Week of September 24th, 2017 - 2018

Reminders for the week:

Health Records
The health office has emailed all families who have incomplete records. All health records need to be submitted to the health office by September 28th. After this date students without updated records cannot attend school.

READING
This week in Reader's Workshop, before moving on to become detectives alongside characters in mysteries, students in the third grade will learn and add a few more tools to their reading toolbox. They will learn that, as books become more complex, authors sometimes use language figuratively and metaphorically. They will use author's clues to decipher the actual meaning of those words or phrases in context. They will also practice asking questions and think of possible answers as an additional strategy to understand a story better. We will end the unit with a celebration of our reading journey so far, of our continuous efforts to grow as readers and build a great reading life. 

                      Raining Heavily

WRITING

This week in Writer’s Workshop,  3rd graders will review their narrative stories for editing and revision. Students are encouraged to not only write well, but also to spell and punctuate well, remembering that they are writing for an audience. Using an editing checklist as they reread their work, they looking for specific items in their writing such as punctuation, paragraphing, spelling, capitalization, and sentence clarity. 

Our informal Writing Celebration for the Narrative Writing unit is planned for Monday, October 8th.  As part of the celebration they will decorate their writing journals. Parents if you have wrapping paper, stickers, or pictures to share please send them in with your child. We appreciate you help decorating the journals and putting them together with tape. Celebrations will take place in your child's classroom. The times are below.

3Cs - 12.50 - 1.50
3Hs - 12.50 - 1.50
3Ws - 12:50 - 1:50
3Ds - 12.50 - 1.50

MATH

This week we will begin Module 2 in which our mathematicians will deepen their understanding of place value and problem solving with units of measurement. Our week will start with students practicing the skill of telling time to the nearest 5 minutes. Students will learn to draw a model, using multiples of 5 to skip count and label the intervals for an hour. Through this work, they recognize the analog clock as a portion of the number line shaped into a circle and use the number line as a tool for modeling and solving problems.

Additionally, our third grade mathematicians will count by fives and ones on the number line to tell time to the nearest minute and solve word problems involving time intervals using addition and subtraction. They will end the week developing estimation strategies using familiar objects to establish mental benchmarks of weight and spend time learning how to decompose a kilogram into smaller parts.

Important vocabulary includes: interval, point, plotting, estimation, kilogram (kg), grams (g).

SOCIAL STUDIES
This week in Science, we are taking a break from our soil unit. Third grade Soil Scientists are giving the seeds they planted time to germinate and grow. They will continue to monitor their pots and record data so they can determine the best soil combination. 

We begin our Social Studies unit 'One World: Our Community'. As social scientists, students will learn the components of a map such as title, compass rose, equator, northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere and how they help the reader find a location. They will use those skills, to then learn how a map key is used to understand how where you live affects how you live. 

Guidance News: Digital Safety Update - It’s Okay to Tell

This week we will discuss ways in which the digital world can be harmful, such as seeing a shocking picture or receiving a message from a stranger, and what to do when this happens. Students will learn that it is not their fault if this happens and the importance of telling an adult when it does. They will learn the 3 Steps for handling harmful information:   

It’s Okay To Tell!

1.     Ignore it (don’t respond back or click on any image/link)

2.     Save it (don’t close the window or delete it before showing it to your parent so they can help make sure it doesn’t happen again)

3.     Tell an Adult

Students will bring home a copy of the 3 Steps – It’s Okay to Tell! for you to review together at home. Sometimes children feel embarrassed or worried when shocking images or messages pop up on their digital devices. The 3 Steps can be posted in your home as a tool for your child to point to if they have a problem online they want you to know about.