Week 27: March 19 - 23

Week 27: March 19 - 23

Reminders:

3/20 - Third Nine Weeks Recognition Ceremony @9:00 in the cafeteria
3/30 - Good Friday (No School)


Reading: This week in reading students will dig into the data from their Practice Reading STAAR and set personal goals.  Reflection and goal setting are key components to our learning.  We will dive deeper into expository reading and learn about a variety of topics including- marine animals, cultural holidays, animal adaptations, how things are made and the solar system.

Writing: Students will finish up lessons on craft elements they could use while revising one of their expository essays.  We will also try out this week was to add details, anecdotes and thoughtful reasoning to support our claims in writing.

Social Studies: The fourth 9 weeks brings us to our study of Economics.  This week students will discuss needs and wants.  You can watch BRAIN POP JR. videos at home to further learning and discussion at home.


Math: This week in math, we will begin our unit on fractions. On Monday, we will introduce fractions and the vocabulary that goes along with this unit. On Tuesday, we will talk about unit fractions where the numerator is always one. On Wednesday, we will go beyond unit fractions and talk about non-unit fractions. On Thursday and Friday, we will use unifix cubes to create fractions and understanding the numerator and denominator.

For homework this week, we will have a worksheet come home on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We will also have a problem of the week come home and it will be due on Friday. Our fast facts quiz will also be on Friday.


Science: Before spring break, your child came home with a Solar System review sheet and vocabulary cards. The solar system test will be on Friday, March 23rd. During our science time this week, we will discuss the relationship between the sun, Earth, and moon. We will notice the limitations of the models of the solar system that we see. On Monday and Tuesday, we will learn the order of the planets. In groups, your child will make a mnemonic device to help them remember the order of the planets. On Wednesday, we will create planet bracelets. These bracelets will have beads that represent each of the planets. On Thursday, we will review for the solar system test playing our Jeopardy game. 

Week 21: January 23-27

Upcoming dates to put on your calendar:

January 
25 and 26- Reading PSA2

February

3- Progress Reports Go Home

3- Class and Individual Picture Day

9 - Donuts with Dads 

14- Valentine's Day

17 - Noon Dismissal

20- President's Day (No School)

24- Go Texans Day

This week in third grade...

Reading: Readers will continue to consume and analyze non-fiction texts. This week, we will consume biographies and compare them to narrative non-fiction texts. We will analyze the presentation and text features the author uses in biographies compared to those used in literary non-ficton. We will be reading biographies on important Americans we have studied in social studies!

Writing: Writers will begin a new unit on writing persuasive/argumentation essays. We will explore issues, discuss what it means to take a side, and look at how to support our claims with valid support points. We will read many examples and analyze essays for several days, as this genre is new to our third graders. We can't wait to see the topics they choose as the unit unfolds! 

Spelling: Due to the district Reading PSA2 we will be administering on Thursday (1/26), third grade will not be giving new spelling words this week. In lieu of spelling for the week, we will begin our cursive unit. Students will get new words on Thursday, February 2nd. 

White group will take their first test on Wednesday, January 25th. 

Spelling change reminder: Due to our WITS schedules and differentiated grouping across ELA teachers/classrooms, we will be moving our spelling day to Thursday this semester (with the exception of the white group that will stay on Wednesday).  

Social Studies: We will continue our economics unit and will be focusing on businesses in America. How can one idea spark an idea for a business? Why are some businesses successful and some are not? We will read about Ray Kroc and how he transformed McDonald's. 

Math: We will spend this week learning different strategies for 2 digit times 1 digit multiplication. We will begin with a picture model where students use a place value chart to build a picture of a product. 42 X 3 looks like this.

PICTURE MODEL

Students will learn how to multiply numbers with trailing zeros. Examples of these are 30, 200, 7000.  They are a digit followed by only zeros. When multiplying these, we multiply the non-zero number first and then add on the appropriate number of zeros. For example,   60x3=___. Multiply 6x3, which equals 18. Then add on the one zero to make 180.

Our next strategy is the expanded method. The two digit number is expanded to form an addition problem showing the value of tens and ones. That is then multiplied by the 1 digit to get an addition problem of the products. The final step is to add the two numbers to get a final product. The expanded method looks like this.

EXPANDED METHOD

The same idea behind the expanded method is put into a box for the box method. The process is the same, just a little cleaner and organized. The box method looks like this.

