Friday, December 22nd, 2017

The week of January 8th we have PE on Tuesday and Friday

Dear Parents,

I can't believe it is already winter break. This year is flying by so quickly!

Thank you to our room mother, Chamisa Logemann, and all of the other parents who made our winter party a success.  The kids had a blast!

I would like to say thank you for all of the wonderful gifts. I feel blessed to be able to spend each day teaching your children and loved by all your thoughtfulness. Thank you.

Please continue to collect Box Tops!  This is a great and easy way to support our school.  Student council will be sponsoring another Box Top contest after winter break.

Literacy:

This week students worked on publishing one of their opinion pieces.  They will be hanging in the hall for our school community to read after winter break. After break we will begin a narrative writing unit using fairy tales as the structure to write our own “fractured” fairy tales.

Math:

We started Unit 4, Addition and Subtraction of Multidigit Numbers this week and spent a few days reviewing place value.  We will continue this unit when we return from break. I know you keep hearing me say practice math facts, but memorized multiplication and division facts 1-10 and subtraction and addition facts through sums of 20 are imperative for fluent problem solving as math content gets more difficult.  The car is a great place to practice math facts, your kids can quiz you too, which can make it more fun for them. 

Social Studies:

This week we continued our unit on Regions of the United States.  We will finish up this unit shortly after we return from winter break.

Homework Ideas for Winter Break

• Encourage your child to read independently and with you.  Take some time to talk about the texts.

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons

• Practice addition and subtraction facts sums through 20
• Practice all X and / (0-10) 5-10 minutes daily

• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember

Saturday, December 22-January 8 Winter Break

Tuesday, January 9 First day back after Winter Break

Thank you again for supporting your kids every day! Happy holidays and have a safe and restful break.  See you all in 2018!!

Students first day back  is Tuesday, January 9th.

Sincerely,
Aisha Galt

Friday, December 15, 2017

Next week we have PE on Wednesday

Dear Parents,

We had another good week in third grade.  There is definitely a building holiday energy in the air!

The Kohl Spelling Bee was this week. Our students, Kierra Logemann and Caylin Schwab, did a great job! We are so proud of their hard work.

Please continue to collect Box Tops!  This is a great and easy way to support our school. Student council will be sponsoring another Box Top contest after winter break.

Literacy:

Students are working on publishing an opinion writing piece. When we return from winter break, students will begin our second narrative writing unit.  We will be reading and analyzing traditional fairy tales, and students will be writing their own version of a well known fairy tale.  This is a fun unit for everyone!

Math:

We finished up our math unit on Measurement, Time and Graphing this week. The graded unit test will be in your child’s Friday folder next week.  On Monday we will start Unit 4, Addition and Subtraction of Multidigit Numbers. Our next math homework packet will not be sent home until after winter break.  Please continue to practice addition and subtraction facts through 20 and multiplication and division facts 1-10 nightly.  We had a math summit on Wednesday this week, and fourth grade teachers really stressed the importance of memorized math facts.  The MobyMax site has two great math folders, Fact Fluency and Math, that your child can use to support math homework practice.

Social Studies:

This week we continued our unit on Regions of the United States by learning about landforms and how landforms affect human life.  We also started studying key characteristics about individual regions: landforms and bodies of water, climate, products and natural resources, culture, and landmarks.  Students will compare and contrast these characteristics for the 5 major regions of the United States.

We are not assigning a mystery state or a Dictado sentence next week.  Happy holidays!

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.

• Practice all X and / (0-10) 5-10 minutes daily

• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember

Friday, December 22 Winter Party 1:30-2:30

Saturday, December 22-January 8 Winter Break

Tuesday, January 9 First day back after Winter Break

Have a fantastic weekend!

Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

Friday, December 8, 2017

Next week we have PE onTuesday and Friday

Dear Parents,

This was another busy week in third grade. Students spent some time developing their phonics, comprehension, and vocabulary skills through daily short iReady lessons.  We will be completing the winter iReady Diagnostic test next week.  Please encourage your child to do their best!  

The math review homework packets are due this Monday, December 11th. I hope that your child has been working on this assignment consistently.  It was not meant to feel like an overwhelming assignment, but rather a nightly practice of materials that students should be familiar.  I will send the next math homework packet home after winter break. The MobyMax site has two great math folders: Fact Fluency and Math that your child can use to support math homework practice.

