A Sneak Peek Into Next Week...

Hi Families,  Thank you to those of you that were able to stop by the parent coffee on Thursday morning!  Below you'll find a brief overview of what to expect next week in our classroom.  Remember, no school on Monday in observance of Columbus Day.

Literacy:  During the reading block, students will begin book clubs to continue practicing summarizing and determining important details.  The students choose their books today, but I have not shared the final selections with the class yet.  The books are from the National Geographic collection and contain 3-4 short stories about animals.  This reading work will be completed in school. We will have book discussions every other day next week beginning on Wednesday.  During writing, students will finish publishing their essay early in the week.  Then, I'll teach students to support their thinking with evidence from the text when writing an opinion.  Students will practice this skill with a partner as well.

Math:  We will begin Unit 2 next week.  Unit 2 covers a variety of skills including finding the factors and multiples of a number, determining the area of a rectangle, solving multiplicative comparison number stories, and reviewing geometry concepts.  Just a reminder, please do not have your child work ahead in their Home Links book, and please make sure they put their names on their Home Links before turning them in!

Science:  This week, students set up their notebooks for our Energy unit.  Next week, they will dive into the content.  Beginning lessons teach students to build complete circuits and distinguish between series and parallel circuits.  It usually is a favorite unit for many kids, and I am looking forward to it.

Second Step (social emotional curriculum):  Last week, students learned that others may have different feelings about the same thing- a math test, for example.  Remind your child to think about how others' perspectives might be different from their own.  Encourage them to reflect on situations where others' feelings were different than their own.  An optional Home Link was sent home in the Friday Folder today.

Reminders:
No School Monday
40BC Check In 10/17
PICTURE DAY 10/22 - Forms are in Friday Folders
Walk-a-Thon 10/25 - SIGN UP ONLINE, PLEASE!

NWEA Scores

NWEA Scores are being sent home in your child's Friday Folder today.  Please take a look.

Beatriz

Beatriz is our Tweetheart!  We are so lucky to have her on our team this year.  She is a great friend and an excellent piano player. 

Home Links

• Home Links are due the day after they are assigned.  
• Beginning in Unit 2, if students due not put their name on they Home Link, it will receive a zero.  (It takes way too long to find the owners of Home Links with no name and often times the kids don't recognize their own handwriting and it causes an argument.)  PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD PUT HIS/HER NAME ON ALL HOME LINKS. 
• Home Links are checked for completion only.  Please take a minute to look over your child's math homework.  All of the answers are available in the family letter.  
• Student MUST show work to receive credit. 

This Week In Our Classroom...

Good Morning Third Grade Families,

Below you'll find a brief overview of our week.  Students will take a reading comprehension assessment as well as a math test this week.

Literacy:  Our reading mini-lessons will focus on summarizing strategies.  Students will learn to use main ideas and key words to write details.  They will also practice straining out the unimportant details to write brief summaries.  We will use a variety of texts to practice these strategies.  Towards the end of the week, students will choose their first book club text.  During book clubs, students will practice finding main ideas, summarizing, and conversing about important details.

Writing:  This week, students will continue to practice paragraph development.  I'll teach students to use transition words and we'll review using a variety of sentences in our writing.  Students will choose their best piece to publish towards the end of the week.

Math: I taught the final lesson in Unit 1 on Monday.  Students will review for the assessment and take the final test on Friday.  Study guides are due on Wednesday.  We have a guest teacher on Thursday, so students will work on a math related activity.

Social Studies:  We are wrapping up our mini-unit on explorers and I am excited to begin our first science unit later in the week.  Students are working on an in-class mini-project for the next couple of days.

Reminders: 

• Parent-Teacher Coffee this Thursday morning, we hope you can make it! 
• No School in honor of Columbus Day 10/14
• 40BC Check-In and Response #1 due 10/17
• Picture Day 10/22

Venye

Venye is our Tweetheart this week!  Wish him a happy Tweetheart week if you see him, we are lucky to have him in our classroom!  

A Sneak Peek into Our Week...

Happy Rosh Hashanah to all families celebrating! 

Reading:  Students will continue to practice finding the main idea and supporting details using a variety of texts and passages.  This week, we'll focus on finding key words and connecting details to infer the main idea when it is not explicitly stated in the text.  They will also continue to use text features, like headings, titles, photos, and bold words, to determine the author's main ideas.

Writing: We are beginning a new unit, Paragraph Construction, this week.  In the unit, students will learn to elaborate ideas and develop thoughtful paragraphs.  This week, students will learn strategies for elaborating and adding detail.  They will also review writing topic and closing sentences, as well as using transition words.

Math:  I will teach the final lessons in our first math unit this week.  Students will review subtraction strategies, points, lines, and rays, as well as measurement concepts.  You can expect a study guide and test date early next week.

Social Studies:  Our lessons this week will center around explorers coming to the Chicago region.  Students will read from, Just Add Water, to learn about Marquette, Joliet, and DuSable.

BOOK FAIR CHANGE: Our class will visit the book fair on Wednesday morning at 9:30am.

PROGRESS REPORTS: Progress Reports go home on Friday.  They will be sent in your child's Friday Folder along with graded work.  Please sign and return Monday.