The Word on Third
Third Grade Newsletter - September 6, 2019
Calendar
September 8 - Last day of OC Taylor PTA Fuss Free Fundraiser
September 9 - GT Lead begins for identified students
September 11 - Patriot's Day, wear red, white, and blue
September 12 - PTA Rocks Out, 6-8 pm - See PTA Newsletter
September 13 - OC Taylor Tiger Spirit Day! Wear a school shirt or colors (blue and orange)!
September 16 - Dot Day
September 17 - Constitution Day
September 20 - Dads and Donuts at OC Taylor, 7 a.m.
September 23 - Student Holiday, Teacher Professional Development Day
October 1 - Spring Creek Barbeque Spirit Night, 5:00 p.m.
October 7 - Stomp Out Bullying - Wear blue
October 9 - Fire Prevention - Wear red
October 14 - Columbus Day - Student and Teacher Holiday
October 15 - Fall picture day
Future dates:
October 21 - Ft. Worth Zoo Field Trip
November 11 - Veteran's Day Program
April 27 - UTA Planetarium
The most important things...
Please send in the blue forms from the PTA that were sent home last Friday. These are for the children's grade level shirts, school planners, and to join the PTA. We are trying to get these back and processed quickly so we can get those planners to your students.
Thank you for attending Curriculum Night. It was wonderful to see such an amazing turn out. We truly appreciate all of your support. As promised here is the link for the presentation that we gave. Please let us know if you have any questions.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1nrg2G02ExwQljxF7pFglyq1Gao6P3SSlg2au4HboshY/edit#slide=id.p
Please check the Monday folders for your Dojo codes from Mrs. Dagger, Mrs. Dickinson, and/or Mrs. Osborne. When you log in you will be able to see your child's progress in behavior and be able to receive messages quickly and efficiently from your teachers. Please log in and say hello!
Please label all jackets, water bottles, and lunch sacks with your students names. When the children are switching classes, there is a greater need for this now than in the previous years. Thank you for your help!
Highlights of the Week
- We started Reading Workshop and discussed how reading is more enjoyable when you have a cozy spot, the right book, and you read it as if it was gold.
- We began Writing Workshop where we celebrated the new year and wrote our own Writing resolutions.
- Students were able to complete their first Science rotations in the Science Lab.
- The scholars continued working on learning and beginning Genius Hour.
- We visited the library and were able to see up close how beautiful it truly is.
What we are learning next week...
Writing: Begin writing personal narrative compositions about things person to us.
Social Studies: Communities and map skills
Math: Place Value
Science: Classifying matter
Scholastic Story Works
Parent corner
We spoke about the benefit of having chores at home at curriculum night and sought a chore list that was broken down by age and grade. This one was wonderful and discussed the importance of perseverance for a job well done and had a link to another article that explained how children with chores are happier! Speaking from experience, it takes training and perseverance to start, but the long term benefits are worth it.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/school-thought/201411/age-appropriate-chores-children
Genius Hour
Some children may be so excited that they have come home asking (cough, cough demanding and begging) that they need XYZ for their project. Please do no purchase any materials for a project this weekend. The children have to earn the right to do a product through research and hard work. Their products also have to be approved by the third grade teachers because we want to ensure that it shows their learning. We are trying to instill in them a sense of pride in the process and the product will take on less importance throughout the year because the learning, researching, and synthesizing will be what matters more.
The classes were told that they are welcome to any supplies that we have on hand, but if they wanted something extra for their project that they would have to come to you. Please do not feel the need to buy anything for these projects. Setting limitations forces the scholars to think of creative ways to demonstrate learning. So please do not go out and purchase a volcano kit, Lamborghini Lego set, or fish tank for your children just yet. (These are just a few of the things that we heard being discussed in class.) There have been some amazing presentations just using trays, cardboard, and construction paper in the classroom. All projects are due at the end of the term, but due dates can be extended for students who will be pulled out of the room for various reasons.
Thank you for assisting us on this journey. Some Genius Hour projects may need expertise that exists in your talents. If you filled out that section of the Student Information sheet, you might be receiving an email to be an expert for our students! The excitement for this has been contagious!
The Third Grade Team
allyson.dickinson@gcisd.net, @OCTDickinson
morgan.epperson@gcisd.net, @OCTEpperson
lesley.osborne@gcisd.net, @OCTOsborne
melissa.trussell@gcisd.net, @OCTBurt (Mrs. Burt)