Newsletter & Halloween Party Sign-Up

What We Learned This Week

Word Study
We continued our study of plural nouns. Students learned the first question to ask themselves is whether or not to add a syllable. If we add a syllable when we make the noun plural, we simply add an -es (e.g., lunch > lunches). If not, we have to look for two exceptions to simply adding -s (e.g., dog > dogs). If we see -f/-fe we drop the -f/-fe and replace it with -ves (e.g., calf > calves). If we see a -consonant y, we drop the y and add -ies (e.g., bunny > bunnies).

We are continuing to segment and mark open, closed, and VCe syllable types. I have recently seen an improvement in applying these isolated practices to reading and writing!

Reading Workshop
We are working on predictions and supporting them with evidence. We are working on crafting responses using the question in the answer. I am also insisting students use the text for spelling. If the word is in the text they are responding to, they cannot misspell it.

Writing Workshop
We wrote our first opinion pieces this week and I saw a great improvement in writing overall, especially in production, both on paper and on iPads. Students must write an informative title, start with a succinct topic sentence that does not get into evidence, use at least three points of evidence from the source text they are responding to, explain how their evidence supports their opinion, and end with a strong conclusion. Without explaining how their evidence supports their opinion, their writing is just a retelling or summary.

We finished publishing our pen pal letters and we received our letters from Oman!

Math Workshop
We continued with our deep dive into multiplication. We can express addition of same sized groups as a multiplication expression, as well as groups and arrays. We are now introducing story problems that students have to write as a multiplication expression. We won't begin learning multiplication fact strategies until November at the earliest. I don't want to overload them with addition, subtraction and multiplication strategies. We will discuss fact fluency during conferences, but if your student has mastered their addition facts they should focus on subtraction as the reciprocal operation of addition, relying on their strength in addition to develop subtraction, rather than learning all their subtraction facts as unique facts. They can also rely on fact family triangles.

If your student has mastered both addition and subtraction they can start at home on multiplication.

I'm insisting they use the terms sum, difference, and product.

We began using fact triangle white boards to solve addition and subtraction problems with missing addends and written in non-tradtional order (e.g., ? + 28 = 52, 38 = 58 - ?, ? - 42 = 78, etc.).

Social Studies
Rachel Hopkin took time away from her Ph.D. work in folklore at The Ohio State University to share her experiences with Australian aboriginals. It is critical to me that we study cultures beyond the surface symbols (e.g., dingos and didgeridoos). Ms. Hopkin talked about Australia's complicated history of colonization and its lasting impact on the aboriginal people.

Town Hall Meeting 
We shared our Tree Trek Books at the Town Hall meeting.

Important Dates & Reminders

October 2017

16 No School for Students:  Work Day/Parent-Teacher Conference Day

16  Parent-Teacher Conferences 12:20 - 7pm

18 Walking Wednesday

19 Parent-Teacher Conferences 3:20 - 7pm

20 Fall Picture Retakes
20 Field Trip 9am-11am Thompson Park Tree Trek. Please email if you can chaperone.

24 & 25 3rd Grade State of Ohio Reading Assessment
25 Walking Wednesday

26 Early Dismissal at 11:05

Hello 3rd Grade Parents!

Halloween is almost here and we've been working hard to plan an amazing Harvest Party for your kiddos which will take place on Friday, Oct. 27th

 from 2:00-2:40.
Below is the sign-up genius link where you can sign-up to volunteer at the party and/or donate supplies. Please have all supplies sent in to your classroom by Friday, Oct. 20th (unless otherwise noted). If you choose to donate one of the food items, please bring in the specific brand noted on the sign-up to be sure the food is safe for all of our kiddos.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040f4da8aa29ab9-3rdgrade

Thank you so much for your help… this party couldn't be a success without you!
Excited to party with our 3rd Graders!
Your Room Parents

27 Halloween Parties & School Wide Parade starting at 1:30 pm

31 Trick-or-Treat 5:30-8 p.m. in UA

November 2017

1 Walking Wednesday

6 End of First Trimester

7 No School for Students:  Faculty In-service Day

8 Walking Wednesday

15 Walking Wednesday

21  Progress Reports go Home

21 Scarlet and Gray School Spirit Day

22-24 Thanksgiving Holiday

December 2017

21 Holiday Parties 2:00 pm

December 22-January 4 Winter Break

January 2018

5 No School for Students:  Teacher Workday/PD Day

8 School Resumes

15 No School for Staff or Students:  Martin Luther King’s Birthday

18 PT Conferences grade 1-5 (students are dismissed at 11:05)

February 2018

5  State of the Schools at UAHS 5-8 p.m.

5-9 Collection Days for “Box Tops for Education”
8 Third Grade Musical
11-14 Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
14 Ohio Wildlife Center

19 No School Staff or Students:  Presidents’ Day

28 Early Release 1:00 (NO LIFT)

March 2018

5 Spring Pictures

9 End of Second Trimester
9 Invention Convention 10-10:30am in the Multipurpose Room/Cafeteria

12-16  Spring Break

19 No School for Students:  Teacher Grading Day

27 Progress Reports go Home

30  Good Friday:  No School for Students or Staff

April 2018

4  Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon at Windermere 11-12 in lounge

May 2018

April 30-May 4  Scholastic Book Fair

4 KidFest, 5-8 p.m.

8  NO School for students or certified staff - Ohio Primary Elections

21  Field Day

28 No School Staff:  Memorial Day

30  Last Day for Students

30 End of third trimester