Hello December!

Welcome Back Families of Third Graders,

We hope that you and your families had a blessed Thanksgiving break!  Can you believe that today is the very first day of December? Did you also know that "Advent" means "arrival?   The Christmas season is now upon us, may we begin to prepare our hearts and minds for the "arrival" of Christ's birth.  Your child will be learning all about the lineage of Jesus, through our "Jesse Tree" advent themed activities.    These lessons, connect the old testament stories with the new testament story of Christ's birth.  We believe your children will really enjoy these engaging theology lessons.

Also, mark your calendars for the following dates:

• December 5th is Grandparent's Day at St. Francis Xavier.

• December 11th is our annual Music concert, presented by your children, with the guidance and expertise of Ms. Nemeth.  The concert is at 6:30 p.m. inside Xavier's auditorium.

 Here are the lessons that your children will be experiencing for this week!

ELA Focus Wall


Spelling ~ Homophones (words that sound the same but have different meanings)
Grammar ~ Focus will be on using quotations correctly
Reading ~ The skill for this week is on idioms (Phrases that shouldn't be taken literally, example, 
"It's raining cats and dogs.")
Your children will be assessed in all three of these areas on Thursday, Dec. 4th due to Grandparent's day being on Friday.

Social Studies
The students will continue their lessons on the history of the first "World Explorers."  The children will be assessed on their knowledge of the content through an in class group poster project.

Math
The students will begin their lessons on the concept of multiplication.  This week, we will focus on arrays and the idea that multiplication is repeated addition.  "Multiplication Boot Camp" will begin next week!  Our boot camp is a military theme where the children will complete "Drills" on their basic facts.  As each child masters a basic multiplication drill, they will earn a bead for their dog tag.  Please check our blog next week for information on utilizing a specific multiplication site.  This site will assist the students in mastering their basic multiplication facts.  All third graders are expected to have their basic addition, subtraction,  multiplication, and division facts memorized upon entering the fourth grade.  All web site information should also be written down inside your child's agenda, as it is modeled in class every day.

Religion 
The students will be learning about the lineage of Jesus through biblical stories that begins with the story of Adam and Eve.  The lessons will lead the students to the story of Jesse (Jesse was an ancestor of Jesus and the father of King David.) and the lessons will conclude with the birth of Jesus.  Ask your child the following:

•  What interesting biblical story did they learn about today?
•  What lesson did the story from the bible teach them?

Homework 

• Read for 20 minutes each night and log it!
• Nightly math skill sheet
• Please have your child visit Dreambox 3 times a week in 15 minute sessions
• This month's book report project will be sent home this week and the directions/expectations are always modeled in class! The book project this month focus's on "poetry" and is due on Thursday, December 18th.
• This week's spelling is a unique skill and  it isn't available on Zanerbloser.com.  However, I have found a different site that the children can visit to practice the spelling of homophones.  The site is called, "Studyladder.com"  How to visit this site was modeled in both classes today.  The spelling test will take place on Thursday, Dec. 4th due to Grandparent's Day on Friday.