Third Grade ROCKS!: August 2014

In the KNOW…3^rd Grade August 25, 2014

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 3^rd 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