Dear 3C Parents,

I can't believe that next week is March!  The year just keeps going faster and faster.  We had a very productive week in 3C.  We have three weeks left in the third quarter, and I am looking forward to a busy and productive time.  We are still experiencing a good amount of illness in 3C.  Please encourage your students to wash their hands often and to cough and sneeze into their elbows!  I am trying my best to encourage these practices as well.

We are still low on pencils and I think we could use some more lined paper as well to get us to the end of the year.  While we require that students use wood pencils for Spalding, I do not mind if students use mechanical pencils throughout the rest of the day.  This may cut down on the number of wood pencils we go through on a regular basis.  You may also send a personal pencil sharpener, which might also help keep our students from constantly needing a new pencil!  I appreciate your help in this endeavor.

Here is what is coming up next week:

Language Arts:

We will be completing a Spalding rule page in our blue notebooks and will have 20 words in our spelling list. In Grammar and Writing we will be creating an opinion piece as a class; our focus will be to state an opinion, list 3 support details, and restate the opinion to create a paragraph. We will practice our public speaking skills be doing a choral recitation of our poem on Friday. In Touchpebbles we will be creating a heraldic shield to represent who we are as a class; it will be hung in the classroom to be enjoyed for the remainder of the year.

Idiom: “One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel.”

Math:

In math this week we are continuing our exciting unit on fractions. We will be ordering fractions as well as adding fractions with like denominators. Additionally we will be using some fun sized M&Ms on Wednesday during our math group time to do a fun fraction activity. We will be having our second fraction quiz on Thursday! This quiz will cover creating equivalent fractions, simplest form, comparing, and ordering fractions.

History:

In History we will be wrapping up our Native American unit. We will discuss the Iroquois Confederation and the relationship between the Native Americans and European Americans. We will have our student presentations on Thursday and Friday. We look forward to hearing about the various tribes and seeing all the students’ projects!

Science:

In science this week, students will be considering how light is impacted by mirrors and lenses. During Monday’s lesson, students will observe how concave and convex mirrors reflect light differently using spoons. On Wednesday, students will use images to see how concave lenses allow an image to be made smaller, while convex lenses make items appear larger. At the end of the week, students will discuss the mystery of light and how light has a the quality of particles and a wave.

Quizzes and Tests:

Poetry Recitation will be March 15th

Spelling Test is on Friday

Fractions Quiz will be on Thursday

History Projects will be due on Thursday

Please reach out with any comments or questions!

Best,

Ms. Caro 

Dear 3C Parents,

I have noticed that many students have experienced some difficulty getting reading logs turned in. Reading is one of the most important curricular activities here at Archway Arete, particularly in the third grade due to the hefty state standards attached to reading. I see students reading often and dearly wish for them to receive credit for this hard work; please do ensure that your student’s reading log is filled out weekly with your signature. Below is a graphic that has always helped me put things into perspective.  Please reach out with any comments or questions.

Best,

Ms. Caro 

Dear 3C Parents,

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Our class had so much fun at the MIM.  I really enjoyed spending time with all the students during this fun field trip.  Thank you so much to all the parent volunteers who came and helped as well.  I really appreciate your help!  I hope you all had an excellent time as well.  We have another busy week ahead.  I am enjoying our fractions unit and I think the students are benefiting from the use of many manipulatives.  Please let me know if you have any comments or questions!

Best,

Ms. Caro

Language Arts:
We will continue our Spalding list with the next 30 words. In writing and grammar we will be continuing our in class writing project.


History:
In History we are continuing our unit on Native Americans. We will be learning about the early Mound Builders. We will also learn about the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, Apache, Comanche, Seminole, and Cherokee tribes. We are only getting a small taste of each tribe, but we look forward to learning more from each other during our presentations of our projects!


Math:
In math we will continue our fractions unit. We will be using manipulatives to find equivalent fractions and to simplify fractions. We will also be making a fraction pizza!

