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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!

Happy New Year! As hard as it was to come back from the relaxing break, I was sure grateful to see the students and get back to our school routines. It was fun to hear all about the adventures and magical experiences over break and I hope you all enjoyed your time as well.

I wanted also send a heartfelt thank you for all the generous, amazing Christmas gifts. Wow! I also had a couple that did not have names on them and I feel bad if you did not receive a thank you note from me. Know that I’m grateful and appreciate all of you!

Book Reports– Students have approved a fictional book with me and should be reading this book throughout the month. This report will be due on January 31st and more information will come home soon about this fun one!

Multiplication Facts– Students are expected to be practicing their facts every night, regardless of their other homework. I know many of you have helped with this and I appreciate your support. Laminated practice pages are to come back to school clean and ready to go every morning.

*Read In- Students are anxiously awaiting a date and I wanted to wait until I knew a couple of our avid readers and goal helpers were back, so the day will be Wednesday, January 10th. Students are allowed to bring stuffies, pillows, sheets, etc. for reading forts and we will have fun reading and celebrating all those 104 books posted.

Academics

Literacy– This week we learned about adverbs and how they tell us how, where, when, or why. They identified adverbs and sorted them and will combine them with adjectives next week when we do reading centers. We began a big writing project with the self essay and will be writing a series of four paragraph essays.

Math– This week we began looking at patterns, exploring a little algebra, and setting the stage for division. Please ask your child how they are doing with their multiplication facts.

Social Studies– This week began our unit on Immigration. We learned what the word meant, explored why some people might immigrate and read a fictional story called Molly’s Pilgrim. Next week we will dive into a nonfiction text to help us understand more about Ellis Island specifically.

Religion -For religion we talked about the liturgical calendar and it being the season of Christmas. We read a story called One Word and the students identified one word to help them be a better version of themselves in 2024 and reflected on that word. We wrapped the week up with the Epiphany and reading a Tomie dePaola story about the three kings and an activity.

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 practiced months of the year and reviewed our knowledge of days of the week, weather, and seasons. 

Think Outside the Box Thursday!

December!!?? How can this be? It was great to be back at school this week with a full week off and it flew by! We are going to be cramming learning into every second over the next two weeks. I will also be out next T, W, and TH to participate in an accreditation visit to a Catholic school down in the Seattle area but the students will be in good hands.

Thank you for the food donations!

Academics:

Reading -We finished Readers Theater, and started our new book on various fictional stories, beginning with two Aesop’s Fables. We continued to focus on the skill of inferencing, talked about plot, and readdressed writing in complete sentences. When you see PQPA that is part question, part answer. Basically they are expected to restate the question in their answer.

Math -We took multiple days this week learning the distributive property with multiplication. We also focused on multiplying by 7. Students should be practicing their facts nightly and thank you for helping with this.

Science -This week we explored animal life cycles in a lesson called Birthday Buddies.

Religion -We completed our required lessons in our new Circle of Grace Program. I told them their homework was to learn their parents phone numbers (yes, many do not!) We also explored different levels of anger and how to deal with that emotion in our Second Step Program.

Music – This week in music class we are: Practicing keeping a steady beat with bean bags and the song Tap It Here. Completing Episode 6 Secret Chicken – the aural skills rhythm decoding series . Practicing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen for the school Christmas Program

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, we created a days of the week spinner to help us identify yesterday (ayer), today (hoy), and tomorrow (mañana). We can now identify the weather, season, and day of the week.

Upcoming Events:

This Sunday-Assumption Bazaar! Many of the students in our class have booths, so please stop by to support them. There are so many treasures, free pictures with Santa, and great community!

Reconciliation -Thursday, December 7th, 11am. All students will do an examination of conscience together and have the option of participating in the sacrament or simply talking to the priest (there will be two available).

Christmas Program -December 14th

Early Release -December 15th followed by Christmas Break!

Thank you for coming and providing an audience for our amazing readers, actors, and actresses. The kids had a blast!

