May 2013
Dear Parents
The third grade is currently in first place in the box top/labels for education contest! Thank you in advance for keeping the labels coming in!
We have been studying time and some of the kids are struggling some. I think there are so many digital clocks in our world these days that telling time is less of a given than it once was. Try to reinforce this skill at home by talking to your child about time. We are going to be reviewing this concept a little each day for the rest of the year. If you are inclined to buy your child an analog watch it might be helpful!
We finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone today! The drama! I think we all really enjoyed getting into this book and comparing the book to the movie throughout the reading- even though our Venn diagram (comparing the two) got filled up after a few chapters! Many of the kids are already reading the sequels. These would be good choices for summer reading. Remember, it's very beneficial to read to your children at ANY age and sometimes with more advanced books like the HP series this is necessary to keep them interested. It still counts as reading!!
We still need four more half-gallon cartons in order to plant our lima beans in soil. The ones we planted in bags with wet paper towels are sprouting- it's exciting! But we need to do the soil ones to be able to observe, compare, and draw scientific
conclusions!
Times tables are going great. We are doing well on our timed tests each week and will keep it up for the rest of the year.
Thank you so much for all you do!
Mrs. Cordon
March 20, 2013
Hello Parents
Spring Break is almost upon us!
We had such a great time today at the Star Lab at the Cape Fear Museum. We were able to show off all we have learned about the solar system- a lot! The trip was a great review for our science test tomorrow. The kids were given review sheets yesterday; please help them with the material tonight.
We also have a religion test tomorrow on Chapter 11. The test will be open-book. All the important sections are highlighted. Still, they should review those highlighted sections.
If your child has been baptized, please take a minute to discuss his or her baptism tonight. This is a religion assignment from our Lenten workbook.
The spelling test this week (Friday) is on the science words introduced last week. There have been no assignments with the words, but students should be studying them.
I will be sending home some times tables sheets to keep our facts fresh over the break!
--
Tracy Cordon
3rd Grade Teacher
St. Mary Catholic School
Academic Excellence in a Setting of Catholic Christian Values
January 25, 2013
Dear Parents
Report cards went home today! I am very pleased with everyone's progress. Please sign the report card and send it to school with your child by the end of next week. Remember that Krispy Kreme gives out up to 6 donuts for A's on report cards, so you might want to swing by there before handing yours in! Rita's also gives out ices for good reports cards- although ice might not be what you're craving this weekend!!
This coming week is Catholic Schools Week. There are activities planned for each day of the week. A flyer which outlines all of these activities was sent home with your child today. This information is on the school website as well. Be sure to remember there is a Super Bowl themed dress-down day on Monday!
We have run out of erasers in the classroom, so you might want to buy some for your child's use for the rest of the year. If anyone would like to send some in for the use of the class- that would be great, also. Many of the kids have little hand-held pencil sharpeners, and they are very helpful in the classroom. This way a student can sharpen his/her pencil independently without any fuss or distractions. If your student does not have a pencil sharpener and you could provide one, it would be most appreciated. Do please buy the type that catches the shavings if you don't mind. :)
I hope your children told you how much fun we had with our seventh grade buddies creating Prezis (ask your child what they are!) about the water cycle. We are working on getting those Prezis available for your viewing. Will let you know! Be sure to have your child sing the water cycle song for you, as well! We are water cycle experts! Next up- solar system!
Have a great (maybe white) weekend!
Tracy Cordon
3rd Grade Teacher
St. Mary Catholic School
Academic Excellence in a Setting of Catholic Christian Values
January 11, 2012
Hello Parents!We've had a great week! As you have probably heard, we finally have our Smartboard! It is great! We are able to use it for DOL, to hear fun stories on Tumblebooks during snack, and to learn our science lessons interactively in the afternoons. We had so much fun turning liquids into solids this week as you got to see on Tuesday afternoon when your students brought home their blue goop! We finished Third Grade Angels and have decided to try to be angels ourselves just like the class in the book! Each week a different student will earn our halo with his or her good behavior! Our next read-aloud will be Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume (one of my favorite authors)! Please consider getting a copy for your child- especially if he or she is working on comprehension.
Mrs. Price and the HSA have arranged for a great speaker for the next HSA meeting and they are encouraging high attendance at this event by rewarding the class with the highest parent attendance with a dress down day. The speaker is David L. Hill, MD, FAAP. He is a pediatrician and author, and a nationally recognized expert on media and child health. I will be there for the meeting (Wednesday 1/23 at 6:30pm) and hope you will be, too. I am sure it will be a very beneficial experience. There will be a hand-out coming home next week about this.
Have a great weekend!
-- Tracy Cordon3rd Grade TeacherSt. Mary Catholic SchoolAcademic Excellence in a Setting of Catholic Christian Values
January 2012
Dear Parents
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a blessed Christmas! Just a few reminders-- this marking period is coming to a close (January 18th) and we will have our times tables test on 4s, 5s, and 6s on January 16th. A few children still need to get these tables learned. There is still plenty of time.
Our current read-aloud is Third Grade Angels by Jerry Spinelli. We LOVED The Best Christmas Pageant Ever- many have listed it as their favorite book on the new year worksheets we completed this week for display outside the classroom. We are loving our new book, too! The kids love to read along (and it helps keep them focused and able to retain more) so if you can obtain a copy for your child, that would be great!
