Third Grade Newsletter
Keep Going, Keep Growing! January 2023 Issue
Happening This Month
Month of January
1/9: Classroom Spelling Bee takes place this week
1/9: Iready reading diagnostic testing starts
1/10: PTA Meeting 5:15-6:15
1/16: No school in observance of MLK Jr. Day
1/17: World's Finest Chocolate Fund Raiser begins
1/17: Extended day begins after school
1/19: Virginia Growth Assessment - Reading 8:45-11:15
1/20: VGA Reading Make-ups
1/23: Iready math diagnostic testing starts
1/25: Virginia Growth Assessment - Math 8:45-11:15
1/26: VGA Math Make-ups
1/27: 1/2 Day for Students/Teacher Work Day
1/31: Conexus Eye Screening 9-2:30
What Are We Learning About?
English Language Arts
Current Unit: Adaptations and the Wide World of Frogs (3.6)
Students will read about frogs and other slippery reptiles in a non-fiction text. We will study how text features help navigate finding information accurately. We will also be doing research on and writing a research paper on frogs.
Adaptations and the Wide World of Frogs (3.5)
Students will be reading and writing their own porquoi tales about an animal. A porquoi tale is a story about why something has happened in nature, for example - why the frog has a long tongue.
Home Connection: Take your child to a local library and get his/her own library card. Create a family porquoi tale about your pet or something that happens in nature. Are you stuck? Here's a idea - Why does the sun shine for about 12 hours a day?
Math
Module 4: Multiplication (3.4) and Area (3.7, 3.8)
The students will explore area (the amount of flat space a shape takes up) as an attribute of two-dimensional figures and relate it to their prior understandings of multiplication.
Home connection: Continue to practice multiplication/division facts 1-10 (SOL 3.4); Using grid/graph paper draw plane figures (flat shapes) and count the square units to determine the area (SOL 3.8)
Science and Social Studies are taught on a 2 week rotation.
Science
Animal Environments and Adaptations (3.5, 3.6)
Students will learn about the land and water environments, including animal and plant life. Also students will study the adaptations of animals that help them survive. As a final project, students will create a new species of animal with specific adaptations that will help them survive in whatever environment the student chooses.
Home connection: Take a walk and talk about the environment you are walking in and the animals that you see (or don't see). Have child talk about the adaptations of the animals that you see.
Social Studies
Ancient Rome (3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7)
The students will learn about the contributions, government, daily life, and location of Ancient Rom. At the end of this unit, an alternative assessment comparing Ancient Rome and Greece will be given.
Home Connection: Ask students to identify contributions from Ancient cultures that we still use today,
School-Wide and Community Events
Welcome Ms. Lepski to the 3rd Grade Team!
We are so excited to welcome Ms. Lepski to our team! She met all of our wonderful 3rd graders on January 2nd! She is teaching science and social science during the block of time that the students are with her. The students were really excited to meet Ms. Lepski!
Mid-year Testing Starts This Month
The third graders at Chimborazo will participate in the VGA Reading and Math Assessments and the Iready Diagnostic Reading and Math tests in January. In the beginning of the year, the students set yearly goals for themselves based on their results of the tests. The mid-year tests are a tool that we can use to determine how students have progressed through the first part of the year towards their goals and what the next steps are that need to be taken. Please make sure that your child arrives at school by 8:30 AM on testing days!
AttendanceAttendance is extremely important! Please send your child to school on time every day unless the student is ill. If the child cannot come to school because of an illness, please contact the school or teacher. Also, send in a note when the child returns.
PTA Membership Drive
Join the PTA for only $5.00! Let's be the grade level that has 100% parent and teacher participation in our awesome PTA!