Quarter 2 Week 2

Dearest 3C Parents,

It was so wonderful seeing you all for conferences this week.  We have such a wonderful group of students this year and Mrs. Geyer and I would like to thank all of you for entrusting us with your children.  Today we had a puppy come visit our classroom!! The students were absolutely in love with the puppy- I apologize ahead of time for the puppy talk that is probably coming your way. In addition, I introduced long division today- since it was a half day it was a quick introduction.  Many of the students found the new concept to be a bit overwhelming.  I told them all that they should review the concept, but not to stress out because we will be working on this concept for many weeks/months.  I explained to them that you all probably know the exact same algorithm and that you might explain it a little bit differently, but not to resist the help!  (However, I will give you an example here about the way we discussed the algorithm in class)

Example: 53/2

We have 5 tens.  How many tens can go in each group (there are 2 groups)?  2 tens can go in each group.  Great out the 2 on top of the 5.  We used 4 tens (2 x 2).  So we subtract 4 tens from 5 and get 1 10 left over.  We bring down the 3 and now we have 13 ones.  How many ones go in each group? 6! Great the 6 goes on top of the 3.  How many ones did we use? 12 (6 x 2).  We have 1 left over.  Our answer is 26 R 1.

I know that might be confusing in a paragraph like that.  Please e-mail me if you would like more information!  However, feel free to explain the method you learned and see if that helps them.

In addition, I sent home a letter and word list for the spelling bee today.  Keep an eye out for that flyer!

Best,

Mrs. Bowers

Announcements

1.    Permission slips for the Read-a-Thon have gone home, please return your scholar's costume proposal by next Friday. 

2.    Tutoring schedules begin again next week.

3.    There is no school on Monday 10/24.

Wish List

1.    Tissues

2.    Hand Sanitizer

A Look in the Classroom

1.    Language Arts: Our idiom for this month is Beggars Can't Be Choosers and we are focusing on a selection from Macbeth for our poem. In Spalding we will have a 20 word list because of the 4 day week. We are taking a look at the lessons Pinocchio is learning (and unlearning!) in our Literature book for this quarter. In Writing we are creating 3 sentence summaries about Abraham and in Grammar we will discuss poetic devices used in Wordsworth's I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud and discuss simple versus complete subjects and predicates.

2.    Science: This week in Science we are continuing our ecology unit. This has been a very fun unit with lots of cutting and pasting! This week we will be discussing the types of consumers including herbivores, carnivores, scavengers, omnivores, and decomposers. In addition, we will be discussing food chains and the impact of environmental change on various ecosystems. Ask your child about how animals adapt to environmental change and why each animal/plant is important in a food chain.

1. Math: Students will delve deeper into division, working with long division and the concept of remainders. Bar models will also continue to make appearances. Please continue reviewing math facts with your student at home; comfortable familiarity will make concepts discussed in class much easier! 
2. History: Students will continue their discussion of the world's rivers. Focusing on the Mississippi River and Australia's Murray River, students will learn about the ways rivers can change a landscape, the dangers involved with transport and travel via waterways, and the habitats wildlife can find along a river's banks. 

Tests and Quizzes

1.    Friday: Spelling Test