Please continue to collect Box Tops!  This is a great and easy way to support our school. Student council will be sponsoring another Box Top contest after winter break.

Literacy:

This week we continued working on opinion writing.  Students wrote a piece about an opinion topic of their choice and a piece about the best pet for an apartment that was supported by facts from a text that we read as a class. I encourage you to have conversations about personal opinions with your child.  Model sharing clear reasons for an opinion that are supported by facts.  When students can talk about their opinions with clear reasons, it makes writing about their opinions much easier.  

Math:

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  create and use graphs to solve problems.  Our unit 3 test will be on Friday, December 15th.

Social Studies:

This week we continued our unit on Regions of the United States by learning about how to find places on a map using latitude and longitude. We also worked on building vocabulary to support our learning during this unit.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.

• Check in with your child about their Mystery State assignment.  Help your child practice their Dictado sentence.  This should be written in their homework notebook each week and should be written each night at home.
• Practice all X and / (0-10) 5-10 minutes daily

• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember

Monday, December 11 Math packets due

Friday, December 22 Winter Party 1:30-2:30

Saturday, December 22-January 8 Winter Break

Tuesday, January 9 First day back after Winter Break

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

Friday, December 1, 2017

Next week we have PE on Monday and Thursday

Dear Parents,

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving break and had great food and fun with family and friends. We have jumped right back into our daily routine in third grade this week, and we have been busy, busy!

Tuesday was our last meeting with the teachers from Thorne. We really enjoyed learning about the wetlands and reviewing life cycles with them. Thanks once again to our generous PTA for providing the funds for this wonderful extension to our science program at Kohl.

This week we noticed that many students were missing their nightly Dictado practice in their homework notebooks. Also, many students are not using ReadingPlus/iReady at home at least once a week. Please help support your child with these weekly assignments. Thank you!

Literacy:

This week we started working on writing an opinion piece supported by facts, both from a text and on our own. All of the students wrote a piece about the importance of recycling and used evidence from the text to support their opinion.  We have also been working on understanding what the main idea of a text is and how we can use that to find the supporting details.

Math:

We are working on telling time to the hour, quarter hour, half hour, 5 minutes and minute. Most of this is review from second grade. Next week, we will use time telling skills to understand how to compute elapsed time problems. This is a more difficult concept.  Please support your child with practice telling time and calculating elapsed time at home.  Thank you!

Don’t forget to have your child work on the math packet. These are due on December 11.

Social Studies:

This week we continued our unit on Regions of the United States by learning about how to find places on a map using latitude and longitude. We also worked on building vocabulary to support our learning during this unit.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.

• Check in with your child about their Mystery State assignment.  Help your child practice their Dictado sentence.  This should be written in their homework notebook each week and should be written each night at home.
• Practice all X and / (0-10) 5-10 minutes daily

• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember

Thursday, December 7 Vision and Hearing Screening

Friday, December 22 Winter Party 1:30-2:30

Saturday, December 22-January 8 Winter Break

Tuesday, January 9 First day back after Winter Break

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

Friday, November 17th

The week of November 27th, we have PE on Wednesday

Dear Parents,

We had a fantastic time at the Mary Poppins play!  The Backstory Theater productions are always impressive!  

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

I wanted to congratulate our Kohl Spelling Bee finalists. Kierra Logemann and Caylin Schwab will represent our third grade class in the spelling bee. Stella Rebora is our alternate.  The spelling bee is scheduled for Thursday, December 14th in the afternoon.

We enjoyed our  Wetland Life Cycles lessons with Thorne Nature Experience on Tuesday, November 14h.  A teacher from Thorne will be working with students during one more visit on November 28th to extend our Plant and Animal Life Cycles unit.   Thank you to our PTA for funding our work with Thorne!

Math:
We have been working on measurement using both US Customary units and Metric units this week. After Thanksgiving we will work on telling time and calculating elapsed time. After that, we will use graphs to understand data.  Please continue to support your child with their nightly math fact practice. We are still doing daily math dashes to help keep up those skills.

Social Studies

We started a social studies unit about regions of the United States this week and will continue this unit when we return from break.

