Third Grade Update for the Week of February 21st

February 21, 2012

Dear Parents,

Good Afternoon! Just an update on the latest news in the third grade! Corrected was sent home with all third graders today. The Work should be returned to me by Friday.

The children have been assigned A Biography Book Project. The directions and format for this assignment were sent home last week. The book must be a chapter book and be approved by me. The children are able to choose from books in our school library or classroom library. The completed Book Project is due Friday, March 9th.

In Religion, the focus this week will be on the season of Lent. The children will attend the 8:00 Mass on Wednesday and receive ashes during the Liturgy. Each Friday during Lent we will reflect on the Stations of the Cross. Please encourage your son/daughter to perceive his/her Lenten promise as a gift to Jesus who did so much for all of us!

Math class finds us finishing our Geometry Unit. The Chapter test will now be given on Friday. Each third grader has been given a username and password to the website www.ixl.com. I would strongly encourage all third graders to use this site as a study tool for their test on Friday. The children have been shown how to navigate this site. This site is also a wonderful instrument for help in mastering the multiplication facts! A timed test on all the facts will be given on Friday. In the Computer Lab, the children will print out their Children’s Book of Geometric Shapes.

During Reading this week, we will read the story “Chibi: A True Story from Japan”. The focus will be on distinguishing fact from opinion. The children will also learn some interesting facts about Japan and how to say a few words in Japanese. After lunch, Mrs. Harding and I are reading the novel Harriet the Spy to the class.

In Language Arts, we will continue to write our Autobiographies. The children will write the final copies to their first and second grade years. Our final two Chapters are “Third Grade” and the “Future”. We will also begin our study of ADVERBS.

This week, we will continue our study of the Movement West. The children will find the settlers moving inland as the Northeastern coast becomes too crowded. The third graders will also illustrate their own log cabins this week. The Chapter test has been changed to Tuesday, February, 28th. We will begin our study of the Properties of Matter in Science this week.

As always, please contact me with any questions or comments. Have a good week!

Sincerely,
Ms. Maguire