BOX METHOD

The last strategy, and the one most parents recognize, is the algorithm or mechanical process for finding the product. Starting in the ones place, you multiply and write the ones and carry over or regroup into the tens. Then multiply the tens place and add in what you regrouped from the ones. The algorithm looks like this.

ALGORITHM

Towards the end of the week, we will have a quick introduction to our next unit, fractions. Students will learn that a fraction is part of a whole and that each number in a fraction has a special name and definition. The top number, or numerator, tells you the number of equal parts you are focusing on. The bottom number, or denominator, is the total number of parts the whole is divided into. Students will learn that a unit fraction is one with a numerator of 1. For example, 1/2 and 1/3 and 1/8 are all unit fractions.

Everyone will have written math homework Monday through Wednesday nights. Students will receive a Problem of the Week (POW) on Monday. It is due on Friday. Please work with your child to complete this. Your math conversation can be very helpful. There will also be the usual Fact Fast Friday (FFF) quiz on Friday. Please help your child work toward mastering all multiplication facts. It is a third grade expectation.

Science: This week we finish our study of weathering, erosion, soil, and decomposition. Students will understand that soil in different places is different because of the unique rocks, plants and animals that are naturally there. We will begin a study of forces that result in rapid changes to Earth's surface. These include earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides. We will discuss the layers of our planet, especially the crust made up of many tectonic plates that float on the liquid mantle. Students will learn how to categorize these forces as constructive (build up Earth) or destructive (tears down Earth), or both and why. 

LA/SS 4/26-5/6

REMINDERS- WITS Anthology Celebration is Wednesday, May4.  Mrs. Duncan’s homeroom class will celebrate and share from 10-11am in Mrs. Ford’s Classroom.  Mrs. Ford’s homeroom class will celebrate and share from 1-2p.m. in Mrs. Ford’s Classroom.  Parents and family members are welcome to join us for an exciting hour of readings, reflections and fun.  If you would like to contribute to our “THANK YOU” gift to our WITS instructor, Carolyn Bolton, please send $1.00 with your child to school by Friday, April 29.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Reading- This week we will wrap up our review of poetry.  Next week, students will work through a synthesizing menu to apply the reading skills and strategies we have learned this year.  Readers synthesize when they take information they know, strategies that support their reading and actively monitor and change their thinking while reading.

Writing- Students have done a terrific job of finishing up our criteria charts for a story from our life.  This week I will model the steps a writer goes through when trying to create an INCREDIBLE story from my life.  As I model, students will have a chance to reflect and respond to my choices in hopes to help them make great choices when they launch their own story.  Next week, students will begin the writing process and proceed at the pace that works best for them.  I can’t wait to hear and read some excellent stories!

Word Work- New words will come home 4/27.  A spelling test will be given on 5/4.  An application grade of those words will be taken 5/4-5/11.

SOCIAL STUDIES

If you haven’t caught an episode of ABC’s Shark Tank, I hope you will.  Below you will find a short clip of some of the most famous Shark Tank Jr. competitors.  Students will work in group over the next two weeks to complete and compete in a Shark Tank Jr. Challenge.  Today they met in their groups to start thinking about problems kids face and how they might offer and create a creative solution that could turn into a business opportunity!

MATH
In math this week, we will continue to review all of our math concepts from the entire school year. We will spend a day reviewing addition, subtraction, place value, and estimation. On Wednesday, we will review the different types of graphs we have learned this year. On Thursday and Friday, we will do a review circuit. We will have a POTW due on Friday and a Fast Facts quiz on Friday. The homework this week is all review. Your child will have 3-4 problems each night. Please make sure your child is doing their homework so they are getting extra review before STAAR next Monday.

SCIENCE
During our science time this week, we will review mass, weight, and capacity. These concepts are used in science and math. We will also practice using a ruler as we prepare for the Math STAAR.

4/18 - 4/22

We hope that you enjoy the LONG weekend! 
REMINDERS:Scholastic book orders may be made online or you may send back the paper order with a check.  Please have April book orders turned in by Friday, April 22. PLEASE NOTE A CHANGE IN ASSESSMENT DATES.


LANGUAGE ARTS
READING- April is poetry month.  We will review poetry vocabulary and types of poems this week.  I'll be pulling small groups based on the two selection practice your child did in class last week.  Look for those to come home in the Tuesday Newsday folder.  This can serve for a great spring board for conversation at home about books and news. We will not send home a reading selection for homework this week due to the short school week.

