3rd & 4th Updates
Week of December 5
Important December Information
Wednesday, December 14
Our Christmas music program is next Wednesday, December 14 at 6:30pm. 3rd and 4th grade students should be at school no later than 6:00pm already dressed and ready to perform. 3rd and 4th graders will be representing the three kings and will need to have a crown (paper only, no plastic crowns please!). They should wear dark clothing and dark shoes with a shimmery wrap (piece of fabric or scarf) draped over their shoulders. If you have any questions, please let Mrs. Silva or me know immediately.
Thursday, December 15
This is our last full day before the Christmas break and also our second Spanish mass of the year, with 3rd grade sponsoring. We will be having our Christmas party on this day as well, which includes both grades. Your child has volunteered to bring a particular food item for the party. Please send the item to school with your child in the morning.
We will also exchange gifts. Every child who chooses to participate should bring a gift valued at no more than $10 (girls will bring for girls, boys for boys) and all gifts brought will be entered into the exchange.
Friday, December 16
This is an early dismissal day, but we will celebrate the December birthdays. If your child has a birthday in December, please send a small treat to share with both classes.
During Christmas Break
Please have your child read, write and listen to Spanish during the Christmas holiday. I will send out more links in next week's newsletter and intend to send every child home with at least one book to read over the holidays (to be returned after the new year). If you do not have Spanish books at home, the Pierce County library system is an excellent resource as well as the Epic! App. If you need more suggestions, please let me know.
What Are We Doing This Week?
We continue to work on area and perimeter, knowing how to calculate both for rectangles and squares as well as some irregular figures. Students are enjoying learning about these concepts and seeing that it's possible for different shapes to have the same area or perimeter, even when they look very different! We are also working on real world problems with area and perimeter, which really drives home how important and present these concepts are in life!
Social Studies
We have been learning about map skills and different types of maps and will finish this up this week with a quiz on the terminology and their usages. We will put our knowledge to use in creating our own maps at the end of this week, beginning of next and after the new year.
Science
Our study of the body systems continues with the digestive system--both fascinating and gross! Be sure to ask your child how long the intestino delgado (small intestine) is. I will be sending science notebooks home over the Christmas break so you can see what we have been doing and ask that these be returned when school resumes.
Language Arts
Third grade will have their last spelling test of the year on Monday, December 12. Students have had this list almost three weeks now so should be practicing daily at home.
Both grades are reading El pequeño abeto, an adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson story The Fir Tree. We are working on making predictions, using evidence to support our predictions and sequencing as we read through this short story together. Each grade will read one more Christmas related story before we break for Christmas.