December 9 - 13

It's hard to believe that we are headed into our winter break. Oh, how the time flies!

Here's What We've Been Up To in 3rd Grade:

Reading:  We are learning about inferences within a text. We also continue to focus on reading comprehension of both informational and fictional texts. 

Word Study:  We continue to work with open and closed syllable patterns. For the upcoming week, we will focus on VCV and VVCV patterns. As a reminder, students bring a sheet home each Monday explaining the week's pattern--please make sure your child is ready to independently spell the words that are highlighted on that sheet on the Friday assessment. Helpful hint: a syllable that ends in a vowel makes the long vowel sound. A syllable that ends in a consonant will have a short vowel sound. Breaking words into syllables will help students to sound out larger words when reading.

Math: Students have had the opportunity to learn about mass, volume, and the U.S. Customary Measurements. We are now on to graphing!

Science: In our Animals Through Time unit this week we continued to learn more about selection and how animals have been changed over time.

Social Studies: Unit 3 has started. It is titled Explorers From Far Away. Students will learn about the first French explorers and why they came to this area.

Writing: We will continue to write about our reading and various topics throughout the day. After winter break, our focus will be on informational writing. 

Next Week's Schedule and Dress Up Days:

Monday: A Day (chicken tenders)-Pajama Day                                                                    

Tuesday: B Day  (french toast sticks)-Mix Match Day                                                                      

Wednesday: C Day (chicken nuggets)-Holiday sweater

Thursday: D Day (soft-shelled tacos)-Stuffed Animal day for reading time (small only)

Friday: E Day (stuffed crust pizza)-Holiday Colors

Upcoming Events:

December 18th: Nutcracker Performance

*PLEASE NOTE THE LOCATION HAS BEEN CHANGED TO LINCOLN (students should arrive at 5:30pm, with the performance starting at 6)

December 20th: Holiday Parties from 1:30-2:30

December 21st-Jan 5th: Winter Break

The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker is quickly approaching. Please see Mrs. Richard's website for information regarding clothing for the performance as well as other useful information.

Link: The Nutcracker Information

Winter Is Here!

Please remember the following:

1. Students go outside unless the wind chill is under 10 degrees.

2. Label all gear--many students have the same gear and confusion does happen.

3. Students must go outside unless there is a doctor's note.

Fact Practice and 7 Days of Multiplication

A 2-week winter break is a long time for kids. While we want them to enjoy their break, reviewing newly learned multiplication facts will be important until the facts are fully memorized. Remember that just 5 minutes can make a big difference. Our itslearning pages have games under the quizlets that can be played to reinforce automaticity of fact recall. 

December 2nd-6th

What We've Been Up To:

Reading:  We are analyzing story elements in various texts. Story elements include the setting, the plot, and the characters. 

Word Study:  We continue to work with open and closed syllable patterns. For the upcoming week, we will focus on VCV and VVCV patterns. As a reminder, students bring a sheet home each Monday explaining the week's pattern.

Math: We have begun our unit on measurement and data. Students have had the opportunity to learn about mass and volume this week. If you have the opportunity to allow your child to help cook or bake, that would be a wonderful way in which to discuss both our U.S. Customary System (cups, ounces, quarts) and the Metric System (ML and L).

Science: Our unit, Animals Through Time, is well underway! We are learning about how fossils help us to understand which animals once lived on the earth. Our upcoming mystery will focus on what kinds of animals we may encounter in the future. 

Social Studies: We just finished up our Economics unit. Please be sure to go over the test with your child. Our next unit will focus on Explorers From Far Away. 

Writing: We will continue to write about our reading and various topics throughout the day. After winter break, our focus will be on informational writing. 

Next Week's Schedule:

Monday: B Day (corn dogs)                                                                           

Tuesday: C Day  (nacho supreme)                                                                         

Wednesday: D Day (grilled cheese)

Thursday: E Day (popcorn chicken)

Friday: F Day (pepperoni stuffed breadsticks)

Upcoming Events:

December 4th and 11th: Late Start
*please note that the 18th is NOT a late start
December 18th: Nutcracker Performance
December 20th: Holiday Parties
December 21st-Jan 5th: Winter Break

The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker is quickly approaching. Please see Mrs. Richard's website for information regarding clothing for the performance as well as other useful information.