Happy Veteran’s Day! This week flew by and I hope you have a wonderful long weekend celebrating the veterans in your life. The prayer service was beautiful today and we also learned the history of the poppy through a story.

GRANDPARENT’S DAY -Students are busy and excited to celebrate their grandparents next Friday. A couple things to note; first, we are doing the Mass so unfortunately I’m asking that all students sit with me at Mass and not with their families. I know this is a bummer but with the parts and our ending activity, I need them all together. (We will meet in the classroom at 10:10 for our Mass at 10:30). Our class will also be doing a short little performance at the 9am program in the gym, and you are welcome to attend as well! They are excited to be on stage ;). Remember this is for grandparents OR grandfriends!

Multiplication Facts -It’s that time of year already! I’m going to be asking students to begin memorizing facts. This happens with YOUR help. We will be doing timed tests (yes, I know this does not work for all students) but it is important for all to be practicing both at school and at home. Students will be bringing a laminated piece of paper and a special pen home every night to practice whatever number they are on. All will begin with multiplying by 2’s next week. It’s really important that these go home and come back every day and remain in their binders. Bringing them back clean will prove to me they are practicing at home. Thank you for your help in this important part of the year!

ACADEMICS:

Math –This week took unit three math test and the students did exceptionally well. We began learning multiplication facts now that we have the foundation. This week we learned 2’s and 4’s. We have songs and many strategies to build on.

Religion -It was an amazing week with all our guests for National Vocation Week. The students had great questions and truly listened with open hearts.

Literacy -For reading this week students worked on the skill of making inferences. We read in reading groups and are wrapping up the animal adaptations by creating our own imaginary animals with elements we learned about. For writing students are completing the writing process with their creative dino stories and also writing about when/if they become grandparents. They are working on adding details to their paragraph writing.

Music – This week in music class we are:Completing Episode 4 Secret Chicken – the aural skills rhythm decoding series Creating a story using sound effectsLearning the song and dance Old Brass Wagon.

Spanish –Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, we learned the days of the week in Spanish. We learned a fun song to remember the days of the week, and practiced reading the days of the week with a color-by-day worksheet.

Art –Step-by-Step Turkey Drawing for 3rd Grade Objective: Students will learn how to draw a turkey step by step, focusing on basic shapes and lines, enhancing their drawing skills and creativity.

Wow, what a week! From Halloween and All Saints Day, to our field trip and Bakery Day! So many great memories made!

Book Reports -The pumpkins were amazing! Hopefully you had fun with this and now we are off in running in November. Please have your child choose a fiction story at their reading level. I’d like to approve these by Tuesday. We missed our library time but the students are now allowed to self check out in the library. YAY!

Vocation Week -Next week we are celebrating National Vocation Awareness Week. I’m so exited for this! We will have guest speakers from a variety of vocations; priests, sisters, brothers, deacons! You might even catch them playing with the students are recess. I think they are just as excited. They will visit the classrooms and answer questions.

ACADEMICS:

Math –This week we explored arrays, cumulative property of multiplication, and wrapped up the week with our Bakery Array, putting all the knowledge into practice!

Religion -Students worked on their Saint PowerPoint and we attended All Saints Day Mass. The saint costumes were amazing this year! THANK YOU!

Science-This week students completed a science assessment on fossils and we wrapped up the unit. They are still working on their dinosaur stories and we will use next week to focus on the writing process.

Literacy -For reading this week students worked on making inferences, as well as main idea and supporting details. We read about camels and penguins and their structural adaptations.

Music – This week in music class we are:Completing Episode 4 Secret Chicken – the aural skills rhythm decoding series Creating a story using sound effectsLearning the song and dance Old Brass Wagon.

Spanish –Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish, we learned about the celebration of Día de los Muertos (Oct. 31-Nov. 2). We especially focused on the meaning of the ofrenda (alter to celebrate those who have passed on from this life) and the items it includes. We practiced the names of the items on an ofrenda by playing Bingo!

