QUICK REMINDERS:
1. Individual Picture Day-Thursday, September 3rd Don’t forget to turn in your order form, if you would like pictures.
2. NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7th - LABOR DAY
Dear Parents,
We completed our first full week of third grade! Your children worked hard and did a great job keeping up with the new expectations. Here is a recap of our week and a look at what is coming up in our classroom.
Literacy:
Next week, I will start assessing spelling skills by testing the first 25 words on the BVSD 3rd grade Must Write word list. The list contains 100 words third graders must master by the end of the year. Your child will create a personal spelling list to study at school from the words they misspell on the assessment. I put a link on my website with all 100 words so you can help your child practice these words at home. Next week, we will also begin a unit on narrative writing.
On Monday, Mrs. Sbrocca will be giving students a reading assessment using i-Ready. We started using this reading assessment last year at Kohl, so your child should be familiar with the format. After the testing is complete I will have an assessment report, which shows me how your child is reading, their strengths, and areas to work on.
Math:
This week, I was able to complete a math screener for almost every child. I have a few more to finish on Monday. This information gives me a snapshot of where your child is in math. On Monday, we will start our first math unit on Multiplication and Division. Students will begin nightly math homework on Tuesday, September 1st. Each student will bring a Homework and Remembering book home with pages to complete on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Math homework will always be due the following day. If your child has trouble with the homework, please write a note on the page and let me know what they need help with so that I can work with them in the classroom.
Social Studies:
We will begin our first unit in Social Studies on Monday. This first unit is about Diverse Communities and Local Government.
Homework Policy:
Your children did a great job with their first homework assignment, the mystery state. All students returned it completed and were able to have Friday Fun this week. As the homework load increases, I wanted to share with you my policy about homework completion.
Third grade students should be spending no more than 45 minutes total each night on homework. As a general rule, if your child has worked diligently for this amount of time and is not done and you feel they are beginning to get tired or frustrated, please write a note to me on the homework stating this. It should not become a power struggle or a nightmare experience. Please keep the lines of communication open with me if you are experiencing any issues with homework. I am here to help.
Reading Logs:
This week we completed the Reading log in class so that your child would understand the requirements. Here they are in a nutshell:
· Each third grader is expected to read a Just Right book of their choice for 25 minutes per night (total of 100 minutes per week)
· After reading, they are to write 2-3 complete sentences about what they are reading as well as marking their reading time.
· Reading logs will come home on Mondays with the Mystery State and are due on Friday morning.
· Short weeks -reading times with be adjusted and students will note that on their logs.
· Each child has an example reading log in their Homework folder, and they will bring it home next week.
Thank you for hanging in there with me for this rather long update. As the year goes on, I will try to make these shorter.
I hope you all have a safe and relaxing weekend.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Aisha Galt
