Who's Who At Altara!

We are continuing to learn about people who have made a difference in the world through biography reading.  Last week we read about Snowflake Bentley, and Martin Luther King.  Snowflake Bentley had a passion for learning, and nature, and discovered that no two snowflakes are alike.  He spent his whole life preserving their beauty and uniqueness.  You can see all of his art in his book, Snow Crystals.  Martin Luther King believed in dreams.  He spent a good portion of his life trying to create equality for everyone.  We read the book, Martin's Big Words together and discovered that it is using peaceful words and not powerful demonstrations that can make important changes in our world.
There is so much for each of us to learn from history and the lives of people who have impacted our world.  We are all getting excited to share what we are learning from our own look at biographies.  Just a reminder that biography book report projects are due January 30.  Projects can be turned in for display anytime before 1/30.  Great Job, students!

We took a trip to the library and guess who just happened to be hanging out by the biographies!

This week in Reading Street we will be reading a story about James Naismith, The Man Who Invented Basketball.  Did you know basketball started by shooting balls into peach baskets? The question we will be answering this week is how do talents make someone unique?
Our spelling pattern this week is irregular plurals (ex: wolf-wolves).
We will be focusing on generalizing, and summarizing for our comprehension studies.  Using what I know, and what I am learning I can make statements using key words: most of the time, most, all, few, etc. to make a generalized statement.  When I summarize a text can I do that in 1-2 sentences?  Can I do it in 20 words? Summarizing is a brief statement focusing on the most important events or details.
We are beginning math this week with a look at division meanings and how  that connects to multiplication.  We are also working hard to pass off multiplication timed drills in anticipation of our Sundae party celebration after spring break.  Please keep practicing at least 5 minutes every day to work on fluency.  
We held our classroom spelling bee last Friday and everyone did a great job of participating!  Congratulations to Lauren Shirley, Brianna Rees, and Brooklyn Davis who will be moving on to the school spelling bee!  Good luck girls!

Review Week

We will be reviewing Unit Three this week as we prepare for  formative assessments this Friday.  The stories in Unit 3 are about nature and the skills that help living things thrive.  In Week 1 we read the story, How Do You Raise a Raisin?  This nonfiction story tells all kinds of facts about raisins—how they are grown, how they get to your table, and their importance to people throughout history.
During Week 2 we read the story, Pushing Up the Sky.  Myths help us use our imagination to create
stories that explain the natural world. This is a myth that explains how the sky moved to where it is today.  Week 3's selection was Seeing Stars.  Stars are always in the sky. Stars are spheres of fiery gas. In Week 4 we read the story,  A Symphony of Whales.  A young girl has a special gift that helps her
save the whales from certain death.  Week 5 we read Around One Cactus.  In the harsh climate of the Sonoran desert, the saguaro cactus is critical to the survival of other creatures, from tiny hummingbirds to desert foxes. These stories helped us think about how people and nature interact with each other.
Some of the  comprehension skills we learned about during Unit 3 were Cause and Effect and Drawing Conclusions.  A cause tells why something happened. An effect is what happened.  When you draw a conclusion, you  reach a decision after thinking about facts, details, and what you already know about something.
Some vocabulary skills learned this unit and will be reviewed this week are homophones, context clues, and dictionary skills.  Homophones are words that are pronounced the same way but have
different meanings and different spellings.  Context clues are words and sentences around an unknown word that help you figure out the meaning of the unfamiliar word.  A dictionary is a book that explains the meanings of words arranged in alphabetical order with guide words at the top of each page.

Smart Goals, Math Facts, Spelling Bees, Book Reports And More!

Welcome back!  It was great to see students walk through the doors today with a smile on their faces and a renewed energy to get back to work.  Along the lines of New Year's resolutions we talked about SMART goals today, and then picked 1-2 goals that we are excited to work towards over the next few months. Smart goals must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and  Timely.  We discussed how goals that don't address all aspects are really just nice wishes and dreams.  Some of our SMART goals consisted of improving reading fluency, multiplication fluency, artistic and musical talents, and sports achievements.  Ask your student about their goal.  We are all certainly reaching for the stars!

