Weekly Update: February 28 - March 4

Third Grade Team Website

Announcements and Friendly Reminders:

• Economics Fair Product - Your child came home with an Economics Fair Product Sheet and Letter yesterday (Thursday folder). Please take time this weekend and next week to think about a product that can be made at home for low cost (see information on letter).  Here is a slideshow with some product ideas. Your child needs to finalize their product idea by next Thursday, March 10 and tell Mrs. Lilleboe. Once the product idea is approved, then your child may begin working on making the products (35 - 40 items). Letter is below. 
• STAAR Homework - Starting after Spring Break, 3rd grade teachers will be assigning 1 reading passage with questions and 1 math review worksheet per week. This STAAR homework is to be completed at home (with parent support).  The homework is intended to help prepare and become more comfortable with this year's reading and math concepts. The STAAR homework should be returned to school each Friday to show the teacher that it has been completed. Reading passages/questions will be assigned on Schoology (to practice online) and/or on paper. Math homework will be on paper. For any additional practice students can use the following resources:  Reading practice: use my website's "reading and writing links", read with your child and ask questions about the content, go over reading assignments from Thursday folders. Math practice: use my website's "math links", Dreambox, Splash Learn, create a FREE Khan Academy account (great resource for students all the way through high school), look over your child's math notebook and go over math assignments from Thursday folders. ​
• Reading Unit - Our current unit: Informational Reading and Research. We are focusing on our PBL (Project Based Learning) topic which is "How can we educate others about conserving our natural resources and protecting our planet?" Students have chosen their topic and have begun their research. We continue to practice reading comprehension strategies (nonfiction text features, main/central idea, context clues, problem/solution, inferencing, summarizing, fact vs opinion, cause/effect, author's purpose). 
• Writing Unit -  Our current unit: Opinion or Argumentative Writing. We are discussing the difference between facts and opinions, what makes a good argument, how to make a strong claim, reasons for opinion, connecting with the audience/reader, providing facts and examples, strong conclusion.  Students have chosen their speech topic and have begun writing their speech draft. Next week, we will finish up our draft, take time to revise/edit, and hopefully get our final draft written/typed. 
• Science Unit - Our current unit is Soils and Natural Resources. We've investigated what makes up soil and why its so important. We've identified and described erosion, weathering and deposition. Currently, we are learning about our natural resources and what are renewable resources/energy and nonrenewable resources.  This unit test will be on March 9th. Use this website's Science Links to study and prepare.  
• Math Unit  - Our current unit is Multiplication and Division. We've revisited our multiplication and division strategies that help us to solve these types of problems. These strategies are: number line, repeated addition (multiplication), repeated subtraction (division), array, equal groups, and skip counting. We will work with numbers, 3, 6, 7, 9 and 2 digit numbers. Students need to become comfortable with reading a word problem and knowing what the problem is asking (Am I going to multiply or divide to solve?). Students have now learned the Associative property, Distributive property and the 2-digit by 1-digit algorithm. Continue to practice these skills at home with Splash Learn, DreamBox and this website's Math Links. The unit test will be on March 10th. 
• Think Sheet - Our class has been struggling these last 2 weeks with following our Social Contract and our school's PAWS expectations. We've had multiple reminders, points deducted from Class Dojo, and plenty of mini-lessons on classroom behavior. The last straw was our Art teacher and Music teacher have complained about our inability to actively listen to directions and follow directions. With all of this being said, it is time to implement our grade level's Think Sheet. If a student continues to break or not follow our class's Social Contract or PAWS expectations, then the student will need to complete a Think Sheet during recess time. This Think Sheet will go home for parents to discuss with their child, sign the sheet and return it the next day. An example of what the Think Sheet looks like is below. 
• Grades (Home Access - HAC) - Please check Home Access Center (HAC) to see your child's current grades on assignments, quizzes and test. If you see a "M" in Home Access, it means you child has not completed and turned in that particular assignment. Remember, students can make corrections or redo any assignment, quiz or test that is below 70% for a possible 70% per school district policy. 
• Stay informed - Make sure you have the FREE Class Dojo app on your phone so you can see messages from me. Friendly Reminder messages are sent out a couple times a week! Plus, I usually post 1 - 2 pictures a week in our Class Story on Class Dojo showing some of the activities we do during our school day!
• Scholastic Book Order - If you are interested in getting new books for your child, consider ordering books from our Scholastic Book Club. Order online at: clubs.scholastic.com/ Our class code is: NP79X