Happy Friday! It was a great week in third grade and our paleontologists were hard on the job Thursday. It was fun to have parents in the room to join the learning.

VFW Essay -Please locate the permission slip in your child’s Friday Folder today, sign and return on Monday. I am going to have them complete these in class, however I unfortunately thought I would have more time to work on these with the students. We will see what we can do in a short couple days. Again, all you have to do is sign the form and we will do them in class.

Book Reports -Due Tuesday. Pumpkin, written portion, and ready to orally present and share. I can’t wait!

Field Trip– We will be departing Assumption on Thursday at 9:30. Thank you to all the drivers. As you know we have plenty of parents, so if you have decided this is something you may not attend, please know that we will be ok 😉 (Students will be in regular uniform for this day.)

Halloween/All Saints Day -Our amazing room parents Jessie and Sherry are planning our celebration and hopefully you got the volunteer sign up for that. All are welcome, Tuesday at 1:30. This will be an Orange and Black dress day. For All Saints Day, I encourage the students to dress up as a saint and they can wear that all day. If they are not dressing up Wednesday is a dress uniform day.

Literacy -We continued working on persuasive writing with a letter. In reading we looked at making inferences and wrapping up the second part of our animal adaptations unit. We continued to look at how good readers ask questions when they read.

Math -Third graders began exploring the concept of multiplication and how it relates to addition (repeated addition). We made equal groups and also looked at how to use a number line to help. This is an important chapter to grasp before we really start mastering those facts.

Social Studies -Students took a test on the location of the five oceans and seven continents. Ask them about the songs we learned to help with this!

Religion -This week we took our assessment on Chapter 3 and began our All Saints Day research. Students will be learning how to organize this in a PowerPoint presentation next week. See above for information on dressing up.

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna-This week in Spanish, we matched types of clothing to weather and practiced writing weather words in Spanish. We also reviewed colors with a fall themed color by number!

Music – This week in music class we are: Completing Episode 3 Secret Chicken – the aural skills rhythm decoding series, Singing Old Joe Clark in 2 parts and Singing and adding instrumental accompaniment to the song Skin and Bones.

PE – Reviewed overhand throwing and catching cues. Practiced throwing and catching various sized balls. Played games using our throwing and catching skills called Catch Everything, Mat ball and Protect the Pin. 

Third graders did a wonderful job at Mass today. We will be doing the Grandparent Day Mass next month, and I assured the class that my goal is to get all kids reading on the microphone this year if they would like to do so!

Pumpkin Book Reports -Check Seesaw for sample pumpkins and ideas. Have fun! These can be either real or pretend pumpkins, just not carved. The written portion is in the student’s Friday Folders today! Please support your child in producing this as a final draft, with correct spelling, and neat handwriting. Pumpkins and reports are due on October 31st, Halloween! (I am told you can find cheap foam pumpkins at Hobby Lobby, thanks Tia!)

Reading Goal -Please encourage your children to read. Read aloud, read to a stuffed animal, read before bed, in the car, to a sibling, you name it! When they finish a book have them post a photo on Seesaw. We are 17 books into our 104 goal, set by the third graders. We want to have a Read-In!

All Saints Day – We celebrate on November 1st, however students will begin a research project and presentation on a chosen Saint. I will give them books and resources but feel free to discuss this at home in preparation. I do encourage my students to dress up as their saint that day, however it is not required. Something to think about as it approaches.

Field Trip -The amount of drivers and chaperones we have willing to attend is amazing! Thank you! Please look for an email from me regarding who is driving and who will be pairing up with another driver (obviously we don’t need 13 drivers, however I want to honor the wish to attend and there is not a limit this time.). If you wish to stay and not join us, just let me know. (Thursday, November 2nd, 9:30am-12:45pm). **Many need updated information in order to attend/drive.**

ACADEMICS:

Reading -Third graders learned about animal coverings and how these adaptations help animals survive. The concepts covered were asking questions, main idea and supporting details, and inferences. Grammar this week was verbs, specifically past, present, and future. In writing students published a paragraph including transition words on their favorite animal.

Social Studies -We wrapped up our geography lessons on map skills, specifically oceans, continents, lines of latitude and longitude, equator, and the prime meridian. Students put their knowledge into practice as they created their balloon globes.

Religion -We were busy planning our Mass and we also began chapter 3, beginning with the creation story.

Math -Students completed the chapter on data and building background knowledge towards multiplication and division. We examined pictographs, bar graphs, line plots, and more! I’m so excited to dive into the next chapter and the concept of what multiplication is! Students are continually practicing their math facts in class as well.

Music – This week in music class we are: Actively listening to the rhythm codes of Secret Chicken – an aural skills rhythm decoding activity  *Practicing singing the pitches do re mi, and learning a song using these pitches called Closet Key. *Practicing dynamics with the poem In a Dark Dark Room

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna-This week in Spanish we learned weather vocabulary. We sang a song about the weather in each season and drew different types of weather. We will use what we have learned to discuss the weather and seasons at calendar time.

Here’s your Friday news a day early :). I hope the weather stays nice so you can enjoy a long fall weekend with your children. I explained to the students that I will be out at Saint Joachim at a staff retreat, where we will be celebrating some of our local indigenous people as well. They will even be making us salmon and fry bread for lunch! (We learned a little about our local tribes, watched a video, and read a few books for Indigenous People’s Day earlier this week).

Holy Hoops Next Week -IF your children attends any portion of any day to root on our 5th-8th graders they will be excused from homework. Simply either write in their agenda or send me a quick email letting me know they were at Holy Hoops and they will be excused of ALL homework for the night. This is a really great tradition and such a fun experience to be a part of, even as a spectator!

Book Reports -We talked today about the fun pumpkin book report they will be completing this month. There is an idea page in your child’s Friday Folder tonight to start gathering supplies. Note: please do NOT carve the pumpkin in any way. We looked at samples and photos of what the students did last year so ask your children. They will have a writing portion coming home at the end of next week to accompany the pumpkin character. Please reach out to me if getting a small pumpkin is a hardship and I will provide one.

Literacy -This week we wrapped up our first unit in Benchmark learning about animal adaptations and completed the online assessment. These are tricky, but we did the first together. Students are writing a paragraph incorporating transition words about their favorite animal.

*Spelling next week will be a review so they will not have a normal set of words.

Math -Mathematicians explored data, picture graphs, frequency plots, and building background knowledge to begin understanding multiplication. They each have their own goal to beat for math facts and can practice at home! (Xtramath.org)

Social Studies -Geographers finished their own maps, learned the five oceans, and will dive into continents next week!

Science -In science this week we explored mold fossils, a Mystery Science exploration with fossils, and next week we will be excavating “actual” fossils. Should be fun.

Religion -We completed the second chapter in our books. We learned about the Holy Trinity, and three theological virtues -faith, hope and love (charity).

Spanish –Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish we learned about the four seasons. We drew trees and houses to match each season!

PE -This week in PE we. . .Reviewed the overhand throw. Practiced throwing to a partner. Played a game called “BOOM CITY” 

Every Thursday part of our Morning Meeting Routines is completing a TOTB (Think Outside the Box). It’s a creative way to stretch their brains and they love to share their creations. I’m impressed every time and they are all different. I love it!

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday! It was a great week diving into third grade curriculum, regular routines, and getting in the grove with our fabulous helper, Mrs. Roberts. Make sure you check Seesaw for regular updates of photos and what your children have been up to this week. (Some of them told me they couldn’t post from home and that means you need the QR code for the Home Learning. Please let me know if you need another copy.)

I’m asking the students to bring a photo or email me a picture, or even draw a small picture, of their “Alphahawk.” They understand what this is and were able to tell me already who they were. (This is someone they look up to, makes positive choices in life, and truly **lives for others**. -Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez, Mother Teresa, Grandma Betty, Martin Luther King, Aunt Susie.) These can be family members, saints, men/women in history, etc. Please let me know if you have any questions about this.

Book Reports -Students are required to approve a book with me by Monday if they have not done so already. These books are ones they have not previously read, but are reading throughout the month. It should last them more than a couple days. This month they need a FICTION book. Their report will be on the main character.

Math -This week we went back and reviewed double and triple digit subtraction with regrouping. We also reviewed subtraction across zeroes. These are concepts taught in second grade so we review them quickly so we can build on them. Our math test was today over addition and subtraction, estimation, and several properties.

Literacy – Students learned about four animal adaptions (beaks, webbed feet, claws, and tails), while focusing on making mental images and identifying main idea. We are getting annotations down and meeting in reading groups through a center rotation. For writing the students published a poem about their “Best Part.”

Religion -This week we celebrated Saint Francis with the Animal Blessing, learned more about his life through a story, and dove into chapter two of our books focusing on God’s love for us and the Holy Trinity.

Social Studies -Geographers learned about different types of maps, elements of a map (key, title, compass rose, and scale), and made their own maps, Barefoot Island. These maps showed their understanding of the elements of a map.

Science -archeologists made their own body fossils and I’m so happy how well they turned out. So fun! In addition, they are selecting their own dino to research. We also explored traits of different fossils and layers of the earth, all through Mystery Science.

Spanish – Una nota de Señora Anna- This week in Spanish we read Oso pardo, oso pardo, ¿qué ves ahí? (Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?) to practice color vocabulary. With an I spy worksheet, we counted and colored the animals just as they are in the book. We also retold the story and imagined what animals we would add to the book.

Art – Zentangle pumpkin drawing Lines – Patterns – Balance – Color

PE – learned about the 5 components of fitness and participated in the fall Fitness Gram test that included the pacer, curl-ups, push-ups and sit and reach.

Hooray! The students and I are happy to be done with MAP testing, and are all set to dive into our normal routines, homework, and curriculum. You will see things picking up a little bit now.

I’m so happy to welcome Mrs. Laura Roberts on Monday. Mrs. Roberts will be shared between second and third grade as an instructional aide. I’d love to get in a routine with Mrs. Roberts before I add classroom volunteers into our day. I’m anticipating sending out a volunteer sign up mid-October. Here is Mrs. Roberts with her family:

Math – This week we completed the addition portion of the first chapter and have moved into the subtraction. A lot of this is review, but regrouping of double and triple addition and subtraction is great to practice at home. The students are doing amazing with the rounding concept, which can be a challenge and I’m proud of them!

Religion – Students completed week one, wrapping up with a fun review game, before our assessment. They had an opportunity to recite the memory verse. Look for these in Seesaw to practice each week. One of the main concepts taught in this first chapter was how the Bible is organized and how to find verses. Fun to explore at home or at church!

Literacy – We ran through our center routine, reading groups, and the structure of our reading block. Our first unit is on animal adaptations. Students are working on a poem about their best parts and I’m excited to dive into the writing process once again with them. You will love these!

Science– For science this week we went on a webquest. Students checked their emails for links, watched a couple short videos, and answered questions about fossils. Next week we will be making fossils and exploring some fun hands on activities. This is a fun one!

Social Studies– We began our unit on map skills by learning about cardinal and intermediate directions. Next week we will dive into the oceans and continents.

Spanish –Una nota de Señora Anna- This week we celebrated the start of autumn with a book and color by number. We continued to practice our greetings song and discussed responses to “¿Cómo estás?”.

Music -This week in music class we: Sang a song and bounced a ball to the beat with the song Bounce High Bounce Low *Decoded the rhythms of the song Bounce High Bounce Low *Passed bean bags to a steady beat, and learned partner song called Throw and Catch.