October 13 Library Visit
October 16 Make Up PE 2-3:00
October 17 No School
October 20 Pumpkin donations due
October 23-24 Goal Setting Conferences
October 30 Pumpkin Book Project Presentation
November 3 Library Visit
Homework Due by Thursday, October 13th
1. Read for at least 20 minutes every night.
2. Complete at least 30 minutes of math practice.*
*Suggested IXL skills for 3rd grade math practice:
N.1, N2, N.3, N.4 and N.6 Money
For additional practice with money and coins, try 2nd grade skills P.1, P.6, P.7, P.14, P.17 and P.19
*Suggested IXL skills for 4th grade math practice:
Review these 3rd Grade skills: C.1 Addition, D.1 Subtraction, N.3 Money, O.1 Time, T.1 and T.5 Fractions
Upcoming Out and Abouts
This Thursday, we will have guest speakers from Metro visit our classroom. Next week, we will be focusing on preparing for conferences and there will not be an Out & About.
Volunteer Opportunities
Thank you to all our classroom volunteers, mystery readers, donors and chaperones! All spots are filled for this week, but you can sign up for future dates on our VolunteerSpot page: http://vols.pt/drMimF
Pumpkin Book Project
Level 2 students have been learning to write literary essays! Each student has selected a special book or character to write about and they have been developing their opinions about these stories during reading and writing workshop. Another fun aspect of this project is that they will be able to represent their beloved character on a pumpkin! We will be designing and decorating the pumpkins either in the classroom or in Art next week. Parents are invited to see our pumpkin display on Thursday, October 30 at the end of the day. After the presentation, pumpkins will be sent home with students.
Pumpkin donations: If you are able to donate a pumpkin (or more than one pumpkin!), please drop it off in the classroom or send it with your student by Monday, October 20. We would appreciate small or medium-sized pumpkins or squashes that the students can carry on their own. Because we are turning the pumpkins into a variety of our favorite characters (Frog and Toad or Tacky the Penguin, perhaps!), weird-shaped pumpkins and squashes are welcomed. We also had a lot of success with foam pumpkins from the Dollar Tree and other craft stores last year!
Math Notes
In class, students created a set of addition cards to review and practice the addition combinations to 10 + 10, often known as addition “facts.” Many students have learned these combinations in 2nd grade, but the goal in 3rd grade is to develop automaticity. At home, students can choose a few combinations that they are working on and make flash cards. Help your Plover or Puffin think about strategies that will help them remember tricky combinations. For example: What is 6 + 7? I know 6 + 6 = 12, and 6 + 7 is one more than that, so it’s 13!
Last week in Fourth Grade Math, we continued working on our first unit using Investigations titled "Factors, Multiples and Arrays." We plan to finish this unit during the next week and work on getting ready for Goal Setting Conferences. Our conference prep will include reviewing third grade math skills (time, money, addition, subtraction, & fractions) to evaluate our foundational skills. As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let me or Becky know ([email protected]).
Weekly Review
This year, we will be using a program called Second Step: Skills for Social and Academic Success as part of our Morning Meetings. This program consists of short lessons, games, songs, skits and stories that address skills for learning and getting along with others. So far, we have completed two activities about respectful listening and focusing attention. Later this month, we will talk about how to stay on task and ask for help with schoolwork. We will also cover empathy, emotion management and problem solving throughout the rest of the year. Occasionally, I will send home activities called Home Links that correspond with our in-class work. These are intended to be fun and simple tasks for parents and students to complete together so your Plover can show you what he or she is learning. If you would like additional information about this program or the skills we are working on, please let me know!
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, come into the classroom before or after school, or call me before 8PM at home.