Science:

We will continue our light and eye unit with many hands on activities!

Quizzes and Tests:

Math quiz is Monday
Spelling Test is Friday
History project due 3/3

Poetry Recitation is 3/15

Spalding Test Friday!

Dear Parents,

Just to clarify, we will be having a 20 questions Spalding test on Friday before we leave for the field trip!

Ms. Caro

Dear Parents,

Last week went so fast since I was out Monday and no school on Friday!  The students had so much fun celebrating Great Hearts day with wonderful food, crafts, and games.  Thank you to everyone who helped out and sent in items for our celebration!  I am looking forward to another great week in 3C! 

General Announcements:

• This coming Friday is our field trip to the MIM! Please send your student to school with a sack lunch that day.

• Please send your student to school with a copy of The Little Prince on Tuesday.

Language Arts:

In Spalding we will continue our word list with 20 words this week. Grammar and Writing class will consist of an in-class writing project; we are teaching students to use a provided text to correctly explore questions given to them as writing prompts. In Literature we will begin reading The Little Prince and exploring important literary terms.

Math:

We will be skipping over money (just for now) and starting fractions this week!! 

History:

We will continue our journey into the past by taking a look at the different tribes of the Earliest Americans,

Science:

As our sound unit comes to a close we will start our sight and the eye unit.

Donations for A New Leaf

As Great Hearted scholars and families we enjoy showing kindness and generosity to others through our annual service project. This year we will participate by partnering with A New Leaf.  Last year A New Leaf served 21,140 individuals with resources, including homeless and domestic violence shelters with services, affordable housing solutions, behavioral health, foster care, counseling, financial literacy coaching, and basic needs. To lend a helping hand to the families served by A New Leaf, we will be collecting various goods that the organization is in desperate need of.  Each grade level will have a specific goods or supplies to collect; this allows us to cater to many needed items.

See below for our grade level’s list of items. Please ensure that all donations are brand new, as gently used items cannot be accepted.

Kindergarten: canned food, baby food, condiments (jarred, canned, and bottled food items)

First Grade: bath towels and washcloths

Second Grade: twin sheets and pillow cases

Third Grade: kitchen supplies (silverware, pots/pans, cooking tools)

Fourth Grade: paper products (toilet paper, paper towels, paper plates, plastic cups)

Fifth Grade: snack food, cereal, granola bars, instant rice (boxed foods)

During the week of Great Hearts Day (Feb. 8-11), our students will be asked to bring in items to contribute to our donations list. The drive will conclude on Great Hearts Day (Feb. 11), where total counts of the donated items will be shared and celebrated at the morning assembly. We look forward to seeing the generosity and kindness fill our hearts and rooms with supplies that are greatly appreciated by the families at A New Leaf! If you have any further questions regarding the supply requirements, please do not hesitate to ask!  

Week of February 8th

General Announcements:

• Please keep in mind that there is no school Friday 2/12/16 or Monday 2/15/16.

• Please have your student's copy of The Little Prince brought in as soon as possible. We will begin reading this book Tuesday, February 16th. 

• 3rd Grade Field Trip coming up February 19th! Please be sure you have signed the permission slip for your student.

• The 2nd book report of the quarter will be collected February 22nd.

• Poetry recitations for The Children's Hour will be on Thursday, March 10th. 

Languages Arts:

We will be working on informative writing in Grammar and Writing. Monday, we will have out monthly Spalding benchmark test; due to this and the shortened week we will not have our usual Spalding test on Friday. Our Trumpet of the Swan unit is coming to an end, we will begin reading The Little Prince soon!

Math:

We will continue our exploration of measurement by taking a look at gallons, quarts, pints, and cups.

History:

We will start our Earliest Americans unit by taking a close look at Beringia.

Science:

We will be reviewing our sound unit and waiting in anticipation for our field trip to the MIM!

Quizzes and Tests:

Wednesday: The Trumpet of the Swan Test

Thursday: Math Quiz