Week 29: March 27-31

Week of March 27

Reminders:

4th and 5th grade students will take the STAAR tests 3/28 and 3/29.

We will have a change of schedule to support a quiet test environment.  

The third grade schedule for those two days is:

8:00-10:20 Block One

10:20-12:35 Block Two

12:40-1:10 Lunch

1:15-2:05 Specials

2:05-2:40 Recess

2:40-3:00 Read Aloud

OPTIONAL SPRING CONFERENCES: We have noon dismissal on April 6 & 7 so that teachers have an opportunity to have an optional spring parent conference with parents who are concerned about their child's progress this year. There will not be any new testing information to share at this conference. It is only the 2nd week of the last nine weeks so there will not be many grades to review either. Teachers are happy to meet with parents who have questions or concerns about their child's progress.  

If you would like to schedule a conference during this early dismissal time, please sign up...

Ms. Badrak

Mrs. Duncan

Mrs. Ford

Ms. Jackson

Ms. Rozzell

Mrs. Scott

Reading: We will start the week with some strategy work in Reading.  When reading for tests, readers have to read with a difference purpose and lens.  We will discuss strategies test takers use when determining the best summary for a non-fiction selection. We will then review ways that test takers analyze poetry.  Finally, we will finish the week with a reading checkpoint to see how students apply reading strategies reviewed this week and the weeks since we took the practice STAAR. 

Writing:Writing is a process that can't be rushed.  As one of our WITS writers said, "You're never really finished; you just have a deadline."  We've worked hard in class to transform our essays from outlines to full paragraphs.  Students have learned about various ways to start or lead a read into their essays.  We will continue to work on revising and editing techniques this week as we prepare to finalize our essays to be audience ready.

Spelling:Students received new spelling words on Thursday, March 23.  They will take a test on these words on Thursday, March 30.  Teachers will then look for them to apply them correctly to their responses in reading and writing and an application grade will be taken between Friday, March 31 and Wednesday, April 5.

Social Studies:Over the next few weeks in Social Studies, we will focus on the importance of writers and artists to the cultural heritage of our communities.  Students will learn about the life and work of Maya Angelou, Larry McMurtry, Tommy dePaola and Mark Twain.

Math: During our math time this week, we will wrap up our learning on 2D and 3D shapes. We will construct a 3D shape in class and identify the shape based on its characteristics. On Wednesday, your child will take a 2D Quiz. This quiz will review the 2D shapes found on the yellow paper in your child's binder as well as the pink flash cards that went home last week. They will be asked to name each shape. In preparation for our quiz, we will also review these shapes in class. On Thursday and Friday, we will discuss area. We worked on area during our multiplication unit so this will be a quick review of the concept. We will have more graphing homework this week on Monday and Tuesday as well as fraction homework on Wednesday. We will continue with our fast facts quiz on Friday. 

Science:On Friday (March 24th), your child came home with a Solar System review sheet and vocabulary cards. The solar system test will be on Monday, April 3rd. 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 Wednesday, 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 Thursday, we will create planet bracelets. These bracelets will have beads that represent each of the planets. To end our week, we will review for the solar system test playing our Jeopardy game. 

Week 28: March 20 - 24

Week of March 20-24
Reminders:  Third graders will have a visit from our school counselor, Mrs. Chvatal this week.  Her guidance lesson will focus on helping students think through problem solving conflicts with friends.

Reading: As we transition back to work and off of a break- we will take the week to review what good readers do and reestablish reading workshop expectations.  Some of the areas we will focus our attention this week are:

• A community of readers cares for thier books and shares titles with one another
• Good readers pick books that meet their needs and wants
• Good readers think about what they are reading and stop and jot to note and remember
• Good readers keep track of their reading and read from a variety of genres

Writing: Students have drafted essays.  This week we will focus on craft elements that help make an essay fantastic.  Specifically, we will focus on elements that grab a reader's attention and keep them engaged in a text.  First, we will focus on elements a writer can add to their introduction to hook a reader.  Some authors use quotes, others facts, or even a small moment from their lives.  Then, we will focus on using transition words.   Finally, we will focus on our conclusions and helping one another during writer's workshop think through effective ways to restate the claim.
This is BIG work.  Encourage your writer that writing is a process.  Slow and steady wins the race!

