September Newsletter

What an exciting month our third graders are experiencing. In every aspect of the curriculum learning is happening.  From building our community though Responsive Classroom to researching Colorado life zones, we are hard at work.

In math, we’ve been reviewing place value and extending our understanding of our number system.  We’ve also spent some time on graphing, gathering data, and talking about ways we can record it.  Moby Max practice in the classroom and at home will reinforce and grow automaticity with math facts and provide practice and challenge in other math areas.

During the last two weeks, we have been conducting reading assessments, using a new tool, Fountas and Pinnell, to find reading levels for both instructional and independent reading. The students already know "The Rule of Thumb” for figuring out whether a book is just right for them, but this online tool will help confirm it.  Your child may actually be able to decode the words, but not understand the content of a book.  “Just Right” books should be used for the daily 15/5 assignments as well for Repeated Oral Reading.

Instructions for using Typing Pal went home in the Back to School Night Folder, and are also on the blog in the post below.  This year Typing Pal will be done in library, but students will gain prowess by following up with home practice.

Our Writing Workshop during this unit focuses on writing personal narratives. We are learning how to use details to enhance stories. One game you might play to help this skill is to say a noun and see how many descriptive adjectives your student can attach to that noun. We are also exploring kinds of sentences, compound words, subjects and predicates, and more.

During social studies, students have been researching Colorado life zones in small groups. They have selected a specific life zone and an animal for their Life Zone Project, which will come home this week. Technology will figure importantly in this unit.  After September 19^th, ask your child what they know about Google Slides!

Third grade has just climbed Chief Mountain. Our students are  climbing a mountain of independence and responsibility.  Parents and teachers are essential for supporting the journey, but students must accept the challenges they meet with positive attitudes, and perseverance.  In third grade, “museum quality work” is our expectation. We are a team!