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

Friday, March 9th

Next week we have PE on Tuesday and Friday.

Please remind your child to bring their recorder for music. Next week, we have music on Monday and Thursday.

Dear Parents,

We had another busy, fun filled week.  On Tuesday, we had two members from our local Rotary Club visit our classes to give each student a dictionary.  The students are excited about this gift and are already using them as a resource. Unlike a typical dictionary, they have many others sections of information about states, presidents, countries, etc!  We hope our students will continue to use their dictionary throughout their school career and beyond! We also had a musical science assembly on Wednesday, which was provided by the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Department (OSMP).  Please ask your child about what they learned through this unique experience. There is an activity booklet from OSMP in your child’s Friday folder that they can complete.

Thank you to everyone who has sent their fee in for the upcoming in school field trip!   On March 20th, a teacher from the Science Discovery Program is coming to our class to share the Mineral Madness program.  This will be a great supplement to our next science unit, which is Rocks and Minerals. The cost of this program is $4 per child. Please use the envelope  that was provided in your child’s Friday folder last week to return the $4 fee as soon as possible.  You can pay in cash or write a check to Kohl Elementary or BVSD. Thank you!  

Literacy:

We are working in the genre of informational writing.  Students are reading informational texts and writing about topics that require them to use evidence from the text to support their thinking.  Students also started their state research project this week. Each child will research a state and create an informational writing project to teach others about the state. We look forward to sharing these projects at our Kohl Inspiration Exhibition on April 19th.

Math:

This week we started Unit 7 in our math books- Fractions. By the end of this unit, students will understand:

• How to write a fraction and a unit fraction for a part of a whole and for a number on a number line
• Write equivalent fractions including fractions that are equivalent to whole numbers
• Compare two fractions with the same denominator OR the same numerator
• Solve real world problems involving fractions

Remind your child to work on their math homework packet.  It is due on Monday, March 12th. We will give students their new math homework packet on Monday, March 19th.  

Science/Social Studies:

We are well into our Social Studies unit, Economics. Our Economics unit will focus on understanding the differences between producer and consumers, different ways to earn money and how to make long and short-term financial goals. Our students are excited about our simulated class economy!  They are earning RIDE dollars and also spending them in different ways.  They are keeping track of their deposits and withdrawals using their “bank account” register. Finally, all the third grade classes are saving for a “vacation” day, just as families save for a vacation at home. Each child will contribute to the class fund to meet a long term savings goal. If we meet the goal, we will have a movie day for our “vacation” from school. We will keep you updated as the fund grows and our vacation gets closer.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• Complete the mystery state assignment.
• Write the weekly Dictado sentence each night in the Mystery State notebook.

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.

• Practice all X and / (0-10) 5-10 minutes daily
• Practice addition and subtraction facts; sums through 20
• Complete problems in the assigned Math Homework Practice Packet
• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember
Tuesday, March 20th- Third Grade Music Program 6pm

Monday, March 26-Friday, March 30- Spring Break- NO SCHOOL

I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

Friday, March 2nd

Next week we have PE on Monday and Thursday.

Please remind your child to bring their recorder for music. Next week, we have music on Wednesday.

Dear Parents,

We had a good full week!  

Your child is coming home with some information about an upcoming in school field trip. On March 20th, a teacher from the Science Discovery Program is coming to our class to share the Mineral Madness program.  This will be a great supplement to our next science unit, which is Rocks and Minerals. The cost of this program is $4 per child. Please use the envelope provided in your child’s Friday folder to return the $4 fee as soon as possible.  You can pay in cash or write a check to Kohl Elementary or BVSD. Thank you!

Literacy:

We are working in the genre of informational writing.  Students are reading informational texts and writing about topics that require them to use evidence from the text to support their thinking.  During this unit students will also be completing a state research project.  Each child will research a state and create an informational writing project to teach others about the state.

Math:

We completed our Geometry unit this week and took our chapter test.  We will begin our next unit on Fractions on Monday.
Remind your child to work on their math homework packet.  It is due on Monday, March 12th.

Science/Social Studies:

We also started our Social Studies unit, Economics this week. Our Economics unit will focus on understanding the differences between producer and consumers, different ways to earn money and how to make long and short-term financial goals. Our students are excited about our simulated class economy!  They are earning RIDE dollars and also spending them in different ways.  They will keep track of their deposits and withdrawals using their  “bank account” register.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• Complete the mystery state assignment.
• Write the weekly Dictado sentence each night in the Mystery State notebook.

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.

• Practice all X and / (0-10) 5-10 minutes daily
• Practice addition and subtraction facts; sums through 20
• Complete problems in the assigned Math Homework Practice Packet
• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember

Tuesday, March 20th- Third Grade Music Program 6pm

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, February 23rd, 2018

Next week we have PE on Wednesday.

Please remind your child to bring their recorder for music. Next week, we have music on Tuesday and Friday.

Dear Parents,

We had quite a week of winter weather! It looks like it is going to warm up next week, but please remind your child to dress for the weather.

Report cards are now available through Infinite Campus.

Literacy:

We are returning to the genre of informational writing.  Students will be reading informational texts and writing about topics that require them to use evidence from the text to support their thinking.  During this unit students will also be completing a state research project.  Each child will research a state and create an informational writing to teach about the state.

Math:

We are well into our Geometry unit.  This week we spent time reviewing attributes of quadrilaterals and finding the perimeter and area of geometric shapes.  

