1. I hope everyone had a relaxing Winter Break! For me, it was nice to spend time with family and sleep later in the morning. A BIG THANK YOU for the thoughtful Christmas gifts! I was overwhelmed by your generosity and thoughtfulness. Isn’t it is hard to believe we are into the new year and almost half way done with the school year? This Friday, January 15 th, marks the end of the 2 nd quarter! Wow, time sure flies! Higher expectations in the third and fourth quarter exist. I am very proud of the students in regards to behavior. Most students have mastered “expected” and “unexpected” behavior. Some important dates coming up in the near future include: Feb. 10-SIP Day (early dismissal) Feb. 15-No School due to holiday Feb. 17 and 18-Parent/Teacher Conferences Let’s all have a great new year! Mrs. Matz Math News: We are continuing multiplication/division in our Go Math! series. Please continue to read the Go Math! introductory letter that describes the chapter. Students should continue to study their math facts in addition, subtraction and now multiplication. Most of the students have passed all 10 of the math facts tests for addition and subtraction. For those that have not, they must use 5 minutes of their recess time a few times a week (Mon., Wed., Fri) to take the addition and subtraction math facts tests until all 10 are passed! All students will take the multiplication math facts test during our math period. CLASS NEWS Jan. 2016 smatz@norridge80.net Dear Parents and Students: 708 456-8848 x206 Science Quiz 1/12/16 Science Final 1/15/16 Math Final 1/14/16

2. SAVING PAPER… Because we have Chrome Books, this is the LAST paper newsletter you will receive. Students, please check our blog at least every couple of days or more for monthly newsletters AND other important announcements such as quiz or test dates. WRITING: We are working on learning how to put together an information piece. Students are choosing an animal they are familiar with. They are writing everything they know about the animal, and learning to categorize what they know. For Night at the Museum, you will get to see all their hard work since this is what the 3 rd grade team plans to display in our classrooms. SCIENCE: Our group just finished Landforms in Social Studies and most students did very well on the final exam. In Science, we are working on weather. This is one of the required Next Generation Science Standards. It is a fun unit to do with loads of experiments. Look out for quiz announcements. CHROME BOOKS: Please make sure your Chrome Book is charged and brought to school every day! Consider this homework. Students coming to school with a chrome book that is not charged or not at all is considered unprepared. We are using them daily now. HIGH FREQUENCY WORDS: Students will be tested on the third grade lists (16-25)., and all students will be tested by the end of January. Any words students do not know should be studied daily much like the math facts, until mastered. This included the ability to pronounce them correctly. An index card with the unknown words will be included in the Home Folders. CLASSROOM BLOG leighmatzblog.weebly.com