Week of 3/11-3/15

Hello!

Our animal research papers are well under way.  The third graders have turned three pages of information into the beginning three paragraphs of their paper.  You can see that all the students are taking what they know about paragraph writing and what they learned during our essay unit and are using it in their new pieces.  It's amazing how much we all are learning about all these animals, too!

In math we are still focusing on seeing patterns in multiplication and seeing the relationship between multiplication and division.  We learned about grouping numbers in parentheses [5+(6*3)] and how adding zeros to the factors effects the product (ex. 2*3=6, 20*3=60, 200*3= 600, etc.).  Next we should be testing on Unit 7 by Friday.

During read aloud, we have been looking into the genre of fantasy.  I read "Dragon Slayers Academy: The New Kid in School" to the kids this week and after the story talked about what makes it a fantasy and how it's different from other genres.  This coming week we are going to be reading the second book in the same series!  The kids are really enjoying this genre!

Reminders:

-Conferences are coming up this week on the 20th and 21st.  I have emailed every parent with a time/date confirmation.  If you did not receive an email, I did not receive your conference request sheet.  Please fill that out and return it to school so that we can schedule a time to meet!

-Our field trip is coming up on Wednesday, March 27th to the Detroit Historical Museum.  All permission slips and payment were collected and we are ready to go!!

Have a great weekend!!

Week of 3/4-3/8

Hello Families!

Our animal research projects are well under way!  We spent this week entering important information about our selected animals into our research packets.  Your child will be bringing the packet home this weekend to continue their research, if needed.  This packet needs to come back to school!  The students will be taking the information they gathered and will use it to create an animal research essay paper.  During the next coming weeks, I will be walking the kids through the process of taking the information they wrote in their packets and turning each page/topic into a paragraph!  It will be loads of fun and the kids will feel a huge sense of accomplishment when all is said and done!

In math we have moved on to looking more closely at multiplication and division!  So far the unit has been fun!  We have learned how to play Multiplication Bingo and have been figuring out multiplication puzzles, both a great and entertaining way to practice our facts!

*Reminders*

• Our first field trip is coming up on Wednesday, March 27th!  Permission slips and payment are due this Monday, March 11th!  The museum needs to be paid two weeks prior to the trip, so it is extremely important we get everything in by Monday!  Thank you in advance!
• Wednesday, March 20th and Thursday, March 21st are the dates for spring conferences!  If you have not sent in your availability yet, please do so by Wednesday, March 13th.  I look forward to meeting with all of you!
• Beginning this Monday, all students will have a weekly behavior chart in their organizers.  At the end of each day, I will simply put a star on whichever area of the chart best describes their day: had a good day, had an "okay" day, or did not have a good day.  If ever the last box is starred, it will be followed with a brief description of the day's behavior(s). 

I hope that everyone has an enjoyable weekend!

Happy Monday!

We have many new beginnings happening in the classroom this week!  Today we are taking out Unit 6 Assessment and will begin Unit 7 tomorrow.  In Unit 7 we will be exploring multiplication and division, patterns, fact practice, seeing multiplication in parentheses, etc.

Today also begins our big animal research unit.  This project covers curriculum in writing (research), reading (non-fiction), and science (animal adaptations).  We are beginning our research this week and will be working on putting a research essay paper together after gathering information.  Near the end of this process, we will be sending a note home about an at home project to wrap-up all of their hard work!!

We are also continuing our Early Michigan history unit in Social Studies!  We are taking a look at the French voyageurs and the British, who made Michigan their home and what they brought over from their countries.

Thank you to those of you who have already turned in your conference sign-up sheets.  For those who haven't, please make sure they are turned in by Wednesday, March 13th.

Coming home today is a letter and permission slip informing you about our upcoming field trip to the Detroit Historical Museum!!  The field trip is on the 27th of this month.  Permission slips and payment are due together on or before Monday, March 11th.  Full payment to the museum needs to be handed in two weeks prior to the field trip.

Enjoy your week!