September 14

Religion:    Next week our focus will be on the Bible. The students will see how it is organized as well as how to find the different sections. By the end of the week they will start look up verses in the Bible.

Writing: This week we focused on Proper Nouns with our Mentor Sentence. Ask your child to tell you the difference between a common noun and a proper noun.
Next week we will continue to gather ideas for writing. We will learn a little about poetry and we will practice writing from the perspective of an object.

Math:   The students will finish up Unit One next week. There will be a review on Wednesday and a test over the unit on Thursday. On Friday we will do a STEAM activity!

Spelling: Week Three - Long A (ai, ay, eigh) / Hard and Soft Sounds of G and C
The spelling section of the website contains all of the weekly lists and the choice words in case your child misplaces their words.  You can also find a copy of LSCW if you need it.

Science/SS: Students will have a second day of review for our Unit 1 Communities test. Test will be on Thursday, September 20!

Comprehension: The students have learned about many of the different types of genres. Next week we will finish learning about the two main types of nonfiction. After our lessons they should be able to tell you the difference between an informational text and a biography.

September 7

Religion:    We will continue with our weekly classroom meeting next week. It is a great way for the students to get to know each other. We will also have our next All About Me as another tool to encourage respect in our classroom community. On Tuesday and Friday the students will focus on respect and what that looks like in the school setting.

Writing: We are working with a program called Mentor Sentences. Each week we listen to a book and take one sentence out of the book to study. This week we focused on adjectives with our mentor sentence. Next week we will focus on Proper Nouns.

Math:   The students are reviewing how to use our Student Reference Book. They have access to this at home using the Everyday Mathematics website. We will look more into using a number grid to help find the difference between numbers, using a calculator and the concepts of money. Please continue reviewing the basic addition and subtraction facts with your third grader.

Spelling: Week Two - Long Vowels (CVCe) / Final Consonant Blends (ft, ld, lt, nt)
The spelling section of the website contains all of the weekly lists and the choice words in case your child misplaces their words.  You can also find a copy of LSCW if you need it.

Science/SS: Students will continue to learn about the importance of using resources to get needs met in communities and that communities all have histories.

Comprehension: We are continuing to teach students how to use and manage our literacy block. We have discussed the difference between fiction and nonfiction. Next week we will explore more genres within these two categories. The students are filling their book bins at school. Ask them what they are reading at home.

August 31

Religion:    We will continue with our weekly classroom meeting next week. It is a great way for the students to get to know each other. We will also have our first All About Me as another tool to encourage respect in our classroom community. .

Writing: We are continuing to create our writing environment. The students will hear select trade books read out loud. They will then use the information gained to write their own pieces. So far we have been gathering and writing stories about people we know.

Math:   The students are reviewing how to use our Student Reference Book. They have access to this at home using the Everyday Mathematics website. We will look more into collecting and organizing data, time, probability and deconstructing numbers. Please start reviewing the basic addition and subtraction facts with your third grader.

Spelling: Week One will focus on the skills of short vowels and 2 consonant digraphs.  There will only be 10 words this week, but we will add 2 more each week until we reach 16.  There will be 16 words each week from then on.  Each week there will be a Look, Say, Cover, Write due on Thursday.  You can find a link to that in the spelling section of our website if needed.

Science/SS: We will continue to learn about the different communities: rural, suburban and urban. We will also focus on the responsibilities citizens have in communities. We will finish the week learning the differences between producers and consumers.

Comprehension: We are continuing to teach students how to use and manage our literacy block. The students will eventually have book bins filled with classroom books. For the next two weeks, we ask that each student bring in a library book or a chapter book from home.

August 24

Religion:  We will start each week with a classroom meeting.  We start each meeting with intercessions and prayer.  Then the students get to share what they did over the weekend or something they are excited about.  Next week we will be reviewing out PBIS rules with skits.

Writing:  We are excited to begin our writing program, Being a Writer, next week.  The first unit will introduce the students to procedures for a guided Writer's Workshop.  

