Third Grade News

September 3, 2010

Dear Parents,

What a great week! We are beginning to settle into our 3rd grade routine. This week students participated in all their enrichment classes: PE, Spanish, Computer, Music and Library.

Email: Next week my Friday letter will only be sent by email, unless you request a hard copy. I hope you had the opportunity at Back to School Night to update and check your email address. Please let me know if you have a new email address from last year.

Field Trip: Our first field trip is coming up! Please see the attached field trip permission form for the Jr. Center of Art and Science. We will leave on Tuesday, September 14th at 10:10 and take a class on Henri Matisse. I thought it would be nice to have a picnic in the park after the class from 12:00 – 12:30. So please pack a bag lunch for your child and cancel any hot lunches for the day. Students may wear free dress that day.

Also attached is the first of two field trip billings. Most of the field trips have been scheduled. A second billing will be sent later in the year once the rest of the trips have been arranged. Please take a moment to look at the field trip page on the 3rd grade website for all dates, places and times.

Highlights of the Week:
Religion: We spent the week celebrating ourselves by finishing our self-portraits, making placemats for lunch, and setting goals for both home and school. Much of our time was also spent building our Third Grade community, with a focus on reviewing the Student Learning Expectations. It was wonderful to have Father Leo celebrate the beginning of the year liturgy with us.

Math: We are already deep into place value. Students are learning to read and write numbers up to 100,000. This traditionally is a difficult concept for some students.

Language Arts: I have read some of my favorite stories to the students this week: The Sweetest Fig by Chris Van Allsburg, Odd Velvet by Mary E. Whitcomb, Flying by Petra Mathers. I am now reading Gooney Bird Greene to the class. Together, we are beginning to read a series of stories that are similar to the Three Little Pigs. Our reading focus is summarizing a story (identifying characters, setting, plot, events and ending).

Social Studies: The third graders got their first social studies book. We spent some time learning how to read expository text. Our first unit is on California geography.

Science: Next week we will begin our unit on Matter and Energy. This unit is filled with hands on exploration!

It was wonderful to meet and greet everyone at Back to School Night! Please remember to fill out the parent input form included in the Friday Letter. It can also be found on the 3rd grade website.

Have a wonderful, long weekend.

Jessica Murray