3rd Grade Newsletter
January 11, 2018
Mark your Calendar
Week of January 8th-12th- College and Career Week
January 15th- Student/Teacher Holiday
January 17th- Science Fair Projects due!
January 18th- Science Night (6-7 p.m.)
January 19th- Topic 8 and 9 Test (Multiplying 2-Digit by 1-Digit Numbers)
Dreambox
To access at home, please use the following steps:
- URL to play on computer: Your student can access DreamBox Learning from any computer, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through webdesk.pisd.edu or through the PISD Clever portal (clever.pisd.edu).
- iPad APP: To access DreamBox on iPad, go to http://www.dreambox.com/ipad, or search for "DreamBox Math" in the App Store. Download DreamBox Math Green and DreamBox Math Blue to ensure your student has access to the full catalog of lessons. When prompted in the app, use this School Code the first time only: yefb/3a9x
Math Happenings
We just sent home the students' volume one math textbook. There is a great glossary in the back for you to use!
A beneficial way to help your child prepare for this test, is to make sure they are quick, accurate, and confident with their multiplication facts. The quicker they are with their 1-digit by 1-digit facts, the easier 2-digit by 1-digit multiplication will be! In class, we call it using our "basic facts." We have been doing our weekly Mad Minute Quizzes to assist with this, but they need to be practicing at home.
Below you will find a link to website where you are able to create your own 2-digit by 1-digit multiplication problems if you would like some extra practice for your child. Try letting them write with something fun, such as chalk or a colored pen. You would be surprised how much more interested they will be if you give them a small white board and dry erase marker! ;)
Science Happenings
Next week, we will begin investigating the different forms of energy.
Growth Mindset
A couple of years ago the third grade teachers were lucky enough to learn about mindset during a professional development presentation. The presentation was wonderful, and we believe that you may also find the information valuable as you really are your child’s first and most important teacher.
Here are the basic points we learned:
Your mindset is your belief about your most basic qualities and abilities.
-People with fixed mindsets believe intelligence and abilities are fixed and cannot be developed.
-People with growth mindsets believe they can develop their brain, abilities, and talents.
Students with growth mindsets are more likely to achieve success and accomplish goals.
They believe that you can control the outcomes in your life with effort and practice.
As parents and teachers, how we praise and work with children promotes either a fixed or growth mindset.
Things that may inadvertently promote a fixed mindset:
-Excessive praise for intelligence, grades, natural ability or performance.
-Placing a heavy emphasis on grades and test scores instead of emphasis on learning process and skill mastery.
-Saying things like, “I’m a terrible artist, cook, athlete, etc.” or “I’ve never been good at math.”
-Apologizing when lessons are challenging or work requires excessive effort.
Here’s to helping students discover that, “their talents and abilities can be developed through passion, education and persistence.” Carol Dweck