Dear Third Grade Families,
What a thrill it is to be back in the classroom! The last two months have been an adventure to say the least, but I couldn’t be happier, healthier and more excited to be with my students again. And what better time to return: it’s Catholic Schools Week!
Tuesday: Staff Appreciation Day – Hooray!
Wednesday: Student Appreciation Day – Free Dress!, No Homework!, Free Lunch for all students (burgers)
Thursday: Parish Appreciation Day, 1st round running raffle drawing
In the midst of all this excitement, we will continue with our studies beginning with some new units and continuing with others:
Math: We will continue with division with a focus on word problems. On Wednesday, we will have a quiz on Chapter 8 thus far. Remember, the purpose of quizzes are to assess student progress and are experiences students should learn from. These are low stakes “check-ups” and can always be corrected and returned for full credit.
Language Arts:
Spelling— Unit 19: Homophones. This is a 2-week unit so there will be no test on Friday.
Vocabulary – Colors. Despite our longer spelling unit, we will test on Vocabulary this Friday.
Writing— We will restart the unit on persuasive writing beginning with brainstorming types of letters and the reasons people write them. Then, we will begin the early prewriting stage for our own persuasive essays.
Grammar— We will begin a unit on Adjectives and Adverbs, starting with defining adjectives as well as some practice identifying them.
Reading— Charlotte’s Web continues with Chapter 16 “Off to the Fair.” As a reminder, students are welcome to take their copy home and reread the chapter for their nightly Reading Logs. I encourage you to read this classic together with your child as it is such a fantastic story and a great conversation starter. Likewise, this book has a lot of rich vocabulary and may lead to many great questions and answers. This talking about the book is a cornerstone in building reading comprehension. We also have a new Reading Log. Be sure to write your 2 sentence summaries neatly and in complete sentences.
Religion: We will begin the week writing our own prayers! Then, we will move into chapter 8 “God is Holy and Great.”
Social Studies: With President’s Day fast approaching, we will begin a unit on our national symbols! In this, we will examine statue of liberty, our national anthem and other points of national pride.
As we transition this week, I will be sharing the class with Mr. Doswell. I will take over core instruction again in the mornings and he will teach in small groups after lunch. He is planning some fun science labs with the students, too!
Thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement throughout my journey. We are part of such a great community!
NEW Reading Log
All the Best,
Mrs. Espinosa
