Third graders will use Social Studies Weekly as a reference to identify the main reasons that citizens join/thrive in communities. They will complete a visual organizer that requires supporting ideas from the text. It is an effective set of lessons that require students to justify responses with textual evidence. 

Math: This week we continue to reinforce the concepts and strategies related to subtraction. We have concentrated on "take away" and "comparing" subtractions and the difference between the two as far as wording and bar models. Take away subtraction happens when something is removed from the story in some way.  Comparing subtraction involves finding out how much larger one number is from another. Vocabulary associated with comparing subtraction includes "how many more/less", "how much less/more", and numerous comparative adjectives ending in "er" such as longer, higher, shorter, farther, heavier.  At the same time, students have practiced subtracting with multiple regroupings, including over zeros. This is difficult for some, so we will continue to reinforce this skill. This week we will introduce the third kind of subtraction known as "missing part". Given a total and a known part, students are asked to find the missing part. Often times, the word NOT is used or implied. For example...The car lot had 1,428 cars and 854 of them were clean. How many cars were NOT clean? Friday will be our usual FFF or Fast Fact Friday quiz. Please be studying every night so your child will master addition facts and then subtraction.

Science: We conclude our Matter unit this week with an assessment on Tuesday. Vocabulary cards and a unit study sheet went home a week and a half ago so students could begin studying the concepts that will be tested. Vocabulary questions will always have a word bank or will be multiple choice. Next, we will spend a few days learning about mixtures and the tools that can be used to separate their ingredients according to their properties. A mixture is defined as two or more ingredients that keep their own properties and can be separated back to its parts.

Week 10: October 23-27

Reminders:
It is Red Ribbon Week!  Don't Worry, Be HEALTHY!  Let's all celebrate a healthy lifestyle by having some fun this week. Show your excitement each day...

• Monday - Get Fit For a BRIGHT Future - wear NEON
• Tuesday - Eat Your GREENS - wear CAMO
• Wednesday - Keep Calm and EXERCISE On - wear CRAZY SOCKS
• Thursday - Invest in REST - wear PAJAMAS
• Friday - Hair's to a HEALTHY Lifestyle - CRAZY HAIR day

Field Day is this Friday from 10:15 to 11:45. Thank you to parents for helping gather spirit items for each homeroom team. Students should wear their team color. Come cheer everyone on!

• Badrak Blue Jays (blue)
• Duncan Deer (camo)
• Ford Felines (orange)
• Morphey Mountain Lions (brown)
• Rozzell Rhinos (red)
• Saint Val Sharks (purple)

Classroom Spelling Bees are this Friday morning from 8-10. Good luck to all students as they try to spell their way to the schoolwide bee!

Third Grade Awards Ceremony will be held on Tuesday, October 31 at 9:05 in the cafeteria.

Lights, Camera, Auction! Come party like a celebrity Saturday, November 4 at the Weston Houston Memorial City. The fun begins at 7pm. Auction Tickets

We have students with allergies so please pack nut-free snacks. Snacks should be dry and healthy to promote student learning and not create a mess. 
Examples:     

• Saltines, graham crackers, pretzels
• Fresh or dried fruit/vegetable sticks or slices
• Cheese cubed or sliced·        
• Applesauce (in the squeezable containers)
• Goldfish/Cheeze-its or Cheese Nips

Math: We continue our study of subtraction all this week. Students will use concrete and pictorial models before learning the abstract algorithm to understand subtraction across zeros. This is often confusing and we will spend enough time on each one to assure understanding. 

        

We will compare addition and take away subtraction word problems and distinguish the way they each sound. By the end of the week, students will also know how to recognize comparative subtraction and how different it sounds from the take away type. 

Take away subtraction is the type of subtraction our students have seen since first grade. Given a total number, a part is taken away leaving a part called a difference. It sounds like this:  327 birds sat on the power line. If 167 of them flew away, how many were left?  

Comparing subtraction is when one is asked to find the difference between two numbers. Often the question asks "how many more" or "how much more". Also, students will look for "er" or comparative words like fewer, longer, heavier, farther. It sounds like this: A trip to Dallas is 250 miles. A trip to Austin is 166 miles. How much farther is it to Dallas than to Austin?

Please remember to study for FFF this Friday. Our goal for everyone is to master addition and subtraction and make it to multiplication by the end of December.

Science: This is our final week to study Matter. We will focus on what it takes to change from one state to another. Students know that it is all about the molecules! Adding and taking away heat energy changes the molecules and therefore the phase of matter. Students will put their knowledge to a test in what we call "The Great Ice Cube Race". Vocabulary this week will include melting, evaporation, sublimation, condensation, and solidify. A good review of basic matter information is BrainPop Jr.  Our user name is sbspecial and the password is sbisdbp. The unit test on Matter is Tuesday, October 31. Vocabulary cards and a study guide went home last week.

Week 9: October 16-20

Reminders:
A few parents have not yet signed up for Parent / Teacher Conferences scheduled for October 18-20. Use the links below to secure your spot. We can't wait to celebrate the successes of your child and discuss their goals moving forward.