Literacy

This week we spent some time learning about Thanksgiving. We watched a video and read about the Thanksgiving holiday and then used that information to continue our practice of writing informative paragraphs.  

We will begin opinion writing after break.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.

• Check in with your child about their Mystery State assignment.  
• Help your child practice their Dictado sentence.  This should be written in their homework notebook each week and students should practice writing the sentence nightly.
• Practice math X and / facts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10. 5 minutes daily

• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  We will continue to use it at least once a week at school.  It is a great resource as it adjusts content and pace for each student’s level and needs.
• Unit 2 Math Homework Practice packet Due December 11th

https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember

November 21st-24th- No School Thanksgiving Break

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

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Thursday, November 9th

Next week we have PE on Tuesday and Friday

Dear Parents,

Friday, November 3rd was 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 be available through the Infinite Campus Parent Portal starting on Monday, November 13th.  This online access format for parents is new for all of us.  

We all enjoyed our  Wetland Life Cycles lessons with Thorne Nature Experience on Tuesday, November 7th.  A teacher from Thorne will be working with students during two more  visits to extend our Plant and Animal Life Cycles unit.  Please ask your child about what they learned and activities they did during these lessons on November 14th, and November 28th.  Thank you to our PTA for funding our work with Thorne!

On Friday, November 17, we will be going on a field trip to see "Mary Poppins" at the Broomfield Auditorium. We can take up to 3 parents with us on this trip and we will be walking. Please be sure to sign the permission slip in the Friday folder and return it as soon as possible. If I have more than 3 parents who want to go I will draw names.

As you know, your child received a copy of Spelling Bee study words in their Friday folder a few.  If your child is interested in participating in the Kohl Spelling Bee, they may want to study these words over the next few weeks.  We will be giving all third graders a spelling bee screening test next week to determine our three classroom spelling bee participants.  These tests will not be graded for a classroom grade.  They are just a screener for us to qualify students for the spelling bee.

Math:

Last 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.

We started Unit 3, which is Measurement, TIme and Graphing. This unit is a bit shorter and will be completed shortly after Thanksgiving break.

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, butterflies, and pea plants in our classroom. We will begin a social studies unit about regions of the United States the week of November 13th.

Literacy:

Students are reading and writing informative texts.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.

• Check in with your child about their Mystery State assignment.  
• Help your child practice their Dictado sentence.  This should be written in their homework notebook each week and students should practice writing the sentence nightly.
• Practice math X and / facts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10. 5 minutes daily

• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  We will continue to use it at least once a week at school.  It is a great resource as it adjusts content and pace for each student’s level and needs.
• Unit 2 Math Homework Practice packet Due December 11th

https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember

Friday, November 10th- No School Veteran’s Day

Friday, November 17th- Field Trip- Mary Poppins (sack lunch needed)

November 21st-24th- No School Thanksgiving Break

Enjoy the long weekend.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, November 3rd

Next week we have PE on Wednesday

Dear Parents,

Happy Friday!  It has been quite a week with Halloween falling on Tuesday.  

I am excited to announce that we are beginning our Wetland Life Cycles lessons with Thorne Nature Experience on Tuesday, November 7th.  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 activities they did during these lessons on November 7th, November 14th, and November 28th. Thank you to our PTA for funding our work with Thorne!

Your child received a copy of Spelling Bee study words in their Friday folder last week.  If your child is interested in participating in the Kohl Spelling Bee, they may want to study these words over the next few weeks.  We will be giving all third graders a spelling bee screening test the week before Thanksgiving break to determine our three classroom spelling bee participants.  These tests will not be graded for a classroom grade.  They are just a screener for us to qualify students for the spelling bee.

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 of 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 took our Unit 2 math test today. It will come home in Friday folders next week. Our next unit will be Measurement, Time, and Graphs.

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, butterflies, and pea plants in our classroom. We will begin a social studies unit about regions of the United States the week of November 13th.

Literacy

Students are reading and writing informative texts.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.

• Check in with your child about their Mystery State assignment.  
• Help your child practice their Dictado sentence.  This should be written in their homework notebook each week and students should practice writing the sentence nightly.
• Practice math X and / facts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10. 5 minutes daily

• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  We have used this site once in class and will continue to use it at least once a week at school.  It is a great resource as it adjusts content and pace for each student’s level and needs.https://www.mobymax.com/signin
• Unit 2 Math Homework Practice packet Due December 11th

Important Dates to Remember

Friday, November 10th- No School Veteran’s Day

Have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

 

Homework Update

November 2, 2017

Dear Parents,

In an effort to build a love of learning and create a less stressful environment at home, we have tried to come up with a homework plan to help families support their children academically while still finding time for activities and family. There has been a lot of talk about what “homework” should look like this year at Kohl, and maybe some misunderstandings about the idea of having “no homework” at all.  Kids need to do some sort of academic practice at home in order to reinforce the concepts they are learning in class. After talking with you during parent/teacher conferences, it became clear that we need to clarify expectations, make a few changes, and outline a way to make it all work.

Below, is a list of some of the ideas we have about how to make this all work and the expectations we have for your child’s home practice. Slight changes are in bold red.

What we have offered for home practice:

• iReady lessons (certain students)
• ReadingPlus lessons (certain students)

Students should use their assigned reading program at least once a week for 15-20 min.  I will be be checking the iReady and ReadyPlus programs on Friday to see if they are completing this assignment at home.  If your child does not have access to a computer at home, please let me know.

• MobyMax for math and fact practice. MobyMax also has several other content components that are optional
• Multiplication/division fact practice (this can be done on the computer, with flash cards, Learning WrapUps (learningwrapups.com or amazon), practicing math dashes, pages from math book in the homework folder, etc)
• Reading at home (20-30 minutes)
• Dictado Students write their weekly Dictado sentence in their homework notebook. Students need write this sentence in their homework at least once each night.  I will be checking for their weekly written Dictado practice on Fridays
• Mystery State
• Math packet for completed math unit.  After we finish a math unit, I will be sending home a math homework packet.  Our first math packet will come home in homework folders on Monday, November 6th. Students should work on completing this packet consistently throughout the week.  Packets, will have a set due date and directions attached.

How do you fit it all it without going crazy?!

Children should be doing about 30 minutes of “homework” practice each night. This can look different each night and also will depend on whether or not you have other things going on- i.e. sports practice, music lessons, special family events, etc.

Example week:

Monday night: Complete Mystery State, write Dictado sentence once, choice read for 15 min 

Tuesday night: iReady or Reading Plus lessons - (20 minutes), write Dictado sentence, practice math facts AND/OR do a math page from the math packet 

Wednesday night: Choice read or iReady/Reading Plus lessons, Dictado, practice math facts AND/OR math packet work 

Thursday- Choice read, practice Dictado, practice math facts AND/OR math packet work 

Friday, Saturday, Sunday- choice read 20-30 minutes before bed, practice math facts AND/OR math packet work 

Occasionally your child will have “extra” work to do at home that they did not finish in class or possibly an extra project (like the book reports). In this case, your child would complete the extra work and if they have time, go back to the original schedule, again, taking only 30-40 minutes of time in the evening.

You know your child and know what works best. Your child may need breaks between activities, a little less time or maybe a little more time. Overall, you should NOT be spending hours on homework. No more than 40 minutes total in one evening is sufficient for any 3rd grader. If you get to that point, stop and call it a night.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding “homework” or anything else. I am always happy to talk with you.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, October 27th, 2017

Next week we have PE on Tuesday and Friday

Dear Parents,

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful day! Clearly, we have started experiencing our lovely Colorado winter weather with snow one day and sun the next.  Please remind your child to dress for the weather.  Thank you!

Thank you to our room mom, Chamisa Logemann, and all of the parents who helped make our fall party a success.  The kids had a fantastic time.  Chamisa and I would also like to thank all of the parents who made donations to our Trunk or Treat Basket.  It sounds like it will be quite a prize for whoever wins our Third Grade Money Tree basket!

Your child has a copy of Spelling Bee study words in their Friday folder.  If your child is interested in participating in the Kohl Spelling Bee, they may want to study these words over the next few weeks.  We will be giving all third graders a spelling bee screening test the week before Thanksgiving break to determine our three classroom spelling bee participants.  These tests will not be graded for a classroom grade.  They are just a screener for us to qualify students for the spelling bee.

