Happy New Year!!! We
hope you had a magical holiday season with family and friends. We were
excited to see your children return to school and are impressed with how
eagerly they jumped right into their academics.
In reading, students have been exercising
their comparing and contrasting skills, as well as analyzing a text in order to
formulate an informed opinion. As we continue through the month, we will
discuss author’s purpose, summarizing, analyzing characters to better
understand them, and work on our inferring and predicting skills. We are
also working on homophones and homographs, so when you come across any, have
some fun and discuss them with your child. A very exciting third grade
reading incentive, called the Newberry Club, begins in February. Students will
have the opportunity to read award-winning books to become part of the club.
The process involves independent reading of appropriate level books and reaching
different goals along the way. Be on the lookout for more information about
this project to come home soon.
In writing, we are focusing
on growing our independence and ability to self-assess while moving through the
writing process. In addition to practicing this in school, students will
take responsibility for completing the entire process once a month for
homework. This is the GO Write! homework assignment. As we write, we
continue to work on organization, sentence fluency and using sensory words in
our descriptive details. This month we will also focus on making our stories
come to life by ‘showing, not telling’, what is happening. This means
instead of telling you “Janet was happy,” we will show you by writing “Janet’s
eyes lit up and a huge grin broke out on her face.”
Our exciting journey
through Colorado history continues as we take a close look at the Native
American tribes of Colorado. We specifically study the Ute Indians and the
Plains tribes. Students record their similarities and differences on a Venn
diagram as we discuss the cultures and geography of these Native American
people. We also investigate the historical conflicts between the government and
the native people. Students take part in exercises that require the skill of
understanding perspective. Soon, we will learn about the trappers and traders
who came to Colorado to hunt for beaver, the Rendezvous where they traded, and
Bent’s Fort.
During our Math in Focus
work this month, we are moving from bar models into our study of
multiplication. Students will review the concept of equal groups and practice
multiplication skills by mentally solving problems involving ones, tens and
hundreds. Ask your student how the problems 8 x 1, 8 x 10, and 8 x 100
are all related. We will also explore multiplication problems involving
two and three digit numbers multiplied by a single digit multiplier. As
you can tell by the increased complexity of our work, mastery of our
multiplication facts is extremely important. Please take time to work on
these with your student three or four times a week. Quizzing them on facts
while driving, for a few minutes before or after dinner, or before bed is
helpful and important. At this time in the year, we expect students to have
mastery of addition and subtraction facts and to be working daily on
multiplication.
We continue to feel
fortunate to be able to spend our days with your children and thank you for all
the support you provide at home.
Warmly,
The Third Grade Team
Upcoming Events:
January 16 – Martin Luther
King, Jr. Day (no school)
January 29 – Spirit Day
February 17 – Field Trip,
Naturalization Ceremony
