Third Grade Weekly News
Week of January 21st
Dates to Remember
- Monday, January 21st: No School
- Tuesday, January 22nd: Murphy Book Exchange; Play Rehearsal 4:00 pm; Avoid, Deny, Defend Presentation 6 pm;
- Wednesday, January 23rd: Chevalier Book Exchange
- Thursday, January 24th: Broomall Book Exchange; Play Rehearsal 4:00 pm
- Friday, January 25th: Pritts Book Exchange; Reading and Math Homework Due; End of Term II
Don't Forget Your Coat!
Homework
Please see files below for information about reading and math homework.
Reading Homework for students:
On Mondays, students will glue their weekly assignment into their Reading Homework Booklet. Students should view and listen to the book online. Students will then answer the questions in their booklet by writing in complete sentences. Students should show understanding of the book and correct sentence mechanics (spelling, punctuation, capitalization). Homework is due on Fridays.
Math Homework: This week, students have the option to complete the Subtraction assignment on Google Classroom as one of their math homework menu options.
Language Arts
Reading:
This week in reading, we will complete our novel unit. As students listen to a novel read aloud, as well as read novels in reading group, they will stop and jot their thoughts, wonders, and confusions:
Looking ahead in reading: Students will recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures. We will determine the central message, lesson or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text. Students will respond to questions related to theme through oral discussion and written response. While examining the theme, students will closely evaluate and describe the characters in a story( e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Looking ahead in reading: Students will ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. Students will practice using information from the illustrations and context clues from the text vocabulary to answer questions.
Writing:
During writing, students have been guided through informative essay writing and taught paragraph structure, elaborating on facts, etc.. Now they will apply these lessons and skills as they take more ownership and write independently. We will also work on adding text features.
Students will evaluate the writing of previous third grade students. Students will mark if the students work meets expectations, approaching expectations, or needs support, in the areas of…
Clear topic in the introduction
Important facts that teach about the topic
Definitions, examples, and details tell about the topic
Linking words are used
Text features support the topic
Closing is clear
As a class will review our post checklist evaluation, as we prepare for our post writing sample this week.
Looking ahead in 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!
Math
This week, we will finish Unit 6 in math. Students will also use the 3 step problem solving model while solving both 1 and 2 step problems. Students have been working on making sense of the problem by taking notes. This week, they will continue to work on using those notes to figure out the appropriate operation(s) to use when solving the problem.
This week, students will also take the quarterly assessment. Students reviewed their last quarterly assessment score and set a goal for this quarterly. We reviewed the behaviors that mathematicians use when completing the assessment. These include making sense of problems, being precise, using your workmat when solving problems, and answering all parts of the problem.
Click here for an overview of the unit and ideas to try at home!
Social Studies/Science
This week, students will continue our new science unit called Forces and Interactions. The driving question for this unit is: How do forces, motion, and magnetism help us perform real life tasks?.
This week students will explore how speed affects motion. They will complete an experiment about what happens when you walk fast versus walking slowly.
Later in the week, students will discover how a pendulum works and test how the length of the string or weight of the object impacts the motion of a pendulum.
Quarterly Expectations
Important News
JOIN THE GREAT KINDNESS CHALLENGE
January 29th-February 1st marks the return of the Great Kindness Challenge at Whittier! We challenge all students to participate in the daily kindness activities and to complete the Great Kindness Challenge Checklist. The first 100 students to complete the checklist will receive a Kindness Matters bracelet. We will also be having a Great Kindness Challenge Spirit Week. Join us by wearing the following:
Tues., January 29 - The Power of Kindness - Wear a shirt with kind or empowering words.
Wed., January 30: Crazy for Kindness - Wear crazy socks and/or crazy hair.
Thurs., January 31: Ride the Kindness Wave - Wear beach clothes.
Fri., February 1: Dreaming of Kindness - Wear your pajamas.
HELP OUR SERVICE LEARNING CLUB HELP OUR TROOPS
Our Service Learning Club is teaming with a Girl Scout troop to send care packages to an active duty troop stationed overseas. Please consider helping them create care packages by donating the following:
Candy
Soap
Gum
Toothpaste
Instant Oatmeal
Dental Floss
Beef Jerky
Mouthwash
Ramen Noodles
Deodorant
Instant Coffee
Hand Lotion
Tuna Kits
Baby Wipes
Canned Fruit
Sunscreen
Athletic Socks
Bug Spray
All items collected will be shipped to our troops. Thank you for supporting our brave service members!!
PTA
Upcoming events:
Skate Whittier Fundraiser: Skate Frederick on Rt 26
Saturday, February 2nd
2pm-5pm: Open Skate. If you can't make it the entire time, that's fine! Cost is $10 per person and $5 is donated back to Whittier Elementary!
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!
Follow us on Facebook! We post all our events here!
https://www.facebook.com/WhittierPTAFrederick/
PTA membership is always appreciated in order to support your children and the PTA’s mission. Volunteering is not required! Sign up at WhittierElementaryPTA.com and follow us on Facebook to keep up to date on all events!
Check out the PTA website! http://whittierelementarypta.com
Follow the PTA on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/WhittierPTAFrederick/
Email them! WhittierPTAFrederick@gmail.com
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