December 19 Post...

Good Afternoon Parents,

Thank you for visiting today! We have had a busy ending to 2016 and are looking at what's to come in 2017.  One huge behavior focus is going to be showing good character at all times. This includes when dealing with peers, adults, and school responsibilities. Please help foster this good character by allowing your child to take responsibility for their actions and accept the consequences of those actions.  Allow your child to learn now when the costs are low...

Check out below to see what we've been doing to finish up the first half of third grade:

Reading: We completed The One and Only Ivan.  We learned about charting the plot of a story, including the rising action, climax, and falling action.  We talked about "theme" of a story and how the characters contributed to that theme. We also learned how to use context to help us decode challenging vocabulary. We finished up this round of book club selections and worked in small groups to discuss characters, setting, climax, theme, and resolution.

Math:  We focused heavily on multi-step problem solving involving all four operations.  We also began discussing ways to display data using a bar graph.  We talked about the necessary parts of a graph (title, x and y  axis, labels, headings, a scale, and bars).  We reviewed more complex number patterns (doubling, multiplying by 2, dividing by 2, etc.)

Science:  We learned about the three types of fossils (cast, mold, trace) and what fossils can tell us about the past.

Social Studies:  We learned about the three branches of government and the responsibilities of each branch.

Class News and Announcements...

Our holiday party is Wednesday at 12:30.  You may check your child out after if you would like. I will have a sign-out sheet in the room.

We currently have assigned seats in the lunchroom due to our behavior. If you come for lunch, please sit at the overflow table.  Children are not taking friends with them at this time.

Make sure your child reads and practices those math facts over the break.It's a great opportunity for your child to put in some extra time if math fact memorization is an issue.