2015 is Here!

Happy New Year Third Grade Families!

We hope you and your families had a restful and joyous Christmas break! We are very excited to be back at school and in the third quarter!  There is a lot going on over the next few weeks.  Now that the third quarter has arrived, your children are expected to exhibit growth in the areas of independence and responsibility.   This will serve the children well as they become 4th graders,  and it will help to prepare them for their First Holy Communion and Confirmation retreat in February.

As we enter into the third quarter and begin to really prepare your children for the fourth grade, our weekly blogs will look a little different. We will continue to inform you on the happenings in our room and at SFX, but we will no longer be putting our weekly homework and assessments on the blog. We are asking you to please refer to your child's agenda for all of this information. Please know, that this helps us to support the fourth grade teachers expectations, and so in turn,  it will also then best support your children for when they enter the fourth grade.  Your children will be learning in class this week, to look at their agendas as their 'Bible'. It is extremely important that they become responsible by writing down (mirroring) exactly what is shown on the board each day. We know that this will not happen over night, so it is a learning process for everyone, which is why we are starting now. 

As your children return to school, please check in with your child to see if they are in need of any new school supplies such as expos, pencils, erasers, scissors, glue sticks, etc.  Also, now is a great time to clean out their backpacks, so that they are starting fresh.

Here is our new Third Grade Motto for the third and fourth quarters of school:

 Focus Wall

English Language Arts

Spelling skill for the week is vowel plus r sound.  Examples:  nurse, work, dirt, serve
Grammar skill for the week is verb tenses.
Reading skill for the week is inferring/predicting.


Math

The students will begin "Multiplication Boot Camp."  It's imperative that every student masters their basic multiplication facts by the end of this quarter, as we also must learn how to do basic division and long division with remainders.

The students should practice their basic multiplication facts, at least 3 nights a week, utilizing the web site multiplication.com 

•  On multiplication.com your child should play at least one game 3 times per week.

•  Then, your child needs to go to the books/resources tab and click on it.

•  From here, your child will click On-line quizzes/tests.

•  Please have your child practice their basic multiplication facts at least 3 times a week.

•  Students may then print off their quiz and return it to school for extra credit in math, or you  may      e-mail me the on-line quiz at megan.connell@sfxphx.org
• All of this information was reviewed and modeled in class.

The students should also continue to visit Dreambox once a week for at least 15 minutes of practice.
Also note, that students who complete Dreambox as part of their weekly homework, receive points at the end of each quarter. These points are added to their quarterly math grade.  Every student that completes their quarterly Dreambox homework, earns 30 points.  This is the equivalent of one test grade.  This will often be reflected in the students that receive an "Outstanding" math grade verses students that do not. 
Here is how the Dreambox points are earned per quarter:
Students that complete 4 hours or more earned the full 30 points.
Students that completed 3 to 3 1/2 hours, earned 26 out of 30 points.
Kids who were on the cusp of meeting at least 3 hours, earned 22 out of 30 points, the equivalent of one "Improving" grade.
Students that did not meet 3 hours or more for the quarter, earned 20 out of 30 points, which is the equivalent of one "Needs More Time and Practice" score.   
The Third Grade blog has had Dreambox listed as part of every child's homework since the beginning of our school year, and the expectation has been discussed daily in class.

Social Studies

We will begin our unit on American Government. In this unit, students will learn about the three branches of government from the city level to state level to federal level.

Religion 

Students will continue to learn about the life of Christ through the Jesse Tree daily ornaments and reflections. Then, we will move into learning about the parts of the Mass. Students will begin to reflect and prepare their hearts and minds in the coming week for their very special Sacrament Retreat (Friday, February 13th)

January monthly book reports will go home this week. Be sure to ask your child to share the directions with you, so that you can get started early. Book reports will be due on January 30th.

The Countdown to Christmas Begins!

It is hard to believe that we are entering the third week of December.  We now have five days of school left until our long awaited Christmas break!  Friday will also end our second quarter of school.  Your children have grown so much since entering the third grade.  Here are some of the blessings we have observed in your children over this last quarter.

• The children are becoming more independent.
• The third graders are becoming more responsible and are doing well with completing and returning their homework.
• The students are exhibiting more self-control and we are receiving positive behavior reports from our special area teachers due to this observation.
• We are so proud of the academic, spiritual, and behavioral growth we are seeing in your children.  What a wonderful Christmas blessing!

As we prepare for our Christmas break, please know that there will be no formal homework assignments.  However, if your child is able to continue reading nightly and practice their multiplication facts, it would be a tremendous gift for them when they return from their break.  May you and your families have a blessed Christmas!

Here is what lies ahead for this week:
 

Reading ~ The students will be reading selected Christmas themed books in class and will be enjoying fun academic follow up activities.

Our "Team 3" Christmas party will take place on Friday, Dec. 19th.  Our celebration will incorporate the reading lessons your children will be engaged in this week.  Our party's theme is "The Gingerbread Man." 
A permission slip will be coming home this week, seeking your permission to have your child view Shrek 2, starring "Gingy"(a.k.a. The Gingerbread Man!).

The kids will enjoy decorating gingerbread cookies, playing board games, snacking and viewing the movie Shrek 2.

