We made it through four days of AIR testing. All of the children worked hard through this time period and we made it through the ELA and Math portions of the AIR test. This completes the testing for this school year.
In Math we have moved on to Geometry. We have been exploring characteristics of polygons, quadrilaterals and parallelograms. We will continue with this unit next week.
We completed our final Economic projects and presented these projects. The students also completed their Economics books and brought them home. We will be moving onto Rocks and Minerals in Science. This week we discussed the tests we need to perform in order to identify minerals. We also discussed types of rocks. We will do some labs that enable us to practice the mineral tests, identify minerals and complete a mineral flip book.
In ELA we have been working on inferencing using Picture of the Day. Each day students are given a picture with no caption. The students use this picture to make observations and then use the observations to make inferences about the picture. I have seen their skills continue to develop and become more refined as they practice this skill. Next week we will be moving on to author's point of view and character's point of view.
In writing the students have been working on identifying characteristics of a good friend and using text evidence to support their opinion. They developed a rough draft, which was edited, and then turned into a final copy of their writing. They also began doing some research writing. We watched segments of the Disney movie Earth and students practiced taking notes on three animals: the polar bear, elephant and humpback whale. They are going to use this information to turn it in to a very short slide show that includes 5 new facts they learned and 3 pictures of their chosen animal in it's natural habitat. Next week we will finish up their research writing and work on writing and publishing a diamante poem.
As we approach the last month of school please remind your children about school appropriate manners and behavior. A gentle reminder about being kind to others would be appreciated. Also a little refresher about school manners, we have been talking about the fact that burping is not appropriate in the classroom or lunch room and if students feel like they are going to burp they need to cover their mouth and say excuse me.
During the months of May and June we have several exciting events:
- On May 24th the third graders are going on a field trip to downtown Cleveland. We will take a ride on Lolly the Trolley and learn about Cleveland history. We will also take a tour of Progressive Field. Students need to pack a brown bag lunch on this day and we will eat it while we are downtown. Please have your child wear their third grade T-shirt or Indians gear on that day. Watch the weather for that day and make sure to dress your child appropriately. Permission slips will be coming home today in your child's Friday folder. Please fill out the permission slip and return with the payment by May 20, 2016.
- On May 26th our class will be visiting Central School from 9:45-10:45. The students will get a feel for their new school. Permission slips went home last week in Friday folders, if you have not returned your permission slip I placed another one in your child's Friday folder this week, please return this by May 6.
- On May 27th the PSO is having an ice cream truck come to school to provide treats.
- June 1st is the Third Grade Recognition Assembly which begins at 2:15.
- June 2nd (last day of school) is Field Day throughout the morning until 12:00. Pizza will be provided for lunch for all students during the class party from 12:00-1:00. That day students will be dismissed early at 1:40.
