A Sneak Peek at Our Week ...

I hope you all had wonderful, relaxing breaks with your families!  It's hard to believe we are about to enter the fourth quarter of the school-year - it sure has flown!  Here is a look at what students will be working on in the classroom this week:

• Reading:  Upon returning from break, students will be starting a new reading unit focused on Perspectives.  This week students will work on building reading skills related to point of view.  They will identify and determine whether a text is written from the first person, third person limited, or third person omniscient point of view.  Later in the week, they will discover how point of view and perspective affects their understanding of a text.  Be sure to check the third grade website for information about this new unit! - Reading Unit: Perspectives

• Writing:  During writing this week, students will use this time to finish recording their voices for their "My Rock Tells a Story" quarter projects.  They will also create their own personal blog, using it as a portfolio for their writing work.  The will showcase their final quarter projects on their blogs!

• Math:  On Monday students will finish a real-world problem-solving activity relating to the area of rectangles.  This week, lessons 8.5 - 8.8 will be completed.  On Friday, students will play a review game to practice and study for their test.  The Unit 8 test will be on Monday or Tuesday of next week.  A study guide will be sent home early this week.  

• Science:  Students will explore the following key questions this week:
• How is sound made?
• How does the length of an object affect vibration and pitch?
• Can sounds travel through gasses and liquids?

• Homework:  Students will be given a set of questions that they will need to respond to for their reading responses this week.  They only need to choose 5 out of the 7 to answer.  Students will also be given a point of view worksheet on Monday that will need to be completed and turned in Friday.  Please remember, you can always check the third grade website for daily homework: Homework

My Rock Tells a Story

Here is an example of a final copy of students' Quarter 3 "My Rock Tells a Story" digital stories.  Students have really enjoyed this entire project, and their final products are turning out great!  Thursday is the last day students have to work in the computer lab on their PowerPoints.  The rest of the PowerPoint will need to be finished at home!  The final due date for the PowerPoint will be Friday, March 22nd.

Specials Change

Sorry I didn't clarify this earlier - students' special schedules will change after we return from spring break!  Sorry if there was any confusion!  Please let me know if you have any questions.  

A Sneak Peek at our Week ...

• Writing:  Students will be wrapping up Part 3 of their Quarter 3 projects this week.  They have really enjoyed creating the PowerPoints for their Rock Stories, and are really growing into tech-savvy students!  They will begin adding their voice to their digital stories this week.

• Math:  Students will complete lessons 8.2-8.4 this week, and work collaboratively on a problem solving activity relating to perimeter/area on Friday.  

• Reading:  Last week students began a mini-unit on reader's theater.  They will perform their skits in front of the class this Friday.  There will also be a comprehension and vocabulary quiz on the scripts on Friday as well.  

• Science:  Last Friday, students took a "sound walk" around the school, observing different sounds.  Today students categorized the sounds into different groups based on their source.  During a lab this week, they will uncover the question, "How are sounds made?"

• Field Trip:  Please remember there is a field trip Wednesday to the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art.  We will be back at Skinner in time for recess and lunch.  

Specials Schedule Change

Students' specials will be changing a little for the remaining part of the school year.  Instead of having them in the morning, all specials will be held from 1:55-3:00.  Here is the new schedule:

• Monday: Art
• Tuesday: P.E.
• Wednesday: Spanish & Music
• Thursday: Spanish & Music
• Friday: Art & Music

Printing Chicago Brochures

Students have the option to print their brochures at home (if they would like to print in color), or I can print them here at school. 

If you are printing at home, a few words of advice for easy-printing:

• When your child is finished with their brochure, have them click Save Final (instead of Save Draft) - this changes their file into a PDF which prints better
• After you click Print, a screen will pop up, and then click Print Properties
• Then click ...
• Landscape (so it prints horizontally)
• Flip on short edge
• Front and back 

Please remember, you can always e-mail the PDF file to me to print, or if your child has it saved on their flash-drive, I can print it from the classroom printer tomorrow. 

Students worked so hard on these brochures, and became quite tech-savvy along the way!  They are very excited to share their final products!

Q3 "My Rock Tells a Story" Project Images

Today students began working on their Quarter 3 projects.  The first step is typing each page of their story, and then following, they will add images.  They can find images from the computer to use at school, or "get ahead" a little and save them on their flash-drive at home to bring to school.  When I did this project in the past students loved including photos of themselves and their rocks.  They even took photos of their rocks with different scenery and set-ups.  Your child is more than welcome to do this!  Just make sure all digital photos are saved on their flash-drive, so they can access them at school.  

Field Trip Permission Slips Passed Out TODAY!

Today students will be bringing home permission slips for our field trip to the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art.  The field trip will be next Wednesday, March 20th.  We'll be leaving the school at 8:45 sharp, and returning around 12:15.  Students will eat lunch at Skinner at their normal time.  The cost of the field trip is $7.00 each.  Permission slips and money are due next Tuesday!  Each third grade classroom will be able to take 4 chaperones on the trip.  Please let me know if you are interested!  You can either e-mail me, or mark the appropriate box on the permission form. 

