Math and Science Week of April 20th

Parents,

This will be a hard week for our kiddos.  To honor all the brainpower they will use this Tuesday (Math) and Wednesday (Reading) on the STAAR test, there will be no homework and no fast facts test this Friday.  We will resume the following week.  On Monday we have a fun reviewing activity planned that allows the kids to walk about the room the entire time and collaborate with a partner. Tuesday and Wednesday's schedule is as follows:

8-8:30 Pass out testing materials
8:30-12:30 Testing Window
12:45 Lunch
1:15 Specials
2:05 Recess
2:45 Pack Up
3:00 Dismissal

On Thursday and Friday we will work on the two digit by one digit multiplication algorithm.

The kids and I have worked very hard getting ready for this test on Tuesday.  Please set them up for success these next few days as they take their first STAAR exam.  They need:

1. A good night's rest

2. A solid breakfast 

**lunch is at 12:45 instead of 12:00, we provide 2 snacks but it won't replace a solid breakfast

3. A stress-free morning with plenty of time to get to school

4. Layered clothing in case they get cold while testing

5. Chapter books/books of interest to read when done testing

6. Lots of praise and encouragement! 

Thank you parents for all your help and support! Wish us luck!
Love,
Ms. S

Math and Science Week of April 13th-April 17th

Parents,

This is our last week to prepare for the STAAR next Tuesday and Wednesday.  This week the kids will be working in small groups, partners, and independently.  On Monday and Tuesday we will focus on time, temperature, measuring, measurement units in customary and metric, addition and subtraction word problems.  The students will take a quiz on Tuesday and I will go over each child's mistakes one on one with them.  On Wednesday and Thursday we will focus on place value, ordering and comparing numbers, multiplication and division.  The kids will again take a quiz on Thursday in which I will go over their  mistakes with them one on one.  On Friday the kids will have an assortment of word problems to work through with a group.  Our hope is through this process we call STAAR Camp this week, the kids will go into that test with little to no surprises.  The homework this week will be an assortment of patterning, dot plots, multiplication and division word problems.  There will be no Problem of the Week due on Friday.

There will be a fast facts test this Friday that will be inputted into the grade book.  This year, we started multiplication fast facts tests nine weeks earlier than we had in the past because the expectation from the state changed.  By the end of 3rd grade, every third grader should master their multiplication facts up to ten. 10/42 kids have mastered all facts up to 12 and are on division.  This is awesome!!  Thank you for working hard with them.  This makes everything they do in Math and Problem Solving easy and fast.

In Science we just finished up our Weather unit.  The kids took an assessment on Thursday.  That will be coming home in the Tuesday Newsday folder.  This week we will use our Science time to finish up a cloud book project that we have been working on.  Towards the end of the week, we will talk about units of mass and volume in the metric and customary system.

With family fair rescheduled, I will copy and paste last weeks commentary about it:

Transportation this day is always insane.  The directions for success are as follows:

1. Please arrive at 2:30 to find a parking spot.  It will be difficult.
2. Make your way to the cafeteria to receive a "ticket" to dismiss your child.  There will be a line.
3. Head to the classroom at 2:50 with your ticket.  No child will be dismissed without a ticket.
4. 3:00 All children will be sent home their "regular way" if no one has picked them up.

See you Friday!
Ms. S

I Movies

Math and Science Week of April 6th-10th

Dear Parents,

Important dates this week:
Friday-Family Fair

Hello and welcome to Family Fair week!  This week is wild and exciting for the kids because they can purchase raffle tickets to win prizes announced on Friday.  The kids look forward to this week every year. HCE gives one free raffle ticket to each student.  I will give this ticket to your child on Monday.  If you would like your child to have additional tickets, please send money Monday-Thursday.  Thursday is the last day to purchase tickets as winners are announced Friday morning on the announcements.  Transportation this day is always insane.  The directions are as follows:

1. Please arrive at 2:30 to find a parking spot.  It will be difficult.
2. Make your way to the cafeteria to receive a "ticket" to dismiss your child.  There will be a line.
3. Head to the classroom at 2:50 with your ticket.  No child will be dismissed without a ticket.
4. 3:00 All children will be sent home their "regular way" if no one has picked them up.

The beginning of this week will be dedicated to finishing up our 3D study of shapes.  We classified our 3D shapes into 3 categories: shapes with curved surfaces, prisms, and pyramids.  Sometimes it is difficult for a student to tell the difference between a prism and a pyramid.  Prisms have square faces and pyramids have triangular faces.  I tell the kids to just look for the Apex, or the point, at the top of the pyramid to differentiate.  This week we will focus on the vocabulary edges, faces, and vertices.