WRITING- We will finish our criteria chart this week for what makes an INCREDIBLE story from my life.  The last few weeks of school we will spend walking ourselves through the writing process and producing and sharing stories from our lives.  Helping your child reflect on experiences or even say, "Hey, you should write that as one of your stories in school." could serve as great help when writer's are trying to get started during the process.

SPELLING- Words went home last week.  Spelling Test, Thursday 4/21.  Application grade 4/22-4/27.


SOCIAL STUDIES- Economic review sheets went home last Thursday. Our test will be Friday, April 22.  Remember to have your child use his or her log in on studiesweekly.com to review and preview concepts.  Our economics unit covers weeks 19-23. 


Math: In math this week, we will be discussing coins, bills, personal financial literacy, and patterns that can be found on a number line. As we review time and we begin reviewing money, I encourage you to talk with your children at home about these topics. It is important for your children to practice saying the time and reading a clock. Even with our short week, we will have three nights of homework. The homework this week will be a review on graphing, time, and money. Please encourage your child to do their homework and not use a homework pass. As we get into STAAR mode, we are sending work to help review and it is important for your child to continue to practice. We will have a problem of the week this week and a fast facts quiz on Friday. Please study the multiplication facts nightly. Your child needs to complete all of their multiplication facts before they leave third grade. Please check their progress on their multiplication checklist located in their green binder.

Science: In science this week, we will begin discussing the planets in our solar system. We will learn the order off the planets. We will use the mnemonic device - My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nachos- to help us remember the planets in order. Your child will also have an opportunity to create their own mnemonic device.

***UPDATE - The Solar System test will be on Tuesday, April 26th***

4/4-4/8

REMINDERS:
NOON DISMISSAL on Thursday, April 7 and Friday, April 8.  If you will need to change your child's transportation those two days, please send a handwritten note each day.  Thanks!

LANGUAGE ARTS
READING- Author's Purpose will be our work this week.  We will discuss how Author's Purpose can be as easy as PIE (Persuade, Inform, Entertain).  Around the table at home, discuss things you have read or seen on TV and what the purpose might be for those texts.  You can also check out the sites listed on Language Arts Websites and scroll down until you see Author's Purpose.
WRITING- Studies engaged in great discussion last week as they read other people's narratives and decided if they were good or bad examples.  We learned that text structure can really make or break a story.  This week, we will create a class critera chart for a good narrative and begin making some of our own.
SPELLING- Words went home last week.  Spelling Test 4/6.  Application grade 4/7-4/12.

SOCIAL STUDIES- We are knee deep in economics.  A few of our new concepts and vocabulary words are free enterprise, consumers, supply, demand, budget, wants, needs, spending and saving.  Remember to have your child use his or her log in on studiesweekly.com to review and preview concepts.  Our economics unit covers weeks 19-23.

MATH-On Monday, we talking about congruent figures and we learned that congruent figures must be the same size and the same shape. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we will be learning about 3D Shapes. We will classify the shapes on Tuesday by curved surfaces, prisms, and pyramids. On Wednesday, we will learn about faces, vertices, and edges.

This is how we identify faces, vertices, and edges

Prisms and Pyramids 

Curved Surfaces 

On Thursday and Friday, we will be discussing lines of symmetry. On Thursday, we will learn about shapes with just one line of symmetry. On Friday, our students will work with shapes that have more than one line of symmetry. 

This week, your child will have review homework for area, perimeter, and a mixed review. The problem of the week will be due on Friday and the fast facts quiz will be taken on Friday. On Thursday, your child will be quizzed over 2D shapes. In class each day, we will review the 2D shapes with a game. Please spend time at home learning about these polygons. 

SCIENCE- In Science, we are starting our space unit!  The kids love this time of year!  In the beginning of the week we will study the sun and all its wonder.  The kids will discover these very important facts:

1. The sun is only a medium sized star.

2. The sun looks so big because its our closest star.

3. Other stars look so small because they are so far away.

4. The sun is made of hydrogen and helium.

5. The temperatures of the inner core and surface of the sun.

6. The sun is 4.6 billion years old and halfway through its life.

7. The sun gives us heat and light.

8. The sun drives the water cycle.

9. The sun gives us gravity and keeps us and all the other planets in orbit.  

Tuesday and Wednesday we will learn about the moon.  The last part of the week we will discover the intricate relationship of the sun, moon, and earth.  

