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I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful spring break. We had a great week in third grade!

Rollerskating Bash for ALL of third grade!! Friday, May 10th. Please mark your calendars and plan to drop your children off at 6pm, hungry and ready to party!! Thank you, LeTellier Family!

Class Photos-Tuesday, April 16th. Dress uniforms.

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Family Life -Next week we will be starting a unit titled Family Life. This explores God’s plan for the family and is a new curriculum taught in our school in coordination with our religion curriculum. You will be receiving a book in your Wednesday Envelope next week titled Parent Connection. There are some family prayers, parenting and family suggestions, and how to navigate the world we live in. These are NOT consumable and checked out to you. You may keep them as long as you would like to use them, but if you feel that you will not be using them, please return them.

April Book Report -Students have had their books approved and should be working through them at this point. Selections will come home next week. This month’s reports will be due on April 30th.

Academics:

Religion -Happy Easter! We learned that Easter lasts 8 days and the Easter Season lasts 50 in the Catholic Church! We then specifically focused on the Paschal Candle and some Easter traditions.

Literacy -Authors are progressing through the writing process and writing creative stories. I gave them some options, guided them through a story hook and they are applying their knowledge of figurative speech, plot, and good sentence structure. They are truly off and running and having so much fun at it! For reading we read a fictional story about a coyote and a rabbit, which the students enjoyed. We searched for comparative and superlative adjectives and hyperboles. In addition this week we learned idioms.

Math -Mathematicians wrapped up the first chapter on fractions and have moved into comparing fractions. We are still practicing math facts every day as well!

Science -Our new unit is weather and climate. This week we brainstormed questions and had a little competition. Students explored what clouds are, how they are formed, and are learning the different types of clouds.

Social Studies -We are in the middle of two units now as we progress through this spring. Busy busy! First, we learned the regions of the United States this week and will relate it to Native American Tribes, leading up to our field trip on the 24th. Second, I’m sure you have heard about our Mexico focus. They are so excited! Next week we will get in research groups and begin gathering specific information.

Art – Building the Leaning Tower of Pisa: A 3D Paper Art LessonStudents will create a 3D model of the Leaning Tower of Pisa using paper, incorporating values to add texture to the windows, while exploring the concept of perspective in art.

Spanish -This week in Spanish, students practiced pet and family vocabulary with a crossword and matching games.

Happy Spring! This time of year is so fun as a teacher. The students are truly off and running and it’s amazing to see the growth from the beginning of the year.

A great way to start the week. Welcoming Ryan back and celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day with Readers Theater and a special popcorn treat.

Book Reports -Students should have their directions based on their selections now and able to have fun this month relating a project to the plot of their book. These are due by Thursday, but please send them in as you finish so we can share throughout the week. Also, if your child is eager to begin their April book, please go for it! We have Spring Break to start and I’d love for them to take advantage of that reading time! I’ll require students to tell me their April book by the 8th when we return.

ACADEMICS

Literacy – This week students took on our new fictional unit and read a version of Cinderella from her point of view. We looked at perspective in the story, and learned about superlative and comparative adjectives, along with hyperboles. It’s so fun to see them recognizing all the figurative language we’ve been learning in their own books and our read alouds. For writing we wrapped up our opinion pieces and are getting into a creative story. These should be fun!

Math– Third graders dove deeper into fractions this week and looked at a number line, fractions greater than one, and even plotted their names in fractions.

Religion- As we approach Holy Week we are preparing to learn about the Triduum, and the Passion of Christ. In our religion books this week we covered virtue vs. vices and faithful vs. unfaithful.

Social Studies– The students and I are having fun with our new curriculum and learning together all the online portal can offer. It’s fun to see them discover new features, share their findings, and teach each other. This week we looked at the natural features of deserts and oceans.

Science -We completely wrapped up our unit on Genetics/Heredity this week. The students wrote a letter to someone about all they’ve learned, with a rubric to guide them in explaining their knowledge.

Spanish -This week in Spanish, we designed cards to give to family members. We also learned vocabulary to name our pets.

I’m incredibly proud of these 8 students who have completely passed out of multiplication and division fact fluency through our Xtra Math Program. I know more students will be joining them soon and ALL students are improving! Keep up the great work and congratulations to these!

What a fun, busy week! From the Perfect Pizzeria, St. Patrick’s Dress, to the preparations of our Readers Theater and buddy time, we learned and worked hard!

If you did not receive a personalized Canva Invitation from your child, know that you are all invited to their Saint Patrick’s Day presentations on Monday at 8:30. I let the students have a say in who they wanted to invite, where they were going to perform, and which script they wanted. They even created the invitations and programs. Love the ownership and putting their voices into play as we learned in our government unit.

Book Reports -You will find the student choice sheet in the Friday Folders today. Students know these are due on Monday, with their selections. I will give you the outline and complete instructions based on their choices next week. They should be working through those March books at this time.

Academics:

Literacy -This week we wrapped up the Benchmark Unit Book and our selection on the African American and women’s right to vote. Students answered text dependent questions with evidence and PQPA. We also continued practicing the skill of writing a concise summary with the main idea and the 5Ws. The paragraph writing is getting really good with this group!! The rest of our reading time was spent practicing scripts, and truly working on the important element of fluency. In writing students are working through the writing process on their opinion piece.

Math -Fractions! So fun! We tackled the tricky lesson of equal shares but they are doing a great job! It was fun to teach about Pi and link in our fractions and dividing pies into equal pieces and recognizing unit fractions. As your child what pi is ;).

Social Studies -Geographers looked at landforms today and we explored the site that matches our curriculum, Studies Weekly. They specifically learned about mountains and valleys and will dive into more natural features next week.

Religion -Third graders finished their Stations of the Cross illustrations with their buddies and completed the assessment in their religion book on God’s covenant with his chosen people, the Israelites in the old testament, and began learning about faithfulness and unfaithfulness. How is your Lent going?

Science -We will be wrapping up our Heredity Unit looking at inherited vs. acquired traits.

Spanish -Using the Spanish family vocabulary we’ve learned, students created cards for various members of their family. We also played many vocabulary review games!

Happy Friday! Another short week but I’m grateful for the opportunity to meet with several of you to support your child second semester. What a great group of kids and I’m grateful for all of you!

**PENNY WARS PIZZA PARTY -We will be celebrating this victory on Tuesday. You will not have to pack a lunch that day. Students will be awarded this lunch, along with a celebratory ice cream sundae! Congratulations, class!!

I’m just hoping that I can ask one of you to go to Lakeway and pick up the pizza from Little Cesars and deliver it by noon that day (Tuesday). If you are able to volunteer to do this, please reach out to me.

We had a lovely field trip to the courthouse and visit with Judge Jones! Thank you volunteers. It’s really one of my favorites with the class and how special that it was his youngest daughter’s class!

Academics:

Literacy – This week we read a nonfiction passage on the history of voting, specifically for African Americans and women. Students used the 5W framework to write a summary with the main idea and they are doing great with this! We also began a Readers Theater Unit on Saint Patrick’s Day and they are having a blast. In writing we are working on an opinion piece based on what they want to do/be when they grow up. I’m breaking it down to add similes, and make their writing more engaging to read.

Math -Mathematicians wrapped up their unit on division after spending a few days on order of operations. I assured them they will revisit this concept year after year and build on their foundation. Next week we will dive into fractions, another fun math concept!

Social Studies -In social studies this week we wrapped up our government unit. Next week we will get back into landforms.

Science -Scientists looked at selection this week. We learned that natural selection can even happen without humans. The students were very intrigued on how dogs have been bread and we did an experiment about geckos, based off a real life island near Florida.

Religion -For religion we continue to learn through our Lenten journeys but we also began a chapter on Noah and God’s covenant. Students will be praying the stations of the cross around the school next week.

Spanish -This week in Spanish class, we created a family tree with all the family vocabulary we’ve learned. Then, students asked each other questions about their families, and made a graph about siblings.

What a fun process! We can’t wait to top it off on Monday at our field trip to the courthouse and visiting Judge Jones (regular uniform please). The students learned a lot through this process and will continue to learn about the history of voting rights next week. However, I am holding everyone in suspense until Monday when Adele (one of our candidates) returns. I’m proud of all three of the girls. What great leaders they are!

If you signed up for a conference next Friday, March 8th I should have emailed you a time. All times are filled, however if you would still like a spring conference, please reach out to me.

Academics

Reading -This week we learned about Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez in our reading book. We talked about what made them good leaders and specifically how to pull out important information and write a summary with the main idea. This is a challenging skill but we will be working on it for a good month. At this age they want to give ALL the details!

Writing -We began the process of writing and publishing a third grade book. They are writing about when they grow up. They are silly, creative, and fun! We used the acronym OREO (Opinion, Reasons, Examples, and Opinion-restating). Their paragraphs are getting solid and it’s so exciting to see them at the point of adding detail and expanding their ideas more. Look for an order form for these great books soon!

Math – Mathematicians are solidifying their division facts as we quickly cruised through the chapter. We end with multi step problems and order of operations next week though and those are harder concepts. Keep practicing those facts!

Religion –This week the students enjoyed a Lenten Bible Hunt with a friend. They were given questions and verses to find the answers. They did an amazing job! Students also had an opportunity to go to Reconciliation so we did a thorough examination of conscience.

Science -Scientists did two engaging activities through Mystery Science this week on traits and genetics. Specifically we looked at selection, breeding, how plants and animals have evolved.

Social Studies -Government Unit -Students should be quite familiar with the three branches by now and how the election process works (a nice election ;)) They creative a tree with the three branches as a visual and we are looking forward to Mondays field trip to gain more information.

Spanish -This week in Spanish class, students labeled their family pictures and described their family in Spanish to a small group. 

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!

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.

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

-Valentine’s Day/Mardi Gras -Tuesday. Free Dress – Red/Pink/White

-Curriculum Day for Teachers -Friday, February 16th (No School)

-Midwinter Break -Feb. 19-20

-Buy your auction tickets! March 2nd!! https://assumptionschool.ejoinme.org/growinggreatkidsauction

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!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0F49A5A929A5FB6-47214114-immigration?useFullSite=true#/

Academics:

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!

Happy Friday! I hope you are staying warm. I know the students were rooting for snow this week, but I’m grateful we had this full week of learning before the three- day weekend.

Next week we will be diving into a unit on genetics, family history, and heredity. I’ll be sending home some items to collect data, as well as interview sheets for parents, and eventually grandparents. It is helpful for me to know (if I don’t already) any sensitive family situations so I can be aware of to help your child through the process.

Multiplication Games!

Academics

Literacy– This week we read about King Midas and his greedy ways. Students used text evidence to answer comprehension questions, identified similes, and looked at the plot of a story once again. In writing this week we wrote the second and third paragraphs of our self-essays and wrote a paragraph about their dreams (after learning about Martin Luther King Jr.)

Math– Third graders wrapped up the final unit on multiplication before diving into division. This is where it gets really important to know those facts!

Social Studies– This week we began a non fiction book on Ellis Island together. Students were also to get on a program called Readworks to read more about immigration at their reading level, covering comprehension and vocabulary as well. Next week the students will get their assigned roles and start learning about who they will become. I can’t wait! IMMIGRATION DAY IS FEBRUARY 5TH.

Religion -For religion this week we covered the dignity of every human, how we are created in the image and likeness of God, and the difference between body and souls. We learned more about the life of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a great saint!

Science -This week scientists looked at the life cycle of mosquitos and made claims as to how they would prevent the

Art -Tangram Shape Art -Students will explore the world of tangrams, identifying and constructing shapes using their tangram sets. They will explore the impact of fundamental shape elements on both the final composition of the tangram and the visual art examples. The journey will unfold through a narrative, guiding students to craft geometric animals. 

Spanish –Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, we decorated days of the week, month, and season words to use on our classroom calendar. Then, we reviewed numbers 1-30 so we can talk about dates on the calendar.

Music – This week in music we are…Playing music in a variety of tempos, and reviewing sixteenth notes. Dancing the Sasha dance . Keeping a steady beat and learning a partner clapping activity in Japanese called O Mochi.

Read-In Fun!