October 5

Religion:    We will continue with the Rosary and our focus on the Joyful Mysteries. Third grade is in charge of the Rosary on Tuesday, October 16 at 9:00. We will also be talking about using our growth mindset because Jesus doesn't expect us to be perfect. After conference week we will be getting some things ready for Grandparent's Day.

Writing: Next week our grammar lesson will be over Descriptive or Vivid Verbs. We will finish editing and revising. We will also be making our first final draft and present those to the class.

Math:   We will be continuing our unit on addition and subtraction. The test for this will be on Thursday, October 18. Please continue to review the basic addition and subtraction facts with your third grader.

Spelling: Week Six - Long e (ei & ie)) & Consonant Digraphs (ch, sh, tch, th, wh)
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 continuing exploring the concept of matter. Students will be able to identify the different states of matter, the melting properties of matter and the physical changes that can occur with matter.

Comprehension: In the next week and a half we will have all of our centers in place for guided reading. This includes listening, partner, writing and word work. Students are still focusing on making connections. They will be writing a letter to explain their connections.

September 28

Religion:    We will be starting the Rosary and are focusing on the Joyful Mysteries. We will be using the Bible to find the Joyful Mysteries. Third grade is in charge of the Rosary on Tuesday, October 26 at 9:00.

Writing: Next week our grammar lesson will be over Conjunctions and how they are used in Compound Sentences. We will be continuing to work on editing and revising our pieces. Students will also be sharing their writing with a partner and the students will be giving feedback to one another.

Math:   We will be continuing our unit on addition and subtraction. Please continue working on basic facts with your child. Story problems have been the focus and we will continue with those skills next week.

Spelling: Week Long E (ee, ea) & Initial Three Letter Consonant Blends
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 recognize that people start communities in many different places. We will be looking at the history behind the drugstore in preparation for our Living History Farms visit. LHF field trip will be on Thursday, Oct. 4 from 9:00 - 12:00.

Comprehension: Next week the students will be introduced to the partner center of our reading block. They will work with a classmate to read an article and answer questions together. Our class will continue to make connections to our reading. We will focus on text to text connections.

September 21

Religion:    We will start doing activities in preparation for the feast day of St. Francis. We'll be looking at his life, his prayers and the San Damiano cross.

Writing: Next week our grammar lesson will be over Simple Subjects and Simple Predicates. We will begin to work on revising and editing our writing. We will be looking to add strong verbs and descriptive words. We want our writing to create a picture.

Math:   The second unit will be starting next week. It will focus on adding and subtracting whole numbers. Please be sure to practice basic facts with your child to help them prepare for this unit.

Spelling: Week Four - Long e (Ce, y, ey) & /Z/ Sounds of S
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 be learning about where people start communities and recognize that they are in different places. We will also work on map skills. Looking ahead - Field trip to Living History Farms will be on Thursday, Oct. 4 from 9-12. More information to come home with them on Monday!

Comprehension: We are gearing up to begin reading groups and some centers next week. Our writing center will require students to make text to text connections with their chosen reading book. We will also be working on our spelling words during our reading block.

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.