Second Quarter Begins!

Tuesday, October 29th will be the first day of the second quarter of the school year!  The students told me the other day that, "Time really flies when we're having fun!"  It's just so true.

School time during November, December, and January can be quite a challenge when trying to keep the students engaged.  There will be many short weeks and "breaks" in our continuity, as well as holidays, family gatherings and travel for some of you.  Please remind your child to bring the same level of interest and focus to school after a long weekend or break from school.  Thank you for your continued educational support at home!

In the second quarter of school, we will be focusing on new units of study!  Language Arts instruction will be based on a new genre, historical fiction, paired with the comprehension strategy of "visualization."  After completing our non-fiction books, students will begin studying how to create a setting in their next piece of writing. We will also take a closer look at the mechanics of writing and using editing skills. Computation- both addition and subtraction- will be the biggest focus during math.  Students will use what they have learned about place value and comparing numbers, as well as several new strategies to develop the concepts needed to understand computation of large numbers.  The scientific process will be the next step in science, as well as another look at our worm environments. (Yes, indoor composting with worms is stinky business!  We're learning to reduce the amount of food needed and also reduce the number of fruit flies!)  Economics will follow as our next social studies unit.  A study of world explorers and how civilizations are established will be one of our favorite topics this year!

Meet Lisa Martin!

We were thrilled to host local author, Lisa Martin, to 3rd grade today!  She shared many experiences with us about creating characters, researching information, writing and publishing a book.  What a pleasure to have an author read to us from her own published story!  We'll begin reading Anton and Cecil, Cats at Sea on Monday!

 Lisa worked on this book with her Aunt!  What a special way to write a book.  They shared ideas by email and skype, since Lisa's Aunt actually lives in New York.

 Lisa's characters, Anton and Cecil, are based on her own cats, TJ and Albert.  We can all get ideas for writing from special things in our lives.

Stories aren't very interesting unless there is a problem!  Lisa talked to us about how to develop a problem in a story.

Lisa Martin will be at 

Over The Moon Bookstore in Crozet 

on Sunday, Oct. 20, 3:30-4:40.

Meet Buddy: Bunny for a Day!

First Quarter Conclusion

     

     The end of the first quarter of the school year is quickly approaching.  Conference days are set and I look forward to meeting with all of you very soon.  At the conference, we will review your child’s current performance and first quarter assessment data. I hope that you will share with me what is going well for your child so far this year.  We can also share ideas about ways to improve your child’s growth and development.

 
We are completing our first quarter academic units, which are described in the sections below.  This includes completing our math place value and rounding unit. The students will take their Place Value and Rounding Test on Wednesday, Oct. 16.   

Parent Conferences
  
It’s almost time to begin reporting on student progress for the first quarter of the school year.  Parent conferences will be held in October, as indicated on the sign-up sheet being sent home Tuesday, Oct. 1st. (First quarter report cards will be issued in November.) Please return your parent conference form as soon as possible.  I’ll confirm your response on a first come, first serve basis. I look forward to meeting with every family in the weeks ahead.  3rd grade students are welcome to attend conferences with Mrs. Robinson and parents!  Our goal will be to show our united support for your child's success this year. 

The Worms are Coming!  The Worms are Coming!

 We are expecting the arrival of our red-wiggler worms at the end of this week! 

We have prepared our classroom terrarium with layers of soil, created to represent bedrock, weathered rock/sand, subsoil/clay, topsoil and humus (including peet moss.)  This environment will be suitable for observing our red-wiggler worms, investigating what they will do and how they will behave.  Worms are known to create healthy soil which, in turn, contributes to the health of plants.  We will use our worms to encourage scientific investigations throughout the year. 

One of the experiments that will resurface frequently will be how the worms will respond to "food."  I will be sending home a list of acceptable "scraps" that we can use to "feed" the worms.  Students who are interested in helping might ask you for a little help with saving and bringing certain types of food scraps to school.  A few students each week will be asked to assist with gathering "food."  Thank you for your participation when the time comes.

What's Up in Third Grade?

     International Day of Peace

     Coincidentally, International Day of Peace falls on Saturday, September 21st, just as we are studying our new Maps and Globes unit.  Having also just completed activities which illustrate the wonders of diversity, we will honor this special day by watching an amazing video of musicians and artists from around the world working together to provide a moving and creative musical experience.  We will focus on the different people and places on different continents that were included in this venture.  If you'd like to see it, go to....

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM