Third Grade News

November 14 , 2008

Boy have we been busy in third grade. We really are learning a ton!  From writing haikus, creative stories and family memories, subtracting 3 and 4 digit numbers with loads of regrouping, to learning about singular and plural possessive nouns (ug!).  Be proud of your hardworking, eager to learn children.  I sure am!

Field trip:  Don’t forget that Tuesday is our field trip to the UC Botanical Gardens.  The students may wear free dress.  Please have them dress for outdoor weather and to wear good walking shoes.  Note:  The filed trip is rain or shine, so dress appropriately.  If weather permits we will eat our lunch at the Gardens, so please pack a bag lunch and cancel any hot lunches for that day.  We will leave CC at 9:30.  The following people are scheduled to drive: DePalm (5), Goldberg (6), Loukianoff (5), Meyer (6), Woelffer (5),  Dolan (3) and Morelli (3).  Thank you drivers!!

Winter Book Report:  Attached you will find information on our next Book Report.  This report focuses on learning about winter solstice and holiday customs from around the world.  The attached guidelines can also be found on the 3rd grade website under special projects.  Please contact me with any questions.  It will be due on Monday, December 15th.

Family Life:  Next week in Family Life we will discuss the anatomical differences between the male and female bodies.  Your children may come home with questions.

Highlights of the Week:
Math:  The students are very excited about computing 3 and 4 digit numbers.  This is a great time to help your child solidify their math computation skills.  Although using our fingers to add and subtract is not a bad strategy, we should know our basic math facts readily.  For example, students should know how to add single digit numbers without using their fingers (7+8, 9+4, etc.). You can help your child by either using flash cards, or by playing math games that are listed on either the 3rd or 2nd grade websites.

Language Arts:  The students are really enjoying the story Inkheart by Cornelia Funke that I am reading to class.  It is a wonderful story and richly written.  Speaking of writing, the 3rd graders are very busy writing these days.  They are putting the touches on their first creative stories, they completed their fall haikus and we are assembling our first 3rd grade book:  a compilation of family memories by the students. Please stop by our bulletin board to read their “All About Me” books.

Social Studies:  The students are almost finished with their “Creature Feature”.  They have spent quite a bit of time researching their habitat of choice and are making a special presentation for you!  Today they wrote persuasive essays as to why a Zoo should by their self-created creature.  Oh, the voice and imagination of some of these students – wonderful!

Religion:  We studied the life of Jesus this week and took some time to reflect on how we show that we are Disciples of Christ.

Have a great weekend.

Jessica Murray