October 2, 2007
We are continuing
to have a great time in 3rd grade!
Last week we began
reading groups, which we will be doing two days a week. We also have read The Little Painter of
Sabana Grande, Lon Po Po and Animal Fact/Animal Fable as a whole group. Each week we have done a graphic organizer
and several skill pages relating to these stories. We will be having a short quiz each week on the story, which will
be factored into the reading grade.
We have done two
more writing projects including a piece entitled All About Fall and a paragraph
about themselves. This week the
students are doing a descriptive paragraph about their houses.
In math we are
continuing to work on a place value unit.
Students are working with numbers to the hundred thousand’s place. We will also be working on ordering and
comparing numbers as well as rounding in this unit. Remember to have your student practice their math fact page out
loud every night. They are tested each
Friday and if they are practicing they should be passing a timing every
week. I’d like to see all students
finished with addition and subtraction by winter break so that we will have
plenty of time in the year to master multiplication. We have a parent helper who will be coming in on Wednesdays to
help with math timings so the students will have the chance to pass two timings
in one week if they work very hard. If
they pass a timing on Wednesday they will be given a new fact sheet that night.
Thanks to all of
you who have sent in the money for National Geographic. If you still need to do this you may send in
cash or check for $2.50.
Next week the 3rd
grade will be beginning writing, science and math rotation involving all of the
3rd grade teachers. One day
our class will be with me working on writing, the next day they will go to Mrs.
Drouet to do a hands on math lesson from the Investigations curriculum and the
next day they will go to Mr. Gamble to do a science lesson. Then we will repeat the cycle. I will be giving you more information about
what each teacher is working on as we move through this rotation.
We will be having
student led conferences on October 30th and 31st. You will be receiving a letter asking about
your day and time preferences soon. At
the conference your student will be showing you some of their work as well as
going over the district and classroom assessments we have done so far this
year.
Almost all students have been turning their homework in on time! Way to go!! Many students have been passing their Reading Counts test each week. Good job! Turning in homework on time and passing a Reading Counts test every week are requirements for earning and keeping a self-manager badge this year.