Welcome to the second semester of third grade! I have decided to blog quickly once a week, posting spelling words and a quick agenda of what we will be learning in class for the upcoming week. I have not had a large parent following this year, please send me a quick email if you enjoy reading what your child is learning on this blog, or what information you would like to find here to better meet your needs as a parent. I am open to all comments and suggestions!

Over View for Week of January 4th -8th

• Math - We will be reviewing fractions and money. Towards the end of the week we will practice solving word problems using elapsed time. For example, if the movie started at 3:15 and ended at 5:25, how long was the movie?
• Reading - We will read an expository non fiction piece titled A Tree Is Growing to practice locating factual information within a text.
• Writing - The students will be introduced to writing an "explain why" piece which requires higher level thinking. It is related to the cause and effect approach, the writer must make the connection between why something must be done and what consequences it has on a given situation. For example we will write a practice explain why it is important to wear a helmet when skate boarding or riding a bike...what could happen if one did not wear a helmet?
• Social Studies - for the month of January we will focus on the Presidents. This week we will learn about the White House and the first three presidents of the United States.
• Friday - Show & Tell

Spelling Words: Lesson 13

Consonants /s/c/j/g/dge/

• ice
• age
• rice
• edge
• stage
• giant
• range
• judge
• ledge
• police
• recent
• bridge
• office
• strange
• central

Challenge Words:

• celery
• ceiling
• difference
• margin
• imagine

Skill: Digraphs ch, tch, sh, wh

Spelling Words:

• chin
• itch
• push
• chef
• when
• wash
• much
• sharp
• pitch
• where
• peach
• child
• wheat
• chance
• machine

Challenge Words:

• cashier
• friendship
• hatched
• finished
• children

We will not have new spelling words this week due to the two short days. We will continue our book study of Bunnicula and work on class projects to enhance our understanding of the book. You will be receiving the new book report requirements at conference when I meet with you this week. Please be on time for your conference to avoid any delays for other parents. If you are unable to make your scheduled time, please let me know so I can accommodate another parents at this time and set up a new time for you. Also, please be reminded that Thursday and Friday are short days this week.

We have had many of our students not feeling well in class these past few weeks. Please make sure if your child is running a fever that you keep them home so we can all stay well through this holiday season! I look forward to seeing each of you this week! :)

Spelling Words: compound words

• pickup
• cannot
• outside
• bedroom
• upstairs
• raindrop
• baseball
• hallway
• airplane
• mailbox
• sunshine
• homework
• classroom
• something
• playground

Challenge Words:

• sidewalk
• teaspoon
• thumbtack
• sandpaper
• notebook

Vocabulary Words

• skim = to move quickly over, barely touching it
• span = the distance between two points
• contribution = to help reach a goal
• initiative = to make the first step in doing something without being asked to do it
• midst = to be in the middle of something
• shabby = looks warn out
• dazed = to be confused and can't think properly
• elevated = to lift up
• embarrass = to make someone feel uncomfortable or ashamed
• collapses = to fall down because it was not well supported

Weekly Reminders:

• final conference schedule will be sent home
• early release this Friday
• student of the month will be announced in our monthly newsletter this Wed.
• book reports are due this Wed, late reports will not be accepted
• grades close this week

All of the students worked hard today on the math and reading benchmark tests. We took much longer than planned so we moved our plant activity to tomorrow. I also sent home a teacher conference form for you to fill out. Please do this quickly to insure you will get one of your first few choices.

Homework:

• read 15 minutes
• work on book reports due next Wed.
• math question
• science page
• conference sign up sheet due Friday
• book orders due Friday

I apologize for not posting during this last school week...we were busy every moment of every day! I am proud to say that this is the first week where we were able to get through all of the curriculum I had intended to teach and then some! Mrs. Hill observed us during our writing time and was impressed with the writing ability in our classroom. We have several students who are very talented in this area! Last week we also started our lima bean project where we placed the beans in a wet paper towel to observe how long it takes this bean to germinate, or sprout. The kids were so excited with this little experiment we will be planting several seeds this coming week and compare and contrast their roots and germination cycles.

It was nice to see many of you at open house last Thursday evening. I look forward to seeing you one on one in a few weeks for parent teacher conferences. Please look for a sign up sheet coming home later this week.

Important Reminders for This Week...

• benchmark testing this Mon-Wed, please send your children to school well rested
• a healthy snack is allowed these days in the morning when we take a short break
• we will be planting seeds this week in science
• please continue to read with your child and prepare for the book report due at the end of the month
• look for a parent teacher sign up sheet to come home towards the middle of the week
• field trip money is due soon $8.00 per individual
• NO SPELLING test the week of benchmarks! :)

Spelling Words: review week

• clock
• drink
• moved
• waking
• hopped
• folded
• stain
• layer
• team
• slow
• toast
• ladies
• flies
• bushes
• games

Challenge Words:

• libraries
• families
• pumpkin
• equipped
• daydream

Vocabulary Words:

• viewers = people who watch an event
• survive = the ability to live or thrive in a place
• camouflage = to blend into the environment
• concealed = to hide
• independent = on your own
• donated = to give something for free
• media = ways to share information (TV, radio, Internet)
• feature = special event
• popular = lots of people like or enjoy
• image = a picture of something

We started our flex groups today and they went very well! We are targeting the students in the third grade who are nearly at benchmark. Some students will be working independently at this time doing fluency work. We will be changing these groups again near the end of the semester.

Homework:

• read 15 minutes
• math patterns practice
• spelling sort
• We will be having Friday Show & Tell this week! Please only one or two items!

Today was a great first day back after our long weekend! We were working hard all day to complete two days work in one!

Homework:

• read 15 minutes
• study spelling words
• spelling sort p.12
• comparing numbers p.7

Spelling Words:

skill: plurals -s and -es

• ants
• toys
• flies
• things
• boxes
• games
• lines
• rocks
• wishes
• ladies
• dishes
• babies
• bushes
• glasses
• puppies

Challenge Words:

• families
• libraries
• brothers
• packages
• melodies

Vocabulary:

• persevere = to keep trying without giving up
• confidence = to be sure that something will work out
• ambitious = eager to reach a goal
• attain = when you have reached your goal
• talented = to have a special ability
• apply = to ask for work
• research = getting information about a certain question or topic
• invention = something completely new that someone has made
• hinder = to make it difficult or impossible
• disappointed = to be unhappy about the way something turned out