3rd Grade Newsletter
Third Grade Newsletter
Volume 7, Number 10 sadkins@pennoyerschool.org November 21, 2008
Hello Parents! We have had an interesting week together. We have been trying new things in reading (see below) and our class has really been working as a team to make things work. The class filled their marble jar for the first time on Tuesday, so they were able to have a marble jar party yesterday. Be sure to ask your child all about it if you haven’t heard already. Today was spirit day, and we had an assembly at the end of the day. Ask about that too! We were busy this week, so here’s what’s been happening:
Reading ~ Our story this week was an autobiography called Author: A True Story. This was a great inside look into the life of an author, and the frustrations that she has dealt with. I think it was insightful for the kids to see how she repeatedly got rejected, but kept trying until she was successful. I reassessed each child in our room last week with a running record, and I have revamped our groups and how we run our reading time. I now have four groups instead of three, and I really enjoy the small groups and the individual attention I am able to give them. I have had some interesting insights into their reading behaviors that I am looking forward to sharing with you on Monday at Conferences. Ask your child to tell you about the changes we have made during our reading time. Since it was our first week there are still some rough patches, but we are working through them and will have our new reading program up and running smoothly in no time!
Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson this week was on combining sentences. The kids did very well with this lesson from our last unit, and I am expecting great test results from today. We lost some of our writing time this week do to extended reading times while we worked out kinks, but we did get to buddy conferences. All the children have finished their rough drafts, and they met with a partner to see what they could do to improve their writing. I will do the final editing on their papers before they begin their final copy after Thanksgiving break.
Math ~ We spent this week on probability, and we got through the whole chapter. This means that when the kids return from Thanksgiving break, we will review for a day, and then their test will be on Tuesday, December 2. This was fun, short chapter, and the kids really seemed to enjoy it. Please practice some probability over the break so they don’t forget everything when they return. The concepts that we focused on were certain, likely, unlikely, and impossible; recording data; calculating the probability of an event (6 out of 9); deciding if a game is fair or unfair; and using experiments to make predictions. Your child will bring their workbook home over the weekend, so you can use that as a source to review sometime over the Thanksgiving break.
Science ~ We only had one day of science this week due to our marble jar party yesterday, and the kids took their weather test. Those are graded and included in your child’s Friday papers. Please look over it with your child. We will start our new chapter on the solar system when we return from Thanksgiving break.
Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies we took the Chapter 2 Test. We learned many new vocabulary terms and discussed many leaders that work in the capital city of Washington. We read and discussed that the populations of Eagle, Colorado grew in the 1880s because silver was found there. In 1890 there were 25 people. As people moved into Eagle, the settlement grew from a few homes into a town. By 1940 the town had 543 people. Since then many people have moved to Eagle and the population has continued to rise. We discussed our culture and customs by sharing special foods and music during holidays. Finally we learned that businesses are important to communities because they supply goods for people to buy and places for people to work. We will begin chapter 3 after we return from Thanksgiving break.
Other Areas of Interest:
We celebrated Zuleyha’s 9th birthday with her yesterday. Her actual birthday is this Sunday, November 23, and we were delighted to celebrate with her a few days early. Happy birthday Zuleyha!
Conferences reminders went home today to remind you of your scheduled time to meet with me on Monday. Please try to be prompt, and I will do the same. I was able to extend each conference time to 15 minutes this year (as opposed to 10 in previous years) and am looking forward to the extra time to spend with you. Please bring any questions or concerns you may have with you and we can work together to come up with solutions.
Your child has no school at all next week. Enjoy the week off with your family!
The November Book-It form is due back on Monday, December 1. Your child should have read at least four chapter books by then. Remember that this is part of your child’s reading grade and needs to be completed on time.
That’s it for now! Brrr, it has been really cold this week. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather with winter coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. They say that a warm front is moving through the area and it should be back into the 40s by Sunday. Let’s hope so! I wish you all a wonderful weekend and Thanksgiving holiday, and remember to keep your child reading!
Mrs. Sarah Adkins