Thursday and Friday mark the beginning of what we call in 3rd grade, STAAR CAMP.  From this point forward we will intensely be getting ready and prepared to take our state exam.  The kids will work independently, in pairs, and in groups to solve very difficult multiple-step word problems dealing with all the skills we have learned thus far.  Thursday and Friday will be dedicated to the review of 2D, 3D, congruence, symmetry, patters on a number line, and fractions on a number line.  A quiz on Friday will be given after some intensive review.  This weeks homework on reading a graph and answering questions will reflect what we will review next Monday and Tuesday of next week.

A Fast Facts test will be given but not taken for a grade this Friday the 10th.

In Science we are finishing up our unit about weather.  The kids should have brought home 18 flashcards and a study guide Thursday.  The flashcards are on weather tools, the water cycle, and the four types of clouds that we study in 3rd grade.  This week we will finish up studying the four types of clouds.  An Exam will be take on Thursday the 9th over our weather unit.

We have a lot going on!  Thank you for reading!
Ms. S

Math and Science Week of March 30th-April 2nd

Parents,

Important Dates this week:
Friday-Good Friday (no school)

Welcome to the 4th nine weeks of 3rd grade!  The kids and I are in a great groove and working hard.  In Math this week we will start the week off with a 2D Test on Polygons and Non-Polygons.  Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we will talk about one line of symmetry, two lines of symmetry, and multiple lines of symmetry.  We will create things with symmetry as well as draw lines of symmetry on certain objects.  The kids will also work in groups and study each letter of the alphabet, drawing and agreeing among their peers how many lines of symmetry each capital letter has.

For a fun Symmetry game CLICK HERE

On Thursday we will begin our study of three dimensional shapes.  We will become more familiar with terms such as base, faces, vertices, and edges.  We are categorizing our 3-D shapes into 3 categories.

This first category is 3-D figures that have curved surfaces like the sphere, cylinder, and cone.

The next category are prisms such as the cube, triangular prism, and rectangular prism.  Prisms are prisms simply because their faces are either rectangular or square.

The last category we are studying is Pyramids like the square pyramid, the rectangular pyramid, and the triangular pyramid.  Pyramids are simply named by whatever their base is.  Pyramid faces are always triangular with a point at the top:

PLEASE STUDY MULTIPLICATION FAST FACTS WITH YOUR CHILD EVERY NIGHT FOR 7 TO 10 MINUTES.  THIS WEEK WILL BE FOR A GRADE :)

In Science, We have moved on to weather.  Last week we focused on Weather tools and the students and I made a flip chart together of 9 major tools that meteorologists use to predict the weather.  They are as follows:

1. Weather Balloons
2. Thermometer
3. Barometer
4. Hygrometer
5. Anemometer
6. Wind Vane
7. Rain Gauge
8. Weather Satellites
9. Weather Radars/Maps

Each child has also been assigned a specific city in the United States and are monitoring and logging the weather of that city for the next ten days.  This week we will be finishing up studying the tools that meteorologists use to predict weather and begin our study of the water cycle.  Important vocabulary for the water cycle would be:

1. Evaporation
2. Condensation
3. Water Vapor
4. Precipitation
5. Run-Off
6. Accumulation

Thanks for reading,
Ms. S

Math and Science Week of March 23-27

Parents,

Welcome back from Spring Break!  I hope the break finds you relaxed and refreshed and ready to get back into this rat race!

In Math we will begin to study Polygons and 2D shapes. All students will receive a hole punched sheet with all the shapes that they will be required to know.  2-D shapes will be on the front and 3-D on the back.  This sheet will be put into their green binder that they bring home everyday.  We will be studying the 3 requirements a shape needs in order to be a polygon.

Polygons must be: 1. Flat, 2. closed, 3. and have straight sides.

Here's a fun song about Polygons:
THE POLYGON SONG

All students will need to recognize circles, ovals, triangles, squares, rectangles, rhombuses, parallelograms, trapezoids, pentagons, hexagons, and octagons.  We will be focusing on certain vocabulary such as sides, vertices, and parallel lines.  At the latter end of the week we will focus on congruent shapes what what congruent means.  If two shapes are congruent, it means that they are exactly the same size and same shape.  Students will understand that congruent shapes can be flipped, turned, or upside down, yet they are still congruent.  Next week we will merge into learning about 3-D shapes.

Fast Facts are starting back this week but will not be a grade.  Please study with your child 7-10 minutes every night.


In Science we finished up our Natural Resources unit, and will be moving on to the study of weather and weather tools.  The kids will become familiar with weather balloons, wind vanes, thermometers, barometers, anemometers, hygrometers, rain gauges, and weather satellites.  The kids will become familiar with weather and how exactly meteorologists use the tools mentioned above to make some predictions about what our weather will be like tomorrow.  The kids will closely monitor our weather here in Houston as well for the next ten days.

Important things this week:
Monday-counselor lesson on Monday
Thursday-10:50 awards ceremony in DC for 3rd nine weeks

It's going to be a great week back!
Love,
Ms. S

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.