Last Week of School!
Please see the attached schedule for the last week of school! Feel free to print at home for the fridge. If any changes occur, I will send everyone an email!
May 2009
Pollution and Conservation Study Guide
Hi Parents,
I am attaching a Pollution and Conservation Study Guide for the students to use at home if you would like. Our test on this unit of study will be Thursday, May 7th. I will have the students bring home their Science books today and Wednesday night to help them with the first part of the study guide and to reread before the test. Hope you find it helpful.
Also, please be sure to check email as I have sent a couple of important emails recently. If you did not receive an email about our non-fiction writing project or our Mother's Day project please let me know ASAP so I can print a hard copy of this for you here at school.
Thanks so much!
This Week in Third Grade...
Weekly Overview for March 23-27...
Math: The last two weeks have been spent working on multiplying two and three digit numbers by one digit numbers. Please see the "Partial Product" explanation that I posted. I am teaching the students several new ways to complete the problem besides the traditional algorithm. Thank you so much for your help and support! I will be posting their Math posttest scores for the third nine weeks in their daily agenda. Please be on the lookout for this score! We have also just begun to divide two and three digit numbers by a single digit divisor. This is a new skill for many students and can take several days before students grasp this concept. We are using the mnemonic device "Does McDonald's Sell Cheese Burgers" to help us remember the steps. The Letter D in Does stands for Divide, the Letter M stands for Multiply, the Letter S in Sell stands for Subtract, the Letter C in Cheese stands for Compare and the Letter B in Burgers stands for Bring Down. The students are doing a terrific job on this new concept and I know they will continue to improve each day until spring break.
Reading: We have used our reading time to continue working on our Literature Circle jobs, and spent much of the week reading non-fiction text about animal and plant features, adaptations that help them survive, and the habitats that they live in. We focused on Main Idea and details and responded in our Response Journals about our reading. Next week before Spring Break, we will be spending time on CRCT test taking practice.
Writing: We have continued working on our narratives and took a look at how we can improve them by adding similes, idioms and sound words. We also took a look at adding better descriptions to our writing. We want to use "Show, Don't Tell" sentences. This means instead of saying The boy was angry, we might say: The boy screamed "That's not fair, stomped up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door with a loug BANG! Much more descriptive!
Social Studies: We finished reading about Frederick Douglass and have worked on our written summaries about why Frederick Douglass is an American Hero!
Science: We have been learning about Georgia's regions and the habitats that they provide for many of Georgia's plants and animals. We are currently working on a Georgia Habitat booklet describing each region and naming the animal and plants that live in each region.
Behavior:Please encourage your child to do their very best at school each day! Economics' Day is right around the corner (April 2nd) and the students are having to earn Economics' Day money to be able to buy items and get into the stores!
Economics' Day Info!
Hi Parents,
Thank you for sending in your Economics' Day supplies with your children. We have received almost all of the supplies needed for the Beauty Salon/Barber Shop! If you have not had a chance yet to send in your supplies, please do so this week! I want to make sure that our classroom store has all the necessary supplies that we will need. On Wednesday, I sent home a permission slip about the students getting their hair colored, nails painted, and temporary tattoos applied.. Many students like to do this, but we will need your permission to do so. Please return the permission slip as soon as possible so that I have those on hand for Economics' Day.
As you probably know, Spring Picture Day is also on Economics Day. We will take our pictures before the start of Economics day at 9:00. Usually on Economics Day, the classes wear their class t-shirts. If you would like for your child to wear a different shirt in their picture besides the class t-shirt, please send the class t-shirt with them in a disposable bag (grocery bag) and they can put their shirt on over their other regular shirt (if possible). Thank you for your help with this. Remember that Economics' Day and Picture Day are Thursday, April 2nd.
If you sent in a slip stating that you wanted to help in one of the Economics' Day businesses and have not been contacted as yet, please send me an email and I will find out where you are supposed to be helping and who the chairperson is for that particular room! We appreciate all of your help!
Economics' Day Supplies!
Your child brought home an Economics' Day supply list this past Friday. It was bright yellow with 3 items highlighted. These donations are needed to help make our Economics' Day successful. All third grade students are being asked to send in one gently used chapter book and then 2 other items that you see highlighted on your child's list. All of our third grade classrooms will be set up to resemble a variety of businesses including craft stores, a beauty salon/barber shop, a book store, a disco, a movie theater, a gym, an ice cream parlor, and even a comedy club. Students are currently earning Economics' Day bucks to spend on the big day! Before Economics' Day each student will be creating a budget of how they plan to spend their money. Students will rotate through each business with their classmates and will spend about a half hour in each room. If you are interested in helping to set up the day before Economics' Day or want to work in a business the day of Economics' Day, please send me a note or add a comment below and I will find out where you would be most needed. Thanks so much for taking the time to send in supplies before March 27th. If you are unable to donate, please send me a note so we can make other arrangements. Thanks for your support!
Using Partial Products to Solve Multiplication Equations
Click below to access an explanation of how we are using the Distributive Property and Partial Products to solve multiplication. Students must learn to solve multiplication using this method as fourth and fifth grade teachers will use this skill as a basis for teaching other concepts. Students will also learn to multiply using regrouping as most of us learned when we were in elementary school, however for now please use the steps given to help your child with this skill at home.
Problem of the Day
Students may earn an extra Economics' Day dollar by answering the following problem of the day! You may choose to post your answer in the comment section below or you may turn your answer in to me on a piece of paper! This is the problem of the day for March 12th. Think deep and have fun!
| The dog named Jam is heavier than the dog named Jelly.
Copper weighs more than Brandy but less than Pumpkin. List the dogs in the order of their weights, starting with the heaviest. |
March Specials Calendar
Frederick Douglass Newsletter!
Please take a few minutes to read over the Frederick Douglass newletter below. He is the next famous American we will be studying in Social Studies. The newsletter contains a list of what students will be learning, websites they can visit to learn more, test prep questions, key vocabulary and a game your child can play. Enjoy!
Unraavel Reading Comprehension Strategy
Please click on the link below to see how this reading strategy works. We have used this in class to help us better understand what we read!
Recent Posts
- Last Week of School!
- Pollution and Conservation Study Guide
- This Week in Third Grade...
- Economics' Day Info!
- Economics' Day Supplies!
- Using Partial Products to Solve Multiplication Equations
- Problem of the Day
- March Specials Calendar
- Frederick Douglass Newsletter!
- Unraavel Reading Comprehension Strategy
