Literacy on the Lawn

Students worked with a partner today and sat outside for our literacy lesson.  Together they hunted for two syllable words, three syllable words, nouns, proper nouns, and adjectives.

Doc Grizzly

A Real Mountain Man! 

On May 6th and 7th, excitement and adventure are coming to our Third Grade students. Doc Grizzly is coming to Graland. Doc Grizzly is a real Mountain Man. He will teach about an important part of Colorado history. He will demonstrate how traders and trappers lived and what a rendezvous was really like.

On his first visit, Wednesday afternoon, May 6th, Doc Grizzly will show us some of the Mountain Man’s important tools. He will tell stories about how people lived in the mountains in the mid to late 1800’s.

On Thursday, May 7th,^, Doc Grizzly will set up camp on the field. He will pitch his tent, cook his food, share more wonderful stories, and trade with us

Here’s what our students need to do to be prepared for the Thursday visit:

·      Come dressed as a mountain man, explorer, settler, trapper, storekeeper, trader, or Native American. (There is no need to purchase a costume. Use things from your own closets.)

·      Bring a dozen items to trade in a plastic bag. Some examples are beef or turkey jerky, beads, buttons, fabric scraps, biscuits, homemade cookies, or other small items that you can trade. Be creative with your ideas. (There is no need to make major purchases.) Just remember that whatever you trade you will not get back. No items containing nuts, please. No chocolate, it melts. You may want to bring in your trading items on Wednesday so that you don’t forget them on Thursday.

·      Spend time thinking up a tall tale about your trading items. It makes trading more fun. Your teacher will give you examples.

·      Apply and bring sunscreen; we will be outside for most of the day. Teachers do not apply sunscreen.

·      Bring a water bottle and a towel with your name on it.

State Capitol and Governor's Mansion

Third grade had a lot of fun visiting the State Capitol and Governor's Mansion last Friday!  We learned a lot, but were impressed with how much the students already knew - particularly when asked questions at the Governor's Mansion about Colorado history.

What to Bring For Friday's Field Trip

Governor's Mansion & State Capitol Field Trip

Friday, April 24th

Leave Campus at 9:30, Return around 1:45 or 2:00

Third graders need to bring:

• A backpack - Please do not have anything additional in the backpack. Each backpack will go through security and a metal detector.
• A water bottle 
• Good walking shoes

Grandparent's & Special Friend's Day

We had such a wonderful time with grandparents and special friends.  Thank you to all who joined us in class on Friday!

Practice the Numbers in Spanish!

Here are the links to the Quizlet practice activities, sent by Señora James.

# 0 – 10

# 11 – 20

# 10 – 100 (by tens)

# 100 – 1000 (by hundreds)

April / May Newsletter

It is hard to believe that this school year is coming to an end.  We have had such a wonderful experience with this special group of students, and we don't want to say goodbye!  Lucky for us, we still have six weeks left to learn with them!  We know there are a lot of activities, late nights, and busy schedules. Please help your child stay organized and get good sleep, as we wrap up this important third grade school year.

The Colorado History Affinity Project is underway and the students seem excited to dig in to their research. We have spent an incredible third grade school year studying Colorado history. Now, they get to focus on one area that really interests them and has a special meaning to them. This project is going to take our students on a journey to discover information about their chosen topics that will deepen their understanding and appreciation of Colorado history.  

Students are working hard on making dash notes while researching, and a calendar of due dates has been provided. Please keep this at home to help guide your child know what to do and when. We send home a copy of this calendar with homework each week, and highlight that week's responsibilities; however they may need your guidance as well.

We are wrapping up our settlers unit (miners and pioneers).  Check out your child's blog for an iMovie trailer of their journey west. Our final social studies unit is called The Making of a State.  We will be answering the following questions:

• What is a territory?
• How did Colorado become a territory?
• Who were the first territory governors?
• What was a Constitutional Convention?
• How was a Colorado territory law passed?
• How did Colorado finally become a state?
• What are some of Colorado's state symbols?

As part of this unit, we will be visiting the State Capital and Governor's Mansion on Friday, April 24!

Third grade ERB testing dates are slightly different than what is noted on the Graland calendar. We will be testing Monday, April 20 - Thursday, April 23. Other grades will more than likely be sticking to the Graland ERB dates, which are the same week, but Tuesday-Friday. Third grade is unable to test on Friday due to a great field trip opportunity! As a reminder, please make sure your child gets rest and a hearty breakfast before testing days.  

In literacy, we will continue practicing a variety of comprehension strategies, including story structure, monitor/clarify, compare and contrast, visualize, sequence of events, analyze/evaluate, author's purpose, questioning, text and graphic features, and inferring/predicting.

We are studying different phonics skills, grammar, and vocabulary strategies:

• Base Words and -ed,  -ing, -s, -es endings
• Suffixes -ful, -y, -ous, -ly, -er, -est, -less, -ness, -able
• Base word and prefix non-, in-, im-, un-, pre-, re-, bi-
• Possessive Nouns and Pronouns
• Less Common Plurals 
• Changing Final y to i
• Abbreviations
• What is an adverb?
• Analogies
• What is a preposition?

Our classroom writing instruction is now focused on two specific writing traits: voice and word choice.  These traits will enhance our students' writing.  We will continue to practice brainstorming, editing skills, and development of ideas. Congratulations on the completion of your child's first WrAP (Writing Assessment Program).

Students have been working hard in math.  We are going to continue multiplication and division using bar models to assist in two step story problems.  We will end the school year with fractions!  

As you can see, we are busy in third grade, and we have even more events to look forward to.  Mountain Man, Doc Grizzly, will be joining us on the afternoon of May 6, and all day on May 7.  Then, we will visit the History Colorado Center for our final trip of the school year on May 19.  Be on the lookout for information from drama teacher, Tony Catanese, for dates/time of the upcoming third grade plays. 

The third grade tradition is to hold our end-of-year party on the last morning of school. Parents and students celebrate at a potluck breakfast on the terrace off the Anschutz Commons.  More information will be coming from your room parent, and please plan to join us for breakfast from 8:30-9:25!  

We appreciate all of your support at home!  Thank you for a wonderful school year and we will be in touch many times over these last six weeks.

The Third Grade Team

Resources: Colorado History Affinity Project

From our Graland Librarians:

We in the library have gone ahead and done some research on resources for third graders and compiled them on one site for your convenience!

Click here for the link. 

We are also in the process of pulling books that pertain to topics or have relevant sections. If there is anything else that we can do to assist you, just let us know!

Meredith Hausauer
Elementary Library Teacher

WrAP is Tomorrow

This Thursday and Friday, April 9 and 10, third grade students are taking a writing assessment called the WrAP. We have been practicing the format in class and for homework. Students will receive a writing prompt and create a story around it. You can help your student be prepared by making sure that he/she:

•  Gets a good night's sleep 
•  Eats a good breakfast 
•  Is in school on time (by 8:10) 

 Thanks so much for your support!

Colorado History Affinity Project