Our 3rd Grade News!: 2020

Monday, April 13, 2020

April 13th-17th-Week 4 of Learning

3rd Grade Learning-Week 4

Dear 3rd Grade Families,

Hope everyone enjoyed their Spring Break! We wanted to let you know that some changes will be coming this week concerning our learning. Now that we are no longer able to return to school, our hope is that our 3rd graders are as prepared as possible for 4th grade. While we are saddened to hear this news, and are not able to teach in the traditional way, please know that we will do everything in our power to provide learning opportunities and support you all in whatever way possible.

There are many ways to learn at home and none of them should be stressful for your child or for you. Remember, you and your child probably need some downtime during the day. Having your child curl up to read a good book, work towards the Lexia goal, or do some math practice could be a break that you both need.

Next week is spring break. We would like everyone to relax and enjoy the week. Take a break from computers and we hope that you and your family can do something fun at home.

SeeSaw: (Please have your child check SeeSaw daily for messages from teachers)
Each day we will post some fun, open-ended activities that can be completed independently. We can communicate with your child through SeeSaw about the activity. As a parent, you will get notifications through the app when comments or work is posted. While these are optional, they are a good break for you and your child.

Math:

1. Skill work

IXL Math recommendations, skill work, or Moby Max Math is available to keep up on math skills.

Reading:
Continue to work toward our class goal of 1 book per week. Reading Counts is available between the hours of 8am-4pm, Monday through Friday only. Some of you may be reading longer books and that is wonderful! We will post our weekly reports each week, keep up the good work!
Choose reading books through EPIC: Knuth zts0297, Yoder xvu5789 , Covert chz7012

Lexia Goal

Please continue to work toward your goal (minutes and units). Lexia goals are set each Monday for the week.

Cursive Handwriting:

Try some work in your cursive handwriting journal! Try for 3 - 5 pages a week!

Choice Board:
You may also click on the links below to choose some fun activities for the week

Clarke Grade 3 Choice Activity Board

Specials:
Music: Mrs. Richard's Music Activities

Art: Mrs. Huber's Activities-week

P.E.: Mr. Jager's Activities-week

Library Resources:

The following link provides you with eBooks, Audiobooks, Author Read Alouds, and more for you and your child to explore!

Library Resources for Virtual Learning

Social-Emotional Learning (Mrs. Jasiak):
The link to Mrs. Jasiak's activities are: 3rd Grade SEL Activities

Additional Optional Resources: Extending your learning!

Useful Links

E.P. Clarke Symbaloo: Symbaloo

Accessing SeeSaw: Student Sign In (Video on accessing student accounts)

Lexia: (See above Video)

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

March 30th-Week 3 of Learning

3rd Grade Learning-Week 3

Dear 3rd Grade Families,

As our at-home learning continues, we want to help your child to maintain skills. Our goal is to support you at home and stay connected with you. Please do not hesitate to reach out and let us know what you need. If you are feeling overwhelmed, please reach out so we can help. There are many ways to learn at home and none of them should be stressful for your child or for you. Remember, you and your child probably need some downtime during the day. Having your child curl up to read a good book, work towards the Lexia goal, or do some math practice could be a break that you both need.

More information is sure to come about the remainder of the school year. Our SJPS administrators have done a wonderful job keeping families, community, and staff updated with the Governor's news. As they pass along the information, teachers will also stay in touch with you.

Next week is spring break. We would like everyone to relax and enjoy the week. Take a break from computers and we hope that you and your family can do something fun at home.

1. Skill work

IXL Math recommendations, skill work, or Moby Max Math is available to keep up on math skills.

Lexia Goal

Please continue to work toward your goal (minutes and units). Lexia goals are set each Monday for the week.

Cursive Handwriting:

Try some work in your cursive handwriting journal! Try for 3 - 5 pages a week!

