January 29, 2015

We are continuing to learn about the various properties of matter as well as learning how to measure mass and volume. At the end of the last week we did a Root Beer Float experiment demonstrating the three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. This week we did a lab to determine the mass of given objects and a lab to determine the volume of given objects. We will have a quiz about mass on Monday and a quiz about volume on Wednesday. These quizzes will be good review and practice for their test. We will be wrapping up our matter unit next week and will have our final test on this unit next Friday.

In Math we are continuing to work on finding Area and Perimeter. This week we have spent several days learning and understanding how to use the distributive property to calculate area. We are going to move on to determining the area of composite shapes and then will revisit distributive property more before our unit test. Next week we will have a Check My Progress quiz to demonstrate our knowledge of this unit so far. On Monday, February 8th we will have our unit test on Area and Perimeter.

During the month of February students will vote on what chapter books we will read for our read aloud time in honor of Black History Month. I have a few I have gotten from the library but they also had some input regarding some other influential figures they would like to read about so I will be looking for those books also. 

In each student's Friday Folder is a review sheet of the classroom expectations. Now that we have finished the first semester of third grade it is a good idea to touch base regarding these expectations as we move to the second semester. Please review these with your child and then sign and return the bottom portion.

Reminders:

• Please continue to practice multiplication facts, it makes calculating area easier for the students when they know their facts.
• Don't forget to practice vocabulary and spelling words at home.
• We have snack daily at school at the end of the day, I have many students saying before lunch and after recess that they are still hungry and want to eat their snack. Please make sure that students are eating a good healthy breakfast that will get them through the morning and that if they pack their lunch they have enough in their lunch that will get them through the afternoon until snack time. 

January 19, 2015

We are continuing to work on area and perimeter in class. It will be helpful as we continue through this unit if students continue to practice their multiplication facts at home, we practice them daily through Kick It and have a timed test on Friday. Each student practices and takes their Kick It timed test at the current belt level they are on.

Matter continues to be our topic in Science. Last week we did an experiment with PopRocks, balloons, Diet Coke, Sprite and water. Please ask your child how we did it and what happened. We are working on another matter assignment using technology to make a pie chart to graph the results of observations. In the classroom we are going to begin putting together a Google Slide show about matter to demonstrate our understanding. 

In ELA we will be revisiting Main Idea and details through several expository texts. On Tuesday we read Martin's Big Words, a story about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We completed a graphic organizer together which detailed the topic, main idea and the details that supported the main idea. We also watched a portion of a video of his "I have a dream" speech and we were able to make some connections with the chapter biography book we are reading Who Was Abraham Lincoln. This Friday (1/22) we will have the spelling test and the vocabulary text will be next Thursday (1/28).

Reminders:

• Report cards will come home on Friday.
• Reading logs are due every Friday and will no longer be accepted after that date.
• Current events for this quarter are due by March 11. A new copy of the current event form will come home this Friday in Friday folders. 

Enjoy the week and stay warm!

January 8, 2016

Next week we have classroom assessments, I wanted to provide you with a schedule of the dates and types of assessments.

• Monday, January 11-students will be writing an opinion paragraph utilizing text that is given to them. They will prepare a rough draft and a final draft to turn in during class. The students will use a graphic organizer that they have used in the past and the structure is familiar to them.
• Wednesday, January 13th the students will be completing their reading assessment regarding cause/effect, idioms and prefixes.
• Thursday, January 14th we will have our vocabulary quiz and during the week we will be participating in some review games in preparation for it. We will also have a Check My Progress quiz in Math regarding perimeter and area. We have worked on perimeter this week and will be completing area before their quiz.

This week in your student's Friday Folder there is a Matter activity that they need to complete at home and return to school on Wednesday, January 13, 2016. That day we will participate as a class being scientists and detectives to use the clues provided to determine what the object is hiding in the bag using the clues that are provided. We will also participate in at least two science experiments that help us delve deeper into the States of Matter.

The students are also working on setting goals for the New Year in the areas or reading, math, writing and behavior. They are also recalling some of their favorite memories of 2015 and looking ahead to something they would like to do in 2016.

As a reminder:

• Reading logs are due every Friday. I will no longer accept reading logs that are turned in after Friday for the previous week. This is causing confusion regarding dates the reading log needs to include and which week they are completing it for. In addition if students turn in all of their reading logs for the month they will earn a Book It certificate which entitles them to a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut.
• Spelling packets are due every Thursday and therefore will no longer be accepted after Thursday.
• The second grading period ends on January 14th.
• No school January 15th and 18th.

If you have any questions regarding next week's activities please feel free to contact me. 

January 4, 2016

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season. It seems that with the start of a new year the weather that we typically have in January has begun. Please make sure to send your child in with the appropriate outerwear (labeled with their names) including: hats, scarves, gloves/mittens and boots.

As we return to school we are turning our focus to Historical Fiction and Biographies in ELA. We will be working on cause and effect through a variety of different text structures. We are going to concentrate on this unit for two weeks so that will change our vocabulary and spelling word assessments. This week we have our spelling test on Friday and we will have our vocabulary text next Thursday. The extra time will allow us to explore the meaning of the vocabulary words through the context of several stories. We will not have a spelling packet or spelling words next week but we will continue to practice the word list.

In Math we are moving on to the study of Perimeter and Area for at least the next two weeks. Today we began with perimeter and used several real life examples for the students to begin thinking about how to problem solve perimeter. We also began a vocabulary flap page that we placed in their JAM. As we continue this unit we will add to the definitions on this page.

In Science we are going to begin the study of States of Matter. We began today by constructing their flap book which they will put definitions and examples of the states of matter. We also made predictions about what would happen to a balloon filled with water if we put it outside in freezing temperatures. We will be able to see which of the predictions were accurate as the temperatures outside drop.

Please remember that our day for library is on Wednesday, have your child bring their library books to school to return them on that day. If they finish with them early I have a library basket in the classroom that they can place their books in so that they are already here for library on Wednesday.

I am so excited to announce that everyone in our class earned Bee Your Best Certificates for the month of December and received  a winter pencil and sticker for displaying their best behavior.