Mrs. James' Class Newsletter
May 8-12
A Note from the Teacher...
Hello parents!
The above picture represents the future business leaders of America!!! :) This was our fun photo on interview day...gotta love it! I hope your students have been sharing with you about mini society jobs, pay days, and production time. Please note that we have production on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursday afternoons from 1:00-2:10. Students are expected to produce their items in preparation for Market Day during this time. Students always ask how many they should make. The answer is...as many as they can!!! The more they make, the more they can sell at Market Day. Students are learning the real life lessons of cost vs. profit. It's a very fun time in third grade!!!
I am sending this newsletter out a day early in preparation for STEM Day tomorrow. Please note that students will have a sack lunch from the cafeteria if they buy lunch tomorrow. So be sure to send in students' lunches if they do not want a sack lunch from the cafeteria. Also, please have students wear their class t-shirt (aqua/jade color) tomorrow if at all possible. We will be moving around the building and it helps us keep up with everyone in the class!
As many of you may be wondering, "When is she going to have that baby?!" I will keep you updated, but as of now, I am working until she comes...which may or may not be before school gets out! The students are excited that "It's May! It's the month your baby comes!" I promise to keep you updated if the doctor decides to schedule something that will impact the school year. In the mean time, I am embracing all of the looks and comments like "Your baby is getting big, Mrs. James!" :-)
Please note all of the important dates that you see below. We have LOTS of (fun) things coming up! Also remind students that they still are in school and grades are still being taken. Students are to continue reading nightly, completing a minimum of 45 minutes in DREAMBOX (usually done at school), and practice math facts nightly. Students have grown a lot this year and they need to continue these habits so that they continue to maintain that growth! :)
As always, let me know if you need anything!
Sarah James
Important School Dates
Monday May 8 Let me know by today if students need sack lunch for Friday the 12 (Field Day)
Friday May 12 Daily Language Quiz
Friday May 12 Morning Math Quiz
Friday May 12 Last day for AR
Friday May 12 FIELD DAY for grades 3-5 --> Please let me know if students need a sack lunch on this day by Monday the 8th
Teacher Appreciation Week
What are we learning this week?
- Math- Review of all units, accelerating geometry skills in project based learning activity (Ask your students about Geo-City!)
- Reading- Literature Circles (Vocabulary, Summarizing, Fluent Reading)
- Language Arts- Review of parts of speech from the year
- Science - Pollution and Conservation
- Social Studies- Various units from the entire year
Homework THIS week
- All week: Read nightly! If your child has been reading the same book for over 2 weeks, it may be too difficult or they may not be reading. I encourage students to bring books back and forth from school to home so that they can read an entire book instead of coming to school saying, "All my books I'm reading are at home." Students are expected to read one nonfiction and one fiction book each week. The nonfiction text may be lower lexile, but the fiction book needs to be on their lexile level!!
- All week: Practice math facts!
- Thursday night: Review language warm up & daily math for quizzes on Friday
READING REMINDER: Remember that students are required to read good fit books at least 20 minutes a night. Students are also required to take an AR quiz on a good fit book each week and make an 80% or higher. Some students are not accomplishing this because they are either not reading enough, or they are reading something at home, then starting a new book at school. Some are wanting to go to the library daily even though they have started 2 different books. This AR quiz is a weekly reading comprehension grade as it is based on independent reading of a book on their level. Please encourage students to not only read every day, but to also read with stamina (the same book for an uninterrupted period of time).
MATH REMINDER: Multiplication fact quizzes will be graded this nine weeks as class work because students had an entire nine weeks to practice mastering them last 9 weeks. If your students are still working on 3's,4's, or 5's, they need to really focus to get these mastered because their math grades are going to be impacted. It is a third grade standard to have mastered these facts and even once they master them, they must practice them in order to be ready for fourth grade. Fourth grade teachers always say that students who come with their multiplication facts mastered have a lot easier time transitioning to fourth grade math.