Our last blog....

May 21st-25th and May 28th-June 1st

Thank you for the wonderful Teacher's Appreciation week!  We all felt very special.  Students wrote beautiful letters to us and the PTA did an outstanding job all week.

Important Dates

** Turn in any registration packets to the office ASAP.**

Thursday, May 24^th – February’s Reading Incentive prize …Kane County Cougars May Watts Night (Students received the tickets via backpack that participated).
Friday, May 25^th – All LMC materials are due.  Return all books checked out to you, please!
Monday, May 28^th – No School: Memorial Day
Friday, June 1^st – Last day of classes, Report cards sent home

***If your child is leaving prior to June 1^st, please let us know.  Thank you!***

LMC NEWS:

Library Books – Please return all books that belong to the LMC by Friday, May 25^th.  Any books that your child has checked out from the library or any textbooks borrowed for the year need to be returned.

May Reading Incentive – Keep reading and putting the minutes in Reading Star!

Culver’s Ice cream coupon

Summer Reading 2012 – Keep reading over the summer!  It is important to practice the skills and strategies used in reading when the students are away from school.  The Naperville Public Library has great programs for summer reading.  Check it out!

Reading:  We will be working on Reader's Theater for the remainder of the year!  The students have gone over The Crowded House, by Eva Jacob as a practice.  Reader's theater is a repeated reading activity that creates both excitement and enthusiasm about reading.  The students will use only their expressive voices to create the emotions, beliefs, and attitudes of the characters.  This research-based activity is not meant to be a memorized play.  It does improve reading comprehension, expands vocabulary, and increases fluency.   We will discuss the importance of fluency and reading out loud.  Reader's theater builds confidence by developing oral skills, listening skills, tracking skills, and social skills.  Above all, it helps the students feel good about their reading. 

Writing:  We will be wrapping up our Expository unit this week.  As the students finalize their papers, we will have them continue writing about their favorite third grade memories.  It is a fun way to review the year and all of the things that we have enjoyed together.

Spelling:  Our last spelling test is this Friday, May 25th!  The pattern is words that end in -al or -le.  Please help your child study for the test.

Social Studies:  We are concluding our unit on immigration and migration.  The students really enjoyed the Oregon Trail game.  The Great Migration was another large movement in American History.  Many African Americans moved from the South to the Northern states.  We will also discuss how Ellis Island played an important role in immigration.  The students will also learn how immigration helped our country by bringing more cultures, food, languages, furniture, and other things to America.

Math -  This is our last week of math!
Third Grade Math:  The unit 9 study guide is due on Monday, May 21^st.  The test will be on Tuesday, May 22^nd.  Friday will be the last day of math and we will review key concepts from the year.  We will be sending home the math materials at the end of the week.
Accelerated Math:  We will be concluding our math lessons this week.  Math materials will be sent home this week.  We will review concepts from the year.
 

May 15th - 18th, 2012

The Third Grade Team honors our students' Moms and sends you Happy Mother's Day Wishes!

There is no school for students on Monday, May 14th. It is a School Improvement Day.

This week's news... 

Citizenship – There is no cool tool this week, but we will continue to discuss how to problem solve. Each classroom will discuss specific issues in the classroom. Teachers will remind students of ways to cool-off and use "I -messages" to tell people how they feel. Below is a short video designed to remind students that when conflict occurs they can use various strategies to solve the problem. Check it out - the song is kind of catchy!

How to Get Along

Reading – This week, we will continue reading Yippee-Yay by Gail Gibbons. This is an expository nonfiction piece that describes the life of the American cowhand in the Old West. We will learn that this was exciting, yet tough. There is some wonderful vocabulary and connections that we will make between the Old West and our social studies unit on the pioneers. There will be an open book test at the end of the week, so be sure to check your child’s assignment notebook for the test date.
Vocabulary: corral, ranchers, tending, stray, profit, market

Readers Theater- We will also practice reading The Crowded House. Our focus will be to read our character's part fluently with excellent volume, clarity, and expression.

Writing -
We are continuing and extending our writing unit due to time constraints from CBM Testing, the Oregon Trail, and because the stories that we’ve been reading require more time. Students will continue working on expository writing. Expository means "to explain". Students will learn how to brainstorm a web of ideas and generate a 4-square graphic organizer. This organizer will help them to write a multi-paragraph paper. The students will learn to defend an opinion using reasons, transition words, details, and elaboration. We will demonstrate some” I do’s” and “We do’s”. We will also give instruction on how to write a good introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion.

Spelling - This week we are on list #29. The pattern is words that end like ever. Please help your child review this week because some of the words may be more difficult. The test is Friday, May 18th.

Social Studies – The students will continue to learn about immigration and migration. We started the unit with reasons for moving west and how difficult it was along the trail. Then we created families to "ride on the Oregon Trail" to see if their decisions allowed them to get all the way to Oregon City to begin a new life. The students will learn about immigration and the significance of Ellis Island. The students will also learn about the Great Migration, when many African Americans migrated to the north in search of a better life.

Third Grade Math-  The Unit 9 Study Guide will be sent home on5/16 and is due on Mon., 5/21. The Unit 9 Test is Tues., 5/22. Unit 9 is all about multi-digit multiplication and applying different strategies to find the answer. During this unit students will be exposed to partial products, lattice and traditional multiplication techniques. The highlight of the unit is always learning lattice multiplication. By the end of this unit, the students should also be able to demonstrate skills from previous units such as: ordering fractions from smallest to largest, understanding order of operations, and drawing rectangles with a given perimeter and determine the area.

Accelerated Math - Please have your child review their Unit 9 Study Guide. The Unit 9 Test is Thurs., 5/17. Unit 9 focuses on fractions, decimals and percents. Students will work on conversions between the three. We will also be comparing results of surveys and taking a survey ourselves. Towards the end of the unit, students will learn how to multiply and divide decimals.

Week of May 7th, 2012

Citizenship - This week we will continue to review bullying and how we can help to prevent it by being more empathetic.  Students will be working on identifying feelings in others and practicing empathetic behavior.

Reading – The story this week is is written by Gail Gibbons and is called Yippee-Yay!.  This is an expository nonfiction piece that describes the life of the American cowhand in the Old West.  We will learn that this was exciting, yet tough.  There is some wonderful vocabulary and connections that we will make between the Old West and our social studies unit on the pioneers. 

Vocabulary:  corral, ranchers, tending, stray, profit, market

Writing -

Students will continue working on expository writing. Expository means "to explain". Students will learn how to brainstorm a web of ideas and generate a 4-square graphic organizer. This organizer will help them to write a multi-paragraph paper. The students will learn to defend an opinion using reasons, transition words, details, and elaboration. We will demonstrate some” I do’s” and “We do’s”. We will also give instruction on how to write a good introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion.

Spelling - This week we are on list #28. The pattern is contractions. Please help your child review for the test that will be on Friday, May 11th.

Social Studies – Last week we began our last Social Studies unit of the year. The students will continue to learn about immigration and migration.  We have started the unit with reasons for moving west and how difficult it was along the trail.  This week the students have been put into families to "ride on the Oregon Trail".  Will there decisions allow them to get all the way to Oregon City to begin a new life? 

Math-

Third grade math - Unit 9 is all about multi-digit multiplication and different strategies to find the answer. During this unit students will be exposed to partial products, lattice and traditional multiplication techniques. The highlight of the unit is always learning lattice multiplication.

Accelerated math - Unit 9 focuses on fractions, decimals and percents.  Students will work on conversions between the three.  We will also be comparing results of surveys and taking a survey ourselves.  Towards the end of the unit, students will learn how to multiply and divide decimals.