Reminders:
4/10 - Field Trip to River Oaks Country Club for Men's Clay Court Tennis Championship
4/18 - Field Trip to Main Street Theater
4/27 - Progress Reports go Home
5/9 - Bike to School Day
5/10 - Gallery Night @ 5:00
5/14 - Math STAAR
5/15 - Reading STAAR
5/22 - Publishers' Picnic
5/24 - Chariot Races @ 8:30
5/25 - Winds of Time Parade
5/28 - Memorial Day (No School)
4/18 - Field Trip to Main Street Theater
4/27 - Progress Reports go Home
5/9 - Bike to School Day
5/10 - Gallery Night @ 5:00
5/14 - Math STAAR
5/15 - Reading STAAR
5/22 - Publishers' Picnic
5/24 - Chariot Races @ 8:30
5/25 - Winds of Time Parade
5/28 - Memorial Day (No School)
Lunch: We are eating an early lunch (10:00) at school in the
cafeteria. Regular cafeteria food will be served. The menu for Tuesday is
chicken and waffles, baked potato with cheese, salad with chicken, and Wowbutter
and jelly sandwich. We will eat lunch as usual, just early.
Snack: Everyone will be hungry when we return to school.
Please be sure to send a good size, healthy snack your child can eat
around 2 in the afternoon.
Schedule: We eat lunch at 10-10:30, bathrooms and then board
buses to leave at 10:45, arrive at ROCC at 11:15, restroom and then must be
seated by 11:45, match is noon to 1:30, board buses and head to HCE at 1:30 to
be home by 2:00 or so.
Chaperones: Please arrive at school while we are at lunch (10-10:30)
so you can help as we get ready to leave.
Math:
As we have concentrated on fractions on a number line, it is time to compare fractions in different forms. We will spend this week looking at fractions using fraction bars and circles to compare the amount of each shape that is shaded. The fraction with the larger area shaded is the greater fraction. When looking at the fractions in number form, the rules are simple. Just ask, "How big are the pieces?" When fractions have the same denominator (pieces of equal size), the numerator determines the comparison. The smaller numerator is the smaller fraction. When the numerators are the same and the denominators are different, the denominators determine the size. Larger denominators are smaller pieces and therefore the smaller fraction.
Later in the week we will review all we have learned about fractions in a round robin activity. On Friday, we will complete a benchmark of past skills to see how we stand after our weeks of practice. Also on Friday we will have our usual Fast Fact Friday quiz and will check the Problem of the Week.
Science:
During the week we are logging the weather conditions in 10 different U.S. cities. This includes temperature, general sky conditions, humidity and wind. We are researching nine weather tools that help us forecast our own weather on a daily basis and long term. Vocabulary cards will go home this week that explain those tools. Students will be tested on them next week. Specific date to be determined. At the end of the week, we will review metric liquid volume. Students will participate in a very wet volume lab on Friday and have an opportunity to use various tools including beakers and graduated cylinders.
Reading:
All of our third grade students are participating in a grade level read aloud and discussion using the book Wishtree by Katherine Applegate. It was chosen in part for its eloquent vocabulary and in addition, for its powerful themes, including prejudice, friendship, kindness, and acceptance. Please ask your child to share about the book, and his/her reactions to the characters and plot.
Most of our time in reading is being spent working in small groups, with each student focusing on a genre that is tailored to their greatest area of need. The three types of text include: expository (informational text), literary nonfiction, (nonfiction content shared in story form-biographies are an example), and fiction. It is our goal to challenge our third graders not only to comprehend these texts, but to think on a much more in-depth level. For example, What was the author's purpose for writing this piece? What in the text lead you to that conclusion? How do the subtitles throughout the text connect? What is evidence of this? At the end of the week students will be taking an assessment about the genre they have been studying.
Writing: Our students continue through the writing process, revising and editing their piece of expository text. There is a saying: "When your draft is done, you've only just begun!" This idea of revising or making changes to improve the draft's content can be daunting for our budding writers, however we are teaching and modeling specific examples of how to revise effectively. For example, deleting words and phrases not needed, changing a single word to be more interesting or specific, or changing the punctuation in some way. This is a great opportunity for students to conference with not only their teachers, but with their peers.
All of our third grade students are participating in a grade level read aloud and discussion using the book Wishtree by Katherine Applegate. It was chosen in part for its eloquent vocabulary and in addition, for its powerful themes, including prejudice, friendship, kindness, and acceptance. Please ask your child to share about the book, and his/her reactions to the characters and plot.
Most of our time in reading is being spent working in small groups, with each student focusing on a genre that is tailored to their greatest area of need. The three types of text include: expository (informational text), literary nonfiction, (nonfiction content shared in story form-biographies are an example), and fiction. It is our goal to challenge our third graders not only to comprehend these texts, but to think on a much more in-depth level. For example, What was the author's purpose for writing this piece? What in the text lead you to that conclusion? How do the subtitles throughout the text connect? What is evidence of this? At the end of the week students will be taking an assessment about the genre they have been studying.
Writing: Our students continue through the writing process, revising and editing their piece of expository text. There is a saying: "When your draft is done, you've only just begun!" This idea of revising or making changes to improve the draft's content can be daunting for our budding writers, however we are teaching and modeling specific examples of how to revise effectively. For example, deleting words and phrases not needed, changing a single word to be more interesting or specific, or changing the punctuation in some way. This is a great opportunity for students to conference with not only their teachers, but with their peers.
Social Studies: Third grade Cougars are fine tuning their note taking skills as they continue their study of economics using the Econ and Me video series. Even though the videos date back to the 80s, (just looking at the hair makes that evident) their appeal is great, and the information still rings true today. Students are learning about the importance of making smart economic choices, and understanding the benefits versus risks of each decision.
