Thir d Gr a d e Pe ter s on E le me nta r y S c hool
Third Grade Update
Issue 6 February 2013
A Note from the Third Grade Teachers
A warm welcome to February! Each classroom will be having a Valentines Day exchange on Thursday, February 14th. A brief letter and class list was sent home in last weeks Friday Folder. If your child chooses to participate, please have him/her address a valentine for each student in class. Please remember no candy or food can be distributed with Valentines due to allergies. Please take a look at each subject area for our specific areas of focus for the upcoming month.
The Third Grade Team As we meet with small groups of students for Guided Reading, students will have the opportunity to practice and reinforce the literacy skills and concepts from our weeks lessons at each of the five literacy stations (Read to Self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Word Work, and Listen to Reading). This month our anchor stories, focused skills and strategies are:
Rosie the Visiting Dog: Prefixes and Suffixes The Talent Show: Narrative Elements Skill Review and Practice: Fact and opinion, inference, summarizing/main idea, Non-fiction Text Features
Important Dates
February 5 Assembly!! February 14th Valentines Day Ex-
In February, we will be stepping up our level of critical thinking as we respond to reading. We will be reviewing the components of a reading response (Turn the Question Around, evidence, and interpretation) and responding to both non-fiction and fiction texts alike. We have been working on using this method since the beginning of school, students are now expected to write them on their own. You can help your child by reading familiar picture books or their current independent reading book and asking them to locate evidence and explain connections they are making about worldly themes (ex. friendship, cooperation, teamwork).
change
February 18th No School Presi-
dents Day
February 19th No School Parent
Teacher Conferences (by teacher request)
This month we will begin our study of expository writing as we write to inform others of a famous U.S. landmark or symbol. We will be researching a national landmark using online and paper resources in the LMC. We will then share our research findings in a Power Point presentation. In addition to our study of expository writing, we will also begin to explore the genre of opinion writing. Students will be writing a friendly letter to the President regarding a topic or issue they feel needs to be addressed. We will explore the format of a friendly letter and learn about the genre of opinion writing while doing so.
February 27th Science Fair PTA
Event
ISAT TestingWeek of March 4th
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T H IRD G RA DE U P DA T E
IS S U E 6
The Unit Outline emailed at the beginning of each unit outlines the specific skills and strategies while also providing additional resources for at-home practice. Outlined below are the specific skills and strategies we will be focusing on as outlined by the new Illinois Learning Standards (Common Core). Unit 6Test on Wednesday, February 6th Unit 7Fractions
The Family Letter provided at the beginning of each unit outlines specific skills and strategies covered within the unit. Outlined below are the specific skills and strategies we will be focusing on as outlined by the new Illinois Learning Standards (Common Core).
Unit 7 Fractions
Know factor pairs, identify multiples, prime & composite numbers Generate and identify equivalent fractions with unlike denominators (ex. Find a common denominator) Compare fractions with different numerators and denominators Adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators, unlike denominators, and mixed numbers in word problems Multiply fractions, including multiplying by a whole number and solve word problems. Convert improper fractions to a mixed numbers Renaming fractions with 10 and 100 in the denominator as
Understand numerator as being the number of parts and denominators as the total number Represent a fraction on a number line Understand, recognize and generate equivalent fractions Express whole numbers as fractions Compare fractions Partition shapes into parts with equal areas
decimals.
Social Studies
This month we are shifting our focus from our government to our national symbols and landmarks. The essential questions guiding our study will be: Later this month we will begin our study of habitats. The essential questions guiding our study will be:
How would you explain the development and change of Washington, D.C.? What are some national symbols and landmarks and what do they mean?
What is a habitat? How do animals survive in their environment? What is a food chain (web)?
Later this month we will be researching a famous landmark or symbol and creating a Power Point presentation with the facts and information we find. This will coincide with our study of expository writing in Writers Workshop. Power Point presentations will be available to be shared with parents and families at Open House in April!
Throughout our study we will learn about the characteristics of six habitats throughout our world and the plants and animals that live there.
Great Websites & Resources
Please check our grade level blog at http://thirdgradepanthers.blogspot.com under additional fun websites for activities to support our learning!