                                              
To prepare ourselves for our school wide Spelling Bee, we will be having a class Spelling Bee next week.  The list of grade level words can be found on the back of the informational sheet that came home today in homework folders.  All are encouraged to participate in the class Spelling Bee.  Good luck students!  More information will be coming :)

                          

We’re busy and working hard on one of the most important computation concepts for your third grader this year: multiplication!  Future math concepts will be taught with the assumption that the students have mastered these basic facts.  Below is the schedule for passing off facts.  Please post it so that you can help your child master them at home.

Procedure:

We will be studying and practicing multiplication/division fact families at school according to the schedule below. Math drills will be given daily with the opportunity to pass off fact families 1-2 times per week.  Students may work at their own pace, but should try to keep up with the class schedule as much as possible.  Automaticity is the goal!

Homework:

       For the next few months, math homework will center around practicing multiplication facts.  Students may use flashcards, websites, or other practice strategies that work well for them. There are many ways to memorize math facts.  Your child should also continue reviewing facts that he/she has already learned. Websites for games and worksheets can be found under “Multiplication” on the class blog, and flashcards are available upon request.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  We’ll be celebrating the children’s success with an Ice Cream Party after Spring Break. Good luck, students!

Date                                         Math Fact Families                              Ingredient Earned

Jan. 10                                                 x0-x1, x10                               bowl

Jan. 17                                                 x2                                            spoon

Jan. 24                                                 x5                                            1^st scoop of ice cream

Jan. 31                                                 x9                                            1^st topping

Feb. 6                                                   x3                                            napkin 

Feb. 14                                                 x4                                            banana 

Feb. 21                                                 x0-5 Review                             2^nd scoop of ice cream

Feb. 27                                                 x6                                            2^nd topping

Mar. 14                                                 x7                                            whipped cream

Mar. 21                                                 x0-7 Review                             sprinkles

Mar. 28                                                x8                                            oreos

Apr.  4                                                 x0-10                                       skittles/ gummy bears

                                               

This month our genre for book reports is Biography.  The next several weeks will be full of biographies as we study in class about many  people who made a difference for good in the world.  Today during our library rotation students chose biographies that interested them and are interesting to read.  The project that we are completing to go along with our reading is a caricature poster.   Below is a list of things that should be included on each child's poster.  Biography book reports are due Thursday, January 30th.  Happy Reading!

Requirements: 

• On a poster board, draw a large picture/caricature of the individual whose biography you read. 
• The illustrations must be done by hand, by the students, and neatly colored. 
• Outline everything with a darker color or a black fine tip marker.
• Along the sides of the character, write or type sentences and draw a line to each of the following body parts:

Forehead (Mind):    Write something the person thought.  
Eyes:                       Write something the person saw.  
Ears:                        Write something the person heard.  
Heart:                      Write something the person felt or believed.  
Hands and/or Feet:  Write something the person did.

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Ho, ho, ho!  Merry Christmas!  Thanks for all those who participated to make our Secret Santa week successful.  I thought it was wonderful that students were able to fill buckets just by writing a little note.  Presents, wrappings, ribbons and gifts are appreciated and delightful, but acts of kindness and friendship form memories and withstand time.  Our buckets are brimming this week!

This week in our Language Arts block we will be discussing the question, "How can people help animals in danger?" This morning we talked about different ways we can each make a difference including, controlling litter and pollution to help animals stay alive.  Keep animals habitats safe, and learning more about animals in our habitat.  We're excited to learn more ways to protect animals.  To go along with this question, we will be reading the story A Symphony of Whales.  In this story, a young girl is gifted with the ability to hear whale songs.  One night, she dreams that her sled dogs lead her to whales- and the next day they do.  But the whales are in trouble...Our purpose for reading this story is to find out how people can help these whales who are in danger.

Our weekly comprehension skill that we are focusing on is Generalization.  When you read ideas about several things, you may see how they are alike in some way.  You can make a general statement  about all of them together.  We will be looking at text this week that can help model and explicitly teach this skill.

In math this week, we are continuing on to introduce new multiplication patterns with x4 and x6.  Please continue to work on fluency at home with multiplication flashcard homework.  Besides reading over the break, please take some time while in the car, while sitting at the table, etc. to practice facts.  Starting in January, I will be sending home weekly progress reports for multiplication fluency.  Good luck students!

We will be having our Polar Express Day this Friday beginning at 9:30 with a delicious brunch (and hot chocolate of course!)  provided by our volunteer moms.  After brunch, we will be watching the Polar Express, singing in music class and finishing up some holiday crafts.  All students are invited to wear pajamas and slippers on Friday for our Polar Express Day.  If the weather permits, we will be going out for recess, so please bring along a pair of shoes to replace slippers.

Have a wonderful holiday, stay warm, enjoy your time together and create a memory.  Merry Christmas!

A Week At A Glance

Just a little reminder... We are beginning our Secret Santa this week.  Students were given names of their secret friend that they will be doing some secret notes, secret acts or secret treats to have some fun, but also...fill more buckets!  Any questions or concerns, please contact me.  Thanks for your help!

For the next few weeks, we are focusing on multiplication facts fluency.  Students will be given a flashcard games worksheet to choose daily games.  Each student should complete at least one activity a day.  Please initial next to the games being played by your student, and then turn in worksheet on Friday or the last day of the week.  All flashcards stay at home to be used daily.  Students have another set at school to practice fluency there.  This week we are trying to pass off x2s and x5x and then review x1s and x10s.

On Wednesday, December 11, the third grade classes will be walking to Alta High School to watch a performance of Peter Pan.  We'll leave about 8:50 and return to Altara at lunchtime.  All elementary schools within walking distance were invited, so seating is limited to just students and teachers.  We are looking forward to providing this cultural experience for the students.  A permission slip will be coming home in homework folders today.  Please sign and return by Tuesday, December 10.  Thanks!

This week in Reading Street we are reading the expository text, Seeing Stars.  Today we talked about the weekly question, "How can we explain things in nature using investigation?"  Stars look like tiny diamonds, but they are actually giant balls of fire.  You can only see stars at night, because daylight makes them invisible.  It's hard to see them even at night if you live in a well-lit place like a big city.  You can see stars close-up if you look through a telescope.  The map of stars in the sky appears to change because the Earth moves through the sky.  In long-ago times, people "connected the dots" in the sky to form constellations, such as Orion.

This week our comprehension skill is digging into Graphic Sources.  Maps, charts, diagrams, illustrations, and photos are examples of graphic sources.  They help us understand information as we read a text.

We will also be learning about subject-verb agreement for our conventions.  The subject of a sentence tells who or what performs the main action.  The verb tells what the main action is.  The subject and verb must agree.  A singular subject gets a singular verb.  A plural subject gets a plural verb.  

The Good News Is...

Alright, I'm not sure if the problem is I just ate too much turkey and pumpkin pie, or if the cold is starting to freeze my brain, but the good news is we really don't have current events this month. In my little brain I tried to get us organized for the month of December with current events, but as my team mates pointed out to me, we don't have book reports or currents events this month. Just our little gift to you during a very busy month. So disregard the calendar that came home this week, and I'll send a new one home when the time is right. Happy holidays!

Shhh...It's A Secret!

Welcome back from a great holiday and long weekend. Hope that you are staying warm and safe out there as the snow continues to fall outside today. It's beautiful, but chilly, please remind your student to dress appropriately for our winter weather. It's that time again...we filled our classroom bucket with hundreds of wonderful, and kind deeds given by all students inside our class. We have discussed two ways to celebrate. The first is a secret, because it involves all of us being secret Santas to some well deserving individuals in our building. Just ask your student and he/she can fill you in on our secret plan! The second way we are celebrating is having our class participate in a classroom secret Santa activity. Next Friday, we will be randomly assigned a friend. We will get to work our holiday magic, by secretly leaving notes, kind deeds, or goodies behind for our friend to discover everyday beginning the week of Dec. 9-13. We decided that if we wanted to purchase items for our friend, that the total for the whole week should be limited to $3.00. It would be ideal if students could earn their own money for items. They will probably be asking you for odd jobs that they can help with, to earn a little extra change. If this is a problem in any way, please let me know about your concerns and questions. Thanks for your help with this little holiday celebration! We are moving on this week with x2 and x5 multiplication facts. Students brought home flash cards yesterday in their homework folder to be used with games assigned for math homework. We are just beginning to push ourselves to not only understand the meaning behind multiplication and division, but also to become fluent with the facts. We are well on our way to mastering the facts! This week in Reading Street we are reading a drama titled, Pushing Up The Sky. This drama is an example of a myth that has been told to explain why things work in nature. It is a wonderful story told by Northwestern Native Americans to teach why we have a sky, and how the stars were placed there.