Happy December!

Thank you to all those parents, friends, and family who were able to join us for a yummy Thanksgiving lunch! We enjoyed our time with you! Here are a few dates and upcoming events you might want to mark on your calendars:

Dec.  5 - 5th grade Musical Show

Dec.18 - LAST DAY FOR AR (Accelerated Reader) Tests - Get that goal!!

Dec. 19 - Winter Holiday Rotations at school - More info. will be coming home soon!

Dec. 20 - AR (Accelerated Reader) Party for those who got their goals! (More info. coming soon!)

Dec. 23- Jan. 6 Winter Holidays for Students - NO SCHOOL!

Jan. 7 - Students back to School, Third nine weeks begins

November 2013

Already November? Time sure does fly when you're having fun! The third grade had a fantastic field trip to the Vulcan Rock Quarry last month. We hope that your child enjoyed it and learned some valuable facts about rocks! 

Reminder about daily snacks- We have noticed that several students are not bringing in the best snacks during snack time. It is important that students are eating healthy throughout the school day to to help maximize their focus for the school work at hand. Also, only allow your child to bring in plain drinking water if they choose to.

Third grade is all about multiplication! The kids are working diligently on learning their math facts. Each class participates in multiplication math drills each week to check and make sure the students are progressing in their fact knowledge. We ask that you quiz your child for 5-10 minutes each day on the fact they are working on. This is a great thing to do in a car ride, right before bedtime, use sidewalk chalk to write out the facts, or call them out at the dinner table! Be creative! Students should master the 0-10 facts by the December break.



**Be sure to check agendas each night for upcoming tests and news from the classroom.**

Important upcoming dates:

November 18:   2nd 9 weeks progress reports go home

November 21:  Thanksgiving Lunch

November 25-29:  Thanksgiving Break- no school

December 18:  Last day to make AR goal

December 19:  Holiday Rotation (more information coming soon)

December 20:  AR Party/ Last day of the 2nd 9 weeks marking period

Third Grade News - February, 2013

Students should have memorized their multiplication facts through ten at this point and be working on division facts. If your child is not at this point, its time to spend some extra time with flashcards, or online practice programs, to get up to speed. They will struggle horribly in fourth grade math if they are not fluent with the basic facts.

This month, third grade will begin learning about the distributive property and how it can help in multiplying larger numbers. There will be lots of hands-on practice with base ten blocks. Asking your child to explain it to you is a good way to check for understanding!

We will also continue our number talks and constructed response practice to strengthen students' basic number sense. Thanks to all those parents that were able to attend the Curriculum Night. Hopefully, that gave you a better idea of math under Common Core.

In Language Arts, Reading and Writing, we will be looking at point of view and different sentence structures ( simple, compound, and complex). Our writing focus continues on narratives, informational, and opinion pieces. Read aloud books and reading groups reinforce good reading strategies and story development.

In Science and Social Studies, we have completed our study of Georgia habitats and the adaptations of the organisms that live in each. We are beginning our unit on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Our field trip to the Little White House this month will be a highlight of this unit.

A word about handwriting. Cursive is a third grade standard in Georgia. While some students may not be quite developmentally ready for this, all students should have small (as compared to kindergarten print), legible handwriting. The intermediate grades require much more in terms of writing, as does Common Core, and students that cannot write easily and legibly will struggle.

 

Finally, continue to read the What's Happening school newsletter and school emails, as well as your child's daily folder to stay informed on your child's progress and school activities. Information on Valentine's Day will be sent home by individual teachers.