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October Newsletter 2008
Ms. Moore and Ms. Brundage
Third Grade
Dear Parents,
Thank you so much for attending Back-to-School Night. Your presence
shows your commitment to your child’s education. Your third graders have
adjusted nicely to their new routines at school. We are truly beginning to
bond as a group and new friendships are developing. We are churning out
lots of beautiful work each week and getting cursive handwriting underway.
Students are earning tokens for their great behavior and effort and spending
them on treats and privileges. Reading groups and math groups have begun.
Please remember those groups are fluid and assembled according to needs and
learning styles. Thank you for all your support with homework.
Last Thursday, we attended the Lower School gleaning field trip. We
harvested pumpkins, zucchini, and squash for the Food for Others warehouse,
which feed homeless people in the Washington Metropolitan area. The children
did a wonderful job, and we are so proud of them.
READING:
Ms. Brundage’s reading group has read The Penguin Chick, a non-fiction
text. We identified the main idea and supporting details. We also read A
Day’s Work, a realistic fiction story, and Prudy’s Problem and How She
Solved It, a fantasy. We identified character traits in both stories. The
students identified details in each story to explain how the characters
showed the traits. We are currently reading The Chocolate Touch. Our focus
is to summarize each chapter.
Ms. Moore’s reading group has read a historical fiction entitled “Boom
Town”. The targeted skill was realism and fantasy. Students had to determine
whether a piece of writing was realistic or fantasy by asking, “Could this
happen?” We are reading a fable entitled “What About Me?” Our focus is
determining the sequence of events in a story. As they read a story, the
students have to summarize what happens by telling only the important events
in the order that they happened. Both reading groups have started using the
Read Naturally Program in the computer lab to improve fluency and
comprehension.
LANGUAGE ARTS:
We have been writing and identifying complete sentences. We have also
practiced using correct punctuation to write statements, commands,
questions, and exclamations. Next, we will be learning about the subject
and predicate of a sentence. In addition, students have practiced using the
different parts of speech and the 5 W’s to elaborate and write million
dollar sentences, (Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?). We also wrote
paragraphs about the important things about ourselves, inspired by Margaret
Wise Brown’s The Important Book. In the spirit of the season, the students
wrote creative haiku poems about the fall.
MATH:
We have studied place value through the thousands, writing numbers in
expanded form (3,468= 3,000 t 400 t 60 t 8) and word form. A couple rounds
of place value bingo have helped reinforce our place value skills. We have
begun rounding –three and –four digit numbers to the nearest ten, hundred,
and thousand.
SPELLING:
Both spelling groups have been sorting words with the short and long a
sound. It is good practice to have your child sort the words from their
Ziploc bag each night in addition to the activities in the packet. Look for
these in the blue Spelling folders on Monday.
BEAR TIME:
The students are using BEAR TIME to read books from our
classroom library and books they have brought from home. We are encouraging
the children to choose chapter books and stick with them until completion.
We are also using BEAR TIME to read aloud to the children. BOOK IT begins
this month. The children will have a reading log that they keep at home.
They will need to record the amount they read and have a parent sign off on
their reading. At the end of each month, they will receive a pizza coupon
for a completed log.
BOOK REPORTS:
Book reports forms were sent home last week in their Important Papers
folders. Our first book report is a mystery book report. We helped them
choose books at their appropriate reading level.
SOCIAL STUDIES:
In Social Studies, we are learning about Columbus and his travels. We read A
Picture Book of Columbus, and followed his exploration on a map. In
addition, we are learning about the cardinal and intermediate directions on
a compass rose.
REMINDERS:
• Please be sure to look over your child’s homework assignments to
make sure everything is complete. Please sign their planner each night.
• All clothing, jackets, sweatshirts, backpacks, and books brought to
school should be labeled with your child’s name.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
October 9 – No School – Yom Kippur
October 10-18 - Book Fair
October 13 - Pizza Lunch
October 16 - Student of the Month - Sammy Senders
October 18 - Fall Festival @ 11am
October 23 - End of 1st quarter
October 29 - Book reports are due.
October 30 - Student of the Month - Emily Schissler
October 31 - Noon Dismissal – Noon Dismissal
November 5 & 6-Conference Days (Notices will come home confirming your
conference time)
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