3/28 - 4/1

Parent Reminders and Information:  
We encourage parents and families to save the date and join the third grade team from 6-7p.m. on Wednesday, March 30^th for our STAAR Night in the HCE Library.  During this time, we will discuss:

·         The purpose of the test and its results

·         Level of Expectation on each test using sample questions

·         Strategies being taught in the classroom

·         How to support your child at home

·         General Information about the test itself including:

a.    Schedule: Dates/Times

b.    Format of the test

c.    Timeline for results

  

We will close the time together with a Q&A session for parents and families. We appreciate your support at home as, together, we continue to build strong mathematicians and readers.


Math: During our math time this week, we will be wrapping up our unit on fractions. We will spend Monday reviewing equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, and fractions on a number line. On Tuesday, we will be taking a fraction assessment as we finish out our unit. The rest of the week, we will begin our next unit on geometry. We will be working to identify 2D shapes. We will identify sides and vertices on these polygons. This week, we will have our usual homework on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We will continue to practice with money and fractions. Our fast facts quiz will be on Friday and we will have a problem of the week due on Friday. 

Science: In science this week, we will continue working on weather and begin discussing types of clouds. This past week, we discussed the water cycle and reviewed the weather tools that help our meteorologist give us information on the weather. Your child has been tracking the temperature, wind speed, and humidity in various cities. They will continue to track the weather this week. A review and vocabulary cards went home on Thursday for our upcoming weather quiz. We will take our quiz on Friday. 

Reading We transition this week from Informational nonfiction to Narrative nonfiction.  These selections are written like a story, but are about a true topic. Please look for homework coming home this week about Jessica The Hippo.  This is an excellent example of narrative nonfiction and a fun story for you to discuss with your child.

Writing- We have worked this year to implement a new framework to our writing curriculum called CCP (Consume, Critique, Produce). This week we will focus on the critiquing part of the writing process.   Students will read good and poor examples of narratives and create their own criteria for what makes a good story from your life.

Spelling Last week we used our spelling time to start work on parts of speech.  We will work the beginning of this week on parts of speech and finish the week with new spelling words.  New words come home 3/30.  Test on 4/6.

Social Studies We've launched our study on economics.  Last week we had some great discussion on needs vs. wants.  We also talked about how important it is to make a plan for how you will spend and save your money using a budget.  This week, we will focus more on how our society is a free enterprise.  Students will discuss good and poor choices they have made as consumers.

Synthesizing, Economics and Research Writing

Fun Things to Share for you to use at home:
During our STAAR party, I introduced Mad Libs.  The kids had a GREAT time working with partners and creating funny stories.  Here are some links to sites where you can print more mad libs to enjoy as a family at home.

• CLASSROOM JR.COM
• MAD LIBS WEBSITE AND APP INFO
• FILL THESE OUT AND READ ONLINE (warning- there are ads on this site.)
• ONLINE MAD LIBS CALL WEB TALES

I also introduced them to a childhood favorite, READING RAINBOW.  

• YOU TUBE CHANNEL with videos
• INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO GET THE APP OR ORDER THE VIDEOS

READING AND WRITING
We will get back into a more normal classroom routine this week.  We will focus in reading on synthesizing.  I love this time of year and reading strategy.  This is when the kids get a chance to apply all their thinking to a text.  We begin to notice how a text can change our thinking as we read-- so powerful!  This week we will focus on synthesizing nonfiction.  We will start by using The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown as our reading and writing model for synthesizing facts.  
This leads us nicely into finishing up reading many nonfiction sources as students work on their Planet Research.  After a few days to finish up research and note taking we will begin writing our informational expository texts on the planet your child is researching.  This is a new genre of writing for us, so we will look carefully to some mentor texts to see how veteran authors organize and structure their informational writing.  

SPELLING
New spelling words will go home on Wednesday.  The spelling homework menu is due on the following Tuesday (4/5) and the test will be on that Wednesday (4/6).  If you need support with spelling, please email me.  If you child looses his or her spelling words, please look at the spelling spiral as we write them down as part of our lesson on Wednesdays.