                                       Link: The Nutcracker Information

  Winter Is Here!

Please be sure to send your child with a coat, snow pants, gloves, a hat, and boots.  We have 3 recesses outdoors and we want our students to be comfortable and dry! In order to play in the fields, students must have boots and snow pants. 

Fact Practice and 7 Days of Multiplication

Please don't forget to contact us if you are able to volunteer to help with math fact practice. This could be 1/2 hour to an hour one day a week. Also, please check and practice the daily facts that are sent home for our week of multiplication.

 Students should spend some time outside of class each week practicing. The goal is improvement each week--not passing. Emphasis on passing causes stress and anxiety in kids over math fact memorization. There are fun games on our itslearning pages to help practice. Quizlet (located at the bottom of our itslearning page) has games to play for each math center level. Games may include Match and Gravity.

November 18th-22nd

What We've Been Up To:

Reading:  We have been working to find the sequence of events within a text as well understanding the features of historical fiction.  

Word Study:  Our test tomorrow will be on open and closed syllable patterns.  We will continue to read, write, and sort VCV and VCCV words next week as well. As a reminder, students bring a sheet home each Monday explaining the week's pattern.

Math: The third graders are learning a great deal about multiplication and division. We continue to play games to gain recall of the facts. They are also learning various strategies for finding the solution to unknown facts. This week our focus was on extended facts. For example: 3x2=6 can help us to figure out 30x2 and 300x2. 

Science: Our unit, Animals Through Time, is well underway! We are learning about how fossils help us to understand which animals once lived on the earth. We will also be learning whether or not we can outrun a dinosaur!

Social Studies: We will begin to learn about Economics through a video series called "Econ and Me". Our first lesson was on scarcity, and our second on opportunity cost.  Please see itslearning for the link if you would like to view these videos at home.

Writing: Students are finalizing personal narratives and typing them in GoogleDocs. We will be finishing these up before break and starting our next until the beginning of December. 

Next Week's Schedule:

Monday: F Day (Chicken Tenders)                                                                           

Tuesday: A Day  (Hot dog)                                                                         

Wednesday: B Day (no lunch: 1/2 day)

Thursday: No school

Friday: No school

Upcoming Events:

Nov. 26  Math Night! 5:30-6:30 (3rd Grade Classrooms)
Nov. 27  Half Day

Nov. 28  No School

Nov. 29  No School

The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker Information

The Nutcracker is quickly approaching. Please see Mrs. Richard's website for information regarding clothing for the performance as well as other useful information.

  Winter Is Here!

Please be sure to send your child with a coat, snow pants, gloves, a hat, and boots.  We have 3 recesses outdoors and we want our students to be comfortable and dry! In order to play in the fields, students must have boots and snow pants.

Math Video and Math Night

 We have busy planning a fun evening to visit our 3rd-grade classrooms so your child can show you all that he or she gets to experience during a day of math in 3rd grade. It will be very informal and we hope you will consider coming! We would like to invite you to come in between 5:30-6:30 on Tuesday, December 3rd

Link for Video:

Multiplication and Division Video

Report Cards

Report cards were sent home yesterday. Please send back the signed yellow envelope as soon as possible. As always, please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns. 

Fact Practice

Please don't forget to contact us if you are able to volunteer to help with math fact practice. This could be 1/2 hour to an hour one day a week. 

Also, math center is moving along now. Students should spend some time outside of class each week practicing. The goal is improvement each week--not passing. Emphasis on passing causes stress and anxiety in kids over math fact memorization. There are fun games on our itslearning pages to help practice. Quizlet (located at the bottom of our itslearning page) has games to play for each math center level. Games may include Match and Gravity.

November 11th-15th

What We've Been Up To:

Reading:  We have been working to find the sequence of events within a text. 

Word Study:  Our test tomorrow will be on inflectional endings. Students will be adding the ending -s, -ed, and -ing of words ending in "y". The next unit will focus on Syllable Juncture in VCV and VCCV patterns. This means we will be focusing on how syllable patterns can help us differentiate between long and short vowel sounds when we are reading and writing words. 