Spelling: New words will come home on Thursday, March 23.  They will be tested on Thursday, March 30.  March 31-April 6, teachers will be looking for students to apply those spelling patterns correctly in their reading and writing work.

Social Studies: As we enter into the last grading cycle, we want to make sure that we end our year as strong as it started.  We will spend this week reviewing our class contract and practicing routines and procedures that help our classroom community be a place that is safe and conducive for learning and risk taking.

Math: On Monday, we will finish up our unit on graphing. Before spring break, our students created a survey and they surveyed another third grade class. They took the data from the survey and created one of the graphs we have been studying in class. Starting on Tuesday, we will be jumping into our geometry unit. We will be working to identify 2D shapes. We will identify sides and vertices on these polygons. On Thursday and Friday, we will begin classifying 3D shapes. We will categorize them by pyramids, prisms, and curved surfaces. This week, we will have our usual homework on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Our fast facts quiz will be on Friday.



Science: During our science time we will start learning about the moon. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we will be discussing the relationship between the sun, moon, and Earth. On Wednesday, we will also make our vocabulary cards and send home a review for the solar system unit. Towards the end of our week, we will learn about the planets. As we are studying the planets, we will learn the order and the important characteristics of each. We will teach the students a fun acronym to help them remember the correct order of the planets from the sun.  It is...."My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nachos!"

Update for 3/9-3/13 from Mrs. Ford

READING
This week we will finish up our review of inferring with fiction texts and move into thinking about how to create a summary of a fiction text.  We will introduce a strategy called CPR.  Students will learn that there are some necessary elements to include in a summary- characters, problem, resolution.
 
WRITING
Your children have written some FABULOUS expository essays.  This week we will finish up revising and editing these pieces so we can publish them to share with you at Publisher's Picnic.
Mrs. Bolton, our WITS instructor, will be back with us this week.  We all love the fresh new ideas she brings to our instruction and learning.  

SPELLING
The spelling homework menu is due on the following Tuesday (3/10) and the test will be on that Wednesday (3/11).  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
All third graders will take a quiz on 3/10 on the inventors, scientists and founding fathers we have covered over the last few weeks.  Please encourage your child to bring home his or her social studies journal.  They have been working hard to complete guided notes on each historical figure.  You can also reference the Social Studies Links page on this blog for more information.

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

Language Arts and Social Studies

LANGUAGE ARTS

READING

In Reading over the next few weeks we will be synthesizing our reading.   
My concrete example for synthesizing is this...
Think about when you make pasta.  You have to boil the water, add the dry noodles and then cook them, but that's not the way we eat our pasta.  We have to strain the noodles to get rid of the water but keep the REALLY  good pasta.  It's the same when we synthesize our reading.  We have to read the whole book, and even let it boil for a while, but synthesizing happens when we strain the information and we are left with the REALLY good stuff. 
This week we are working with non-fiction.  Your children are reading texts and trying to distinguish the FACTS (to record in their notes) from their THINKING (connections, thoughts, ideas, questions).

WRITING
This week in Writing we are working on how-to essays.  We have reviewed the features of this text.  Over the next few days, we will consume some good examples and create a class essay.  Then, students will work to create a how-to essay to teach us how to play his or her favorite game.

SPELLING
Spelling continues to be more of the same.  Students should bring home new spelling words on Mondays.  Homework is due on Thursdays.  We will take our test on Friday.

SOCIAL STUDIES

GEOGRAPHY

Students will have a geography quiz on Friday.  It will cover the first half of our unit of study.  Please make sure to look over the review sheet sent home last Friday.  Students have also been encouraged to take their Social Studies Journals home each night to aide in preparing for the quiz.