Spelling ~ The students will have a "Christmas" themed spelling list this week!  Our list of words will be shorter due to the holidays.

Religion ~ The students will continue their biblical "Jesse Tree" lessons.  Also, please do not forget that Wednesday is our annual "Gift Mass."  Please have your child bring either a gift card to donate to a child in need, or a wrapped present that is labeled for either a boy or a girl, along with age appropriateness.  

We also have great news!  Our First Holy Communion and Confirmation date has been confirmed.  Please write down on your calendars, our sacrament mass is on April 25th,  2015 at 10:00 a.m. 

Math ~  Last week, we focused on practicing our multiplication facts from the zeros to the fives.  This week, we will practice the multiplication facts from the sixes to the tens.  The students have been completing individual multiplication tables to assist them in seeing the patterns of multiplication problems, they have been viewing "School House Rock" multiplication songs to incorporate music in learning our multiplication facts, and we have played a wide variety of multiplication games with a Christmas and/or winter theme. Who knew that math could be so much fun!  When we return from break, we will begin our "Multiplication Boot Camp."  All students are required to have their basic multiplication facts mastered as they exit the third grade.  Please insure that your child practices at home! 
 Here are some great websites to assist your child:

•  multiplication.com

•  hoodamath.com

• Math Champions (free app on apple)

• Times Tables Quiz!  (free app on apple)

• Sushi Monster!  (free app on apple)

Social Studies ~ The students will have completed all of their lessons on World Explorers by the end of this week.  If time permits, we will begin our Science lessons on "light" concepts.

Homework:

• Read for 20 minutes nightly and log it!
• Nightly math skill sheet ~ the focus will be on multiplication
• Visit multiplication.com 2 times a week and Dreambox one time a week for a 15 minute practice session
• Practice your spelling words!  The spelling test will be on Thursday this week!  There is no web site to assist the children this week.  However, the list of words has been reduced due to the holidays.
• The children's monthly book report project is due on Thursday, Dec. 18th!
• Please check your child's agendas nightly for any additional assignments that may be given. 

 

Christmas Cheer!

Season's Greetings  Families of Third Graders,

Christmas Cheer is in the air!   Your kids are so excited for Santa Clause to slide down their chimney's with their wishes in hand.  May we begin with some of the advent blessings we have witnessed during our first week of December;

• First, Coach Mitchell has relayed to us, that our third grade gentlemen are exhibiting positive behavior choices during their P.E. class and are showing tremendous growth in the area of conduct as a third grade unit.  Yay boys!  Keep up the hard work.  All of your teachers are so very proud of you.

• Also, Grandparent's Day was such a memorable morning for all of the third graders.  Your children are so blessed to have such wonderful grandparents.  The joy on the faces of both the grandparents and the children was just priceless.

• Last of all, your children are experiencing the "Examen" prayer every day at 11:00 a.m. with Ms. Cavnar's guidance.  Seeing your children quietly reflect in meditative prayer, is a blessing that we teachers are fortunate to be a part of.  

We have so many tremendous blessings here at S.F.X.!  Here is what lies ahead for this week:

• Our annual Music concert takes place this week.  The date of the concert is Thursday, December 11th at 6:30 p.m. in Xavier auditorium.  Please return your child's permission slip so that we know who is able to attend.
• Both 3A and 3B will celebrate Christmas in their classrooms on Dec. 19th.  For our party, we plan on having the children decorate gingerbread cookies, play board games, and enjoy a video while snacking on popcorn and juice boxes.  Please look for a follow up e-mail to sign up for the treats.  Thank you in advance for all of your help in regards to making our third grade celebration a success!
• Our class treasure box is in need of replenishing.  Any dollar store donations would be greatly appreciated and small stuffed animals are always a huge hit!

Focus Wall


  Spelling ~ Contractions
  Grammar ~ Subject Verb Agreement and Review of Using Contractions Correctly
  Reading Strategy ~ Fluency, Compare and Contrast, Story Message, Analayzing and 
  Evaluating the text.

Social Studies ~  Both classes will complete their studies on World Explorers.  The third graders will then begin learning about the science concept of "light."

Math ~ The students will complete their lessons on the relationship of arrays with the concept of multiplication.  We will then move into learning basic multiplication concepts which will include the idea that multiplication is repeated addition.   The students are going to be introduced to a new website to begin practicing their multiplication facts.  The web site is called,

Multiplication.com

Please have your child visit Multiplication.com three times a week for about 10 to 15 minutes.  The children should also visit Dreambox, but only once a week for a 15 minute session.  This will allow the students to stay current in their Dreambox skills, but will also allow them to begin mastering their basic multiplication facts.

Religion ~  The students will continue their "Jesse Tree" lessons, and they will continue to experience our daily "Examen" every day at 11:00 a.m.   The entire school will attend Mass on Monday, Dec. 8th due to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  This is a holy day of obligation.

Homework: 

There will be no homework on Thursday night due to our annual Music concert!

• Read nightly for 20 minutes and log it!
• December's book report is due on Dec. 18th prior to our break!
• Practice your multiplication facts on multiplication.com 3 times a week.
• Practice on Dreambox once a week for 15 minutes.
• Visit studyladder.com to practice your spelling this week.  The focus is on contractions.
• Check your child's agenda for any additional assignments.