Math: The third graders are learning a great deal about multiplication and division. We continue to play games to gain recall of the facts. They are also learning various strategies for finding the solution to unknown facts. Ask your child about the doubling strategy!

Science: We are learning about how fossils help us to understand what animals once lived on the earth, and that Illinois (and Michigan) were once covered by an ocean as we have found fossils of fish and shells!

Social Studies: Chapter 2 tests will come home by Friday this week. We will begin to learn about Economics through a video series called "Econ and Me". Please see itslearning for the link if you would like to view these videos at home.

Writing: Students have started finalizing personal narratives and typing them in GoogleDocs. More revisions will take place once the typing is complete. Revision work is meant to strengthen a student's writing. 

Next Week's Schedule:

Monday: A Day (chicken nuggets)                                                                           

Tuesday: B Day  (breaded chicken leg)                                                                         

Wednesday: C Day (mini french toast)

Thursday: D Day (Thanksgiving lunch)

Friday: E Day (cheese pizza)

Upcoming Events:

Nov. 15  Popcorn Friday

Nov. 15  Half Day

Nov. 20  Late Start

Nov. 21 Thanksgiving Lunch (We encourage students to participate in this delicious lunch! Please let us know if your child will be taking their own lunch). 

Nov. 27  Half Day

Nov. 28  No School

Nov. 29  No School

  Winter Is Here!

Please be sure to send your child with a coat, snow pants, gloves, a hat, and boots.  We have 3 recesses outdoors and we want our students to be comfortable and dry! In order to play in the fields, students must have boots and snow pants.

Stuff-A-Truck

Please remember that we are collecting canned food for our annual food drive. Boxes are outside each classroom to collect non-perishable items. Our school goal is to DOUBLE last year's collection of 1500 items. The classroom that collects the most will win a personal pan pizza party from Pizza Hut and recognition on 97.5 Y Country.

Math Video and Math Night

As teachers, we are always striving to communicate better with our families. We understand that the way children are learning math is different than when you were young. Here is a link for a video created by students to explain how we are learning to multiply and divide. Included in the video will be several games that you can play at home to help your child to practice multiplication in a fun way. We hope the video helps you to feel more connected with what your child is learning in school. We are also busy planning a fun evening visit in our 3rd-grade classrooms so your child can show you all that he or she gets to experience during a day of math in 3rd grade. It will be very informal and we hope you will consider coming! We will let you know as soon as the date is finalized.

Link for Video:

Multiplication and Division Video

Report Cards

Tomorrow is a half day. Teachers will be working on finalizing report cards. Report cards will be sent home the week of the 18th.

Fact Practice

Please don't forget to contact us if you are able to volunteer to help with math fact practice. This could be 1/2 hour to an hour one day a week. 

Also, math center is moving along now. Students should spend some time outside of class each week practicing. The goal is improvement each week--not passing. Emphasis on passing causes stress and anxiety in kids over math fact memorization. There are fun games on our itslearning pages to help practice. Quizlet (located at the bottom of our itslearning page) has games to play for each math center level. Games may include Match and Gravity.

November 4 - 8

What We've Been Up To:

Reading:  Third graders have been practicing their fluency through reader's theater this week. Ongoing skill practice continues to be focused on finding the main idea and details of paragraphs as well as the traits of characters in stories.

Word Study:  No word study this week because of the shorter days this week. Word study will resume next week and the skills being practiced will be sent home on Monday.

Math: The third graders are learning a great deal about multiplication and division. We continue to play games to gain recall of the facts. They are also learning various strategies for finding the solution to unknown facts. Ask your child about the add-a-group and subtract-a-group strategy which was learned this week!

Science: Our "Power of Flowers" unit is complete! Next week we will begin our "Animals Through Time" unit.

Social Studies: Just a reminder that unit 2 has been completed and the chapter test is Monday. 

Writing: Students have started finalizing personal narratives and typing them in GoogleDocs. More revisions will take place once the typing is complete. Revision work is meant to strengthen a student's writing. 

