Weekly Update: November 5th-9th

Lemme Leopards

Hi Parents,

I wanted to thank you all for coming to conferences and discussing your child's progress. I appreciate the great conversations and always enjoy meeting with each of you! I also appreciate the great support that you provide for your child at home, working on homework, studying spelling words, and helping your child complete their reading logs each night. This support at home is valuable in order for your child to be successful. I feel so fortunate to have such a wonderful group of third graders that work so hard each and every day.

Curriculum Updates

Reading and Writing:

Reading:

This past week students read the biography selection, Jump which is about one of my favorite basketball players of all time, Michael Jordan. Students practiced the comprehensions skills of being able determine the difference between fact/opinion. It caused for interesting discussion, because even though we were reading a biography with many factual pieces of information about Michael Jordan, the author was able to tie in his own opinion about Michael and his abilities. Students looked for key words within sentences such as; best worst, and greatest.

Grammar and Writing: Students spent time changing singular nouns to plural nouns. Here are some of the things we have discussed:

• Most nouns, you can simply add -s or -es (Ex. pencil/pencils)
• Some nouns stay the same (Ex. deer/deer)
• They may change completely (Ex. mouse/mice)
• Change y to i and add -es Ex. (berry/berries)

Spelling: Students spelling words were sorted into two categories based on the /oy/ sound. Students sorted their words by the spelling patterns, oi and oy. Students did take their spelling test on Thursday so they will receive their tests back on Monday like normal. I just started having students get their spelling tests signed and returning them to me. I like to know that parents are seeing them. Students are going to begin to individually graph their Post test scores so they can see their progress. These will not be posted in the classroom. Students will bring their signed spelling test back home on Fridays.

Reading logs: Students received their new reading log for the month of November. Your child is expected to average about 50 minutes per week for a goal of 200 minutes by the end of the month. Please have your child read to themselves, to you, or to a sibling. It is important to talk to your child about their reading as well to make sure they are comprehending what they are reading. We are really working during library time to make sure we are choosing just right book. Students are expected to choose two just right books out of the five that they can check out for the week.

Everyday Mathematics: Students were introduced to multiplication and division this past week. Here are some of the concepts/skills we worked on during math:

• Practiced division by solving equal-sharing and equal-grouping number stories
• Formed arrays with counters and drew pictures of arrays
• Completed multiplication/division diagrams and wrote number models to solve division number stories

Social Studies:

Students have worked on locating key features on a map of earth; the equator, the prime meridian, the four hemispheres, the four oceans, and the seven continents. Students will continue this coming week to identify the countries on a map of North America and identify states and communities on a map of the southeastern United States.

Reminders and Other information:

Veteran's Day:
Students worked this past week on making cards for Veteran's Day. We will be having an assembly in honor of Veterans on Monday, November 12th at 9:30 a.m. Please remind your child to wear red, white, or blue for this special assembly.