April 3 Out & About to Fernhill Wetlands (10:30am - 2pm)
April 5 All School Meeting and Spirit Day (Facial hair) - Plovers will present
April 8 Library Visit
April 12 No School
Homework Due by Friday, April 5th
1. Read for at least 20 minutes every night.
2. Complete 20 minutes of typing practice.
3. Complete at least 30 minutes of math practice (click here for DreamBox).
4. Optional - Compete Opinion Paragraph of the Week
Prompt: Do you think children should go to school all year or have a summer vacation? Support your opinion.
Weekly Multiplication Game
3rd graders are beginning to learn and memorize their multiplication facts. They should be comfortable counting by 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s, and then they can start practicing other combinations. I will post a simple game every week to help support multiplication skills at home, and 4th graders can try them too for extra review!
Game: Rock, Paper, Multiply
Directions:
- Two people face each other and hold a hand behind their back.
- Players call out, “Rock, paper, multiply!”
- At the call of “multiply” both players hold their hands out and show either 1,
2, 3, 4, or 5 fingers on each hand. - The first player to call out the correct answer wins.
- Play several rounds. See who can win the most rounds
Talent Show: Sign Up by April 19th!
The FGCS Talent Show will take place Friday, May 3 at 9:30am in the Grove Room at the District Office. Parents and other family members are invited to be in the audience for this fun annual even! Here are the details/rules for students who want to perform at the talent show:
- Sign-ups will run April 1-19. Sign-ups will not be accepted after April 19.
- Students must sign up directly with Karen Torry in the school office.
- Links to music/videos needed to accompany performances must be provided by April 26.
- Students may participate in one act only, solo or as part of a group. The one exception to this rule is that students may also participate in whole-class acts or acts with after-school clubs.
- Acts may last no more than 3 minutes. This time limit is strictly enforced to make sure the show does not run too long.
- Students should practice their acts as much as possible before the day of the show so they feel confident on stage. If students decide last minute that they don't want to perform, that's not a problem - there's always next year!
Upcoming Out and Abouts
This week, we will visit Fernhill Wetlands from 10:30 - 2:00. Next week, we will go to the Backyard Garden and learn about pollinators. Please help your student dress appropriately for the weather. Chaperone sign ups are now posted for May Out & Abouts!
Volunteer Opportunities
Library Chaperones - Needed 4/8 and 4/29
Out & About Chaperones - Needed 4/3 (Fernhill Wetlands), 5/1 (Jackson Bottom Wetlands) and 5/22 (Cannon Beach).
Weekly Review
Before spring break, the Plovers learned about how people create new breeds of animals by selecting certain traits and only having those animals have babies. Students learned in particular how the earliest dogs were medium-sized and wolf-like, but using selective breeding, we managed to get the many different dog breeds, from small dogs to big dogs, spotted dogs to plain dogs. They also saw how selection isn’t always caused by human beings: sometimes other, non-human factors can cause selection to happen. In our lesson, we introduced the true story of two lizard species in Florida. (If you’re curious, you can read more here.) Students participated in a simulation to see how new generations of the native lizard species adapted to a change in their ecosystem.
During our Out & About in the backyard garden, we learned about another example of selection and adaptation - invasive plants! Have you ever thought about where that pestilent blackberry and thistle originally came from? Students saw how invasive species are able to takeover based on their ability to rapidly grow, reproduce, and out-compete non-invasive species for resources. They played a game where students were either a native plant or an invasive plant, and then they competed for survival in the garden! Be sure to ask your Plover if they were able to out last the invaders!
Communication
Please contact me with any questions or concerns. Parents and students can e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message on the class phone or set up a time to meet with me before/after school.