Monday, February 3rd

Monday, February 3rd

Dear Parents,

Our class has earned another compliment celebration!  They voted to have another game hour, which will be on Wednesday, February 5th.  I was pleasantly surprised by how well our electronic game time went last time.  Everyone was very kind and interactive.  Students are allowed to bring games from home that they would like to play together. They can bring electronics.  These games will stay in students' backpacks at all times outside of our game hour.

Our Valentine party is this Friday, February 7th from 1:30 to 2:30.  If your child chooses to bring Valentine cards to school, they need to have one for each child in our class.  Valentines should be brought to school on February 7^h.  Students will be making a container to hold their Valentines during our class party.  Handmade cards are encouraged.  Here is a list of student names to help with this task.  Thank you for your continued support.

Johnnie, Tara, Bailee, Jack, Isaiah, Kamryn, Ryan, Emily, Braeden, Autumn, Brooke, Keira, Anthony, Riley, Isabella, Serena, Caleb, Spencer, Marcus, Madison, Nik, Adilyn, Olivia, and Kalena

Students will be completing the reading TCAP on Monday, February 10^th and Tuesday, February 11^th.   It is very important that your child be on time for school on these days.  Our testing session runs from 8:15 to 9:50.  This includes time for test preparation; students take the assessment from 8:30 to 9:30.  A healthy breakfast and a good night’s sleep will help your child do their best. 

Thank you to everyone who has had a chance to sign up for parent teacher conferences.  I look forward to meeting with each of you next week.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, January 24th

Friday, January 24^th

Dear Parents,

Another week has flown by, and there is so much to tell!

In reading and writing, we will continue to focus on summaries.  It would be great if you could have your child practice constructing summaries by having them summarize parts of their day and or the texts they are reading at home. We have also started completing some TCAP, Transitional Colorado Assessment Program, activities.  These tasks are meant to familiarize students with the structure of the assessments and to teach them test taking strategies. The reading TCAP will be in February.  The math and writing tests will be given in March.  The first test will be on Monday, February 10^th.  The second session will be on February 11^th.  It is very important that your child be on time for school on these days.  Our testing session runs from 8:15 to 9:50.  This includes time for test preparation, students take the assessment from 8:30 to 9:30.  A healthy breakfast and a good night’s sleep will help your child do their best. 

I completed winter literacy testing. I look forward to sharing the results and progress of your child during Parent/Teacher conferences February 11th, 12th, and 13th. Watch for the email about sign ups early next week. 

Congratulations to our spelling bee participants! Kalena Egy, Caleb Ottem, and Marcus Reagor will be participating in the Kohl spelling bee on January 28^th at 9:00 in the gym.

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner!  Our class party will be on Friday, February 7th from 1:30-2:30. As always, parents are invited to attend the party.

If your child chooses to bring Valentine cards to school, they need to have one for each child in our class.  Valentines should be brought to school on February 7^h.  Students will be making a container to hold their Valentines during our class party.  Handmade cards are encouraged.  Here is a list of student names to help with this task.  Thank you for your continued support.

Johnnie, Tara, Bailee, Jack, Isaiah, Kamryn, Ryan, Emily, Braeden, Autumn, Brooke, Keira, Anthony, Riley, Isabella, Serena, Caleb Spencer, Marcus, Madison, Nik, Adilyn, Olivia, and Kalena

Important Upcoming Dates

February 7^th: Valentine Party at 1:30

February 10^th and 11^h: 3^rd Grade Reading TCAP

February 11^th, 12^th, and 13^th: Parent Teacher Conferences                                                           

February 14^th  No School for Students

Please let me know if you have any questions.  Have a great weekend. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, January 10th

Friday, January 10^th

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a good winter break with family and friends. It was nice to be back and see all of your children's smiling faces on Tuesday. They got right back into the swing of things here at school and worked hard this week.

Spelling:

The Kohl Spelling Bee is coming up. I will be testing the class next week to see who our three spelling bee contestants will be. If your child is chosen, they will receive a packet of words to start practicing. 

Literacy:

We are about to complete a unit on opinion writing.  Students should have an opinion piece published on Monday. Next week we will also begin looking at how to write a summary paragraph. I will begin mid year reading testing next week as well. I will not be testing all the students at this time. You will receive updated information on your child's progress at parent-teacher conferences in February.

Math:

On Tuesday we will have our Unit 3 test, Graphing, Time and Measurement.  Our next unit will be on Addition and Subtraction strategies. 

We took another multiplication/division facts quiz this week. Many kids passed the quiz, which is great. Keep practicing those facts. Next year, the students are expected to come in to fourth grade knowing 1-10s facts fluently.

Social Studies:

We will continue our unit on Regions of the United States through next week. The kids are working in cooperative groups and becoming experts on one region. They will create a poster to share with the class next week. 

