Week 4: September 11-15 (First Day: Take Two)

Reminders
Classes resume on Monday, September 11.  We are excited to share hugs, stories, space and learning together again!

Reading
We will review routine and expectations for Reader's Workshop.  We will practice how we move and prepare ourselves for success when reading and thinking together.

This will be our first trip to the library.  Students will get to meet our new librarian, Mrs. Stultz.  Badrak, Duncan, Ford and Saint-Val's classes will go to the library every Wednesday.  Morphey  and Rozzell's classes will go to the library each Friday.

Writing
We will finally decorate our Writer's Notebooks on Thursday, September 14.  Please send your child with photos, stickers, and materials to make their notebook tell the stories that make him or her unique.

The majority of our week will be spent thinking about the stories we have to share and the many ways that writer's organize and prepare themselves for writing.

Spelling
Each student will take a beginning of the year Words Their Way Inventory.  This developmental spelling assessment helps teachers know what letter and pattern concepts your child has mastered.  We will use this information to guide our spelling instruction this school year.

Social Studies
We spent more time apart than we have together.  This week we will review and firmly establish our expectations for each other.  A community is a group of people who live and work together.  It's imperative that we understand what each of us needs and requires to help make learning and growing possible for each member of our community.

Math
During math this week we will pick up where we left off. On Monday, we will introduce our online resources called Dreambox. We will tape your child's username and password into the front part of their planner so that you will be able to access this resource from home.

Science
In science this week, we will review our class expectations for our science time together. We will discuss characteristics of a scientist. We will work on our portrait, "Picture Me as a Scientist."

Week 1: August 21st - 25th

Welcome to Third Grade!

We are excited  for a new school year and ready for the FIRST day of school!  

REMINDERS:

• If your child did not purchase school supplies, he or she will need $5.00 to purchase a planner from the front office.  Third graders keep track of daily homework in planners.  This will be a great organizational tool for your child to learn to use this year. 

• Third graders need to go to the gym before school begins each day. They are welcome to walk to our classrooms at 7:50am. 

• Children will be counted tardy if they arrive after 7:55 A.M.

• Children will be counted absent if they arrive after 9:15 A.M.

• You are welcome to escort your child to class on the first day of school, but please allow him or her to enter the room independently.

·         Please send a healthy snack and a reusable water bottle daily. We have snack time each morning after specials.   Due to peanut allergies across the grade level, we ask that you send peanut free snacks and lunch items this year.

·         Your child’s lunch number will be the same as it was last year. We will have lunch numbers available for any child who might have forgotten. We eat lunch from 11:55-12:25 daily.

• Dismissal is at 3:00 P.M.  If your child will be picked up in a car in parent pick up, you must write his or her name on a piece of large yellow paper. Please write your child’s first and last name as large as you can on the paper. This will help the teacher on duty to see and call your child’s name in a timely manner.

• It can get chilly in the classrooms. Please send a light jacket, sweater or sweat shirt in your child’s backpack so that he or she will be comfortable. Remember to write your child’s name on the tag inside so that it can be returned if lost.

Reading and Writing:We will begin to establish expectations and routines for Reading and Writing Workshops this week.  In a workshop model, students are gathered for a quick lesson on a targeted skill or idea,.  Then, students are launched into independent work time where they get to try these skills on for size.  Finally, we close with a time to share and reflect on our learning.

We will work to organize our materials for Workshop.  One of the most fun activities we will complete this week is crafting our Writer's Notebook.  Students will need pictures, stickers, magazine cut outs, and paper to create a cover for their composition notebook that reminds them of experiences, family, friends, interests that they may choose to write about this year.  Materials should be sent to school by Thursday.

 Here's where we need your help this week:

• Gather pictures and materials to help your child build his or her Writer's Notebook
• Share your favorite literature (books, magazines, poetry) with your child
• Talk about your favorite moments from summer vacation (BIG and small)
• Establish home routines for nightly reading  

Spelling:  We will administer the Words their Way Spelling Inventory this week to collect information.  This inventory helps us see what your child knows about letters and sounds and how they work together.

Social Studies: Our first unit in Social Studies is Community.  This week we will get to know those in our classroom communities and create class contracts that explain how we want to work and live together this year.

Math: In math this week, we will begin setting up our math journals that we will use daily for word problems. We will discuss thing about ourselves that involve numbers: shoe sizes, address, phone numbers, age, number of family members, etc. Starting on Tuesday through the rest of the week, we will be jumping into place value. We will review standard form, word form, expanded form, and odd/even. On Thursday and Friday, we will spend time practicing how to round numbers to the nearest 100. We will review these concepts later in the first nine weeks as well. We will not have any math homework this week. 

Science:  During our science time this week, we will set up our interactive science journals. We will create a table of contents that will help us stay organized this year. We will brainstorm types of scientists in our world and your child will have the opportunity to put themselves in the shoes of a scientist. On Thursday and Friday, we will discuss lab safety and complete a gallery walk with science tools.