October 9, 2015

Ms. Zurales' 3rd Grade News

October 9, 2015

ELA We will focus on the fable Tortoise and the Hare. We will compare the story video with the commercial video. We will be looking at the videos through the 3 lenses (3 levels of questioning), each time viewing the video for a different purpose. For language, we will continue with descriptive writing, with the focus being on sensory words. Students will also start a persuasive writing piece. They will create a sales pitch for a haunted house.

Spelling An assessment was given today. New spelling sorts will go home on Tuesday. Students are being asked to choose a different activity from the Spelling Homework sheet to complete each night (Mon-Thurs) to help them master their spelling words. Once your child has completed the activity, please place the activity in their spelling folder. If the activity does not require something to be handed in, please initial the activity square. All 8 activities, should be attached to the Spelling Homework Sheet and turned in on Friday, October 23, which is the day of the assessment.

Math  A  quick checkpoint assessment will be given on Tuesday that focuses on the multiplication concepts they have been working on.  Students will continue to deepen their understanding of multiplication. They will make cube trains and paper strips to show the multiples of 2-10. They will solve problems where they use relationships to place either a multiplication problem or a product on a number line. 

Science Next week we will continue studying the water cycle. We will conduct an experiment where we can see the water cycle in motion. We will also have an open book graded review.

Important October Dates & Announcements

Jace was our our Panther of the Week.

Did you know he likes to play football and baseball. His dad is also his hero because he works hard for his family.

Halloween:

The Halloween party and parade will be on Friday, October 30th. The party is at 1:10. The parade will begin at 2:10.

Please keep in mind the following guidelines when helping your child pick out a Halloween costume:

1. We only have 15 minutes for costume changes. Please make sure your child can change into his/her costume easily and by themselves. If the costume can be worn over their clothes, then both the time to change and the chances of losing any clothes is minimized.

2. If the costume involves make up, please apply it before your child comes to school. If you send your child in with make up, then your child has to be able to apply it themselves. 

3. Please do not send any weapons (guns, swords, etc.) as part of the costume. Save those for trick-or-treating.

4. We will not have time to change back into our clothes for dismissal. Your child will wear their costume home.

October Dates to Remember

12 - No School - Columbus Day
13 - Checkpoint Assessment in Math
30 - Halloween party (1:10) and parade (2:10)

  

October 2, 2015

Ms. Zurales' 3rd Grade News

October 2, 2015

ELA We will focus on fables and finding the moral of the story. Students will look for evidence to support the claim (the moral). For language, we will focus on subjects and predicates. We will also start a descriptive writing unit.

Spelling New spelling sorts went home on Monday. Students are being asked to choose a different activity from the Spelling Homework sheet to complete each night (Mon-Thurs) to help them master their spelling words. Once your child has completed the activity, please place the activity in their spelling folder and initial the activity square. All 8 activities, should be attached to the Spelling Homework Sheet and turned in on Friday, October 9, which is the day of the assessment.

Math  A pre-assessment was given on multiplication today. Students are investigating situations designed to elicit key ideas and strategies that build a foundation for a deep understanding of multiplication. 

Science Next week we will continue studying the water cycle in Chapter 9 of our text book.

Important October Dates & Announcements

Ashlyn was our our Panther of the Week.

Did you know she collects bottle caps and her hero is her mom?

Halloween:

The Halloween party and parade will be on Friday, October 30th. The party is at 1:10. The parade will begin at 2:10.

Please keep in mind the following guidelines when helping your child pick out a Halloween costume:

1. We only have 15 minutes for costume changes. Please make sure your child can change into his/her costume easily and by themselves. If the costume can be worn over their clothes, then both the time to change and the chances of losing any clothes is minimized.

2. If the costume involves make up, please apply it before your child comes to school. If you send your child in with make up, then your child has to be able to apply it themselves. 

3. Please do not send any weapons (guns, swords, etc.) as part of the costume. Save those for trick-or-treating.

4. We will not have time to change back into our clothes for dismissal. Your child will wear their costume home.

October Dates to Remember

  6 - Picture Day

  9 - Spelling Test and all spelling homework activities are due

30 - Halloween Parade and party

  

September 25, 2015

Ms. Zurales' 3rd Grade News

September 25, 2015

ELA We will focus on Fairy Tales this week. We will read Cinderella and Prince Cinders, a fractured fairy tale. Students will complete a story map and then compare and contrast the two stories. We will also read the fractured fairy tale, Classic Princess and the Frog.  Students will write a Cinderella fractured fairy tale of their own. At the end of the week students will write a fractured fairy tale from the point of view of one of the characters in Cinderella.

Spelling An assessment was given today. New spelling sorts will go home on Monday. Students are being asked to choose a different activity from the Spelling Homework sheet to complete each night (Mon-Thurs) to help them master their spelling words. Once your child has completed the activity, please place the activity in their spelling folder. If the activity does not require something to be handed in, please initial the activity square. All 8 activities, should be attached to the Spelling Homework Sheet and turned in on Friday, October 9, which is the day of the assessment.

