The first two weeks of school have flown by and the students amaze me by all they have done! They are a super group and really have managed to learn the expectations and routines in the classroom. Last Friday, they attended an assembly where our assistant administator, Ms. Arduino, spoke about behavior expectations in the school. Our class worked cooperatively in small groups last week to come up with charts to show what respect might look like in the different areas of our school. My goal is to post the charts next week. Our character word for the past two weeks has centered around "respect."
Below are some highlights of what we have been working on in our classroom over the past two weeks as well as some upcoming events and reminders:
Math: Each student has a math journal to use for our morning math "RAP," which stands for "Review and Practice." Each morning your child is given five problems to work on in this journal and we go over the answers together. Our first unit is on place value/number sense. The students were each given a math letter last week to bring home to explain how you might help reinforce the skills being covered. This week, our focus was on the different ways to show a number and how to determine the value of a number. Next week, we will review this skill and move on to addition and estimating. Please take time to review addition/subtraction facts with your child. They have already been using these facts to solve word problems and two and three digit problems in our morning "RAP." Each student will be given a sheet with practice slips to complete and return for our math jar. They may use flash cards, songs, computer games, etc., to practice these essential facts. Thanks for your support!
Language Arts (reading, spelling, and writing): We have a new language arts program in third grade this year:
Reading, the students have been learning how to take care of books and choose "just right" books in our classroom. We have a check out system in place in the classroom and each group has a special bin for their books and reading materials. Each student made a special bookmark to use and they were each given a reading response folder so that they might write to me about the books they are reading and any connections or questions they might want to share. I will respond by writing back to them. They also have a "passport to genres" to encourage them to explore different types of books, too. As they read the different genres they may earn stickers on their passport. Please remember to have your child read at least twenty minutes each night and encourage them to complete their reading log. After Labor Day, we will use our agendas to record our nightly reading to help save on paper. They will need to continue to write the title of the book and a brief summary of what they read or learned.
Writing: During the first two weeks, the students explored the reading/writing connection. They also set up their daily language/word work notebooks which we will be using daily. They completed a writing survey and we discussed the different reasons for writing: to entertain, inform, or persuade. Each student was given a special notebook to use for writing and we will be making special portfolios to keep our published writings in each nine weeks. Our first focus will be on descriptive writing and we will be learning the six traits of good writing.
Spelling: Our spelling program involves a different approach to teaching spelling this year and the students will not be given weekly spelling tests. Assessments will be given on their ability to work with words and use them correctly as they write. Our first unit focused on the "CVCe" spelling pattern of words and we sorted words and located words with this pattern in our independent reading books.
Content: (Science, Social Studies, Health):Our first unit will focus on rocks and minerals. This past week, the students learned what minerals were and were able to explore different types. They were surprised to find that minerals were found in many things they used every day. On Friday, they were able to dig for minerals in chocolate chip cookies. The cookie represented the rock and the chocolate chips were the minerals. We have a center set up in our classroom where they will be able to perform a streak test on various minerals. We also looked at the steps in the scientific process as we will be conducting experiments throughout the school year. EAch student has a special science folder.
Reminders:
Please sign your child's agenda each evening. Please check the agenda for homework and special's rotation for the week.
Please return your child's Performing Arts permission slip if you have not already done so. Thanks
Open House September 1st
School Holiday Labor Day September 7th
Please try to join PTA so that our class might reach 100%.
