Third Grade Weekly News
Week of February 18th
Dates to Remember
- Monday, February 18th: No School: President's Day
- Tuesday, February 19th: Murphy Book Exchange
- Wednesday, February 20th: Chevalier Book Exchange
- Thursday, February 21st: Broomall Book Exchange
- Friday, February 22nd: Pritts Book Exchange; Reading and Math Homework Due
Homework
Please see files below for information about reading and math homework.
Ms. Pritts's homeroom class has a different reading assignment. Please email Mrs. Chevalier with any questions.
Language Arts
Reading:
This week, students will continue to practice using context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words.
An example clue is when specific examples are used to define the term.
A synonym clue is one or two words that mean almost the same as the word that the author does not expect us to know.
A antonym clue is a word with opposite meaning to give us hints about the word the author doesn't think we will know.
A definition clue is when the unknown word is explained within the sentence or in a sentence immediately proceeding.
Students will also read a variety of folktales and fables to compare and contrast characters, setting, plot and theme through lesson/moral/life message. When we read multiple texts, we need to track our thinking in a way that works for us. We have learned a lot of strategies to do this (Stop and Jot, text chunking, note taking, charting, highlighting etc). When students read they will think about the strategies that will be most helpful to track their thinking as the take notes on the similarities and differences in plots.
Writing:
The purpose of our writing unit during Quarter 3 is to Write to Persuade. During this unit, the students will develop opinions about topics, brainstorm support for their opinions, and organize their ideas into an essay. Persuasive writing pieces can be in the form of an essay, letter or petition. This is always a fun unit!
This week, students will continue to examine the quarter 3 writing rubric. Students will read, annotate and evaluate opinion writing pieces from 3rd grade students in previous years. These essays will be used as anchor papers and will help students set goals in the area of craft and mechanics. Students will begin to organize and draft their first opinion piece.
Math
This week, we will finish the first part of Unit 7 in math. Later in the quarter we will return to unit 7 to continue our exploration into fractions. This unit focuses on fractions and includes fractions on a number line, fractions beyond 1, equivalent fractions, whole numbers as fractions, and comparing fractions with the same numerator or same denominator.
This week we will analyze line plots and measure objects to the nearest 1/4 inch in order to create them. Students will discover that measuring objects is very similar to plotting a fraction on a number line, since rulers are number lines. Students will use this data to create a line plot on a number line and then analyze the data by answering questions about their line plot. An example of a line plot is pictured below.
Click here for an overview of the unit and ideas to try at home!
Social Studies/Science
This week, students will begin our new social studies unit called Road Trip. The driving question for this unit is: How can geography help us learn about the United States?.
This week, students will answer the question what is geography. They will start by using their prior knowledge from second grade to sort between continents and oceans.
Later this week, they will discover that geography has both physical and human characteristics. They will use this information to classify items as physical geography or human geography.
Leadership Notebooks
Quarterly Expectations
Important News
PTA
Upcoming events:
Box Tops- The PTA is collecting Box Tops starting this Thursday. The class with the highest amount of Box Tops will receive extra recess and the coveted Box Top trophy! Box Tops are due February 22nd!
Upcoming PTA Meetings:
Monday, February 25th
6:30pm-7:30pm: Media Center
*Feel free to stay after and help count box tops if you are able!
BOX TOPS WILL BE DUE FEBRUARY 22ND!
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Please let us know if you have any questions.
Amy Broomall
240-236-3160
Jaime Chevalier
240-236-3158
Robin Murphy
240-236-3156
Megan Pritts
240-236-3154