Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone had a restful winter break and is ready for the second half of third grade.  Students will begin the year with a new AR goal, so take some time this week to discuss AR expectations.  The days are shorter and the nights are longer, therefore this is a great time to have your child read.  Review the multiuplication facts frequently this month.  If your child has not mastered these multiplication facts additional practice will be in place beginning this week for school and home.   Study guides for science or social studies tests are sent home several days before an upcoming test.  Once the study guide is sent home, be sure to help your child study for the science or social studies test each day to help them be successful with the test This is a very important 9 week period because students are learning test taking skills that will help them as they prepare for the CRCT in April. 

1-16-12   Martin Luther King Holiday – no school

1-27-12   Vulcan Quarry Field Trip

2-17-12   Schoolwide Field Trip

2–23–12  Franklin Roosevelt’s Little White House Field Trip – Return to school at 5:00PM.  Since we will not be at school for the bus dismissal you will need to pick your child up at 5:00 or have your child attend ASP.

Topics of Study

Reading – Non-Fiction Literature: We will study the components that make up this genre.

Math – Fractions, Measurement ( Standard Units: inches, feet, yards, and miles/ Metric Units: milimeters, centimeters, meters, kilometers) - Have your child start to measure items at home using a ruler, yardstick, or measuring tape.  We will continue to use the multiplication and division facts with increasing difficulty.  Continue to help your child increase fluency (speed and accuracy) with these facts.

Science – We will continue the Georgia Habitats units with a focus on adaptaions that organisms make in order to survive. The next unit on magnets will be brief, but full of fun.  We will then start to study heat.  You will find that we have moved the heat unit from the 4th nine weeks to the third nine weeks in order to cover it before the CRCT.

Social Studies - 3 Branches of Government and our Biographies: Mary McLeod Bethune, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: We are excited to take a trip to the Georgia vacation home of Franklin Roosevelt in Warm Springs Georgia.