Upcoming Dates:

January 20- MLK Jr. Day- No School 
February 7- Valentine's Party

February 10, 12- Reading TCAP

February 11, 12, 13- Spring Conferences

February 14 and 17- No School- Inservice and Presidents' Day

Enjoy your weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, December 20th

Dear Parents,

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

First, I would like to say thank you so much for all the wonderful gifts. I feel so blessed to be able to spend each day with your children and so loved by all your thoughtfulness. Thank you.

Literacy:

We have been working on writing opinion paragraphs with and without text support. The kids will finish these when we get back from break.  In reading we have been working on some test taking skills and also active reading strategies for deeper comprehension. The kids are coming along nicely with their skills. I will do mid year reading testing when we return and share the results with you in February conferences.

Math:

We are close to finishing our third unit- Time, Measurement and Graphing. We will do that the week we return from break and have a test on the unit most likely on the Friday we get back. Students' multiplication and division facts are really coming along. They are becoming more and more fluent. I'm so proud of them. Keep practicing those every day!

Social Studies:

We are in the middle of a unit on the Regions of the United States. We have had an overview of the five regions (West, Midwest, Southwest, Southeast and Northeast). When we return, the kids will break into smaller groups to become experts on one of the regions. 

Thank you again for supporting you kids every day, and also thank you for the thoughtful gifts you sent in. I am truly blessed.

Happy holidays and have a safe and restful break. See you all in 2014!! 

(First day back is Tuesday, January 7)

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Monday, December 9th

Monday, December 9

Dear Parents,

I hope you had a good weekend. The forecast is calling for warmer weather for the rest of the week, so we may get to go outside for recess. Thank you for making sure your child comes to school prepared for cold and snowy weather.  Students are not allowed to play in the snow unless they are wearing boots.

Math Update

Last week, we explored ways to measure things using the customary and metric systems of measurement using inches, centimeters, cups, pints, quarts, gallons, liters, milliliters, pounds, ounces, grams, and kilograms.  You can help your child become familiar with these units of measure by working with measurement together.  For example, you might estimate and measure the length of something in inches and centimeters.  You might use a measuring cup to explore how the cup can be used to fill pints, quarts, or gallons of liquid.

This week , we are learning about time.  This topic is directly connected to home and community and involves skills your child will use often in everyday situations.  Students are reading time to the hour, half-hour, quarter-hour, five minutes, and minutes, as well as describing the time before the hour and after the hour.  Students will also be using clocks to solve problems about elapsed time and learning how to add and subtract time on a number line.

Please help your child read time and find elapsed time.  Ask your child to estimate how long it takes to do activities such as eating a meal, traveling to the store, or doing homework.  Have your child look at the clock when starting an activity and then again at the end of the activity.  Ask how long the activity took.

Thank you for supporting your child with our current math unit.

We would love to see you at our Winter Party, which runs from 1:30 to 2:30 on Friday, December 20^th.  Thank you to our wonderful room parents and to all of you for making this party a success.  

If you have any questions or comments, please call or write to me.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Tuesday, November 19th

Tuesday, November 19^th

Dear Parents,

Our class has earned another compliment celebration!  They voted to have a game hour.  Tomorrow, students are allowed to bring appropriate games from home that they would like to play together at school.  Students can bring electronic games.  These games will stay in students’ backpacks at all times outside of our game hour. 

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

November 15th

Friday, November 15^th

Dear Parents,

I hope that you are well.  It is hard to believe that our first trimester is over.  Report cards are coming home today in your child’s Friday folder.  It would be wonderful if you can take some time to go over your child’s report card with them.  This provides an opportunity for you and your child to discuss celebrations and goals for improvement.  Please sign the report card envelope and return it early next week.  Thank you!

Students have been working diligently to publish their informational animal writing. This final draft comes after researching, drafting, revising, and editing.  They will be displayed in the hall by the end of next week.  Please stop by to read them if you have a chance.  Over the next few weeks, we will focus on writing strong paragraphs to respond to a writing prompt. 

Each week we discuss and practice reading strategies to help develop comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary.  Please ask students how they use their reading strategies to support their at home reading.  In the weeks to come, we are going to focus on summarizing the central ideas in texts through conversations and writing. 

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, pea plants, and mealworms in our classroom. We will begin a social studies unit about regions when we return from Thanksgiving break.  

Students will be taking our second unit math test on Thursday of next week.  Students are now responsible for the multiplication and division facts 1-10s.  Math fact practice should become a regular part of your child’s homework routine.  Fast fact recall allows students to focus on more complex problem solving and in an imperative skill.  Our class website has some excellent online resources for math fact practice. http://mrsgalt.blogspot.com/ When we return from Thanksgiving break, we will begin our Measurement, Time, and Graphs unit.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for your support.  It is an honor to work with your children each day. 

Sincerely,
Mrs. Aisha Galt