Thursday, April 26, 2018

Next week we have PE on Monday and Thursday.

Dear Parents,

This week we were back to our normal schedule, and we had a very busy week. We are, once again, sending home Dictado and Mystery State until the end of the year.

I did not send Friday folders home today.  They will come home next Friday, May 4th. 

We still have a bit of End of Year testing to complete for the district. This week we completed the math test, next week we will complete a writing assessment, and the following week we will complete the final iReady reading assessment. We are doing our best to spread it out a bit so it is not as impactful on the rest of our learning.

Our 7th grade buddies visited us on Wednesday and shared their drafts of the stories they are writing. Our 3rd graders helped with some revising of the stories. After they finished they enjoyed some time together reviewing parts of speech by completing a fun Mad-Lib activity. Our next meeting will be a walking field trip to Miramonte Park to receive our books and celebrate our partnership. Look for the permission slip to come home next week. We will not be taking any parent volunteers for this quick trip.

Our field trip to Morrison Natural History Museum is next Thursday, May 3. Thank you to our volunteer parents (Mary Beth Burke, Cassie Egerter, Stephanie Schwab, Nancy Saha, Chamisa Logemann, Linda Gutmann, and Megan West)  for helping us on this trip. Please plan on being at school by 8:45. You will need to bring a sack lunch, drink, and $7 for museum admissions. (I know a few of you have already paid the $7.  Thank you!). If you have not had a chance to return the permission slip and fee, please do so as soon as possible. If you are having financial difficulties and cannot afford the fee, please let me know.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• New math packets are due May 8th.
• Complete the weekly mystery state and Dictado assignment.
• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.
• Practice all X and /, + and - , 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, April 30- Author visit

Wednesday, May 2- Talent Show 8:30 am

Thursday, May 3- Field trip to Morrison Natural History Museum

Tuesday, May 8- Field Daze 12:15-2:00

Wednesday, May 16th- 7th grade buddies in the park

Thursday, May 24- Last day of 3rd grade!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely, 

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, April 20, 2018

Next week we have PE on Wednesday.

Dear Parents,

Congratulations to all our hard working 3rd graders! They have completed their first PARCC/CMAS tests. I am so proud of how hard they worked. Results will be available to you sometime early next school year, typically in late September, but regardless of their score, all the kids worked with determination and focus and that is something to be celebrated!!

Thank you all for joining us at the Kohl Inspiration Exhibition. We loved showing off our slideshows. It was great to see so many current, former and upcoming students.

This week we met our 7th grade buddies for the first time. We got to know each other and the 7th graders interviewed the 3rd graders in preparation for writing their book. We will meet with them again on Wednesday for the next phase of the assignment. Please try to have your child at school that day so they can participate in this wonderful event. Our last meeting will be May 16 at Miramonte Park, where the 7th graders will present the 3rd graders with their books.

Finally, our field trip to Morrison Natural History Museum is May 3. Thank you to our volunteer parents for helping us on this trip. (Mary Beth Burke, Cassie Egerter, Stephanie Schwab, Nancy Saha, Chamisa Logemann, Linda Gutmann, and Megan West)  Please plan on being at school by 8:45. You will need to bring a sack lunch, drink, and $7 for museum admissions. If you have not had a chance to return the permission slip and fee, please do so as soon as possible. If you are having financial difficulties and cannot afford the fee, please let me know.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• New math packets will come home Monday. They are due May 8th.
• Complete the mystery state and write the Dictado sentence each night.
• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.
• Practice all X and /, + and - , 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, April 27- Talent Show 8:30 am

Monday, April 30- Author visit

Thursday, May 3- Field trip to Morrison Natural History Museum

Wednesday, May 16- 7th grade buddies in the park

Thursday, May 24- Last day of 3rd grade!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Thursday, April 12th

Next week we have PE on Tuesday and Friday.

Dear Parents,

Our first week of CMAS/PARCC testing is complete. I am proud of the hard work your children have put into these tests. Please continue to encourage your child to do their best!

This week we completed the ELA (English/Language Arts) sections. Next week we will complete the Math! We are testing on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday next week. There is no school on Monday. During the testing weeks we will have specials from 12:20-1:05. Due to the testing, we will not be sending home a Mystery State or Dictado again next week. Students should be working on completing their current math homework packet.  It is due on Tuesday, April 17th.

April 16 No School	April 17 No Testing	April 18 3rd Math 1 8:30-10:15	April 19 3rd Math 2 8:30-10:15	April 20 3rd Math 3 8:30-10:15

We are planning our last field trip on Thursday, May 3rd to the Morrison Natural History Museum as a culminating activity for our current science unit. Thank you to those of you who have returned the permission slip and money!

We are excited to begin a collaborative writing project with BHMS seventh graders in Mrs. Eaman’s classes.  Each third grader will be partnered with a seventh grader who will write, illustrate, and publish a book especially for their third grade partner. This is an exciting and rewarding creative writing project.  We have participated in this project for many years now, and our third graders have loved the process.This project will begin on Tuesday, April 17th and conclude on Wednesday, May 16. Please make a note of the dates below and add them to your calendar. It is important that our third graders are here on these dates to work with their seventh grade buddy. Seventh graders will be coming to Kohl for the first two visits and then we will meet them at Miramonte park on the third visit for our celebration.

Central to the project is the importance of the writing process:  prewriting, writing, revising, editing, publishing and celebrating.  Some of the specific skills and focus areas will be interviewing, brainstorming for ideas, story writing for a particular audience, vocabulary, plot development, characterization, dialogue, and punctuation.

The purpose of the initial trip (Tuesday, April 17th) will be to get to know one another via an interview as well as brainstorming story ideas.  Third graders will be actively involved by sharing their interests, writing, and favorite books.  The second trip (Friday, April 27th) will allow both parties to share writing: seventh graders the progress draft of the book and third graders will share drafts of their story writing.

The final trip (Wednesday,  May 16th ) will be focused on celebrating the completion/publication of the book.  Each seventh grader will share their book and then give it as a gift to his partner.  This date will be a walking field trip to Miramonte Park. We will send permission slips home with students at the beginning of May.  We will not need chaperones for this trip.

 Literacy:

Students are busy working on their informational Google slide shows to teach others about the state they have been researching. We look forward to sharing these projects at our Kohl Inspiration Exhibition on April 19th.

Math:

In math we started Unit 5: Write Equations to Solve Word Problems.  Please remind your child to continue studying their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. All of these operations will be used in this unit.

Science/Social Studies:

Our current science unit is about Earth Materials. So far, your children have explored the difference between rocks and minerals.

Important Dates to Remember

April 13th and 16th- No School

April 18th Class Pictures

April 18th, 19th, and 20th-Math CMAS/PARCC testing

April 19th-Inspiration Exhibition 4:00-6:00

I hope you enjoy the long weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, April 6th

Next week we have PE on Tuesday.

Dear Parents,

I hope you had a wonderful spring break!  

We are planning our last field trip on Thursday, May 3rd to the Morrison Natural History Museum as a culminating activity for our current science unit. Please return the field trip permission slip and money as soon as possible. We are happy to have parent volunteers on this trip so please let me know if you are able to go and have completed the district background check. Thank you!

CMAS/PARCC testing begins next week.  3rd graders will be taking the tests online each morning. Please make sure your student is at school on time and well fed with a healthy breakfast each day. Please try not to schedule any appointments during this testing time to reduce the number of retakes we have to do at the end. Thank you! NOTE: This is only the 3rd grade testing schedule. If you have 4th or 5th graders, they have more days than this to test.

During the testing weeks we will have specials from 12:20-1:05.

Due to the testing next week and the week after, we will not be sending home a Mystery State or Dictado.

April 9 No Testing	April 10 3rd ELA 1 8:30-10:45 am	April 11 3rd ELA 2 8:30-10:45 am	April 12 3rd ELA 3 9:20-11:35 am	April 13 No School
April 16 No School	April 17 No Testing	April 18 3rd Math 1 8:30-10:15	April 19 3rd Math 2 8:30-10:15	April 20 3rd Math 3 8:30-10:15

We have spent time familiarizing ourselves with the testing format and practicing answering standardized test questions. If your child would like to do some more practicing at home for the tests, follow this link: http://download.pearsonaccessnext.com/co/co-practicetest.html?links=1

Here are some test taking tips that you can share with your child.

1. Eat a good breakfast the morning of the test. Avoid eating sugary foods. High-protein foods are often best for aiding concentration and minimizing fatigue.
2. Get a full night’s sleep before the test.
3. Wear comfortable clothing.
4. Don’t panic. If you start getting anxious, take slow deep breaths. Don’t worry about other people finishing early. It is good to use all available time to double-check your work. Students can bookmark questions that they are stuck on and come back to them later.
5. Check to make sure you have answered all parts of each question.  Many questions are multi-step and/ or require more than one answer.
6. On a multiple choice question, eliminate any answers that you know are incorrect, especially on questions where you are having trouble arriving at the answer. Eliminating a few wrong answers can increase the chances of a random guess being correct.
7. Consider all the answer choices before selecting your final answer.
8. If you have time left over at the end of the test, review your answers.
9. Do your best!

Important Dates to Remember

April 10th, 11th, and 12th-ELA CMAS/PARCC testing.

April 13th and 16th- No School

April 18th, 19th, and 20th-Math CMAS/PARCC testing

April 19th-Inspiration Exhibition 4:00-6:00

I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt