What a crazy, short week! I hope you all enjoyed your mid-winter break, are staying healthy, and having a fruitful Lent so far. This will be a short and sweet newsletter, but I wanted to share a few photos and a little information about a couple important events coming up.
First, our class is in charge of the upcoming assembly and I would like to invite you to attend to watch if you would like. This will take place on Wednesday, February 28th at 8:45am. All students have a role and it’s going to be amazing!
Practicing for Wednesday’s Assembly on Lunar New Year.
Next, you may have heard about our third grade class election. Students will be hearing speeches from our candidates, participating in a debate, and be voting by the end of next week on a class president. Our candidates are Marina Wu, Adele Jones, and Madison Roberts (all three nominated by our class). These candidates will be asked to present a short “speech” on Tuesday to convince us to vote for them, including what they would do as class president. Think back to our persuasive writing unit!
Book reports are due by next Thursday, February 29th. If they finish early, please feel free to send them in and we can get a head start on sharing the 26 book reports. Students should have the specific directions for their selection this month.
I’m really looking forward to a full week of learning next week! Have a wonderful weekend!
Lenten Crown of Thorns sacrifices and good deeds, along with a Lenten Bible Hunt.
Welcome to the season of Lent! I absolutely love teaching the liturgical calendar and bringing our faith to life. This week we began with Mardi Gras (congratulations to Taylor who found baby Jesus in our King Cake), dove into the three pillars of Lent (fasting, praying, almsgiving), and even collectively made our class crown of thorns. Now, the students will be working to do nice deeds, sacrifices, and acts of kindness to “break off a thorn.”
Congratulations! Third grade won the Penny Wars! Hip Hip Hoorah! This must be the class to beat, as they won last year. Thank you for supporting Catholic Relief Services and the good work they do!
**Kind reminder: please leave all Rubix Cubes, and Pokemon Cards at home or reserved for after school. I observed third graders trading with fourth and middle schoolers and they are also seeping into the classroom again. Thank you for understanding.
Mount Baker Theatre – I’m hoping to find a family who might be willing to sponsor our class to attend a showing at MBT this year. There are some great shows this year that align with our curriculum, dinosaurs and even an Ellis Island one. If you or someone you might know would like to help us get there, please let me know. The cost is 8$ per ticket.
Book Reports -This month I start offering the students choices on how they want to present their books to the class. You should see the four options in your child’s Friday Folder tonight. They need to turn this page into me on Wednesday, when they return, and I will give them the directions and information on what I am grading.
Academics:
Literacy -This week we read about a community in North Dakota that worked together to save their town from a flood, and an article on the history of voting. We learned about how it used to be only white men, over 21 who owned land that could vote and how that evolved with African Americans and women. For grammar we are covering irregular verbs and the skill is cause and effect. In writing the students are now independently writing about his/her grandma or grandma in the same format we have used based on the information they have gathered through their interviews.
Math -We are whizzing through the chapter on division now that we know the strategies. It should move quickly now that they know their facts!
Religion -Lent! If you want a great resource, check out Holy Heroes, especially since we are going to be out of school for five days. (www.holyheroes.com). I’ve used this for years and the videos and resources are made by kids. They are engaging and appropriate for all age levels.
Science -After learning about dominant and recessive traits we flipped a disc to determine various traits of a monster. The students are plotting these traits on a Punnett Square and now creating a monster. So fun!
Social Studies -With our government unit we started learning about the three branches of government, their roles, and who is involved in each. We are extremely excited to visit Judge Jones, and also have our very own class election. Students have now nominated three candidates who have accepted this nomination and will begin the campaign next week. I can’t wait!
Spanish –Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, we drew our families in preparation for learning family vocabulary! We also had a small group of students lead our calendar and weather routine.
Finally, a huge thank you to Claudia Liu and her daughter Marina for sharing their traditions and customs around Chinese New Year. The students got to sample traditional foods, learn about the variations of how they celebrate in different parts of China, and even receive the famous lucky red envelopes with real treasures! So special!
Happy Friday! We had an incredible full week in third grade. We started off with Immigration Day. A huge thank you to all the parents who volunteered and all the work Sherry and Jessie put into that afternoon. The reflections the students shared this year were the best I’ve seen! They also worked really hard the remaining part of the week, and we wrapped up learning about Chinese New Years today.
Lunar New Year -I think it’s really important to celebrate the students, cultures, and traditions every year in my class and I love to invite families this month to come share traditions around Lunar New Year. If you have customs, clothing, traditions, and you’d be willing to be a guest speaker in our classroom this month, please let me know. I learned so much last year from the families that came in and shared with us and I know the students do as well!
Valentines Day -Please see Seesaw for a list of all the classmates in order to make sure all students are included in your planning and the handing out valentines. The room parents will plan a craft that afternoon, in addition to our passing out valentines. Check your email for the time and opportunity to come celebrate with us on Tuesday at 2:00.
Mardi Gras/Lent -I will be doing a small celebration for Mardi Gras with the students Tuesday morning, which will lead us into Lent on Ash Wednesday. Mass with the distribution of ashes will be Wednesday at 12:30 and all are welcome to join us for that service.
Family History Unit -All grandparent interview pages should be turned in on Monday, if they were not brought in today. This is our last essay for this unit and they are really getting those paragraph formations down.
We’ve had a great time learning about other Catholic School’s around our nation. We’ve compared, contrasted, and learned many new things, including some US geography!
ACADEMICS:
Literacy -This week we began our unit on government. We looked at a nonfiction text, identifying important and unimportant information and dove into our essential question, “Why do people participate in government?” Another skill we began this week is cause and effect, in addition to irregular verbs.
Math -Mathematicians wrapped up the division concept chapter with a test. We covered strategies and the relationship between multiplication and division.
Religion -Our chapter this week taught about the story of Adam and Eve and how God is infinite, never ending. We even learned the word “concupiscence!” Wow! In addition to our book, we were blessed with an opportunity to attend adoration.
Social Studies -Immigration Day! THANK YOU to all the volunteers and a special shout out to our room parents Sherry Christopherson and Jessie Lane! It was just amazing and their reflection letters from America back home were incredible. They were really able to take on those rolls and reflect on what it was like as an immigrant.
Science -This week our students learned about dominant and recessive traits. We began learning about Punnett Squares and had fun creating monsters with various traits. Next week we will look closer at acquired vs. inherited traits.
-This Sunday –SUPER BOWL PARTY! Join our amazing community as we support the 8th graders raising money for Washington DC, and spending time with friends! 2pm
–Grandparent Interviews Due -Monday, February 12th
This is one of my favorite weeks of the year! There is nothing better than celebrating our Catholic school, and all those who make it so special. There is one more chance to earn a free dress pass for Monday this weekend by attending Mass at Assumption in your school dress uniforms. Open House is also on Sunday, so if you have any interested friends or family, please bring them between 11:30-1:30.
Book Reports -Thank you parents for your help with book reports this month. They were so creative and every year they impress me more. It was so fun to see the siblings who helped this time around too! I think the third graders have many books they want to read now, all so convincing! Students should be searching for their February book and those selections are due by Wednesday, February 7th.
Family History Unit -We are working through our second four-paragraph essay with our parents and grandparents are next. Please look for the interview sheets in your child’s Friday Folder today. These are due by Friday, February 9th. Again, please have the students doing the interviewing and writing and if needed they can email, call, Zoom, Text, as I understand many live distances away.
IMMIGRATION NEWS: This Monday!! Students who attended Mass in uniform last weekend or this weekend at Assumption will come in free dress, all others will come in regular uniform. ALL students will pack their immigration clothes, hats, suitcases, and three items and bring those to school to change into after lunch. The event begins at 12:30.
We still need volunteers! Grandparents, aunts, cousins, we need you!
Literacy -This week readers wrapped up a tale called Uncle Parrot’s Wedding. The students looked at plot, summarizing, and got a chance to partner read. In writing, the students wrote a paragraph about three items they will bring with them to Ellis Island, and continued with their parent essays.
*All spelling (words only) will be in cursive now. We will begin upper case next week, and have worked hard on how to connect letters into words. Initially this takes longer, but it will get easier!
Math -Mathematicians are in the middle of the chapter on division. We specifically looked at arrays, building division sentences from those, and other strategies when solving division problems. We are finished with timed testing in class, however we will still practice in other forms and I encourage you to do so at home as well!
Religion -Students should have their Prayer to the Holy Spirit memorized now, ask them to recite it to you. In addition this week we talked about what makes our school “Catholic” with several fun activities around Catholic Schools Week. So much to celebrate!
Science -We looked at an article on traits in ReadWorks and will be looking at dominant and recessive traits through a monster exploration next week.
Social Studies -Immigration wrap up and preparation! From writing, to practicing their family stories, the students were very busy practicing and getting ready for Monday!
Spanish –Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, we decorated paper cupcakes with our birthday and age in Spanish. We also sang Feliz Cumpleaños!
