Jan. 30 - Feb. 3

     Hope everyone had a great weekend!  They seem to go by so quickly, just like the school year.  It's hard to believe that February is almost here.  This is the month in which we begin to get extremely serious about MAP testing.  Everyone needs to be at the top of their game.  My goal is for everyone to be proficient in both math and communication arts.  We will be working very hard!
     The third grade teachers have decided to schedule a field trip later in the year for our students.  We will not go to Weldon Springs, however, because they are already booked for the year.  Instead we will search for another good field trip idea.  Your money is being safely kept in the office safe, and will be used for the future field trip.  If you sent in a check, it will be cashed.  If we are unable to schedule a trip, your money will be returned.  Thank you for your patience.

Here's what's happening this week:
Math:  We are beginning our study of geometry.  We will be learning all about lines, angles, plane and space figures.  There is a lot of memory work in this chapter, but we will review daily.  We will also be testing over our 7x facts this week, and will get our 8x fact cards later in the week.  We are almost done with our facts.  Be sure you are reviewing them frequently throughout the week!  Once the facts have been mastered, I'll be throwing an ice cream sundae party for the class.  They deserve it for all of their hard work!

Reading:  Continuing our work on summaries and cause and effect!  Some students just started a new book - Class Clown.  They are already telling me they love it!

Spelling:  The Blue Group will test on Monday.  Yellow and Green groups will test next week.

Science:  We will continue our study of matter.  Students can expect to be doing the sink of float experiment this week.  We will also make miniature boats out of tin foil and see whose boat can hold the most weight.  Hint:  Shape and density have something to do with it.

Social Studies:  Economics will continue in chapter 10.   Be sure to be working on your Economics Day plan so that you have plenty of time to work on your business!

Writing:  We will wrap up our Martin Luther King posters and essays.  I will choose three students' posters and essays to serve as entries for the MNEA poster/writing contest.  We will not hear about winners until the end of the school year.  One of my students won first place in the state last year.  I'm hoping for similar results this year as I am seeing some exceptional work from the students!

Special Events:
Monday - Spelling test for the Blue Group;
Wednesday - 7x fact test;

January 23-27

      Right now there is so much going on here at school, it is almost hard to describe!  We are getting to our first round of testing in math, science, and social studies.  We are also continuing to learn our multiplication facts and are reading daily and recording our reading times on the Six Flags reading log.  The third quarter becomes even more involved when you toss in Economics Day, Prism, and Jump Rope for Heart.  All of these activites provide students with meaningful experiences.  Thanks for encouraging your children to be joyful participants.  Your support is greatly appreciated!

Here is what's happening this week:
Math:  Please work on the 6x facts, while constantly reviewing 0-5x facts.  We will learn the remainder of the facts in the next couple of weeks and work on the skills in chapters 10 and 11.  After that we will begin geometry.
Reading:  Lots of work on summarizing and cause and effect!  One group is finishing a wonderful book, When Mack Came Back.
Spelling:  Tests -Yellow Group Thursday, Green Group Friday, and Blue Group Monday, 1/30.
Science:  We will begin the science unit on matter and energy.  There are a lot of fun experiments in this unit!
Social Studies:  Please work on filling out the Economics Day Plan.  The social studies books were taken home this weekend to help with ideas for advertising.  We will wrap up chapter 9 next week when we test on Wednesday.  Economics will continue in chapter 10.
Writing:  We are writing for the Martin Luther King poster/writing contest.  Students are doing a beautiful job with a very challenging topic!  This contest is sponsored by MNEA.
     
Special Events:
Monday - Ability Awareness Day
Tuesday - 6x quiz  
Wednesday - Library;  social studies test
Thursday - Spelling test / Yellow Group
Friday - Spelling test / Green Group;  deadline for writing essay - rough draft;

Weekly Update 1/9/ - 1/13

     Believe it or not, it actually felt good to be back after a very long and wonderful Christmas break.  The video above is of the holiday party.  Each child enjoyed painting a Christmas ornament.  These ornaments were baked over the holidays.  Mrs. Durham is checking to see when they will be ready for pickup.  Each ornament is labeled with your child's name and the date they were painted.  I hope they are a nice keepsake for you!  Thank you, moms and dads, for a very nice party!

    This Thursday our class will be going to Weldon Springs for a field trip.  Our classes will include one on solids, liquids, and gases, and another on food chains.  This week we will also have the third grade level spelling bee.  Alexis Landmeier and Vanesa Cruz-Hernandez will represent our classroom.  Jack Stephens is our alternate.  Congratulations to all three students for doing so well in our classroom bee.  Other events we are looking forward to are the school Prism Fair in Feb. and an upcoming social studies project for our economics unit.  Directions for this will come out sometime next week.  Of course, on top of all of this, we will spend the entire quarter preparing for the MAP test !

Here's what is planned for this week:

Math:  We are continuing to learn our multiplication facts.  This week we are working on the 3x and 5x facts.  We are also going over the properties of mutiplication. 

Reading:  We will be finishing our Tungsten review and then will be taking the January Tungsten on Tuesday.  After that we will be focusing on summarizing and cause and effect.  Reading for the Six Flags ticket will continue until February 24th.

Spelling:  Test for Yellow Group is Wednesday, Green Group, Friday, and Blue Group, Tuesday.                  

Science:  Our study of the solar system continues with the phases of the moon and solar and lunar eclipses.

Social Studies:  We are learning about economics.  This will include how to make a budget and how to start a business.  Directions for our business project will come out this week!  

Writing:  Our new year resolutions are almost finished.  I hope you'll stop by to read them after they are posted in the hallway.  The children are very goods writers, and I enjoy reading what they have to say!

Special Events:

Tuesday- Reading Tungsten

Wednesday- Math Tungsten; Spelling test for the Yellow Group;  Early release day;

Thursday- Field trip to Weldon Springs;  Grade level spelling bee;

Friday-  Spelling test for the Green Group;