Week of February 12th, 2016 - 17

READING

This week, as we continue to learn about mysteries, our Third Graders will notice the choices the characters are making. This will help them understand how the detective is able to solve the mystery. Our students will also learn that as we read and solve mysteries, we learn a little more about human nature and what causes people to do certain things. The motives of the suspect are often negative and cause from jealousy, greed, or revenge. 

WRITING

This week, as we continue to learn about persuasive writing, students will make sure they are using their most convincing evidence to support their ideas. They will think about what makes a powerful speech, and review the words they have chosen to ensure they sound right and evoke the intended emotion. Reviewing their speech looking for punctuation, capitalization, paragraphs, and spelling will help third grade writers prepare for a mini publication at the end of the week. 

MATH

This week our third grade mathematicians will begin a new unit focusing on fractions as numbers on a number line. For many of our learners, this will be their first foray into working with fractions.

Learners will spend the first half of the week using concrete models to gain hands-on experience partitioning a whole into equal parts. For example, students will be provided with paper strips that they will measure to find the total length and then divide the strip into equal parts (halves, fourths, eights as well as thirds and sixths).

Towards the end of the school week, mathematicians will move towards defining unit fractions of a whole numerically using fractional notation. For example, students will see a whole figure divided into four equal parts with one of the parts shaded, and then determine that 1 out of 4 equal parts are shaded, or 1/4 of the figure is shaded. 

Key unit vocabulary at the start of this unit includes: 

-equal parts

-unit fraction: a fraction with a numerator of one and positive integer for the denominator, 1/n. Example: 1/4

-unit form: fractions expressed using numbers as words. Example: 1 fourth

-fraction form: a selected part of a whole that has been divided into equal parts, expressed using numbers in which the denominator (number on the bottom) shows the total number of equal parts and the numerator (number on the top) represents the indicated number of parts. Example: 2/4

-halves

-thirds

-fourths

-sixths

-eighths

SOCIAL STUDIES 
This week we start our new Social Studies unit, 'Shaping Communities Around the World'.
Our essential question is 'How does culture shape communities around the world?'
During this unit we investigate different countries and their culture. Culture including; 1. Art, music and Dance 2. Folk tales, Myths and Legends 3. Leisure activities 4. Historical events 5. Inventions, creation, innovation 6. Key people/person.
During this weeks lesson we introduce the students to the 'Big 6' research.

To help launch the unit, we are asking parents this week to share your expertise about any country of the world that interests you. The categories mentioned above will help guide you in what brief amounts of information we are looking for.
Please return this no later than Thursday, February 16.

CIRCLE TIME

Dear All,

This year we will be inviting a range of food vendors to send in their proposals for providing Food Services on campus.  As per the school practice, we review all services every three years and in order for the school to judge the levels of satisfaction with current providers of food on campus, please take a few minutes to answer the survey questions below to provide us with your feedback.

SURVEY LINK:  https://docs.google.com/a/g-cacegypt.org/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexCmT5G0kj-DGKMUW-VuycZ_FcYUv_wIRNqrpQapdpQZe_Sw/viewform

Thank you in advance for your support in providing us with valuable information that will be used to evaluate the service.  Please complete the survey by no later than Thursday, February 16.

Sincerely,

Shaimaa Fouad

Business Office