Friday, November 6, 2015

Friday, November 6th

Dear Parents,

As we come to the close of our first trimester of third grade, we can look back at how much we have learned over the last few months. Your kids have been working very hard, and I am proud of their efforts and growth so far this year. 

Literacy:
Our students are busy publishing their adapted fairy tales. We will have a publishing celebration on Tuesday.  Students will have an opportunity to share their published work with third graders from other classes and with Mr. Lowe, who is joining us for our celebration.
Earlier this trimester, students wrote many small moment personal narratives and took one of their stories to the publishing stage.  We are consistently working on responding to texts orally and with well written answers that use evidence from the texts to support our thinking.
In spelling we are continuing our work on spelling patterns and our personal spelling lists.  

Math:
Unit 2 has been a lot of practice with all of the multiplication and division facts and how to use them in one and now two step word problems. The class is doing a good job using a step-by-step method to think about what the problem is asking them to do, find the important information, and then writing and solving the equation.  It is imperative that your child studies their multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction facts on a regular basis at home.  The math facts are foundational to continued success in mathematics. 

Social Studies:
Last week we finished up our Life Cycles unit in science, and now we are moving on to the second unit of Social Studies- Regions of the United States. Your child will be studying 5 different regions in the United States, the states that make up each region, and the history, people and cultures of those regions. 

Your child is bringing home a permission slip for our next field trip and an important letter about the Reading Plus program in their Friday folder.  Please return the permission slip early next week.  Students are familiar with Reading Plus and should be comfortable using this resource for their weekly reading log.  I will continue to send the weekly reading log home, but they can now simply write Reading Plus in the nightly comment area when they use this program. I would like to see all students use Reading Plus at least once a week.  I will be able to monitor their work on Reading Plus.  If weekly computer access in not possible for your child, please let me know.   Thank you!
Thank you to Korri Skibinski, our room mother, and to all of the parents who contributed supplies, for creating a wonderful fall party for our class. Students had a lovely time celebrating today! 

Important Dates:
Wednesday, November 11- NO SCHOOL-VETERANS DAY
Friday, November 20-Walking Field Trip to see The Music Man
Friday, November 20- First Trimester report cards go home
Week of November 23-27- NO SCHOOL THANKSGIVING BREAK

Have a wonderful weekend with your families. See you next week.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt