3rd Grade Newsletter
Third Grade Newsletter
Volume 7, Number 5 October 3, 2008
Hello Parents! I would like to welcome our new student, Fatima. We are glad to have her here, and it has been heartwarming to see our class welcome her so nicely. Our class size is now up to 17. Her timing was good as I was able to include her in our All About Me book. That book has been put together, and will be making its rounds to your homes starting next week. Each child will have a turn to bring the book home for one night to share with their families. Each page is so unique, and I hope you can all appreciate everyone’s hard work. When the book does come to your home, please make sure it is well taken care of (it will arrive in a bag) and returned to school the next day. We had a busy week together, so here’s what’s been happening:
Reading ~ Our story for this week was called The Perfect Pet. Please remember to have your child read these stories to you on Monday nights. The genre of this story is humorous fiction, although I found that much of the humor was over the children’s heads. It’s not as funny when you have to explain everything. J Next week there will not be any reading, spelling, or grammar because of the Terra Nova testing. I will not send home any homework next week so that the kids can go to bed early and be well rested for the testing. Please see the end of this Newsletter for more information about the Terra Nova tests in the Other Areas of Interest section.
Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this was sentence combining, which ended up being easy for the kids. They only had to combine two related sentences with a comma and the word and or but. Hopefully this will be a nice grade booster for everyone in grammar. We spent our writing time this week doing really fun things. The kids loved creating figures out of toothpicks and marshmallows, then having to explain how to make the same structure to their partner who was sitting back-to-back with them. Many of them really caught on to the importance of using lots of detail and did a terrific job. Be sure to ask your child about it. We took Wednesday’s writing time to decorate our classroom. It now feels spooky in here and is all decked out for Halloween. The kids did a terrific job decorating and I appreciated their help.
Math ~ We started chapter 4 on addition this week. The kids learned about the three properties of addition – associative, zero, and commutative properties. Ask your child to explain each property to you! We also worked on estimating answers by rounding, and regrouping numbers in the tens and ones place. Today we learned how to solve problems by guess and check. These problems can be difficult, so I sent home an explanation on a separate paper with your child today to help them with their homework this weekend. We will continue to work on this chapter next week, although no math homework will go home.
Science ~ We started our new chapter this week on weather. We did a couple of experiments on Monday that proved two of the three properties of air. Give your child a quick quiz to see if they remember the three properties. (Air takes up space, exerts pressure, and has weight.) Ask your child to explain our experiments to you! We read through the first section of this chapter, and your child got their first three definitions written out. Be sure to review those vocabulary words with your child at least once a week.
Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies we identified reasons people have formed communities, including a need for security and law. We gave suggestions on possible courses of action that could be taken in given situations, and assess the consequences of irresponsible behavior. Finally, we identified and explained the importance of acts of civic responsibility, including obeying laws. Your child completed many vocabulary definitions and note taking. We will conclude Chapter One this week and the test will take place next Friday, October 10th. Please make sure your child prepares for this test. Review all notes from his/her yellow notebook, pages 12 – 31 from the social studies book, and the review sheet.
Other Areas of Interest:
Terra Nova testing is next week. Our schedule is as follows: Monday testing will be from 8:20 – 11:00. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday testing will be from 8:20 – 10:30. There is no testing on Friday. We will continue to have science and social studies in the afternoons, but no homework will go home next week except that the kids need to study for their social studies test on Friday. No other tests will be given on Friday. I will not write a Newsletter next week as our regular subjects are mostly put on hold. You may send your child to school with a healthy snack to eat after testing is over each day. Please do not send pop or candy for a snack. Your child will need to be well rested and on time for school as we start promptly at 8:20 and your child will have to wait in the office until we have a break in testing if they are late. Please feel free to send me an e-mail or note if you have questions about this testing. Remember, the purpose of having no homework next week is so your child to go to bed early and be well rested so they can perform their best on the test.
The October Book-It form is included in your child’s Friday papers they took home today. Sorry I did not get that out to you on Wednesday. Your child can write down any book they have read starting October 1. Each child needs to read 4 chapter books for this month, and the form is due back to me by Friday, October 31.
That’s it for now! What a disappointment in our baseball teams this week! Hopefully the Cubs and Sox can pull it together this weekend and start winning some games. Hopefully our economy will turn around after the House votes today on the new plan. We are all in need of some good news here! If you were able to watch the vice presidential debates last night, it is a good idea to talk about them with your child. This upcoming election is so important to our nation, and your child should know about it and your personal views on the matter. I am hoping that next week’s presidential debate will be more interesting than the last one! I wish you all a wonderful weekend and remember to keep your child reading!
Mrs. Sarah Adkins
