3rd Grade Newsletter
Third Grade Newsletter
Volume 7, Number 15 sadkins@pennoyerschool.org February 13, 2009
Hello Parents! Our highlight of the week was definitely our author’s visit from Aaron Reynolds. He was terrific! It sounds like many of you were able to make the Family Reading Night that evening so you were able to see him in action. He was really captivating to watch, and most of us enjoyed the salsa he made during his presentation. The kids have been much better behaved in library, and I appreciate your support in that matter. We had lots of fun at our Valentine’s Day party this afternoon, be sure to ask your child all about it. Yesterday we were a part of an effort to break a world record! Mrs. Michaels has included more details about that event in the social studies part of this Newsletter. We had a busy week, so here’s what’s been happening:
Reading ~ Our story for this week was an African folk tale called Seven Spools of Thread. This was a longer one, and I hope your child remembered to read it aloud to you at home. More and more kids are coming in and telling me that they did not read the story aloud on Monday nights. Please make sure they do this. This was a great story for us all to relate to, as many of us have siblings that we have quarreled with too. Please remember to go over our vocabulary words for the week and try to use them in everyday language. They really need to expand their vocabulary, and that is best done through practice of everyday use. Try to make it a challenge each day to use the vocabulary words in sentences! Some of the skills we worked on included drawing conclusions and analyzing things in the story. Ask your child to tell you about the book we read called The Black Snowman.
Language Arts ~ Our grammar lesson for this week was on linking verbs, which is an extension of what we have been working on for the past couple of weeks. Again, this seems to be a lesson of common sense and what sounds right. Hopefully they will all be successful on their test they took today. The kids have really been loving our Writer’s Workshop which we have been having twice a week. They get to write about whatever they want, and they have a variety of options for publishing their work. Many of them have enjoyed creating a mini book out of their text, and I have had kids asking me to do this during their free time and at home! I love that! Our more formal writing time set aside for persuasive writing is coming along as well. The kids have all chosen their topics, completed their four square, and are now somewhere in the midst of their rough draft.
Math ~ We would like to congratulate Kevin, Szymon, and Edward for successfully completing their timed multiplication test this week! They got 100% accuracy on 100 multiplication problems in 5 minutes. We can’t wait to see who will pass this test next! Aside from this, during math this week we have still been talking about figures, however, we were talking more about how figures are similar, if they have lines of symmetry, how to flip, slide and turn a figure and how to find the distance around a figure! On Tuesday, we did something a bit different for our activity. Be sure to ask your child what we did and how they enjoyed it!
Science ~ This week during science, we continued to discuss the topic of energy. However, instead of talking about how energy is stored and its uses, we discussed how energy moves as waves and the different kinds of waves. In order for all of us to have a good understanding of this concept, we did an experiment to investigate exactly how energy can move as a wave! We used two types of models to explore this idea. Ask your child what they did for their experiment this week! Also, ask them to share some different examples of waves! Here’s a heads up for you – energy test to be given on Friday, February 27.
Social Studies ~ This past week in social studies the class learned how to use and understand the parts of a table and how to read one. We learned to interpret information from a table by comparing and contrasting the qualifications and terms of office at the federal level for a member of the House of Representatives, a member of Senate, the President, and a Supreme Court Judge. This past Thursday, we celebrated Abraham Lincoln’s 200th Birthday. In celebration, Pennoyer School students from 3rd thru 8th grade had participated in the simultaneous reading of Lincoln’s most famous speech, the Gettysburg Address, in hopes of setting a Guinness World Record. At 9:30 AM on the dot, we recited the Gettysburg Address along with (hopefully over) 300,000 other Illinoisans. After we read, all participants of the reading had signed a participant sheet. The forms then were signed by a witness as proof of the number of participants for the Guinness Record. We will find out in time if in fact we have set a record. I will let you know as soon as we find out. Make sure you look for an article about Pennoyer School’s participation in the Pioneer paper.
Other Areas of Interest:
- Progress Reports went home today for grades less than a C- or 73%. Please look for this in your child’s papers today, sign it and return back to me next week on Tuesday or Wednesday.
- There is no school on Monday due to President’s Day. Enjoy the extra day with your family!
That’s it for now! Kids have been coming in with only sweatshirts to wear outside. Please pay careful attention to the weather reports so that your child is dressed appropriately. This time of year it seems to change drastically on a daily basis! It sure was nice on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the cold came back these past couple of days. I wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day, and remember to keep your child reading!
Mrs. Sarah Adkins
Miss Sarah Wierzgac
