Week 31: April 16-20

Reminders:

4/18 - Field Trip to Main Street Theater
4/20 - Progress Reports go Home
5/9 - Bike to School Day
5/10 - Gallery Night @ 5:00
5/14 - Math STAAR
5/15 - Reading STAAR
5/21 - Publishers' Picnic
5/24 - Chariot Races @ 8:30
5/25 - Winds of Time Parade
5/28 - Memorial Day (No School)

Math: This week we are finishing up our study of fractions and all ways to decompose, compare and model those numbers that are greater than zero and less than 1. Key points include:

• Reasoning  through comparing fractions with like numerators or like denominators is pivotal!  
• Equivalent fractions cover the same amount of area on similar whole models.
• Models can be divided into more or less equal pieces to show equal fractions.
• Equivalent fractions are located at the same place on number lines that are divided into different numbers of equal pieces. 
• Be careful when number lines are not lined up exactly.

Students will work in pairs and individually to practice fraction skills. We will use our knowledge to play Fraction Brick Wall and our favorite, Fraction Taco. 

Monday through Thursday, everyone will work on a warm-up that is a spiral review of skills covered all year. On Friday, a similar warm-up will be graded and entered into the grade book. There is a POW (Problem of the Week) due and a fact quiz (FFF) this Friday.

Science: We changed up Science a little last week and began our exploration of the water cycle and its role in making our weather. How is it that the three ingredients of weather: air, water, and the sun's heat energy, make it all happen? Students will be responsible for knowing the what and why on all parts of the cycle. Target vocabulary includes evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff and accumulation. Students have a quiz on Thursday covering the 9 weather tools we have researched in class.

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.