Spanish Fun

Since Spanish is taught on our homeroom classroom this school year, I have had the opportunity to see a lot of the fun our student have with Señora James!

Colorado History Map

Third graders created a Colorado map, using their new mapping knowledge (directions, bordering states, rivers, Colorado regions, and The Continental Divide).  Each student will add to his/her map all year, including where important events took place, where specific groups of people lived, and important landmarks, cities, rivers, and mountains.  Your student's individual map will be posted on his/her blog at the end of the school year. This is a picture of the progress made on our maps so far.

Autumn Poem

This is a video of our students acting out an autumn poem.  Enjoy!

Assembly

During today's assembly, Third Graders shared with Lower School students about our Chief Mountain hike.  Take a look at our picture and videos below!

Math Video Homework

Plains Conservation Center Field Trip

We had a great time out on the Plains last Thursday!  A picture link and videos are below.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FIELD TRIP ALBUM

November and December Newsletter

We hope you enjoyed your Fall break with Halloween festivities and one extra hour of sleep! We have been fortunate with our pleasant temperatures, but changes in the weather are sure to come. Please remember to send a coat, hat, and mittens or gloves to school. Students can leave these items in their lockers, since the weather can be unpredictable. It is important to label everything with your child's name. On days when it has snowed, but the weather is acceptable for students to have outdoor recess, they must wear snow boots if they are playing on the field and playground area. If they do not have boots, then they must stay on the sidewalk areas.  

This week we begin our new social studies unit about the Native Americans of Colorado. On Thursday, Nov. 5^th we will head to the Plains Conservation Center for an all day field trip. This field trip fits in nicely with our Native American social studies unit and will serve as an introduction to pioneers, which is a unit we will cover in March.

Our Native American unit focuses on the Ute and Plains Indians. The students will add both the Utes and Plains to their Colorado interactive maps using Google Draw, and are beginning to create a new Colorado history timeline using an app on the iPads.  We will also begin an e-book of important people in Colorado history. 

In literacy, we have been practicing a variety of comprehension strategies, including inferring and predicting, using text and graphic features, analyzing and evaluating, identifying the main idea and details, and drawing conclusions from text. Students are working on reading skills in teacher-led book groups (variety of genres) at their instructional level.

We have been studying different types of words:

• Multiple meaning words
• Verb Tense
• Synonyms
• Antonyms
• Pronouns
• Proper Nouns

Phonics skills you will see in spelling lists include:

• Silent letters (kn, wr)
• Vowel diphthongs (ow, ou)
• Words with au, aw, al, o

Third graders have been learning about the six writing traits and will continue to focus on idea development, organization, sentence fluency, word choice, and editing (including the use of commas in a series). We are expecting students to use capitals and ending punctuation appropriately. Third graders have been introduced to the complete writing process: brainstorming, rough draft, editing, and a final copy. Dictionary and glossary skills will be introduced and practiced in December.

We have noticed the students working hard on studying math facts for homework. By winter break, all third graders should be fluent in the addition and subtraction facts. Students have been learning addition and subtraction up to 10,000 with regrouping. Subtraction across zeros can be a tricky process!  We are applying these skills to counting money. When grocery shopping, ask your child to add or subtract the items and figure the change. This week we will explore the world of bar models to solve addition and subtraction word problems. Ask your child what part-part-whole means, and let your third grader be the teacher at home to explain these visual representations.

Reminders and upcoming events:

• Thursday 11/5 – Plains Conservation Center field trip (dress in layers)
• Friday 11/6 – NO SCHOOL for students (Faculty PD day)
• Friday, 11/20 – NOON DISMISSAL, Spirit Day
• Monday 11/23 – Friday 11/27  Thanksgiving Break
• Friday, 12/18 – NOON DISMISSAL for Winter Break 

We appreciate all of your support at home! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Winter Break!

Halloween Pictures

CLICK HERE FOR HALLOWEEN PICTURES

Studious bats, vampires, and other characters taking a spelling test.

Halloween: Thank You!

We want to thank all of the parents who helped decorate our classroom and plan the Halloween party:

• Andrea Mahoney
• Amy Chapman
• Soojin Kim
• Ali Frankfurt
• Patrina Odette
• Barb Wallace
• THANK YOU!

Amy Chapman and Ali Frankfurt Performing The Raven