Monday, September 13, 2010

Weeks of 9/13/10 and 9/20/10

Dear parents and families,

I know that it is usually a rough transition into third grade, but I hope by now, your child has started to catch on to the flow of things a bit more. Please remember that if your child is planning on receiving his or her first communion this year, he or she must attend one mass per month outside of school. He or she should bring in a program or saint card from the mass with his or her name on it. There are only two weekends left in the month, so please plan on attendance for one of those weekends. If you have any questions please feel free to send me a note or call me

We are only $56.00 away from reaching the goal for purchasing an air conditioner for the classroom. If you have not sent in $12.00 yet, and are willing to pay this amount, please do so at your earliest convenience.

Exciting News! Grades 3-6 have qualified for the Art Partners Residency program this year. This means that starting September 23rd, every Thursday for six weeks, our class will have a representative from the A.R.T. program teach a one hour art session to students. Also, on October 6th, the 3rd and 4th grade will take a field trip to the Art Institute. Please keep your eyes open for information regarding this trip at a later date.

Just a heads up. There will be a substitute on Friday. I have to leave town for a wedding this weekend and will need to fly out on Thursday evening.

In English, students have been working hard on learning the four different types of sentences. This week and next, students will continue to work on subjects and predicates and how to fix run-on sentences. Be on the look-out for an up and coming Chapter 1 test either late next week or in the following week.

Students will have a science test this Thursday over chapter C2, Materials of the Earth. A study guide will be distributed on Tuesday 9-14 and should be completed by Wednesday 9-15. Please continue to help your child study the concepts covered from the book review as well as in the study guide. Next week we will begin chapter A1, How Plants Live and Grow.

In reading we have been covering different skills from the basal text. The next two weeks we will be working on cause and effect, author's purpose, context clues, vocabulary, and comprehension. We will start the novel, Charlotte's Web within the next two to three weeks.

In math we have been reviewing concepts such as ordinal numbers, rounding to the nearest ten and hundred, understanding place value up to the thousands period, comparing and ordering numbers, and problem solving strategies. This week we will cover how to count, add, and subtract with money. We will also cover story problems which involve using money. On Friday, 9-17, students will complete the review from the book. Their test for chapter 1 will be on Tuesday, 9-21.

In our writer's workshop, students have been learning about fairy tales. They have learned about the requirement of a villain versus a good character. They have also been learning about problems and solutions. Students will continue to write their own fairy tales during our workshop of Fridays.

In Social Studies, students have been learning about different communities, such as rural, urban, and suburban. They have also been learning different map skills such as understanding cardinal and intermediate directions and how to use a map scale. This week we will learn about our natural resources, and about people and the environment. We will review this chapter next week, and the text will most likely be on Monday, 9-27.