SOCIAL STUDIES
This week's work in Social Studies will have us focus on the economic concepts of: scarcity, opportunity cost, consumption, production and interdependence.  We are moving out of our work in personal economics and focusing more on business economics as we finish up our lessons.  We will be using these oldies, but goodies (ECON AND ME) to review concepts and promote discussion in class. 

HOMEWORK
Thank you for supporting good study and reading habits at home.  Students will have 20 minutes of nightly reading this week.  They should record the title and genre in their planner or a piece of paper at home to share with me the next day. 

LA and SS March 23-27

READING
This week we will review main idea.  Students will read from nonfiction texts and determine the main idea of sections of text.  We will work to have fun while reviewing using this rap to keep us on track!  

Mrs. Henley has worked with us the last two weeks to help us see how our reading strategies apply to the genre of standardized tests.  She will be with us for a final lesson this Friday.

A reading passage will come home on Monday.  Please encourage your child to practice the suggested reading strategies as he or she works through that reading.  The passage is due on Friday.  Children have 20 minutes of nightly reading everyday this week.


WRITING
This week we will begin a new genre of writing.  We will work to consume examples of fun and practical procedural texts.  After spending an hour and a half over spring break helping Isabella put together Leo Friends, there's a new reality for me on the importance of well written and illustrated procedural texts!
Mrs. Bolton, our WITS instructor, will be with us on Tuesday as we continue to add to our writer's tool box.  We all love the energy and new ideas she brings to our instruction and learning.  

SPELLING
New spelling words will go home on Wednesday.  The spelling homework menu is due on the following Tuesday (3/31) and the test will be on that Wednesday (4/1).  If you need support with spelling, please email me.  If you child looses his or her spelling words, please look at the spelling spiral as we write them down as part of our lesson on Wednesdays.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We will move into a new unit of study for the 4th 9 weeks.  We will focus on Economics.  Yes, you read it correctly.  This week we will focus on some big ideas in economics: needs, wants, spending and saving.  This time of year it always becomes very clear which families discuss money with their children.  Please use the next few weeks to talk to your children about how you decide when to spend and when to save your money.  Discuss with them reasons you have a savings account.  Help reshape their cries for what they "need" and discuss what are our REAL needs and wants.

HOMEWORK
Thank you for supporting good study and reading habits at home. 

Reading, Economics and Research Writing

Spelling
We WILL have spelling this week.  Menus are due on Thursday.  Test day is Friday.

Reading
We have been mixing things up in reading.  I have used our last set of benchmarks to target student needs.  Our groups have been changing weekly as we work on poetry, expository, biography, summary, context clues, cause and effect, procedural texts, etc.

When they are not in a small group with me, they are working at stations designed around what concept they need reinforced.  

Reading passages are still coming home each week.  They should be in the homework folder on Monday and are due Friday.  It is IMPERATIVE that everyone practices the format for the test.  We have SUPER readers this year and I don't want the format of the test to hinder their ability.

Also, we still have 20 minutes of nightly reading for homework.  Many students have been letting this slide.  Please help your child stay strong in his or her commitment to homework for these last few months of school.

Writing
Students selected three planets that they would be interested in researching and writing about this 9 weeks.  Everyone has been assigned a planet, the sun, or the moon.  We have now spent two weeks learning about researching and researching.  Last week we working on writing our introduction paragraph for our research paper.  This week, we will learn about topic sentences and begin writing and revising the various paragraphs that will make up the body of our paper.

SOCIAL STUDIES
ECONOMICS

Our test on personal economics will be Tuesday, April 15.  Review sheets and vocabulary will come home Tuesday, April 8.  Students are welcome to take home Social Studies Journals to help them study each night.  Please make sure that the journals come back to school.  We will add notes and ideas to them each day.

Holiday Reports and Shoe In Economics

Language Arts and Social Studies Updates!

LANGUAGE ARTS
Thank you for helping your child brainstorm a winter family tradition this last week.  


On Monday, students will take their prewrite and turn it into a paragraph or two to inform and entertain classmates about their holiday tradition.  I will send the paragraph home on Monday.  Students will NOT have spelling homework next week.  Instead, they should spend Monday and Tuesday nights preparing their oral presentations.  I have attached the rubric I will use to assess their presentation for your reference at home. 


