WELCOME TO THIRD GRADE Mrs. Dansby – Language Arts, Math and Science Mrs. Ehnis – Language Arts, Math and Social Studies Mrs. Paulson – Language Arts, Math and Religion

BEFORE WE GET STARTED….. We have enjoyed our first week with the children and are looking forward to an exciting year. There are handouts on the desks. Please take those home. Your son or daughter wrote you a letter in the journal found on the desk. Before you leave, write a note of encouragement in the space below. Your child will love it!

READING In reading class, we do a story a week with a vocabulary quiz and a comprehension test. We have a mandatory reading program called “Wild About Reading.” The children started it this week. Please look for the flyer. We will do two chapter books this year: The World According to Humphrey and Sarah Plain and Tall. Both book units will be completed in the second semester. Our one field trip will be part of the Sarah Plain and Tall Unit.

ENGLISH We complete eight units of grammar with writing exercises following each unit. The students keep a Writer’s Portfolio with a collection of their work. In the second semester the students publish a class book.

SPELLING Students complete one unit a week with the spelling test on Friday. On Friday they will write the new words for the next week in their assignment book. Usually there are 16 words with 4 dictation sentences.

HANDWRITING Students are writing in print at this time. In about two weeks, we will begin instruction in D’Nealian cursive. Students will practice 4 letters a week, first lowercase and then uppercase. In January or February students will begin writing everything in cursive. This is their last year of formal instruction in cursive handwriting.

MATH Students will learn place value, the four operations, geometry, fractions, graphing, statistics and probability, time and measurement and word problems. There will be heavy emphasis on multiplication tables through 12. We will begin working on multiplication in November. You must be involved and help supervise practice at home. The students can expect a little more homework in Math than in other subjects. For math facts, we do Mad Minute drills and use a computer program called IXL. Work will be done on wide ruled notebook paper with pencil only. No mechanical pencils.

RELIGION There are no new sacraments this year. Third grade will be responsible for three school masses this year. Must be in full uniform with school sweater for the Friday Mass. Everyone is invited to attend the 8:30 mass on Friday. This is a faith building year with emphasis on the virtues and service to others. There is a school wide monthly service project. Participation is strongly encouraged.

SCIENCE We complete units in Life Science, Earth Science and Physical Science. We do not do space or weather. The textbook is online. You should have received a flyer about accessing it. Assessment in science will be labs, projects and traditional tests. This year there will be two major STEM Challenges for third grade. These challenges will be cross curricular.

SOCIAL STUDIES We complete units in map skills, kinds of communities and their environments, community celebrations, technology changes, economics, and government. Assessment in Social Studies will be comprised of classwork and homework assignments, quizzes, projects, and traditional tests.

DIVERSE LEARNING STYLES Third grade strives to meet all learning styles. We often offer a variety of assignment formats. For example: traditional paper & paper assignments (tests) vs. technology assignments vs. hands-on projects. We differentiate instruction throughout the year based on learning objectives.

IN CONCLUSION…… We will be stricter on the uniform code this year. Do not take any work out of your child’s trapper except what is in the Take Home file in the back. If students are in the hallway when the first bell rings at 7:55 they are tardy. They must be in the classroom. Students have three days to complete make up work. Missing work is posted in Renweb as a “1” which stands for incomplete. Do not panic. Once assignments have been made up, the “1s” will be removed. Please us with any questions.