October 12, 2015
Dear Third Grade Parents and Students,
Reminders:
IOWA Testing: The third grade will be taking the IOWA tests Thursday and Friday of this week and all next week. It is important for the students to be at school to take the tests. Please do not schedule any appointments between October 15- 27. Here are some helpful tips to discuss with your child:
* Plan ahead for a peaceful, unhurried evening and morning before the test.
* Make sure your child sleeps well, eats a healthy breakfast, brings a healthy snack, and gets enough water to drink.
* Be on time for school. We take the IOWA tests first thing each morning so be at school by the first bell (8:15) so that students have time to settle in before we begin.
* Give an honest effort; take pride in yourself and DO YOUR BEST.
* Never leave an answer blank!
Mass: We have Mass on Wednesday morning at 8:45 am. Students need to be in perfect uniform.
Prayer to the Holy Spirit: Students have been reciting The Prayer to the Holy Spirit. This prayer will need to be memorized by Monday, November 2nd. Your child can also recite the prayer to me before this date, if they are ready. They can recite the prayer to me before school, after school or at recess.
SAFE ENVIRONMENT lesson: This year all teachers are being asked to teach one lesson in October and one in March about touching safety. Our lesson is about touching safety rules and the difference between safe touches and unsafe touches. The program provides parents and guardians with a guide as well. To access the parent guide please use the following link: https://www.virtusonline.org/educators/TeachingTouchingSafety.pdf
Curriculum:
Reading: We read chapter 5 and 6 in The Boxcar children. We focus on character traits and text evidence. We also use some our reading time to begin IOWA testing.
Language Arts: We continue to work on opinion writing. Students will gather evidence and write an opinion essay on whether they think dogs or cats make a better pet.
Cursive: We will begin cursive this week! We will start off with the letters “i” and “t”
Science: Students finish building their first design of their Olympic Snowboard Cross track. They test their design and record their data in a log on their iPad.
Math: This week we review subtraction and work on subtraction that involves regrouping.
Social Studies: Students take a test on the Pacific region states and postal abbreviations on Wednesday. We finish up our study of geography. Students will have a Geography quiz on Wednesday, October 28th. A study guide will come home with your child this Friday. The test will cover the continents, oceans, our location in the world, the hemispheres, and a few physical geography terms.
Spelling: Assignment due on Thursday and the test in on Friday. The pattern this week is short and long vowels.
This week’s spelling list:
math toast easy socks Friday stuff paid cheese June elbow program shiny piles sticky
Challenge word: holiday
This week’s star: Riley
Next week’s star: Aiden
Have a fabulous week!
Sincerely,
Erin Meland