Announcements/
Reminders
Thanks for
a great first full week of school! Hopefully, you and your student are settling
into a routine. We wanted to touch base with third grade families concerning a
few things that have popped up throughout our week.
•
No
water bottles. With us changing classes, we’ve experienced just too many
spills.
•
No
toys! We pack a lot of activities into each day. Please do not allow your child
to bring toys, Pokémon cards, etc. to school.
•
Keep
your GATOR binder organized! Do not remove anything except graded papers from
the back pocket. You will need all the items we add to our binder to study for
tests. Don’t keep extra things in binders or pencil pouch.
•
Although
we don’t require written homework, students must review study guides,
newsletters, vocabulary, etc. in order to perform well on assignments, tasks,
and assessments. There is something new we are adding in reading this week to
take the place of the Accelerated Reading program, as we are no longer able to
use it.
Keep
in Touch!
We hope
that you are taking advantage of the new technology that is available to stay
informed about your child’s education. The codes for Remind 101 are in your
Welcome to 3rd Grade booklet. You’ll want to sign up for all three
teacher’s reminders to stay up to date on when tests will be given and
projects/assignments are due. Class Dojo is more for behavior. Students earn
points for good behaviors and lose points for negative behavior. Positive
points earn Chompy Cash. When you sign up to link to your student’s account,
you can see which behaviors he or she is demonstrating in class and at what
time they occur. We have made a few changes with Class Dojo. Students now begin
their day with a +1 (plus 1) which means they’re on blue. No points showing
means they are on green. -1 means yellow and -2 means red. However, students
may have to change colors and then earn points for correcting behavior. The
points will be added but students are not allowed to move back up the color
chart. We are still working out the kinks in the system since this is our first
year using it across the grade level.
Weekly
Specials
•
Richardson
– Science Lab
•
Scott
– P.E. - Wear tennis shoes daily!
•
Thornton
– Computer Lab
Math
w/ Mrs. Scott
In Math this week, we will begin
rounding numbers in the hundreds and tens place. We will also start stations at
the end of math each day. These stations will be centered on our standards for
the week and reviewing standards we have previously learned. Please work with
your child each afternoon on addition and subtraction facts. We will begin
timed addition and subtraction tests each Friday. We are working towards
fluency with these facts. Flashcards are an excellent resource to use when
practicing these facts. Your child can go to the following website to practice
these facts. www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/mathmagician/cathymath.html This
site will time your child to help them become more fluent.
Science
w/ Mrs. Thornton
In
Science, we will continue to explore Georgia’s habitats. This week, we will
learn about the Piedmont region. Your student will need to be able to list
plants and animals from this habitat and know why these animals live there.
Also, if you were not happy with your student’s grade on Friday’s mountain
region test, he or she will be allowed to retake it this week. Have him/her
study and let me know via behavior sheet or note when he/she is ready to
retake.
English
& Writing w/ Mrs. Thornton
In
Language Arts this week, we will be learning about subjects and predicates. We
will practice all week and take an assessment on Friday. Opinion writing will
be our focus for writing. We will also begin learning the steps of the writing
process. Students really need to
work on handwriting. It is hard for them to demonstrate newly learned skills if
their work is too messy to be read.
Reading
w/ Mrs. Richardson
For week
2, our standards will focus on sensory details, mental pictures and movies, and
the importance of the pictures in telling a story. We will continue to work on
fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension through whole group, small group, and
independent activities. I will also continue gathering baseline data by
administering running records and the Developmental Reading Assessment in order
to individualize and tailor instruction.
A few
changes in reading will occur this week. We’re getting down to business and
reading tons of books. To that end, we will be adding a reading log to our
GATOR binders. Please be sure to record your reading each night. Parents,
please initial beside the entry. Remember you should practice your reading for
at LEAST 20 minutes each night. It
doesn’t have to be all in one sitting. Keep your books with you and read when
you can. Students can read in the car on the way home or to fall sports practice.
The next
thing you’ll notice that’s new this week is the Reading Choice Board. Everyone remembers playing tic-tac-toe,
right? Well, that’s basically what you’ll be doing. You must choose three boxes
in a row: horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Before Friday, you must
respond to the three prompts you choose. The recording sheet is on the back.
You may do one each night to spread them out or you may do them all in one
night. I won’t take up the boards until Friday. So you’ll have until Friday to
get them finished. Please remember to read the prompt carefully and respond in
complete sentences. Write legibly. If I cannot read it, I cannot grade it.
You’ll have to recopy it during recess on Friday. You may choose to do more
than three if you wish. However, only three are required.
You will
also have six reading vocabulary words to learn this week. They are chosen from
one of our read alouds, Twilight Comes
Twice by Ralph Fletcher. They will be located in your Vocabulary Journal (a
steno pad). All the words will be listed on Monday. Each day, we will focus on
two of these words. A vocabulary quiz will be given on Friday.
Social
Studies w/ Mrs. Richardson
We are
continuing with our Geography standards in Social Studies this week. We’ll
focus on the five major rivers and two mountain ranges of the United States.
There are five new vocabulary words to learn. They are a bit easier than last
week’s words. You’ll have a vocabulary quiz on Friday to assess how well you’ve
learned these new words. There’s also a test over map skills including a map with
rivers and mountains drawn; you will have to label them correctly. The words
will be on the paper so don’t spend time memorizing the spelling of the rivers
& mountains. Students will learn pneumonic devices to help remember them.
GRADING
NEWS
As Mrs.
Thornton mentioned in her section, students will be allowed to retest in each
subject if they score below a 70. So if you aren’t happy with your student’s
score on the Mountains test or Social Studies vocabulary quiz, study and
practice. Retests must be administered before Friday, so we do not interfere
with this week’s testing. We must set a deadline for retests. The quizzes and
assessments are to measure progress on third grade standards. Grades on the
report card are based on those standards. If a student doesn’t get the retests
in, it will reflect as no progress on the report card.
Dates
to Know
- 8-26-14
Volunteer Orientation & Title I Meeting
-
- 8-27-14
Wednesday is Ice Cream Day $0.50
-
- 8-28-14
Thirsty Thursday – Slushies $
-
- 8-29-14
Friday – 3rd Grade Slushie Day $
-
- 9-1-14
Labor Day Holiday – No School
Website & Email
3rd
Grade Thoughts
Gilbert
Current Events
Mrs.
Richardson
Mrs.
Scott
Mrs.
Thornton