--
Tracy Cordon
3rd Grade Teacher
St. Mary Catholic School
Academic Excellence in a Setting of Catholic Christian Values
December 4, 2012
Hello Parents!
This week's spelling words are-- brother's, brothers, uncle's uncles, sister's sisters, sisters', man's, men's, child's, girls, girl's, girls', mine, yours. Clearly the kids need to understand the difference between plurals, possessives, and plural possessives. We have been working on this in class. Keep this in mind while helping your child study for the test. Here are some examples which may help...
The girls were jumping rope.
The girl's sweater was on the back of her chair.
The girls' club was on Wednesday after school.
We are really picking up speed with times tabes and progressing well. There will be weekly times tables tests on Wednesdays from now on. Each child will be tested according to how far he/she has progressed on the football field. (If a child has made it past the 5s yard line, his test will be on all the tables 0-5.) I think this will help the kids to keep the tables in their memories and to contnue drilling themselves even on tables they have "learned." You may have seen "times table practice" written in your child's planner. I am asking the children- as part of their nightly homework- to review the times tables they know. This is review and not about learning more tables. It should take only a minute each night. It is important that the kids retain the multiplication facts they learn as the year progresses.The second quarter times tables test will be on Wednesday January 16th. On this day the kids will be tested on all tables through six.
Thank you for your help and support.
Tracy Cordon
3rd Grade Teacher
St. Mary Catholic School
Academic Excellence in a Setting of Catholic Christian Values
November 15, 2012
Dear Parents
It is getting cold and some of the kids were a bit chilly at recess today. You might want to consider sending in gloves or hats or heavier jackets. This is only a suggestion- my own son was running around without any jacket! I just know I was cold, and some of the students were as well.
A form was sent home today with information about the new box tops contest which ends on November 28th. The prize is a pizza party, so please send in any box tops you collect!
Thank you!
--
Tracy Cordon
3rd Grade Teacher
St. Mary Catholic School
Academic Excellence in a Setting of Catholic Christian Values
October 7, 2012
Dear Parents
This will be a big week for us as this coming Friday will be the first Mass prepared by our class! The kids will give the readings, bring up the gifts, lead the petitions, altar serve, and serve as the cantors. We will also have a few kids from the upper grades helping us out. I cannot tell you how excited these children (and myself) are about this upcoming important event. We have already had two practices in the church, and I know we are going to do a wonderful job. Please plan on attending Mass this Friday. If you can make it, do plan to sit with our class on the left side of the church (facing the altar). The kids will be sitting in the front pews in a special order dependant upon the roles they have in the Mass. You are welcome to sit in the pews behind the kids.
I sent some of the kids home with their readings to practice over the weekend. Forgive me for the less than formal appearance of their little slips of paper-- they will get neater copies to take home and practice with this week. :)
If your child has a speaking part in this Mass (Laney, Nathan, Lilliana, Alex, Caitlyn, Emma, Luke, Savannah, Evan, and Amelia) it would be great if you could help him/her to practice this week. None of the readings are long. The focus should be on reading loudly enough, reading slowly, and enunciating. At the same time, the goal should be, of course, to bring the proper meaning to the words and to communicate the message at hand.
There will be plenty of opportunities for the kids to read at Mass, as we will prepare three more Masses throughout the year (including Ash Wednesday Mass), and I will strongly encourage all of the kids to help with speaking roles.
IOWA testing has been going very well. I have been very proud of the serious "try my best" attitude the kids have maintained for all three days of testing. They are not rushing at all, but rather taking the tests very carefully and in many cases checking over their work. The last day of testing will be tomorrow (Monday) and then we will return to our regular schedule. Tuesday will be a make-up day for any students who have been absent for any of the testing days.
We are still focusing on regrouping in math, and have been doing a good job of it. Breaking the kids into groups at math time has proved very helpful to those needing a little extra support with the concepts. We will continue with our non-fiction Olympic story this week; there are a lot of facts to keep straight, and I think another week of focus will help.
We had a chance to work with some of the ipads this past week! We had a lot of fun exploring the educational apps the school has set up for us- most notably we were able to use a math app to work on our multiplication tables! I hope to begin using the ipads regularly in math for enrichment purposes, and eventually in other subjects as well.
We will be buddies with Mrs. Brown's seventh grade class this year! Mrs. Brown and I are planning a fun science activity for the kids for sometime in the upcoming weeks- will keep you posted!
Also on the horizon- class pictures on October 17th- forms were sent home- price is $10 and checks should be made out to Lifetouch. Field trip to Mike's Farm. This form was also sent home in the folder. We only need one chaperone, and I already have a volunteer. If you would like to travel on your own to the farm and meet us there, you are more than welcome. The more the merrier. Should be a fun trip!
There will be no spelling test this week. The spelling words come from the stories we are reading, so this is due to the fact that we will stick with last week's story this week. Hopefully the kids can use the little bit of extra time at home practicing for Mass!
Have a great week and hope to see you on Friday!
Tracy Cordon
3rd Grade Teacher
St. Mary Catholic School
Academic Excellence in a Setting of Catholic Christian Values
Dear Parents