December 9, 2016

Dear Parents,

Today in your child’s Friday folder you will find a permission slip for a field trip that will happen soon after winter break. Our third graders were invited to see, “Singing in the Rain”, by Backstory Theater company at the Broomfield Auditorium. The performance is free, but we are asking for $3 to help cover the cost of the bus in case the weather is bad. If we get good weather, we will walk and you will get your money back. We would love to be able to have all permission slips and money back by next Friday, so that we don’t have to worry about it when we return from break. Thanks for your help with this.

This was another busy week in third grade. We would like to congratulate our Spelling Bee participants, Annie Egy and Kylar Jaramillo. They both did a fantastic job, and we are very proud of them.

We will be finishing up our math unit on Measurement, Time and Graphing next week. I am planning on having the Unit 3 assessment on Thursday. When we return from break we will start Unit 4, Addition and Subtraction of Multidigit Numbers.

In literacy, we are working on reading and writing informational texts. So far, we have read and written about the job of a paleontologist and we are working on learning about winter life in Alaska. After break, we will start working on how to research a favorite topic and write an informational text about that topic.

Don’t forget, our winter class party is Friday MORNING from 9-10. The All-School Sing-along will be from 8:15-9:00.

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,
Aisha Galt

Friday, December 2nd

Dear Parents,

We had a great week!  Students started writing informational writing pieces about paleontologists during our literacy block and created vocabulary posters.  We are continuing to read in small groups focusing on comprehension and answering questions using evidence from the text. I have all the kids go back and use direct texts to answer questions. This work is also supporting our work with reading and writing informational text.  Please try this at home while reading with your child. Hopefully you and your child are enjoying Reading Plus and i-Ready. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about these programs.  Students should start using their assigned program at least once a week for homework. They should write this time on their reading logs as part of their 100 minutes of weekly at-home reading.  

We are working on telling time to the minute and solving elapsed time problems in math.  Please continue to support your child with telling time.  Elapsed time is a tricky concept and practice is extremely helpful.  Students will continue to complete multiplication and division Math Dash quizzes throughout the school year.  Regular math fact practice should continue to be part of your child’s nightly homework routine. Next week we will begin to create and use graphs to solve problems. 

In science, we started our Matter and Measurement unit.  This is an excellent hands on support to our measurement math unit.

I hope to see you at our winter party on Friday, December 16th from 9:00 to 10:00. Yes, we are trying a morning party this time!  Maybe it will help our students get out some of their winter holiday excitement earlier in the day. More details about our party will be coming from our room mom soon.  The school Sing-A-Long will be in the morning from 8:15 to 9:00.  You are welcome to join us for this activity as well.   

Have a fantastic weekend.

Sincerely,
Aisha Galt

Friday, November 18th

Dear Parents,

Thank you for sending in food for the Kohl Food Drive. It is always amazing to see how much can be accomplished when everyone does a little bit.  Kohl collected hundreds of pounds of food!

Our Kohl Spelling Bee is set for Tuesday, December 6th. I wanted to congratulate our finalists. Annie Egy and Kylar Jaramillo will represent our third grade class in the spelling bee.  Beth Schimschal is our alternate.  

Your child has their report card in their Friday folder.  Please return the signed report card envelope on Monday, November 28th.  Thank you!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving break with your families.  I am so thankful to be part of the Kohl community!

Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

November 4th, 2016

Dear Parents,

Today is the last day of our first trimester. It’s hard to believe your children are ⅓ of the way through their 3rd grade year! Report cards for first trimester will go home on Friday, November 18.

Literacy:

We have been busy revising and editing our adapted fairy tales.  We will start publishing on Monday!

Math:

This week we finished up Unit 2 (Multiplication and Division 0-10) in math. All assessments will be in Friday folders today. Overall, the class did a great job on this assessment. It always amazes me how much they have learned over such a short period of time. Keep working on all of the multiplication and division facts at home.

Our next unit will begin on Monday. Unit 3 is Measurement, TIme and Graphing. This unit is a bit shorter and will be completed shortly after Thanksgiving break.

Science:

We also completed our unit in science, Life Cycles. The kids had a great time learning about all sorts of life cycles, watching life cycles in the classroom (frog, ladybugs and pea plants) and having Thorne Nature work with us. We have one more session with Thorne, next Wednesday. This has been an awesome addition to our unit. Life Cycles assessments will be coming home soon.

The Kohl Spelling Bee is scheduled for Tuesday, December 6th.  You will find a list of Third Grade spelling words in your child’s Friday folder.  This is completely optional, if your child would like to be in the spelling bee they can study this list. I will give the students a quick test of 15 random words from the list to qualify them for the spelling bee. Our top two spellers will have the opportunity to be in the Spelling Bee.

