March 16, 2016

Dear Parents,

Time is flying by, and at the end of this week we will be saying hello to Spring Break!

On Friday, we will be having a third grade movie day. Your children have been working on saving their classroom dollars to "buy" a day at the movies. Each third-grade class has earned $500 for this as part of their Economics standard to understand long term and short term savings goals. Your child is welcome to bring a blanket or pillow and a snack for the movie.

PARCC testing begins the week we return from break. The first tests will be English Language Arts (ELA) and will be March 29, 30, and 31 from 8:30-10:20 each morning. Please make sure your child is here at school on time on those dates. If they come to school late, they will have to stay in the office until the class completes testing for the day. Please let the office know immediately if your child will not be at school during the testing. The second tests will be Math on April 6, 7, 8, and 11th from 8:30-10:00.

We have done a little practice testing in class so that your child is familiar with the online setting and tools available for completing the tests. If you are interested in seeing what the tests are like, or your child is interested in practicing a little more, you can find the practice test at these links:

English Language Arts Practice Tests:
Part 1: http://epat-parcc.testnav.com/client/index.html#login?username=PT03E&password=Practice

Part 2: http://epat-parcc.testnav.com/client/index.html#login?username=15EL03PTEO&password=Practice

Math Practice Tests:
Part 1: http://epat-parcc.testnav.com/client/index.html#login?username=15MT03PTEO&password=Practice

Part 2: http://epat-parcc.testnav.com/client/index.html#login?username=PT03M&password=Practice

Be sure you are in either Firefox or Explorer for the test to work. They do not work in Chrome.

Important Dates to Remember  
March 21^st-25^th-Spring Break
March 29^th, 30^th and 31-ELA PARCC tests
April 6^th, 7^th, 8^th, and 11^th- Math PARCC tests

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Thank you,
Aisha Galt

Friday, March 5^th

Dear Parents,

I enjoyed meeting with each of you during our parent teacher conference last week. Although conferences make for long days, I feel energized by these meetings.  You are an incredible group of parents, raising amazing kids.  I commend you for your dedication and hope that you will continue to communicate with me throughout our last trimester to ensure your child’s success in third grade and beyond.  

Students will be completing the PARCC, state standardized, tests when we return from spring break.  The language arts tests will be completed on March 29^th, 30^th, and 31^st.  The math assessments will be completed on April 6^th, 7^th, 8^th and 11^th.  Attendance is very important during these times.  Our tests begin at 8:30 and go until 9:30 to 10:20 depending on the day.  We will complete a few PARCC practice activities over the next couple of weeks to familiarize our students with the format of the online assessment.

Math

Our geometry unit test will be early next week.  Please ask your child questions about what they are learning and review your child’s homework to check for their understanding.  The following are some key vocabulary for this unit: right angle, polygon, quadrilateral, opposite, parallelogram, rectangle, rhombus, square, trapezoid, area, perimeter, square unit, decompose, and dimensions.

Writing

Students have been working very hard to complete their informational animal Google slide shows.  It is impressive to see them navigate the Google slide show program to create a dynamic presentation to share what they know about the animal they chose to research. Students will start sharing their work with the class next week.

Reading

Our class is reading many short stories and non-fiction texts together. We are focusing on identifying details from the text to support student answers. Please continue to take the time to review your child’s reading log to ensure they are thinking more deeply about the texts they are reading at home.  Thank you!

Social Studies/ Science

We are coming to the end of our economics unit.  Students have been learning about the role of needs, wants, producers, consumers, supply, and demand  in our economy.  We will continue our class money system for the next few weeks. This system is helping our students build understanding around the importance of long and short-term financial goals.  Our next science unit is Earth Materials.  Students will complete many hands-on activities to explore the rock cycle and how rocks and minerals are resources for humans.

Important Dates to Remember  

March 21^st-25^th-Spring Break

March 29^th, 30^th and 31-ELA PARCC tests

April 6^th, 7^th, 8^th, and 11^th- Math PARCC tests

I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt