January 28-February 1

January is just about over and we still have a lot to do this year.  Here are a few important upcoming dates:

Feb. 7th--International Festival- Taste Fest and music program - Students will need to bring a food to school that day (60-90 bite-size samples) that represents their country.  They should also wear or bring clothing that would be worn in their country.  Here is the sign up genius for the International Festival   www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F054FA4AC29A20-3rdgrade/1991412

Feb. 12th-- Valentine's Day Party-- This will be our third, and final party, of the year.  Students will exchange valentines and have some treats. We will make a Valentine holder in class, so it is NOT required for your child to bring a decorated box into class from home.  (If they want to that is fine with me.) 
Click here to sign up to help with the party.  www.SignUpGenius.com/go/4090B4AA8A6283-february/1991412

Feb. 12th-- Field Trip to the Symphony (no parent volunteers will be necessary for this trip)

Feb. 13th and 14th-- Student Led Confences- please make sure to visit the school website so that you can sign up for a time that fits your schedule.  They will be given on a first come, first serve basis.  Keep in mind as you are plannng this, that your child will need to attend this confence with you. 

Feb. 15-18--President's Weekend--No School

March (beginning of the month)--DAD'S DOOR!!!!  I still need a few amazingly creative fathers to help decorate our classroom door for the month of March. Let me know if you are interested.  Thanks!  :)

March 5-7-- Reading State Assessments

March 15-24-- Spring Break!!!

Here is what we are doing this week:
Reading-

We will complete our novel study this week. The students will also be practicing how to compare and contrast different texts.

Spelling- Prefixes- week #2
This week we will review the prefixes we practiced last week and add two new prefixes to the list.  The final test will be on Friday.
  pre- = before
  mis- = wrong
  un- = not
  re- = again
  pro- = for, in favor of

Math-  Money and Measures of Central Tendency
We have taken a 2 week detour away from the EnVision program so that we can learn about money, which will appear on State Assessments.  We will also spend some time this week learning how to find the central value from a group of numbers in a variety of ways:
   *mode--  the most often
   *median-- the middle number
   *range-- the difference between the largest number and the smallest number

(Note:  We will also learn about the mean, or average; however, this is not a required standard for 3rd graders to know).

Social Studies and Writing-
International Festival update-- Students are just about finished typing their paragraphs.  Thank you all VERY much for helping to edit your child's work.  We are also completing our posters and finalizing our fact packets.  This week the students will be creating tissue paper flags.

January 14-18

The weather has been rather brisk and downright COLD lately.  I would like to remind you that if the temperature outside is above 20 degrees, the 3rd graders will be going out to recess.  The students will need to be wearing pants and have a WARM coat on in order for us to allow them outside.  If they come to school only wearing shorts and a sweatshirt when the temperatures are this low, then we will make those students stay inside for recess.

Here is a list of some important upcoming dates
Jan. 14-- Report Cards will be coming home in Monday Folders today.
Jan. 21-- No School-- MLK Jr. Day
Jan. 25--Crazy Hair Day
Jan. 26--Father Daughter Dance - RESCHEDULED to February 23rd
Feb. 7-- 3rd Grade International Festival (afternoon- 1-3:45)

Here is what we have planned for learning this week:
Reading- We will continue to practice synthesizing this week as we read a variety of picture books.  We are also continuing our author study on Patricia Polacco.

Reading Groups--The 3rd graders will be working on a novel study in their reading groups for the next 3 weeks.  The students will be divided into 4 groups and will get to practice reading strategies as they read a novel within these groups.  Each 3rd grade teacher will be teaching one group.  As a result, your child may get to experience reading with a different teacher for the next few weeks.

Spelling-  The pattern this week are words that contain these long vowel combinations: ow, oa, ie, igh.  The final test will be on Friday.

Math- We will finish learning about division this week with our Topic 8 test on Friday.  The students should continue to practice multiplication and division facts at home now that they have learned them all.

Social Studies and Writing-  This week our research focus will be to organize all the information that we have gathered into an outline and to write 2 paragraphs.  The first paragraph will be an introduction (using facts that were researched) and the second paragraph will be a persuasive paragraph (also using facts that were researched).  They will try to convince the reader to visit the country in which they are studying. 
PARENT EDIT-- Students will be bringing home their 2 paragraphs this weekend for parents to edit. This will be due on Tuesday Jan. 22.
               
Have a wonderful week!!