Math We will wrap up working with different strategies to add two digit numbers and solving two digit story problems. An assessment will be given on Wednesday. A study guide went home today. In our next topic, students will investigate situations designed to elicit key ideas and strategies that build a foundation for a deep understanding of multiplication. 

Science Tuesday we will begin a unit on the water cycle. We will discuss where water is found on Earth. 

Thanks again to those families who donated to the Johnny Appleseed celebration:
The Young Family, The Merrinette Family, The Rerucha Family, The Mesker Family, The Wawro Family and The Silanskis Family.

Important September/October Dates & Announcements

I wanted to share with families that we are just starting out the year and to please not be concerned too much with grades at this point.  There will be so many more grades coming that things tend to balance themselves out.  If you see an alarming grade - of course feel free to reach out to the teacher, but also know that if we were concerned, we would reach out to you.  It is natural for students to have one or two scores that aren't the best as they are learning classroom work habits/study skills, etc.  A lot more independence is placed on third graders and they will be keeping record of their work and grades, setting goals, etc. 

In the past, we might have not put poor grades in the grade book but now those grades are even as important as the "good" ones.  Those grades start conversations between students and teachers and motivate students to improve.

Cooper was our our Panther of the Week.

Did you know he loves to play soccer and his hero is his Dad?

September/October Dates to Remember

28 - New Spelling Word Sort (List) goes home
29 - Quiz on Hemispheres 
30 - Math Assessment (Ms. Zurales' Math Class)
  1 - September Reading Log Due

  

September 18, 2015

Ms. Zurales' 3rd Grade News

September 18, 2015

ELA We will continue our first unit Tales as Old as Time. This unit includes Folktales, Fables, and Myths. This week we read The Mysterious Giant of Bartletta and Fin M'Coul.  Students are focusing on identifying character traits and then finding evidence to support the trait. Students are applying this strategy to their good fit books. Next week, we will compare the two giants. We will also do a close read on Rumplestilskin. In English the focus will be on the writing process: Prewrite, Draft it Up, Doctor it Up, and Fix it Up. 

Spelling Students are being asked to choose a different activity from the Spelling Homework sheet to complete each night (Mon-Thurs) to help them master their spelling words. Once your child has completed the activity, please place the activity in their spelling folder. If the activity does not require something to be handed in, please initial the activity square. All 8 activities, should be attached to the Spelling Homework Sheet and turned in on Friday, September 25, which is the day of the assessment.

Math We will be working with different strategies to add two digit numbers. 
We will also be solving two digit story problems. 

Social Studies Students will be presenting their Google slide with their two facts about the continent they chose. Next week we will begin a unit on hemispheres. Also on:
.

Saturday, September 26th is Johnny Appleseed’s birthday. We will be having a celebration! Please send a peeled, cored, and sliced apple with your child on Friday, September 25th to be used to make applesauce for the class. We are looking for donations of small bowls, plastic spoons, and apple juice boxes. If this is something you are interested in helping with, please email me or send the items in any day before Friday, September 25th. Thank you in advance for your help!

I still need 1 more jug of apple juice and cups (20) or apple juice boxes (12), and small bowls. Thanks Mrs. Merrinette for the apple juice. Thanks Mrs. Young for the spoons. 

Important September Dates & Announcement

Please send in one peeled, cored and sliced apple to school with your child on Friday. We will be using these apples to make applesauce in the classroom. 

Mikella was our our Panther of the Week.

Did you know she loves to paint and she bakes every weekend?

September Dates to Remember

24 - Early Dismissal - SIP Day
25 - Johnny Appleseed Birthday Celebration
25 - Spelling Test

September 11, 2015

Ms. Zurales' 3rd Grade News

September 11, 2015

ELA We will continue our first unit Tales as Old as Time. This unit includes Folktales, Fables, and Myths.  We will read The Mysterious Giant of Bartletta. Students will focus on identifying character traits and then finding evidence to support the trait. Students will apply this strategy to their good fit books.  In English the focus will be on simple and compound sentences.

Spelling  On Monday we will begin Words Their Way. Your child will be bringing home a Spelling Homework sheet.  This Spelling Homework sheet will be used for the following 2 weeks. Please keep it in your child's binder in the Spelling folder, once they have completed the nightly activity. Students are being asked to choose a different activity from the Spelling Homework sheet to complete each night (Mon-Thurs) to help them master their spelling words. Once your child has completed the activity, please place the activity in their spelling folder. If the activity does not require something to be handed in, please initial the activity square. All 8 activities will be due on the date of the assessment. Assessments will be given every 2 weeks. The first assessment will be given on Friday, September 25. 

Math We will continue with addition and subtraction. 