Choice Board:
You may also click on the links below to choose some fun activities for the week

Clarke Grade 3 Choice Activity Board

Specials:
Music: Mrs. Richard's Music Activities

Art: Mrs. Huber's Activities-week 3

P.E.: Mr. Jager's Activities-week 3

Library Resources:

The following link provides you with eBooks, Audiobooks, Author Read Alouds, and more for you and your child to explore!

Library Resources for Virtual Learning

Social-Emotional Learning (Mrs. Jasiak):
The link to Mrs. Jasiak's activities are: 3rd Grade SEL Activities

Additional Optional Resources: Extending your learning!

Useful Links

E.P. Clarke Symbaloo: Symbaloo

Accessing SeeSaw: Student Sign In (Video on accessing student accounts)

Lexia: (See above Video)

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

March 23rd-Week 2 of learning

3rd Grade Learning-Week 2

Dear Families,
Please let us know your needs as at-home learning continues. Our goal is to stay connected with you and your child. We want to help your child maintain skills, but that will look different for each of our families. Let us know what we can do so your family feels supported and not overwhelmed.

Feel free to choose from the fun activities below. Remember that there are many ways to learn. Family nature walks, creative play (creating dance videos, making playdoh, legos), writing emails/letters/notes to family, and cooking, are all fun learning opportunities. We will also post optional SeeSaw activities.

For children that are seeking books to read, we have enrolled our classes in EPIC. Access this through the symbaloo. Children can choose real literature to read (or be read to). Many of these books will still be Reading Counts books! Class Codes are listed below.

Math:

1. Skill work

IXL Math recommendations, skill work, or Moby Max Math is available to keep up on math skills.

Lexia Goal

Please continue to work toward your goal (minutes and units). Lexia goals are set each Monday for the week.

Cursive Handwriting:

Try some work in your cursive handwriting journal! Try for 3 - 5 pages a week!

Choice Board:
You may also click on the links below to choose some fun activities for the week

Clarke Grade 3 Choice Activity Board

Specials:
Music: Mrs. Richard's Music Activities

Art: Mrs. Huber's Activities-week 2

P.E.: Mr. Jager's Activities-week 2

Library Resources:

The following link provides you with eBooks, Audiobooks, Author Read Alouds, and more for you and your child to explore!

Library Resources for Virtual Learning

Social-Emotional Learning (Mrs. Jasiak):
The link to Mrs. Jasiak's activities are: 3rd Grade SEL Activities

Additional Optional Resources: Extending your learning!

Useful Links

E.P. Clarke Symbaloo: Symbaloo

Accessing SeeSaw: Student Sign In (Video on accessing student accounts)

Lexia: (See above Video)

Monday, March 16, 2020

March 16th-Week 1 of Learning

3rd Grade Learning-Week 1

Math:

1. Skill work

Please spend about 60 minutes per week on IXL recommendations or Moby Max.

(For IXL, click on diagnostics and go to the arena so that IXL will assign recommendations. When finished, click on recommendations for your skill areas)

Reading:
Continue to work toward our class goal of 1 book (and test) per week. Reading Counts is available between the hours of 8am-4pm, Monday through Friday only. If you are reading a longer book, just message your teacher on SeeSaw and let her know that you will need longer than a week.

Please continue to work toward your Lexia Goal (minutes and unit). Lexia goals are set each Monday for the week.

Cursive Handwriting:

Do some work in your cursive handwriting journal! Try for 3 - 5 pages a week!

Choice Board:
You may also click on the links below to choose some fun activities for the week

Clarke Grade 3 Choice Activity Board

Specials:
Music: Mrs. Richard's Music Activities

Art: Mrs. Huber's Art Activities

P.E.: Mr. Jager's P.E. Activities

Social Emotional Learning (Mrs. Jasiak):

This week we will be reviewing and sharing books related to the Social Emotional Competency of SELF-AWARENESS. Self-Awareness means you can recognize your emotions and thoughts and how they lead to what you do. It also includes recognizing your strengths and challenges and the importance of having a sense of confidence and optimism.

Below there are books to review regarding SELF-AWARENESS. Read one, two or all of them over the next week and when you finish a book complete the SEL Super Learning Challenge Form.

