Third Grade Weekly News
Week of April 15th
Dates to Remember
- Monday, April 15th: Volunteer Training 6:00pm; PTA Meeting 6:30 pm
- Tuesday, April 16th: Murphy Book Exchange; Report Cards Distributed
- Wednesday, April 17th: Chevalier Book Exchange
- Thursday, April 18th: No School: Spring Break
- Friday, April 19th: No School: Spring Break
Homework
There is NO Homework due this week. Please continue to encourage your child to read and practice their math facts at home.
PARCC Testing
This year your child will be participating in the PARCC assessment. PARCC is a test which will assess your child’s acquisition of math, writing, and reading, and will be used as a tool to enhance teaching and learning. The following information will help you and your child prepare for the testing days. It is important that your child attend school and be on time.
If your child comes late to school on a testing day, they will not be allowed into the classroom until the test is completed. They will complete the test that they missed on another day. Likewise, if students are absent they will complete the test on another day.
The students have completed practice tasks to familiarize themselves with the format and tools. The students have worked very hard this year and we are confident that they will be able to show all that they know on this test with success.
If you would like to practice using PARCC tasks at home with your child, please visit the following website: https://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/
Schedule
PARCC starts on April 24th and runs through May 17th. There are 4 days of math and 4 days of reading testing.
Tips for success
• Assure your child that they have worked hard all year and are prepared. There will be challenges but they know how to persevere and do their best.
• Go to bed at a good time.
• Eat a healthy breakfast.
• Wear comfortable clothing.
Language Arts
Reading:
During our literacy block, students have read a variety of text such as informational text, short stories, magazines, novels, etc. They have used comprehension strategies to help them understand what is read and to enjoy what is read. This week, students are going to think about what they know about poetry and how reading poetry differs from reading stories or nonfiction texts. Poetry creates word pictures, describes moments, or expresses feelings. There are many different forms of poetry. Two examples of poem forms are free verse and lyrical poems. A free verse poem does not rhyme. A lyrical poem uses imagery to express a feeling and uses rhythm, regular meter, and rhyme.
Ways that reading poetry can differ from reading stories or nonfiction texts.
Poetry looks different from stories or nonfiction texts.
Poetry uses fewer words in more powerful ways.
Poetry is pleasing to listen to.
Poetry often fills readers with feelings.
Poems have rhythm. Sometimes the rhythm comes from the words the poet has used and the way the words are placed on the page. Sometimes, rhythm or beat comes from the repetition of words. Readers use the rhythm of poetry—created through repetition, rhyme, sound, word length, word choice, punctuation and white space—to enjoy what they read and to read fluently.
Authors use words and phrases to help the reader create a picture in their mind. This brings the story or poem to life. We see this in poetry and many other literary genres. We closely read and annotated today to see the specific words the author used to create this imagery. Readers will explore the figurative language used in poetry.
Looking ahead - Readers will use poetry to explore the mood (feeling the reader gets) and tone the writer uses to convey the author’s attitude
Writing:
With students’ new reading and writing skills, they will practice writing in response to what is read. Students will draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Students will evaluate peer writing samples, in the areas of craft and mechanics:
Focusing specifically on:
Developing a story with narrative elements
Showing full understanding of the prompt (what you are asked to do)
Using language/word choice to clarify ideas
Story is organized with a beginning, middle, end
Students will write their own story in response to story they watch on video.
**Looking ahead - Students will explore that elements of fairy tales. We will read a variety of traditional and fractured (adapted) fairy tales. We will explore ways to adapt traditional fairy tales.
Math
This week, we will continue Unit 9, Measurment and Geometry. This unit includes classifying shapes, solving problems with time, creating and solving problems involving bar and picture graphs, and area and perimeter.
We will continue to investigate the concept of area and perimeter. Students will find the area of shapes using multiplication and find the perimeter of shapes using addition. Students will also find a missing side length when given the perimeter and the lengths of other sides. In addition to finding the area and perimeter of squares and rectangles, students will also find the area of composite shapes (shapes made up of 2 or more rectangles). Refer to the anchor charts below for more information.
Click here for an overview of the unit and ideas to try at home!
Social Studies/Science
This week, students will finish 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 finalize their research about the 5 different regions of the United States (West, Midwest, Southwest, Southeast, Northeast). They will learn about their physical characteristics including climate, wildlife, vegetation, natural resources, and physical features. They will also learn about their human characteristics including the economy, human-made features, and other interesting facts.
Quarterly Expectations
Important News
PTA
Reminders:
PTA Discount Cards
We are still selling the PTA Discount Cards! Each card is $15 and can be used over and over again! This is a huge fundraiser for the year so please consider purchasing one if you'd like to. You can now purchase these right from the Whittier PTA Website! Click here: http://whittierelementarypta.com/Article/View/Discount-Cards-Available
Upcoming PTA Meetings:
Follow us on Facebook! We post all our events here!
https://www.facebook.com/WhittierPTAFrederick/
SAVE THE DATE! CAMP INVENTION IS COMING TO WHITTIER! JULY 8-12 FROM 9:00-3:30!
SAVE THE DATE! Camp Invention is coming to Whittier! July 8-12 from 9:00-3:30! We will be the first hybrid camp in our area and have 60 spots for paid campers. To sign up, go to: https://www.invent.org/programs/camp-invention and register for our Whittier camp. Questions? Email Tina Dattoli at tina.dattoli@fcps.org.
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