***There is a gift shop at the museum with a pretty extensive list of different rock and mineral materials students can purchase.  We ask that your child bring no more than $5.00 to spend at the store if they are interested.  Thanks!

Here is the website for the museum: http://www.lizzadromuseum.org/

Resource for Parents with Daughters

Throughout the year, I have talked with a handful of you about friendship issues that have arisen between girls in the classroom.  An old co-worker of mine, who has a 7 year old daughter, shared a resource that she found very helpful.  It's a book about "bully-proofing" your daughter - giving her tools to become an advocate for herself, helping her deal with friendship and bullying issues.  Thought I would share!  "Little Girls Can Be Mean": Four Steps to "Bully Proof" Girls in the Early Ages

A Sneak Peek At Our Week ...

• ISAT:  Students have really shown a lot of hard work, focus, and determination over the last week taking the ISAT test.  On Monday students will take Reading, Session 3 which is made up of 20 multiple choice and 1 extended response.  On Tuesday, students will take Math, Session 3 which is made up of 2 extended responses.  

• Writing: Starting Tuesday, students will begin writing their final drafts of their  "My Rock Tells a Story" quarter projects into PowerPoints.  They will also include graphics or images to go along with each page of the story.  Students will be saving their work on flash-drives so this can be worked on at home too!

• Math:  Here is the following math schedule for the week:
• Monday: Unit 8 Pre-test & Math Games (study guides will be passed out!)
• Tuesday: IXL Practice 
• Wednesday: "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" Unit 7 Review Game
• Thursday: Unit 7 Test
• Friday: Lesson 8.1 (Unit 8 Resources & Family Letter)

• Reading:  Starting Wednesday, students will begin a reader's theater mini-unit.  There will be a total of 5 different small-groups reading different scripts.  Final performances will be Thursday of next week.  Reader's theater is a great way to enhance comprehension of text as well as promote enthusiasm for reading.  It also is an opportunity for students to develop fluency through multiple readings of the text by using expressiveness, intonation, and inflection when rehearsing the text.

• Social Studies: Monday will be the final work day for students working on their Unit 3 Brochures, the rest of this project will need to be completed at home.  Brochures are due on Thursday.  A final assessment for this unit will be on Friday.  The assessment will focus around the four main guiding questions of the unit.  

• Science:  Students will begin the third science unit this week which focuses on Sound.    Be sure to continually check the third grade website for resources, information, and games: Unit 3: Sound.

*** Information regarding the field trip to the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art on Wednesday, March 20th will be going home early this week!

Parent Help - Quarter 3 Project Recordings

Starting next week, students will begin creating PowerPoints for their "My Rock Tells a Story" Quarter 3 projects.  Afterwards, starting the week of March 18th, they will start recording their voice so they are able to actually "tell" and narrate their own story.  However, I only have one microphone available, so I can only record one student at a time.  If any parents are able to come in and help with voice recordings the week of March 18th, it would be a huge help in getting these projects complete!  The program itself is very easy (I promise :)!), and I would be able to show you the instructions step-by-step.  

Please let me know if you are available, or interested in helping!  Thanks!

Unit 7 Math

This week, students will be completing the final lessons found in Unit 7.  Lesson 7.11 will be instructed tomorrow, and Lesson 7.12 will be instructed Friday.  For next week, students will complete a review in the classroom on Wednesday, March 13th and take the Unit 7 test Thursday, March 14th.  The study guide will be sent home Tuesday night.  On the third grade website, you can find a checklist of IXL practice assignments that specifically correlate with Unit 7: Unit 7 IXL Checklist.  This is a great tool for your child to practice and reinforce concepts that are instructed in the classroom.  

Progress Reports

Just a reminder that Progress Reports were passed out today!  Please have your child return the signed form by Monday, March 11th.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Unit 3 Chicago Brochure

Over the next few days, students will be creating their final project for Unit 3 in Social Studies: Chicago Today which is a brochure.  The brochure rubric and online tool used to create brochures can be found on the following page of the Third Grade Website: Unit 3: Chicago Today.  

For the images needed on the brochure, your child will have the option to illustrate and color them.  If they would rather use an image from the computer (which works really well with the online tool), they will need to find images at home and save them on their flash-drive.  A brief assessment on Unit 3 will happen later next week.  

Math Games

Here are a few links to math games focused around today's math goal (7.8) - converting fractions to decimals:

• Fruit Shoot: Converting Fractions to Decimals
• Decention: A game of fractions, decimals, and percents
• Fractions - Decimals - Percents Jeopardy
• Fraction-Decimal-Percent Conversions
• Concentration: Matching Fractions, Decimals, & Percents

Assignment Category Scale

Just recently, a school-wide decision has been made to adjust the weight of different assignment/grade categories.  Listed below is the new scale:

• Assignments: 40%
• Quizzes/Tests: 30%
• Homework: 10%
• Participation: 10%
• Projects: 10%