Dearest Third Grade Families,

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone enjoyed the break resting and relaxing among friends.

This week we will hit the ground running.

Math: We will continue with Chapter 5: Place Value in Whole Numbers and Decimals, keeping our focus on very large numbers (up to the millions). Next week we will get small with an introduction to decimals.

IXL Math Skills Homework: This week’s are a review of previous chapters. The elapsed time skill may be a challenge for some. Although we have worked on this in class intermittently throughout the year, it takes a long time for students to master. I suggest taking out an analog clock when working on this. The visual makes all the difference when counting up.

K.1 Division Facts for 2,3,4,5 & 10

T.6 Elapsed Time

Reading: This week marks the beginning of our next Reader’s Workshop unit on character studies. Over the coming weeks we will be working in a variety of books analyzing character traits, motivations and growth.

Word Work: This week’s words can be found in your child’s planner & online on SpellingCity.com. Our next spelling test is scheduled for Friday.

Grammar: We continue with Unit 3: Verbs, taking a second look at present-tense verbs before moving on to other tenses.

Writer’s Workshop: The class will move on to a new genre of writing: Information (non-fiction) writing. Students will be asked to identify themselves as “experts” in a given area. Take some time this week to think and discuss what your child knows a lot about. A sport? An animal? Maybe a series of books? Or how about skill like cooking or sewing?

Science: We now begin with our life science unit beginning with a look at a variety of biomes.

Religion: The class will begin Chapter 7: God is Powerful and Loving.

Have a great week!

Ms. Espinosa