March 24, 2017

Dear Parents,

Our week was full of fun activities. The kids all had a great time participating in Spirit Week! Today, we had a visit from some of the members of the CU Buffs football team. They talked to our class about how important it is to work hard in school, sports, and in life and to always do our best. Before they left, the kids were able to get their autographs. (Hopefully, you can see the pasted pictures below.)

On Tuesday, we had a guest speaker, Ms. Pam, from the North Metro Fire Department. She talked to the third graders about fire safety and the importance of making a family plan for how to get out of the house safely if there is a fire.

We also worked very hard this week to complete many of our learning units before Spring Break. All students completed the Fractions Unit math test. We will do test corrections when we return from the break on Monday. Most of the class is also finished with a draft of their slide shows for their research. After the break, students will continue to edit and revise their work, and they will be on display for the Learning Fair (now known as the Inspiration Exhibition) on April 20. Finally, we finished our Social Studies unit on Regions of the United States. When we return we will begin our final Science unit on Earth Material (Rocks and Minerals).

I hope you all have a safe and relaxing Spring Break. We will return to school on Monday, April 3rd.  State testing starts on the 4th!

Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

March 17, 2017

Dear Parents,

We have one more week to go until Spring Break. We are super busy finishing up a variety of units before the break. Here’s a recap of what’s going on in 3rd grade. It’s a lot of information, but please read to the end to get it all.

PARCC

PARCC testing begins the week we return from Spring Break. 3rd graders will be taking the tests online each morning from 8:30-10:20. Please make sure your student is at school on time and well fed with breakfast each day. Please do not schedule any appointments during this testing time to reduce the number of retakes we have to do at the end. NOTE: This is only the 3rd grade testing schedule. If you have 4th or 5th graders, they have more days than this to test. Please refer to their testing schedule.

April 3	April 4 3rd ELA 1 8:30 – 10:20am	April 5 3rd ELA 2 8:30-10:20am	April 6 3rd ELA 3 8:30-10:20am	April 7 3rd  Math 1 8:30-10:20am
April 10 3rd Math 2 8:30 – 10:20am	April 11	April 12 3rd  Math 3 8:30-10:20am	April 13 3rd  Math 4 8:30-10:20am	April 14 NO SCHOOL

If your child would like to do some practicing at home for the tests, follow this link: http://bvsd.org/assessment/Pages/default.aspx

Students should also be practicing their typing skills at home to be able to complete the writing portion of the test. One of the best ways to practice typing is to type the alphabet over and over until they remember where all the keys are on the keyboard.

Literacy

We have finished researching and writing a rough draft of our informational writing project. This week we learned how to create Google slides for a presentation of our learning. We will continue to work on our slides next week and hope to be finished with them before break. Look for your child’s slide presentation at our Kohl Learning Fair, coming in April.

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

The unit test for Fractions is scheduled for next Friday before break.

Social Studies

We have been learning about the regions of the United States during Social Studies. Students have watched videos (virtual field trips) for each of the regions and are learning about the similarities and differences of the regions of the United States. Students will be assessed next week on this unit. Our next Science unit, Earth Materials, will start after Spring Break.

Please let me know if you have any questions about anything in third grade.

Just as a reminder, the third grade music program is scheduled for next Tuesday, March 21st at 6:00.  Also, next week is our Kohl Spirit Week. Monday: Random Day, Tuesday: Sports Day, Wednesday: Pajama Day, Thursday: Crazy Hair Day, Friday:Kohl Spirit Day.

Enjoy the warm weekend!

Aisha Galt

Friday, February 24th

Dear Parents,

Thank you for coming to conferences! These meetings allow us to partner in your child’s growth and provide them with a maximum amount of support.  It has been a fantastic year so far, and the last months of school will continue to be productive and fun.  Thank you for all your support.

I talked to many of you about the importance of practicing basic math facts consistently.  We use the website Fact Monster to practice at school, so students are familiar with this site.:

http://www.factmonster.com/math/flashcards.html

As most of you know, third graders will be taking the PARCC tests this year.  This is a state standardized test. The tests have been scheduled for the first two weeks of April, right after spring break.  If you are planning a trip, please plan the trip outside of the PARCC testing dates. It would be so helpful to have all the students complete the tests during our scheduled testing weeks. Thank you! We will let you know the final dates and times when we have a finalized schedule.

We will be doings some PARCC practice activities.  This practice helps students feel more comfortable about the test and familiarizes them with the testing format. The websites below have have some good practice problems, if you would like to use them at home too. If you have any questions or concerns about PARCC, please let me know.

English Language Arts

https://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/english/

Mathematics

https://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/math/

More Practice for Math and LA
http://lumoslearning.com/llwp/resources/common-core-parcc-practice-tests-and-sample-questions.html

Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Aisha Galt

February 17, 2017

Dear Parents,

We have been working hard in third grade. Here is a recap of this week and what to look forward to next week:

Literacy:

We are continuing our unit on research and informational writing. This week we worked on more research in books and on the computer, taking notes from the research, and organizing our notes. Next week, we will begin writing our research papers. After the writing is complete, the students will be creating a Google Slides presentation of their information.

Math:

We have started Unit 6- Geometry- this week in math. This unit focuses mainly on understanding the different attributes of quadrilaterals, names of quadrilaterals (parallelogram, rectangle, square, rhombus, and trapezoid), understanding area and perimeter of quadrilaterals, and calculating area and perimeter of quadrilaterals.

Social Studies:

We continue to work on our Regions of the United States unit in Social Studies. This week focused primarily on map skills, understanding how to read maps and find locations using latitude and longitude. Next week we will begin to study five regions of the United States and how they are similar and different.

Important Dates:

Monday, February 20 No School- President’s Day

Tuesday, February 21 and Thursday, February 23- Parent Teacher Conference. Please sign up for a time to meet with me if you have not done so already. Follow this link to go to the conference sign up page:

https://sites.google.com/a/bvsd.org/kohl-conferences/

Finally, please continue to be diligent in helping your child remember to complete their daily and weekly homework and to return it on time. We have noticed a decline in student’s completing and returning homework and so we have decided, as a third grade team, to bring back study hall on Fridays. Students who get a pink slip during the week will spend time on Friday afternoon, during Friday Fun, completing missing work. It is important to build a foundation of responsibility for their homework. This responsibility will only help them as they move through middle and high school, where homework becomes an integral part of their class grade.

Have a safe and wonderful three-day weekend with your families.

Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

Thursday, February 9th

Dear Parents,

Our Valentine’s Day party is on Tuesday, February 14th from 1:30-2:30. As always, parents are invited to attend the party. Please take a moment to sign-up to donate something for our party, using the link from our room mother.  Thank you!

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 will also need a container to collect their Valentines during our party.  They can make something or just bring a bag. Handmade cards are encouraged.  Here is a list of student names to help with this task.  

Lizzie, Lily, Allen, Savannah, Cecilia, Taylor D., Keira, Zach D., Caleb, Annie, Taylor H., Hailey, Kylar, Elijah, Rileigh, Marcel, Eric, Dorian, Miles, Carter, Echo, Lyzelle, Joaquin, Beth, Jack, Zac T., Andres, Kaylee

Our parent/ teacher conferences are February 21st and 23rd. 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.

I also want to remind everyone about our regular homework routine.  Some students seem to be having trouble completing and remembering their assignments.  Students receive a reading log and a mystery state on Monday, and they are due on Friday.  Please take a moment to look over and sign your child’s weekly reading log.  Students should be using their assigned reading program, Reading Plus or iReady, at least once a week at home. I assign math homework on Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursdays.  These assignments are due the next day.  In addition, students should be studying addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts on a regular basis.  Thank you for supporting your child!

There is no school for students tomorrow, Friday, February 10th. Enjoy the long weekend.

Sincerely,

Aisha Galt

Friday, January 27th

Dear Parents,

I would like to thank all of the parents who joined us for our field trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science yesterday. It was a great success.  We couldn’t do it without you!

Our Valentine’s Day party is right around the corner. Our class party will be on Tuesday, 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 will also need a container to collect their Valentines during our party.  They can make something or just bring a bag. Handmade cards are encouraged.  Here is a list of student names to help with this task.  Thank you for your continued support.

Lizzie, Lily, Allen, Savannah, Cecilia, Taylor D., Keira, Zach D., Caleb, Annie, Taylor H., Hailey, Kylar, Elijah, Rileigh, Marcel, Eric, Dorian, Miles, Carter, Echo, Lyzelle, Joaquin, Beth, Jack, Zac T., Andres, Kaylee

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt

January 20, 2017

Dear Parents,

We have been working very hard since we returned from winter break. Here is a recap of what we are working on in third grade.

Important Dates:

Saturday, January 21-PTA Trivia Night

Thursday, January 26- Field Trip to Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Literacy:

Last week we took the second of three diagnostic assessments on iReady. I will analyze the results and this will help inform my instruction for the next trimester of school. I will share the results of this assessment with you in February at parent/teacher conferences.

We have been working on how to write informative pieces in writing using a text or multiple texts for evidence. Next week we will move on to our culminating unit project- Personal Research Reports. The students will choose a topic to research and write about it using text evidence. Then they will create a Google slides presentation to showcase their learning.

Don't forget to keep encouraging your child to use Reading Plus and iReady on the computer at home for part or all of their Reading Log.

Math:

We are working on Unit 4: Multi Digit Addition and Subtraction. I am impressed by the fluency in which students are adding multi digit numbers.  Rounding and estimating is one of the more challenging topics we have covered so far.  Please encourage your child to estimate sums and differences outside of school, the grocery store and restaurants provide great real world examples for estimating with money.

Science:

We are well into our Metric Measurement and Matter unit. We learned about the metric system of measurement and were able to use balance scales to measure mass in grams, syringes and graduated cylinders to measure capacity in milliliters, and meter sticks to measure distance.  We are learning about the three states of matter and how matter can change. We have learned about the properties of the three states of matter. Be sure to ask your child what they have learned so far.

Reminders:

Next Thursday (Jan. 26th) is our field trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. If you have not had a chance to send in the permission slip and $10 fee, please do that as soon as possible. We have several parent volunteers: Terrence Dunn, Karen Hunter, Jax Jaramillo, Andrea Roy, and Ann Schimschal. If you are planning on going and don't see your name, please let me know, or if you are not planning on going and are on the list, let me know as soon as possible. This is a trip that will have parents in charge of small groups for part of the time. Parent volunteers will need to bring $5 for the IMAX movie. Parent volunteers should be in our classrooms that morning at 8:45. Students and chaperones will need to bring a sack lunch for the field trip. Thank you!

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aisha Galt