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.