Happy Spring!

Important Dates:

3/25-3/29: Spring break

Tuesday, 4/9: No School

Friday, 4/12: Young Author's Breakfast

Thursday, 4/18: Volunteer Luncheon
 

Note: Last day of school has been changed to Monday, June 3rd because of the snow day!

 

Reading

The story we will read next is called Rocking and Rolling. It is a nonfiction piece that talks about the earth and how earthquakes shift our world. It goes well with the writing research project we will be doing.

 

Writing

The students will be researching and writing about natural disasters. They will be creating a poster about the information that they learn and then will present it to the class.

 

Spelling

We will take our Unit 23 spelling pretest on the Monday we come back from Spring Break. Then we will have a spelling test every Friday until the end of the year. Please make sure to help your child study before every test. If you need a copy of the words, they are posted on the third grade blog.

 

Science

We had so much fun learning about matter, but it is time to move on. We will be moving on to our Simple Machines Unit after break. The students will learn about the 6 simple machines and how they make work easier.  During the 2nd week of April the third grade will be going on a field trip to the DuPage Children's Museum to explore the different simple machines with their hands-on learning lab.  Each teacher will need 4 parents to go with. If you are interested, please contact your child's teacher via email ASAP. All parent chaperones have to pay their own way ($13.00- sorry).


Math
Both third grade math and accelerated math will be working on fractions after spring break. 


Hot Lunch Choices

It has been brought to our attention that the kids who are ordering hot lunch are chosing something in the morning and then changing their mind at lunch time. The rule is that whatever the child picks to eat in the morning is what they have to have at lunch. Please help your child make up his/her mind by viewing the menu on our school website. Thanks!

Young Author's

The Young Author's Breakfast for all participants will be on Friday, April 12th before school. Manuscripts and certificates will be passed out at that time. Watch for the permission slip to come home soon. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners were announced in school and will be posted to the Edline LMC page.

LMC Book Exchange Coming Soon!

Our 5th Annual Book Exchange will be held the last week in April. More information will come home soon.

Volunteer Luncheon

Volunteering is a gift from the heart! Thank you for the gift of time that you have so generously given our children and our school. Please join us for a dessert reception in your honor on Thursday, April 18th. This wonderful event will take place in the multi-purpose room between 2:00-3:30. We hope to see you there!

Week of March 18th - 22nd

Upcoming Events!

The Book Fair is Here! 
The Final May Watts Book Fair of the year runs through Tuesday, March 19th.  Please support the Book Fair, all proceeds from the Book Fair go to refreshing and updating LMC materials for the students.  For more information go to http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/maywatts.

Raging Waves Plunge into Fitness

Raging Waves Waterpark in Yorkville is offering a FREE day pass to any student who complete at least 25 hours of exercise between February 18th and April 15th.  The student needs to document exercise and turn the form into Mrs. Andrews.  Click here for more information and to download the form. Plunge into Fitness

Why so many tests?

PTA Meeting - March 18^th – 7:00 pm in the LMC

At the March 18th PTA meeting, Principal LeCrone will be presenting information to answer the question - "Why is my child taking so many tests?" He will speak about the myriad of tests the students take, the reasons behind the tests, how the results are changing, and what you can expect in the future.

NO SCHOOL- SPRING BREAK - MARCH 25-29- NO SCHOOL

Reading:

For the next two weeks, the students will read the story, “Yippey Yay!” by Gail Gibbons. Gail Gibbons is a great author who uses graphics to help the reader understand the topic better. The genre of this story is expository nonfiction which explains information and ideas. This story is about the life of the American Cowhand in the Old West. It was an exciting and tough time which included taming wild horses and working on cattle drives. The students will identify the main elements of a nonfiction text such as headings, captions, graphs, glossary, index, and table of contents. The students will practice finding the main idea and details.

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


Grammar: Teachers and students will be reviewing grammar topics studied throughout the year.  

Spelling: This week the students will be tested on list #22 which is a VCCV pattern.  The test will be on Friday, March 22nd.


Writing:

We will begin our Expository how-to unit with immersion in Cook Books, manuals, directions for projects, and literature with step by step instructions. The students will write noticings (what they observe). This will include such details as the materials, the steps listed in order, the use of transition words, and noticing that the text teaches you how to do something.

Further along in this unit, the students will write flash drafts for the how-to prompt, “ How to wash your hands.”  They will read their papers aloud to other students, and their classmates will demonstrate their steps. The third grade teachers will also model “I do’s” for the students. Next, the class will work on “We do’s” as practice. At the end of the unit, the students will write a final “You do” – something that they can teach the class to do, something that they are good at, and have experience doing. They will write down the materials needed and use bullet points to highlight the steps of how to accomplish the task/activity. Here are a few ideas – how to draw something, make a recipe, cheer, shoot a basket, make a paper airplane, play an instrument, or make Origami.


Science:

Our next Science Unit covers Matter. The students will observe and describe the properties of matter. They will also learn the three states of matter, and how it can change states. The children will learn difference between a physical and a chemical change. Throughout this unit, our students will conduct engaging experiments to enhance their understanding of matter.


Math:

Third Grade Math- Third grade math has moved into unit 5 which focuses on fractions. Students have learned  that fractions are parts of a whole and may also be part of a group. This week we will learn more about equivalent fractions and how to compare fractions. 


Accelerated Math- We are completing unit 6, which focuses on division and angles.  The study guide is due Wednesday and the Unit 6 test is Thursday, March 21st. 

Week of March 4

Dates to Remember

GRADE 3 ISAT SCHEDULE

TUESDAY, MARCH 5

Session 1- Reading 9:30-10:25

Session 1- Math 10:45-11:40

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6

Session 2- Reading 9:30-10:25

Session 2- Math 10:45-11:40

THURSDAY, MARCH 7

 

Session 3 - Reading 9:30 - 10:25

 

Session 3 - Math 10:45 - 11:40

As you can see all testing will be done before lunch.  Our specials for the week, along with math instruction has been changed to the afternoon.

Please make sure your student gets a good night's sleep and eats a healthy breakfast each day of testing. Don't worry, every year, after the first session the students are relieved to know - they do know this stuff!!
 

Spelling: This week the students do not have spelling words.  The next pretest for unit 21 will be on Friday, March 8.

Writing: We will continue our "Oregon Trail Journal Writing". To go along with our social studies unit on Westward Movement, the students will be keeping a journal of their trail experiences. In addition, the students will be writing responses to reading passages.

Social Studies: "Oregon or Bust!" This week the students will continue heading West and traveling on the Oregon Trail! The students will be playing an Oregon Trail game where they roll dice to determine the hardships and tragedies they will encounter during their 2,000 mile, six-month journey West. The students love playing the game and learning about how the pioneers endured the difficult journey for a better life.

Math:
Third Grade Math- Third grade math has moved into unit 5 which focuses on fractions.
Students will be learning that fractions are parts of a whole and many things can be divided into fractions. Students will be expected to identify fractional parts of a whole, fractional parts of a number on number line, and fractional parts of a set of objects.

Vocabulary - fraction, numerator, denominator, equivalent

Accelerated Math- We are beginning unit 6, which focuses on division and angles. We will start with division by teaching the traditional long division method and the partial quotients method. Then we will review the relationship between multiplication and division to solve more word problems.

Vocabulary - dividend, divisor, factor, quotient