Math:  The students took a beginning of the year assessment today.  The first unit starts next week with reviewing skills such as analyzing and displaying data, equivalent names, probability and finding differences.

Spelling:  Week One will focus on the skills of short vowels and 2 consonant digraphs.  There will only be 10 words this week, but we will add 2 more each week until we reach 16.  There will be 16 words each week from then on.  Each week there will be a Look, Say, Cover, Write due on Thursday.  You can find a link to that in the spelling section of our website if needed.  The first list will go home on Friday, August 31.

Science/SS:  Social Studies will be our focus for the first couple of months of school.  Our first unit will concentrate on communities.  The students will also work on timelines and map skills.

Comprehension:  The students will be reviewing how to select appropriate independent books from our classroom library.  We will be setting up and practicing our routine for Reader's Workshop.

May 18

Religion:  Next week we will be creating self-portraits. They will be writing on the back of each of their classmates to let them all know what they appreciate about each other. On Monday the students will do the fifth decade of the Rosary at 9:00 in the church.

Writing: This week we learned about Onomatopoeia with our Mentor Sentence. We finished up our stories that focused on the elements of a story. These kids are so creative!

Math:  We have a couple more lessons on data and probability next week. That will wrap up math for the year!

Spelling: NO SPELLING NEXT WEEK

The spelling section of the website contains all of the weekly lists and the choice words in case your child misplaces their words.  You can also find a copy of LSCW if you need it.

Science/SS: Students will have a review over the Rainforest material and will take the test on Tuesday! We will wrap up the unit with a Rainforest video on Thursday. Look for your child's Rainforest animal research file folder to be coming home!

Comprehension: Teachers are working with students individually this week to see each child's growth.

May 11

Religion:  Next week we will be talking about the Pentecost and the gift of grace. We will also review all of the Sacraments of Initiation. On Monday the students will do the third decade of the Rosary at 9:00 in the church.

Writing: This week we focused on Simple Subject and Simple Predicates with our Mentor Sentence. We finished our poetry unit this week, and we are about to start working on a short story that focuses on the elements of a story.

Math:  We have started our lessons on data and probability this week. On Friday we did some great STEAM activities and learned a lot! Next week we will continue with data and probability. We will also have a third trimester review to assess how the students are doing on the benchmarks that will be on the progress report.

Spelling: Week 28 Sound of Syllable a in across / Review of Root Words

The spelling section of the website contains all of the weekly lists and the choice words in case your child misplaces their words.  You can also find a copy of LSCW if you need it.

Science/SS: Students will begin work on their rainforest animal research file folder. They will present their information to the class on Thursday and Friday.

Comprehension: We are continuing to work on fluency with our Readers Theater. The students are doing a great job with expression and letting their voice tell the story.

May 4

Religion:  Next week we will be talking about the Ascension of Jesus. Also, because May is the month of Mary, we will be starting to do weekly prayer services with the Rosary. We will focus on the Glorious Mysteries. On Monday the students will do the first two decades of the Rosary at 9:00 in the church.

Writing: This week we focused on compound verbs with our Mentor Sentence. We have been listening and studying different types of poems. The third graders are also starting to create their own poems.

Math:  Unit 9 wraps up next week. The students have been doing a nice job of using their strategies to complete problems with multiplication. We will have our main review for this on Monday, and also a small review on Tuesday so the students can watch the CHORO concert that morning. The test over this unit will be on Wednesday, May 9. The next unit will focus on data and probability.

Spelling: Week 27 R-Controlled Vowel Review/ Words with Multiple Affixes

The spelling section of the website contains all of the weekly lists and the choice words in case your child misplaces their words.  You can also find a copy of LSCW if you need it.

Science/SS: Students will continue researching their specific rain forest animal using library books, iPads and the computer lab. Students will begin work on putting their research information on a rain forest animal folder.

Comprehension: This week we started a unit on Readers Theater. We are focusing on telling a story with just our voice. This is a great way to practice our fluency.