Next Week's Schedule:

Monday: C Day (mini corn dog)                                                                           

Tuesday: D Day  (nacho supreme)                                                                         

Wednesday: E Day (grilled cheese)

Thursday: F Day (pepperoni stuffed breadstick)

Friday: A Day (no lunch)

Upcoming Events:

Nov. 8    Half day
               Access 8 a.m.
               Last day for book fair
Nov. 13  Late Start
               Last day for Walking Track/Mileage Club
Nov. 14  High School Musical Preview at H.S.
Nov. 15  Popcorn Friday
Nov. 15  Half Day
Nov. 20  Late Start
Nov. 27  Half Day
Nov. 28  No School
Nov. 29  No School

Stuff-A-Truck

Please remember that we are collecting canned food for our annual food drive. Boxes are outside each classroom to collect non-perishable items. Our school goal is to DOUBLE last year's collection of 1500 items. The classroom that collects the most will win a personal pan pizza party from Pizza Hut and recognition on 97.5 Y Country.

Math Video and Math Night

As teachers, we are always striving to communicate better with our families. We understand that the way children are learning math is different than when you were young. Because of that, we will be sharing another video with you next week so you have a clearer understanding of how your child is learning multiplication and division. Included in the video will be several games that you can play at home to help your child to practice multiplication in a fun way. We hope the video helps you to feel more connected with what your child is learning in school. We are also busy planning a fun evening visit in our 3rd-grade classrooms so your child can show you all that he or she gets to experience during a day of math in 3rd grade. It will be very informal and we hope you will consider coming! We will let you know as soon as the date is finalized.

Report Cards

Next Friday is a half-day of school. Teachers will be working on finalizing report cards. Report cards will be sent home the week of the 18th.

October 28 - November 1

What We've Been Up To:

Reading:  Students continue to work on finding the main idea of various reading passages. We have also been learning about biographies.

Word Study:  This week we learned about irregular plurals. This included changing -fe to v and changing vowels to make words plural (goose-geese, woman-women). 

Math: Our focus this week has been multiplication and division. We are working on making the connection between the two. Students should understand how to multiply by 1, 2, 5, and 10. Have some fun in the car and practice away!

Science: Our last mystery of our "Power of Flowers" unit, like mystery 3, revolved around selection. This week we focused on how to make bigger fruits and how to identify which fruits are related.

Social Studies: This week we read about the first people to arrive in Michigan and why they were called "Indians". We also discussed how the Native Americans came over from Asia on a land bridge that is now underwater.

Writing: We are beginning to get into our conclusions. Our writers are at various stages and the bulk of our work will go into editing and revising to make our work better. Third grade writers are working hard!

Next Week's Schedule:

Monday: D Day (hamburger/cheeseburger)                                                          
Tuesday: E Day  (rotini pasta)                                                                        
Wednesday: F Day (mini pancakes)
Thursday: A Day (no lunch)
Friday: B Day (no lunch)

Upcoming Events:

Nov. 4    Family Night at Book Fair
Nov. 6    Late Start
Nov. 7    Half day
Nov. 8    Half day
               Access 8 a.m.
               Last day for book fair
Nov. 13  Late Start
               Last day for Walking Track/Mileage Club
Nov. 14  High School Musical Preview at H.S.
Nov. 15  Popcorn Friday
Nov. 15  Half Day
Nov. 20  Late Start
Nov. 27  Half Day
Nov. 28  No School
Nov. 29  No School

Stuff-A-Truck

Our 22nd annual Stuff-a-truck begins Nov. 1st! Boxes will be outside each classroom to collect non-perishable items. Our school goal is to DOUBLE last year's collection of 1500 items. The classroom that collects the most will win a personal pan pizza party from Pizza Hut and recognition on 97.5 Y Country.

Classroom Parties

Thank you so very much to ALL of our 3rd grade heroes that helped plan our parties, donated items for our party, and/or volunteered at our party. We know how much time and energy this is to plan. As teachers we cannot thank you enough. Your help allows us to maintain our focus on teaching and improvement for all students. We know how hard it is to pull of a party so please know that we appreciate you and don't take you for granted! 

Conferences

Conferences are coming to an end and we appreciate you taking time to discuss your child's progress. These conferences help teachers get to know your child better and develop a plan for the year that will help your child be the best learner possible. Winter conferences are not until Feb. so if you need anything before then, please don't hesitate to reach out! We are always here.