Wilma Jean the Worry Machine

The Invisible Boy

The Most Magnificent Thing

The PROcrastinator

SEL Super Learning Challenge Form

Additional Optional Resources: Extending your learning!

Useful Links

E.P. Clarke Symbaloo: Symbaloo

Accessing SeeSaw: Student Sign In (Video on accessing student accounts)

Lexia: (See above Video)

Sunday, March 15, 2020

At-Home Learning

March 15, 2020

Dear Families,

There is no doubt that we are all entering unfamiliar territory over the next month. We know that all of our families will be in very different situations as we work to follow state and national guidelines to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.

There are two important things that we would like you to remember throughout the next month. The first is that we want to ensure that your child continues to maintain the skills that we have worked so hard to gain over the course of the school year. Because of that, it is important to work together to ensure that your child participates and completes assigned activities over the next month.

The second thing we want you to remember is that we are acutely aware that this may be a very difficult time for our families. Please do not suffer alone. Reach out to us if you are having difficulties that would prohibit your child from completing the assignments.

District teachers are meeting by grade level tomorrow (virtually) to determine the first week's assignments for our students. New assignments will be posted on Wednesday mornings by 8 a.m. and are to be completed by the following Wednesday. Look for new assignments each Wednesday morning.

Please take the next two days to ensure that your child can do the following:

1. Log in to SeeSaw. You will do this through the symbaloo (below) or through SeeSaw.com. Your child MUST choose "log in with Google". The login is the studentnumber@stjoebears.com and your child's password.

2. Access the St. Joseph Public Schools Symbaloo. SJPS Symbaloo

3. Log in to Clever to access Wixie, Lexia, and Moby Max

4. Log in to IXL.com through the symbaloo. It is imperative that after login your child can see his/her name at the top. If not, the login was not successful and your child can do only limited questions. Your child's login for IXL must be the number@sjps or it will not work.

If you have difficulty with ANY of these, please email me, send me a message on SeeSaw, or text. We want all children to be successful so I want to help with any difficulties that you are having. Additionally, if your child does not have a device, please let me know so the district can assist. There is a form that was emailed and should be filled out. I can resend the email if needed.

I am looking forward to partnering with you over the next few weeks. Again, please do not hesitate to contact me if you need anything.

Sincerely,

3rd Grade Team

How to access Lexia on a tablet: Lexia on a Tablet

Friday, March 6, 2020

March 2nd-6th

March is Reading Month: This month begins our focus on celebrating reading! This year we are encouraging students to read many different genres in order to become diverse readers. Students can check off activities that are completed (please sign what they've read at home). Happy Reading!!!

Multiplication: We cannot stress to you enough the importance of memorizing multiplication facts. Having a solid understanding and quick recall of these facts will be essential for your child when we begin division. Additionally, students need this fact recall when they begin long division and other important 4th-grade math skills. We recommend purchasing multiplication fact cards at the dollar store and practicing a few minutes in the evenings. Once your child has instant recall it will stick. However, if they aren't completely memorized, the facts will not stick from week to week.

Author Visits: We are so fortunate that we will have 2 author visits this month! Order forms went home on Friday if you would like your child to order a book. They are signed personally by the author.

Upcoming Events:

March 6: 1/2 Day

Creative Arts Dress Rehearsal (Act 2)

March 13: Access 8:00 a.m. (Media Center)

March 18: Author Visit (10:30 - 11:30)

March 19: PTO Meeting at noon (Media Center)

March 23: Author Visit (2:30 - 3:30)

March 25: 1-Hour Late Start

Next Week's Schedule:

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

Reading: We will continue to focus on making predictions as well as beginning our next genre study: Fairy Tales

Word Study: Our test on long "-er,-ar, and -or" syllable patterns will be Friday. We will then begin to work with Agents. These are words that change from a verb to a noun by adding -er, -ar, and -or. Examples this week are: instructor, editor, director, speaker, designer, listener, adviser, beggar

Math: We are beginning our unit on Geometry. Students will be expected to reason with shapes and their attributes. We will be comparing various shapes, sorting based on attributes, and discussing different types of angles.

Science: Invisible Forces: discussing balanced and unbalanced forces, friction, and magnetic pull. Our focus for this week will be on bridges.

Social Studies: Unit 6 will focus on Using Nature's Gifts. We will be discussing mining, lumbering, and some of our first inventions.

Writing: Informational books are almost complete! Ask your child to show you his/her book on Wixie.

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Feb. 24 - 28

Report Cards: It is hard to believe that two-thirds of the year is over already. Report cards are complete and will be sent home next week--most likely on Wednesday. It is important to remember that all standards are year-end goals. If your student is currently at a 1 or 2 in an area, we will continue to work on that skill in order to demonstrate mastery by the end of the year.

Multiplication: We cannot stress to you enough the importance of memorizing multiplication facts. Having a solid understanding and quick recall of these facts will be essential for your child when we begin division. Additionally, students need this fact recall when they begin long division and other important 4th-grade math skills. We recommend purchasing multiplication fact cards at the dollar store and practicing a few minutes in the evenings. Once your child has instant recall it will stick. However, if they aren't completely memorized, the facts will not stick from week to week.

Historical Presentation: This week our students will participate in a historical presentation to learn about what life was like in the early 1900s to 1950s. The presenter (Mrs. Wood's mother-in-law) was a former teacher in Lansing and allows students to interact with many antique items. Your child will love it! The presentations are as follows:

Knuth: Thursday, March 5th, 9:00 - 10:00

Yoder: Thursday, March 5th, 10:30 - 11:30

Covert: Friday, March 6th, 10:30 - 11:30

Upcoming Events:

March 4: 1-Hour Late Start

March 5: 1/2 Day

Creative Arts Dress Rehearsal (Act 1)

March 6: 1/2 Day

Creative Arts Dress Rehearsal (Act 2)

March 13: Access 8:00 a.m. (Media Center)

March 18: Author Visit (10:30 - 11:30)

March 19: PTO Meeting at noon (Media Center)

March 23: Author Visit (2:30 - 3:30)

March 25: 1-Hour Late Start

Next Week's Schedule:

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

Reading: This week we revisited inferencing and making predictions. A large part of our focus for reading was also our Social Studies flipbooks. This was a wonderful opportunity for students to learn to look for information in a text and evaluate what was most important to the topic. Additionally, students have been learning about the different structures that authors use to write informational texts.

Word Study: Our test on long "-le" vowel patterns will be Friday. We will then begin to work with unaccented final syllable "-le,-el,-il,-al". Examples of words include fossil, pencil, pupil, kennel, cancel, camel, journal, signal. Next week we will learn study words ending with -er, -ar, and -or.

Math: We have now completed our unit study on fractions. Students need to be able to identify fractions (1/4, 1/2, 1/3, etc.), partition circles and rectangles into halves, fourths, eighths, thirds, and sixths, identify fractions on a number line and partition number lines, and be able to identify and demonstrate equivalency in fractions (1/2 is the same as 2/4 or 1/3 is the same as 2/6). Remediation will begin for students that did not receive a 3 in these standards. *Be aware of a common 3rd-grade error. Third graders sometimes confuse the fraction by included the shaded number on top and the non-shaded number on the bottom instead of using the numerator to show the shaded number and using the denominator to show the total parts. They may write 1/3 (1 shaded, 3 not shaded) for 1/4.

Science: Invisible Forces: discussing balanced and unbalanced forces, friction, and magnetic pull. Our focus for this week will be on bridges.

Social Studies: Our flipbooks are complete and your child will test this week on the topics. Your teacher will let you know the exact day. Please be aware that students will need to write a good paragraph about 3 of the topics. No notes, flipbooks, or the textbook can be used during the test.

Writing: Informational books are almost complete! Ask your child to show you his/her book on Wixie.