Due to the number of students presenting, and limited class time, students have signed up to either present on Wednesday, December 14 or Thursday, December 15.
Ford's Class Holiday Report Sign Up 2011
Skrivanek's Class Holiday Report Sign Up 2011


Reports are a fun time for us to learn more about one another and give kids a chance to shine and be the "expert" in our class.  I will record the presentations on the FLIP video camera.  If you would like a copy of your child's presentation, please send a labeled memory stick with your child on the day of his or her presentation.  I will do my best to get you the memory stick and presentation by Friday, December 16. 


SOCIAL STUDIES
We enjoyed ECON and ME videos learn more about economic concepts and vocabulary.  See if you third grader and do part of the GONNA TELL YOU ABOUT ECON rap.  This week, students will be put into teams and will create a SHOE business.  They will design a shoe and then produce the shoe in an assembly line.  Teams will then create an advertisement in hopes to get consumers interested in their product.  This hands-on activity will be our culminating project for economics!  

LA and SS for the week of 11/14

Reading: 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 non-fiction elements.  

Writing: Students will begin writing personal narratives this week.

Spelling: Please continue to work with your student on sorting and spelling their weekly words.

Social Studies:  Students will finish up their project and budget for an imaginary puppy.  We will also review concepts associated with personal economics.  Students will have a quiz on Friday, November 18.  Please look for a review sheet to come home Monday, November 14.  The quiz will consist of multiple choice, short answer, word bank and a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting consumers and producers. 

Update for 10/31-11/4 LA and SS

Language Arts:  - 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.

We have started talking about features that make personal narratives interesting.  Ask your student to tell you the backstory of a character in their book or in their lives.  We discussed this idea and read examples from great writers.  In the week to come, we will focus on the craft of inner monologue and how this adds to the richness of a personal narrative.

 Social Studies: Our unit on economics continues.  This week we are leaning about the vocabulary bank, deposit, savings, interest, investment and budget.  Some kids do not realize you can make a deposit into a checking or savings account at a bank.  Many think you can only do this through an ATM.  If you happen to have the time to take your children inside a bank, I think this would be a great connection to our learning in economics.  Also,  talk to you student about reasons your families saves or budgets.  This will help make learning practical and useful.

LA and SS for the week of 10/24

Parents and Friends,

Below you will find a brief summary of what's to come in LA and SS during the week of 10/24-10/28.  I have also included some activities that would support our learning in SS this 9 weeks.  Thank you for supporting learning at home!

Omi Ford 

Reading

We will continue working with non-fiction features.  Students will learn how to use a FQR (Facts, Questions and Responses) chart this week as a note taking tool and helpful tool to solidify comprehension.

We will finish our guided reading groups and discover "who-dun-it" in the mysteries we've been reading the last month.  

Students will be bringing home a BAT poem later in the week.  We introduced the poem on 10/19.  We have used the poem to practice reading with expression, think about context clues and learn all about alliteration.

Writing

Students have been learning about the structure of a narrative.  They have learned about the parts of a narrative arc and even reconstructed a narrative noticing and discussing narrative arc features.  We will spend the next week looking at different ways authors start their stories (we call these leads).

We've discussed verbs and will learn about nouns and adjectives in the weeks to follow.

Spelling

Students will have spelling words this week.  Please make sure that they bring home their spelling spirals and complete 10 points of spelling homework by Thursday.  Tests will be given on 10/28.

Social Studies

We are starting a new unit of study, economics.  For the first half of the 9 weeks we will learn about personal economics.  Students will learn to differentiate between wants and needs.  We will also learn to use the vocabulary words producers and consumers to talk about people who contribute to our economic system.  

Over the last few years, I've noticed that some third graders are lacking in background knowledge when it comes to economics.  It would benefit our classroom discussions and learning if you could talk to your child about how your family chooses to spend money.  Talk to them about the NEEDS that you pay for (shelter, clothing, utilities, food, ect.) and then talk about how you decide when to spend money on WANTS (toys, trips, electronics, candy, etc).  

In November we will start talking about how to create a budget.  If you can allow your child an opportunity to create a budget or spending plan, this real world application will benefit them greatly.  Maybe the next time you go out to dinner you can tell your student how much you would like to spend for dinner and have him or her help you make menu selections that fit within this budget? Maybe give your student a proposed amount of money to spend on a birthday gift for a friend?  Have him or her think about choices needed to either choose a more expensive gift and less expensive gift wrap or maybe a less expensive gift and more expensive card.    Anytime you can talk to your child about how you are choosing to spend your money and how you cam to that decision the more CONCRETE this very abstract concept will become.