Third Grade News from Room 2108
Mr. Donnellon's Classroom Newsletter
Odds and Ends
REPORT CARDS: November 3rd marks the end of the first card marking period. Report cards go home on November 9th. Please remember to sign your child's report card envelope and send it back to school. The contents of the envelope is yours to keep!
PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES: I am looking forward to meeting you and discussing your child's progress at school during our upcoming parent/teacher conferences. You should receive an automated conference reminder 48 hours before our scheduled conference. Please feel free to use the following link to check your sign up time at your convenience:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0b4badac23abf58-mrdonnellons1
Conferences will be held on the following dates, from 4:00-7:00 P.M. according to the sign up schedule: November 14; November 20; and November 30.
Hands-On Science Assembly: From the support of Northwood's PTA, we are again fortunate to have our Hands-On Science Assembly on Monday, November 13 from 8:45-9:455. We are very excited and looking forward to this event. Thank you PTA!
Scholastic Book Orders: Scholastic book orders will be coming home. These book orders will be processed on November 30th. Books which are ordered will arrive before the Holiday! Just log onto www.scholasticbookclubs.com to order. Our class code is HTY97.
Math Workshop
Reader's Workshop: Understanding Characters
This week we will be starting our second reading unit, Understanding Characters. Our read aloud is Because of Winn Dixie. This unit of study, like the first, is broken into three concepts.
Concept one: Readers connect to characters; readers learn strategies that help them
connect with the characters in their stories. As they read, readers will see the importance to empathize with characters by connecting with their own experiences, envision the characters and the scenes much like a movie, and make predictions about what might happen and how it will happen based on the feelings the reader is carrying from their work with connecting and envisioning.
Concept two: Readers grow theories about their characters; readers look for patterns in a character's behavior to grow a theory about the character and revise or confirm their theories as they continue to read.
Concept three: Readers see that stories and characters relate to real life; readers understand that characters will face challenges, and find ways to overcome them, often becoming turning points in the story which force a character to change or grow from their experiences. Readers also learn that secondary characters also have important roles in stories often teaching the character and the readers meaningful lessons.