Important Events!
I hope you plan on being there for our debut of the third grade musical, “Why Mosquitos Buzz”
on Tuesday, May 17th at 1:00 in our multi. The third graders are working very hard and are very
excited. You will laugh. You will cry. Bring friends, relatives, and cameras.
May will be a busy month for your third graders. Starting May 2nd we will be administering STAR
testing. Please make sure your student has plenty of sleep and a good breakfast. You will also need to
reschedule any appointments you may have made in the morning. This will help ease any disruptions to
the classroom and the need to “make-up” the test.
We are looking forward to singing for you at our annual Spring Sing on Friday May 27th. Please
have your third grader wear his or his “Why Mosquitos..” shirt to school that day. You already know that
this is a talented musical group.
Curriculum
Science - Students have observed the moon in the sky during the day and night for a period of 4 weeks.
They recorded the appearance of the moon and analyzing the date to discover a sequence of changes,
the lunar cycle. They have learned the names of the Moon phases and how to predict the next step in
the sequence. Concepts are reinforced through simulations, readings, a video and writing. They are also
working on a multi-paragraph planet report with their research group. Next up is the stars, looking at
constellations and predictable patterns.
Social Studies - Ohlone Jeopardy has been a huge hit in our classroom. We are reading our Ohlone text
for information and completing our Ohlone books. Skipping ahead a couple thousand years, we moved
from the Ohlone Indians to Los Altos History at the turn of the century. We visited the Los Altos History
House and Museum last week.
Math - Decimals, money, geometry, and probability are our focus for the rest of the year along with
metric and customary measurement. We are constantly reviewing math facts and other concepts such as
long division that have been introduced.
Language Arts - Charlotte’s Web is our current, and my favorite, literature book. We are using it for
literary circles, writing, computer projects, art, grammar, character study, and comprehension practice.
Mac Lab - Drawing and labeling polygons, writing up an interview, and drawing and labeling spiders are
just some of our current projects. Weekly keyboarding review and simple writing exercises are constant.
These third graders are very competent on the computers, but are still “peeking” at their fingers. Please
encourage proper keyboarding at home and supplement with a typing program if this proves to be
difficult. We are currently using “All The Right Type”, but any program will help.
Photos - I have taken almost 300 pictures this year of your photogenic children. They are on a
Shutterfly web site. I would like to sent you the link. Please let me know in the next week if you do NOT
want me to send you the link.