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. Rolling two ten sided dice is a fun way to practice facts. The fact fluency folder on MobyMax also provides a good platform for students to practice +,-, X, and / facts. Learning Wrap-ups are another fun way to practice. They are an inexpensive tool for kids to use to practice their facts anywhere. You can find them at learningwrapups.com or on amazon.

You should have your child’s MobyMax, Reading Plus, and iReady username and passwords. Please have your use Reading Plus or iReady at least once a week.  

Thank you for supporting your child with their book report projects. Students will share them next week.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.

• Check in with your child about their Mystery State assignment.  
• Help your child practice their Dictado sentence.  This should be written in their homework notebook each week.  They should practice writing the sentence in their homework notebook each day after school.
• Practice math X and / facts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10. 5 to 10 minutes daily

• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  We have used this site once in class and will continue to use it at least once a week at school.  It is a great resource as it adjusts content and pace for each student’s level and needs.

https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember

Friday, October 27th- Trunk or Treat 5:30-7:30

Friday, November 10th- No School Veteran’s Day

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

Friday, October 20th, 2017

Next week we have PE on Monday and Thursday

Dear Parents,

Happy Friday!  We had a great time at the zoo. Thank you so much to our parent volunteers who made this trip possible. Our students will be using the information they collected at the zoo for a special project next week.

Conferences are scheduled for next week, Tuesday, October 24th and Thursday, October 26h. Thank you in advance for signing 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.

Our Fall Party is scheduled for Friday, October 27th. You should have received an email from our room mom regarding this event. Our room mom is also in charge of the 3rd-grade basket for the Kohl Truck or Treat, which is on Friday, October 27th. Thank you for all your donations for the basket.

Our first science unit, Life Cycles, has begun. We are currently observing the life cycles of pea plants, caterpillars, and a tadpole in the classroom.  Our caterpillars are in their chrysalis’, and our tadpole is starting to get his hind legs! Lots of awesome changes are happening! This week we learned about the characteristics of living, non-living and dead things as well as the different stages of the plant life cycle. Next week we will start working with animal life cycles.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• Work on the book report project! We have a rolling due date: October 25th, 26th or 27th.

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.

• Check in with your child about their Mystery State assignment.  Help your child practice their Dictado sentence.  This should be written in their homework notebook each week.
• Practice math X and / facts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10. 5 minutes daily

• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  We have used this site once in class and will continue to use it at least once a week at school.  It is a great resource as it adjusts content and pace for each student’s level and needs.

https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember

Tuesday, October 24th and Thursday, October 26th- Parent-teacher conferences

Friday, October 27th-Fall Party 1:30-2:30 Parents are welcome to join us in our classroom to celebrate.

Friday, October 27th- Trunk or Treat 5:30-7:30

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, October 13, 2017

Next week we have PE on Wednesday

Dear Parents,

I hope you are all well.  I had to take an unexpected sub day yesterday because one of my boys and my mom, who is my childcare person, was sick.  They are both feeling much better today.  I am going to send the book report assignment home again on Monday, just to be sure students have exactly what they need.  

Thank you to those of you who have signed up for parent teacher conferences. Conferences are scheduled for Tuesday, October 24th and Thursday, October 26th. 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 assigned our first homework book report project this week! Your child has been introduced to the options available, and they have chosen a book report project. The directions are in your child’s Friday folder. These projects are designed to help build essential reading skills and to challenge students to use their critical thinking and creativity to show what they are reading at home. Please sit down with your child and talk about which book to do this project on, it should be a book that they have been reading at home. The book does not have to be approved by me, but please make sure the book will work with the project they have selected. We have a rolling due date for completed projects. They should be returned to school and ready to present on October 25th, 26th, or 27th.

We started our second chapter in math; Multiplication and Division with 6s, 7s, 8s and Multiplying with Multiples of 10. Please continue to support your child with nightly multiplication and division math fact practice. This practice is imperative for fact memorization. We have also started daily math dashes (timed multiplication and division tests). I can see who is practicing at home by the many tests they are passing. Thank you for your at-home support!