Mark you calendars:

November 11- NO SCHOOL- VETERAN’S DAY

November 21-25- NO SCHOOL- THANKSGIVING BREAK

Have a wonderful weekend and don’t forget to turn back your clocks 1 hour on Saturday night.


Sincerely,
Aisha Galt

Friday, October 28th

Dear Parents,

Thank you to our room mom, Renee O’Lear, and all of the parents who helped make our fall party a success.  The kids had a fantastic time.

Literacy:

We are busy with our writing unit about adapting fairy tales. The kids and I read many classic and adapted fairy tales to get familiar with their style. We looked at how and why writers of adapted fairy tales might have decided to make the changes they did. Each student selected a fairy tale to adapt.  They completed plans for their stories and have started writing their first drafts. 

Next week, students will work on revising and editing their fairy tales so they can be published.  I am looking for some parent volunteers to help with editing.  We will edit stories for spelling and complete sentences.  Please let me know if can help edit during our literacy block on Thursday, November 3rd and or Friday, November 4th from 11:45 to 12:45.  Thank you!

Some children are bringing home an important letter about the Reading Plus program in their Friday folder. These students are familiar with Reading Plus and should be comfortable using this resource.    If you child does not have a Reading Plus letter, they have an i-Ready membership.  They should know their login information. I would like students to use Reading Plus or i-Ready at least once a week for their reading log. I will be able to monitor their work on Reading Plus and i-Ready.  If weekly computer access in not possible for your child, please let me know.Thank you!

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 great job using a step by step method to find the important information, think about what the problem is asking them to do and then writing and solving the equation. We even started using order of operations (ask your child about PMDAS Please Make Dad A Sandwich). I am impressed with their hard work. We will have our Unit 2 math test on Wednesday of next week. Then, we will begin our Measurement, Time, and Graphs unit.

Science

Our Plant and Animal Life Cycles unit is coming to a close.  It has been amazing to watch and learn about the life cycles of frogs, ladybugs, and pea plants in our classroom. We will begin a social studies unit about regions the week of November 7th.

Important Dates:

Monday, November 11- NO SCHOOL VETERANS DAY

Have a wonderful weekend with your families. 

Oh I almost forgot, I am not going to assign reading minutes or a mystery state on Monday.  Happy Halloween!

Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

Friday, October 21st

Dear Parents,

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful day!

Thank you for coming to your child’s parent teacher conference.  After meeting with all of you I understand why we have such a wonderful class.  You are a group of very supportive parents.  Please continue to talk to your child about their goals at school and let me know if you have any questions or concerns as the year progresses.

I spoke with many of you about the importance of studying math facts with your child.  Please check out the math links on our classroom website http://mrsgalt.blogspot.com/

You should have your child’s Prodigy username and password.  Students seem to love this site, and it is a good way to support our math work.

Reviewing your child’s math homework and reading log with them is also a great way to support your child’s academic growth.  Thank you!

I am excited to announce that we are beginning our Wetland Life Cycles lessons with Thorne Nature Experience on Thursday, October 27th .  A teacher from Thorne will be working with students during three progressive visits to extend our Plant and Animal Life Cycles unit.  Please ask your child about what they learned and did during these lessons on October 27th, November 3rd, and November 10th.  Thank you to our PTA for funding our work with Thorne!

Important Dates to Remember:

Saturday, October 22nd: Kohl Carnival

Friday, October 28th: Fall Party 1:30-2:30

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, October 7th

Dear Parents,

Happy Friday!  We had a fantastic and busy week.

The online sign up for parent-teacher conferences is open. https://sites.google.com/a/bvsd.org/kohl-conferences/  Thank you to the many parents who have already signed up. I am looking forward to sharing your child's progress and setting some goals for this year. If for some reason these dates do not work for your schedule, please let me know so we can arrange another time to meet. It is important that I communicate with all my families during conference time.  Your child is welcome to come to the conference.

We completed all of the instruction for the multiplications and divisions facts 0-10 and will begin our math dashes on Tuesday. These are short quizzes testing students recall of multiplication and division facts. Students will take a dash almost each day until they complete all of them. When they are finished with all 32 quizzes, they will get an ice cream sandwich! Please have them continue to study everyday! It is so important to build a strong foundation in math for the upcoming years ahead. Studying overnight for at least 15 minutes will have your child feeling strong in their math facts.

Our first field trip is next Friday. If you have not returned the permission slip and fee, please do so no later than Thursday. If you need help with all or part of the fee, please let me know. Your child will need to dress nicely, as we are going to the theater, and bring a sack lunch and drink.

There is NO SCHOOL on Monday. It is a teacher professional development day.

Our Fall Party is scheduled for October 28. Please watch for an email from our room mom regarding this event.

Our room mom is also in charge of the 3rd-grade basket for the Kohl Carnival, which is on Saturday, October 22nd

.  Please watch for that email as well and consider donating to the basket. Our basket theme is SPORTS. Thank you!

Please continue to support your child with regular math fact practice. The following websites are great resources for fact practice.

www.playkidsgames.com/games/mathfact/default.htm

www.mathfactcafe.com/

www.factmonster.com/math/flashcards.html

The following free iPad Applications are also great for math practice:

Flash To Pass, Counting Money, Rocket Math, My Math Flash Cards.

Important Dates to Remember

Monday, October 10th NO SCHOOL Teacher Professional Development

Wednesday, October 12th Jog-a-Thon pledges due

Thursday, October 13th-October 18th Book Fair

Thursday, October 13th Parent Teacher Conferences

Friday, October 14th Boulder Dinner Theater Field Trip (Sack lunches needed)

Tuesday, October 18th Parent Teacher Conferences

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

September 23, 2016

Dear Parents,

Today in Friday folders you will find a permission slip for our first field trip. We will be going to see "Cinderella" at the Boulder Dinner Theater, as part of our unit on writing adapted fairy tales. Please return the permission slip and fee of $10 ($7 for the show and $3 to help with the bus cost) as soon as possible. This is a short trip so we will not need any parent volunteers for this one. Sorry. 

Our first math test will be next week, probably on Wednesday. Please make sure your child practices their multiplication/division facts for 0,1,2,3,4,5,9, and 10s. The test will cover word problems using these facts, as well as straight computation, multiplying using arrays, breaking up arrays into two smaller rectangles and solving for the larger rectangle, and using multiplication to find answers to division problems.

Finally, Jogathon collection envelopes are coming home today in Friday folders. The Jogathon is next Friday, September 30 from 9:45-10:20. This is one of our biggest fundraisers so please help your child call friends and family for donations/pledges. Also, if anyone has names of businesses to turn in, we will send letters written by our students to those businesses to get donations. So far, only two families has returned their address labels for this. 

Have a great weekend. 

Aisha Galt

September 16, 2016

Dear Parents,

It's been a great week again in third grade!

We would like to thank JK Hill, our special guest author and father of Joel in Mr. Greenwald's room, for reading to us from his book, "Freddy's Firecracker Fiasco." The kids loved the book! If you are interested in ordering a copy for home, you can go to jkhill.webs.com.

Literacy

This week during literacy we continued working on Personal Narratives. Most students have written a few small moment personal narratives.  Next week, students will revise, edit, and publish one of their narratives. Our next writing unit is Adapted Fairytales. In this unit, students will read and hear many fairy tales, both the classic and adapted versions. Then they will be writing their own adapted fairy tales. This is a fun unit and the kids get very creative with their writing. As a way to celebrate our writing, we will be going on a field trip to Boulder's Dinner Theater on October 14th  to see their version of "Cinderella." More information will come on this as we get closer.

Math

This week we continued to work on multiplication and division. Your child has now been introduced to the multiplications/divisions for 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10. Please continue to encourage your child to spend 5 minutes a day practicing these facts. Our expectation is that our third graders will be fluent with all the facts through 10s by the end of this year. The more practice, the easier it gets.

Social Studies

We have been working on a unit about our community. This week we talked about who works in a community and the difference between public and private services. The kids even had a chance to think and write about what job they might be interested in when they grow up. Next week, we will be exploring who works at City Hall and talking a little about how the government works in a local setting.

Homework

Please be sure to check your child’s weekly homework each night. I have noticed that the Dictado sentences are not being carefully written with correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. This shows in their Dictado quizzes on Friday’s. Please also remember to sign the reading log. Thank you for your help with this.

All of the 3rd-graders completed the pre-assessment work for the writing assessment, which will take place on Monday, September 19th. This is the assessment day that you all signed up for. Your child will need to come to school for that one hour (8:30-9:30 or 9:45-10:45) to complete the writing portion of the assessment.  Please drop off and pick up your child in front of the school. Thank you!

The assigned assessments times are below.

Session 1-8:30-9:30: Savannah, Zach, Caleb, Annie, Taylor H., Kaylar, Rileigh, Eric, Dorian, Carter, Lyzelle, Joaquin, Beth, Zac, Andres

Session 2-9:45-10:45:  Lizzie, Lily, Allen, Ceclia, Taylor D., Keira, Hailey, Elijah, Marcel, Miles, Jack, Kaylee

Important Dates:

Monday, September 19- Assessment Day

Monday, September 19- iPie day- Yum!!

Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

September 2, 2016

Dear Parents,

It has been a good week in third grade!  Students are learning our classroom structures quickly and seem motivated to do their best work. 

Thank you to those of you who have had a chance to pay our $8 third grade fee.  This money is used for project supplies and supplemental reading materials.  If you have not had a chance to turn this money in, please send it to school with your child as soon as possible.  You can also drop it off at the front office.  Thank you! 

We are excited to have a Chromebook cart for the third grade this year!  30 new Chromebooks will greatly improve our access to technology and ability to have all students use computers as learning tool on a regular basis.  Students are encouraged to bring a pair of earbuds or earphones to school.  They will keep them in their desk for the school year.

Important Calendar Dates:

1. Monday, September 5th- NO SCHOOL- Labor Day

2. Individual Picture Day-Thursday, September 8^rd Please turn in your order form, if you would like pictures.

3. Monday, September 19^th Assessment Day- Please see details below

Homework:

Official homework started this week. Here is the information again about when homework is due and how to know what the homework is each day. 

On Monday your child will bring home a reading log/Dictado practice and a Mystery State. This is weekly homework and is due on Friday. Your child should create a plan at home to complete this part of homework during the week.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we will have math homework. This usually comes home in their purple math homework book. Each assigned page will have the day's date at the top and the assigned problems to complete. Some children have also decided to put a sticky note on the page to help them find the assignment easily at home. 

If your child misses some homework, they will bring home a pink slip as a reminder to you and them to complete and return the homework the next day. Please sign the pink slip and make sure they return with their completed assignments the next school day. 

Assessments:

I completed the math screeners with each child this week. We are also done with the iReady reading assessment. I will be sharing results of both assessments during parent/teacher conferences in October.

ASSESSMENT DAY- Monday, September 19th

Third grade will be using the assessment day on September 19th to complete the beginning of the year writing assessment. Please be sure to have your child here the Friday before (Sept. 16) and that Monday for the assessment. This is critical time for us to be able to see your child's writing development so far and to plan instruction for the year. We will be offering two time periods for your child to come on September 19th. You will drop your child off and pick them up at the front of the school.  Please plan for them to be here for the full hour. Thank you!

Please choose one and let me know which session your child will attend. You can respond to me via email or a note.  Thank you!  

Session 1- 8:30-9:30

Session 2- 9:45-10:45

Have a fun and safe three day weekend. See you on Tuesday!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, August 26th

QUICK REMINDERS:

1. NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th - LABOR DAY

2. Individual Picture Day-Thursday, September 8rd  Don’t forget to turn in your order form, if you would like pictures.

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, we will start Dictado. This sentence dictation activity is one element of our spelling and writing instruction.  The weekly Dictado sentence will contain some words from the BVSD 3rd grade Must Write word list. The list contains 100 words third graders must master by the end of the year. I put a link on my website with all 100 words so you can help your child practice these words at home. https://docs.google.com/a/bvsd.org/file/d/0B539GG5UwPlvSTU3ck45bEgzTlk/edit

Next week, we will also review sentence and basic paragraph structure.  We will use these tools to begin writing small moment personal narratives.  Please ask your child what they are writing about to strengthen their storytelling experiences.

On Thursday, Mrs. Sbrocca will be completing a reading assessment using i-Ready with students. We started using this reading assessment two years ago 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 a few students. I will continue assessing students next week.  This information gives me a snapshot of where your child is in math.  We also started our first math unit on Multiplication and Division. Students will begin nightly math homework on Tuesday, September 30th. 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 Reminder:

We will begin our regular homework routine next week.

On Monday students will be assigned a reading log, which will include their weekly Dictado sentence assignment.  They will also be assigned a mystery state.  These assignments are due on Friday. Students will have math homework on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Math assignments are due following day.

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 an awful experience. Please keep the lines of communication open with me if you are experiencing any issues with homework. I am here to help.

I hope you all have a safe and relaxing weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Welcome Update

August 19^th, 2016

           

Dear Parents,

We had a great first two days together in third grade!! This is a wonderful group of kids who seem ready and eager to learn.  It was fun to learn about each other through the sharing of the All About Me bags.  Building community is an important part of these first few weeks of school.  This sharing assignment allows us to realize some of our similarities and differences. 

I will be writing newsletters to update you on what’s happening in our classroom, give reminders about upcoming events, and to share any news we might have.  I plan to email the newsletters as well as post them on my website so you will be able to access them at any time during the year if needed.  www.mrsgalt.blogspot.com

Reminders:

Snacks:

Students will have snack each day in the morning, and they can have another snack in the afternoon if they would like. I do not provide snack so please be sure to send a healthy snack with your child. Water bottles are encouraged.  Please label bottles with your child’s name.  Thank you!

Homework:

We will not be assigning homework until the week of August 29^th.  We will talk about our homework routine next week, and I will go over it in detail during our back to school night.

Important Dates for Your Calendar:

Tuesday, August 23^rd-Back to School Night 5:30-6:30

Monday, September 5^th - NO SCHOOL- Labor Day

Thursday, September 8^th - Picture Day

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. You can contact me by email aisha.galt-theis@bvsd.org or by phone 720-561-8616.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

720-561-8616