Happy Friday! It's hard to believe that October is just around the corner. It feels like we just started school yesterday. I know I feel that with how fast the whole year ends up going! With that being said, please don't hesitate to contact me if you ever have any questions or concerns. That's what I'm here for!!!
MAP Testing:
This week wrapped up our Fall session of MAP (measures of academic progress) testing. Results should be ready to send home around conference time. We take this test 3 times a year. These assessments help us know where your child is on their learning journey. They provide us with detailed information about your child's strengths
and weaknesses, so we can help them continue to make optimal academic progress. After MAP testing we can better group students for more individualized learning opportunities in both math and reading.
Just some basic housekeeping info.....
This week we have really been trying to stay organized. Students have been working on more things in class and have been storing them in their flex folder. We ask that unless a paper is in the 'Notes for Home' section that you leave it in the flex folder. That doesn't mean that you can't look through the papers that we are working on, we just want them stored in the flex folder until we do some cleaning out. We will do that a few times a quarter and send old stuff home once we don't need it anymore.
The agenda folders are meant to be homework folders as well. I have students put all of their homework in the front of the agenda folder. I am asking that they also put any notes for me, lunch money, homework, etc. back this front pocket for me to check the next day. If you can help keep them organized and on this routine from home that would be greatly appreciated! I collect their agenda folders each morning to check and it really helps if everything that they need to hand in is in one place!
Language Arts:
This week our focus was on refining our Daily 5 structure and routine. Students need to be independent learners when doing their centers so I can direct guided reading groups. Students have done an excellent job thus far on everything that we have been working on. In guided reading groups we have been talking about cause and effect and also focusing on main idea and supporting details. In spelling we worked with spelling patterns for long o and long i words. We also talked about common and proper nouns.
AR Reading:
We are at 40% of our AR goals this week. Can you believe that next week we will be 1/2 way done with first quarter??? Please keep having your child read each night their chapter book from school. With their 30 minutes of reading during the school day and nightly homework they should be right on track with their AR goals.
Math:
This week we had our first math quiz. Students in 3rd grade are supposed to have mastered rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100. In all students did an excellent job with this rounding quiz. Some things that we are still working on are the vocabulary that goes along with rounding (finding 'about how many', 'about how much', 'an estimation') and practicing to explain when and where we would round out of school. We talked about rounding money and how that can help you figure out how much money you spend at the store. We mentioned that you round when you buy things that are sold in packs, and when you are estimating the amount of people that will be at a particular place. We will continue to discuss these things as we move on to some addition concepts as a review.
Spelling:
Like I said above this week we focused on spelling patterns for long i and long o words. We will take another test today {Friday}. Students have their test from last week in their flex folders under the spelling section. Please keep it in there so we can go back and reference the test if we need to. Feel free to go over the test or check back for future tests. After each test, students will get the opportunity to fix any mistakes and bring home a list of words to practice on yellow paper. These are 'for the fridge' and can be practiced on the fly when you're around the house. As we add new words, students will bring home additional yellow papers. They will keep a running tally of words in the front of their agenda so they always have them. Students should know where this list is, so ask them to show you where in their agenda they can be found.
Science:
This week in science we have been working on getting familiar with our science text books. There are many elements of the text that students are responsible for knowing. We have started with a whole group activity scavenger hunt to find different things in the text. Next week we will dive even deeper into reading information text like the book.
Social Studies:
Students see Mrs. Steier for social studies. They started switching this week. The first unit in social studies in 'Where in the World Are We?' Students will need to practice memorizing and writing their address for this unit. Please take some time to talk about this with your child and the importance of knowing where they live. Please practice this skill at home!
MAP Testing:
This week wrapped up our Fall session of MAP (measures of academic progress) testing. Results should be ready to send home around conference time. We take this test 3 times a year. These assessments help us know where your child is on their learning journey. They provide us with detailed information about your child's strengths
and weaknesses, so we can help them continue to make optimal academic progress. After MAP testing we can better group students for more individualized learning opportunities in both math and reading.
Just some basic housekeeping info.....
This week we have really been trying to stay organized. Students have been working on more things in class and have been storing them in their flex folder. We ask that unless a paper is in the 'Notes for Home' section that you leave it in the flex folder. That doesn't mean that you can't look through the papers that we are working on, we just want them stored in the flex folder until we do some cleaning out. We will do that a few times a quarter and send old stuff home once we don't need it anymore.
The agenda folders are meant to be homework folders as well. I have students put all of their homework in the front of the agenda folder. I am asking that they also put any notes for me, lunch money, homework, etc. back this front pocket for me to check the next day. If you can help keep them organized and on this routine from home that would be greatly appreciated! I collect their agenda folders each morning to check and it really helps if everything that they need to hand in is in one place!
Language Arts:
This week our focus was on refining our Daily 5 structure and routine. Students need to be independent learners when doing their centers so I can direct guided reading groups. Students have done an excellent job thus far on everything that we have been working on. In guided reading groups we have been talking about cause and effect and also focusing on main idea and supporting details. In spelling we worked with spelling patterns for long o and long i words. We also talked about common and proper nouns.
AR Reading:
We are at 40% of our AR goals this week. Can you believe that next week we will be 1/2 way done with first quarter??? Please keep having your child read each night their chapter book from school. With their 30 minutes of reading during the school day and nightly homework they should be right on track with their AR goals.
Math:
This week we had our first math quiz. Students in 3rd grade are supposed to have mastered rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100. In all students did an excellent job with this rounding quiz. Some things that we are still working on are the vocabulary that goes along with rounding (finding 'about how many', 'about how much', 'an estimation') and practicing to explain when and where we would round out of school. We talked about rounding money and how that can help you figure out how much money you spend at the store. We mentioned that you round when you buy things that are sold in packs, and when you are estimating the amount of people that will be at a particular place. We will continue to discuss these things as we move on to some addition concepts as a review.
Spelling:
Like I said above this week we focused on spelling patterns for long i and long o words. We will take another test today {Friday}. Students have their test from last week in their flex folders under the spelling section. Please keep it in there so we can go back and reference the test if we need to. Feel free to go over the test or check back for future tests. After each test, students will get the opportunity to fix any mistakes and bring home a list of words to practice on yellow paper. These are 'for the fridge' and can be practiced on the fly when you're around the house. As we add new words, students will bring home additional yellow papers. They will keep a running tally of words in the front of their agenda so they always have them. Students should know where this list is, so ask them to show you where in their agenda they can be found.
Science:
This week in science we have been working on getting familiar with our science text books. There are many elements of the text that students are responsible for knowing. We have started with a whole group activity scavenger hunt to find different things in the text. Next week we will dive even deeper into reading information text like the book.
Social Studies:
Students see Mrs. Steier for social studies. They started switching this week. The first unit in social studies in 'Where in the World Are We?' Students will need to practice memorizing and writing their address for this unit. Please take some time to talk about this with your child and the importance of knowing where they live. Please practice this skill at home!
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