Social Studies Students will continue learning about continents and oceans. They will be research facts about a continent this week and sharing with the class. There will be a test over continents and oceans on Friday. Look for a study guide to come home on Monday.

Saturday, September 26th is Johnny Appleseed’s birthday. We will be having a celebration! Please send a peeled, cored, and sliced apple with your child on Friday, September 25th to be used to make applesauce for the class. We are looking for donations of small bowls, plastic spoons, and apple juice. If this is something you are interested in helping with, please email me or send the items in any day before Friday, September 25th. Thank you in advance for your help!

Important September Dates & Announcement

Eddie was our our Panther of the Week

Did you know he likes to play hockey? Soldiers are his heros!

September Dates to Remember

18 - Continents and Ocean Test
24 - Early Dismissal - SIP Day
25 - Johnny Appleseed Birthday Celebration

September 4th, 2015

Ms. Zurales' 3rd Grade News

September 4, 2015

I was so happy that all of you were able to make it to curriculum night! If you would like to revisit the Chromebook presentation, click on the following link:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1l_n3sKS5JbBnEGyHQwQFxQbimiarA5KCvDKO9Ds0t8E/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=5000

Here's what is going on next week:

Reading Next week we will begin rotations for Daily 5. We will also start a unit on Folktales, Fables, and Myths. Students will will recount stories and determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text. Our first Folktale is Mulan.  

Language Arts The focus will be on writing complete sentences. We will be using our interactive notebooks.

Spelling  On 9/14 look for your child's spelling sort to come home.

Math We've been practicing addition facts to twenty. At the end of next week, we will be revisiting subtractions facts to twenty.

Social Studies Students will be learning about the 7 continents and the oceans. By the end of this unit, students will learn to spell the 7 continents and 5 oceans and where they are located.

Important Dates & Announcement

9/9 Wed, MAPS Testing - Reading
9/10 Thurs, MAPS Testing - Math

Gabby was our our Panther of the Week

Did you know she likes to play basketball and she is a girl scout?

September Dates to Remember

  7 - Labor Day - No School
24 - Early Dismissal - SIP Day

August 28, 2015

Ms. Zurales' 3rd Grade News

August 28, 2015

It was wonderful meeting many of you at Open House! I am very excited to be your child's teacher this year.

We've had a great start to our first week in 3rd grade. We've been involved in many activities to help us get to know each other. We jumped right into the PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support) program by reviewing our cool tools that reinforce our school's behavior expectations. Today we had our PBIS Assembly. Matt Wilhelm from "America's Got Talent" was our guest of honor. He performed amazing BMX bike stunts while speaking about bullying, perseverance, bike safety, and character. 

It is here that you will find what's happening in our classroom. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.  Education is a partnership between the school, parents, and community. Together we can make your child's educational experience positive, fun and challenging. 

Reading Next week we will begin to revisit and practice the Daily 5 structure which will help fully engage our students in reading and writing. 

Math  We will begin a new math series next week called Bridges. I look forward to meeting all of my students next week.

Social Studies Students will begin a unit on Map skills. We will be discussing a compass rose and completing activities related to directions: North, South, East and West. Look for a study guide to come home early in the week. A direction quiz will be given at the end of the week. Check your students planner for the exact date.

Important Dates & Announcement

OUR SCHEDULE:

Gym - Every day - Please make sure your child wears or has a pair of gym 

                            shoes to change into every day.

Music - Mondays

Library - Tuesdays & Fridays

Art - Wednesdays

SNACK TIME:  We are a peanut-free classroom!

All students are encouraged to bring a healthy snack from home to eat mid-morning. The following foods may be eaten at snack time: fruits, vegetables, cheese, and fruit juice. Please no junk food. Pretzels and crackers, like Goldfish are also allowed. Food should be ready for consumption and not require peeling, washing, slicing, etc. There is only a limited time for snacks. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. Help us to keep snack time healthy!

Copy Helpers
If you are interested in copying for our class, please email me. If I get a few volunteers I will set up a rotating schedule. Thanks in advance!

News From PE:  Mrs. Cushing:

Kids in Action:  Kids in Action is a way of having your child show their classmates and myself and the school what type of activities they do outside of school.  I am asking the third graders to bring in ONE picture of themselves performing some kind of physical activity they like to do.  This picture will be displayed for others to see.  If your child would like to do this, please have the picture in by September 4th.  Fourth and fifth graders will have the chance to do this later in the year.  

Third graders see me FIRST thing in the morning.  Chances are there will be dew on the grass.  Third graders see me FIRST thing in the morning.  It is a good idea for the third graders to bring an extra pair of shoes and socks for after PE. 

September Dates to Remember

  3 - 3rd Grade Curriculum Night 6:30-8:00PM
  7 - Labor Day - No School
24 - Early Dismissal - SIP Day

I am looking forward to a wonderful year in 3rd Grade!