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.