Students are learning many new geometry vocabulary terms. Please review them with your child: angle, decagon, hexagon, octagon, polygon, pentagon, right angle, parallel, parallelogram, rectangle, rhombus, square, trapezoid, perimeter and area. This will be a huge help for this unit. Please don't forget to keep up with their multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction tables! We are using all 4 operations in this unit.

Our unit assessment will be next Thursday.

Remind your child to work on their math homework packet.  It is due on Monday, March 12th.

Science/Social Studies:

Students completed their Matter and Measurement test this week, and we will begin our next Social Studies unit, Economics, next week. Our Economics unit will focus on understanding the differences between producer and consumers, different ways to earn money and how to make long and short-term financial goals.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• Complete the mystery state assignment.
• Write the weekly Dictado sentence each night in the Mystery State notebook.

• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.

• Practice all X and / (0-10) 5-10 minutes daily
• Practice addition and subtraction facts; sums through 20
• Complete problems in the assigned Math Homework Practice Packet
• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember

Tuesday, March 20th- Third Grade Music Program 6pm

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, February 16th, 2018

Next week we have PE on Tuesday and Friday

Please remind your child to bring their recorder for music. Next week, we have music on Thursday.

Dear Parents,

Thank you so much for coming to Parent/Teacher Conferences this week. I really enjoyed seeing all of you and sharing about your child’s growth and goals for the rest of the year.  Report cards will be available through Infinite Campus at the end of next week.

Thank you to our room parent, Chamisa Logemann, as well as all who helped out with the Valentine’s party. The kids had a great time and felt very loved.

Literacy:

Students are finishing up with their adapted fairy tales. Completed fairy tales will be hanging in the hall on display. The kids have done an awesome job on this project.

Math:

We started Unit 6, Geometry, this week. In this unit students will be learning about the attributes of quadrilaterals and how to find area and perimeter of geometric shapes.

Our next homework math packet was sent home on Monday, February 12th and is Due on Monday, March 12th.

Science:

We are finishing up with our Matter and Measurement unit. 

We will begin our next Social Studies unit, Economics, later in the week.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• Complete the mystery state assignment.
• Write the weekly Dictado sentence each night in the Mystery State notebook.
• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.
• Practice all X and / (0-10) 5-10 minutes daily
• Practice addition and subtraction facts; sums through 20
• Complete problems in the assigned Math Homework Practice Packet
• 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, February 19th No School-Presidents’ Day

I hope you enjoy the long weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

Friday, February 2nd, 2018

Next week we have PE on Monday and Thursday

Please remind your child to bring their recorder for music. Next week, we have music on Wednesday.

Dear Parents,

It is hard to believe it is already February! We have had a productive month.  

Our parent/ teacher conferences are February 13th and 15th. An email about signing up was sent out by the office last week.  Thank you to those of you who have signed up.  If you have not had a chance to sign up yet, please do so.  I look forward to meeting with each of you.

Next Thursday, February 8th, we will have a guest speaker, Mrs. Pam Kutchen, from North Metro Fire Rescue.  She will talk to our students about fire safety and the importance of practicing fire drills at home.  Your child will be coming home with a fire drill planning sheet. Please take some time to complete this activity and talk to your child about what they learned.

Our class Valentine’s Day party will be on Wednesday, February 14th from 1:30-2:30. As always, parents are invited to attend the party. Please stay tuned for information from our room mother about our Valentine’s Day 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 14th.   Students should also bring a container to hold their Valentines.  Handmade cards are encouraged.  Here is a list of student names to help with this task.  Thank you for your continued support.

Aaliyah, Olivia, Nathan, Sophie, Jordyn, Julian, Gavin, Ruben, Dillon, Dain, Rowan, Luke, Liam, Kierra, Quinn, Stella, Bryanna, Aiden, Eowyn, Caylin, Xander, Story, Hayden, Ingrid, Caden, Lauren

Literacy:

We are enjoying our fairy tales unit.  Students created a detailed picture plan for their fractured fairy tale and learned about the rules for writing dialogue.  Now, students are busy typing the first draft of their story!

Math:

We completed Unit 4, Addition and Subtraction of Multidigit Numbers this week and will have our chapter test on Tuesday, February 6th.

The math homework packet needs to be completed by Monday, February 5th.  I hope that your child has been working on it consistently, so it is not a major challenge over the weekend. Our next homework math packet will be sent home on Monday, February 12th.

Science:

We are well into our Science unit, Metric Measurement and Matter. This week we reviewed the metric system of measurement and explored the characteristics of the three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas.  Next week, we will begin talking about matter changing states through melting, freezing, evaporation, and condensation.

Homework Ideas for Next Week

• Complete the mystery state assignment.
• Write the weekly Dictado sentence each night in the Mystery State notebook.
• ReadingPlus or iReady lessons at least once per week.
• Practice all X and / (0-10) 5-10 minutes daily
• Practice addition and subtraction facts; sums through 20
• Complete problems in the assigned Math Homework Practice Packet Due Monday, February 5th
• Have your child use MobyMax to practice math, reading, writing, social studies, science and more!  https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Important Dates to Remember

Tuesday, February 13th and Thursday February 15th Parent Teacher Conferences

Wednesday, February 14th Valentine’s Day Party 1:30 to 2:30

Friday, February 16th No School for Students

Monday, February 19th No School-Presidents’ Day

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt