Third Grade Weekly News
Week of October 8th
Dates to Remember
- Tuesday, October 9th: Murphy Book Exchange
- Thursday, October 11th: Broomall Book Exchange
- Friday, October 12th: Reading and Math Homework Due
Homework
Introducing the 30 Book Challenge!!!
This week, your child will be introduced to the 30 Book Challenge. Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisper, created the challenge to engage children with reading. Each student in my classroom has taken on this personal challenge. It is personal because 30 books may not be a challenge for some but for others, the idea of reading 30 books may be a huge increase from where they began as a reader. However, the point of the challenge is not for students to read 30 books but rather to stretch themselves as readers, increase their competence, confidence, and motivation. Donalyn Miller shares these beliefs about reading:
*Everybody reads!
*Strong readers have lots of reading experiences. You need to be a good all-around reader. Encouraging students to read widely—sampling books from every genre—improves their reading ability by expanding their reading experiences. If you spend every day working on your jump shot, you’ll improve your jump shot. To be a strong all-around player, you must practice passing, guarding, and dribbling, too. To be a strong reader, you must practice reading poetry, fiction, nonfiction, wordless books, graphic novels, blog posts—a little bit of everything.
*There’s the right book for you out there somewhere. Let’s find it. For many students, trying a lot of books helps them find the one type of text that excites them and invites them into reading. Students who haven’t read much may not have found the books that speak to them. Reading buffet-style—tasting all types of books—students can discover what the world of reading has to offer.
*Whether you read or not isn’t a choice, but what you read is YOUR choice. Whether you read or not is off the table, but what you read is your choice.
*Your reading life matters. Students’ personal reading goals have as much value as our academic goals.
How does the challenge work?
Students choose a book to read and they read it carefully and thoroughly. Then they complete a book recommendation to demonstrate their understanding. To celebrate, they get to add the book title to their Challenge Chart and add a colored bead to their string which is hanging in the classroom. The colors coordinate with the different types of genres.
How can you help at home?
Please encourage your child to read at home and school, provide books of interest and various genres, visit the library, and talk with your child about the book they are reading to ensure comprehension and thorough reading.
Celebration
Each quarter, we will celebrate your child’s achievement. A surprise reward will be given when goals are reached.
Language Arts: Reading and Writing
Reading:
- I can use the structure of fiction literature to summarize a story.
- I can analyze character’s thoughts, actions, and character traits to determine the plot of stories.
Writing:
- I can edit my small moment so that readers can understand my writing.
- I can use the rules of dialogue to add what characters say to my small moment.
Math
This week, we will continue Unit 2 in math. Students will expand their knowledge of multiplication by modeling equal groups. We will also work on writing multiplication expressions to match given models. Also, students will see the commutative property of multiplication and be able to explain what it is and why it works. The important vocabulary math words students will learn this week are factor, product, expression, equation, and commutative property.
Click here for an overview of the unit and ideas to try at home!
Social Studies/Science
This week we will continue our first science unit: Weather and Climate. Our driving question for this unit is How can recognizing trends and patterns of weather and climate in different regions help prepare people for and lessen the impacts of natural hazards?
Students will continue to explore weather and climate. Students will identify what causes weather and also learn about the different types of clouds and their impact on weather.
Important News
For all Reading and Writing related questions please contact Mrs. Broomall and for all math related questions please contact Ms. Murphy. Of course we will be happy to forward emails to the correct teacher and address any questions and concerns.
TYPING CLUB
As the students use of technology increases, so does the need for efficient keyboarding skills. Efficient keyboarding requires less time to accomplish tasks, more focus on skills than on the aspect of keyboarding, and less errors. Your child will spend a small amount of time at school practicing keyboarding, but they can also practice keyboarding at home. All students are enrolled into a website called Typing Club which they can access at home from the Whittier site, Media Center, Whittier Start Page, Typing Club. Any extra practice at home is helpful.
FIND OUT FIRST
In order for you to receive Find Out First notices, our school must enter the parent/guardian email address in eSchool.
- To get FindOutFirst (FOF) email such as emergency-closing notices and school newsletters, parents MUST provide a current email address to the school and notify the school if it changes.
- This means clearly printing any change on the Student Information Card parents complete at the beginning of the school year.
- For new parents, it means providing a current email address during enrollment.
- The new procedure for parent news uses the email address uploaded nightly from the FCPS Student Information System to FOF. Notifying the school is the ONLY way to update a parent's primary email address for FindOutFirst news.
Thank you for working with us so that we can communicate best with you!
PTA
Please take a moment and become a member of the PTA. Your membership entitles you to discounts in and around Frederick County. More importantly, your membership says that you are in support of our school. We would love to have you join us. ALL ARE WELCOME!
Follow the PTA on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/WhittierPTAFrederick/
Our next PTA meeting is Monday, October 15th @ 6:30pm.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Amy Broomall
240-236-3160
Robin Murphy
240-236-3156