Carroll's Corner
megan.carroll@lz95.org
Important Dates
Dec. 4 - Animal Lapbook Due
Dec. 10 - Café Zupas Restaurant Night
Dec. 11 - 5th Grade Band Concert
Dec. 19 - Chorus Concert
Dec. 20 - Last Day of School before Winter Break
Jan. 6 - Classes Resume
Upcoming Curriculum
Math
This week in Math, we are beginning our unit on multiplication. The students will learn many skills and strategies on how to find the answer to basic multiplication problems. First, we will start by using arrays then we will use different strategies like repeated addition and creating equal groups to find the correct product. Our overall goal in 3rd grade is to have our facts memorized (0-12) by the end of the school year so this is a concept will practice frequently. Multiplication is a key concept in 4th grade, and it is extremely important that the students not only know different strategies on how to find the answer to multiplication problems but to have their facts memorized. As we get further into using multiplication, I will ask that the students work on memorizing their facts at home by practicing about 10 minutes per night. You can use flashcards with your child, different dice games, timed tests, or there are plenty of websites that the students can use such as Multiplication.com and xtramath.com for frequent practice.
Social Studies
Our 3rd Graders will be traveling through different countries during our Holidays Around the World unit. Over the next 3 weeks, we will be ‘visiting’ 10 different countries (Ireland, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Germany, France, Israel, India, China, Mexico, and a few places in the USA). During our lengthy trip the students will be learning about the different traditions many cultures around the world use to celebrate during their holiday season. For example, this week the students will learn that in Ireland many families get ready for the Christmas holiday by lighting a candle and placing it in a window as a symbol of hospitality, meaning to show others they are welcome into their home.
Reading
This week in reading, we are going to focus on using different texts in order to answer text-dependent questions. Recently, I have noticed that many students are able to answer comprehension questions correctly but they are not able to provide proof/evidence showing how or why they answered a question. I will be using the RACE (Restate the questions, Answer the question completely, Cite text evidence, Explain your thinking) strategy in order to help prompt them into answering questions thoroughly by referring back to the text by citing specific evidence. I will be using a variety of reading passages to help the student to become better at this skill. I will also encourage you to ask your child to always use this method when we are answering text-dependent questions.
STEM
This year the 3rd grade team has decided to incorporate different STEM activities into our curriculum to allow for problem solving and cooperative learning opportunities. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM is important because it used in every part of our lives…….STEM activities provide hands-on and minds-on lessons for the student. Making math and science both fun and interesting to help the students to do much more than just learn. Last week, the students were posed with a problem of creating a balloon for the Thanksgiving Day parade because the people in charge of the parade forgot to show up. You can view our parade at the link provided below. This week, I will be incorporating our reading objective to help the students learn how snowflakes are formed. They will then take this new information to create different unique snowflakes. Please be aware that we will be using marshmallows for this STEM activity. They will not be able to eat the marshmallow but they will need to touch them with their hands in order to complete this activity, so if you have any questions or concerns about your child participating please contact me directly.
PTO Information
Restaurant Night
Since December is such a busy month, there will be two restaurant nights. Two good reasons to take the night off from cooking! The first, which benefits Taft fundraising, will be at Culver’s on Tuesday, December 3rd from 10:00 am - 10:00 pm. As a special treat, THE 5TH GRADERS WILL BE SERVING FROM 4:00 PM - 8:00PM. The second will be at Café Zupas on Tuesday, December 10th from 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm. Stop by for a quick bite while shopping at Deer Park! Remember a portion of your bill comes directly back to the PTO.
Holiday Drive
The holidays are a time of giving and this year the PTO has partnered with Becca's LEGacy for our annual holiday drive. We will be accepting toys & gift cards December 2nd - 20th. Donations may be dropped off at school or made online. Please see www.beccaslegacy.org for details.
Amazon Smile
Don't forget if you are shopping on Amazon, please use AmazonSmile and support the Seth Paine Elementary PTO. Only AmazonSmile gives you the option to donate to a nonprofit without costing you a penny extra. And Smile is EXACTLY THE SAME WEBSITE. Click here to begin: https://smile.amazon.com/
Contact Information
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any comments or questions.
Email: megan.carroll@lz95.org
Phone: 847-540-4769
Twitter: @CarrollD95