• Duncan/Ford Signup
• Rozzell/Morphey Signup
• Badrak/Saint Val Signup 

We have students with allergies so please pack nut-free snacks. Snacks should be dry and healthy to promote student learning and not create a mess. 

Examples: 

• Saltines, graham crackers, pretzels
• Fresh or dried fruit/vegetable sticks or slices
• Cheese cubed or sliced·        
• Applesauce (in the squeezable containers)
• Goldfish/Cheeze-its or Cheese Nips       

Reading: Third graders know that reading is thinking, therefore the emphasis this week continues to be on how to comprehend realistic fiction text most effectively. When reading fiction, strong readers connect to the characters, identify with the various settings, and throughout following the plot, focus on identifying the problem and how it leads to a solution. This is done by studying each element carefully, making inferences, and drawing conclusions. New graphic organizers will be introduced, including a five finger visual that is tactile kinesthetic, using movement to solidify concept formation.

Writing: Personal Narratives are stories from our lives. Ralph Fletcher summed up writing  by saying, "The only easy thing about writing is...nothing!"
This quote is so true, and in personal narrative writing, this truth is emphasized. It is much more safe to write about what is outrageous than what we actually experience emotionally. As teachers and parents it is critical to model this difficult process with our children. Sharing 

experience stories takes courage, and we need to reveal our own personal stories. For example, what are you afraid of? Describe a moment when you have been scared. 
Due to time constraints, we were not able to share artifacts or important objects. We are asking that our third graders bring in a special object to share and discuss by Tuesday. We are hoping that conversations inspired by objects that we value, will lead to personal narratives that inspire our authors.

Spelling: The heart of strong spelling skills begins when writers develop a set of reliable strategies that they can utilize independently. Our continued study of syllabication and syllable types allow our third graders not only the ability to tackle basic word structure, but to feel confident tackling much more complex syllable types. Shortly, when we begin spelling assessments, these strategies will guide our studies and understanding.

Social Studies: It is exciting that students are continuing their study of Community using Studies Weekly class newspapers. They will analyze an issue and the features of a news article to better understand the significance of community involvement. They will also work on close reading skills to maximize application of positively impacting various types of communities.

Math: This week in math we are beginning a new grouping of students across the grade level. We have carefully studied the needs of our students and have regrouped to better meet those needs and ramp up the rigor for all our kids. We are excited to welcome different boys and girls into our rooms and hope they enjoy the change as much as we will. 

Regardless of class, all student will transition on to subtraction and all that it entails. We will discuss what students already know and clarify some misconceptions and errors. Students will learn the sound of a subtraction problem and determine why this operation is appropriate. Teachers will emphasize working from right to left in order to accommodate any regrouping that might be necessary. We will begin with "Take Away" subtraction, the one most students have worked with since Kindergarten. In this type, students are given a total number of items and a specific number of them are taken away. This will leave an answer called a difference.  Here is the bar model strategy that shows "take away" subtraction.

Fast Fact Friday (FFF) will occur as usual at the end of the week. Some students have shown mastery of addition and are moving on to subtraction facts. Congratulations to them! Keep studying every evening for whichever facts you will be tested on each Friday. 

Science:  We continue our study of matter by examining the molecular structures of the different common states: solids, liquids, and gases. We will follow the Scientific Method to demonstrate an important fact about all matter, that it takes up space. Even a gas takes up space, though it is difficult to see. Later in the week, a unit review sheet and vocabulary cards will go home in preparation for a test later this month.

Week 8: October 9-13

Reminders: 
Open House is tomorrow evening, Tuesday, October 10. Please join us in your child's classrooms from 6:00 to 6:45 and learn what exciting things have been going on in third grade so far this year.

Individual pictures will be taken this Thursday morning, October 12.

Do not forget to sign up for Parent / Teacher Conferences scheduled for October 18-20. Use the links below to secure your spot. We can't wait to celebrate the successes of your child and discuss their goals moving forward.

• Duncan/Ford Signup
• Rozzell/Morphey Signup
• Badrak/Saint Val Signup 

We have students with allergies so please pack nut-free snacks. Snacks should be dry and healthy to promote student learning and not create a mess. 

Examples: 

• Fresh or dried fruit/vegetable sticks or slices
• Cheese cubed or sliced·        
• Applesauce (in the squeezable containers)
• Goldfish/Cheeze-its or Cheese Nips       
• Saltines/Graham crackers/Pretzels

Reading- This week our third grade readers will be exploring and identifying the elements of  fiction by referring to familiar text, and responding to the question, "What do these pieces of realistic fiction have in common?" The elements of setting, characterization, plot, problem, and solution will be emphasized and mapped. The story arc is an organizer that the students will be using to track the plot line of many realistic fiction texts. It will also be referenced as one strategy during our writing of personal narratives. 

Writing- This week our third grade writers will be spending time collecting ideas for personal narratives. October seems the perfect time to brainstorm lists of scary moments and techniques effective writers use to elicit emotion in their readers. An example of this is to "show not tell"; saying you are afraid is much less interesting to readers than showing you are afraid. I could feel my heartbeat in chest, my fists clenched, and I was unable to speak. Each week the teachers will continue to showcase examples of "magical writing" that will focus on effective techniques from other third grader authors. 

****Also, your child will need to bring in an object or artifact that is meaningful to him/her by Friday of this week. He/she will be sharing why it is special and using it to brainstorm other types of stories from his/her life.

Spelling-Students will continue to work with syllables to spell words. We will be manipulating them by combining some of the six syllable types in different ways. For example, pen-cil, if reversed would be read cil-pen. In doing this, students are better able to practice how to sound out and spell words in meaningful ways. In this example, students put into practice that a syllable, such as pen and cil are closed by a consonant, therefore the vowel will make a short sound in most words we read and write.

Social Studies-We have placed the finishing touches on our letters to our third grade neighbors so significantly affected by Hurricane Harvey at Meadow Wood Elementary. They will be delivered at a school function next week to show our care and concern for members of our Spring Branch community. We are continuing to assess what makes someone a strong member of his/her community by researching historical figures who made a difference.

Math- This week we will wrap up our study of addition and its application to everyday situations. Students will show how they are able to use various strategies to explain how addition is used to combine groups of things. FFF will continue to be addition this week. After scoring 100% on three quizzes, many students will move on to subtraction facts in another week. Please study NIGHTLY with your child. Knowing all facts is very important for every content area of math.

Science-  We will wrap up our exciting Matter Lab early this week and take a closer look at classifying the three most common stated of matter...solids, liquids, and gases.  We will focus on properties of each of the states and understand why its molecular structure is key to why it reacts as it does. Our Matter song will pep up the science class and reinforce our focus this week. On Friday, students will reflect on what we have learned this week.

3rd Grade Curriculum Presentation

Week 7: October 2- 6

October 2-6
Reminders: 
Do not forget to sign up for Parent / Teacher Conferences scheduled for October 18-20. Use the links below to secure your spot. We can't wait to celebrate the successes of your child and discuss their goals moving forward.

• Duncan/Ford Signup
• Rozzell/Morphey Signup
• Badrak/Saint Val Signup 

Due to growing bodies and changing hormones, please encourage your child to develop the daily habit of applying deodorant.
 
We have students with allergies so please pack nut-free snacks. Snacks should be dry and healthy to promote student learning and not create a mess. 

Examples: 

• Fresh or dried fruit/vegetable sticks or slices
• Cheese cubed or sliced·        
• Applesauce (in the squeezable containers)
• Goldfish/Cheeze-its or Cheese Nips       
• Saltines/Graham crackers/Pretzels

Reading: Our focus this week is on connecting prior knowledge to what we read to enhance comprehension. Your child will be observing his/her teacher model this skill and will practice it with intention as well. There are three main types of connections that facilitate comprehension: text to self, text to text, and text to world. In addition, connections can be instrumental in higher level thinking if used correctly. We will be discussing the difference between a strong and weak connection. 

Writing: As teacher models we must show that we ourselves sometimes struggle with the writing process and it is part of the process. We ask our third graders, “What is the easiest thing about writing? The answer is nothing!”

We continue to “play with words” using a variety of strategies to collect ideas through the use of lists, prompts, and storytelling. Our objective is to build confident writers by showcasing “magical work” by peers that is successful yet attainable.

Talk to your child at home about the conversation of a successful writer. It is often about attitude. Instead of “I have nothing to write about,” encourage your student to say, “I am struggling with ideas,” or “I have writer’s block and need a strategy.”

Spelling: Teaching spelling that is applied to writing is truly a science. Third grade is a place where we are working tirelessly to find ways to carrying spelling instruction to application. This week we are talking about the role syllabication has as a spelling strategy. Every word in our language has syllables and each syllable contains a vowel and pattern in some form. We will be using various strategies on how to identify syllables in more complex words using puppets and chin movement. Your child will begin an in depth study on the six syllable types based on the studies of Orton-Gillingham. We will begin individualized spelling lists which tailor each syllable type to the needs of your child. 

Social Studies: We are continuing our study of citizenship by adding the finishing touches to our cards of encouragement to our fellow third graders at Meadow Wood Elementary, a campus especially affected by Hurricane Harvey. It is a wonderful way of showing empathy to our neighbors. Also, we will be studying historical figures who exemplified good citizenship including: Helen Keller, Clara Barton, and Ruby Bridges.

Math: During math this week, we will continue showing our number sense by locating numbers on a number line with beginning and end points that are multiples of 100. Students will eyeball the midpoint and locate their number from there. We will begin a study of addition, focusing on different strategies students can use to solve that operation. Those strategies include decomposing, bar models, number lines, and the usual algorithm. For example 241 + 638:

Students will add up to 4 digit numbers without and then with regrouping in one, two and three places. Your child will have their weekly fast facts quiz on Friday (FFF). We encourage you to help your child study with flash cards or apps at home. Their facts quizzes are 20% of their overall Math grade. Paper homework will go home on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night. Thursday homework is to concentrate on facts being tested the next day.

Science: Science this week has us focusing on Properties of Matter. We will experiment with objects that sink or float and mid week will rotate through a six station Matter lab to observe the properties of mass, texture, temperature and magnetism. Students will use a variety of science tools throughout the week.