In science, we are starting to learn about plant and animal life cycles.  We will be comparing the life cycles of a pea plant, butterfly, and a frog through hands-on explorations in our classroom.
We also started a health and safety unit through a project based learning platform.  Students learned about the importance of breakfast, sleep, exercise, hand washing, and fire and bike safety.  They were also introduced to the five food groups and the risks of smoking.  Each student will work with a small group to create a project that teaches our classroom more about a health and safety topic that they feel strongly about. Please ask your child about what they are working on.

Our first field trip is scheduled for Friday, October 20th. If you have not returned the permission slip and fee, please do as soon as possible. f you need help with all or part of the fee, please let me know.  Thank you to our chaperones: Chamisa Logemann, Sheila Wogen, Nancy Saha, Linda Gutmann, and Stephanie Schwab.  You will need a sack lunch and $5 for the zoo entrance fee.  Please come to our classroom at 9:10.  Thank you! If you hope to join us for the trip but are not listed above, please let me know as soon as possible.  You must have completed a BVSD approved background check to join us on the trip.  

Our Fall Party is scheduled for Friday, October 27th. You should have received an email from our room mom regarding this event. Our room mom is also in charge of the 3rd-grade basket for the Kohl Truck or Treat, which is on Friday, October 27th.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• Work on the book report project!

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.

• Check in with your child about their Mystery State assignment.  Help your child practice their Dictado sentence.  This should be written in their homework notebook each week.
• Practice math X and / facts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7, 8, 9, and 10. 5 minutes daily

• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  It is a great resource as it adjusts content and pace for each student’s level and needs. The Fact Fluency folder on MobyMax is a great place for students to practice math facts.  

https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember

Friday, October 13th NO SCHOOL Teacher Professional Development

Tuesday, October 17th Jog-a-Thon pledges due

Friday, October 20- Field Trip to Denver Zoo

Tuesday, October 24th and Thursday, October 26th- Parent-teacher conferences

Friday, October 27th-Fall Party 1:30-2:30 Parents are welcome to join us in our classroom to celebrate.

Friday, October 27th- Trunk or Treat 5:30-7:30

Enjoy the long weekend!
Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, October 6th, 2017

Next week we have PE on Monday and Thursday

Dear Parents,

Happy Friday!  We had a fantastic and busy week.

The online sign up for parent-teacher conferences will be sent to you in the next few days. Conferences are scheduled for Tuesday, October 24th and Thursday, October 26h. Thank you in advance for signing 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 had our first unit math test, which is in your child’s Friday folder, and started math dashes this week. Math dashes 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 quizzes, they will get an ice cream sandwich!. At this point, many students are still using their fingers to count up by numbers to multiply and divide, and this is appropriate for this time of year.  Students should have their multiplication and division facts  1-10 memorized by the end of the school year.  Your child should have a math fact study folder in their homework folder to help them study at home. Please have them continue to study everyday! It is so important to build a strong foundation in math for the upcoming years ahead.

Our first field trip is scheduled for Friday, October 20th. If you have not returned the permission slip and fee, please do as soon as possible. If you need help with all or part of the fee, please let me know.

Our Fall Party is scheduled for Friday, October 27th. Please watch for an email next week regarding this event. Our room mom is also working on the 3rd-grade basket for the Kohl Truck or Treat, which is on Friday, October 27th.

We are finishing up with our communities and local government unit, and will begin our first science unit: Plant and Animal Life Cycles next week. Thank you to Jake Hiebert, Kylee’s dad (3Gr), who visited our class to talk about his work as a firefighter.  All of our guest speakers were a great addition to this unit.  

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.

• Check in with your child about their Mystery State assignment.  Help your child practice their Dictado sentence.  This should be written in their homework notebook each week.
• Practice math X and / facts 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10. 5 minutes daily

• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  We have used this site once in class and will continue to use it at least once a week at school.  It is a great resource as it adjusts content and pace for each student’s level and needs.

https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember

Friday, October 13th NO SCHOOL Teacher Professional Development

Tuesday, October 17th Jog-a-Thon pledges due

Friday, October 20- Field Trip to Denver Zoo

Tuesday, October 24th and Thursday, October 26th- Parent-teacher conferences

Friday, October 27th-Fall Party 1:30-2:30 Parents are welcome to join us in our classroom to celebrate.

Friday, October 27th- Trunk or Treat 5:30-7:30

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Have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt