Sunday, August 28, 2011

August 29-Sept. 2

It was so great to see so many of you on Thursday evening at Parent Information Night.  Please let me know if you have any questions about the class or things that we are working on.

This week:
Math- Our first test will be on Tuesday.  It will cover "Topic 1" from our math book--which was all about numeration.  We will take a practice test together on Monday, and then the actual test will be taken using the computers on Tuesday.  There will be a copy of the directions to the "site" in Monday folders if you would like to preview the process.  We will begin Topic 2, Number Sense: Addition and Subtraction, on Wednesday.

Reading- Our first theme test will be on Wednesday this week.  We are continuing to practice the skill of Making Connections when we read.  Last week in Daily 5 the students practiced how to "read to self" and how to "read to someone".  This week we will continue practicing both of those reading types as well as add "word work" to the rotation. Word Work is our time to practice spelling activities.

Language Arts- We learned about nouns last week, and will shift our learning to verbs this week--specifically Action Verbs.  We will also write stories that include a beginning, middle and end.

Spelling- The patterns for the week are "initial consonants", and the prefix "post-". 

Science and Social Studies-  We will continue to learn about solar energy with an experiment this week using sunscreeen.  The boys and girls will learn the difference in 3 types of communities and practice identifying them- rural, suburban, and urban.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

First Week of School

We completed our first week of 3rd grade!  It was a wonderful week getting to know each other better, learning about what's coming up this year, as well as, reviewing school and classroom expectations for the year.  Ask your child about some of their new friends that they have made and about some of their favorite first week activities.

This Week...
PARENT INFO NIGHT-- I hope to see you all on Thursday evening, August 26, at 6:00pm.  At that time I will introduce myself, go over the 3rd grade curriculum, and explain school and classroom expectations to you.

Spelling- 
We will begin spelling this week.  There will be two lists coming home in Monday folders.  Your child has the choice of choosing which list he or she wants to practice each week.  Both lists consist of the same number of words.  One list comes directly from our reading program and follows a weekly pattern.  The other list will require your child to learn more about the meanings of new words and how to apply them. Tests will be given on Friday.  Children will be expected to practice their spelling at home nightly, but will not be given daily homework assignments to turn in.

Math-
We began learning math this past week using our newly adopted math program, enVision.  The students have a text book this year and we have spent quite a bit of time learning how to use that. 

Reading-
Students will also be using a textbook in reading this year.  We began our first theme this past week titled "People and Places".  The year will begin with a study about communities.  The reading strategy focus for the first two weeks will be "making connections".

Writing-
We will begin writing a story this week.  Students will need to incorporate a plot line into their story which includes having a beginning, middle and end of a story.  

In grammar, we will learn about nouns--people, places and things.

Science-
The school year started with a unit about solar energy.  Ask your child about the sundials we created on Friday and what they learned about the effect the sun has on our shadows.

Social Studies-
A discussion about communities will begin this week.

Check back regularly for classroom updates!