Autumn Learning (October 3-7)

I absolutely love autumn. The leaves are turning warm shades of yellow and orange, scarecrows and pumpkins are showing up at storefronts, and fall spices are beginning to fill the air. 
Our third grade class is also making the transition into autumn. I'm happy to see all of the children coming to school bundled up in warm coats! The weather has definitely changed and I'm happy to see our students staying warm. Thankfully, Portable 31 remains at a comfortable temperature at all times. 

Reading

This week, we have been learning how to summarize texts we are reading. Students learned how to provide a brief synopsis of a story by looking at the beginning, middle, and end model. We practiced summarizing a story called Lost and Found in our Houghton Mifflin anthology text. 

We also finished Rickshaw Girl this week! This gave us a chance to summarize our read-aloud story as well. 

At the end of the week, our class earned a movie and popcorn due to their hard work during math time. Since the class read Mulan from our anthology last week, I showed Disney's Mulan on Thursday afternoon. Before showing the movie, I asked the students to compare Mulan with Naima, the main character from Rickshaw Girl. After the movie, we had a class discussion and wrote about the similarities between Mulan and Naima. This provides a perfect transition into the reading focus of next week: compare and contrast.

Writing
During writing time, we have continued working on paragraph writing. Students' paragraph writing skills are greatly improving! I am pleased to see that almost all students thoroughly understand the parts of a paragraph and are able to write a well-formed paragraph. We will continue to work on how to make paragraphs more interesting. 

Most students are doing an excellent job remembering when to capitalize letters and add punctuation. Please monitor your child's writing habits at home so that he or she can continue to grow as a writer in class! 

Math
After grading the Unit 1 pretest I gave to the class last week, I realized that students needed more practice with 3-digit addition and subtraction. This week, we rigorously practiced 3-digit addition and subtraction in whole group and small groups. Students who understood the concept were allowed to act as "helpers" and assist other students in need. We also practiced 3-digit addition and subtraction in the context of story problems. We learned how Math Mountains can help us figure out the missing piece of a story problem. 

After 3 days in a row of addition and subtraction quizzes at the end of our math lessons, I saw that students were ready to take the Unit 1 math test. Students will be able to see their math tests and take them home next week. 

Please continue to practice math facts at home with your child. Knowing addition and subtraction math facts by heart will greatly help your child continue to learn math in class. 

Social Studies
Country Reports were due on Monday of this week. If students completed their report on a country of their choice, they were allowed to give a presentation to the class about their country. This gave students a great opportunity to practice and witness oral presentations. We discussed what factors make someone a good speaker and a good listener during presentation time. 

We have also been studying map skills in class. This week, we studied the elements of a compass and learned how to use a compass on a map. We also learned how to read a map key/legend and practiced using different maps. 

Our Class Mascot

Your child may or may not have mentioned our class mascot. We have a rather unattractive fellow named Bo who graces our class with his presence every day. He is a very mischievous and meddlesome character who tries to escape from our classroom regularly. Below is a picture of Bo (yes, he is real). 

VIP of the Week: Aleena

Aleena was our first VIP of the Week! Aleena wants to become a veterinarian when she grows up. She loves to play with her dog in her free time. 

Announcements

• Welcome Fatou! Fatou joined our class this week and we are so happy to have her! 
• Thank you, parents, for helping your child remember to have their homework sheet signed daily. Almost all students remembered their parent signatures every day this week! 
• If you were not able to attend Open House and sign up for a Parent-Teacher Conference, I will be calling home this week to arrange a time to meet. Please see "Important Dates" below to see the dates for conferences. 
• Students were sent home with an Email Request Form this week. If your child has not brought this back to class, please fill it out and return it. Email is a great way for me to stay in contact with you throughout the year. 
• As always, remember that students are expected to read at least 25 minutes every night. Please do not sign off on the Homework Sheet until your student has read, or is read to, for at least 25 minutes. 

Important Dates

October 21 - Early Dismissal (12:45)

October 31 - Early Dismissal (12:45), Parent Teacher Conferences

November 1 - Early Dismissal (12:45), Parent Teacher Conferences

November 2 - Early Dismissal (12:45), Parent Teacher Conferences

November 3 - Early Dismissal (12:45), Parent Teacher Conferences

November 4 - Early Dismissal (12:45), Parent Teacher Conferences

"I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love."   --Mother Theresa  

Sincerely,