3rd Grade Curriculum Presentation

Sweet Summertime

Almost fourth graders and parents,

Are you having as much fun this summer as your third grade teachers?  We hope you are filling your days with fun and adventure!  We can't wait to hear about all about it and hug your necks as soon as August rolls around!!

Below are some suggestions for ways to keep your brain as busy as your body.  

READING MATTERS:

• Join a public library reading program. You can find great books and earn cool prizes!
• Check the Bluebonnet Reading Program for new and fun titles.
• Remember you can also find great books online-
• https://www.getepic.com/- It’s been called the Netflix of books.  Many fun titles to read online and many with an audio function as well.
• http://www.storylineonline.net/- wonderful stories read by some of your favorite celebrities

MATH PRACTICE:

• Your login information works over the summer for Dreambox, SumDog and Think Through Math.
• You can also find a summer math challenge from Greg Tang. He's offering prizes!

Reading Prompts to use at home

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. 

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.

LA and SS for the weeks of 4/16-4/27

Language Arts

Reading- This week we have been fine tuning our learning to get ready to apply ALL our reading strategies on the STAAR test next week.  Students have a reading passage due this Friday, April 20th and they should be reading nightly and posting to the blog or recording their summary on a sheet of notebook paper.  

As we prepare for next week, please know that your student will need all their reading strength for the math and reading STAAR tests next week.  There will be no reading homework the week of April 23rd-27th.  I simply want your kids to rest and relax.  They need to think positive thoughts and ready themselves for success on the STAAR.

Spelling- Students will be tested on word work this Friday, April 20.  There will NOT be any spelling given the week of April 23rd-April 27th.

Writing- We are working hard to finish up our BIG 6 planet research.  Students have learned about the location, rotation, climate, appearance and other interesting facts about their planet.  As we finish our research, students will select one of three computer products to use as a way to share their new learning with others.

Social Studies

We have learned about explorers, pioneers, tall tale characters, and now scientists/inventors.  All of these people helped shape the Story of America.  Their contributions shaped our country and changed our physical, medical and economic story.  Below you will find a list of people we have discussed over the last few weeks.  We will finish up with scientists and inventors this week and then play some review games next week to solidify our learning.

Mrs. Ford's Homeroom, our book order is due this Friday, April 20th.  You are welcome to send back the paper form or order online.

Thanks for everyone's support at home!  ~Mrs. Ford

Third Grade Historical People

1.   Pierre-Charles L’Enfant (1754-1825)- A French born American builder and cityplanner. He planned and designed Washington D.C., our nation’s capital.pP.346

2.   Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)-An Italian explorer working for Spain who sailed to the Americas while trying to reach Asia from Europe. p.332

3.    William Clark and Meriwether Lewis – American explorers who, in 1803, led The Corps of Discovery in exploring the land west of the Mississippi River. They journeyed overland across North America to the Pacific Coast and back. p. 284

4.    Jane Addams (1860-1935)-The first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize (1931), Jane Addams is widely known for her role in the establishment of Hull House in Chicago in 1889 which offered medical care, legal aid, language classes, music, and drama to more than two thousand needy people each week. p.68

5.   Helen Keller (1880-1968)-An American writer who had lost her sight and her hearing at 19 months of age. She was taught by Anne Sullivan. p. 119

6.   Harriet Tubman (1820-1913)-An escaped slave who used the Underground Railroad to lead more than 300 slaves to freedom. P. 118

7.    Daniel Boone (1734-1820)-An American pioneer leader who helped settle the state of Kentucky. P. 216

8.   Davy Crockett (1786-1836)-An American pioneer who served as a U.S. representative from Tennessee. Crockett fought in Texas against Mexico and died at the Alamo. P. 219 

9.    Louis Daguerre (1789-1851)-A French artist and early inventor in the field of photography. P. 386

10.       Cyrus McCormick (1809-1884)- an inventor and manufacturer who developed a mechanical harvester in 1831. p.388

11.       Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)-A French chemist known for inventing the process for pasteurization, which made milk safer to drink. p.297 

12.       Jonas Salk (1914-1995)-The American microbiologist who invented the vaccine to prevent polio. P.223

13.       Henry Ford (1863-1947)-An American automobile engineer and manufacturer. He invented the assembly line. P. 372 

Author's Purpose

I have added some Author's Purpose practice links to the helpful websites tab on our site.
If time permits, please have your student explore these link for reading practice.  They may use this practice as their 20 minutes of reading homework one night. 

Reading Homework

Parents,
Your child should be reading for at least 20 minutes each night and posting their reading responses on my reading blog.  If your child does not have access to a computer nightly, they have two choices to help them complete their reading homework:
1.  They are invited to come to my classroom from 7:30-7:50am and post using a classroom computer.
2.  They may write their assignment in their planner or on a piece of notebook paper to turn into me the next day.
If you or your child is struggling with this, please feel free to e-mail me.
I am thankful for your support at home!
Omi Ford